Captured Lies (20 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

The pitch blackness caused her to stumble and slam her
shin into the low coffee table. A flashlight flipped on.

“Where the hell have you been,
Bailey?”

“Mom, it’s only 9:30 p.m. I
had to study for my language arts test tomorrow. I was at the library. I told
you that this morning.”

“What’s that?”

“Mathew bought this for me for
passing the math test. Isn’t it beautiful.” I twirled the flower in my fingers
and smelled it. I couldn’t hold back my ear to ear grin.

“Let me see it.”

I didn’t want to. I put it
behind my back. Her long claw like arm snaked around me and snatched it away.
Her razor sharp nails sliced it into tiny pieces.

“Mom. What are you doing?” I
clapped my hand over my mouth, as she tossed the stem at me.

“That young boy wants
something from you. And let me tell you now young lady, he won’t get it. He’s
not going to be sniffing around you.”

“He’s my friend. That’s all.
He got this for me because I passed the math test and I wasn’t sure I would.
He’s nice. He doesn’t want anything from me. What the hell’s wrong with you?”

Her hand connected with my
face, her nails scraping over my skin. A tiny drop of blood, like that of a
tear, slowly trickled down my cheek and dripped off my jaw.

“Don’t you ever talk to me
like that again. That’s what that young man has done to you.” She stood, her
dark robe billowing around her as she raised her arms. The light silhouetted
the white, death like color of her skin and the black orbs for eyes.

Then the image changed. I was
being pulled backwards by the seat of my pants, down a long dusty road. I
reached for the white light flickering in the distance. As it died away, the picture
changed. Miss Piggy was sitting high up on my dresser, laughing down at me with
maniacal laughter.

“I’ve got your secrets,
Bailey. Oops Cassidy. Ooops nobody. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.”

“Nooooooooooooo.”

****

“Bailey! Bailey! Wake up.”

She jerked upright, her head
snapping around, her eyes quickly scanning the area. She was alert and ready to
run. The lady in front of them twisted around and peeked over her seat. The
couple across the way had owl eyes which they quickly turned away when Bailey
caught them looking at her.

“Are you all right, Ma’am?”

Her eyes peeled wide open, Bailey
looked up at the flight attendant before turning to Guy.

“It’s okay. It was just a dream.”
He reached for her hand.

She pulled back. Taking a deep
breath she pasted a smile on. “I’m fine, thanks. It was nothing. Really. Sorry
for any disturbance I caused. I’m just a little overtired.”

“That’s okay. Is there anything I
can get you?”

Besides a strait jacket you
mean?
Bailey shook her head.

She waited until the stewardess
moved away before asking, “Uh, what exactly did I say? Do?”

“You cried out a couple of times.
Want to talk about it?”

“I’m not sure.” Brushing her hand
back through her hair, she grimaced at the ratty, tangled mess. It reminded her
how grubby she was feeling. Not even twenty-four hours of running around the
streets of her old neighborhood and she felt like she needed to be hosed down.
She barely controlled the shudder that threatened.

I wonder if I chase down the
stewardess and tell her I’d like a bath what she’d say. That might have been
what she wanted to suggest.

“Guy. We need to talk. There’s
something I’m missing in all that’s happened. There’s some clue somewhere. I…”
She reached down, opened her backpack and pulled out Miss Piggy. He gasped.
Frowning, she looked at him.

“I swear I forgot. It’s been a
crazy day. That nut that seemed to want us dead took me for a crazy ride, I
crashed the SUV getting away from him. And I swear it just slipped my mind.”

“Want to share what you’re trying
to tell me?”

A light flush crept over his face
as he slipped his hand into his leather jacket and pulled out a cassette.
Laughing, she reached for it.

“This is what you forgot to tell
me about. Oh my God, I haven’t seen one in years. I’m not even sure they make
cassette players anymore. Do they?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.
Graham told me to go to a garage sale or find a second hand store to get one.”

“What’s on it?” She flipped it
over but it was just black, with no identifying information on it.

“I was hoping you’d know.”

“How…”

Pointing at the stuffed animal,
he said, “It came from her.”

“Really? That’s why you tore her
apart. I thought you were just mad.”

Tugging on his ear, he replied,
“this morning after I discovered you gone, I picked up the Pig, not sure why
and I felt this funny hard shape. So I kind of pulled her apart to find it.”

Flipping over the toy, she showed
him the ripped head. “I was sure you’d done this to her but I couldn’t figure
out why.” Staring hard at the two things she held, the cassette and the toy,
she tried to make a connection.

“I had Miss Piggy until I was six
or so. Then she disappeared.” Holding up the cassette she said, “I’m not sure
I’ve ever seen this. I think Mom was the one who hid it here. But why?”

“Did she ever send you secret
messages? Or did you ever have a code or something?”

Bailey snorted, thinking about
the two letters her mom had left her to decipher which reminded her that she
hadn’t figured out the second one. “She was the master of codes. Of espionage.
She used to write me nursery rhymes but she’d change the characters, or the
story and I’d have to figure out what she meant. She made up her own language
using the alphabet and numbers to make words. She drew pictures. She’d have
made a good code writer for countries who wanted their secrets kept.”

So what haven’t I figured out
Mom?
The first letter led her to Mr. Lund and the hidden jump drive. She
flipped the cassette over and over in her hand, distracted by what her mom
might have put on it. “What did you find on that USB keychain?”

“Uuhh.” Grimacing, he replied, “I
didn’t find much. I sent it to Graham to decode. Sorry.”

“We’re approaching Toronto
Pearson International Airport. Arrival time twenty-two minutes. Please put your
seats back in upright position…”

Bailey only half listened to the
captain as he went through the routine of preparing for landing. She glanced
out the window but immediately pulled back.

“Don’t be scared. It’s safe.”

Averting her face, she replied,
“don’t know what you’re talking about.” She stuffed Miss Piggy back in to her
backpack and shoved it under the seat. She looked at the cassette in her hand,
reluctant to let it go but knowing it would be a while before she could listen
to it.

“So what happens when we get off?”

“A friend is meeting us. We’ll go
to my place.”

She cocked her head as she looked
at him.

His hands flew up. “It’s just the
closest and easiest and hopefully the safest place to take you for now. If you
don’t like that I’ll book us into a hotel.”

She frowned.

“I’m not letting you out of my
sight. I might not be the best at protecting you but whoever wants you will
have to go through me.”

A thrill of excitement ran
through her. Annoyed because she liked the strange feeling, she turned away
from him.

Silence ensued between them. The
plane landed. Bailey and Guy waited patiently while everyone stood up and
grabbed their bags from the overhead bins. Guy stepped back so that Bailey
could get in line in front of him. Walking into the airport they followed the
long confusing miles of hallway, escalators and finally out to baggage claim
area.

Guy started doing his owl
imitation, scanning the crowded area. Bailey couldn’t muster more energy than
it took to give more than a cursory glance around. People of all shapes and
sizes were anxiously looking through the stream of passengers for their loved
ones. A blonde disheveled haired guy, who reminded her of Scooby Doo’s
sidekick, Shaggy, waved. Since Guy smiled and waved back, she had to assume
that was his buddy, who’d gotten them all the deals.

The two men clasped hands like
they were going to arm wrestle and slammed their shoulders together. Bailey
stood back and let them do their male bonding thing. Looking around, she
noticed all the hugs and tears that were being shared, the genuine missed you
looks, glad you’re here. It was such a foreign sight to her that she couldn’t
help but stare. It was while she was watching a couple race into each other’s
arms and practically start making out that she noticed a man with an old
detective type hat pulled low over his face, staring at her. Something didn’t
feel right. He had a hard look in his eye, like he hated her. She glanced back
over her shoulder to see if anyone was standing beside her. No one was really
close and no one was really looking in his direction. Turning to look at him
again, she was surprised that he was gone. Her stomach, her radar system, was
clenching but she wasn’t sure why. Confused, she looked around.

“Bailey, come here. I’d like you
to meet my friend and partner, Graham. The man who can get anything.”

He bowed very formally, before
reaching for her hand. Not sure what to make of him but feeling like he was
harmless she let him hold her fingers in his palm. “Enchanté, my dear. You are
much more beautiful than my esteemed friend would have had me believe.”

Bailey looked past him to catch
Guy’s, only to see his smile and his eye roll. Not sure what to do or to think,
she stood there stunned as Graham planted a kiss on the back of her hand, then
tucked her fingers in the crook of his elbow and proceeded to walk with her out
of the terminal.

“Oh no, you don’t.” Guy slipped
between them, easily extricating her from him. “Okay, where’s the car?”

Graham made a woebegone face,
sniffed a few times before bowing regally and stepping back. Bailey giggled. He
winked at her. His face turned serious as he turned to Guy again.

“Parkade. I need to talk to you
first.” All joking was gone.

Guy turned to Bailey. “We’ll be
right out this window. Stay right here. Okay?”

She nodded, pretty sure they’d be
safe. Who could possibly know that they’d flown to Toronto? It wasn’t like
they’d given a whole lot of notice. The two men stepped outside of the
building, still sheltered by the cement overhang that protected them from the
pouring rain and moved off to the right, still within sight of Bailey. Guy kept
glancing at her every five seconds.

She thought about following but
decided to stay inside and watch them. Guy was really getting into their
conversation. He’d finally stopped looking her way. She would love to know what
it was they were discussing. Something jabbed into her side. Due to the
overcrowded area, she assumed it was someone not paying attention to where they
were going. About to turn and give them a piece of her mind, she was jerked
from behind.

“Keep your mouth shut and step
behind this column.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Fingers bit into Bailey’s arm as she was pulled backwards
and slammed up against a hard body. She tried to turn her head but he squeezed
her elbow hard. “Don’t waste your time trying to figure out who I am, you won’t
be around long enough for it to matter. Keep your mouth shut and move.” He held
her tight to his body, walking right on her heels. She tried to break his
strong hold but every time she moved or made a sound, he threatened to slice
her throat. Biding her time, she tried to attract attention - she opened her
eyes wide, flipped them to the side. She frowned. She glared. She made faces.

No one even gave her a second
glance.

Bailey was sure there had to be a
mistake. “Who are you?”

“Your worst nightmare. And you’re
mine. Shut your mouth. Or I’ll use this gun to solve my problem right here and
right now.” His gravelly, acid filled voice sent shivers down her spine. He
peeked past her. “Go.” They moved forward going against the mass of people that
were heading out.

Taking a deep breath, she stuck
out her left foot. It was quick but sufficient. A tall man stumbled, kicking
her, sending shooting pain and then numbness up her leg. Off center, she took
advantage of it and threw herself sideways, pulling her assailant with her. At
the same time she kicked out, connecting with her captor’s shin.

“Ouch. What the hell?” Already
off balance, he threw out his arm to block his fall, loosening his hold on
Bailey. She shot off in the other direction causing more people to go down.

A man pushing an overfull cart
couldn’t avoid hitting a teenager oblivious to what was going on due to being
plugged into a loud MP3 player and who walked right into the man’s path. The
teen tumbled, taking several people with him. Luggage scattered. People started
dog piling, even though they hadn’t asked to play. Swearing and shoving became
the immediate response.

Others screamed, some wiggled and
squirmed, trying to get untangled from the mess, only to cause more to topple or
fail at getting up including Bailey. Using one of the victims on the floor, she
braced her feet against his backside and shoved. Her captor, who was trying to
hold onto her and keep himself from getting trampled, couldn’t maintain his
steady grip.

She yanked her arm out of his
grasp, not caring anymore who the nut was, she just wanted to get away. She
dove over the pack, climbing over the sprawled bodies. She didn’t apologize,
knowing no one would hear her over their own swearing anyway. She slapped at
hands that reached out to either dislodge her or grab at her. Bruised and
battered, she finally reached the edge of the heap. She jumped to her feet and
plunged through the crowd.

There was utter chaos. People
were pushing and shoving, tripping over each other, swearing at each other.
Bailey went through the crowd like a person with a macheté going through the
jungle. Never having been in that airport before, she raced down the long open
space lined with conveyors and masses of people, all waiting to grab their
suitcases from the black belt. Using the confusion, the yelling and swearing in
at least five languages, she now used the people to hide amongst. Glancing over
her shoulder, commuters and visitors were moving in all directions but she
didn’t see anyone who seemed to be following her. She shuddered at the fleeting
thought that if what she’d been told was true, that might just have been the
second time in her life someone had attempted to kidnap her. Well, third
actually, if she counted the guy on the street earlier that day who had wanted
to turn her into one of his junky whores. If she’d been any slower he might
have succeeded.

She crouched low, shoving past
people and raced outside. Her head snapped around like a hawk hunting food as
she ran back the way along the outside of the building, using the masses as a
shield. Graham and Guy were standing in the same place. Relieved, she raced up
to them, grabbed them each by the arm and started to walk. Quickly.

The two guys laughed. “What’s
going on?”

“We don’t have all day. We need
to get moving. Now.”

Guy stopped, forcing her to face
him. Feeling his eyes burrowing into the top of her head, she looked up. Her
breathing was still labored and she had no idea what he would see in her eyes
but she was doing her best to hide that she was spooked. He reached out and
brushed a stray hair off her cheek and pushed it back over her shoulder. She
tried to lower her eyes but was caught by the mesmerizing look in his. He
blinked once, stepped back and set a pace just short of a run. Not sure what he
saw, she was thankful he didn’t ask any questions but hustled them towards the
parkade. In fact it was she that had to run to keep up with the two men. At the
car Guy opened the door, grabbing and tossing stuff into the back of the car.
It was relatively clean, just full of junk. It looked like he might live in
there. She climbed in, surprised to find Guy sitting beside her. He slouched
down and encouraging her to do the same.

“What happened?”

She shook her head hoping he
would just leave it alone but she should have known better. Next thing she knew
he’d slid across the back seat, shoving the books, looseleaf, discarded
wrappers, onto the floor and sat beside her. He gently grabbed her chin and
forced her to look at him.

“Why were you limping?”

“Well, there was a bit of
confusion inside. Someone tripped. Luggage fell. People were pushing and
shoving. Chaos. Let’s get out of here and I’ll tell you all about it.”

She forced herself to meet his
questioning gaze while focusing on her breathing to calm her nerves. She’d seen
it on a TV yoga class that she’d found early one sleepless morning. Clasping
her hands tightly in her lap, she pasted on what she hoped looked like a smile.

“So nothing serious? It just
scared you?”

You have no idea.
She
glanced at Graham before replying. Guy might trust him but she didn’t know him.
“Yeah, just a little too crazy busy for me.”

“Welcome to Toronto.”

She slouched against the door not
caring where they went or what their destination would be. She’d seen all she
wanted to see.
Who the hell attacked me?
She wondered if it was the same
guy from before or a new one. Which scared her even more. How many people
really wanted her?

Turning, she was surprised to
meet Guy’s unwavering gaze. And for the first time in a long time she felt vain
about her appearance. Not sure how to read his look, she found her hand raising
almost involuntarily to rub her cheek as though she had dust on it. She was
tempted to reach up and brush her windblown, tangled mass away from her face
but knew that wouldn’t change anything. Certainly not the smell as she became
aware of her own odor. She comforted herself with the fact that some of the
strong stench could be Guy’s. One day out and about and they had managed to
acquire many different odors.

Not wanting to explain what had
happened, she looked straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge him. Besides what
could she tell him,
'some guy I didn’t even see, tried to accost me’
.
He finally gave up and leaned forward to talk to Graham. Snippets of their
conversation drifted back to her.

“–he’s wanted in several
provinces. Looks like Bean will get the bust.”

“What did you find out?”

“Some very interesting stuff.
He’s not who we think he is...”

Their voices dropped too low for
her. She needed to hear what they were talking about but it took too much
effort. Her eyelids dropped, her mind let go.

****

“Looks like your lady friend is
out.”

Guy looked behind him. He slid
back over to his side of the car. Reaching for her, he gently moved her away
from the door and laid her down with her head in his lap. When he looked up he
couldn’t avoid Graham’s raised eyebrows in the rear view mirror.

“It’s not what you think. She’s
just had it rough for a few days.”

“Yeah and then some. Hey, it’s
okay you know to get attached to someone. I’d say it’s about time.” He grinned
from ear to ear. “And you picked a hot one.” His eyebrows bounced up and down like
Groucho Marx.

“Just get us home.” Guy stared
out the window for a while but it was futile. He allowed his gaze to be pulled
back to the woman he held. He smiled as he took in her dirty, wrinkled, torn
clothing. He reached out his right index finger and slid it into the tear in
the arm of her shirt.

A thin line of dried blood lay
hidden beneath.

From whatever happened in the
airport?

He knew he shouldn’t have left
her alone but he got caught up in all that Graham had been doing and he figured
they were free and clear at least for a little while. It bothered him the way
she’d looked when she’d come up to him and Graham. Had something else happened
she hadn’t shared? That look in her eyes was wild like she was running from
something or someone.

It just didn’t sit right with him
that it was confusion and chaos. Settling back, his hand resting on her
shoulder, he allowed himself to go through all he knew. Acid burned in his gut
as he thought about what he was going to have to do. What he was going to have
to share and at what he suspected was true. It was going to change his family
in ways he couldn’t predict. His step grandmother may regret bringing him into
the family after all.

“Let’s go to your place, Graham.”

“It’s not that different to my car,
you know? It's a tiny bit messy. It might need a bit tidying up before company
comes over.” He nodded his head towards Bailey.

"Your mom would be so proud
that you're concerned." Guy knew that Graham was really just trying to
lighten the mood and take his mind off what was going on. They may be opposites
when it came to cleanliness but he also knew that Graham’s place had state of
the art security. Besides his family didn’t know where Graham lived.