My Father's House

Chapter 12

I rubbed my temples, massaging an oncoming headache. This feeling of uselessness that came over me at times like this was torturous. I tried to think of something I could do. I remembered my underlying goal to escape. In all likelihood, the two would soon be preoccupied with each other. This could be my only chance. I pushed myself away from the wall and forced my wobbly legs to the curtain. More than anything, I wanted to just wait in the dressing room. I pushed the curtain aside, looking out tentatively. To the left, the store was filled with customers. Nothing seemed out of place. On my right side, I noticed a storage room, dark but silent. There was a back door at the far end of the room, but one or both of them could be in there.

Closing the curtain, I chewed absently on the side of my thumb nail. What if I were to just walk through the store? As crazy as it sounded, I couldn't help but think it may be my best chance of escape. I took one more cautious peak both ways before ducking out to walk briskly through the store. Once outside, I could hardly believe my good fortune. In front of the store sat a taxi. I knocked on the passenger side window and the driver rolled it down.

"Are you with the bloke that rang for a taxi?" the man said in a thick British accent. He glared at me suspiciously. I could still see remnants of his desert on his mustache. No doubt he was eager to return to his snack.

"That's me!" I ducked into the taxi. I tried to keep it simple. The more lies I told, the harder it would be to keep them straight. "But it's just me. He couldn't make it."

"Now listen lady, you can't just go and steal..." My door opened again and Kael poked his head in.

"Perfect." He indicated with his head that I should move over. Great. I slid into the other seat as I finished my self-barrage. My first escape attempt was so covert, he didn't even know that it had happened. Kael slid in beside me and shut the door. I noticed what appeared to be blood splatters on his shirt before he pulled a newly acquired jacket over them. I started to see gray spots in my vision, but rubbed my face, trying to focus. I had to continue the charade that I was intent on blindly following him. Apparently, it didn't pay to be on his bad side. I wondered if the blood was Madeline's. His early injury was on the opposite side of his abdomen. I shuddered, disgusted by them both.

When the driver had his directions from Kael and pulled onto the street, I decided to satisfy my curiosity. "Where's Madeline?"

He glanced up at the taxi driver. He was singing softly along to the radio, oblivious to our conversation. "She won't be coming behind us." He kept his voice low. I knew his lack of detail was for the driver's benefit, but I hardly caught what he said. I nodded, looking out the window.

With the wedges off, I settled in for the drive. I was glad we were at least safe for now. If he didn't want to talk, I wouldn't press him this time. It gave me more time to strategize. I had a new appreciation for Garrett's incessant planning. Garrett. I wondered what he was doing now. He probably sat in a police station, giving exhaustive descriptions of my appearance. While I didn't miss his constant prodding, I knew it wasn't fair to him to have to spend all this time worried that I was kidnapped or dead. The former wasn't far from true. We rode in silence for at least an hour with only the radio - and taxi driver - providing background music. I guessed it to be around midnight when we stopped at a gas station to refuel. When the driver left, I expected a quick update on Madeline's status. 

Silence.

"Is she dead?" I couldn't help asking across the dark back seat. Her status wouldn't affect my planning, but I still wanted to know.

I couldn't see Kael's face, but his head fell back against the back of his seat. "No. She's relaying a message for me."

"How do you know she won't follow us?" His plan wasn't reassuring. "What message?"

"Harper..."

"Why won't you tell me!?" I was so tired and angry I almost couldn't breathe. More than anything, I wanted someone to come into this horrible nightmare and rescue me or give me a shred of an escape plan. As much as I prided myself on my independence, at this moment, I wanted someone to help me.

As if reading my thoughts, Kael said, "Just let me take care of this."

Groaning with frustration, I pulled my legs up under me. As I studied the outline of him, an idea came to me. "Are you kidnapping me?"

Kael's head turned toward me. "What? No."

By the tone of his voice, my accusation had surprised him. "Then can I leave?" When he didn't immediately respond, I went on. "I've changed my mind. I'll let you clean this up. Madeline's gone now apparently, so I would like to just go."

His impending response scared me. I wasn't sure what I would do if he said no. I could tell he was mulling over his answer. I don't know how, it was so dark in the car. Finally, our driver came back. Laden with enough snacks and drinks for two people for two days, it took him a minute to get in the car and close the door.

"Ready?" He began to put the car into drive. Kael leaned forward and knocked one of his knuckles on the plastic partition. Finally, I could see most of his face. But his expression was perfectly masked, blank.

"Hey!" he called. The driver turned around as Kael continued. "I think this might be far enough for the lady." He turned to me. "Harper?"

I swallowed but the lump in my throat grew larger anyway. "Are you serious?" I whispered.

"If you want to, go. You don't have to stay with me." He reached behind him and slid something out from the back of his waistband. The gun. "You should take this, though." He kept the weapon on the seat, out of the driver's line of site.

A familiar sickening feeling settled into my stomach. With wide eyes I looked into his face. He was serious. "Never mind." I slapped my hand on the plastic divider. "I was a feeling ill, but I'm better now."

The man put the car back into drive, shaking his head. The thought of physically leaving the car and being on my own was terrifying, now that I thought about it. The sight of the gun had made it even worse. I had always known I wasn't especially brave. I didn't know why I had to test a fact I had known my whole life.

I found consolation in knowing that I wasn't being held against my will, however. If I was truly honest with myself, that is all I had wanted to glean from my experiment. I leaned my head between the seat and the window, and felt glad that I could rest and not worry about escaping for the remainder of our journey toward Harper Manor.

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Next stop, her father's house! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. If so, leave a vote and comment for me. :)

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