show his face?” she asked.
“Shade is taking care of a few loose ends.”
She worried that Melice might be referring to Pat, but she didn’t want to appear weak or scared so she didn’t let her concern reach her face. Melice glanced at his watch and then continued, “Be here in thirty minutes. I’m sorry you two won’t have the chance to meet.
The filming will be done by then.”
Then she had it. She realized Melice’s primary motive. “Pain.
Shade’s going to kill you with the device. Make you feel pain.”
“Oh yes.” He looked to the side, across the deck. “It’s already set up and waiting for me.” Then, he let his eyes roam back toward the acclimation pool and walk across Lien-hua’s body. “You look good in that dress, by the way. I’m sure your viewers will appreciate that you’ve kept yourself in shape.”
Lien-hua looked around, tried to think of some way to escape, but saw no viable options.
Not drowning. Please, no. Anything but drowning.
Melice positioned the camera. “Now, you may need to work with me a little here. I’m not sure how quick that pool is gonna fill. I’ll probably have to shoot this a couple times, let some water out, and then refill the pool again, before I can get all the footage I need. So, do your best to hold your breath and you might last two or three takes.”
And then, Creighton Melice stepped out of sight and turned on a valve somewhere, and the thirteen-foot- deep shark acclimation pool began to fill with water.
100
I came screaming to a stop at the aquarium’s little-used exit door near the two rusted dumpsters, leapt out of the car, and found the door locked. I might have been able to pick it but I didn’t want to waste the time. I shot out the lock, then slipped into the building.
Melice’s face appeared beside the video camera. “You’re starting to feel it, aren’t you, Lien-hua? What we talked about in the interrogation room? The door to hope beginning to close. You’ll yank at that grate until your ankle is chafed and raw, you’ll try to unhinge the clasp, maybe try to pick the lock somehow. But all the while the water will be rising and then, finally-reality check-you’re not gonna get away. You’re going to die right there, tonight, while I watch.”
Water to her knees. The pool was filling faster than she’d thought it would.
Melice continued, “Don’t be upset. Just remind yourself that over the next few months you’ll be providing entertainment to hundreds of thousands of eager viewers.” Then he added, “Who knows, you might even make it to a million downloads by summer.”
Tessa sized up the room. Wooden floor. Plaster walls. A queen-sized bed pushed into the corner, strewn with a tangle of filthy, rumpled sheets. There on the far wall, faded blue curtains in front of a narrow, airless window. The place smelled like the back room of a bar, and the only stirring of air came from a small oscillating fan beside the bathroom door.
No overhead light. Just a small lamp beside the bed. Riker walked over and snapped it off, so that now the only light in the room came from the murky yellow haze climbing through the window and resting expectantly on the bedsheets.
Then Riker came to her, took her hand, and, speaking soft and comforting words, led Tessa toward the bed.
I hurried through the dizzying maze of filtration tanks. I didn’t know if Lien-hua was dead already; I could only pray she was still alive. When we arrested him, Melice had said that she would be his next girlfriend, and I knew all too well what he did to them.
That’s why I was heading for the shark acclimation pool. It seemed like the logical place for him to bring her. And I was close.
Just a few more turns and I’d be there.
Tessa’s heart trembled with exhilaration and fear. The fan’s twitching air brushed across the curtains, they rippled faintly, and Tessa thought that in the dim light, the bluish curtains appeared purple.
And with that thought, Poe whispered to her, his words riding through the centuries, rising from the grave, “And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain thrilled me-filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before.”
Fantastic terrors.
Never felt before.
Tessa had never hooked up with a guy. Not like this. It was something her mom had been really intense about, and ever since she died, despite two close calls, Tessa had honored that wish. No.
It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
Terrors never felt before.
“So, I was thinking…” Riker said. “No.” She pulled away from him but stumbled a little. Off balance. Everything was off balance. “No. I need to go.”
“We just got here.”
She backed away. “I need to go. I have to leave.”
Riker came toward her and grabbed her forearm. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, Raven. Not so fast.” His grip was tighter than it needed to be.
“I said no. Now, let go of my arm.”
No, this can’t be happening.
He held her.
“Let go!”
He let go slowly but stood with arms flexed ready to grab her again. “I’ve been thinking it’s time we made a little trade.”
Terrors never felt before.
“What kind of trade?” She reached for a rubber band on her wrist. Found none.
He let a smile wander across his face, but it wasn’t really a smile.
“You don’t really believe I’d let you have a tattoo like that, five hours of work, for $180. Lachlan’s the best around. You’re wearing over $700 worth of ink and time.”
Though faint, the music was pounding behind his words. A dark heartbeat. “You told him to give it to me.” Tessa was edging toward the door. “To give me whatever I wanted.”
“That’s right. I did. I gave you what you wanted, and now it’s time for you to give me what I want. And the way I figure it, I’ve got at least a couple hours coming to me.”
Her stomach filled with ice. She rushed for the door but was too slow. Riker beat her to it and nailed it shut with one strong arm.
She began to back away from him, toward the window.
It was the only thing she could think to do.
To jump.
Jump.
101
I stepped past the wet suits hanging behind the staircase and saw Lien-hua chained to the bottom of the shark acclimation pool, water to the middle of her thighs. When she saw me I pressed a finger to my lips to signal for her to keep my arrival a secret, and then with the other hand I fingerspelled, “How many?”
With her hand hidden behind her leg she fingerspelled back to me, “One, maybe two.”
I could hear Creighton Melice’s voice. “Do you miss your sister, Lien-hua?”
