Lin Finity and Her Mayhem Rising, Fringes of Infinity Book One
Table of Contents
Dedication v
Chapter 1 – Lin & Gabby 1
Chapter 2 – Sweet Talker 4
Chapter 3 – Ben & Luanne 12
Chapter 4 – Something Inside 15
Chapter 5 – Rough Talker 19
Chapter 6 – Changed World 25
Chapter 7 – For Taylor 35
Chapter 8 – Mayhem Within 39
Chapter 9 – Vastness Below 44
Chapter 10 – Binge Warning 49
Chapter 11 – Cowboy Poet 53
Chapter 12 – Ben Again 57
Chapter 13 – Witch Hunt 65
Chapter 14 – Sun Watch 71
Chapter 15 – John & Tommy 79
Chapter 16 – Pawn Shopper 86
Chapter 17 – Lookout Lunch 90
Chapter 18 – Cowboy Jack 95
Chapter 19 – Lost Puppies 100
Chapter 20 – Only Dreams 104
Chapter 21 – Grayson & Ronnie 110
Chapter 22 – Arnie 116
Chapter 23 – Ivan & Doc 124
Chapter 24 – Together 134
Chapter 25 – Endless Depths 139
Chapter 26 – Crumbling Wall 146
Chapter 27 – Center of Stillness 152
Chapter 28 – Witnessing Infinity 158
Chapter 29 – Party by the Sea 162
Chapter 30 – Stolen Breath 169
Chapter 31 – Seaside Showdown 175
Chapter 32 – Old Style Magic 179
Chapter 33 – In the Park 185
Chapter 34 – God’s House 189
Chapter 35 – Easy Split 193
Chapter 36 – Cold Steel 198
Chapter 37 – Lonely Road 206
Chapter 38 – Infinite Future 212
Chapter 39 – Innocent Touch 218
Chapter 40 – Airport Justice 224
Chapter 41 – Comfortable Space 231
Chapter 42 – Nomad 239
Chapter 43 – Striking Evil 246
Chapter 44 – Barely Breathing 252
Chapter 45 – Party of the Blind 258
Chapter 46 – A Life Ending 268
Chapter 47 – Lin’s Horizon 275
Chapter 48 – The Real Gabby 278
Chapter 1 – Lin & Gabby
“Broken hearts or broken bones . . .”
Lin parted her red lips only enough for the words to escape.
“Does it really have to be one or the other?”
“Yes, Gabby, it does. Every time.”
Lin grasped the wheel more tightly and repositioned herself in the black leather seat. Beneath the hem of her short black skirt, bare thighs led to shapely calves that ended with her favorite heels.
She stepped down hard on the gas, demanding more performance from the Temt8tion’s big engine. Signs dotting the edge of I-79’s surface streaked past. She kept her car rocketing through a tunnel carved out between hard pavement and low clouds.
“I’m exaggerating, of course. I’ve never broken anyone’s bones.”
“Hearts, though.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Lin laughed lightly and relaxed her hold, and her eyes never left the road rushing toward her.
But the smile withered and was gone, and Lin groaned while trying to pull her short skirt down to cover more of her thighs. There just wasn’t enough fabric to maintain any real modesty.
“Do you enjoy dressing like this? There’s been a big change in your clothing the last couple of months.”
“Yeah, I like it. This feels like the new me. Or, I should say, the real me. I’ve had enough of downplaying myself. Why hide it?”
“You definitely have a style now. Very memorable.”
“You get the credit, Gabby. About a year ago, you made a comment about my unimaginative outfit. I forget which one. You weren’t being mean—I can’t imagine you ever would—but it hit a nerve somehow. Starting then, I became more and more tired of the old look.”
“Perhaps it was just time for you to make such a change. Your new style is quite striking. Have you stopped with the chocolate bars too?”
“Yeah. I can’t keep gobbling those forever.”
She gave her skirt a rest and resumed strangling the steering wheel, staring straight ahead as the big motor hummed.
“It might go easy this time, Lin. Maybe no one needs to get hurt. Hearts or bones.”
She nodded, never looked over, and said, “Well, let’s hope. I just need to get this assignment wrapped up, then I’ll slack off for a while. I need some easy times in the sunshine after I get through this.”
“Do you really need this part-time job of yours?”
“Gabby, I like working at the vet’s office, but it doesn’t cover everything. So, this is what I do, along with an acting gig when I can get one. You know I don’t have a flashy lifestyle.”
“Except for your car?”
“Yeah, it isn’t cheap. But a girl’s got to have some fun too.”
Lin watched the road vanish beneath the leading edge of the hood, and the steering wheel patiently tolerated the incessant throttling she was administering.
“Maybe I’m getting too old for this, Gabby. Or too tired.”
As she took one hand off of the wheel to shake the tension out of it, she said, “We’ll be there soon, and remember, I’d rather you not be in the line of fire. Well, so to speak—I don’t expect any violence. I’ll meet up with you when it’s over, okay?”
“Sure, Lin. Just remember, I’m here to help. I can do more than just keep you company.”
“I know, Gabby. God, what a friend you’ve been. A real angel. I don’t know where I’d be without you.”
Lin returned her hand to the steering wheel and shook the other.
“I think that’s your exit there,” said Gabby, “with the sign—”
“Route 5 west. Yeah. I see it.”
She gunned the engine and cut over, earning a blaring horn and the obscene gesture that matched it.
“I know you don’t need—”
“No, Gabby. No. I don’t need a copilot.”
A few seconds passed with nothing but a rumbling engine while Lin glanced at the approaching storm coming in off of Lake Erie.
“Gabby, sorry. I told you I was tense.”
“You never have to apologize to me, Lin. You know that.”
“Yeah, I know.”
She scanned both sides of the street as she idled into town, an area wearing even more darkness with the swollen black clouds above them about to unload.
“Think you can find something to do in this dump?”
“I’ll be fine, Lin. Just pull over wherever you need to.”
Under her breath, mostly to herself, Lin said, “By the ocean. That’s where I need to pull over.”
But she postponed murdering the steering wheel just long enough to fling back her long blond hair on each side. And she confirmed, with a quick gaze at the green eyes in the mirror, that she’d managed to impose on herself the necessary level of determination for whatever would come next.
Chapter 2 – Sweet Talker
A short drive brought Lin to the hotel where she expected her target would be hiding, just a few miles off of 79. Ancient buildings populated the streets in the almost forgotten area of town. Most were vacant, some seemed to lean and tempt gravity, and others waited only for a match to mercifully finish them off. The hotel’s aged brick front featured metal grills over the first-floor windows and a flickering neon sign advertising hourly rates. Its harsh light only deepened the darkness inside pressing against the glass.
Lin pulled up along the curb and scoped the place out from a block away.
“I’ll leave you to it, then, Lin.”
Never looking over, Lin said, “Okay. Talk to you soon.”
A minute later, she saw her mark leaving the hotel on foot. The Temt8tion’s low growl echoed off of the crumbling walls as she idled her way along the street, trailing him.
After a block of slow pursuit, the man ducked into a bar, and Lin watched the incoming storm’s winds catch the door, forcing him to fight for a hold on it, then slam it.
With the car in park, Lin killed the engine, checked her looks in the mirror, then focused on the bar as she popped open her door.
She swung her legs out, finding small areas of unbroken asphalt for her heels, and she stood and attempted to pull down her skirt.
“What are you staring at?” she said to a shabby man frozen across the street, gawking at her.
“No, I, uh—nothing.”
He looked down, then away, and he hurried along.
“Can’t blame him, I suppose,” she said as she tried to tug down her skirt. “Dressing like this.”
The impatient storm crept closer, pushing cold air that swirled around her legs and stirred aromas of garbage and rot. She stood outside the pub’s dented metal door and looked up and down the street before she kicked loose a sheet of newsprint from around her ankle and pulled the door open. Damp, smoky air greeted her.
She strutted into the dank air of the dive, past losers and drunks, ignoring comments and soft, appreciative whistles, and took a place standing at the bar. On a Monday afternoon, only the serious drinkers had begun downing shots and beers between those dark walls.
She took a moment to view up and down the bar, then leaned forward on the bar when the barkeep approached.
“Whiskey on the rocks,” she said.
“You got it.”
“Always like this on a Monday?”
“These folks are pros, lady. They don’t take a day off.”
As the tattooed bartender shuffled away for her drink, Lin stayed bent against the bar, giving her skirt time to stay high and flash her legs for all to see. She gave that a minute, sometimes swaying her hips to the juke box tunes, then straightened up and gave the room another study.
No face got any of her attention except for her target, sitting in the shadows but with enough neon light to identify him. She held his gaze for a second before she turned back to offer a smile as the barkeep wiped up a spill and set down her glass.
She didn’t look toward her quarry again and in less than a minute, he stood beside her.
“Another one for the lady,” he said, waving for the barkeep, who rolled his eyes like he’d seen that act too many times.
Lin turned to him and gave him a smile.
“Well, hello, handsome. Are you here to rescue me from the high price of liquor?”
“Lady, I’d rescue you from anything at all. You new in town?”
“As a matter of fact, I am. How did you know?”
“Your style. You got more class than everyone in here combined. I like that style a lot. How can I get to know you better?”
“I’d say you’re off to a good start, sweet talker.”
Still smiling, Lin finished her first drink and swayed with the music as her next one was set in front of her.
“Are you a model or something?”
“Oh, I’m something, that’s for sure. How about you . . . new in town?”
“No, I’m from around here, but I’m heading out real goddamn quick. Maybe out west. Who knows? What’s your story? What brings you here?”
“Oh, just looking for some company. So, local boy, know where I can find some?”
“I have a room right down the street. Come back with me, and we can drink in private. I promise, I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”
Lin laughed just enough for him to hear, then said, “Eh. Gentlemen are overrated. Free drinks, though? Hmm.”
She tipped her head back to finish her drink, but her eyes stayed on him as he chugged the last of his and set down the glass.
The man dug out his wallet and threw a few bills on the bar. Lin popped open her small purse and smirked at the sight of a fat roll of large bills crammed in at the top.
“Dammit. Here,” she said to the bartender and held out a credit card.
While the card slipped out from her fingertips, she saw her suitor writing on a cocktail napkin.
“I’m going to head over and straighten it out a bit. Can’t wait till you get there.”
He slid the note to her, then spun off of his stool and walked quickly toward the exit.
“Well?” she said to the bartender, who was still standing over her, holding her card.
“Oh. Yeah. I’ll cash you out.”
Lin snapped another look at the door, then read the note aloud.
“How far away is that?”
“Not far. A block or two.”
The bar door slammed shut, Lin gave it a glance, then turned to stare at the bartender.
“Hey, buddy, how about hurrying it up a little?”
“Sure. I’m on it.”
He shuffled toward the cash register, got himself involved with a ringing phone, then lazily punched a couple of keys and swiped her card.
After slamming down the receiver and finishing his own cocktail, sucking it through the thin straw, he sauntered back and handed Lin her card.
“Sorry it took so long, sweetie. Here’s one from a secret admirer,” he said and poured another shot, then tipped his head toward the end of the bar.
“I don’t have time for that.”
But she held it up, toasted the stranger holding up his own drink, then downed it.
“Another fan,” said the bartender. “Imagine that.”
“Just what I need,” she said, then swiveled around and strutted toward the door.
A hard shove of the door delivered her onto the windy sidewalk, where the storm’s first raindrops evaded her outstretched hand as she looked toward his hotel.
Lin ventured inside the hotel and looked around the cramped, dim lobby. A seedy young clerk huddled beneath the weak light of a desk lamp, flipping pages of a magazine. He looked up and belched as he watched her stride toward the stairs with her heels clicking on the bare wood floor.
A second look at his note, then a soft knock on her target’s door caused it to swing in a few inches with a low squeal. Silence and the smell of unwashed sheets oozed into the hall.
Lin winced at the sight and smell and pulled back her hand, then groaned softly as she looked toward the stairs.
But she dug into her purse, found her pepper spray, and held it behind her. She gave her wristwatch a quick study.
With a sigh and shaking head to send her mane out of the way and back over her shoulders, she reached again for the door.
A slow push earned her another protracted squeal, and she took one step through the doorway and stopped.
“Hello?”
Without a sound, the worn wooden door swung toward her and cracked into her head. Lin stumbled back, the pepper spray fell to the floor, and her eyes were wincing shut as a cold hand covered her mouth.
Her scream stayed muffled tight as he kicked the door shut and dragged her toward the bed, where he forced her onto her back and held her by her arms.
“Hey, don’t even think of it, you damn creep! Let me up!”
“You goddamn tease. You wanted to turn me on, huh? Well, you did it. Get ready for your goddamn prize.”
“You don’t know who you’re—hey!”
Laughing, he started fighting to get a knee between Lin’s legs, and she kicked around enough that her skirt was shimmying up over her hips and winding tight around her waist.
“I don’t need to know who you are, though,” he said, laughing and wrestling to get between her legs. “You’re damn hot, and you’re getting just exactly what you wanted.”
“Last chance, dammit. Get the hell off me!”
“Go ahead and yell, girl. I like screamers.”
“You’re a piece of shit. Get off me right now!”
“Uh . . . no. Not just yet.”
“What are you doing? Since when are you a rapist?”
He froze, leaning his head as he stared down at her.
“What?”
“Nothing. I only—”
“What the hell do you know about me?”
“Nothing, I just met you. Now, get the hell off me!”
He continued the battle, eyes fixed on all that he’d uncovered.
Lin tilted back her head and watched the metal headboard beat against the plain white wall with every savage attack to get her legs apart. The randomness of the pounding became ordered, a steady rhythm.
Like a heartbeat.
Watching and listening, her arms stopped straining against his grip. Her legs stopped kicking.
And the beating heart in the quiet hotel room amplified, became a steady booming.
One arm was released, and a momentary zipper unzipping added to the noise.
“There you go, now. Don’t fight it, sweetheart.”
The heartbeat quickened.
“You wanted it . . . I know you still want it . . .”
Lin groaned as her eyes batted, then started to close.
“Not now,” she whispered. “Oh, God, not now.”
She barely heard him say, “Right now, baby. Right now.”
To the unrelenting sound like her own heart trying to escape that room without her, everything went black.
Lin awoke to a silent room, lying on her back on the hotel bed and staring up at the ceiling. She lifted her left arm, let it drop, then lifted her right. She kicked each leg.
“No broken bones, at least.”
She lifted her head enough to see her skirt still bunched up around her waist and one shoe missing. Laying her head back down, she scoffed as she wiggled her skirt back down with both hands.
Covered again, she looked to the right and saw only a packed bag and a clock on a dusty dresser, which told her that only a minute had passed.
Lin looked to the left and gasped.
“Oh, what the hell?”
The man had squatted himself down against the wall in the corner, and an occasional tremor rocked his body. His pants had dropped to his ankles. One white-knuckled hand clutched the floor-length curtain, which he’d pulled up against his head. His other hand covered his eyes, and she could see several trails where tears had streamed down his face. He sat in his own puddle on the linoleum.
With her heart racing, Lin scrambled from the bed and toward the door, where she grabbed her pepper spray off of the floor and turned to face him.
The man looked up at the sound, shuddered when he saw her between his shaking fingers, then covered his eyes again.
Keeping her eyes mostly on the man in the corner, Lin rushed over to her purse and found her cuffs. A few quick awkward steps on one heel and she stood over him, where she paused a second as fresh tears coursed down his cheeks.
“Look at me.”
Hiding his eyes behind both hands, he sobbed and shook his head.
“Loser.”
Her hands shook as she snapped the cuffs tight onto his wrists. He couldn’t push himself far enough into the corner. He didn’t speak, didn’t resist, and never looked up at her.
Lin got her clothes straightened, slipped on the lost heel, and checked herself in the mirror. Two eyes struggling to hold in tears stared back. She brushed her hair over her shoulders and turned to look at the chained man cowering and hiding his eyes.
“What’s the matter, tough guy?”
No reaction.
Lin stepped closer and without a word, grabbed the man’s shoulder.
He recoiled and knocked his head against the wall, but still he said nothing. His quiet sobbing continued.
“Yeah, you’re a real badass, aren’t you?”
She let him go. And she stood and looked down on the once talkative man who had just tried to rape her. She shook her head a couple of times and shrugged.
“Okay, crybaby . . . on your feet. It’s payday.”
Chapter 3 – Ben & Luanne
Their house crouched uneasily atop a low rise, leaning drunkenly downwind, and the area surrounding it was clear of junk and natural life. It appeared that the Earth all around had gradually nudged all of their belongings up to a high spot, where the next big wind could sweep the hill clean and restore dignity to the land.
Through the red mud and scattering chickens and cats strode Benjamin Barlow, his heavy black boots kicking what tried to get out of the way and stomping on what wouldn’t move.
He cussed under his breath, muttering about not taking any more, about fixing things once and for all, as he punched open the dented door.
Just what he needed—a deep gash on the big knuckle of his right fist, same place as last time. He vowed he’d destroy that door later. But not now. This business couldn’t wait.
He stood for a moment in the open doorway and bellowed, “What the hell, woman, you cheatin’ on me now? Where were you this afternoon?”
Through the doorway, clouds of flies charged inside with him, some orbiting his pale shaved head and more clinging to his sunburned neck.
Luanne’s face sagged as she turned to face him. She leaned her head to one side, and she’d already begun to wince. But she seemed determined to answer his question.
Before she could speak, a rough shove sent her flailing toward a kitchen counter crowded with empty beer bottles and dishes and mugs that no longer knew any other place to be. Her curly blond hair swept over her face, and the clutter flew in all directions as she hit the counter hard. Fresh shards of flea market china shined brightly against the grease spots decorating the shack’s floor.
Her face betrayed a weariness from another round of the usual drama, and it was immediately greeted by the blur of Ben’s backhand. Drops of her blood splashed onto the growing artwork beneath her bare feet.
“Damn, I was nowhere, Binge. Just shopping in town. Why . . . what are you talking about?”
She wiped the blood from her mouth with her left hand while the right attempted to straighten out her knee-length garage sale dress.
“Don’t gimme your shit, dammit. Jimmy said he saw you coming out of a bar, laughing and talking with some dude. What the hell were you up to?”
A single throbbing vein had appeared on Ben’s forehead. Luanne stopped nervously fussing with her dress and cowered even further.
“Honey, I just went in to say hi to Carla. She said it gets so slow in the afternoon sometimes. I don’t know that guy, and he just said something about the hot weather in Georgia, that’s all.”
He got a strong grip on her hair and forced her to her knees, grinding one into a sharp chip of china. More of her blood made it onto the floor. Her mouth opened for a scream, but she made no sound.
“I’ve about had it with you, bitch. Why do I even keep your cheating ass around? Why shouldn’t I end you right now, huh? Right now!”
He twisted her around, streaking the blood across the floor.
Luanne closed her mouth and allowed her head to be supported by Ben’s grasp of her hair. It had been a long while since she’d dared to protect herself, and her eyes, watery and pointed down, said that she’d reached a limit.
“You know, you weren’t always like this, Ben.”
“Don’t call me that. Don’t ever.”
“Binge. Okay, Binge.”
“I wasn’t always what? What the hell you talking about, woman?”
“When we were fifteen, Ben. That day with the big truck. You changed after that. I know it’s still you in there. You don’t have to be this way.”
She’d managed to chase away his perpetual scowl, if only briefly, leaving him stupefied. But it didn’t last.
“You’re a senseless bitch, that’s all I know. Keep your dumbass thoughts to yourself, unless you want me to really get mad. And you don’t want that, dammit.”
Still twisting blond hair in a clenched fist, he looked up at the cracked ceiling, shuddered, then shook her head around like an unwanted doll.
“Dammit. Damn you.”
He let her go and quickly gave her head a shove, then spun around and brutalized the door on the way out.
Luanne sobbed quietly as the flies found her to be just as enjoyable as Ben.
The pickup truck had been wearing down from Ben’s constant abuse, and it seemed to shrink back as he approached. Countless dents that matched well the size and shape of his boots adorned every side of the vehicle, attesting to their strained relationship.
“Damn Luanne.”
He gave the door a solid kick, climbed in, and added more mud, gravel, and a bottle cap to the field of trash beneath the pedals.
With the tall exhaust pipes behind the cab billowing black smoke and hot cigarette smoke snorting from his nose, Ben headed north. All four tires dug into Shotgun Road, squealing and spraying loose stones as he cussed under his breath.
After a skidding turn on Route 29 and a stretch of driving with flagrant disregard for the speed limit, he rattled his truck to a stop at his favorite watering hole.
Ben had some thinking to do.
And drinking. He planned on mostly drinking.
Chapter 4 – Something Inside
The sign flying past on the right said that they were barreling south toward Pittsburgh on 79. The cold rain fighting to reach the back window said that the storm was in hot pursuit.
Over the engine’s content rumbling, Lin heard Gabby.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Lin continued looking straight ahead, repositioned her tight grip on the wheel, and said nothing. But only for a moment.
“The fugitive’s in custody, there’s cash in my purse, and we’re heading south . . . what else is there?”
The sliver of clear sky ahead lured her onward. Lin answered the call by boosting the speed.
“You just seem like you have something on your mind, that’s all.”
“Listen, Gabby, you worry too much.”
After more silence, Lin relaxed her hold on the wheel and sighed.
“It’s probably nothing big. I don’t want to make a big deal about it. Something weird happened when I was apprehending him. Actually, it was when I was in some serious trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“He attacked me. Tried to rape me.”
“Tried? Meaning he didn’t do it?”
“That’s right. Something stopped him. I don’t know what. I blacked out.”
“Oh, you blacked out. Did that mess up the arrest?”
“No, it didn’t cause any problems at all. I mean, I don’t know. I don’t know exactly what did happen. But something happened, something that shook that loser up. Made it easy to cuff him. He started with way more fight than I expected. Then, he was broken. A scared, broken man.”
“You didn’t hurt him, though, did you, Lin? No ‘broken bones?’”
“No. I don’t think so—that’s not what I meant. At least, he never complained. I sure wanted to break some bones, though. It was really strange how it happened—I didn’t just black out. The feeling is hard to describe—it doesn’t make sense.”
“How did it happen? What did it feel like?”
Lin frowned, staring ahead, and gave the engine more gas.
“I can’t explain, Gabby. It’s insane. God, I thought that was all behind me. It’s been so long.”
“So, this isn’t the first time. Do you remember when it first happened?”
“Of course. Years ago. I was young. About the time my troubles finally stopped. I met you shortly after that. It’s just not a time in my life I like to look at too closely.”
“Yeah, I can imagine. But maybe you can’t hide from it forever. Maybe you need to face it like you’ve faced so much in your life. Figure it out.”
“I’d rather not. All I did was black out. It’s probably nothing. I shouldn’t even have brought it up.”
“What if it’s not ‘nothing?’”
Lin’s manicured fingers wrapped around the wheel, strangling it and keeping the car speeding south.
“You’re probably right, Gabby. I probably have a lot to figure out. But that, that blacking out, that’s . . . I don’t know. It scares me. And I know it sounds weird, but I’m fascinated by it too.”
Checking the mirror, seeing the black skies chasing her, Lin gave the accelerator an extra stomp, rounding a line of traffic and opening up a clear lane.
“You really like this car, don’t you?”
Lin managed a weak smile.
“Oh, yeah. It’s not cheap, but it’s worth every penny. Fast is good, Gabby, and this car is crazy fast. I have to have eight cylinders. And I like the line of little lights down the hood. The more of them that light up, the faster I’m accelerating.”
“Don’t people wonder how you can afford it? Nobody knows you’re a bounty hunter, do they?”
“Just Jones. And you, of course. It’s better if nobody knows. I disappear once in a while, and I’m back before anyone notices. The story I give, if anyone pushes the issue, is that when my folks died, I inherited some money. Which is true. I got enough to pay off their house from the life insurance. That’s their own fault if they imagine it was much more.”
“Well, that’s good—at least you’re not lying. Not technically.”
“And in case you’re wondering, I still haven’t told anyone about my daughter’s problems either.”
“Perhaps that’s not really their business anyway.”
“Nope.”
She drove in silence, except for the engine’s steady hum, and only occasionally checked that the storm behind her had conceded its inability to catch her. Through the windshield, the patch of blue sky expanded as she sped up to evade the outermost edge of the bloated black cloud cover.
“How’s work going? Your day job?”
“Oh, just the usual. I don’t think I ever told you, but I’m starting to suspect that Dr. Grayson has kind of a crush on me. It started a while ago, but I think it’s getting stronger.”
“Is that because of how you’re dressing now?”
“No, can’t be. He never sees me like this. The crush started years ago, but it was a lot less noticeable at first. Lately, though, I don’t know. It’s like he’s having a hard time hiding it. I like working there, but I have to be really careful. He’s a married man, you know.”
“You must know the tight skirts and heels are going to turn heads.”
“Know? Oh yeah, I’m well aware. It comes in handy most of the time.”
“Not always, though.”
“No. It can attract a lot of undesirable crap sometimes too. But you know . . . this is who I am.”
Never looking to her right, still monitoring the road ahead, she made an effort to stretch her skirt farther down along her thighs.
“How’s Jack?”
“Jack’s fine. He’s good company when I need it.”
“I bet he wants more than that. Did he want to head south with you?”
“Yeah, he does want more. And he probably wanted to go, but he didn’t ask. I have a life to live. Jack knows that.”
The storm had all but stopped in its tracks, bidding her a safe journey, and the windows had dried. Only the engine’s deep rumble could be heard.
“How’s Nomad?”
“Oh, Nomad. My God, what a character. He loves me. And I can’t help but hug him whenever I see him. He’s really something.”
“Miss him when you’re gone?”
“Of course. Who wouldn’t? Look, I appreciate you making small talk, Gabby, but I know you really want to talk about me blacking out. I just can’t right now. All I can say is that it wasn’t a simple blackout. I don’t know how to explain it, but it felt like something from deep inside me built up and came to the surface.
“I think maybe I’m losing my mind. Let’s just get to the airport.”
Chapter 5 – Rough Talker
“How much longer to the airport, Lin?”
“Less than an hour. But the signs said there are construction zones up ahead. The traffic’s already slowing.”
“Can you get around it?”
“Yeah, I’ll try heading west on 80, then I can take 376 right to the airport. Good idea, Gabby. We have time but still, who wants to sit in gridlock?”
“Nobody.”
“Right.”
She raced ahead, wove through a slow-moving line of cars, then zipped onto the exit ramp.
“Besides, seeing some Pennsylvania countryside sounds pretty good right now. Hope you don’t mind.”
“I never do.”
She steered her car onto I-376 and headed south on Route 422, then took some smaller roads, at one point heading west under 376.
“This will definitely take us around it.”
“I never get lost, Gabby. And look—the scenery is already so much better. We’ll get back on the highway in no time.”
Ten minutes later, a small pond appeared off to the right, calm and murky in the dwindling light. Silent train tracks seemed to float above the water on the far side.
Lin slowed and cruised along the shore until she’d found what she wanted: a small parking area off of the road. Only one other car was there, and she pulled in two spots over and killed the engine.
“There’s no rush, Gabby. I just need to sit for a few minutes. That thing back in Erie has me kind of rattled.”
“Just take your time, Lin. Sitting here should help.”
Lin stared out over the water and brushed her hair back over both shoulders.
“I know. It’s just because—”
A rapping on her window interrupted the talk, and Lin looked through the tinted glass to see a man in a white shirt looking in on her. She powered the glass down a few inches, and the man leaned to look in.
“Well, hello there,” he said, speaking as if his lips were too swollen and wet to form the words. “I was wondering if you could help me out. I pulled in a few minutes ago, and now that rotten car won’t start. I think it’s out of gas.”
Lin gazed at the grinning man and shook her head.
“I don’t have any gas. Have you called roadside assistance or anything?”
“Yeah, I tried. But there’s no reception here.”
“Well, I can’t help you. Good luck.”
She hit the window button, but the man had quickly jammed his travel mug in the gap.
“Mister, get that crap out of my window.”
With the window stuck, the man peered inside and got a good look at Lin’s legs barely covered by her short skirt. A smile lit up his unshaven face.
“I will. Of course, I will.”
He paused and sucked at his teeth, scrunching up his face.
“I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just that I could use some company until I figure something out. Why don’t you stick around a while? We could pass some time and maybe get to know each other better.”
“I’m not interested. You need to get back to your car. I’m in no mood for this.”
“Sure. I can do that. But I want you to stick around. Come on. Get out of the car for a while.”
He licked all around his lips, then grinned.
Lin reached for her pepper spray just as he pried the mug from the window and took a step back. She immediately shut the window and hit the start button. Her Temt8tion roared to life but before she could back out, he’d hurried to her rear bumper and stood blocking her retreat.
She revved the engine high while still in park, then she put it in reverse and inched the car backwards. The man never moved.
“You can’t just run him down, Lin.”
“He’s either fearless or stupid. Gabby, what the hell am I supposed to do?”
She could see the man in her rearview, mouthing words and laughing.
“Call the police?”
Lin checked her phone and tossed it back down.
“No bars.”
“What if he had a bounty on his head? What would you do?”
“He’d be facedown, cuffed, and eating gravel. That’s what I’d do.”
“Well, no need for ‘broken bones,’ Lin. But you’d handle it, right?”
Lin looked down from the mirror, grabbed her pepper spray and cuffs, and sighed deeply.
“Gabby . . .”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine, Lin.”
Under her breath, she said, “Why do I attract all the crazies . . .”
She cracked the door and stepped out. The gravel grabbed at her sharp heels as she slammed the door and locked it.
“Yes! I knew you’d come around!”
He started walking around the car.
“Stop. Not another step.”
Lin raised her spray and aimed. He stopped.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, little lady. No need to be nasty.”
He held his hands up as if he were under arrest, which made his bloated belly more obvious as it sagged over his belt and stretched his white dress shirt along with it.
Lin scoffed at the sight and said, “You haven’t begun to see nasty.”
She swiveled her head to look when two doors of his car opened, and two more men stepped out, one from the passenger side and another from the rear door.
She fanned her spray at all of them.
“Not another step, any of you. You two, stay right there by the car. You, mister, step away from my car, or this won’t go well for you.”
“You’re not leaving, lady. John, Tommy, get over here,” he yelled at them, clapping his hands. “Don’t listen to her. She’s probably afraid to spray that shit anyway.”
He resumed a steady clapping of his hands as the two men took tentative steps toward her.
“She’s going to keep us company,” he said, almost singing the words along with his clapping rhythm.
“No, I’m not. I’m leaving. I have a plane to catch. Right after I make you regret this.”
His clapping took on an urgent, relentless beat.
“She’s not going anywhere . . .”
He began a slow walk toward her, and Lin pointed the spray at him, her finger on the trigger.
But it could have been her heart beating with every clap of the man’s hands.
“She’s my new best friend . . .”
It was only her heart beating, loud and strong.
She blinked, and her head tipped from side to side. Her arm slowly lowered, aiming her defense at the gravel.
“She’s our new best friend . . .”
The forceful drumming of her heartbeat continued.
And everything went black.
Lin slowly opened her eyes and gazed straight ahead. The silence was broken occasionally by random gusts of wind rattling the dry weed stalks near the pond.
The clapping had stopped, and her heartbeat had calmed.
She looked to her left and locked eyes with John, standing nearby and grinning. She looked to her right and saw Tommy looking up at her. He stood way too close with a big smile and rapidly bounced his head up and down while pointing at the ground before her.
Lin clenched her jaw tight and looked down.
She let out a short scream and pointed her pepper spray. The man lay facedown in the gravel with arms bent in front of him and hands and sleeves covered in dust. His head rested on his chin, which was pressed into a mound sloped up to his mouth. His eyes were locked open, and he’d jammed his mouth full of gravel, all red and shiny wet in the weak sunlight. His ripped and bloody fingertips showed the effort he’d expended in working to fill his mouth with the jagged stones.
He lay there like a man who’d died too quickly to think of closing his eyes. Only a thin stream of blood coursing down his chin gave any life to the scene.
She took quick looks at John and Tommy and saw that they were still grinning insanely at her and not even looking down at their friend.
She stepped close to nudge him with her shoe, but she jumped back just as he had a violent spasm and began struggling to breathe through his rock-filled mouth.
Lin lowered her spray and watched as tears streamed down his dusty cheeks and thickened into a paste.
John and Tommy sat the man up and began plucking the gravel out piece by piece, all the while smiling up at her. Their bloody fingers fumbled about without eyes to guide them.
“Are you worried about him, lady? We can help him if you want,” said John.
“Yeah, yeah, we can help him. If you want us to,” Tommy said while laughing. “I think you do want us to!”
The man sat there shaking and wheezing air between the stones. Blood and small specks of rock were splattered across his white shirt. The garbled sounds coming through the packed-in shards could have been from some small savage animal that he’d tried to swallow.
When his eyes drifted aimlessly then fixed on Lin, the sobbing became muffled screaming.
Lin took a step back and looked away from the man’s terrified eyes. John and Tommy continued to smile at her.
She shook her head and backed away with her heels stabbing into the gravel. She chirped her remote, swung open the door, and got in.
Through the glass, she watched John and Tommy looking more at her than the man they were trying to help. Their mouths moved as they were calling out to her, but only their crazed laughter made it inside the car.
She started the Temt8tion, carefully backed out, and drove past the three men on the side of the road. One sat on the ground, gagging on gravel. The other two watched her drive past, waved to her, and smiled like not a thing in the world was wrong.
“Don’t even ask, Gabby . . .”
Chapter 6 – Changed World
Lin’s eyes drilled through the windshield, and her body shook weakly. Her hands choked the steering wheel as she piloted the car back to 376, aiming it south. The highway ahead gave her a clear path, leading her on with the promise of sunshine.
“I know you don’t want to talk about it, Lin, but maybe you should.”
“You’re right—I don’t.”
The engine’s deep roar filled the otherwise silent car.
“I blacked out. Again.”
“Yes, I know. The second time today. But that’s not all that happened, is it?”
She continued to watch the river of pavement flow under the hood.
“Just let it go, Gabby. Not now, okay?”
After half a minute without speaking, she scoffed and half turned to speak to her right.
“I wouldn’t know what to say. It’s weird. Whatever it is, it’s powerful.”
“Yeah, I’d agree with that. What does it feel like?”
Lin watched the road, listening to the engine’s rumble, and said, “I don’t want to talk about it. I know you’re a good friend, but I think maybe I’m just insane.”
“Are you afraid to talk about it?”
“No. Well, maybe a little. Fine, Gabby, I’ll give it a try.”
She cleared her throat and began.
“Back in Erie, and just now by the pond, I had a feeling almost like panic but not quite. There was anger too. A feeling that what’s happening isn’t fair . . . isn’t right. And it’s even more complicated than that. Both times—in Erie and again just now—I felt that I got myself into trouble from looking good. Maybe too good. Like I caused it. So, maybe there’s some guilt there too? I don’t know, but it kind of felt like the guilt was holding back my anger and keeping it from spiraling out of control.”
“That doesn’t sound too strange, Lin. It’s understandable. But what about when you black out? What’s that all about?”
“Well, that’s where things get really weird. All jumbled up. It’s hard to describe. It’s like my senses are getting confused. Overlapping, somehow. Like I can see sounds . . . smells have colors . . . things like that. It takes over. I can’t seem to stop it. And it gets mixed with the anger and other feelings, and it’s overwhelming, Gabby, and I know I’m in trouble and have to do something, and it all swirls together, building bigger and bigger, and I can’t hang on. I can’t. I just black out.”
Lin’s breaths had become fast and strong.
“Maybe I’m just losing my mind?”
“Oh, I don’t think so, Lin. There’s something going on, but I don’t think it’s a mental health issue. But it sure is hard to understand, isn’t it? This is a good start. We should talk more often. I think it would help. Let’s give it a break for now.”
“What’ll it be, Binge?” said Duke, the barkeep and owner of the place.
“Whiskey. And don’t say a goddamn word about what I already owe you.”
“Sure thing, Binge. No worries.”
He reached back for a bottle, angled it over a shot glass, then slid it up close to Ben.
“Good start. Keep the damn bottle uncapped.”
Ben sparked a lighter to a cigarette, dragged on it, then let it cloud up the ceiling.
“Sign says no smoking, Ben.”
Ben scoffed, downed the shot, and said, “You know better than that, Duke. I’ll fold you in two like a greasy napkin.”
The whiskey bottle rattled a few times as Duke set it down.
“Yeah. Sorry. Thought I owned the place there for a second.”
Ben snorted a dry laugh and pushed the glass toward him.
“No one needs you to think. Pour.”
Duke poured.
“Problems?”
“Luanne.”
“What about her?”
“Nothing. It isn’t about her.”
“Uh, okay. Maybe another shot, then.”
Ben lifted it, sent it down after the first one, then clinked the glass back down.
“That’s two,” said Duke. “Maybe you’ll be—”
“You’d better not keep counting, dammit.”
“Yeah. I mean, no, I wasn’t. Here. Have another.”
He poured, shaking the bottle some but getting most of it inside.
“You having a bad day, Binge?”
“Today’s fine. It’s . . . no, I’m not even looking at that.”
The third shot vanished. The empty glass clinked.
He belched, then turned his eyes over to hold Duke’s gaze.
“Better?”
“Enough. It was a long goddamn time ago. Back when I was Ben.”
“What was?”
Ben shrugged and began studying the dusty bottles lined up below the mirror dead ahead of him.
“You don’t remember?”
“I remember, goddammit.”
Duke hurried another full shot glass, then took a step back. From there, he watched as a thick tear jerked its way down Ben’s cheek, pasting itself up with dust on the way.
“I remember. I remember the pain and the fear.”
He turned to catch Duke’s worried gaze, then got his own eyes back to the bottles.
“And the goddamn humiliation.”
The fourth shot was history, and Ben slid the glass to Duke without bothering to look. Duke snagged it, filled it, and sent it back.
Ben, still looking straight ahead, wiped at his pasty tear.
“And Duke?”
“Yeah, Binge?”
Ben swirled the whiskey around before gulping it down to join the rest. And the drained glass stayed close to his lips.
“I can’t forget the absolute fucking wonder of it all.”