Chapter #97Deliverance by: Seuzz   "I love you too, Miko," you reply. "I'd hate to see anything happen to you." She turns pink, and it's not with embarrassment.
"How you gonna do it, squirt," Rick asks. "You gotta look you can use?"
You shake your head. "All the ones I've got I've blown. I'm sorry, Rick, but I've cocked this job up totally." But then you get an idea. "Joe, can you make it look like Nate Shabbleman, the constable down there, has woken up?" He nods. "Then I'll use him."
"I think I can play Granny along for twenty minutes," Joe says in warning tone. "That's all."
"I'll hurry," you gulp, and drop back down through the trapdoor, to get Nate's clothes and gear.
* * * * *
Grandmother is still in the bandstand, which is still surrounded by a silent crowd as you hurry through. But she's not paying attention as you draw up. Joe had said that she'd asked for you to come. "You got anything you need me to do, Grandmother?" you ask.
She's silent for a moment, her eyes staring, and she grins. She must be enjoying the illusion Joe is giving her. When she speaks, it's in a slow, slurred voice. "Get yer cousin. Will," she says. "Let's see what's inside him too."
"Ain't he here?"
"No. Get you some deputies."
"I'll check the Big House first," you say, and she doesn't reply.
Dammit. Are you going to have to rescue Blackwell as well?
You jog off toward the jail and slide into the ancient police cruiser. But you drive over to the phone exchange instead. You'd not seen Rosalie at the park, and hope she's still over there.
She is, slumped at the switchboard. Those beautiful brown eyes are red from weeping. She swallows and looks away when you come in. "Grandmother wants me," she says tonelessly.
"No, we do, Rosalie," you say. "It's me again."
She looks up, and then her eyes fall. "It doesn't matter. We'll never get out, never get away. She'll always be--"
"We won't if we don't try. Come on. You made the call, but we have another stop to make." She is boneless as you take her arm, but you don't have to drag her out to the car.
* * * * *
You leave her in the cruiser when you reach the Big House, huddled in the back, while you run in. Blackwell is where you left him, and you're glad he's under Will Shabbleman's face, for it's easier to sling him over your shoulder and carry him downstairs, where you throw him into the passenger-side seat. "Shit," you mutter as you get in, for you can see shadows moving along the street in the dark: people returning to their homes. Grandmother must think she's got things well in hand, thanks to Joe's trickery.
You nose the cruiser into the street, but have to stop when a figure hurries over: Lyle Johnson. He leans in at the window. "Grandmother said you need deputies."
"Not 'nymore. I got 'im here." You nod at Will Shabbleman, and Lyle withdraws. You punch the car up to nearly fifteen miles an hour, and cruise back toward the square. It's the only way out of town.
Rosalie's head appears in the rearview mirror. "What's he doing here?" she whispers urgently, nodding at Shabbleman.
"Gotta save 'im too, Rosalie." You glance back at her. "He's your betrothed, you know."
She's silent a moment. "You're not Nick Martin," she says in a low voice. "He wouldn't know that--"
She grabs at your throat, and your hands jerk on the steering wheel, sending the car lurching from side to side. Hell of a way to discover where her true loyalties now are.
You punch the accelerator, and she falls backwards off you. "It really is me, Rosalie," you growl. "I don't just copy faces, okay? I can copy--! I was down in Saratoga Falls with you and Joe. Remember we had that interview, you told us about Cuthbert--"
"Grandmother would have heard everything," she wails. "She's always watching, always spying--!"
"Look, you have any jewelry she gave you, any rings or necklaces or bracelets?" She says nothing. "Take 'em off. Throw 'em out the window. That's how she does it!" You hope she hasn't put anything inside Rosalie, like she put inside Sally. "Do it!"
Rosalie doesn't react right away; then with sudden violence she rolls down the window and snatches something from her neck and hurls it out. She throws away a ring, too.
And then shoes. And her blouse. And the rest of her clothes.
You try to keep your eyes on the road as you drive into the central square.
The town siren goes off, briefly. "Nate's car! The cruiser! Stop them!" Grandmother's voice shrieks over the loudspeakers. Now you do punch the accelerator, and with a squeal the car leaps ahead. You jerk the wheel to the side, sailing over the sidewalk as bodies loom in view, landing on Fifth Street. You gun it again. Fortunately, almost everybody was back inside when Grandmother realized what was happening, and you make it out the square and the few blocks down the street, to where Rick told you to rendezvous.
He's crouching by the rental car in the vacant lot when you jam the car to a stop. "Rick!" you yell at him through the open window. "It's me, I got everyone, but they're all on alert back there, gonna be after us in a minute!"
"Dammit, squirt, I told you no high-speed chases!" The rest of his reply is lost as you hit the accelerator again. The car leaps. Behind you, you see the headlights of his car come on. He's got the better wheels, too, and passes you before you even hit Jape's gas station. As your headlamps flash over it, you see your own rental car in front. It's already half-stripped.
* * * * *
Whether they gave chase or not, you don't know. Pursuit never shows up, and when you're back on the interstate, you pull over when Rick does, and everyone transfers to his car. You make brief introductions around, and Rosalie squeezes into the front seat with Rick and Miko, while the still-sleeping Will Shabbleman is put between you and Joe in the back. Joe and Rosalie exchange no words; the normally talkative Joe just grunts to all inquiries. Rick is taciturn, and so is Miko.
You put your head against the window, and when you're not looking, fall asleep.
* * * * *
You wake with a start, to find the car at a stoplight. You look around, and after a few minutes recognize the intersection. You're back in Saratoga Falls. Rick must have driven hard and fast, for it's still dark.
Everyone else is still quiet until you pull up in front of Joe's place. Rick turns around to stare at Shabbleman. "How much longer is he going to be out?"
You do a rough calculation. "He should be waking up any time now." You lean forward to peer at the clock. It's only a little after two in morning. "Yeah, I'm actually surprised--"
"I'm awake," Shabbleman says to your surprise. "Just trying to figure out what's going on."
"Can you knock him out again?" Rick asks.
"Not while he's wearing that mask," you say. "Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Aubrey Blackwell."
No one stirs. Shabbleman himself just shrugs stiffly. "Okay, you and the kid take Gandalf inside," Rick says. "Bed him down however you want, but make sure he stays. The rest of us are gonna find a motel."
Shabbleman doesn't resist as you and Joe take him by the arms and march him into the house. The Shabbleman insolence falls away, and Blackwell's own archness takes over once you have him in the living room. "Am I here to await the pleasure of my false doppelganger?" The words sound very strange coming out of Shabbleman's mouth.
"That's right, fucker," Joe snarls in a weary voice before you can answer him. "Frank'll be along in a day or two, and then--"
Shabbleman lunges for the gun at your hip.
He has it out before you can stop him, but you and Joe grab his arm. There's a hard, intense struggle.
A shot sounds.
Nate doesn't like to keep the safety on.  You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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