ELIJAH: A Suspense Novel

by Frank Redman

  I paused again, hoping we were winning him over. The more I thought about it as I told the stranger our story, the more the realization grew that we needed an ally. We had nowhere to run and no one to ask for help. It was obvious we weren’t going to beat the killers on our own. I didn’t know in what way the Viet Nam vet could help, and I’m assuming he was a vet, but it didn’t make a difference. We were desperate. If he became an ally, we’d certainly get more assistance from him than we would from any one of the many trees in the area.

  The vet said, “Then what happened?”

  “Jenny tricked the evil German leader, doubtless a Nazi sympathizer and worshiper of Adolf Hitler’s spirit, by feigning to hand him a flash drive that was instead a remote for a trap door.”

  I couldn’t see, of course, but I imagined his eyebrows rose. “We fell into a tube and the trap door closed cutting off the chase.”

  For the first time since we started talking, the man shifted his weight. He turned to place the shotgun leaning against a tree within easy reach, then turned back and folded his arms to listen.

  “The tube dumped us into a small chamber. Jenny closed a door behind us a minute before one of the goons slammed against it. We escaped through sewer tunnels until we got to Jenny’s car.” I pointed to the poor Beemer’s remains next to us. “But by the time we were able to get to the car, the goons were waiting for us.”

  “An ambush,” replied the vet just before the sound of spit hitting the ground.

  “Yes, sir. One of them stood in front of the car and tried to shoot us, but Jenny ran him over.”

  “You don’t say… well that’s mighty ‘pressive.”

  “Thank you,” said Jenny.

  Yes! He seemed to be genuinely impressed.

  “But the other goon started shooting at us from behind. We got the hell out of there and onto the road feeding the neighborhood. I guess the German leader was in the second Suburban, which waited for us on the side of the road. But we had a head start, and Jenny managed to get us into these woods to hide, evading the evil Gestapo-loving German in the Suburban.”

  “Well, sounds like you did a fine job, ma’am. Took care of everything. What did this beau of yours do to help out?”

  Jenny remained silent. Fallen trees everywhere would be proud.

  “I, uh…”

  Jenny turned her head to look at me. Even in the dark, I could see a perceptive smile. Or maybe I imagined it.

  No, it was there.

  She said, “Ellie—I mean, Elijah—saved my life. If he hadn’t stopped me from going to my house, I’d be dead.”

  I smiled. Mine wasn’t perceptive, it was as bright as any neon sign. Then I remembered the vet could see in the dark. I pulled the plug on the sign.

  Jenny patted me on the back which felt like a I’ll-take-over-from-here gesture.

  She said, “Mr… what would you like for us to call you?”

  “Thompson. Charles Thompson. Please call me Charles.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Charles. If you would be in a position to help us, we would be greatly indebted to you. You see, we’re out of our league here. Those bad guys, or evil Germans, may be coming back for us. They’ll want to kill us, just like they killed my…” She stopped and placed her face in her hands, sobbing quietly.

  She was good. I didn’t know if this was an act or not. She wouldn’t have to fake it. Regardless, she was good. There was no way Mr. Charles could deny helping us at this point.

  Charles Thompson, Viet Nam vet, pulled a handkerchief, stepped to Jenny and lightly tapped her shoulder with the offering so she would open her eyes and look up.

  “Thank you. I’m sorry.”

  The vet looked at the ground, looked at Jenny, looked at me, then Tyler, looked back at Jenny, looked at her car, looked at his watch, and then took a deep breath. “Come on, follow me.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Charles said, “I know it’s plumb-near impossible to see, and I have a flashlight with me, but if’n there might be some miscreants around here, best not to use it. Just try to step where I step.”

  Charles was right, very hard to see. The woods thickened as we followed him.

  As bipeds, Jenny and I did our best to keep from landing on all fours. Our feet kept getting caught in vines, we stumbled over fallen branches, tripped over tree roots. Tyler, with the unfair advantages of having four legs, and better eyesight, had little problem. Maybe Jenny and I should have gotten on all fours.

  I didn’t think the temperature had dipped lower, but the cold and damp were really starting to sink deep into me, down to my bones. New meaning to shiver me timbers.

  After a lot of crunching, grunting, stomping, and arm flailing, we arrived at a gate. Charles led us through and twenty more yards of smooth terrain brought us to a porch.

  Faint lights were visible through the windows, but still not enough light outside to see the house.

  Upon closer scrutiny, at least some of the faint light was caused by a fire in a huge fireplace.

  Hallelujah!

  Charles retrieved something from his pocket, and though standing a few feet from the door, it opened on its own. “Come on in. The dog will need to stay in the back room.”

  Tyler said, Bugger.

  I laughed. Charles and Jenny looked at me curiously. “Sorry.”

  Charles closed and latched the door, closed some blinds, then walked over to what looked to be a coffee table and grabbed a big remote. He pressed a button and solid metal shields dropped into place covering each of the visible windows and the back door.

  Jenny gasped.

  We were trapped.

  Hansel and Gretel.

  Maybe allying with Charles wasn’t such a good idea.

  He had removed the nightvision goggles and busied about lighting candlesticks dispersed throughout the room. He moved quickly and silently.

  Jenny and I exchanged glances. Tyler sat on the floor between us.

  Charles said, “Go ahead and sit in those chairs by the fire. I’ll make some hot cocoa.” Finished with the candles, he walked over to the chairs, gesturing with his hands.

  I knew I was cold, and figured Jenny to be more so. She’s always cold at Buy City.

  Man, Buy City felt a million miles away.

  I took Jenny’s hand and led her to the chairs. Tyler padded slowly behind us.

  Charles smiled as we approached, if you could call it a smile. It might have been a sneer. This was the first time I’d seen his face. The flickering light from the fireplace and candles made his features waver, phasing in and out. The effect did not put me at ease. He had a shaggy brown beard that made him look like a grizzly bear, with slits for eyes that seemed to be in a constant squint. There wasn’t enough light to see the color. Deep creases outlined his nose. And bushy eyebrows that seemed to leap off his face in moments when firelight intensified.

  Yet it was his size that took me by surprise. He’d taken off his black jacket, and was still huge. I’d assumed the jacket made him look bigger than he was as his outline faded into black outside.

  The sneer-smile didn’t soften even as he asked, “Y’all want some hot cocoa?”

  I looked nervously at Jenny. She looked nervously at me.

  Not wanting to offend Charles, I nodded and said, “Yes, sir. We would love some.”

  I couldn’t get Hansel and Gretel out of my mind. But I figured if he wanted to off us, he wouldn’t need poisonous hot chocolate to make it happen. The shotgun would do just fine. Though the cleanup would be more of an undertaking. At least he wasn’t offering cookies.

  He set off for the kitchen. “Do you want some chocolate chip cookies?”

  Eek gad!

  I pondered our situation. I could say yes and then run to the kitchen, shoving him into the oven just as he opened the door. No, he wouldn’t fit. Even if it was a double oven and I cut him in half. And that would be messy. With my luck, I’d only find a butter knife to saw him in half. How long would that take? How long could
I saw on him before the sneer-smile turned into an all-out dirty look?

  I must have been pondering for a while because Jenny whispered, “Aren’t you going to answer?”

  I snapped out of it, then said quietly, “You can answer too, you know.”

  She folded her arms and turned away from me.

  Women.

  Charles was probably some sort of warlock from the Sixth Circle of Satanic Acolytes, who met biweekly at the local VA to accommodate Charles the Nam Vet, and intent on killing us then skewering our chopped up body parts—alternating white and dark meat—with some shrimp, and Jenny won’t say whether she wants cookies with her cocoa.

  Speaking of food, I’ve got to stop feeding my subconscious with an enriched diet of horror novels.

  Tyler said, I want cookies.

  Charles raised his voice to be heard from the kitchen. “Hello?”

  Tyler said again, I want cookies. Does he have Chips Ahoy? I love Chips Ahoy.

  Speaking of food, again, I was famished. And just a wild guess, but I had a feeling Tyler wanted cookies.

  “Yes, sir, Jenny says she wants cookies.”

  She backhanded me hard on the shoulder and gave me a dirty look.

  Ouch. “Please?”

  “That’s not what I meant, Ellie,” she said in a low voice.

  “Oh.” I smiled.

  A couple of minutes later, Charles came out of the kitchen carrying a tray and a bag of Chips Ahoy cookies.

  Tyler’s tail started thumping the side of the chair. Oh boy oh boy oh boy.

  The hot chocolate was excellent. I cradled the mug, warming my hands, holding it just under my nose, letting the heat rise into my nostrils.

  Jenny seemed to be enjoying hers as well.

  I said to Charles, “Is it all right if Tyler has some cookies?”

  Charles sat on a couch next to the chairs. He scowled. If you could call what his face was doing a scowl. It looked similar to what I thought was a smile. Actually, every expression was part sneer, part scowl. He looked like he could slit the throats of Sunday school teachers just as easily as Viet Cong.

  “Hmph. Cookies are people food. That dog ain’t people. In fact, why’s he even over here? He’s supposed to be by the back door.”

  Busted.

  Tyler whined.

  Jenny looked sad.

  Charles’s scowl softened to a sneer.

  Or, maybe his face… I don’t know. I give up trying to describe it.

  He said, “Fine.”

  Tyler’s tail resumed chair thumping.

  I didn’t know what Charles had against dogs, but I wanted him to see how well behaved Tyler was. I palmed a cookie, exposing just a sliver beyond my pinched thumb and forefinger, and offered the cookie to Tyler.

  He coaxed the cookie ever-so-gently out of my hand with the left side of his front teeth. Once he’d secured the cookie, he tossed it back into his mouth and happily chewed.

  Yum. More?

  I got another cookie and repeated the process. If Tyler wasn’t more self-disciplined, he’d lunge for the cookie and get some of my skin cells with the chocolate chips.

  I glanced at Charles. If he was impressed, it was too difficult to tell.

  He hadn’t said anything about the Fort Knox windows and door shields. I was afraid to ask.

  He said, “I’m sure you’re wondrin’ why I closed up all the windows and doors. If we’re gonna have trouble, we’re gonna play by my rules. If they didn’t see y’all walking in here, they sure as hell ain’t gonna see you inside. Or me. The candles make the lighting more cheerful so it don’t feel like NORAD.”

  Cheerful? Did he really just say “cheerful”?

  The bear-giant makes hot chocolate, feeds guests cookies, and wants to make things cheerful. With a sneer.

  I looked around for doilies.

  Then I settled deeper in the chair by the fire, watching the flames crawl up the chimney and jump back down, half-breathing half-drinking hot cocoa. The fire had a mesmerizing effect. I felt really sleepy. All of the night’s fear, excitement, and stress had wiped me out. Plus, I’d been up for nearly twenty-four hours. So sleepy.

  I looked at Jenny. She reclined on her left side, her hot chocolate resting in her hand on her right hip. She already seemed to be dozing, her chest rising and falling in a slow rhythm. Charles gently removed the mug from her hand before it spilled.

  I couldn’t see Tyler.

  I leaned up to put my mug on an end table, barely having the strength. So tired. I slumped back into the chair. My eyes watched shadows color the ceiling black and then erase the coloring. I let my eyelids slide down.

  The last thing I remember is wondering if the cocoa had indeed been drugged.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I woke up some hours later. I didn’t know how many. The large fire had burned down to embers. The windows were still covered by the metal shields, so there was no way to know if it was night or day. I tried to lift my head, then let it fall back. The chair was so comfortable. It didn’t help that my head felt like an eighteen pound bowling ball. I rested a minute, or twenty, then tried to lift up my head again to look around.

  Candles still burned, but I couldn’t tell if they were the same candles or replacements.

  I shook my head, trying to wake up brain cells. With great effort, I managed to push myself up into an upright position using the chair arms. The effort drained me, and I wanted to go back to sleep again, but I fought the drowsiness, not letting myself succumb this time.

  I rubbed my eyes and looked toward Jenny to my right. She was in the same position I saw her last night, or this morning, or whenever it was.

  Then I looked left. Charles sat on the couch across from me, staring expectantly.

  “You’re awake!”

  He actually sounded cheerful. Just like when he literally used the word ‘cheerful,’ it took me by surprise. Anything cheery about the man was a complete contradiction. Like a clock going counterclockwise.

  I found myself gaping at him. My head was still too groggy to conjure a reply. But I was clear-headed enough to stop gaping.

  I noticed a backpack close to my feet, but it wasn’t mine. Then I noticed my backpack next to him on the couch. I wanted to object, but didn’t really have any grounds, just because it was sitting there. Besides, I was glad to see it. Because, I just realized, maybe a few beats later than I should have, that… I had left the stupid thing in the car again! Unt!... I mean, ugh!

  Charles saw me notice my backpack. “After you dozed off, I walked across’t to the car to see if y’all’d left anything important. I got your backpack and Jenny’s purse. I assume hers. Unless it’s yours. It’s right here.” He held it for me to see. “I also got a mobile phone”—mobile rhymed with go pile—“with the battry taken out, but I didn’t put it back in.”

  I sat, I’m sure looking dumbfounded, which is easy for me to do, for some time as I tried to decipher what he said. Living in the South, I’m used to the accent, that wasn’t the problem. In fact, I could mimic the accent flawlessly. But I just couldn’t think clearly.

  “If you’re wondrin’ why you can’t think clearly, it’s because I sedated you.”

  How does he do that? Wait—sedated me? “You what?”

  “Sedated. That means ‘make you sleepy.’ Though I thought you’d already know what it meant. It’s not that big a word. I put a sleeping pill in your hot cocoa. Well, maybe two. Or three. I didn’t know how it would work if you didn’t swaller it whole. I have to take them sometimes when I start troublin’ too much ‘bout the war.”

  He sure seemed to be talking a lot. But I had no idea at this point if he was friend or foe. He looked like a foe. He acted like both.

  I suddenly remembered Tyler, then sat up more to try and see him. “Tyler?”

  “Oh, he’s over there by the back door chompin’ on a heifer leg.”

  “A what?”

  “Boy, don’t you know nuthin’? Oh wait, the sleeping pills. I got
it. I’ll speak slowly so’s you can understand: The, dog, is, gnawin’, on, a, bone.”

  Charles also talked louder, as if I was not only dumb, but also deaf.

  His volume caused Jenny to stir. He looked at her and sneered. Or smiled. “Anyway, I got your stuff. Yes, I did go through your pack while you were dozin’ to make sure you didn’t have anything unfriendly.”

  I started to sneer at him, but then thought better of it. He might just think I was smiling anyway.

  “I found something quite near intrestin’ in the purse.”

  I looked at him quizzically. “What?—”

  “Ellie?” Jenny tried to sit up.

  “I’m right here.” I stumbled to my feet and shuffled to her chair.

  “Why do I feel so tired?” She put her hands on her head, I presume to make sure it was still there. “I feel like my head is in a vacuum.”

  I wasn’t quite sure what that meant. I looked at Charles. He shrugged.

  She rubbed her eyes. “Where’s Tyler?”

  “Eating a snow cone.”

  “Huh?”

  Charles corrected me, “Chewing on a bone. Man, I gotta see what’s in them sleeping pills. I’ll get thrown in jail if a cop finds them.”

  Jenny turned her head to look at me, but kept rubbing her eyes. “What’s he talking about?”

  “Never mind.” I felt like the gaslights were finally getting lit in my brain, illuminating lucid thought. “Do you want some water? Or coffee?”

  “Coffee.”

  I looked at Charles, who was already walking back from the kitchen with a tray and two mugs. I smelled strong coffee. What a crazy-good host. I didn’t even hear him get up.

  He said, “Don’t worry, no sleeping pills in here. Promise. And it’s strong, but not too bitter.”

  I took a mug, sniffed, and my eyes popped wide. I started to sip, but said, “Please forgive me for asking, sir, but how do I know we can trust you?”