by Tully Belle
A young girl wandering out the back was probably nothing, but Lyson was willing to check out anything that didn’t happen on a regular day.
Josie shuffled behind him. “Yes, you can see there isn’t anywhere she could have gone.”
Lyson pushed open the screen door. Outside was a small fenced courtyard. The back gates to the alley were locked, only opened to empty the dumpster they kept next to the building. He scanned upwards, a metal grate on the side of the wall led to the roof cavity. With the dumpster positioned here, it was within easy reach for someone fit and nimble to squeeze through.
“And she didn’t mention about seeing anyone out here?”
“No, why there wouldn’t be anyone out here. Both Bernie and me, we was inside. I was at the till like I always am, and Bernie was inside talking to her sweet mother about insect control. They says we are going to have a nasty mosquito problem this year, you know. What with the early warmth and all. He was showing her which ones do the best job of keeping those nasty bites at bay.”
Lyson jumped up on top of the closed dumpster lid and crept to the side of the grate, listening. When he heard nothing, he waved his hand in front of it, almost expecting something to happen. Nothing did.
“What are you looking for, anyway?” asked Josie.
“Someone that doesn’t belong.” Lyson peered through the grate. It was dim, but he was sure he could make out something in the far corner. He would need to get inside to find out what it might be. “You got a screwdriver?” he asked.
“Yes, sir, we do. I’ll fetch it right away.” She left him standing on the dumpster while she went to retrieve the tool.
“You think someone’s up there?” asked John.
“I don’t think so. If I had to guess I’d say the young girl blew their cover so they’ve made a run for it. That’s what I’d do anyway.”
Josie came back and handed him the tool. The screws were loose, like someone was in too much of a hurry to put it back tight. Lyson hauled his body up until he was sitting on the ledge. There was no one up here, he could feel it. But there had been.
He crawled in until he could stand. It was dirty and dusty up here. They'd been roughing it. A air mattress had recently been slept on, and there were food packets discarded near the end of the room. Lyson sneezed.
“Everything alright?” called John through the opening.
“Someone’s been here alright. But they’re not here now.” He picked up a crisp packet. “They like eating junk too.”
“We could stay, wait for them to come back.”
Lyson moved back to the grate and made his way down. “They won’t come back. They’ve left in a hurry.” He discarded the crisp packet in the trash.
“They?”
“One person.”
“Tessa?”
“No. She wouldn’t stay up there for this long. Whoever has been crashing here, has been here for a few days, possibly a whole week.”
“Jesus.”
“Set up a camera here. I doubt she’ll come back but it doesn’t hurt to cover all our bases.”
“You’re sure it’s a she?”
“Tessa doesn’t deal with men. No, this is one of her lackeys, another mission that she’s ordered to find us, like she did with Caran. It could be that there are more of them in different places around the town, but I don’t think so. My gut says that whoever was here is the only one. They can keep a low profile that way. That means it’ll be someone she trusts not to screw it up.”
And Lyson knew exactly who that would be. Elle Wilde. He didn’t know anything about her, apart from what Caran had said, and that wasn’t much. She was Tessa’s right hand woman, the only one that Tessa trusted. They had an unusual bond. It was more than friendship, but wasn’t romantic. Or at least it wasn’t romantic on Tessa’s end.
Lyson went and told Bernie and Josie about their visitor. “When you do a stocktake I'm sure you’ll find a few items missing. I’d start in the snack aisle.”
“We’ll I’ll be,” said Bernie staring up at the ceiling. “We’ve had a real live person up there this whole time and I didn’t know.”
“She isn’t dangerous, is she?” asked Josie. “I mean, she wouldn’t hurt any of us, would she?”
Lyson had no idea what Elle was capable of. Having Tessa’s trust meant that she wasn’t like Caran whose heart wasn’t on her assigned mission. Elle’s motives were unknown. What wrong had troubled Elle so much that she would do anything for Tessa?
“No, she’s not dangerous,” said Lyson. “And I very much doubt she’ll be back.”
Josie loosed a breath. “Well I hope you’re right.”
“Mind if I take a soda on the way out?” asked John. He reached into his pocket for his wallet.
“No, no,” said Bernie. “You take what you need. You’re good to us.”
“Thanks.” He wandered over to the drink fridge.
“Let me know if you notice anything,” said Lyson. “Anything.”
“I surely will,” said Bernie.
They left the store. “Where are we going to look next?” asked John.
“I don’t know,” said Lyson. “If you were hiding out and trying to find us, where would you hide?”
“Well I’d want to get out of town. Not far, but somewhere private. Abandoned building or house. Anyone vacate recently?”
“Let’s find out.”
7
Night was coming. One moment Elle was leaning with her back against the side of the iron shack, one knee bent and the other leg outstretched as she looked toward the desolate road, and the next the light was falling like someone was turning a dimmer switch on the day. She glanced over her shoulder and watched the ombre of the sky turn from blue to pink to orange. And then finally all the colors disappeared as if they were dripping into the ground, feeding it a palette of earthy bronzes.
She had to admit, you didn’t get that in the city.
She stood up, wiping the grass from her jeans and adjusting her braid. There wouldn’t be a smorgasbord of crunchy delights tonight to choose from. Now she had to be careful about what she had for dinner. One of the houses around here would have a vegetable garden that had something ready to pick. Or an apple pie cooling on a window sill. She chuckled to herself as she thought about it. An apple pie cooling on a window! It was almost absurd today to think about, did anyone even bake pies these days? She laughed, despite her gnawing stomach.
The hospital would have vending machines of course. She reached into her back pocket for spare change, but had none. She should have swiped a few protein bars from the store before she fled, but she didn’t have time for it.
But a hospital around dinner time would have food and not everyone would be awake to eat it. The thought spurred her on and she made her way to the edge of the parking lot outside the Greenslopes County hospital.
She watched for a good hour, making sure to stand in the darkened areas of the lot, surveying all the ways in and out of the building. Entering by the staff entrance would be stupid of course, but walking right through the front doors would be equally dumb. What she needed was someone on the lower floor that had left a window open.
Like over there. She grinned as she headed in that direction. Thank god for the warm night, that someone wanted to let a little fresh air into their stuffy hospital room. Luck was on her side, so much that she wondered if it would last and the occupant would be asleep or even gone out while she slipped in.
Elle listened first before peeking into the room. There was one person occupying this room. A woman who looked to be in her late seventies. She was sitting up in the bed, reading a novel about a cowboy or some such, judging by the cover. A romance novel. Yuck.
An insect screen covered the open window. All she had to do was wait until the old woman fell asleep and then she could pull off the screen and slip inside. There were no food trays that she could see, so she hadn't missed dinner time.
The door to the woman’s room opened and Elle crouch
ed down, listening.
“How are you today, Mrs. Crochett? Ready to use the bathroom?”
“I’d enjoy it a hell of a lot more if you’d let me pee in peace,” said the woman. Elle grinned. She had spunk in her at her age, she liked that so much that she’d forgive her for her reading preferences.
“You know I can’t do that. Remember what happened last time?”
“Last time I was suffering the effects of your kitchen’s stew. You’re all trying to poison me. Did Davidson put you up to that? I told him that I’m not changing my will, not for him, not for anyone.”
Good on her, thought Elle.
“Now, come on. Let me help you up.”
Elle heard Mrs. Crochett grumble and say a few curse words under her breath as the nurse assisted her out of her bed. She took the woman into bathroom but kept the door open. There was a loud sound of wind and then the unmistakable grumble of a very unhappy stomach. Finally a wet sloppy expulsion plopping into water. Elle grimaced and was glad of being outside.
“You’re going to want a shower,” said the nurse. Oh god, was it that bad? Elle was doubting her decision of stealing the food here now.
“I can do it. Go on, leave me my privacy.”
The toilet flushed and the shower faucet turned on. The nurse closed the door finally. It was now or never. Elle eased the bottom of the screen upwards until she heard it click out of place. She kept hold of it as she maneuvered into the room, then placed the screen back.
“I told you to leave me in peace,” said Mrs. Crochett. “Damn nosy staff.”
Elle held her breath as she exited the room. She tried five rooms before she found one with a sleeping occupant. This room had a man in his forties propped up on three pillows. She could wait here, hide in the bathroom until his dinner came, then when she’d had her fill she could exit, tell Tessa that she’d searched the hospital without any sign of Caran and get back to the shed for a peaceful nights sleep.
She didn’t have to wait long. An attendant placed a tray on a narrow table at the end of the bed. They closed the door to the room and Elle came out of hiding, picking at the food. There were sandwiches, an apple, a small carton of juice, and some type of meat stew. It if was meat, it was hard to tell. She made sure to leave it well alone after what happened in Mrs. Crochett’s room and only ate the sandwich, fruit and drink.
She placed the lid back over the empty plate and contemplated what to do next. She wasn’t going to find any of the Dragonspark brothers here, that’s for sure. And Caran? Was Tessa right and she would come here to work? She figured it was possible, and since she was already here. She took a brown corduroy dressing gown from the man’s closet and wrapped it around herself before making her way into the hallway. They might pay no attention to her if they thought she was a patient.
If Caran did come here, what unit would she be in? She couldn’t remember much about Caran’s past, but didn’t all residents start in general? That meant that she could be anywhere, if she was even here at all.
Elle had a thought. It was a crazy idea, but so far her plan to surveil the town hadn’t worked, she hadn’t found anyone. Time for a big change. Time that they found her instead. Would that work? They'd taken Caran to Dragonspark, they would take her there too. She could track them, then escape later. It was a risk, but it might work. She discarded the dressing gown and felt the butterflies in her stomach as she headed to a nearby nurses station at the end of the corridor. This was either the stupidest thing she could do or the smartest. She'd soon find out.
“Hello,” said the nurse. “Can I help you?”
“Yes, I was wondering if Caran Rivers worked here.”
“Dr. Rivers? Yes, she’s due in tonight, as a matter of fact. Do you need to see her about something in particular?”
“Can you let her know that an old friend of hers, Elle Wilde, is visiting and would love to say hello.” Elle reached over the counter and ripped a piece of paper from a notepad. She scribbled down her phone number. “Have her give me a call when she gets in.”
“Of course,” said the woman. She smiled and nodded.
“Thank you,” said Elle. Her stomach was churning. At least she was setting this whole thing in motion. Hiding out wasn’t working. It was time to speed up the timeline.
8
“It’s Elle,” said Caran. “She’s alone and she’s that arrogant to think she can bring this whole thing down herself.” She slid the slip of paper with Elle's number over to Lyson. He held it between his fingers, not ready yet to look at the message. After all the trouble she’d gone to hide from them, now she does this? It didn’t make sense unless there was more behind it.
“Did you call her?” asked Lyson.
“Of course not,” said Caran. “I came straight here to give it to you. Well, after showing it to Ash first.”
“You should.”
“Call her?”
“It’s what she wants.”
Caran raised a skeptical eye. “She doesn’t want me to call her, that’s obvious. This message is very clearly meant for one of you.”
“And I drew the short straw.”
Caran sighed exasperatedly. “Look, you’ve been the one looking for her, Ash is still in recovery, and Mac, well, I don't want to burden him, he's not himself.”
“Then, tell me more about her. Everything you know especially the bond between her and Tessa. What’s her motivation?”
Caran scratched behind her ear. “I didn’t know her that well.”
Lyson didn’t believe that. “You were at Princess for a year. Stop trying to save everyone.”
Caran’s voice lowered in pitch. “I’m not. I don’t know her story, she kept to herself. Apart from barking orders at the new recruits and living in Tessa’s shadow, I know nothing about her.”
“So she prefers her own company than that of others.” A loner. Probably hurt in the past, but by whom? Family, boyfriend, friends? “Is the connection with Tessa romantic?”
“Tessa isn’t gay, you know that.”
“That doesn’t mean she can’t abuse her authority and lead someone on who she has no intention of pursuing something with.”
“Is that what you’d do?” Caran crossed her arms over her chest.
“I don’t lead anyone on.”
Caran frowned. “The relationship she had with Tessa was, I don’t know, maternal. Not romantic.”
That meant family hurt Elle in her past then, he could use that. “Okay, I’ll call her. I need to set up the equipment so I can work out her location via GPS. Get Ash and Mac to come to my room in ten minutes.”
“What are you going to say to her?”
Lyson glanced down at the folded piece of paper. “Hello, would be a good start.”
Lyson punched the phone number into the keyboard on his computer. His brothers, Ash and Mac were either side of him, and Caran sat on the other side of the desk. All had anxious looks on their faces with no idea what would happen next. No one, including Lyson, had expected that she’d come out of hiding like this. The fact that she was almost caught meant that she was pivoting, trying to change the game and get back on top. A fighter, nimble on her feet, quick to change tactics. It intrigued him.
She answered after the second ring. “So which dragon idiot is calling? I’m betting Ash, right? How’s that war wound working out for you?”
“It’s Lyson actually.” He glanced over at Ash and raised a brow.
“The little brother. Ah, you all must think I’m not much of a threat if you let the weakest of the three handle the call.”
Lyson’s lips curled in the beginnings of a smile. “What makes you think I’m the weakest?” He opened the location tracker. She wasn’t far out of town, near Gordon Road, about forty feet into one of the fields.
“The runt of the litter is always the weakest.”
“And where do you fit in the pecking order. First born, middle child? Or were you the only spoiled brat that your parents had? Perhaps they wouldn’t da
re have another child after you were such a monstrous handful.” He knew he was pushing it, but he needed her to lose control. That gave him the advantage.
“Go to hell.” She hung up.
“That went well.” Lyson grinned. He transferred the location from the computer to his phone and stood up. “Get John, we'll do this immediately. I don’t have the patience to wait another night, although her sleeping out in the cold all alone is amusing.”
“We’ll all go,” said Mac. “I’m not risking another brother to her in case she's armed. She's dangerous, especially now that you’ve pissed her off.”
“She wants us to find her, she won’t be any trouble.”
“How do you know that she hasn’t got the whole goddamn lot of the Princess crew waiting out there for you? No, it’s crazy to go alone.”
“I won’t be alone, I’ll have John.”
Mac narrowed his eyes. “She’ll shoot you before you get within ten feet.”
“Not if she can’t see me. It’s dark, and I’ll wager that my eyesight is a damn sight better than hers. We have full advantage here Mac. I know the area, we can come in at an angle that she hasn’t anticipated, and even though she’s expecting us to come, she’ll be waiting for a whole goddamn army to come after her. I can get in and immobilize her without breaking a sweat.”
“It makes sense,” said Ash. “She won’t be expecting only Lyson. He could use stealth rather than force.”
Mac rubbed his stubbled chin. “Wear a vest and I’ll agree.”
“Of course.”
“Okay. But once we have her, what are we going to do with her? I’m not playing Tessa’s games and hurting her, not even after the threats.”
“I’m going to bring her back here. I’m sure our cells are a damn sight more comfortable than some dirty shack out in the middle of a field.”
