INK: Abstraction (16 page)

“Today, then
they’ll get a treatment plan in place.”

“Well, she’s
going to need some therapy. You should look into one of the victim’s
groups we recommend to our clients. I’ll have Genie email you a
list,” he offers.

“That would be
helpful, if she’ll go.” It remains to be seen what this
has done for her stubbornness.

“Let’s try
to meet tomorrow; I’ll have Genie set up some time in the
afternoon.” I can hear his keyboard clicking. “I gotta
go, I have a meeting in five.”

“Talk to you
tomorrow.” I push the button on the display and blow out a
breath. There’s so much to consider and worry about. How are we
going to get her better? How am I going to convince her that she
needs to come home with me? Now that I actually think Glass was
involved in this, she’s in so much more danger than we
originally thought.

How do I protect her
from all of this? The murder charges are the least of our worries.
Now we have to worry about a crazy cop coming after her again. I run
my fingers through my hair and think how easy it would be to stop
somewhere and have a quick drink. Maybe it’s just because I’m
passing the Cold Keg right now. Just keep driving, Eli.

“No one would
ever know.” A whisper fills the car along with a foul stench.

“What the fuck?”
I look around, concerned that there’s someone in the backseat.

“You can have a
drink. Who would know?” The voice sparks the memory of the time
at the house when everything was chaotic; it’s the same voice.

“I would know.”
I say it out loud more to reaffirm it to myself.

“Yes, but you are
the only one.”

I swerve into the left
lane and do a U-turn and pull into the parking lot of the bar. I sit
in the car gripping the steering wheel for what feels like hours. I
want more than anything to feel the burn of whiskey down my throat.

“Yes, it would
burn so nicely going down.” The voice tempts me. “It
would wash away all of the pain and worry.”

My knuckles clutching
the steering wheel are white. I bellow, “Get out of my head.”

“I’ll leave
when you’re good and drunk.”

His voice, his words
echo in my mind. “Good and drunk.”

“No, not today,
not right now.” She needs me. She needs to know that I can be
here for her one hundred percent. I look at the sign in the rearview
mirror and lament as it gets smaller and smaller until it disappears
in the distance.

When I get to the
hospital, I sit in the car for a good long while contemplating what
I’m going to tell her about the shed. I know how careful I need
to be with her. She’s so fragile she could break at the
smallest thing. Hell, I feel like I’m about to break. There’s
movement in the rearview mirror that catches my eye. Some guy is just
standing at the back of my car. This seems off.

“Hey, how are
you?” He won’t make eye contact, which raises even more
red flags.

“I’m good,
you?” He just stands there staring at me.

“I’m okay.”
For minute I feel like he’s going to fuck with my car. “Can
I help you with something?”

“No, just
waiting,” he answers with his hands in pockets.

“What are you
waiting for?”

“A call,”
he says and starts to whistle.

“Okay, well I
hope it comes soon.” I’m going to have to let the
security cameras do their job. If he fucks with my car then so be it.
I push the button on the key and the car chirps, indicating the alarm
is set.

In the hospital lobby
the elevator door is closing as I approach it. “Hold the
elevator please.” But it closes anyway. Asshole. I push the
button and wait.

“Hey Eli.”
Harry’s voice comes from behind.

“Harry, I’m
glad you’re here.”

“What’s
up?” he asks.

“I went to Glass’
house.”

“And?”

I look around and lead
him to the seating area. This is going to take a minute. We each take
a seat, and I lean closer to him. “Harry, I think Glass was
involved in her abduction.” I can’t believe I’m
saying this out loud. It doesn’t matter how insane this sounds,
I have to tell him.

Harry looks at me,
loaded with disappointment, like how could I have drunk the Kool-Aid.
“Eli, that’s a very serious allegation.” He presses
his lips together in a thin line. Now I have a front row seat of how
Shay feels, with people always questioning her.

“Harry, there’s
a shed on Glass’ property. It looks just like the one she
drew.” I pull out the drawing and hand it to him.

“Well, that
doesn’t really prove anything. I mean, how many people have
that very same metal manufactured shed in their back yard?” he
asks, handing me back the picture.

It strikes me as odd
that Harry knew it was a manufactured shed. That wasn’t
my
first thought when I saw Shay’s drawing. I had to see it before
I could tell it was one of those prefabs from the builder’s
supply store. I look him hard in the eye for an indication of what’s
going on. He returns the look.

“You went there,
didn’t you?” I ask him point blank.

“Yes I did. Just
because there’s a shed doesn’t mean that Glass was
involved. Like I said, there are thousands of those prefab sheds.”
He stands with purpose and moves toward the elevator.

“Harry, did you
look inside?” He pauses with his back to me.

“Yes.”

“What did you
see?” There is something seriously wrong here.

He turns around,
impatient with me. “Nothing.”

How is it possible he
didn’t come to the same conclusion I did? That Glass cleaned it
to get rid of the evidence. “And you didn’t find that
strange?”

“Eli, Glass
couldn’t have been involved. He already has an alibi and he’s
a cop for Christ’s sake.” His face twists with anger and
his temple throbs.

“What’s
gotten into you? You were once a good detective. I don’t see
how you could possibly be missing the obvious. He cleaned it; you
could smell the cleaning solution and bleach in the air. That right
there is enough for me to believe her.” I stand, meeting
Harry’s eyes.

He steps closer to me
and in a low threatening tone says, “Eli, you need to back off
from this.”

I stand there stunned
as he walks toward the elevator.
What the fuck was that
?

He gets on and doesn’t
hold it for me. Just as well, I’m completely blown away by his
warning. How could he not want to nail Glass for doing this to her?

I catch the next
elevator and ponder how I’m going to handle things when I get
up there. Obviously talking to her about it with him there isn’t
a good idea. He’s just going to make her even crazier with his
doubt. She can’t handle that right now. I contemplate not going
in, just spending some time in the office for a few hours and calling
before I come back. I’m going to have to face him some time,
and now is as good a time as any.

The guards at her door
nod at me as I enter the room. Shay and Carl are laughing at
something. Hysterically. I’m concerned that she’s
becoming manic.

Her face lights up even
brighter when she sees me come through the door. “Eli, you’re
back.”

My insides warm knowing
that smile is for me. “Yeah, it’s nice to hear you
laughing.” I look at Carl for an indication that she’s
had some sort of mental break. He glances at me and sniggers.

“It’s nice
to
be
laughing.” The corners of her mouth slightly
upturn while she tugs on my tie playfully.

The restroom door is
open and Harry is nowhere in the room. “Where’s your
dad?”

“Not sure. I
haven’t seen him since this morning,” she answers.

That’s weird.
“Really? I saw him down in the lobby and assumed that he was
coming up here.”

“Nope, maybe he
had something else to take care of.” She settles deeper into
the bed.

“Maybe.”
This is all very odd. First the weird standoff with Glass, then the
argument with Harry; this day is just getting stranger by the minute.

Shay’s expression
darkens. “What are we going to do about Glass?”

“I honestly don’t
know. It’s going to be a tough sell, and I’m afraid that
he’s obliterated all evidence that you were ever there.”
It’s best to omit Glass’ thinly veiled threat to shoot
me.

“There was no
evidence?” She seems offended by my words.

“There was
nothing, it was completely empty.” I want to hold her, wrap my
arms around her and protect her from the truth of what I just said.

“So you don’t
believe me.” She shifts back in the bed, defeated.

“On the contrary,
I absolutely believe you.” I pick up her hand.

“Really?”
Her brow wrinkles with hope.

“Absolutely,
seeing the shed convinced me. Seeing the shed empty made me sure,”
I tell her, feeling ashamed that I ever doubted her.

She throws her arms
around my neck. “Thank you for going, Eli. Thank you. Now we
can nail that fucker.”

Carl steals a glance in
my direction. He seems to know where this is heading and that she’s
going to be disappointed. I relish in the feeling of her arms around
me and her breath on my neck. To have her this close is bliss. But
I’m risking it all coming crashing down. She needs to hear the
truth. “It’s not that simple.”

Her body tenses. “What
do you mean?”

“He’s
cleaned the entire scene, I doubt there is any evidence left behind.
He was using some serious industrial cleaners. My eyes were burning
while I was standing outside the shed.”

“So he’s
gonna get away with this?” Outrage is carried in her volume.
She shifts her gaze back and forth between Carl and me.

“I hope not. But
your father’s right, it’s going to be difficult to get
him without solid evidence,” I explain. “Simply having
cleaned the shed doesn’t make him guilty.”

“Well, what about
the fact that he’s apparently got an empty shed that’s
been scrubbed with industrial cleaners and what about my drawings?”
she demands.

“For all the same
reasons we couldn’t convict you with the drawings, we won’t
be able to convict
him
.” I hang my head with the
impotence of this whole situation. I feel so powerless to protect or
help her.

“So that’s
it. That motherfucker can get away with this? He can do
this
to me and just keep walking the streets?” She motions to the
cuts on her skin. “He’s had it in for me since the word
‘go,’ and now that he can’t get me legally, he’s
kidnapped me, tortured me and tried to kill me. That’s really
fucking nice, Eli, really nice.” I can see the veins in her
neck pulsing. I need to calm her down.

“No, we’re
going to get him.” I pull her head into my chest.

“Fuck you, Eli.
You’re spouting words you don’t even believe. How are you
going to get him?” she demands, tugging away from me.

“Shay, honey,
this isn’t over. We just have to figure out how we’re
going to make it happen.” I try to reassure her, but she can
see through my doubt.

“Don’t you
dare ‘Shay, honey’ me.” She sucks in a deep breath,
looking away. “What about my eyewitness account? I
saw
him, he was there.”

“Yes, I know you
saw him. I
believe
that you did. I know he’s the one who
kidnapped you. The problem is you are a suspect in crimes he’s
been investigating, so you are the one with the strongest motive in
this case, not Glass.” I pace across the room. “I’m
going to figure this out, we just need to be careful.”

“Careful.”
The word falls from her mouth heavy with disgust. “I wish
someone could have told that to Nigel.”

Her words ring in my
head, leaving me feeling woozy. “What about Nigel?”

Carl’s expression
clouds with worry. “What do you mean, Shay?”

“I had a
nightmare while I was there, blindfolded.” Her words trail off
with her attention. She gets lost in the memory.

To close the gap
between us I sit on the bed. “What happened in the dream?”

Her attention snaps
back to me, and her eyes widen when she begins to speak while she's
flipping through her sketchbook. “It was Nigel, he was in the
shed. But I didn’t know it then, hadn’t seen it yet.”
She inhales a deep breath to fortify herself, fighting back tears or
fear, maybe both. She hands me the pad. “He was…”
She stops and buries her head in my chest to hide her tears.

“It’s okay
babe, it’s going to be okay.” I stroke her hair and look
down at her battered body, the cuts on her arms, legs and neck. I’m
immediately incensed and want to kill Glass with my bare hands for
doing this to her. “Shhh.”

“It’s not
okay, he left me. He died and I heard his last breath.” Shay's
voice is so quiet I can barely hear her.

“You don’t
know it was Nigel.” Carl moves closer to the bed.

“I do know, but
it doesn’t matter who it was, because for a brief time we were
companions. Two lambs for the slaughter slated to die and for some
reason I survived. He wasn’t so lucky.” She looks from me
to Carl. “Or was he?”

“Don’t talk
like that.” I gently put my hands on her shoulders and look her
in the eye. “I need you,
we
need you. Without you nobody
can stop what’s happening.”

“Darlin’,
your work here isn’t done yet. You’ve got a long road
ahead of things you need to do. There are a lot of people who need
you,” Carl reassures her.

“I’m not
feeling very useful right now. I was right there and I couldn’t
save him.” The culpability looks like it has taken up residence
in her soul. She feels responsible for this, all of this, and somehow
we have to convince her that it isn’t her fault.

“You would have
if you could.” I pull her into me again. I’m not sure if
it’s to comfort her or to hide the haunted look in her eyes
that rips a hole through me. For the first time I glance at the
sketch pad, and Jesus this is disturbing. Little wonder Glass used
enough bleach to whiten the concrete in that shed.