by Marnie Perry
He said, ‘you’re panicking for nothing, lady, no one seeing you in the state you’re in would believe that you went with him willingly. I’ll explain how you staggered into my barn half dead with exhaustion and dehydration. They’ll believe me.’
Even as he said this he wondered whether they would believe him, an ex- con, a loner, a hermit, a murderer. Lomax would believe him maybe, but he was only a small town sheriff and for something as important as this he would have to get the Alabama P.D involved, and they in turn would involve the FBI. God, he could just see the look on the faces of his ex -colleagues, they would just love to see him entangled in this. He had made phone calls, he had called Sheriff Taylor of Eden, he had impersonated a police officer, he had lied to him. He had made enquiries about a man who in all probability was a hitman, God; they could make it look like he had been involved from the start. But nevertheless he had to try to calm her; he didn’t want her agitated and making herself ill again.
She watched his face closely and knew he did not believe what he had just said; in fact she was thinking some of the same things he was.
She said, ‘but that isn’t the most important thing, Mr Lando.’
He looked down at her as if he had forgotten she was there. He said curtly, ‘then what is?’
She took a breath then looked him in the eye and whispered, ‘Glissando has them in his pay.’
‘What?’ His look was almost pitying and she knew how she must sound, like a nutcase, a neurotic, but she had to make him see that involving the police was a big mistake. She said, ‘Ol…Desi told me that Glissando had police officers, FBI agents, even judges in his pocket and Hennessey confirmed it. He said I would never be safe, and if I’m with you you won’t be safe either. He might even have the sheriff of Eden working for him.'
The scepticism turned to irritation but she ploughed on, ‘Hennessey told me that someone in Eden had been spying on me and reporting back to Glissando, it could have been anyone, even the sheriff.’
He looked askance at her then the scepticism took over again but before he could say anything she rushed on, ‘I’m not saying it is him, only that if Glissando has law enforcement people in his employ it could be him. He may even have been working with Hennessey and persuaded the detectives that I was in collusion with him.'
He took a step closer so that she had to tip her head back to look up at him. He stared into her eyes then he surprised her by giving a twisted smile, ‘I think you’re still feeling the effects of your ordeal.’
She glared at him exasperated and snapped, ‘why won’t you believe me. Hennessey is a killer, a ruthless, heartless killer, but he was right when he said that once I was in their custody Glissando would get to me. I would be doomed.’
He actually laughed but it was loaded with derision, he said, ‘you’re being paranoid, lady.’
She stood up her face contorted with frustration and anger, ‘maybe I am, but can you blame me? Maybe if I had been a little more paranoid I wouldn’t have endured what I have and I wouldn’t be standing here now trying to convince a stubborn, condensing, belligerent, sceptical idiot not to get involved, to let me go before something really bad happens to him.’
His face grew dark as did his eyes as he took another step crowding her space, but she did not retreat. They stared at each other, Lando with amazement and anger and she with impatience and anger. Then taking her by surprise he said quite mildly, ‘you’d better sit down before your feet start bleeding again. And I’m running out of socks.’
He eyes opened wide in confusion thrown by the change of subject. But then her shoulders slumped as she shook her head, ‘you’re a fool.’
‘Huh, I’m a fool.’
Her head snapped up and she stared at him then opened her mouth, but once again the fight seem to go out of her and she closed it again then sat back down on the sofa with a bump.
He stood watching her for a moment regretting his words then went into the kitchen. A few minutes later he retuned and handed her a fresh mug of coffee which she took distractedly and without thanking him. He sat down in the armchair leaning forward, his elbows resting on his thighs the mug of coffee in both hands. He looked relaxed and unconcerned. Adela sat in the exact same way but tense and frightened envying Lando his composure.
But in fact Lando’s mind was racing with everything she had told him. He said, ‘you ought to rest.’
She shook her head, ‘I ought to leave’ He said nothing so she went on ‘if the police are after me they may think you’ve been harbouring me, you might be arrested as an accomplice.’
He was surprised that she had put into words his own thoughts and fears but before he could reply she continued, ‘though if Hennessey gets here first you won’t have to worry about the police.’
He shrugged, ‘if he was coming after you he would have been here long before now, he would have been waiting for you, he would never have let you get as far as my barn would he?’
She had thought of that too and said, ‘maybe he had to go and see Glissando first. Maybe he went to bring him here, I told you he threatened to hand me over to him,’ she glanced over her shoulder as if expecting to see Glissando and Hennessey come bursting through it, ‘maybe he was so angry that I had escaped he decided to let Glissando handle me…it.’
She looked up at Lando, ‘he’ll kill you too, Mr. Lando, I told you what he did to Dean Maxwell.’
He said calmly, ‘I ain’t Dean Maxwell.’
‘I know you’re not, I’m just trying to make you see what kind of man Hennessey is, what he’s capable of. Dean might never walk again, and I believe Hennessey would have killed him if I…if I hadn’t come along when I did. And…’
‘And what?’
She said nothing but looked away, he demanded, ‘come on, lady, and what?’
She looked at him, ‘he, Hennessey he.’ She took a deep breath, ‘At this club he took me to, he beat up three men who had…who tried too…’ She broke off embarrassed.
Lando was astounded. Three guys? This guy Hennessey was something else. He wondered why he had reacted in such an extreme way to those men coming onto the woman...because he knew that was what she had inferred... since he intended to commit the ultimate sin himself. She said, ‘so you see, Mr. Lando, what kind of man he is.’
He nodded as if considering her words. Eventually he said, ‘so if I let you leave what will you do? Where will you go?’
She frowned. She had asked herself this of course but had never come up with a sufficient answer; her main thought had been to keep Jonas Lando from being hurt. Now she said, ‘I…I’ll go into Montgomery and get a bus or train to the nearest Embassy, tell them my passport and credit cards were stolen and ask them to help me get home. I’ll be all right,’ she added not very convincingly.
He nodded, ‘I see. And how will you pay for the train or bus? She looked at him, she couldn’t ask him to loan her the money could she? He didn’t have any or that was what she had heard anyway. But there was no harm in asking was there. She said, ‘I thought maybe, that perhaps you could lend it to me.’ Before he could answer she rushed on, ‘I’ll pay you back of course, I’ll send it to you as soon as I’m home again, with interest. I’m good for it, Mr. Lando, I have money.’ That was an understatement but he didn’t need to know that.
He said, ‘oh I’m sure you’re good for it, lady, and I would be only too happy to lend you the money, if I had any money to lend.’
She looked away and sagged back on the sofa looking mournful, ‘I see.’ Now she was beginning to sound like him. They sat in silence for a moment until sitting up straight she said enthusiastically, ‘I could call the bank at home and ask them to wire me some money, by Western Union or something.’
‘And where would they send it too? You’d have to give them an address, somewhere to send the money. And if they send it to the bank you still have to wait a day or so and Hennessey will track you down through the bank transactions. And you'll still have to find a phone.'
Again she sat back deflated and defeated. All the money she had in the bank, all those millions and she could not even scrape enough together for bus fare or a seedy motel room. She couldn’t even call Daniel or David, one, because she didn’t want them involved in her troubles and two, because it still didn’t solve the problem of where they would send the money and they would wonder why she did not go to the bank herself and get some more cards. They would worry. David might even call the realtor who might tell him that she had disappeared and was wanted by the police.
Lando hated deflating her bubble but said, ‘look, the best thing to do is what I said earlier and call the police, this Leyton guy you mentioned would be my choice.’
She shook her head, ‘and what if he does believe us, what if he believes I had no part in the attack on the officer or Dean and I didn’t help Hennessey to escape? He would still have to take me in for questioning, and once I was in their custody Glissando could hire anyone to…to kill me.’
‘I don’t think so.’
She looked away and said quietly, ‘you still don’t believe me.’
‘It’s not a matter of what or who I believe, lady. But you told me yourself he wants information out of you, why would he kill you before he gets that information?’
‘All right, once I’m in their custody Glissando could have me kidnapped again, it would be easy enough to do, a police officer escorting me somewhere could be in his pay and hand me over to him.’
She sounded defensive she knew and he looked at her and that same scepticism she had witnessed before was in his eyes. She said, ‘but even if I am being paranoid about that I could still be in serious trouble, I could go to prison for something I didn’t do. And more importantly than any of that, they’ll want to know why I was kidnapped. I’ll have to tell them about Oli…Desi, they might try to track her down; they have contacts in Europe, Interpol and such. And if they do believe me, they’ll expect me to testify against Hennessey if he’s caught, and against Glissando, how long do you think I’d last then?
I saw your face when I mentioned Blakemore and Glissando, you obviously know these men, or at least heard of them and since you repulse any contact with anyone here I assume you knew them or of them through your former job. You must know what kind of man Glissando is. Can you honestly say I’d be safe?’
She was right and he had thought about this of course, the police would want proof that she was telling the truth. They would want to speak to Glissando, if she was of course telling the truth about him and he had no reason to think she was lying. Glissando with all his wealth and influence would bring out the big guns, hopefully metaphorically. He was a good friend of the mayor and the governor, they would be as sceptical as he was. Although he knew that Glissando had police officials in his employ he did not own every police officer, and he still thought the woman would be safer with them than out here in the middle of nowhere with only him to protect her.
She was speaking again, ‘but anyway, that’s a moot point because I won’t tell them about what happened, I don’t want them asking questions and searching for Ol…Desi.’
He scowled at her then said, ‘that’s up to you, if you want to let Hennessy get away with what he did to you that’s your prerogative.’
She was surprised he had said this considering he was an ex -policeman but she was also relieved. He said, ‘oh and to prevent you having to correct yourself every time, why don’t you just say Olivia and have done.’
Her eyes opened wide in shock and her face turned whiter than ever, he saw her struggle to control herself then her eyes narrowed with suspicion as she said, ‘how…how do you know that’s her name?’
‘Let’s just say it’s a good thing you didn’t sleep whilst in Hennessey’s presence, he might have discovered everything he needed to know.’
She looked askance at him, ‘I talked in my sleep?’
He nodded and noticed that her knuckles gripping the mug were white. She didn’t of course tell him that she had in fact slept in Hennessey’s company but said, ‘did…did I say anything else?’
Some perverse part of him was tempted to let her stew and worry about what she might have said but she looked so agitated he couldn’t so he said, ‘you called out Hennessey’s name and Maxwell’s and that you wouldn’t tell.’
She looked away very concerned then put down the mug of coffee and stood up saying, ‘I have to go. I’ll walk into Montgomery and call my brother he will send me the money. I’ll just have to risk it.’
‘And where will you stay while you’re waiting for the money.’
She rounded on him angrily fed up with his negativity and sarcasm, ‘I don’t know, let’s see, in a dumpster, an alleyway, a shop doorway, which would you recommend, Mr. Doomsayer?'
Although once again taken aback by her show of spirit he was angry now too. He stood up and glared at her, she glared right back until he said ‘okay. She frowned not expecting that. ‘You’ll let me go, just like that, after everything you’ve said?’ She asked suspiciously.
‘Hey, you’re not a prisoner here, and as you’ve so rightly said I hate people intruding on my privacy, so the sooner you go the sooner I can get back to my life.’
She leaned back and her eyes narrowed as she regarded him speculatively, ‘what will you tell the police if they come here?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Nothing?’
‘Yep, nothing. As far as I’m concerned, lady you were never here.’
Like a child, now she had what she wanted she didn’t want it. She was scared to leave, but her fear for him outweighed her fear for herself.
She said, ‘and…and if Hennessey comes calling asking questions?’
‘Never saw you.’
‘Oh.’
He could see the battle that raged within her. She wanted to leave to protect him, and she wanted to stay because she was scared senseless, and who could blame her.
Hennessey could be waiting outside that door or Glissando or both, or the police.
She swallowed hard and said, ‘thank you for taking care of me and for the food and the socks, when I’m home I’ll send you money for some new ones.’ She tried a smile but it failed miserably. ‘Goodbye then, Mr. Lando.’ She put out her hand to him but he only stared at her. She withdrew her hand embarrassed.
Without thinking she bent to stroke the dog who, like an interested spectator, had been lying on the other armchair the whole time, except when Lando had gotten up to go to the kitchen and he’d followed him, obviously not wanting to be alone with this strange woman.
Surprisingly, after starting at the unfamiliar touch he let her stroke his head before looking at Lando as though asking if he had done the right thing. Lando had been about to tell her not to touch him as he had before, but closed his mouth when the dog had permitted her touch without bolting for the nearest hiding place.
She walked, or rather limped, towards the door and unlocked it then drew back the bolts. Opening it very cautiously she peered through the small gap then hesitated steeling herself to step outside. But as she was about to pull the door further open she jumped an inch into the air as it was slammed shut and leaning over her Lando once again locked the door. He grabbed her arm and turned her round to face him. He looked angry enough to hit her. He shook her arm, ‘what the fuck is it with you, lady, why you so eager to die? Are ya so tired of your pampered, cosseted life that you want to throw it away?’
He stepped closer so that their faces were only several inches apart, his glare pinning her to the door. He reminded her of Hennessey when he was at his most threatening. ‘Well I got news for you, lady, you ain’t gonna martyr yourself for me, I got enough on my conscience as it is.’
If she had not been so intimidated she would have been amazed that he had added something so personal. But then something inside her snapped and she pushed at him with all her strength. He told himself that she had taken him unawares and that was why she had been able to make him stagger backwards, sh
e looked much too frail to have done it otherwise.
But for now he was so surprised he just stood there while her eyes blazed at him.
‘You, what do you know about me?’ She spat, ‘nothing, not a single thing. You don’t know anything about anyone, how can you when you hide yourself away from humanity in your self imposed exile.’ She pushed him again although this time he did not budge, ‘you to talk to me about martyrdom, you’re the expert in that field, Mr. Jonas Lando. We may both be crazy, we may both be lonely, but that’s all we have in common. I don’t begrudge giving a helping hand, I don’t turn my back on my fellow man, I’m not a coward.’
He stared at her as though she had just told him she was the Queen of England, with incredulity. He stood there in stupefied silence until she said, ‘and F.Y.I, Mr. Lando, my name is Faraday, Adela Anne Faraday, not lady, I’m not a dog or a cat, I’ll thank you to remember that.’
It was his turn to take a step forward and his expression was chilling and his dark eyes ferocious but she stood her ground. The silence seemed to stretch into infinity as they squared off like two opponents in a boxing ring. Then suddenly and to her amazement his expression cleared and he looked, of all things, amused.
As he looked into her eyes he realised why Hennessey had been unable to break her, he had underestimated her. From what he himself had seen of her he would have said she was very polite, even a little mousey, lacking in confidence. But she had outwitted Glissando’s two henchmen; she had gotten that young girl out of the country right under their noses, escaped a hired killer and had endured the swamp for more than twelve hours with one shoe and no water. Now she was standing up to him, looking him square in the eyes and challenging him. He wondered if Hennessey had seen that look of defiance when he had threatened to torture her. He was rarely impressed by anyone any more, but she certainly impressed the hell outta him. But what she had said about their both being lonely, where had that come from?
He said, ‘you’ve got some guts, lady I’ll give you that.’
