Hunted (41 page)

She was…she was locked away, safe and sound, while her father, Kyle, and Gretchen were out there…fighting for their lives.  Swiping at the tears sliding down her cheeks, Lanie went back to the cot, sat down and waited…

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

Lanie watched the daylight slowly fade through the little window high up on the cell wall, eventually turning into darkness.  Lying on the lumpy cot, she dozed off and on, but the silence was so severe it was hard to sleep for more than a few minutes.  The stillness was pressing on her ears, making her every heartbeat sound like a shotgun blast.

Besides, how could she sleep when Gretchen was out there somewhere?  How could she sleep when she knew her aunt might be in pain, or afraid, or…worse? 

As the night stretched endlessly onward, Lanie found it impossible to keep her thoughts away from what might be happening outside the cell she was in and the more she thought about it, the more terrified she became.  She was terrified for her father and his deputies.  Terrified for her Kyle.  She was beyond terrified for her aunt, but she tried not to focus on Gretchen because her mind dredged up all sorts of heinous scenarios and it was enough to make her sick.

Eventually feeling as if she might be going mad, she got to her feet and paced around the cell and when she got tired of pacing, there was nothing for her to do but go back and lie down on the cot again.  And so her night went.  She wallowed in terror, paced around like a caged animal, and then went back to her cot to wallow some more. 

Lanie was relieved when daylight returned outside her window.  Though, the daylight didn’t change anything.  She was still sitting in a tiny jail cell while everyone she cared about was out there someplace, facing a monster, putting their lives in danger.  She should be out there with them.  In fact, she should be the one Frederik was doing unspeakably horrible things to, not Gretchen.

Maybe the smart thing to do would be to hand her over.  Maybe once Frederik had her, he would move on to some other town and Fells Pointe would be safe again.

After another full hour of wallowing in misery and worry, Lanie heard the muffled sound of the first steel door being opened and a few seconds later, the door to the cell-block swung noisily open and Deputy Sterling appeared.

“I brought you some food, Lanie,” the young man told her, crossing the space and coming over to unlock her cell.

“Can I use the bathroom?” she asked, not wanting to give herself that bit of relief not knowing what her aunt might be going through, but her body was telling her that if she didn’t while she had the chance, she would be in trouble.

“Well, there’s a bathroom behind the partition there,” Deputy Sterling said, pointing to the half wall at the end of the space.  “Here’s your breakfast and some magazines and crossword puzzles.”

Lanie took the two plastic bags being offered to her and placed them onto the cot before turning back to Roger Sterling.  “Where’s my dad?” she asked, her voice breaking.  “Is he okay?  Have you seen Kyle?”

“They’re out there taking care of business,” Roger told her with an awkward smile.  “I just talked to Sam a few minutes ago, so you don’t need to worry.”

“They haven’t found Gretchen yet?” she asked, trying to keep her chin from quivering.

“Not yet, but they’re looking.  We’ve gotten a few tips from the news conference last night and we’re checking them out,” the young man stated.  “We’ll find her, you can bet on it.”

“When will I get to talk to my dad?” she wondered, a desperate image of herself charging at Deputy Sterling and wrestling his card key from him flashing through her mind.

“He’ll talk to you soon.  Meantime, I’m leaving your cell unlocked so you can do your business.  But, I’ll be back in a while to check on you,” he assured her and with another awkward smile, left the cell block, the door clanging shut behind him.

Lanie nodded, waiting to hear the second steel door close before she hurried to do her business.  That weight off her, she returned to her open cell and sat on the bunk to eat her breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, and hash-rounds, which had come from Katy’s Korner.  But, it was useless.  She couldn’t touch a bite of it.  Just looking at the food made her stomach turn.  How could she eat when her aunt was out there someplace, alone and scared?  Maybe Gretchen was starving or needed something to drink, but she couldn’t have anything. 

That thought had her pushing the Styrofoam container away from her and getting to her feet.  On a whim, she walked out of her cell and over to the steel door, just to make sure it was really locked.  It was.  So, she went back to her cell and started flipping through magazines, which were all six months old, but there was nothing else to do but worry, so she had no choice. 

She was given some lunch and then dinner, none of which she actually ate, and spent the hours in between wandering around the empty cell-block trying not to think about all the terrible things that might be happening to her dad or Gretchen or Kyle.

She didn’t want to think about it because she couldn’t help.  She was trapped, locked up like some sort criminal even though she hadn’t done a single thing wrong, except turning to her dad for help. 

She knew her dad was just trying to keep her safe.  He thought locking her away until things were sorted out would keep her alive, but at that moment in time, she hated him for it!  She could have been out there trying to find Gretchen, she could have been helping!  She didn’t care if Frederik got his hands on her!  At least she would have died like a woman instead of hiding in a concrete bunker like a sniveling coward! 

The sun set again and Lanie spent another restless night wallowing in a fog of fear and misery, a misery made worse by the fact that she hadn’t heard from her dad.  Not a word.  She’d asked Deputy Sterling what was happening when he brought her meals in, but he would only say that things were fine and not to worry, which actually made her worry even harder.

Daylight again broke outside the window and Lanie was left to wait for Deputy Sterling to bring her breakfast and hopefully news of what was happening outside the concrete walls surrounding her. But, Deputy Sterling didn’t come in with her breakfast.  And when the clock, which was wrapped in a wire cage, came to the noon hour, he didn’t show up with lunch, either. 

And then fear set in.  Cold, stark fear. 

Something bad had happened.  It was obvious that something bad had happened, otherwise Deputy Sterling would have come in with her meals. 

Frederik had killed everyone.  She just knew it.  Frederik had killed everyone, her father, Gretchen, and probably Kyle, too.  He’d killed everyone she cared about and now…he was going to be coming after her.  Could he enter a police station?  Yes, of course he could.  Kyle had entered the building without a problem.  Could Frederik get through steel doors and iron bars?

Not that it mattered.  If he’d killed her aunt, her father, and Kyle, then she might as well be dead, too.  Although, she did not want to end up like Frederik, a monster and a murderer.  If it came down to that, she’d kill herself before she let Frederik bite her and turn her into a monster. 

Of course, trapped in the cell-block of the police station, she realized there were no ready weapons for her to use to end her life, nothing at all that would cut or stab or slice.  And then she realized, as she was searching for something that she might possibly use to slice her wrists open, that only a week ago she was busy planning all the Homecoming activities with her friends and now…she wanted to kill herself to avoid becoming a vampire’s mate. 

It didn’t make sense.  It would never make sense.

By the time daylight began to fade again, Lanie was absolutely certain that something had gone terribly wrong.  Otherwise, someone would have come to the cellblock by now.  Her mind was throwing up all sorts of horrendous scenarios involving her father and Kyle and possibly most of the residents of Fells Pointe.  Images of people running for their lives and buildings set ablaze and in the middle of it all, a blood thirsty monster killing anyone he could get his hands on.

Lanie spent hours pacing around the cell-block, hours lost in a fog of terror, hours listening to the dead silence pressing on her ears and wishing she could just claw her way out through the concrete walls. 

As darkness fell yet again and she was on the verge of actually trying to beat her way through the steel door using nothing but her fists, a sound fell on her ears.  Lanie’s heart lept up into her throat and she stopped pacing, straining to hear.  Barely a breath later, the building was filled with a loud crash that echoed through Lanie’s skull and tore a shriek from her throat and she instantly knew that someone had broken through the first steel door. 

Frederik!  Oh God!  Frederik was coming for her! 

Fear, sharp and cold, gripped Lanie and she spun on her heel, wildly glancing around for a way out or at least for a weapon she could use to keep herself from falling into Frederik’s hands, but there was nothing she could do!  She was trapped and completely defenseless!

With no other option left open to her, Lanie rushed back into her cell and slammed the door shut behind her, knowing it was a feeble attempt, but at least it would stall Frederik for a few seconds.  It would give her a few more seconds of life before she became…like him. 

With her breath held and her heart hammering hard in her chest, Lanie barely had time to put herself against the farthest wall of her cell before an explosion of sound echoed through the small cell-block, tearing a scream from her throat and forcing her hands up over her ears.

“Lanie!” a familiar voice suddenly growled out and Lanie whipped around toward it.

Kyle!  Kyle was there, outside the cell, alive and well!  Frederik hadn’t killed him! 

“Lanie, are you alright?” he asked her, his gaze sliding over the iron bars separating them. 

“I-I…I’m…I don’t know,” she half sobbed, rushing over to the cell door, her legs feeling weak from the sheer relief of seeing Kyle Vincent’s ruggedly handsome face and not the twisted face of a monster.

Kyle reached through the bars and took her hands in his, his green eyes swirling with darkness.  “I have to get you out of here,” he said roughly.

“What’s happened?  Where’s my dad?” she asked, fear swelling up inside her, pushing the air out of her lungs.

“He’s…he’ll be fine,” Kyle answered.  “Stand back.”

Lanie felt her heart drop into her stomach as she let go of Kyle’s cold hands and backed away from the cell door.  Jaw set, Kyle grasped the bars next to the hinges, set his feet on the floor, and gave a hard tug.  The iron hinges screamed so loudly that Lanie had to cover her ears to try and stifle the sound.  Kyle gave another hard tug, straining against the bars, and again the hinges screamed in protest.  But, with a loud, reverberating clamor that shook Lanie’s insides, they suddenly gave way and the door was pulled open. 

With another sob, Lanie was throwing herself at Kyle, realizing what an inept attempt she’d made by locking herself into the cell.  If it
had
been Frederik, the iron bars wouldn’t have stalled him for more than a second.  “What’s happened to my dad?” she asked as Kyle wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight.

“Frederik…had a go at him, but he’s okay.  He’s with Deputy Sterling at the Town Hall.”

Lanie’s mind began whirling.  “Tell me what’s going on!  What’s happened!  Where’s Frederik?  Did you find Gretchen?” she fired the questions at Kyle as quickly as they jumped into her mind. 

“We haven’t found Gretchen yet, but we did find Frederik’s lair.  And we almost had him,” Kyle said in a tight, bitter tone.  “
I
almost had him, Lanie.  I-I…I stalled…” Kyle’s voice trailed off then and Lanie looked up at him, finding a slightly confused expression on his handsome face.  He didn’t say anything else, but instead lifted her up into his arms and settled her against his chest. 

“Where are we going?” she questioned hoarsely.

“I think I shook Frederik, so I’m taking you home.  You’ll be safe inside your house,” he told her.

“No!  I need to get to my dad!” Lanie argued, but it was too late.

A jolt went through her and they were streaking out of the cell-block and then out of the building.  The wind was screaming past her and the cold biting into her, forcing her to press her face against his shoulder.  Anger surged through Lanie and even as she was being raced through the night she decided that she was going to get to her dad, no matter what.   

Without warning, Lanie felt herself leaving Kyle’s arms and then she was hurtling through the air like a rag doll.  Barely before she could open her mouth to scream, her body crashed against something hard, knocking the breath out of her and sending darkness washing over her.