Silencing Joy (14 page)

I tossed the blanket on the ground, getting
up to stretch. Lying in the same position made my leg cramp. I
started over to Will.

“Who’s this?” Jake asked.

“This is Joy. She happened to be in the wrong
place at the wrong time,” Will joked, sending me a playful smile.
“She’s the one who found me the other night at the football
game.”

“Oh...And who is sleeping beauty over there?”
Jake sipped his coffee.

“That’s Jen, my friend.” I chimed in,
stretching again. “She was being watched by Tommy. Derek thought it
wasn’t safe for her.”

“I was worried he’d take her,” Derek cut in.
“Tommy doesn’t care anymore. He’ll take fuckin’ anyone. He doesn’t
realize that certain people will be missed.” The disgust on Derek’s
face was palpable.

I never really considered what Derek might
have seen, being with Tommy all of the time, trying to get enough
dirt on him to put him and his associates away. He must have had to
do some horrible things to keep his cover. Not to mention beating
up his friend and colleague, Will.

“So what now?” Derek asked, grabbing a coffee
from Jake.

Jake took a coffee from the holder and placed
the rest on the ground. He walked over to a sleeping Jen with a
rugged gait. He squatted down next to her as she was curled over on
her side, giving her a very prominent once over. I wasn’t sure what
he could see with her buried in a sleeping bag. He gently shook her
shoulder. She stirred and turned over, rubbing her eyes. Jake held
the cup right over her face so she could see it first thing.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Jen said
sleepily. “Coffee served to me.”

She blinked a few times, slowly focusing on
the hand that held the coffee – then the arm – then the face. I
watched her, her response comical.

“Oh, God.” Jen flipped back over on her side.
“Please, no.”

“What are the chances, Jen?” Jake said
laughing. “What are the chances?”

“You know him?” I asked incredulously.

“Of course she does.” Jake stood up smiling,
his blue eyes flashing with amusement. “We go way back. Don’t we
Jen?” Jen moaned.

This was interesting. He didn’t even look
vaguely familiar to me. I assumed he didn’t go to our high
school.

Will and Derek became intrigued in this
little exchange as well.

“So, how do you two know each other?” I
asked.

Jen ignored me, turning her attention back to
Jake. Brown hair fell into his eyes as he grinned down at her.
“Shouldn’t you be in prison or something?” she asked
sarcastically.

“Nope. Joined the Feds,” Jake replied
matter-of-factly.

Bill took a gulp of his coffee, watching the
show. This must have seemed like babysitting duty. Bill had to be
at least thirty, and, here he was, stuck with a bunch of high
school and college students.

Jen unrolled herself out of the sleeping bag.
Her blonde hair was straggly and standing up.

“You look good,” Jake joked.

“Shut up, asshole!” she snapped.

“Is that anyway to talk to an old friend?” He
backed up and handed her the coffee. She took it rudely and walked
over to me. Jake laughed.

“Friend?” I whispered to Jen. “How do you
know him? Did he go to school with us?”

“No,” she says loudly. “Thank God! His
parents put him in an
all-boys school,
” Jen called over her
shoulder. “They thought it might straighten his ass out.”

“We were neighbors for years,” Jake informed
us proudly.

Jake put his arm around her shoulder, a bad
boy gleam in his eyes. Annoyance poured off Jen.

“Not anymore,” Jen retorted and shook him off
roughly.

“Okay,” Bill interjected. “Enough with the
introductions. Let’s get out of here.”

Will collected the sleeping bag and blanket,
shoving them into the backpack. The rifle waited like a soldier,
poised and ready. Everyone enjoyed their coffee, slowly heading to
the van. The moon reflected off the darkened windows. Derek and
Jake stood talking while everyone else got in.

Will and I went to the seat in the far back.
He tucked the backpack at his feet and put his arm around me,
leaning his head against the seat – eyes closed. Being close to
Will sped up my heart, and the coffee woke me up even though it was
the middle of the night. On the floor in the back lay Jen’s bag.
Bill and Jake must have commandeered it from our now-lost car.

Bill drove with Jake next to him. Behind them
sat Derek and Jen, both staring out of dark, opposite windows.
After about an hour, Bill stopped at a gas station. We piled out to
use the bathroom. There was only one. Jen and I found ourselves
alone, waiting for Derek to come out.

“What was that all about back there?” I asked
her.

“Oh, please,” she grunted. “I can’t believe
he shows up in my life again. He made my childhood a living hell.”
She tossed her hands up in disgust.

“What did he do?” I spoke quietly, hoping
Derek couldn’t hear us through the door.

“Where do you want me to start?” she asked
exasperated. “Let’s see.” She pretended to think hard. “Frogs
between my sheets, Jell-O in my shoes, shaving my cat, scary noises
outside my window...stealing my gum!” With each pronouncement, Jen
became more agitated. I laughed hard at the stealing-gum part. Jake
appeared behind Jen.

“I didn’t totally shave your cat. I just took
some fur off his back side.” I think he was trying to be funny, but
Jen regarded him with loathing.

Derek came out of the bathroom and dialed his
phone again.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, taking one
look at Jen, the phone to his ear while he was talking to us.

“Nothing,” Jen said, quietly cursing and
shoving past him through the restroom door.

“What’s wrong with her?” he asked me. I
shrugged. “Damn it!” he swore under his breath and tapped his phone
off.

Jake stood next to me, silent and
confused.

The sun was rising in the distance. We really
hadn’t come to a conclusion about what we were going to do. Jake
and Bill spoke quietly up front while Will slept. I hoped they were
coming up with a plan to end this huge mess. Not that I was in a
hurry to get back to classes and my life. I hadn’t realized how
boring my life was until I met Will. I always did the “safe” thing.
I kept myself at a distance from everyone. But now...I couldn’t
imagine my life without Will. It would be empty and sad. That said,
being on Tommy’s most-wanted list wasn’t any fun.

I lifted my head from where it was tucked
under Will’s arm, soaking in his features. His face was perfect.
The bruises and swelling had gone away. I brushed my hand through
his hair. He opened one eye, pulling my face to his, and he kissed
me. I tried to pull away, embarrassed with all the people in the
car, but he held firm, deepening the kiss. Once again, I was
lost.

“Can you guys give us a break?” Jen chirped,
not moving from her reclined position.

Strawberries pale in comparison to the red I
turned. Jake snuck a look to the back of the van, then to Jen. I
could see Bill’s eyes in the rearview mirror. Derek was the only
one who didn’t move.

We pulled away from each other. Will rubbed
my arm and smiled at me. He mouthed, “My angel,” to me. I smiled
back shyly.

Bill called from the driver’s seat, “We’re
almost there.”

“Thank God,” Jen said. “I hope this place has
a shower.”

“Yeah, it does,” he replied. “And we can lay
low until we figure this out.”

I didn’t want to spend another night in my
jeans again. I thought back to that first night with Will and
blushed. I was shocked when he had walked out of the bathroom in
just his underwear. I giggled to myself, and Will caught me.

“What’s so funny?” he whispered.

“I was thinking about you coming out of the
bathroom that first night on the run in only your boxers.” He
tugged on me and laughed. “You were right...sleeping in jeans
sucks,” I told him.

“No. Sleeping without you sucks,” he
countered and kissed my cheek, saying softly in my ear “I can’t get
enough of you.”

Passion flamed in my chest. I wished we
weren’t shoved in this van full of people. Will brushed his hand
across my hip, and making circles with his fingers on my
stomach.

Bill took a left, and we coasted down a dirt
path, similar to the one Will and I had traveled when we were in
Maine.

“Where are we?” Jen asked.

“We’re in upstate New York,” Bill
responded.

We drove down the path surrounded by thick
trees. I heard some branches scrape the side of the van as we
bounced down the narrow trail. At the end, we emerged to see a
large, white farm house. The grass grew tall around the foundation.
The view screamed haunted house, not safe house.

“What the hell? Couldn’t we have just gone to
a hotel?” Jen complained bitterly, exasperated at the site of the
looming, ominous structure.

“This one has fallen off the radar. The
government doesn’t maintain it anymore.”

“So it just sits here?” Jen asked.

“Yeah, cut backs.” Jake responded.

Jen snorted in disgust.

Bill brought the vehicle to a stop right up
at the front door. Derek slid the van door open, and we filed out
onto the dirt and grass. The driveway had given way to dry grass
that crunched under our feet. The boards of the porch creaked with
each step.

Derek searched for a key hidden under the
rickety porch. Will looked in the windows while we waited. Jen
followed him. I stood at the threshold observing Jake as he carried
Jen’s bag. He watched her closely as she talked with Will. Bill and
Derek got the door open.

The house obviously hasn’t been used in a
while. Thick layers of dust had settled on the surfaces of the
furniture. The floors were hardwood and dirty with varied
discolorations in the wood where rugs had been scattered.

“I’ll check upstairs,” Jake offered.

“I’ll go with you,” Derek said as he
followed.

Bill, Jen, and I headed into the living
room.

“I’ll check the kitchen,” Will called out as
he walked towards the back of the house.

It appeared no one had been here in forever.
The house had that lonely, abandoned feeling houses seem to get
when the hustle and bustle of people become a distant memory.

Bill searched for the thermostat, then went
to the cellar to fire up the hot water heater. It was cold and dank
in the house. Even the air smelled old. Footsteps on the stairs
announced Jake and Derek’s arrival back to the living room.

“All set upstairs,” Derek said. “There are
four bedrooms and one bathroom.”

“One bathroom and a very sparsely stocked
kitchen back here...some canned goods. Everything else is trash,”
Will said as he came into the living room.

“Can I shower?” Jen whined. “I feel so
gross.”

“Sure,” Jake spoke up. “I’ll take you
upstairs and show you.”

“I think I can find it.” Jen walked passed
him annoyed. It didn’t matter – Jake followed her anyway.

“You might want to wait for the water to heat
up!” Bill called out to Jen from the bottom of the stairs as he
emerged from the basement.

“Whatever!” she called back.

Bill shrugged his shoulders and stood with
Will and me in the living room. Derek hung out in the hallway,
distractedly watching the stairs Jake and Jen climbed.

“Understanding Matthew’s next move is the key
if we’re going to figure out what to do,” Bill suggested.

“I think that I should go back by myself,”
Derek said matter-of-factly as he came into the room.

“That’s crazy!” Will hollered. “We’re in this
together!”

“I know, but someone needs to get some Intel.
We shouldn’t walk in there blind. We need the facts.”

Derek was hiding something. I could sense it
in his words and tone of voice. Will was irritated and worried. I
felt that too. The whole situation was just plain dangerous, and
the stakes were very high.

I dropped myself into a dusty chair, totally
exhausted. I braced my head in my hands and balanced my elbows on
my knees. As soon as the tips of my fingers rested on my forehead,
the yelling started.

“Get the hell away from me!” Jen screamed.
Jake tumbles down a couple of steps as a high-heeled shoe thunked
on the landing at the bottom of the stairs.

“What is your problem?” Jake asked in a
rumbling chuckle, with one hand supporting himself on the
railing.

“You! You are my problem!” Jen shrieked. Jake
looked down at the shoe that missed him by mere inches.

“You took spiked heels with you? I don’t
think those shoes are very sensible for being on the run.”

“Arrh!” Jen screeched a final time, and the
second shoe bounced off Jake’s shoulder and crashed down on the
steps.

Bill, Derek, and Will all turned to me. I
rolled my eyes and released a long sigh.

Kara:

Kara has no idea what time it is, but she assumes it
is getting close to midnight. They always put her gag on at night.
Tommy doesn’t want to hear her yelling for freedom or crying.

Kara hears giggling, female giggling. Her hopes soar
thinking that just maybe she is being rescued or these people could
help her. They are getting closer, and she can hear their voices
coming towards the doorway.

“
Whoops...I’m a little high!” one of them
slurs.

Two girls stagger in from the “wherever” that is
beyond this room. Kara doesn’t know anything about this old
warehouse. She’s only seen where they keep her locked up...and the
bathroom.

Mouse is leading the stumbling and laughing girls,
encouraging them forward. Kara gets a good look at the girls, and,
not only are they high, but they look as though they live on the
streets.

Each girl is wearing a miniskirt that has seen better
days with torn pantyhose. They look unwashed and tough underneath
their tipsy and flirty exteriors.