Captured Lies (13 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Guy steered Bailey away from the main road and cut through a
heavily treed path that he’d taken in search of her. He glanced behind him and
noted the blue truck travelling very slow and the string of traffic behind him that
didn’t seem too pleased. Guy couldn’t shake the feeling that he was following
them and was not just a Sunday driver.

After walking around a few side
streets, he finally led her back to the motel. He ushered her inside, saying he
just wanted to scout the area. He walked around the end of the motel and pulled
out his cell phone. A quick call to Graham, which got him his voice mail. He
left a message.

“I have another vehicle and license
plate for you to look up. I’ll call later.”

The area was quiet. Very little
traffic passed by the place. Guy walked not only fully around the motel but
around the block. Knocking on the door and then announcing it was him, he used
his key to enter their room. Bailey was just coming out of the bathroom, her
eyes meeting his for several heart beats before she looked down and reached for
the brown bag on the bed. She was quick to pull out two raspberry filled pastries.

“Speaking of heart attacks.”

She shrugged as she gave him the
bag which held two glazed donuts and one blueberry filled one.

“Okay, want to tell me where and
why you snuck out this morning?” Guy quickly wolfed one down and reached for a
napkin to wipe his hands. She stared at his fingers but looked deep in thought.
He’d have given almost anything to know what had put that almost defeated look
on her face. She looked like she needed to get something off her chest. Like
she wanted to tell him. Not sure what to do and not wanting to destroy that
look of trust she was giving him, he casually turned and tossed the paper towel
into the garbage.

When he faced her again it seemed
that his simple motion was enough to change her mind. Her chin was thrust out
and her shield was back in place. Sighing inwardly, he sat down on the edge of
the bed.

She got up and walked to the
window but didn’t pull back the curtain. “I needed some air. My life is turned
upside down.” She faced him. “And I’ve got some lunatic who’s telling me to
trust him. The only catch is he keeps telling me I’m not me.”

Guy flopped backwards and stared
at the yellow and brown stained ceiling. “I don’t know what I’d do in your
shoes. I don’t even know how to tell you everything I need to tell you.”
Blowing out his breath he sat up. “Here’s what I do know. You were born,
February 2, 1983 to…” He looked away. “Let’s just say a nice couple for now.”

She slammed her hands onto her
hips. “Are you freakin’ telling me that you won’t say who you think my parents
are? You want me to believe your bullshit and you won’t tell me who they are?”
Spinning away, she clenched her fists and shook them and then gently tapped
them against her forehead. She turned back and glared at him before grabbing
her purse and heading for the door. “You’re an ass!”

He was off the bed and had his
hand planted over her head before she even managed to grab the knob. She
refused to turn and look at him. “I know it sucks. But… there are other people
I have to listen to. For now. It was devastating for them when you were stolen
at two days old.”

“Why was I still in the
hospital?”

“Believe it or not back then they
kept moms and babies in for several days. In your case though it was also
because you had a bit of a cough. They just wanted to make sure it cleared up.”

“And then, according to you, I
vanished.” She pushed against his chest.

For a moment, he didn’t budge. He
liked the feel of her small, soft hand against his body. Knowing this wasn’t
the time to pursue that topic, he stepped back. She took a wide berth around
him, walking over to the bed, flopping down onto it. Only to stand up just as
fast.

“Why did someone steal a two-day
old baby?”

He stared at the wall behind her.
It took him a minute to answer. “We think it had to do with the black market.”

“You’re telling me you think I
was stolen so someone could sell me to another person?” Shaking her head she
continued, “I get how horrible it is but I have to tell you there’s no way it
could have been me. My mom followed the law to the letter. Even though we hid
every time we saw a cop car, whenever she saw someone breaking the law she’d
find a pay phone and call in an anonymous tip. She turned people in for
speeding, jaywalking, selling drugs. She never broke the law.” She stopped
herself in time. She’d been about to share with him that they’d lived in some
pretty shady places, so she’d had plenty to inform the police about. Although
they’d never known who she was. Her wanting to remain unidentified was so
people couldn’t retaliate. “There’s no way she’d have stolen a baby.”

His fingers dove through his
hair. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he rested his elbows on his spread
knees and clasped his hands. “Look, let me lay out everything I know and then
we’ll talk about what you know. This sucks but there’s no doubt as to who you are.
You saw the picture yourself.”

“Pffffft. You expect me to
believe something like that. It could have been doctored.”

He shook his head.

“It could mean I’m related but
not kidnapped. Right?” Her eyes opened wide.

He really wished he could tell
her yes.

“Who the hell are you?” The
yelling came from outside. Bailey and Guy ran to the window. Guy carefully
lifted the edge of the frayed curtain. Two men were at the door to the lobby of
the motel. One, an older man with heavy lines etching in his face, which seemed
in total contrast to the muscled physique displayed by his tight t-shirt and
blue jeans. He did not look too happy nor did he look like someone you spilled
your guts to. However, the man who had rented them the room didn’t seem to be
telling him anything. At least not anything he wanted to hear. The angry man
strolled away from the building and climbed into a truck, his head turning
constantly, his eyes taking in everything.

It’s the same truck.

When Guy had left the motel, to
go and find Bailey and when they’d been walking back, he’d seen that truck
drive by a few times. He’d hidden as best he could but the guy seemed really
intense. There was just something that didn’t sit right with him. It was like
the guy was looking for someone. He knew he might be overreacting but his gut
told him it was the man from the night before who had shot at them.

How the hell did he find us?

He watched until the man drove
away. “Okay, grab your stuff. We have to go.” He turned to address Bailey only
to find she was already half way out the door. “I didn’t mean that fast.” This
was someone who was a little too comfortable with being on the move.

“Where?”

“That way.” He indicated where
he’d parked the car.

She paused, looking around before
sprinting across the parking lot, then dodging across the street. He ran to
keep up. Halfway down the residential block he led her down a back alley. He’d
been adamant about not parking at the motel. It hadn’t made sense but something
had told him he needed to hide the vehicle. He unlocked it and climbed in,
ignoring her glare and her thrust-out hand. Huffily, she climbed in the
passenger seat.

“Going to tell me what that was
about?”

He looked at her for a moment and
realized he didn’t want to tell her anything. She’d been through a lot and he
didn’t want to be the one to add to it. He wished he could tell her that
whoever was after them was really after her. Deep down he was sure this was all
connected to the Black Market Ring and her kidnapping, twenty-nine years
before. Someone wanted her to remain missing.

“I think we should get moving to
wherever it is that you need to get to. I’m assuming it’s a place that should
give us some answers?”

She shrugged, staring out the
side window. “I need to go back to that café. I want to get some food for the
road.”

There was something she wasn’t
telling him but he was too preoccupied staring at every vehicle they
encountered, to drag it out of her. “Fine, I’ll drop you off there. Wait for
me. Inside.”

Her head whipped around. “You
don’t think that guy was after us, do you?”

“Let’s just say I want to make
sure he didn’t see us. Okay? So stay in the restaurant until I get there. Got
it?”

“Right.”

Before he could answer, she
climbed out. After he left her, he circled the block 3 times to ensure that
their company from earlier wasn’t around. Grabbing his phone, he hit #2 on
speed dial.

“Graham. I need some information
and fast.” He quickly filled in his partner on what was going on. “I need to
rent another vehicle now but not in either of our names. How long?”

“Give me ten minutes to hack in
and put your paid reservation into their files. Okay? How’s an SUV sound?”

“Great. I’m thinking a 4x4 might
come in handy. I need to talk to the sketch artist the Ontario Police Services
use. I’m hoping he can do a drawing of my guy, then you can run it through the
police data base.”

“Got it. I’ll get him to call you
right away. Where and when are you going to be able to look at an email once he
gets a draft done?”

“Unfortunately, she still hasn’t
told me where we’re going. I’ll be in touch.” Looking out his window, he
couldn’t help but be in awe of the beautiful sight - the mountains, snow capped
and glistening in the sunlight. He wished they had time to enjoy it. “Cell
phone might be an issue though. We’re headed west from here, which means we’re
going into the mountains. I’ll call as soon as I can. Any information on those
plates?”

“Stolen vehicle, three days ago
from a car rental agency. No suspects yet. Sorry. Interestingly though, the
truck was just reported stolen about an hour ago in Calgary. No idea when it
was taken. The owner had been away for several days. When he got home early
this morning it was gone.”

Guy swore. “Thanks, bud. I…” He
didn’t know how to say thank you. This was very different than anything they’d
ever been involved in before. Neither one of them had ever been the target.

“I know. Keep it upright.” It was
Graham’s way of telling him to stay safe and don’t get into trouble he couldn’t
get out of.

“I will.” He was beginning to
realize, it was going to be easier said than done.

CHAPTER
TWE
NTY-THREE

The office was small, nondescript. Two walls of glass, a
large counter and a woman who looked like she’d like to be anywhere else. As
soon as her eyes met his, she pasted on that look of I-hate-my-job-and-don’t-care-who-you-are-but-I’ll-smile-to-get-you-to-buy.

“Hi. What can I do for you
today?”

“I’m here to pick up a vehicle
for Knight’s Associates.”

She quickly punched information
into the computer. “Yes here it is. Uh—it’s been paid for but I need a password.”
She looked up. “Usually we ask for ID.”

Guy shrugged. “Butler.” Graham
loved the whole persona of an English butler - the accent, the formality. It
was a long standing joke between them.

He signed for the new vehicle and
found out that when you drove west of Jasper you were either going to turn and
head south through Valemount or head west through Prince George. The woman had
told him how small Valemount was, yet Guy had a feeling that’s where they were
going.

Flipping on the signal, he was
about to pull into traffic when he saw the truck that had been at the motel
earlier headed in the opposite direction. He wanted to get a good look at the
man who was chasing them but he figured it was better that the man didn’t
happen to see him. He slouched down and averted his face. As soon as it was
clear he headed to the café. He pulled up outside, keeping a close eye on
everything around him. Nothing stood out. Walking into the dimly lit place he
looked for Bailey. At first he didn’t see her amongst the five of eight
occupied tables, with two or three people sitting at each. He walked up to the
counter to ask if they’d seen her, when he spotted her off to the left in a
little alcove. The angle was such that he couldn’t see exactly what she was
doing. She was sitting at a computer, studying the screen intently. There was
no way he could look at it without her being aware of him first.

“Bailey. We have to go.”

At the sound of his voice, she
jerked like she’d been horsewhipped. Then her fingers quickly hit the keyboard,
so by the time he stood beside her whatever she’d been reading was gone.

Not meeting his eyes, she said,
“Oh yeah. I was just checking emails. I’ve been out of touch for a while. I
didn’t have a chance to get any food for the road, though.”

He got the hint but he was
reluctant to leave. And he was reluctant to tell her about their tail. He
needed to know what she was doing. The guilty look on her face didn’t do
anything to ease his suspicions. “I’ll get something but we’re leaving now.” He
walked away but kept an eye on her. She pulled something out of the computer
and stuffed it in her jeans pocket.

Five minutes later, they were
headed west. “Want to tell me where we’re going exactly?”

“Uh, Valemount, B.C.”

“How do we get there.” He handed
her the map he’d gotten from the car rental agency only to realize she had one
of her own. She was resourceful, he’d give her that. After she gave him the
directions he needed, the trip was made in silence.

She curled up against the
passenger window. He tried to focus on the beauty of the mountains they were
entering but his mind and eyes were constantly looking for a tail. A sign,
indicating that they were entering the village of Valemount let him know they’d
arrived. He pulled into the gas station, just off the highway. He muttered to
himself, “now where to?”

At the same time she jerked
upright, her eyes opened wide and became very intense, as she focused on the
view, outside the windshield. She stared for a long time before slowly turning
and taking in a full 360 of where they were at. Guy followed her gaze, to see
if he could get an idea of what she was so absorbed in. Granted the view was
amazing, he recognized why it was a snowmobiler heaven. High mountains,
surrounded the well treed area. Snow, still filled the ditches and much of the
hidden terrain. Thankfully the roads were bare and dry. The area was beautiful,
the sun dancing off the large majestic snow capped mountains was almost
blinding, yet she was staring around as though it were hypnotic. Sighing, he leaned
back against the door to wait her out.

A few minutes later, she was
still doing her slow spin thing but he’d had enough. He yanked open his door
and climbed out. “I’m going to get something to drink, can I get you anything?”

Absently she looked at him and
then away. “A juice.”

The chilly spring air caused Goosebumps
to pop out on his arms. He zipped up his jacket before entering the building.
When he returned, he pulled open his door and slid in. Turning, he went to hand
Bailey her drink but she wasn’t sitting in the passenger seat. He looked in the
back. She wasn’t there either. He climbed out, tossing the two bottles on the
seat. He did his own spin the top, to see if he could see where she had gone.
Nothing. Running a short distance back, he came to the crossroads that led into
the small town. He didn’t see her wandering into the village so he looked the
other way. A short, gravel road led out into the country. Just where the road
curved, he caught sight of her green jacket. Swearing, he ran back to the SUV,
jumped in and sped off after her.

The road went straight for about
a quarter of a mile and then made a sharp ninety degree right. As soon as he
made the curve, there she was running down the middle of the road. Pulling up
behind her, he waited for her to move to the side. Only she didn’t. Lowering
his window, he yelled, “Bailey.” No response. “Bailey!”

She flinched but kept on running.
Really worried now, he pulled up to pass her. With the right side of the truck
in the ditch he made it by her. He stopped the vehicle and climbed out. Panting
and looking wild-eyed, her brown hair being tugged all different directions in
the circling wind, she seemed oblivious to it all. It wasn’t until she ran
right past him that he really became concerned. Not sure what to do, he got
back into the vehicle and followed her.

About a quarter mile later she
turned left. The area was so heavily treed it was like driving into an open
topped tunnel, which stretched for a few miles. Ten minutes later she suddenly
shot off the road to the left. He slammed on the brakes and jumped out.

“Bailey. Stop!” She either wasn’t
listening or didn’t hear him as she continued to run down a path that looked
like it had been made by an ATV. Glancing over his shoulder at the brand new
black SUV, he sighed. Not really a bill they could afford but something had
spooked her and he needed to go where she went. He climbed back in and plunged
down into the ditch. Thankfully the foot high snow was crunchy and not too
eager to hang onto the tires. He drove along the path, ignoring the high
pitched squealing sounds the Douglas Fir, White Spruce and Red Cedar branches
were making, as they scraped along the sides of the Ford Escape.

She never slowed down nor looked
over her shoulder. She just kept going. Then she disappeared. His pulse jumped
furiously in his neck. His hands gripped the steering wheel tight enough to
snap it. He pushed on the gas. Branches slapped at the windshield, obscuring
his vision. All of a sudden he burst into an opening. No Bailey but there was
what he would have guessed was once a beautiful log cabin, now more of a
weathered rustic building. Parking the SUV, he got out and looked around. The
rutted, overgrown path that he’d just taken and the area around the cabin, gave
the impression that at one time, someone had taken care of it and had kept it
cleared. It had obviously been a long time since that had happened. Several
animal tracks covered the area.

Wading through the shrubs and
tall grass, he moved through the foot deep snow towards the little house.
Seeing it was padlocked he realized that Bailey hadn’t been able to get inside.
Moving more quickly he circled the building. Nothing. He stopped. A rushing,
gurgling sound could be heard. Looking down he was able to distinguish Bailey’s
foot prints from those of the animals. He followed those toward the sound. Even
though the sun was high in the sky it only penetrated enough to leave a gloomy,
rainy-day kind of light. He stepped gingerly in the white stuff that quickly
soaked his feet and ankles.

A few minutes later he stepped
out of the trees into a clearing. A creek, with just the hint of winter still
clinging in the form of ice to its banks, rippled by. And there was Bailey
perched on a large rock, hugging her legs to her chest. Tears streamed down her
face. She looked stunned and spooked at the same time. Not wanting to add to
her distress he sat down on a smaller stone a little ways away.

“I don’t know how I found this
place.”

Guy consciously stared at the
river, making sure he didn’t look at her. She was scared.

“But you know it.”

“Yeah. I came here as a kid. I
think. I remember running and playing and some man chasing me. I was laughing.
I sat here a lot and tossed pebbles into the stream.”

He gave her the time she needed
to gather herself. They sat in silence for a long time. His mind wandered to
all that he hadn’t had as a child. There hadn’t been much joy in his life. At
least not until Dorothea and Joseph had taken him in. They’d really tried to
make his life good. He’d worked awfully hard to be a good boy, to follow all
the rules, to never be in their way. They had soon tuned him in to the fact
that they wanted to hear him, they wanted him running. Laughing. Having fun.
He’d been fifteen or so before he’d really felt comfortable living with them.
It had taken six years for him to accept that their mansion of a house, was his
to call home. They’d made his life good but he’d still never quite trusted that
it wouldn’t disappear one day. Comparing his life to Bailey’s he realized how
good he’d had it. He’d been saved but she hadn’t been. It dawned on him that
he’d been running for a very long time. Running away. Scared of losing what
little he felt he had.

The never ending musical,
hypnotic sound of the creek, not to mention the stress of the last few days had
Guy widening his eyes and then blinking them several times to get rid of the
gritty feeling.
Surely no one could have followed us here.
The peaceful
sounds, the warmth of the sun and exhaustion, all pulled at his eyelids. Giving
in, he closed them for just a second.