Gingerbread Man: A Marlow and Sage Mystery (A Nursery Rhyme Suspense Book 1)

by Lee Strauss

  Teagan spun slowly. He stood between her and the parking lot, his face in shadow so she couldn’t identify him. She could scream, but she knew no one would hear her through the highway noise.

  “Where’s my mother?” she asked, hoping her voice didn’t portray the fear she felt.

  “She’s fine. Probably happily banging my father again.”

  What?

  He took a step closer. Teagan took a careful step backward. Her forehead broke out into a cold sweat. Her throat closed up. Her knees felt like jelly. She was in trouble. Deep, horrible trouble.

  “You changed your hair. Tsk, tsk. You know I prefer blonds.”

  “Where’s my mother?”

  “She’s not the one you should be worried about right now,” he said.

  “Where did her voice come from? I know I heard her.”

  He held up a small recording device. “As I have already indicated, your mother and my father are acquainted. All I had to do was to hack into one of their many communications.”

  Teagan’s eyelids fluttered as she tried to process his implication. There was no way her mom would have anything to do with another man in that way.

  Teagan took another step back, snapping a twig underfoot. The light of the half-moon filtered through the trees, which surrounded her on three sides. The dim parking lot lights pointed to the empty lot beyond, but he stood in her way. She wasn’t an athlete. She was fairly certain she couldn’t deke past him. The seconds boomed loudly between them as they remained frozen in their spot, waiting.

  Then his voice broke into a soft, menacing song. “Run, run, run, as fast as you can. You can’t catch me. I’m the gingerbread man.”

  Teagan spun toward the darkness of the park and ran.

  25

  Part Two

  Marlow

  “Ahhhhhhhh!” Tremors of electric shock shuddered through my body, a new pulse with every erratic beat of my heart igniting the system of nerves from the top of my head to my toes, each ending with sharp, fiery explosions. I couldn’t stop yelling. “Ahhhhhhhh!”

  “Are you okay, man?”

  My eyes snapped open at the sound of a male voice. His face was a blur before me, the edges of my vision a creamy white.

  “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  The guy pointed me toward a bright green bush, so green it looked emerald, like an over-exposed postcard.

  I emptied the contents of my stomach.

  “Pretty early in the day for drinking, huh?” I looked at the guy again and his face came into focus. Narrow jaw, long nose, squinty eyes.

  I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “I’m not drunk. I might’ve been struck by lightning.”

  He chortled. “Dude, it’s not even raining.” His brow furrowed. “Maybe you should see a doctor.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” I glanced to the ground, feeling embarrassed. “Thanks for your help.”

  He left me standing there soaked in my own sweat and I inhaled in short, dry breaths as I took in my surroundings. I stood in front of my dorm building, three floors of red brick with white window trimming. When I last saw it, cold rain drenched my skin and fogged up my glasses. Now there wasn’t a drop in the sky. I squinted and cupped my eyes as I tilted my head back and looked up. The sky was a weird color, more green than blue, like I was viewing the world through tinted sunglasses. My hand went to my nose. I removed my glasses and examined them to confirm they were in fact my prescription lenses and not sunglasses.

  Was this the place? A parallel universe where Teagan Lake was still alive?

  Or was I having some kind of nervous breakdown? Maybe I was in a coma and this was a lucid dream. I could’ve caught a deadly bug like SARS or Ebola, or maybe I had been hit by a bus. I could be having an out-of-body experience.

  If that were the case, shouldn’t I being looking down at my body covered in a cotton sheet lying in a sterile room? Shouldn’t there be a bright light beckoning me?

  Or maybe this was real. Maybe I’d really made the jump from one reality to another. I had no idea how it happened, but if it did, there had to be a cosmic reason, and I believed that reason was to save Teagan.

  But how?

  In the last “normal” memory I had, I was standing in the rain with dark brooding clouds rolling overhead and the air charged with electricity. My laptop was open in my hands and I remember thinking I was an idiot for letting it get wet.

  I stared at my bare hands. Where was my laptop? I scanned the area around where I had stood screaming like a wild man. The space was open with trimmed lawns and large coniferous trees. A neater, cleaner version of my own campus. Golden leaves floated down and scurried along the edge of the sidewalk stirred by a cool breeze.

  I wrapped my bare arms across my chest, my sweaty, damp skin now cooled to goose bumps, and noted that I was wearing pajama pants and an old T-shirt. Great.

  Unable to accept the loss of my main tool for doing anything, I scouted around the building and behind the bushes, hoping I’d just tossed my computer when I “landed” without damaging it too much. I was concealed behind a hedge when I heard Zed’s voice. I felt like jumping out and hugging him, but then I heard another voice.

  My voice.

  I ducked lower, peeking through the bush. My jaw slacked as I watched Zed and a preppy version of me, without frameless specs perched on his nose, walk past and up the steps into my dorm.

  My knees buckled, and I collapsed onto the damp ground not caring that my butt was getting wet. I cupped my hands over my mouth and breathed in and out—short, steady breaths.

  I was definitely here. But what was I supposed to do now? I couldn’t go into my dorm. I had to stay away from this Zed and anyone else who might know the other me. There was only one place I could think of to go. I wiped the cool earth off my rear end and jogged away.

  26

  

  Sage

  I didn’t notice that Teagan was missing until eight o’clock in the morning. I’d gone out with Nora and the hockey players after their practice and had too much to drink. By the time I lumbered into our dorm room it was late, around three in the morning. I beelined to my bed and woke a couple hours later with major pressure on my bladder and a splitting headache.

  Totally not worth it.

  Teagan’s blankets were all twisted and at first glance it looked like she was curled up in them. I crawled back into mine with a low groan.

  Teagan’s alarm went off at 8:00. I muttered loudly to her to shut it off and pushed my pillow to my ear. Normally, the high-pitched tone disappeared within seconds. This time it didn’t.

  “Teagan!”

  When she didn’t move, I threw a purple and green striped cushion at her. The morning light streamed through the window in dusty beams. That was when I saw that her bed was empty. I assumed she was in the bathroom.

  “Teagan! Your freakin’ alarm is going off!”

  When she didn’t appear, I left my bed in a huff and swiped her phone, killing the alarm.

  I crawled back into my bed with a heavy sigh of indignation. Teagan could be so self-absorbed sometimes, just lost in her own little world. I shut my eyes hoping for sleep to return, but in the back of my mind, in my subconscious, I knew something was wrong. For one thing, Teagan never came out of the bathroom. I didn’t hear water running or any sound, and a second look revealed that the telltale strip of light that normally glowed from under the bathroom door was missing.

  I sat up. “Teag?”

  I’d removed my jeans at some point during the night but I still had my bra and blouse on. I tugged at them. So uncomfortable. My hair smelled of beer and cigarette smoke, making me gag. I ran to the bathroom, knowing I would find it empty, and dry-heaved in the toilet.

  Teagan must’ve gotten up early and went out to scout for breakfast. I expected her to arrive any moment with her usual cheery smile and two cream and sugar laden coffees.

  I showered and combed out my dark hair, letting it dry in natural straight sh
eets. Not one hint of a curl there. That was something I’d always envied Teagan for. My brown eyes had telltale bloodshot lines and grey half-moon circles underneath. This was one of the many reasons why I never went home with a guy—couldn’t risk him seeing me looking like this in the morning.

  Teagan hadn’t shown up with my hoped-for coffee, so I dressed and went to the common lounge, hoping to find food in the fridge. Sometimes people put leftovers in there. If it wasn’t marked with a name, it was free for the taking. I didn’t want to go to the café looking and feeling like a dishrag.

  It was empty. Instead of eating I made a bad coffee in the machine, which did little to help my headache. I collapsed onto the couch, nodded to another weary-looking coffee-seeker, and closed my eyes.

  Maybe Teagan had gone to one of her art classes.

  But it was Saturday.

  She might be working on a project.

  I slipped my phone out of my pocket and messaged her. “Hey early bird, where’d you go?”

  Nothing.

  She could be really absorbed in her project.

  Or?

  I stiffened.

  Did Teagan go out? She hadn’t mentioned any plans. In fact, she quite clearly said she was staying in. But what if she changed her mind? What if she hadn’t come home last night?

  There’d been three attacks on freshmen girls since school started. All blonds like Teagan.

  My heart tumbled about. I messaged again. “Teag? Just let me know you’re okay. Okay?”

  I waited. Her silence made my nerves flicker. A pit grew in my stomach and I suffered through another roll of nausea.

  Teagan, come on. Text me back.

  Then I remembered Teagan’s phone was back in the room. Wherever she was she’d forgotten to take her phone. My veins iced over a bit more.

  The entrance door swung open, and a wild-eyed guy with dark, messy hair, crooked glasses and dirty pajamas stumbled into the lounge.

  “I’m looking for Teagan Lake? Do you know her?”

  I stared hard at this strange guy. Both of us were looking for Teagan. A coincidence? I thought not. “Who are you?”

  He puffed. “I just need to know if she’s okay.”

  My heart fell two floors. “Why?”

  “Is she? Please.”

  I felt sick again and my knees gave out. Thankfully, the couch was beneath me.

  “I don’t know where she is.”

  “Are you a friend?”

  “Best friend. And roommate.” I covered my face with my hands. So why didn’t I know where she was? I glanced back at the guy. He grabbed at his messy hair and paced in small circles.

  “You didn’t answer my question,” I said. “Who are you?”

  He stopped and took me in like he was seeing me for the first time. “I’m Marlow Henry.”

  Good thing my coffee mug was empty. It fell from my fingers, breaking into several pieces on the tile floor. I knew that name. This was the guy Teagan had met online.

  I shot daggers at him with my eyes. “If you’ve hurt her, I swear, I’ll kill you.”

  27

  

  Marlow

  “I didn’t hurt her. I’m trying to save her.”

  The pretty brunette eyed me suspiciously. “Save her from what?”

  A girl with a short, leg-exposing housecoat tied around a narrow waist and a tall towel turban wrapped around her hair sauntered by in fluffy slippers.

  I returned my attention to the dark-haired girl. “Is there somewhere we can talk? In private?”

  She glared and I imagined cat claws springing from her fingertips. “How do I know I can trust you? That you won’t, you know, try something?”

  I threw my hands up in the air. “Look at me! I’m unarmed and wearing pajamas. I weigh a hundred and sixty pounds soaking wet. You could take me in an arm wrestling match.”

  That seemed to convince her. She was almost my height and she probably weighed around a hundred and thirty pounds. She had nice curves, and even without a stitch of make up, she was attractive.

  Why couldn’t Teagan’s roomie be homely or at least ordinary? I seriously didn’t need the distraction.

  I caught the turban girl watching us. She raised an eyebrow in question, wondering probably, what on earth a girl like this nameless beauty was doing taking a wreck of a guy like me to her room. Teagan’s dorm mate made a big show of leaving the door wide open.

  Their room was a splash of color—reds, pinks, purples—from the bedding to the walls. One side was messier than the other, with clothes and art supplies scattered about. Several paintings hung on the wall. I felt drawn to them. I pushed my glasses up on my nose and stared.

  “Teagan’s?” I asked, even though I knew they must be.

  “Yup.”

  I turned to the girl who was now sitting on the bed on the neat side with her back up against the wall and her arms wrapped around one knee. “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Sage Farrell. Now tell me why you’re here and what you know about Teagan.”

  I lowered myself to what I guessed was Teagan’s desk chair, keeping as much distance from Sage as I could in the small room. “I’m assuming by your reaction to my name that she told you about me?”

  “Yeah. You’re the online creeper.”

  I winced at that. “We chatted on one of the forums and became friends.”

  “You stood her up.”

  “Well, not exactly.”

  “What do you mean? You either showed or you didn’t.”

  “I showed, just not at the same… ”

  Her dark java eyes widened. “You went to the wrong café?”

  “No, it was the right one.”

  “Okay, so the wrong time then?”

  “I was there on time.”

  “Then what?” She flung a hand out impatiently. “You didn’t recognize each other? Did you use a fake profile pic?”

  “No.” I motioned to the laptop on Teagan’s desk. “You can check for yourself. I never once misrepresented myself.”

  “Then what happened?”

  I ran a hand through my hair. “That’s the part that’s going to be really hard for you to believe.”

  “Try me.”

  “Okay, but don’t freak out. And let me finish. And let me preface by saying that I believe Teagan is in grave danger, but that doesn’t mean she’s dead.”

  “Oh my God, Marlow! Spit it out!”

  “All right.” I rubbed damp palms on my thighs, knowing I was going to sound as crazy as I currently looked. “There was an electrical storm going on the night that Teagan contacted me online. I actually got zapped through my keyboard, seriously, like I stuck all five fingers into a socket. It lasted for only a moment and nothing else was affected—not the lights or other power sources. The storm never even made the news. I just shook it off as a weird random event.”

  Sage scratched at her arm and gave me a look that said, “Get on with it.”

  “Teagan and I connected. We shared interests and a sense of humor. We told each other about our secret fears.”

  Sage challenged me like it was a test. “Oh? What are hers?”

  “She had nightmares about being chased and she didn’t like storms.”

  Sage’s eyes softened slightly. “What are yours?”

  “I don’t like snakes. So we dared each other to face our fears. I even went to the science lab and had my buddy take a picture of me feeding the boa there. The thing was, when I tried to send it to Teagan, she couldn’t receive it.”

  “So?”

  “Yeah, I thought it odd but no big deal. Then we tried to video chat online.”

  “I don’t get what your computer glitches have to do with Teagan not being here right now.”

  “I’m getting to that. The next ‘miss’ was when we tried to meet in person. Everything we tried to do to connect outside of the chat forum never worked.”

  “Marlow, get to the point.”

  “The point is I’m fr
om a parallel universe. That’s why nothing worked. That’s why when we both went to the same café on the same day at the same time, we didn’t meet.”

  Sage met that statement with a stony stare. “If you’re just going to mess with me, you can leave now. I’m going to call the police.”

  “I think you should call the police, but not about me. For Teagan. I believe the rapist has her.”

  Fear filled her eyes. “Why? Why do you believe that?”

  “Because, in my time, she’s the next victim.” I left out the part where she’s dead. I really didn’t think that would help right now.

  “Oh, God.” Sage pressed up more tightly against the wall. “Are you the killer?”

  “No! I told you. I want to save her.”

  “You actually expect me to believe you’re from an alternate universe? Really?”

  “I know it sounds crazy. I warned you it would. But look at me? If this was just a crazy plan to coerce an attractive girl to spend time with me, I would’ve at least gotten dressed first, right?”

  Sage scanned me from head to toe with an unflinching expression. I tried not to squirm with embarrassment.

  “Okay,” she finally said. “Say I believe that you believe this story. You haven’t convinced me it’s true. Honestly, it’s too ridiculous to believe.”

  My mind raced for a way to make her believe. I could think of only one thing. “Will you come with me? I want to show you something.”

  28

  

  Sage

  Crazy person alert!

  “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  “We’ll walk, okay? In public. It’s still light.” Marlow shifted uneasily. “I just want to take you to where the other me lives.”

  I scoffed incredulously. “The other me?”

  “Yes. If you met a second Marlow Henry who looks like me living on this campus, wouldn’t that be proof of my story?”