He entered the room purposefully, watching Katie’s hooded head follow him as he stepped behind her. He laid his hand gently on her shoulder, which sent her into frenzied gyrations, but he kept it there until she got the message that this person did not intend to harm her. When she stopped bucking like a wild mare trapped in a burning barn, he turned his attention to the damn contraption covering her head.
He was irked to see the gag running under the hood. How the hell was I supposed to feed her without letting her see me?! It was irrelevant now, but it struck him as stupid and made him wonder just how experienced Chops’ people were in this venue. His fingers shook as he opened the buckle under her chin. Heat spilled from the seams as he separated the leather, and he noticed the sweat on her neck as it became visible. It must have been intolerable to wear it.
He pulled carefully at the cord, which kept getting caught in her hair. He tried not to yank it out, but her struggles over the past hours pushed some of the crimson strands through the folds, and Katie grunted in discomfort every few seconds as his clumsy fingers removed another follicle. By the time he’d removed the cord, he was surprised she had any hair left.
He pulled the hood off, slowly peeling it up and away until he could toss it to the side. Katie breathed a deep sigh of relief as the relatively cool air hit her face, and she blinked as if the single dim pedestal lamp was brighter than the sun. Carson gave her a few seconds to get her bearings and then stepped around to face her.
Katie’s eyes and face, though fatigued and sweaty, lit up with surprise and relief. The contrast between her look of complete happiness and the tremendous worry and sadness that had to be on his face might have amused Carson in another setting, but laughter wasn’t possible at the moment. He did smile at her, but it was a smile one might give to a sibling just before telling her a favorite aunt died.
“Cawsem!” she yelled, rolling her eyes as she realized she was still gagged. She jutted her chin out in a silent plea to have it removed. Carson complied, working the knot behind her head and yanking the kerchief from between her lips, allowing her to spit out the sodden wad of cloth it had held in place. She sighed in relief and took a second to stretch her jaw. “Oh man, am I glad to see you! How did you find me?! Let’s get the hell out of here. Do you know there’s someone here with me?” Carson stared at her, his mouth agape. She thought he was here to rescue her. She wasn’t wrong, not really, and he actually considered the possibility of running with the lie. He wanted to, so badly, but knew it would only make things worse in the end.
“We’re going to, but, well, there’s a couple problems we have to deal with first,” he said, trying to break the terrible information to her as gently as possible – as much for his sake as for hers.
“What problems?!”
“For one, I don’t have the key to the handcuffs or the ankle cuffs, so I can’t get them off of you.”
“So what? I can walk in them, just slow. I’m sure I can get to your car. Hell, you can carry me!”
“Yeah, I guess I can.”
“So just untie the damn ropes and let’s go!” Carson heard impatience and frustration in her voice. He wasn’t surprised. He was dragging this out way too long.
“Well, see… that’s the other problem. I have… um, something to… there’s something you should know.”
Katie looked at Carson as if he’d taken leave of his senses while she yanked against the ropes. “Can’t it wait until we are driving the hell away from this place and these people?”
“No, it can’t. See, the thing is… first, you should know I’m really, really sorry for this, and I promise I’m going to keep you safe.” He felt his hands grow ice-cold, something that happened to him in times of great stress. “The thing is – well, the most important thing, right now, that is – it’s that, I’m not your… I mean, I’m not here to rescue you.”
Despite the gravity of the situation, Katie had not lost her instinct for sarcasm. “Then why the hell are you here? Are you going to sell me some Amway products? What is going on?”
Carson could delay only so long, and he knew that time was over. A wave of panic rolled from his belly to every extremity of his body. He crouched down so he was at her level and put his hand on Katie’s shoulder, ostensibly to comfort her, but also to steady himself mentally and physically. “OK, here it is. It’s… well, the thing is… dammit!!” He blew out his breath, and the next words came out in a jumble. “See, I’ve been forced to be here by the people who kidnapped you, and I’m the one watching you until this all plays out.”
It was like a ghost possessed Katie. Her face, animated with the desire to leave and the thrill of being rescued, went completely blank. Her mouth hung open slightly and she squinted, as if she didn’t understand the words she’d just heard, even though she should. Every last shred of color drained from her already pale features, giving her the appearance of an ivory statue. She tilted her head just a bit to the side, like a dog hearing a noise it couldn’t identify. “I... I don’t understand.”
“I know it doesn’t make much sense right now. About a year ago I got suckered into a fixed poker game and lost
