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Her eyes widened. “Of course, I’ll be glad to show you the way.” She said as she hustled in the direction of the back room.
Ignoring the call of my father, I followed, knowing for a fact that my brothers would keep them from following me.
I didn’t know how I did it so calmly, but I walked behind the pretty woman at a sedate pace as she led us into a back room.
• • •
ADELINE
“What do you think?” I asked Tunnel, as Mr. Platt walked into a back room to take a phone call.
Mr. Platt looked so familiar. Like I’d seen him before from somewhere.
Tunnel’s eyes, which had been on the retreating man’s back, turned to me. “Something isn’t right. Kettle’s parents, although they were upset, didn’t look like they were trying to take over any funeral plans. I tried calling Kettle on the way here, and he didn’t answer, which means that his phone was turned off. They’d told me the phones were going off as they left the parking lot this morning. How was Kettle supposed to relay a message to you if he couldn’t have answered in the first...”
I was too absorbed in watching the side room where Mr. Platt had disappeared. If I hadn’t been, I might have been able to tell Tunnel that he had a lead pipe headed towards his head.
One that was in the hands of my own frickin’ brother.
“Tunnel!” I exclaimed as he went down like a sack of wheat. “Jefferson! What the fuck, what are you doing?”
“Quiet,” my brother hissed. “You’re in so much fucking danger that it’s not even funny. I’ve done everything in my power to keep you out of this shit, but you keep shoving your head back in there. Jesus Christ. I don’t even know what the fuck to do anymore.”
“What are you talking about? I don’t understand!” I said as I dropped down to my knees to check Tunnel’s pulse.
It was strong and steady, allowing me to take a deep breath for the first time since I’d seen him drop.
“The guy you were talking to is a very dangerous man. Do you know who that was?” He asked as he glanced nervously at the door Mr. Platt had disappeared through.
Jefferson looked different. Almost...normal for him. What he used to look like before dad died. Although I could still tell he was a little underweight, he wasn’t so sickly looking that I could see his cheekbones. Was he getting clean?
“Jefferson, what are you doing here? What’s...”
“Jefferson. Get her in the locker. With any hope they won’t find her and she’ll be dead before anyone’s the wiser. We’ve got company in the parking lot.” Mr. Platt said as he came out of the room he’d disappeared through earlier.
The haughty, pompous attitude made me realize where I knew him from. He was the man who’d ‘accidentally’ entered my lab the day I’d stayed late catching up on my work.
It had been such a fleeting moment. He was there one second, and backing out of the door the next, apologizing for interrupting.
However, now that I thought about it, I’d also seen him at the grocery store a few weeks ago when Kettle had gone down the ice cream aisle. Then again at the phone store when I was paying Viddy’s phone bill.
I didn’t let on that I realized who he was though, I just stared at him blankly, not even realizing my own brother was about to hit me over the head with a goddamn steel pole until I saw his arm lift in my peripheral vision.
I turned my head just in time to see the bar to descent towards my temple, a blast of pain, and then nothing.
Lights out.
• • •
KETTLE
Our plan worked out perfectly.
After going through the motions of looking at the rooms, and listening to the woman’s spiel about how they like to make the family’s last moments with their loved ones to be special, Trance showed up with a very anxious Radar.
Trance walked in with Radar on his heels, restrained only by a long black leash. Radar was going nuts, barking and snarling furiously. His strong, lithe body was straining towards the back wall trying with everything he had to get at the door.
“How do you get to the back?” Trance all but snarled at the poor woman.
