by Marnie Perry
He was still looking at her speculatively. She took a deep breath and putting as much resignation coupled with some anger into her tone as she could said, ‘all right, you want the truth, here it is, I got lost, okay. I went for one of my long walks and got lost…again.
I was too embarrassed to tell you at first because this is the second time you’ve had to come to my rescue. But you obviously don’t care whether I’m embarrassed or not, maybe it even amuses you to see me look foolish, and if that is the case well then I’ve just made your day…again.’ She sat back in her seat and finished, ‘satisfied?’
He never took his eyes from hers and she tried very hard not to lower hers knowing he would see it as deceit. If he believed her very flimsy excuse then he was a fool and she had a feeling that it would be a very bad idea to take Jonas Lando for a fool. Hennessey himself had said he had got the jump on him, something no one had done in a long time.
So she was amazed when he said, ‘I see. Well I can understand your reluctance to tell me that once again you put yourself in danger by your stupidity.’
She was too relieved that he seemed to have believed her story to be annoyed at the jibe. He leaned back in his seat, ‘no wonder you were in such a state it’s a hell of a walk from Mississippi to Alabama, and all of two hundred miles from Eden to Alban.’
She was stunned, how in God’s name did he know that she had been in Mississippi let alone in Eden? He never went into town and no one came here. Her earlier suspicions came back to her as she looked into dark, fathomless eyes.
She swallowed again and stammered, ‘who…who told you I had been in Mississippi?’
He shrugged and she narrowed her eyes suspiciously but he ignored the look and the question and said, ‘if they gave out medals for getting lost you’d certainly get the gold, lady, I mean there’s losing your way and then there’s winding up in an entirely different state a hundred miles from where you first started. Talk about doing a complete 360.’
He had successfully sidetracked her from her question about Eden and she racked her brain for a good excuse but could only come up with, ‘I was visiting Alabama, someone I met here?’
‘Oh? Who?’
‘You wouldn’t know them.’
‘Maybe I would, I know most people in Alban.’
‘They don’t live in Alban; they live in a place called, er, Tyler.’
‘Oh, Tyler? So you were visiting there and decided to pay a visit to Alban for old times sake and take a walk in the woods and got lost…again.’
She nodded, ‘that's right.'
‘I see.’ She wished he wouldn’t keep saying that it was disconcerting. His fist slamming down on the table startled her and rattled the mugs of coffee. Dante ran into the kitchen and hid, she wished she could join him.
Lando leaned forward and said through clenched teeth, ‘I told you, lady, QUIT lying to me.’ The shouted word made her jump back and Dante to let out a whimper from the kitchen, Lando ignored both, ‘you didn’t get into the state you were in just taking a stroll through the woods. You were almost dead from exhaustion and heatstroke, not too mention dehydration. You’re covered in cuts and bruises and your footwear was hardly adequate for a walking trip. You’re right in that I think you’re stupid, I do, who but an idiot would take a stroll through dangerous places as though out for an evening stroll as you did when you stayed here. But every time I ever saw you in these woods at least you always wore adequate footwear and clothing. Including that huge hat your friend was wearing the day those two guys came here looking for her.’
If Adela had not been so stunned at the mention of Olivia she would have noticed that Lando had actually strung several sentences together in one go. Before she could say anything in her own defence he went on, ‘and where’s your backpack, the one you always carried with you. Even you don’t take a walk without being prepared, lady, so cut the crap and tell me what happened to you and who you’re running from.’
He watched her fight with herself wondering whether to trust him or not. He had been deliberately hard on her because he needed to know what they…what he…was up against, but also he did not like being lied to, especially by a woman.
She couldn’t take her eyes from his, she could well see him as a cop, she would not like to be interrogated by him, he looked lethal, and yet being interrogated was exactly how she felt. She cleared her throat and mumbled, ‘nothing happened, I swear.’
Instead of banging his fist on the table or yelling at her again he once more sat back in his seat sighed heavily and said, ‘all right. Whatever you say.’
She frowned not believing that she had won so easily, she hadn’t because his next words made her blood run cold, ‘I’d better go into town and fetch the Sheriff and he can contact the police in, er, Tyler. Then they can contact the Eden Sheriff let him know that you’re safe, after all they’ll be wondering what’s happened to you too won’t they?’
Her face paled still further and before she could stop herself she had blurted, ‘NO,’ then moderating her tone added, ‘not the police.’ She remembered to well what both Olivia and Hennessey had said about the police being in Glissando’s pocket, and that someone in his pay had been spying on her and reporting back to him. Hennessey was a consummate liar but she couldn’t take the risk that he might not be telling the truth about that.
His face remained impassive, ‘oh why? Surely you’d want them to let the people you met in Eden know you’re safe.’
Her mouth opened and closed several times before she could say, ‘please, Mr. Lando don’t call the police.’
He leaned forward across the table intimidatingly, ‘give me one good reason why I shouldn’t.’
‘I…I just, I don’t want them involved.’
‘Involved in what?’ He was getting impatient again she could see. She licked her lips and said, ‘all right, I’ll tell you what happened, everything. But it’s a very long story and first I…I need to use the bathroom again.’
His eyes kept hers with that penetrating gaze for a moment looking distinctly dubious, then he leaned back again and nodded towards the bedroom door, ‘go.’
She breathed a sigh of relief and stood up clutching her injured shoulder and asked, ‘can I take my jeans with me?’
He nodded and she made to turn but once more he grabbed her wrist saying rather menacingly, ‘but, lady, when you come back I want the whole story, no more lies, no more fabrications, no more procrastination, just the truth, got it.’
She raised her eyebrows but nodded. He released her hand and she went to the kitchen snatched her jeans from a line there and limped from the room, not only because of her sore feet but because of her unsteady legs.
Lando stared at the door through which she’d gone and blew out his breath. He had felt a pang of guilt when she had gripped her shoulder, it reminded him that she was in pain and he had seen her fear when he had mentioned the young girl, her fear and suspicion, and he hadn’t helped by yelling at her.
His mention of the police had caused her already pale face to whiten still further and she had been sweating, although that could have been as a result of the fever of course. But was she on the run from the law? Had the girl gotten her involved with something illegal? Being in custody might have accounted for the puncture marks he had seen if she had tried to get away from the police and had to be restrained, but not the marks around her wrists, they were not made by handcuffs but by some kind of tape. But if she was a wanted felon he had no choice but to turn her in no matter what she said or what her reasons were, he wasn’t about to go back to jail for harbouring a fugitive.
But first he would hear her out, and she had better not try pull a fast one on him, he would know whether she was lying or not, she was so transparent.
In the bedroom Adela slipped into her jeans as she looked quickly around, for the second time in twenty four hours she needed an avenue of escape. She went to the bedroom window and pulled back the curtains, she noticed that although the windo
w was locked the key was on the window ledge. Unlike the bathroom window at the shack she would have no trouble getting through this window, the hard part would be walking with her painful feet wearing just socks, but she was desperate.
She no longer believed that Lando was in cahoots with Hennessey, but she could not let him become involved in her problems. The incident with Dean Maxwell was still very much on her mind and the thought of Lando being hurt, or worse, because of her made her feel ill. She looked back at the bedroom door which she had left ajar thinking he might get suspicious if she had closed it completely.
She tiptoed to the bed and picked up the bottle of water, she would need that.
She took the key and unlocked the window then slid it upwards it gave only the smallest creak but she froze and looked back over her shoulder. She heard nothing and slid the window all the way up then climbed onto the window ledge, and swinging her legs over the sill slid through the window. She landed with a bump and had to bite her tongue to stifle the scream of pain from her shoulder as well as her feet.
Then she took off through the trees as fast as her painful feet would allow. Her one thought being to get away from Jonas Lando before she got him killed.
She heard water running so knew she was going the right way towards the stream she had crossed more than once when she had stayed here in Alban. Something flashed across her mind, a memory or a dream maybe, whatever it was caused her to hesitate momentarily before she continued on.
She limped as fast as she could further into the woods when suddenly she was grabbed from behind by arms which pinned her own to her sides. She was back in the cabin fighting, fighting Hennessey. She pushed back trying to push him backwards onto the ground hoping to knock the wind out of him but it was no good it was like pushing a large boulder up a hill. She struggled and kicked unmindful of the pain she was in from her shoulder, but her efforts were in vain. Then suddenly the fight went out of her; she was so tired, tired of fighting, tired of running. She went limp in the strong arms which held her and her breath coming in gasps said, ‘I’ll go with you, only don’t hurt him, please don’t hurt him.’
She could feel his breath on her neck as he said quite gently, ‘hurt who, lady?’
It took her a second or two to realise that he had called her lady, Hennessey never called her that, he would have said Miss. Faraday. She turned her head and found herself looking into, not dark blue, but dark brown eyes. Jonas Lando.
She didn’t know whether to be relieved that it wasn’t Hennessey who had her or frustrated that her escape attempt had failed. But somehow she had lost the will to fight any longer she was exhausted and she ached and hurt in every part of her body. She turned her head before he could see the tears of pain, of frustration, of hopelessness.
She didn’t know it but she was too late he had already seen. He said nothing but picked her up in his arms and began walking back the way they had come. She sobbed a ‘no, no,’ and struggled in his arms but it was a feeble effort and anyway he ignored her and continued walking.
The dog kept running ahead then running back as if to make sure they were following, or to make sure he didn’t lose them and wind up alone perhaps. She knew just how Dante felt; she too was cautious and frightened and wanted nothing more than reassurance that everything would be all right. She didn’t think for a moment she would get much sympathy or understanding from Jonas Lando, on the contrary he would be exasperated and angry. She didn’t care about that, if it weren’t for the fact that she was scared senseless for him she wouldn’t care about anything any more ever again, at least not about herself. But she had to make him see that she would bring danger to him, that he had to let her leave, for his own sake and the only way to do that was to tell him everything then he would be only to glad to be rid of her. He might even drop her somewhere until she could get to the embassy and report her passport stolen. She just hoped he would believe her and not call the police.
They had arrived at his cabin and he paused for a moment looking around, but as swift as the glance was she had the feeling that he missed nothing.
She realised that he would not to be able to defend himself if anyone was waiting here for them so said, ‘you can put me down now, Mr. Lando.’ Again he ignored her and opened the door of the cabin but once more hesitated. Dante ran on ahead and Lando followed. She realised that Dante’s nervousness was useful in that he would not enter a place a stranger might be lurking. He was a better watchdog that she thought.
Lando carried her to the living room area and put her down on the sofa. As upset and frightened as she was, and despite how angry he must have been she noticed how gently he laid her down. She recalled the last time she had been carried by a man, that she could remember anyway, the last time she had been terrified but this time, although frightened, her fear was not of Jonas Lando but for him.
He went to the door and locked and bolted it then went into the kitchen and filled a bowl of water to which he added antiseptic. He picked up the first aid kit then returned to the living room where he knelt in front of her and began removing the socks which were now stained with blood from her feet. She put out a hand to stop him but then leaned back as if too weary to resist.
She winced as he pulled off one sock. He hesitated for a moment and looked at her then finished removing the socks then the bandages which were now sticking to her cut feet.
She sucked in her breath as he removed the bandages slowly and carefully not wanting to pull off any more skin. She thought he might berate her for her stupidity in running away and with no shoes to her feet. But he didn’t and was surprisingly gentle when he began to bathe her feet with the solution. She tried not to groan but it was hard when every time he applied the antiseptic it stung like blazes. She knew it served her right so she tried to suffer in silence, but his silence was beginning to get too her far more than any amount of scolding would have done. To distract herself from the pain and his closeness she concentrated on his hands, they were rough hands, long fingered and strong looking, yet very gentle as he went about his task.
He finished bathing her feet then bandaged them as he had before then rising when into the kitchen to empty the bowl and then went into the bedroom but came back a few moments later with a fresh pair of socks which he put on her feet. She hated being waited on like this but permitted it, to weary to do anything else.
He got to his feet and noticed her shiver although there were beads of sweat on her face. He pulled a blanket from the back of the armchair and put it over her.
She hugged it to her and her voice was hoarse and raspy as she said, ‘thank you, Mr. Lando.’
He stood looking down at her frowning then went back into the kitchen where he made fresh coffee and brought two mugs over to the living room, he handed her one of them as well as some more painkillers then sat down in the armchair facing her.
She sipped the coffee then stared down at the liquid in the mug.
He said, ‘when you’ve finished your coffee you should sleep, you’re still not recovered completely from your ordeal. But I want to know one thing up front, are you running from the police?’
She looked up shocked, ‘no!, no!. I’m not…’ She caught herself. What if she was, what if Hennessey’s deception had worked, what if the police were looking for her as a suspect? He watched the confusion cross her features followed swiftly by fear. She said quietly, ‘as far as I know I’m not wanted by the police for anything, but…’ She shook her head, ‘I…he…I don’t know, Mr Lando.’ She turned her head to look at him, ‘but the police are the least of my worries, and if you keep me here the least of yours too.’
His expression did not alter as he looked at her for a while before saying, ‘you need to rest, we’ll talk later.’
But to his surprise she shook her head, ‘no, Mr. Lando, you deserve to know what happened and when I’ve told you you’ll want to be rid of me as fast as possible. And the sooner you know the sooner you’ll let me leave’ He frowned but said nothing a
nd she went on, ‘but first I want to say thank you for everything you’ve done for me, I know you hate having people invade your privacy.’ He raised his eyebrows slightly, ‘and I’m sorry for lying to you, but I thought it was best…for you.’
He said, ‘when you said “don’t hurt him,” you thought I was someone else.’ She nodded, ‘let’s get one thing straight from the start, I can take care of myself, lady, been doing it most of my life. So why don’t you put your concern for me to one side and tell me what happened.’
She hesitated and looked down at her mug. He said, ‘there’s no need for me to ask if it concerns that kid you were with and those two goons that were looking for her.’
She looked up quickly then narrowed her eyes before nodding her head. She took a deep breath and gripping the mug tightly in both hands as though it would somehow protect her from her memories she told him about Olivia, although she did not name her and when she had to refer to her she called her Desi. She told him how she had fooled them or thought she had. About how she had put her on a plane to France then gone to Eden and met a man there who befriended her.
At this point she stopped and shivered then pulled the blanket around her. Lando got up, picked up some wood from a metal bucket by the fireplace and began to make a fire.
It didn’t take him long to get the fire going but it gave Adela enough time to gather her thoughts and the strength to continue. He sat down again and said, ‘this guy you met, his name Sterling Hennessey?’
She dropped the mug, which fortunately was empty, not just at the shock of hearing Hennessey’s name but that Lando knew it. He watched the expressions chasing one another across her face before she stammered, ‘but how…
He interrupted, ‘don’t matter now does it.’ She continued to stare at him and he saw the suspicion appear once more in her eyes and thought he had better reassure her. He sighed, ‘I think I met him.’
She said, ‘at my cabin.’ It was his turn to be surprised, ‘he told me he had met you, that not many people got the drop on him as you did.’ She looked away and finished somewhat wryly, ‘he was impressed.’ But she was thinking there was still something left unsaid, something that did not quite make sense but she was so confused and shocked at the mention of Hennessey’s name that for now she couldn’t place it.
