INK: Abstraction (35 page)

The phone displays a
photograph of Aiden’s truck surrounded by palmetto bushes
looking pretty rough and blood is visible on the seat, windows and
floor. “Fuck.”

“Fuck is right.”
He blows out a breath. “I’m going to keep Bob on second
chair, but I need you behind the scenes. Can you handle that?”

“Of course, I
need her to be okay. Who’s the prosecutor?” Please God
don’t let it be Rumler.

“Preston put
Rumler on it.” Jason says, wincing.

“Fuck Rumler,
he’s a smug asshole, but he’s good.”

“Did you hear
that Preston is taking a leave of absence?” Jason asks.

“No, why did he
do that?” This isn’t good; Preston at least cares about
her and would see to it that Shay gets a fair trial.

“I’m not
sure, word is there was some pressure from above.” He rolls his
eyes.

“We’ve got
to get her out of there.” I look at him with serious eyes to
drive home the point.

“That’s the
plan. I’m going to request another bail hearing, but we’ve
got work to do. We’ve got a lot of evidence to sift through.
They’ve already started delivering it to the office and Genie
says we’re going to need to bring the dolly up from storage.”
He stands from the chair and buttons his jacket. “So why don’t
you go home, get a shower and meet me at the office and let’s
start going over the evidence. I’ll be meeting with her later
today and I’d like to have some news.” He starts for the
door then turns around. “Any word on Harry?”

“Yeah, he’s
doing okay. They are keeping him for observation.” I look
across the lobby to see the chair Carl was sleeping in empty. I scan
the room for any sign of him or McNab. “They’ll probably
let him out tomorrow.”

“Okay, we’re
going to need him too.” He continues for the door. “See
you in about an hour and half?”

“Sooner.”

Shay

Yeah,
so shit just keeps getting worse. I’ve been in here for a
little over a week. It’s not as bad as in the movies, but their
intake process leaves a great deal to be desired. The shit they use
here in the shower makes me long for a lavender gift basket. I came
from one sense of violation to another and I’m left wondering
if I’m ever going to be able to take a shit alone again. Did I
mention that beige wasn’t my color?

Carl just told me to go
with the flow of everything and not to make waves with the guards or
the inmates. My grand strategy is to shut the fuck up and stay that
way. I’m trying not to wear my grief on my sleeve, but I know
Filson wouldn’t have been able to get things this far if they
didn’t have a strong case and enough evidence to get the grand
jury to indict me for Aiden's murder.

Jason is doing
everything he can to get me out, but the reality is I’m going
to be here for a while. Nothing short of a miracle can help me. I’ll
adapt and cope. Ha, not even I believe that.

The familiar smell of
rotten eggs and death permeates the jail cell. I look upward to where
my cellmate is lying asleep. I'm hoping she doesn’t wake up.
Shit, she’s starting to stir.

In the dark I see only
the outline of her lean over the side of her bed. “Hello there
my love, have you missed me?” It’s him, he’s in
her.

Don’t panic
Shay, just don’t panic. Don’t let him shake you.
“Go
away.”

“Oh my love,
don’t be so cruel. It does pain me so to see you like this,
pent up and unable to come out and play.” His oily voice makes
my stomach turn.

“Go away,”
I hiss, wanting him to just release her.

“It means I have
no choice but to play with your toys while you’re away.”
The Specter, in the body of my cellmate, swings down off the top bunk
and leans down next to me. “You know I have you all to myself.”
He runs his finger down along my jawline affectionately.

Instant sickness hits
me and the powdered eggs, still sitting heavy in my stomach from
breakfast, threaten to come up. “Go away.”

He leans down close to
my ear and breathes heavy into it. “I watched you, I saw you
with him. I want that, I want you to ride me and lose yourself with
me inside you. Won’t you let me inside you?”

I push him away and
stand from my bunk. “I will never be with you.”

The inmate next door
yells out, “Jesus, she’s lonely. Just close your eyes and
pretend it’s your man. Then maybe we can get some sleep.”

A wicked grin spreads
across his borrowed face as he gets close to me again. “Come
on, don’t you want to pretend you’re with him again?”
He pauses when he reaches me. “Because you know you’ll
never be with him again.”

“Leave Eli
alone.” I’m sure that me getting upset at the mere
mention of Eli does nothing for his safety or my sanity. He’s
getting the better of me and I have to not be lured into this
exercise in futility.

He strokes my hair and
looks into my eyes; it’s so strange, it’s as though I can
see Savannah crying inside her own eyes. I look a little deeper.
“That, my love, is where you are wrong. Captain Righteous is
far from Lily-white. He has just as many dark secrets as…me.”

I throw his hands off
me again and push him to the wall. “Don’t you dare touch
him or I’ll cut your fucking throat.”

“Little boy blue
eyes will make quite the trophy.” His grin is sickening and I
want to cut it right off his face.

I inhale a deep breath.
I just assaulted her; if she realizes what I’ve done to her
she’ll be pissed at me. I lay back down on the bed, ignoring
his taunts.

“Eli certainly
misses you now. But for how much longer? How long before another
‘Taffy’ comes into the picture.” He goads me, still
using Savannah’s body and voice. It’s really fucking with
my head.

He’s getting more
agitated the more I ignore him. “Come on, my love, won’t
you play with me?” He kneels down beside the bed and I continue
to stare straight up, not acknowledging him. He puts his hand on my
belly and runs it up to my breast. This is so wrong on so many
levels. I’m trying to push away the feeling of violation. All I
want to do is kick him away from me. But I don’t want to hurt
Savannah. I can’t win.

“Or maybe I could
just have a little fun with her.” His hands move to his own
breasts, and he moans at the pleasure of his own touch. Good, at
least he’s not touching me. “Or, I could have my kind of
fun.” He reaches deep under her mattress and pulls out a
makeshift knife and holds it to her throat.

This
has my
attention; I can’t let him hurt her. I don’t care why
Savannah’s here, she doesn’t deserve this. “Just
leave. I’m not going to do anything while I’m in here. If
you’re so eager to play, why don’t you do something to
get me out?”

“Is that all I
have to do, get you out of here?” he asks curiously.

“Yeah, I’m
not going to play in here. Kill her. But you’ll never really
get anything from me. I’m going to do whatever it takes to be
good and get out as soon as I can. If you’re going to be the
one to keep me in here, I won’t ever come out and play,”
I say, raising my eyebrows to drive the point home, hoping that he
hears the promise but not the emptiness of it.

Savannah collapses to
the ground and the Specter’s form disappears into a puff of
smoke. It’s the same every night and a couple of times a day.
Savannah is startled awake. “What the fuck? How did I end up
down here?” she asks, rubbing the back of her head.

“You were
sleepwalking again. We should consider switching bunks, it might be
safer.” And I might stop banging my damn head.

Savannah climbs back
into her bunk. “Nice try, Shay, but I prefer top.”

“Yeah, yeah, go
to sleep.”

***

I’ve been able to
open the portal to the void a few times now. I know I could go
through, but the last thing I need is to have a random bed check
while I’m off fighting evil. As soon as I’m out of here,
I’m going in and I’m going to kill him. Put an end to
this.

On schedule, thoughts
of Aiden come wafting through my mind. I know Eli is working day and
night trying to get me out. Truth is, Aiden is the only one that can
actually make it happen. I miss him. I really miss him.

Even though I’ve
made my choice and want to be with Eli, I don’t want Aiden to
be dead. It isn’t even that I want him near, but I want him to
be okay. I’d love to learn of an alternate reality where he’s
very happy somewhere, in love with a beautiful woman who can love him
how he needs to be loved. How I was never able to.

With my eyes closed I
focus on my thoughts of Aiden. I’ve been doing this every
night. In some ways it helps me feel closer to him. Even if he’s
gone he’ll know I’m reaching out to him. I picture his
face, imagine his smell, it’s all so real. I just chant over
and over, “I need you Aiden. I need you.”

Shay

“Baynes,
visiting time.” The guard calls out to me in the common room.

I’m a little
surprised; Jason said he wasn’t coming back for a few more
days, that he’d brief me before our next hearing. When I reach
the guard by the door I smile and joke, “I hope this is good,
I’ve only seen this episode of
The Cosby Show
twice.”

Officer Morin, the only
guard who for whatever reason doesn’t hate me, says, “You’re
funny. I like that, Baynes.”

She escorts me to the
video room where I sit and smile for the camera, pretending that
everything’s great. I have to keep a good face for Eli. I know
he’s doing all he can. I haven’t told him about the
Specter’s nightly visits. But Carl knows.

The image that appears
on the screen shocks the hell out of me. “Trish?”

She hangs her head and
her blond bangs fall into her eyes. “Hey honey.” She
forces a smile, but something more than that is out of place. She’s
wearing her fashionable scarf as always, but with sweats and a
t-shirt.

I’m not sure why
she’s here; I mean, our last exchange wasn’t exactly
pleasant. She hasn’t spoken to me since the school bus
incident. “What are you doing here?” It comes out
accusatory even though I don’t mean it to.

“I, um, I just
wanted to see you.” She looks down, picking at her nails. “I
also wanted to apologize.”

“For what?”
I’m completely taken by surprise.

She looks up at the
camera a few times then starts. “You were right about Billy, or
Bailey. Whatever the fuck his name was.”

Okay, double whoa,
Trish doesn’t apologize. Trish doesn’t admit wrongdoing,
ever. I’m silenced by my shock and only look at the screen
wondering if this is some kind of sleight of hand. I mean, maybe
that’s not really her on the other side. “Um, I don’t
know what to say.”

“Just say you’ll
accept my apology,” she pleads.

“I do.” I’m
actually feeling humbled. “Of course I do.” I'm compelled
to want to hug her, even though that's not how we roll, but it seems
like she needs it.

“There’s
more though.” She shifts in her seat and drops her gaze again.

“Did something
happen?” Bailey threatened to hurt Eli once. Oh God, if he
touched a beautiful black hair on Eli's head I’ll fucking kill
him. “Trish, did Bailey do something to Eli?”

She shakes her head and
looks up with tears in her eyes. “No, Eli’s fine. But,
before Bailey left he was sure to let me in on a few secrets.”
She’s trembling at the fear of the memory.

“What is it
Trish? I only have forty-five minutes.”

“Bailey was the
one who kidnapped you.” She can’t look me in the eye when
she says it.

“No, Glass
kidnapped me. Not Bailey,” I protest. Having something other
than what I thought to be true, than what I saw, would erode the
small foundation of sanity I had left.

“He told me he
did. Then I found a notebook. He mapped everything out in the book,
including dropping you in Glass’ shed.” She begins to
sob. “I’m so sorry Shay, and it was my fault. He knew
everything about you because I told him. Looking back, he was asking
me so many questions about you all the time and I didn’t think
about it, I just didn’t put two and two together.” She
covers her eyes and folds over crying. “He’s also the one
who killed Kevin.”

“What?” I’m
stunned and sit back in the chair. An entire boulder of a revelation
has been dropped on me.

Trish is sobbing and
can’t continue. Carl leans down and looks into the camera
apologetically. He puts his hand on her shoulder. “It’s
okay, why don’t you go clean yourself up? I’ll tell her
the rest.”

Trish looks at the
screen again and presses out a smile. “Love you hun, I’ll
be back to see you soon.”

“’Kay
babe, love you too.” Hearing all of that from Trish has left me
completely unnerved. My mind is totally blown and all I want to do is
find Bailey and choke the last breath out of him. He killed Kevin.

Carl sits in the chair.
“Hey now, darlin’, you need to calm down.”

“Carl, what the
fuck?” I lean into the camera. “Bailey? Honestly, I’m
telling you as God is my witness Glass took me. Not Bailey.”

“Listen, I’m
certain Bailey was involved, we just don’t know how much.
There’s nothing we can do right now. Just calm down, I have
business.”

I employ one of the
breathing techniques Carl taught me. “Fine.”

“Good, now let’s
get down to business.” He leans into the camera. “Have
you been meditating?”

“Yes sir, all
damn day. It’s not as though my social schedule is full. I’m
not real popular amongst the cheerleaders.” I roll my eyes.

“Have you been
able to repel the Specter? Is he still coming to you?” I know
he's full of anticipation that I've been able to somehow grow as a
Specter repelant while I've been in here.

“To a point, I’ve
not been able to make him go away every night, but remember I’m
not in the land of privacy here and I’m scared to death I’m
going to set something on fire or accidentally electrocute myself.”