by Hadena James
The Field Museum sits on a large campus. There are pedestrian avenues and statues and it all overlooks Lake Michigan. Despite its size, the Field Museum is not the most imposing structure on the campus. Directly behind the massive museum stands Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears. There are two other buildings on the campus as well; one is Shedd’s Aquarium, the other is the Adler Planetarium.
As a child, I had loved visiting the museum and the aquarium. As an adult, I had visited all four buildings. Plus, I had spent countless hours sitting on the benches that lined the avenues. I had spent time wandering the park and staring off into the distance, watching the waves lap at the breakwaters.
I did this now. I stood on the shore of Lake Michigan and stared out across the span. Of course, I was facing the wrong direction, so I could see the shore on the other side of the inlet. It was still beautiful. It was still amazing to watch the sun’s brilliant reflection off the gently moving water. I stood until Lucas shook me from my water-enthralled trance.
Turning away from the lake with a feeling of doom and gloom falling over me, I followed Lucas up the stone steps. We again announced ourselves at the entrance gates. A different docent called for Dr. Samuels.
Dr. Sam Samuels again greeted us. He weaved through the corridors, back into the offices. The offices and research spaces are created in a tomb like maze. Even Perseus would have had trouble navigating it. There were so many right and left turns, that I almost lost my direction.
Finally, we stopped outside a door marked “Dr. Baker – Military Historian for the 20th Century”. Dr. Samuels rapped his knuckles against the door just once. It was opened by Dr. Baker.
“Hello again, Dr. Cain.” He frowned at me.
“Dr. Baker, this is Dr. Lucas McMichaels, he’s a psychologist with our unit.”
“Um, I’m not sure how I can help.” Dr. Baker began to sweat visibly.
“I’m just interested in hearing some other expert opinions on torture and being a military historian for the 20th century, you should have some very valuable information.” Lucas smiled at him.
“How do you mean?” He hadn’t invited us in or even opened the door all the way.
“Well, the 20th century was full of violent wars where torture was pretty common.” I answered.
“Oh, well,” Dr. Baker stepped into the hall, closing the door behind him.
“Dr. Baker?” Lucas asked him, “this is probably a conversation best held behind closed doors.”
“It’s just that I have…” He began to stammer.
For a second, I didn’t realize he had done it. He slammed his shoulder into Dr. Samuels and rushed past me. He ducked around a corner and disappeared.
“Dr. Samuels?” I asked checking on him.
“Fine,” Dr. Samuels waved me away as he stood back up.
Lucas was already chasing after him. I went after them, unsure where they had gone. The labyrinth seemed to be worse, as I dashed down hallways and passed doors with people attempting to file out them.
A door marked “exit” appeared near me. I hit it at a full run and slipped as I entered the lobby. I fell on my butt as my feet went out from under me. However, Lucas was only a few feet ahead of me. Dr. Baker was only a few feet ahead of him.
As I got up, Dr. Baker ran out the front exit. Lucas sprinted after him. I pulled out my badge and began shouting as I entered a bottleneck at the exits.
I shoved and pushed my way through the now panicking crowd. A security guard was trying to calm them. He was fighting a losing battle.
The crowd surged forward as I squeezed out. They began shouting and screaming. Someone was crying. I considered stopping, but Lucas was alone and possibly chasing a serial killer. That was my priority.
En masse the crowd forced their way out the door and began to skid and slide down the steps. I avoided all of it and kept on my feet. I was too short to see Lucas; my only hope was to get out of the hysterical mob.
At the bottom of the steps, the crowd dashed for Lake Shore Drive. I caught sight of Lucas running down the avenue that led to the planetarium. It was bordered on both sides by water and dead ended. The crowd was avoiding dead ends.
I turned on my heels and hit the pavement as fast as my legs would carry me. My lungs were starting to feel like they were on fire from the cold air moving in and out of them. My breathing was quickly becoming ragged. I wasn’t sure how long I could keep up the pace.
Lucas stopped. I pulled one of my guns and pushed myself to the limits of my energy. Lucas was shouting orders at Dr. Baker. Dr. Baker was standing on the edge of the breakwater.
As I came up next to Lucas, Dr. Baker jumped. My body went cold, the calm washing over me. I put my gun away as I sprinted to the breakwater and plunged in behind him.
My body hit the water as if slamming into concrete. The cold enveloped me, forcing the air out of my lungs. I surfaced, my face hitting air that was even colder and gulped in a breath. Lucas was now shouting at me, but I couldn’t make out what he was shouting. My body told me I had only a minute or two before my situation became critical.
My eyes searched the surface and found Dr. Baker. He was semi-floating, attempting to swim, his body in shock from the freezing lake. He was only ten feet from me. I swam as fast as I could, feeling the water drag at my clothes. I grabbed hold of him; he struggled for only a second, then gave in. His dead weight moved easily in the water. Lucas grabbed hold of the collar on my coat and jerked me from the water. He repeated the gesture with Dr. Baker.
The air seemed to instantly freeze the water on my skin. My limbs began to ache from the cold that was setting into them. It felt as if the freezing beads were entering my bones.
Someone threw a coat around me. My teeth began to chatter. I tried to grip the edges, pull it tighter, but my fingers wouldn’t work.
“Let’s get inside,” Dr. Samuels’s soothing voice assured me.
I was led down the avenue, back up the steps and into the lobby. Dr. Samuels was moving people away from us. We entered a door marked “Authorized Personnel Only”. It was different than any of the other doors we had entered.
The corridor had lots of doors off of it. Again I was reminded of the labyrinth hidden from the public at the Field. He pushed open a door and as I entered, he switched on an infrared bulb. Heat instantly began to flood the room.
“We’ve never used this room for this, but it should do nicely,” Dr. Samuels was talking to Lucas as he hauled Dr. Baker into the room with me.
“The ambulance should be here soon.” Lucas said to me.
I couldn’t find the words to speak. I didn’t bother. Instead, I moved to stand directly under the infrared bulb.
“Why did you run?” Lucas asked.
I was pretty sure he wasn’t talking to me. So I didn’t try to stop my teeth from chattering. After a few moments, I realized Dr. Baker wasn’t answering either. My chattering teeth had an echo.
“I’ll go search his office if your security can watch him,” Lucas said.
“Of course,” Dr. Samuels picked up a phone.
As Lucas turned to leave, Dr. Baker suddenly began moving. He darted towards the open door. I grabbed hold of him, catching his shirt, we both collapsed into a heap.
“What the hell?” Lucas asked.
I had Dr. Baker pinned to the floor. Lucas helped flip him over and put handcuffs on him. His clothes were wetter than mine and the cold began to creep back into my body.
Lucas helped me to my feet. I put my foot in the center of Dr. Baker’s back and drew my gun. Lucas demanded him to stop moving.
Xavier and Alejandro showed up. They found their way, with the help of museum staff, into the room. Alejandro surveyed the situation and shook his head. Xavier was tutting and looking concerned.
“How long has she been in these clothes?” Xavier asked.
“Ten minutes.”
“Get out of them, now
,” Xavier demanded.
“I’m not taking off my clothes in a room full of people.” I finally found my voice. The truth was I wasn’t taking my clothes off in front of Alejandro. He already made me uncomfortable, being nude in front of him might be perceived as giving him some sort of power.
“Your lips are turning blue and your fingernails are as well. You have hypothermia, the blue tint is caused by a lack of oxygen and you are going to have necrotic digits if you don’t listen to me. You should have shed them the moment you came out of the water. They are wet and keep the cold insulated next to your skin. Even in a warm room, you aren’t going to warm up as long as you have wet clothing on. So take it all off. Someone get blankets.” Xavier took charge of the situation.
Alejandro helped Dr. Baker stand. Lucas had begun to tear off my clothing. I stared at him in shocked helplessness.
He moved directly in front of me, blocking off everyone’s view of me. His hands worked quickly, removing the cloth. When it snagged, he tore the fabric. Someone handed him a blanket, he wrapped it around me once I was nude and helped cinch the front of it.
“Thank you,” I said, feeling the warmth start to spread under the blanket.
“Can’t have you freezing to death your first time out,” Lucas answered.
Chapter 27
