“I’m Megan Stanver,” she answered nodding to his question, “What’s your name?”
“Carson,” he said. “Why are we here?” His eyes looked so unfocused and she could see his mind was whirring around faster than it ever had in his life before. He was so confused.
“Most of us are here to make sure members of our family did horrible things for Spalding,” Megan said. “Is that the case with you?”
“What? No,” he shook his head, “I’ve never heard of this guy before in my life. I have no family.” Megan felt herself take a half step backwards at this statement. The idea this man was planted down here to keep an eye on them was suddenly foremost in her mind.
“Why are you here then?” she asked, her eyebrows raised and her eyes more alert to his movements now.
“I don’t know,” Carson said, tears welling up his eyes. “Someone came to a house I was staying in, I was drugged and I woke up in a chute and then right away I was sent falling down here.”
“You didn't see the man who drugged you?”
“No,” he said, weeping softly, turning his head from her in embarrassment. Megan felt bad for him and said nothing for a few moments.
“You better come and meet the rest of us,” she said when he composed himself, “You’ll only have to tell your story once that way.”
They were all shocked to see Carson Lemond sitting in the common area, each of them having been summoned there by Megan. They sat and listened to his story and Megan watched both Carson as he spoke and the reactions of the others. The story was wild and fanciful, but then who amongst them didn’t have a story just as crazy? This wasn’t a normal world they were all living in now and who knew what was true and what wasn’t.
“Why do you think you are here?” Eric asked when they had all told their own stories. It was a good question, but what annoyed Megan about it was that Eric was only curious. He wasn’t hoping to glean some information that might help them all in their fight against their captor.
“I have no idea why any of the things that have happened to me lately are going on,” Carson said and he looked close to tears again. He seemed believable, Megan thought. Should she try to include him in her plans to escape before the rest of them started turning him over to their side? It would be good to have a man with them, to add some more strength and they might stand a better chance of one getting away if there were three trying. Even if only one got away that should be enough to get help here soon. Probably not soon enough to save anyone else, but soon enough to stop Spalding from destroying every bit of evidence that was here.
It was a risk though, what if he was involved with Spalding somehow, or told one of the others here? All of her hopes would be crushed with one uttered word. Her eyes went to Ellie who was looking at Carson as he spoke. Megan couldn’t make this decision without talking to Ellie first. She would bring it up tonight when everyone was in bed.
Chapter 32
IT WAS DEEP NIGHT AND dark by the time Tyler swung off the main road and onto the short access road that led to his house. He was tired from so much driving over the last twenty four hours and he was looking forward to a solid six or seven hours of sleep. He assumed Carson would be just as tired, if not more and so and would sleep late in the morning. He certainly hoped so.
There were no lights on in the place and it felt strange to think that someone else was inside. Tyler had long been used to coming home to an empty house. As soon as he stepped out of the car, however, Tyler knew something was not right. He wasn’t sure what it was, some faint smell on the air or just a feeling, but he was sure he was right. He always trusted his instincts and they rarely let him down. An image of Carson lying dead inside came to mind; that was the most likely thing.
Tyler rounded the house and came in by the back door. The house was silent and he got the sense that whatever it was that had happened was long over by now. There was no point in calling out Carson’s name. He crept around the ground floor looking for signs of disturbance. The things on his desk had been moved but not in a searching way and he thought that had been Carson being curious. Had the mob somehow tracked him down and put a bullet in his head to keep him quiet for the trouble he had caused them?
There was no sign of a struggle and he went to the room Carson had been supposed to sleep in. The bed had been used but was cold to the touch. Hours too late to help. Satisfied that the house was empty, Tyler turned on some lights and gave thought again to the idea of getting some German Shepherds to guard the house when he was not here. Someone had been in this place tonight and taken Carson away. They only questions were, did he call them here himself and was he dead or alive when he left?
This question was answered when Tyler went back to his desk to see if anything was missing. Between the shuffled pages, there was a small sheet of paper that wasn’t his. Scrawled in green letters made with a marker on yellow legal pad paper, read: I have him. He is alive and you will see him very soon.
There was no signature but Tyler knew who this was. It also confirmed his suspicions that Dwight Spalding had been at his house before. His mind
