The Hazing Tower (6 page)

She cut him off, “Where! Show me, and slowly.”

He walked her down the long hallway and turned down another; this place was a maze. It could be a trap. She was starting to second-guess herself.

He opened a door and stood back.

“What the hell—”

Cars. There must be 50 of them. A huge garage, the biggest she had ever seen.
What was this place?
she thought to herself again. Was it even real?

“Open it! Open the door!”

He pressed a button and a huge rolling door moved upward. The sun blinded her and she turned away. She quickly looked back, expecting her escort would be on her at the slightest chance.

He hadn’t moved. He didn’t take the opportunity.

“The keys are inside, miss. Your choice. Can you drive a manual, if I may ask? Alexander likes older technology; I think none of them are automatic.”

“Yes, I can drive a stick shift!” She felt flustered now.

She jumped in the first car. A Ferrari, it seemed. She didn’t really know cars all that well, but she knew it was expensive.

“Miss, please be careful. Alex would be so upset if anything happened to you.”

Ya, I bet he would,
she thought to herself.

She started the car and the engine roared like an angry beast. She gunned it, and it stalled out when she let up on the clutch. She looked up and felt her face turning red. The old man was just standing there. She could drive a stick. Damn it! She started it up again, and this time eased the clutch out. She swung the car around and floored it. She could see the huge mansion behind her as she drove away. The man just stood there.

She picked up speed. The road was small, not a highway. She looked around and tried to get her bearings. Her training. Come on, Nikki! The plants. Everything was green. Where was she? Look at the trees; what type are they? All the stuff she’d been taught. It seemed a lot easier when it was in a book.

The car was awesome. Even in her state of mind she noticed; it drove like nothing she’d ever been in before. The power and acceleration were beyond anything she could imagine. It took turns like it was on rails.

Just as she thought the road would go on forever, she saw a gas station! She pulled in, locking  up the brakes as she slid to a halt at the gravel entrance.

She jumped out and ran inside.

“Phone! I need your phone; I’m a cop.”

The man behind the counter looked at her like she was crazy. She looked down and realized why. She was in PJs! Pink pajamas with bare feet! She hadn’t even noticed with the rush to escape.

“Hey, listen, I really am a cop. Where’s your phone?”

“Over here. You can use my phone, the pay phone’s been broken for a month.”

He pushed an antique looking phone to her across the counter. “You sure you’re OK? Is that Alex’s Ferrari?”

“You know him?”

“Of course, such a nice man. So kind. Oh! Are you with him?”

“I’m going to need your statement later. And no, I am NOT with him.”

She picked up the phone. A dial tone! Finally, life was making sense again.

Her finger started to dial 911 when it happened. She glanced down at the newspaper stack on the counter. She dropped the handset and grabbed onto the glass counter.

“Miss? Is the phone broken again?”

She slowly lifted the paper up and looked again at the front page.
Sept. 29, 2014.

“Miss! Are you OK?”

“You! What’s your name?”

“Mike, everyone calls me Mikey.”

“Mike, Mikey, is this a sick joke? It’s 2013. What is this?” she screamed, pointing to the newspaper masthead.

“Miss, I don’t understand. It is 2014. It’s September 2014.”

She pulled all the papers out, one by one, 2014, 2014, 2014. She ran outside and stumbled to the paper rack in front of the building. Sept. 29, 2014.

It couldn’t be.
Nikki sat down next to the wall and stared out at nothing. Her mind felt totally blank. She felt a hand touch her.

“Miss, do you want me to call for help? Are you sick?”

“I’m sorry I yelled at you before. Can I use your phone again?”

“Of course!” He helped her up. “I didn’t mean to imply you were sleeping with Sir Alex; it’s just that you seem like a nice girl. And he needs a woman’s touch in his life.”

The confusion in her head was gaining steam. “He isn’t married?”

“Oh, no, his wife died a long time ago, I’m sorry to say. He never married again. He seems quite lonely if you ask me.”

She picked up the phone and dialed Dianne; at least she still had her memory.

“Records Division.”

“Dianne! It’s me, Nikki!”

There was a pause.

“Hey you sick fuck! If I find you, I’ll rip you limb from limb. How dare you —”

“Dianne! It’s me! What’s wrong with you?”

“Nikki died almost a year ago and you know it. Stop messing with me. I’ll find you, I’ll trace this call.”

“Dianne, the affair. You had an affair; you told only me, remember? Only I would know. With Kendrick. The affair.”

Another pause. Longer this time.

“Nikki? Is that really you? It can’t be.”

“It’s me, Dianne. I need your help.”

“I was at your funeral. I gave your eulogy. You died.”

“I don’t know how, but I’m here, I’m alive, I mean — I don’t know. Dianne, please, I need to ask you something.”

“Anything.”

“This is going to sound crazy. What year is it? What month and year, Dianne?”

“It’s September. September 2014. Nikki, listen to me, are you still there?”

Nikki was shaking. The phone almost dropped out of her hand.

“I’m here.”

“If this is really you, Nikki, don’t tell me where you are, OK? Don’t come back yet. Someone has been coming around, asking questions. You know how I can tell when someone is bad, how I always could?”

“Yes. You have that sixth sense about people.”

“Well, these are bad guys, I can feel it to my core. Stay dead for now. Find a way to contact me again, but not on this phone.”

“Got it. I’m sorry, Dianne. And hey, be careful yourself, maybe take some time off. Let me try to figure this out.”

“Is Zoey OK?” She guessed it was a stupid question. But Zoey meant so much to her.

“Of course, she is! She misses you though. It took some time before she warmed up to me.”

“I love you, Dianne. I’m so sorry about all this.”

She hung up and looked around. She found a chair and sat down. She wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Where am I?”

“Upstate New York, by Debar Mountain,” the station operator answered. “Closest real town is Malone. Surprising how you drive out of the city and it’s like a different world.”

She nodded.

“You said Alex is a good person?”

“Oh, yes! He is one of the good people. You know he lent me one of his cars once, when my kid was sick. My old truck doesn’t run very well. He let me use one of his sports cars to go to urgent care. The car was worth more than 20 of my gas stations.”

She looked around and saw a selection of knives. “Mike, sorry, Mikey. I don’t have any money with me. Could I borrow one of those knives, the hunting one? I promise I’ll have Alex pay you for it.”

“Of course! Take your pick. I owe him a lot more than the cost of the knife; consider it on the house.”

She picked out one of the larger hunting knives.

“Do you have something to write on?”

He brought her a pen and paper, still looking totally confused.

“Please, will you promise me something?” Nikki asked.

“Anything.”

“Here’s my name, address, everything. And the name of my friend back at the police station. If I don’t call you in five hours, will you call her and say I need help.”

He looked stunned. “OK, I mean, of course. You will be at Alex’s estate?”

She nodded.

“You sure you don’t need a drive to the hospital? I can drive you in Alex’s car.”

“That’s OK, I feel fine actually. I just need to figure some things out. Can you write down your number; make it your home number if you won’t be here. Five hours, are you with me?”

“Five hours, it is then. I hope it works out with Sir Alex. He is a good man, I swear to it.”

The mansion looked even bigger from this angle. She drove up past the perfectly manicured lawns and stopped by the front entrance. There he was, the man in the suit. Waiting.

“You came back.”

She looked at him closely this time. “How long have I been here?”

“I think almost a year, miss. He was so very worried for you.”

A year? She was dead. She had to be dead. No way she would be alive a year later. Two months was a long shot. It was more like one. A year? Not possible.

She had realized something back at the gas station. It was the reason she didn’t call 911, the reason she drove back here. The pain was gone. Completely gone. And not only that, she felt strong again. She couldn’t remember the last time she didn’t feel the pain. And there was something else. It had been the start of winter when she was last awake. It was clearly near the end of summer now. It had been a long time. After what Dianne had said, her gut told her to return to the mansion. Why, she had no clue.
I must be crazy
, she thought to herself.

“Please come in. You should eat. You must eat, you know,” the older man said.

She walked back in with him. She found herself scarfing down food in some dining hall, a room that looked like something out of a museum. The whole place looked like a museum. Her mind felt like a rudderless boat. She had lost all fear at this point. She was already dead, it seemed, so she couldn’t be killed again. Maybe this was just a dream. It didn’t seem like a dream. But what about the pain? The pain was gone. That was impossible. Even if he had given her the strongest painkillers, she would feel the pain. And she didn’t feel drugged, not at all; in fact, she felt strong and sharp, except, of course, she must be dead.

“When will Alex be back?”

“He should be back soon, miss. I apologize for all this. He didn’t want this, you know. Don’t tell him I said that, please.”

“Didn’t want what?”

“Oh, I talk too much. I’m an old man. Alex is a good person. He is the most generous man I have ever known. He saved my family, you know.”

“Saved them?”

“There was a fire, many years back. He ran in and saved my dear wife and children. He ran right in. The entire house was engulfed in flames.”

She felt calmer now. She could still feel the buzzing in her head, but it was less. All that seemed to matter now was the lack of pain.
What else should matter?
she thought. Dead or not dead, questions seemed to blur into grey. Things that mattered before didn’t seem to be important right now.

She saw him staring at her hunting knife. She had it close to her on the table.

“Oh! The knife reminded me. He said you would want this back.” He pulled out her service weapon and handed it to her.

She quickly checked it, and to her amazement it was loaded.

Well, that was it. The world had clearly gone mad. No, she had gone mad. She held onto the gun tightly and started to eat again. At least now, she could take them both to the police station herself. She had a loaded gun.

A loud horn blared outside and there was the sound of a crash. They both jumped up at once and ran outside.

“Oh no, not again —”

It was another sports car. Not unlike the one she had used. It was in the bushes with the horn on full blast.

She sprinted up to the car. There he was — Alex. He was out cold, slumped over the steering wheel. A pang of fear went through her. Why, she had no clue.

“Help me please, miss. I can’t carry him alone anymore. I’ve become old.”

She looked down at the gun in her hand. She was still in bright pink pajamas; the gun would just fall right through her waistband. There was nowhere to put it.

“Oh, forget it!” She put the gun down on the gravel and helped carry Alex back into the house.

They sat him in a chair and the man went running down the hall. She couldn’t help see Alex’s nose was bleeding. He started to wake up.

“Nikki?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“You are up. I’m so glad.”

She didn’t know what to say. Thankfully, the man was back and started cleaning Alex’s nose and face.

“Hey, I never got your name,” Nikki said to the man.

“I’m sorry, miss. My name is Godfried.”

“What’s wrong with him, Godfried?”

“This happens sometimes. When he, well, if he exerts himself too much. If he helps someone.”

They moved him to a bed. The mansion seemed to have hundreds of rooms.

She found herself sitting on the bed next to him. Her mind was spinning like an out-of-control engine.

“Your weapon, miss. You left it outside,” he said, handing her gun back.

“Oh, God, just put it on the dresser. If you were going to kill me, I guess I would be dead 20 times by now.”

“Kill you? Oh, never, my dear.”

Did she just smile? She did. The insanity of the situation had blown her mind. Why not smile. This was funny. What else could it possibly be?

“I need to go, miss. My son, he isn’t well. I need to go see him. I’m sorry to ask you this, but can you take care of Alex tonight?”

“Take care of him?” This was surreal.

“I would stay, but my son. He doesn’t have long now.”

He looked like he might cry. “Sure, it’s fine. I will stay with him.”

“Miss, I want you to know. He cares for you very much.”

“He has a funny way of showing it. Kidnapping me and all.”

“Oh, my dear, he brought you here to save you. Don’t you see? You were dying.”

So, he knew. And yes, she was dying. She was dead, if you wanted to be clear about it.

She turned to ask him a question and he was gone.

Here she was. In a mansion with Alex, a total stranger who had held her hostage for a year. Or had he? The memories were starting to become more clear now. She had been in his car, after he fell. She didn’t remember being locked up anywhere, or mistreated in any way. She should be long dead. And instead she was caring for the man that maybe kidnapped her.
Well, if anything, this would make a good book,
she thought to herself.