Jessica did her best to comply, slowing her tears to quiet whoops and hiccups.
Linda said, “Maybe we should call the police.”
Patricia snapped, “Don’t be ridiculous. We’d just get a bunch of officers killed.”
“What if we told them it was a bomb? If they came with their special gear, it could protect them from Helen’s fire.”
“Maybe. If they believed us. If they didn’t focus all their attention on the fact that your driver’s license says you are a forty-eight-year-old woman and decide to deport you to where they assume you are from.”
Leonel pulled another tissue from his pocket and wiped his eyes. When he looked at her again, his eyes were cold fire. Obviously, Patricia had gone too far.
“Then what do you suggest, Patricia?” He pronounced the name as if it were Spanish, all four syllables elongated for emphasis, his eyes glittering with anger.
Jessica glared at her, too. Patricia was getting really tired of people looking at her like that.
“Look,” she said, trying to keep her irritation out of her voice, “I just mean―”
Jessica shushed Patricia and grabbed at both women’s hands. Cindy Liu had just stepped onto the back deck. There was no place to hide. If she looked in their direction, they’d be seen.
Fortunately, Cindy’s attention was on the row of rose bushes along the fence that separated Jessica’s yard from that of her neighbor on the other side. The women watched her as she leaned on the rail. She seemed smaller than she had at the fire.
When Cindy turned to light up a cigarette, Patricia got a look at her profile. Her breasts were practically gone. Her pants hung loosely around her waist. Her shirt was too big as well. She was still adult-sized, but she had the build of a middle-school girl. Patricia felt a wave of sympathy for her old friend. If she was smoking again, things were bad. She hadn’t smoked since the months after her fiancé’s death, more than thirty years ago. She said then that smoking was a slow suicide, and she’d been smoking because she didn’t have the nerve to do it quickly.
Patricia looked to her companions. Jessica was clinging to Leonel’s arm like some kind of ninny. Pale and trembling, she looked like she might pass out with fear. They had her mother. Sympathy or not, Patricia knew who the real victim was. “Leonel,” she whispered. “How do you feel about taking a hostage?”
Wordlessly, Leonel crossed the yard on his hands and knees. Jessica hid behind Patricia, who watched anxiously. Stealth was not one of Leonel’s skills. It was like sending a tank on a sniper mission. She prayed he could get close enough before Cindy spotted him.
She needn’t have worried.
She lost sight of Leonel as he rounded the deck to the far side, where Cindy was standing. All Patricia could see was two large hands grabbing Cindy around the waist. She was so surprised she didn’t even scream. Leonel pulled her over the deck and raced back toward his friends, one large hand over Cindy’s mouth, the other holding her curled against his chest. “I got her!”
essica looked wide-eyed from Leonel, who was holding a struggling teenager in her arms, to Patricia, who was grinning like the Cheshire cat. The plan had worked! They had Dr. Liu. They could use her to get her mother back.
“Now what?” she asked, breathlessly, grabbing Patricia’s arm. Surely, she had a plan in mind for the next step.
The smile dropped from Patricia’s face.
“Where do we take her? How do we get my mother out of there?”
Patricia was silent. Jessica fought an urge to grab the woman and shake her by the shoulders as the seconds ticked by. Patricia continued to sit in the grass and fail to explain the plan. Dr. Liu stopped struggling so hard and joined with Jessica in staring at the other two women.
“What’s the plan, Patricia?” Jessica had a sinking feeling that there wasn’t any more plan.
She was right. Patricia let her head fall into her hands. “I hadn’t gotten any further than this. I need time to think.”
Leonel stood, hitching his body so Dr. Liu was folded against his chest. “Jessica. Get my keys from my pocket.”
Jessica obeyed, feeling herself blush as she shoved her hand into Leonel’s front jeans pocket, and fished out the keys. “The small key is to the tool box in the back. The truck is parked across the street under the large elm tree. Bring me the duct tape.”
Jessica nodded and started to jog toward the street.
“Don’t let her see you!” Leonel called after her in a stage whisper.
Jessica returned to find the women unmoved, crouched in the grass in the blind corner of the house. The tension in the air was thick. She felt like a child walking into the room where her parents had been fighting and only stopped for her benefit. Jessica followed Leonel’s directions and duct-taped Dr. Liu’s ankles and hands. If she were honest, she’d admit that it gave her great pleasure to do so, and she made it tighter than was strictly necessary. “Now comes the tough part. You’ve got to be quick. When I let go of her mouth she’s going to scream,” Leonel said.
“Not if she’s unconscious,” Patricia snarled, pulling back her suddenly scaly arm and punching the small frightened teen in the jaw right as Leonel let go. There was a snapping sound, and Jessica worried the punch had killed her, but, no, she was breathing. She applied the strip of duct tape to her mouth and collapsed into the grass, automatically checking that her weights were in place in what was becoming a behavioral tic.
“We’ve got to get inside. Helen is in there with my mother. We’ve had Dr. Liu out here too long. She’s going to notice!”
“She already has, you idiot!” The voice came from the deck above them.
All three women swiveled their heads. Jessica gasped. Helen was standing at the railing above them, holding Eva Roark’s elbow with one hand. Her other hand was engulfed in flames.
“Mom!” Jessica yelled, lunging toward the deck.
Leonel caught her around the waist and swung her back to the ground. “Are you crazy? She’ll burn you!”
“It’s Helen, isn’t it?” Patricia said, stepping in front of the other two women, flexing her scaly hands menacingly. “Do you remember me?”
Helen nodded, her eyes glittering in the light of her fire-hand. “I know you, lizard lady. Let her go,” she yelled, raising her threatening hand, the flames growing higher.
“You first,” Jessica yelled, still trying to fight her way out of Leonel’s grasp.
“Everybody calm down,” Leonel yelled, sounding anything but calm. “No one has to get hurt here.”
“No one has to, but someone is going to if you don’t let Cindy go now!” Helen’s voice was nearly as dark and thick as Patricia’s.
Jessica’s panic rose as her mother yelped, pulling at her elbow, which was held firmly in Helen’s hand. Jessica was sure she saw her mother’s sleeve smoking. In a quick twisting movement, she broke free of Leonel’s grasp and somersaulted to land under the deck. She removed her weights and vaulted at the woman, letting her buoyancy give her the extra lift to get from the ground to the deck in a single bound. Climbing onto Helen’s back, she looped her arm around her throat and squeezed.
Surprised, Helen let go of Eva’s elbow. “Run!” Jessica yelled to her mother who had stumbled a step or two away and stood there looking stunned. “Get my mother out of here,” she yelled to Leonel.
Helen flailed around, and Jessica tightened the grip of her arm, hoping her mother and her friends had listened to her. She squeezed Helen’s throat as tightly as she could, feeling her legs float into space above them. The woman fell to her knees, leaving a sizzling handprint on the deck flooring as the flames went out. Still, Jessica held on, waiting for her to go slack.
“We’ve got her!” she heard Leonel yell from somewhere around the side of the house. “Get out of there!”
Jessica let go, and Helen slumped to the deck, coughing and wheezing. Instantly, Jessica shot backward like she’d been the rubber band and the slingshot had let go. She grabbed the deck’s
shade roof for support as she went by, tucking her body to direct the force around it like a parallel bar and spinning toward the house behind her. Slowing a little, she pulled in until she was crouching against the beam in a gravity-defying sideways hold. Feeling the splinters in her arms, she wished she had opted to have the beams sanded with the rest of the deck, but it hadn’t seemed important the supports be smooth this high up.
She looked around frantically for her next handhold. She could hear Helen getting to her feet and knew she didn’t have much time before she recovered enough to burn the place down.
Jessica focused on her feet, pulling back against the wooden support beam and aiming her body at the chimney. She pushed off with all her might, but the forward thrust of her movement ended short. She began to drift.
Panicked, she swirled her arms. She had to reach the chimney. It was the only solid thing up here. Her fingertips flailed inches from the brick and metal. Tears streamed down her cheeks. This was it. She was going to float away into outer space. She was going to die.
As she drifted upward, she saw over the roof into the front yard where Leonel was holding her mother’s elbow, assisting her toward the minivan. Her mother looked up, shading her eyes against the sun, and Jessica thought it was good that Leonel would take care of her mother if she floated up into the sky until she disappeared.
Then she spotted the small red bicycles under the tall tree. Her boys. She couldn’t just let herself drift away. Her boys needed her. She couldn’t leave them to Nathan! Newly determined, she focused her thoughts on the chimney, so near, yet, just out of reach. Just go! Damn it. To her great surprise, her body obeyed. She shot forward so quickly she almost missed her chance to grab onto the chimney for support.
Pausing to catch her breath, she became aware of a warm spot between her breasts. She tugged the necklace of Dr. Liu’s gemstones out from beneath her shirt. The stones were hot and glowing through the silk bag. She was still staring in amazement at the glowing stones when the first of fireballs landed on the roof beside her.
Helen was awake.
“Jessica! Get down here!” It was Patricia, yelling from the front yard.
She could see her mother was in the van. Leonel was standing in the driveway, his back to the house. Coming around the house from the far side, where neither of her friends could see, was Helen.
“Leonel! Look out!” she called, aiming herself at Helen and flying through the air like a rocket. She held two fists out straight in front of her, hurtling into the woman with all the force she could muster, and knocked Helen down. The momentum sent Jessica bouncing and rolling across the yard. She came to a stop against the hedges that separated her yard from her neighbor’s.
For a moment, her vision was blurred, and she thought she had hit her head. As it cleared, though, she became sure she was merely dizzy. Her whole body buzzed with adrenaline. She had just flown! Not floated uselessly, but flown! She chose a direction and moved through the air. Effortlessly, smoothly. It was the most powerful thing she had ever felt in her life.
As her senses started working again, she realized Leonel was calling to her, and she held up a hand to wave that she was unharmed. In a moment, he was at her side, asking if she was all right.
All right? She was amazing. “Did you see me, Leonel?” she asked, breathlessly. “I flew!”
elen sat up, spitting out mulch, and patted out the flaming plants surrounding her in the garden bed. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been unconscious or where everyone had gone. Still seated, she touched her head gingerly. There was a large bump on the back of her head. These things always felt bigger than they were, Helen knew, but it felt like she had an ostrich egg pushing out her hair. Her throat hurt, too. It was probably bruised from being squeezed. Where was Cindy?
She looked back at the house. The shingles were smoking here and there, and the gutters on the front of the house hung askew. But she didn’t see any people. She wondered again how long she had been unconscious. Not too long, she guessed, since there wasn’t a fire truck or police car here yet. Surely, one of these fine neighbors had called in the fire and the fight in the yard. They’d be worried about their property values if nothing else.
Pulling herself to her feet with difficulty, Helen looked around, thinking. The minivan was gone. It had apparently left with some speed, too. There were black tire marks at the bottom of the driveway and in the street in front of the house. So, they had gone. But where? Where would they take Dr. Liu?
Helen had been so sure this would go smoothly. Grab the girl and her mother. Get the emeralds back. Leave. No one had to get hurt. Not that she cared. She wouldn’t have minded hurting someone if it would help Cindy. But it hadn’t been easy at all. The pain searing up her leg and across her shoulder, as well as the ostrich egg on her head attested to that. Helen had underestimated their enemies and had paid for it in bruises.
Even Jessica, whom Helen had believed was little more than a blonde balloon, proved dangerous. Her hands were strong. Helen touched the sore skin of her throat again. She owed the little bitch something for that. And where did that powerful flight come from? Dr. Liu had indicated the girl had no control over her direction or speed, but obviously, she did.
Helen tried to wipe some of the garden dirt off her clothes. She was still mad at herself for letting the little twit get the drop on her. It was just so unexpected. She never would’ve thought the weepy little blonde would just hurl herself at someone wielding fire. Also, obviously, the girl wasn’t without friends. That lizard lady was tough, and the man was astonishingly strong. They had snatched the doctor from under Helen’s nose and now taken her God knows where. She had failed Cindy.
Distantly, she heard sirens. Maybe it was nothing, but maybe they were coming for her. She couldn’t be here when the authorities came. She tried to run toward the little red sports car, but quickly realized that running was out of the question as pain shot up her left leg. She had a massive bruise on the inside of one knee, and the whole calf and ankle were swollen. Between that and the bump on her head, she was going to need medical attention. She was really starting to hate that lizard lady, Patricia.
Cindy said Patricia was an old friend, and that she had a good heart, but Helen thought Cindy was blinded by their old friendship. People changed. That woman was trouble. If they didn’t find a way around her to Jessica and those emeralds, Cindy was going to regress to childhood, maybe even infancy. Cindy was sure she’d found the formula that would stop her youthening, if not reverse it. But she needed those Chinese emeralds. Helen was going to make sure she got them.
But first, she had to get out of here. Grimacing, Helen hobbled to the car, wishing they had parked closer. It was four houses down in the driveway of a house for sale. Helen knew the listing. The house was empty.
It was only four houses away, but each lurching step set her teeth on edge with a new wave of pain. When this was all over, she’d have to get Cindy to use that youthening formula on her, too. Getting old sucked. Of course, so did being beaten up by a giant lizard with red hair, and strangled by a cheerleader.
Finally, she got to the car and lowered herself into the driver’s seat, silently thankful that it wasn’t a stick shift. She whipped the car around and sped out of the neighborhood, right as the fire truck pulled in. Driving toward the city center, Helen punched the radio buttons one after another, but there was no news. Just ads intermixed with the garbage that passed for music these days. Wherever they’d gone, they were lying low.
Helen spotted an Urgent Care center and crossed two lanes of traffic to make a U-turn. Horns honked all around her, but she simply raised her middle finger and kept going. She had to get fixed up and get back to Cindy.
The office was relatively empty. Just a woman on an oxygen tank and a fidgety college boy who kept pulling at the crotch of his shorts. Helen lumbered over to the desk and leaned heavily on the counter, tapping her fingers impatiently. A pasty-faced sausage of a woman wearing bright pink scrubs,
as if she ever touched anything dirtier than money, waddled up to the desk with a coffee cup in her hand. She quickly set her doughnut down on a paper napkin next to her keyboard and licked her fingers with a noisy smack.
“Did you sign in?” she asked, gesturing at the lined paper on the clipboard next to the clock.
“No,” Helen answered. “We’re going to handle this quietly.” She didn’t have the patience for their procedures. She needed to get patched up and get back out there quickly if she was going to be able to save Cindy Liu.
The woman looked up, confused.
“Get the doc out here,” Helen said, coolly, holding up her fingers like a gun and raising a flame where the barrel would be. The woman pushed back her rolling chair so fast she fell on the floor. “Now would be good.” Helen grinned. God, she loved this. She was going to have so much fun once she got Cindy back. No one was going to be able to refuse her anything she wanted ever again.
A few moments later, the woman returned, pulling a short Indian man behind her. The man stepped forward, pulling down his coat as if that would make his stature more impressive. “Can I help you?” he asked.
“I sure hope so,” Helen said. “I’d hate to have to burn the place down.” She stretched out her hand and raised a flame in the flattened palm.
Behind her, Helen heard the automatic doors shoosh open. The lady with the oxygen tank was moving with surprising speed through the doors. Helen laughed and then turned to look meaningfully at the college boy. He walked backward to the doors and then almost tripped himself turning to run for the parking lot.
“We don’t have much time,” Helen said to the doctor and the office clerk, who had grabbed for each other, staring at Helen’s flaming hand. “I need you to stabilize this leg for me.”
Less than thirty minutes later, Helen was leaving the office, her leg booted. The doctor had tried to stall her with talk of x-rays, alternating with guilt-trips about threatening him and the staff and other patients. Blah blah blah. He didn’t appreciate what a favor she’d done him, leaving him and his clinic standing behind her. She’d have Dr. Liu fix her for real later. For now, she just needed to be able to walk. The boot would do nicely. That, and the painkillers she had pocketed.
Going Through the Change Page 22