Final Collection

by Jesse Goodrich

CHAPTER 18

  Allen was enjoying one of the half sandwiches with Mallory and making his third attempt to reach Eva only to find her voicemail once again. Confident that he held up his end in the search for Adam, or at least Mallory had for him, he hoped Eva could lead him along further with what he could do. His last interaction with Adam was weighing on his conscious and he didn’t want it to be the final interaction, even if the next one would prove Adam to be an entirely different person than before. “Hi, this is Eva, leave a message.” After a beep or bleep or some noise that resembled a starting point, Allen finally left a message, “Hi Eva, listen we, Mallory, came up with something, if you could call me back, great, otherwise to be short, there is a place outside of Sunburst, Montana, around the Sweet Grass Hills…” the call disconnected before Allen could finish and his face was growing red. “I’m not calling her back,” Allen said to Mallory who was already reaching out to comfort him. “Don’t worry,” she soothed, “I’m sure it’ll prove a good start and if she needs more information or help, she’ll call back.” Allen remembered the midday and how relaxing it had been, his face calmed back to a pale color, “I just wish I could do more, but relaying information just doesn’t seem enough.” Mallory stopped patting his hand and began rubbing his arm, letting him know it would all be okay. “Megan and Ryan will be back soon, so let it go for now.” She finished. Allen took a half hungry, half angry bite from his sandwich and let the rest of his sour mood release while he found a smile while looking at Mallory.

  Time warp

  Eva was about half way to her destination and entering Montana before she thought to check her messages. One from Richard hoping everything was ‘suitable’ and one from Allen which seemed cut off. The destination Allen had mentioned was near where she was headed but she resolved to check in on Richard’s suggestion first, as she was enjoying the luxury of his paid transportation. Though being so close, less than an hour’s drive away, and if nothing came of her first stop, she would make the trip west before following the rest of Richard’s ideas to force a meeting with the Directors. Eva frowned with concern over Adam, she knew what he was getting into but that was before her whole idea of stability in an unstable life unexpectedly changed. She had only wanted out, to get away from Mark and his ideas of changing the world, and wanted Adam to help her. It was supposed to be as simple as Adam interrupting activity, having too much outside effect on people, sharing too much information too quickly, basically putting the entire portion under Mark’s supervision in danger. “Now Adam is missing and Mark is dead,” she thought. “So what could they want with him,” her mind continued, recognizing she didn’t really care to find out, just to find Adam and get him out. Eva forced the idea of leaving him to the higher powers once through her mind, the results didn’t make her feel better, but she resolved at least she considered it. Eva ran her hand along the arm rest of the door and up to the cool window which showed a small amount of snow building up from the flurry softly falling all around and on the car as they continued on the highway. The ride itself was smooth and the sky was incredibly open, clouds seemed larger than Eva remembered them ever being. Somehow the openness of the environment outside of the car during winter gave her a chill. Eva didn’t feel very tired for how little she slept the past two days but leaned her head back anyway; she just wanted to rest her eyes so she would be alert when she needed to be, for now, she was just waiting.

  Time lapse

  Eva woke as the car slowed to make a turn. The driver’s eyes were visible in the rear-view mirror, “You seemed anxious about getting here, so we’re a little outside of the town. Did you want me to bring you all the way in?” Eva shook off the sleep trying to remember how she wanted to approach this. There was a sign suggesting a diner or a gas station ahead, “Why don’t we start there,” Eva pointed to the only thing visible ahead, “if you can, get something to eat and I’ll get a cab or something into town.” The driver smiled and pulled back onto the road while Eva continued, “So I’ll need your number and if you don’t hear from me by seven-thirty, I’ll be fine on my own.” Once they pulled in the driver gave Eva a card, admiring her features through the determination set in her face, Eva recognized the look immediately and relaxed. Too many times she had seen a stranger look at her with eyes that wished they could alleviate the pain she was in. Today wasn’t that day, so she smiled and pretended the world was perfectly fine which made the driver smile as well. “Okay, seven-thirty,” he confirmed as he turned and stepped out of the driver’s seat. Hustling in to the diner ahead of the driver, Eva asked the younger of the two waitresses for a phone-book and took a survey of the room while she waited. It was fairly empty for the number of vehicles parked out front of the gas station and diner confirming her belief that this was a common place for vehicle repair. Two people sat in a booth a few away from the entrance and one man middle aged man seemed to be flirting with the older of the two waitresses at the counter. He was clearly bringing her to the height of emotion for the day as the smile she had continued to grow; she unconsciously twisted her upper body slightly back and forth without breaking the connection they made with their eyes. Eva smiled at this then let it fall away as the younger waitress whose nametag read ‘Cupcake’ returned with the phone-book then disappeared into the kitchen area. Eva browsed the pages for a taxi service and took the number down into her phone before leaving the book behind and walking back outside for privacy in the winter air. If she didn’t find anything here, half a day would be wasted, Eva was considering that Adam was being interrogated remembering the state of his apartment. Someone finally answered and Eva made arrangements to be picked up as soon as possible, her mind wandered after the conversation as she stared at the phone which eventually went into sleep mode. Adam was going to fix her situation; she could see that in him, it was what he would naturally want to do. She was beginning to get nervous, “What if the directors saw something of use in that?” Eva shivered and went back inside the diner, though she wasn’t shivering from the cold.

  The man at the counter was smiling as he took a drink from his glass. The waitress he had been flirting with was no longer there but Eva could hear some chatter coming from the back and imagined the ladies were talking while the cook prepared whatever the driver had ordered as he seemed patiently waiting and thinking of something as his eyes lingered outside, possibly at the car. Eva’s anxiety rose as she wondered whether or not the director’s and Adam were in the area or even at the building she had been led to believe they should be. If Adam were here, it would mean she had a lot of work ahead of her in trying to get to him; she was primarily trained as a collector. She knew she could handle many of the people Mark had introduced her to, but anyone close to the directors would likely be less influenced by the talents of a collector. These were Eva’s high hopes, alternatively the place would be empty and she would be left asking how much longer she had before they broke Adam down. A horn went off outside a few short rapid times; apparently the driver didn’t wish to step out for even a few moments to scurry inside. Eva made for the taxi, opened the back door, and blurted out the address before any greetings; after all what would be the point of a greeting to someone who honks at a fare. “Hullo miss,” the driver rasped before adjusting the vehicle to reverse. Eva looked at the rugged man in the driver’s seat and didn’t appreciate the sound of the voice against the cruel features of his face. She recognized his attire immediately following her analysis of his physical appearance; the clothes were inexpensive, non-restricting, disposable, and incredibly plain, the kind purchased in bulk by people such as Mark, or Richard, or Jamison, people who led, taught, guided, and made the most with the least. The car was shifted into drive and Eva took the paused opportunity to open the door and thrust herself out just as the man pressed hard on the accelerator. Eva’s body collapsed on the snow dusted pavement, she found herself wishing there were much more snow as she felt the pain in her hands, elbows, and knees begin to
grow. She heard the car make a sharp turn and she knew it was coming around; rolling on her back she brought herself to her feet in a full lift as if she were attached to the air above her by a rope that removed the effects of gravity. The car approached and she focused on the timing, which was slightly broken by a slamming of the diner door, she refocused and jumped. Her feet landed on the hood of the taxi and she imagined using a treadmill at higher than normal speeds, though the sound she heard with each step was much louder than it should have been. The car slammed to a stop and Eva collapsed forward with her last step making hard contact with the pavement again. She looked up to the diner and saw her original driver moving toward the taxi, gun steady in hand and pointed in the vicinity of the driver’s seat.

  Eva’s mind worked as quickly as she was moving. Coming back to full height, standing slightly defensive, she realized the only person who knew she would be coming here was Richard, the good wealthy Dr. Eliot. She relaxed her stance and watched as the body was checked for a pulse and without words, eyes connected and Eva and the driver were getting back into their vehicle and making way to the highway. The diner faded into the distance behind them and Eva spoke first, “Richard is taken care of then?” her tone indicated taken care of to mean death by force. The driver didn’t move his head as he spoke, “I imagine so, his housekeeper seemed only too happy to have my request put to her.” Then he smiled and Eva smiled remembering how thoroughly un-amused the woman she saw walking upstairs at Dr. Eliot’s place had been. “Then I can also assume Adam is in good care,” Eva’s eyes and expression formed a look that was less of concern and more of a command for the driver to tell her this were true. The driver’s smile reduced but didn’t disappear, “None of us are safe from the way I understand it, but I only know so much. I imagine Adam is fine, the directors aren’t exactly the same as they are perceived to be,” he paused, checking his mirrors then looked at Eva for a moment before continuing. “You are very lucky to know Allen by the way. There aren’t many true connections to the directors and he and his wife happened to know me when I,” he breathed a half breath that suggested it used to be much more painful to think of, “I came to ‘City.’ I was fortunate enough to be brought along rather quickly and away from the string of psychopaths brought in under the care of my collector.” The car was running smoothly and the words were comforting to Eva as she listened, she had a feeling of being less alone than she had felt in quite some time; and as she listened, her mind drifted on Adam while the pain of Mark slowly bled from her taking away the torture of losing her father with it and leaving only a small amount of warmth she imagined would grow with time. “But I suppose I’m boring you to death with how I came about being here; the point is you’re lucky to know Allen.” Eva nodded, though she was thinking herself lucky to have seen in Adam what she imagined she would find. The funny thing, her mind continued to work, is that neither of them had really done anything at all to this point save spend time together. This made her smile increase and she didn’t know why. “…and that’s why I think we’re all in trouble. I hear it means the devil’s blade or something. I don’t know, I guess they’re just rumors but this is different than it had been, I mean I have been hearing stories for a while now being in ‘City’ for as long as I have, you hear it all I suppose.” Eva found herself still smiling a bit because of the driver’s gossipy storytelling, though her concern was escalating as she began thinking perhaps it was too soon to imagine neither she nor Adam would have to do anything to avoid trouble or danger. The man was a little surprised that his story was abruptly cut off as Eva jumped in, “How long until we get there?” She shook her head and looked down, “Sorry, you can continue, I’m just…” The driver cut in, “Yeah, I can talk for days, something about not being able to open up when you drive people. But I know you’re worried, you had the same look when you first got in my car…” Eva made no further attempts to interrupt him, even though it took another five minutes for him to say that it was about thirty miles away; she just listened to the ramblings of the pent up driver and relaxed over the idea that, at least for the moment, everything was fine and Adam was just waiting for her to arrive.