44: Book Three (12 page)

“Let me go!” I screamed. “Let me go!”

“Abby, we’re doing these tests whether you like it or not. If you continue to scream we’ll just tape your mouth closed for the rest of the day,” Matthew said. “Your choice.”

I stopped. There was no use in fighting it. Now I just had to get through it.

***

I was wheeled into a small room down the hallway. They removed the straps and stood over me.

“Lie on your side,” Matthew said.

He took off his mask and leaned in so that his face was close to mine. I tried to hide the terror that had me in a death grip, but I knew I couldn’t. I was wild with fear, worse than any animal. The fear of the unknown mixed with the certainty that there would be pain and then my imagination took it all to another level.

“Please,” I begged. “Just let me go.”

He ignored me.

“The faster we can do this test, the better it will be for you. Let me explain what we’re doing here. I will be putting a needle in your back, right here.”

He pushed down on an already sensitive spot on my back.

“You will need to raise your knees up and bend your head forward. You will have to push into the needle while I insert it into your spine. I’m very fast and good at this. If you do your part, we will be done with it soon. The more you resist however, the longer it will take and the more discomfort you will be in. Understood?”

I nodded. One of the others pushed up my knees as Matthew wiped down a spot on my back with a cold liquid.

“Okay, stay perfectly still,” he instructed. A moment later I felt a terrible pinch in my back. The pain was excruciating. I cried out.

“You’re going to have to stay perfectly still, Abby, or we’ll be here all day,” he said. “Let’s try it again.”

It was impossible. Again I cried, trying by turns not to move and then thrashing my legs. They held me down and the needle kept probing, searching for new levels of agony. The pain was so horrible that once I thought I saw colors again, like a rainbow exploding in my head.

At some point, after countless attempts, Matthew seemed finally satisfied.

“That was one of the hard ones, Abby. But you did it,” he said. “It’s over.”

They strapped me down and let me cry by myself in the small room.

CHAPTER 28

The next part was relatively pain free. Matthew asked me a lot of questions, testing my memory, putting clips on my fingers and writing down the readings off of a machine. He asked me to walk across the room, had me touch my nose with my fingers. He tested my vision and hearing.

When he finished entering the data into a laptop, he walked over to me. I was looking out the window. Someone had opened the blinds and I had a small view of the trees blowing in the wind. I wanted to be outside. Given the chance, I would run out into that freezing water and swim as far as I could. And then I would swim some more.

At that moment I felt more alone than I had ever felt in my life.

“Okay, Abby,” he said. “Just one more test and you’re done for the day.”

He pulled up a chair and sat down next to me.

“The last test will take a few hours. It’s called an angiogram and it will let us see if you have any narrowing or obstruction of an artery or blood vessel in the brain, head, or neck. We are looking to see if the serum has caused any vascular malformations.”

I didn’t care anymore.

He wheeled me into another room. Phil was waiting.

“Lie on this table, please,” Matthew said.

“Phil here will insert a thread into an artery in your neck, so we can guide a wire up and release a small capsule containing a radiopaque dye that will be highlighted on x-rays. It will travel through the bloodstream, into the neck and brain, and we will take some pictures. You may feel a slight discomfort.”

It was more than slight. And no amount of crying or begging would make them stop.

I was powerless.

There was nothing to do.

CHAPTER 29

When it was over, Matthew gave me a small pill and a glass of water.

“Here, sit up and take this,” he said. “It will help you calm down. No headaches, I promise.”

I swallowed it and sat there, exhausted. I was still in pain, especially where they had stuck me with all those needles. I looked down and noticed that someone was putting my shoes on for me. Then Matthew helped me stand, and walked me out the door and into the big house.

We passed through the kitchen. Again Simon wasn’t there. I hadn’t seen him in the laboratory either. I wondered where he was. We walked upstairs. Matthew helped me into bed and I fell back on the pillows.

“How’s your head?” he asked.

I stared past him.

“Fi—” I said. “Everything… is fine.”

CHAPTER 30

When I woke up, it was morning again.

I looked in the mirror and could see bruising around where they had shoved needles into me. I was sore and still tired. But I was alive. Probably not for much longer. But I was alive. This was my time. I had to make the most of it.

It was clear and breezy outside. I watched the pine trees sway in the wind, shaking off the remnants of the rain from the day before. There were no clouds, no fog creeping in. I could see the island perfectly in the distance.

I looked down at the boat. It was banging up against the dock. It seemed like Jack was the only one who used the boat and maybe he was the only one who had a key. I didn’t know if I could find it, but I had to try.

There was a knock on the door. It was Simon, with breakfast.

“Thanks,” I said as he put it on the desk.

“You doing okay?” he asked.

“Sure,” I said. “I guess. Thanks for asking. And for breakfast.”

“Don’t mention it,” he said.

I took a long, hot shower, finding a few more odd bruises on my body. I still had that strange mark on my arm. I ran my finger over it. There was still a small bump on it and I wondered what they had done. It was from the first round of tests, and it didn’t seem to be healing.

When I walked out of the bathroom, I let out a gasp.

It was on the nightstand, next to a new vase of fresh roses.

A phone.

***

I ran over and picked it up. It was larger than a cell, with an antenna coming out of the top. I figured it must have been a satellite phone. I had never seen one before, but Ty told me about using them on remote river trips he guided back in Montana.

There was a note next to it in neat handwriting.

Abby,

I hope you’re feeling better this morning. I’ve enjoyed our nightly discussions and look forward to many more. As promised, here is the phone for a brief call.

I can only allow a few minutes this first time. But take heart. Perhaps the next call might be longer.

Of course, we are listening and your responses will be on a five-second delay. If at any time we feel you are attempting to convey details as to your whereabouts, the call will end along with any chance of future communications.

Enjoy your time with your sister.

See you tonight,

Nathaniel

I walked over and put my ear to the door. Then I slowly opened it. They had unlocked the door, and no one was around. I closed it quietly and sat at the edge of the bed.

I stared at the numbers in disbelief and was shaking as I held the phone in my hand. I was so sure that Nathaniel wouldn’t let me talk to Kate, not after my escape attempt. I wasn’t ready. I hadn’t come up with any clues or a code that I could use. 

But at the very least, I needed to hear her voice, needed to talk to her. And I knew Kate needed this phone call as much as I did. I had to stay positive, but the thought was inescapable: there was a very real possibility this would be our last conversation.

I couldn’t think of anything. I wiped off my sweaty palms on the bed and took several deep breaths. And then I punched in Kate’s number.

She picked up on the first ring.

“Hello?” she said in a voice I barely recognized.

“Kate?” I said. “Kate, it’s me.”

There was a long, strange pause, and then I remembered the delay.

“No… Abby, is it really you? Abby, I can’t believe it.”

Tears pooled in my eyes.

“Yes,” I said. “It’s me, Kate. Nathaniel’s letting me talk for just a few minutes.”

“Abby, are you...”

She broke up. At first I thought it was the connection, but then I realized she was crying too.

“I’m okay, Kate. Really. I’m okay.”

I waited, but she was quiet.

“I’m on a five-second delay. They’re monitoring the conversation.”

“It’s so good to hear your voice, Abby,” she said. “Where are you?”

“I’m safe,” I said, hoping she couldn’t tell I was lying. “There’s so much I want to say. But just know that I’m being treated all right.”

There was a long pause.

“Kate?” I said, afraid that we had been cut off.

“I’m here, Abby.” I heard her nasally breathing.

“Please tell everyone that I’m okay. And that I’ll be home soon.”

“I will, Abby. I’ll be sure to let them know. Claire will be so glad. She’s really been worried about you.”

Claire
.

Kate had been in contact with Claire. She must have found her email address on my computer.

This was my chance. I had to try to hook Claire up with Jesse.

“When you talk to her, please thank her again for helping me work through that boy trouble I was having,” I said. “It really helped a lot. He’s trying to get in touch with her to thank her too. Can you tell her?”

There was an extra-long pause and I worried that I had said too much. I inhaled slowly and waited, hoping Kate was still there.

“Sure, Abby,” she said. “I’ll let her know. I told your boss what happened. Everything is waiting for you here. When do you think you’ll be home?”

My insides twisted up like a swing in a windstorm.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Soon, I hope.”

Fat tears ran down my cheeks and fell onto the bed.

“Hang in there, Abby,” Kate said. “I won’t let you down. I love…”

“Kate!” I yelled into the phone. “Kate!”

But it was dead.

I threw the phone down.

Even though the conversation had left me feeling sad, I had to focus on the good.

Kate had talked to Claire.

The fact that they had been in contact might turn out to be the beginning of something big. And now, hopefully, Claire would know that Jesse was trying to reach her. And he knew where I was.

Kate was good at her job, investigating and tracking people down. And Claire was good at what she did, too. Maybe together they could find me.

But I knew it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t just sit around waiting and hoping.

I wiped off my face. The time for tears was over. I had to do everything in my power to get off this island.

CHAPTER 31

Jack glared at me as I walked down the dock and got in the boat. Nathaniel was behind me.

“I thought it was just going to be the two of us,” I said, turning to Nathaniel, squinting in the bright afternoon sun.

“Yes, it will be,” he said. “Jack is just our pilot.”

Any illusions I had had about somehow overpowering Nathaniel and hijacking the boat sank to the bottom of the Sound.

It was clear and cold again. I was glad I was wearing a pea coat. Nathaniel was dressed all in black, as usual. He was even wearing dress shoes.

I saw a picnic basket on the seat next to us.

“Come on, let’s go.”

Jack picked up speed and we circled around to the other side of the island, the wind in my hair. It felt good to be moving, felt good to be leaving the prison. We crossed the open water, heading in the direction of a strip of land in the distance.

“Did you enjoy speaking with your sister?” Nathaniel asked.

“I did. And I was surprised you let me.”

“We had made a deal,” he said. “And even with your kayaking adventure, I felt I needed to hold up my end of the bargain. It was a good conversation then?”

“You would know,” I said, giving him a sideways glance. “You were listening, remember?”

He laughed.

“Yes,” he said. “We were. And you did very well. No cryptic messages that we could hear anyway.”

“Well,” I said. “It meant a lot to me. I appreciate it.”

After that I sat in silence, tucking my chin into the jacket, wondering where we were going. In about 20 minutes we pulled up on a small, rugged island. There didn’t seem to be a house or any people around.

Jack brought the boat to a stop next to an old dock. I could see a path leading up a small bluff.

Nathaniel got out of the boat and turned around toward me, extending his hand.

“Let’s go, Abby,” he said.

I walked past him, slowly through the sand and up the short trail. Nathaniel was at my heels, carrying the basket. Jack stayed with the boat.

We climbed for a while, making our way to the top of the cliff. There was a weathered picnic table sitting back from the rocky edge.

“I wanted you to see this,” Nathaniel said, looking out at the water.

I looked around.

“Nice view,” I said.

He nodded as he took out a bottle of wine and opened it, setting the corkscrew down on the table.

“
Brunello di Montalcino
,” he said, as he handed me a glass. “Quite rare. It comes from Tuscany. Perhaps one day we can travel there together and see how it’s made.”

I took a sip, trying hard to ignore what I thought he was trying to say, trying desperately to ignore the white clouds circling around him like he was Mt. Rainier. The wine tasted of old grapes and death.

I stared out at the Sound. It was beautiful really. The snow-capped peaks of the Northern Cascades in the distance. No end of islands, water all around. So much water. It sent a chill through my body thinking about having been out in all of it in that tiny kayak. It was massive.