There's an Invisible Man Sleeping in My Bed

Chapter 50

            Thalia’s eyes went to the man whose hand was covering her mouth. His eyes were darting around the room, and when she glanced at her other captor, she found his gaze doing the same. She looked at MacQueen last, watching as he took a step closer so that he was only a few feet in front of her.

            “Really Ms. Quinn, we didn’t want to be this forceful, but you’ve left us with little choice. Now, won’t you call the spirit here? We very much would like to speak to him.”

            Her eyes widened and Thalia fought against the faint tremor she could feel sweeping through her body. The way MacQueen ran his fingers over the odd, tube-shaped pendant he’d pulled out from under his shirt had her back up, and for no reason she could identify. Even more worrisome was the vacuum-gun hybrid looking thing one of the men had strapped to his back. Thalia could only imagine it was something they intended to use against Colt.

            So while the hand over the lower half of her face was slowly pulled away, she said nothing, only strained her ears. She was rewarded a few moments later by the peeping sound of a bird’s alarm. Thalia screamed again, her cry was cut off as the hand was reapplied.

            MacQueen shook his head, his forehead wrinkled with annoyance. “This has to stop, Ms. Quinn. It won’t help you and is on-”

            The stamping sound of running footsteps interrupted him, followed by the bang as the front door was slammed into the wall. The six of them froze into a tableau, only their heads moving to see who it was who’d entered.

            Dark blue shirts overlaid with black, with black gloved hands around the black gun held straight out and pointing at them, the two cops had their eyes locked on the men in front of them. “Stop, police! Don’t any of you move!”

            Thalia nearly sagged with relief at the sight of them. MacQueen shifted forward slightly, causing one of the officers to point his weapon at the man. “Don’t move!”

            “We can explain this…unfortunate looking situation,” he said, a smile glued onto his face.

            “Release the girl,” the other cop said, her eyes narrowed as she glared at Thalia’s captors.

            “This is actually part of a practice we’re doing,” MacQueen continued.

            “We received a report of screams coming from this house from a nearby payphone and another about a girl being attacked in her house, specifying this address. Let the girl go, now. Our backup is already on its way,” the first officer said.

            As if his words had summoned it, Thalia could hear sirens approaching, the sound causing hope to rise in her chest. But she did her best to leave the fear on her face. The more terrified she looked, the worse it would be for the Builders.

“This is a misunderstanding,” MacQueen said, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. The sound of cars screeching to a halt overlaid his words, making him hard to hear.

            “We won’t ask you again,” the female cop said. “Let the girl go.”

            Slamming car doors and hurried footsteps announced the arrival of more police. With the addition of four more officers and their drawn guns, MacQueen visibly hesitated for a moment, before nodding at the men still holding Thalia.

            As soon as she felt their grips on her loosening, Thalia pulled away. She stumbled briefly, but caught herself, hurrying around the line of officers that filled her front hall. Only when she was behind them did she allow herself to sag against the wall, her breath coming in hard pants, surprising her. Thalia hadn’t realized how truly afraid she’d been.

            Finally allowing the full force of the fear and panic she’d been feeling to hit her, Thalia could feel tears begin to well up and slide down her cheeks. A gentle touch on her shoulder had her jerking to look up. His face creased with concern, one of the officers was studying her. Just behind him she could see the first two officers snapping handcuffs on the first two Builders while their fellows kept guns aimed at the men. Each metallic click of the cuffs closing made her feel safer.

            She refocused on the cop in front of her, finding him still looking at her. “Are you alright?”

            Thalia opened her mouth, but found she couldn’t speak for the sobs that shoved their way out of her. It was as if, now that she was safe, her body was breaking down every barrier she’d put up against her emotions. She began to shake as she nodded, still crying.

            He patted her shoulder, looking awkward as her tears continued to fall. It was the second hand, this one gently touching her back that gave her something to focus on, helping her slow her sobs. With the officer so close to them, Thalia knew that Colt didn’t dare speak, but the hand he had rubbing her back was more than comforting enough.

            Within a few minutes, she felt she could speak. She rubbed at her eyes before turning to the cop. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

            He shook his head. “You have nothing to apologize for. Can you tell me what happened?”

            Thalia nodded. “They kept banging on my door, telling me to let them in. When I said I’d call 911, they broke in and grabbed me. I…I tried to get away, but I couldn’t. This is the second time someone’s broken into my house! I just want them to leave me alone.”

            The officer’s eyebrows rose. “Second time?”

            “The first time I scared them off with traps. It was in the middle of the night. I filed a police report.”

            He watched his fellows march the Builders out of the house before turning back to her. “Let’s discuss the rest of this outside, okay? The others will have questions too, and then you won’t have to go over it as many times.”

            She nodded a third time, letting the officer take her elbow and steer her out the door, Colt holding her free hand. She could only hope that their plan had worked as well as it appeared to have.