The Touch (28 page)

“She isn’t here,” Allie started to shut the door and Gabriel put a hand out to keep it open.

“When did you last see her?” he asked, losing some of the cordiality in his voice and replacing it with an interrogative tone.

“I don’t know, earlier today.”

“Where did she go?”

“I don’t know, home I suppose.  Is there anything else, Detective?”

“What do you mean you don’t know, when did she leave?”  Maddie pushed her way into the doorway, a disgruntled look on her face.

Allie regarded Maddie steadily, her expression inscrutable.  “Earlier today,” she repeated.  “Why don’t you go and bother someone else for a while, I have other things to attend to.”  Again she tried to push the door shut but Gabriel held it steady, not willing to relinquish it before getting the final word in.

“If you hear from Lexi, please tell her to give me a call.”  With that he let go, turning away, deep furrows of worry appearing on his forehead.  He didn’t like being blown off, even if Allie had every right to be pissed off at him at the moment. 

They got all the way to the end of the driveway before Maddie spoke.  “What do we do now?”

“Now we wait for Lexi to turn up, that’s it,” he shrugged, not any happier at reaching a dead end than she was. 

“But what about Allie’s behavior back there?  Didn’t she seem off to you guys?

“Total beeyotch, she’s definitely got something to hide,” Cooper agreed.

Gabriel was less willing to make any rash judgments.  “I dunno, it makes sense she’d be cold to me, I was the one who arrested her after all, that would tick anybody off.”

“Yeah, but she wasn’t just cold… it was like she didn’t give a damn where her own sister was,” Maddie pointed out.

“I thought you said the ghosts told you she wasn’t the killer?” Gabriel reminded her.  She couldn’t have it both ways; either Allie was involved or she wasn’t.

“Yeah I know,” she frowned.  “Still, my spidey senses are going into overdrive here, I can’t shake the feeling that something’s not right.”

“We could run a GPS locator on Lexi’s phone, see where it turns up,” Cooper suggested and Maddie flashed him a grateful smile.

“That’s a great idea!” 

Warmed by the response, Cooper pulled his tablet out of the back of Gabriel’s car.  “It’ll just take a sec; I have a cool app for this.  What’s the number?” 

Gabriel rattled it off without missing a beat, wondering if he should break down and buy one of those nifty gadgets.  Only whenever he was away from his laptop Cooper was around to provide his or he made do with the limited internet access on his phone.  

“Okay, here we are… and it’s… huh, that’s weird.  Hold on a sec, let me zoom in a bit,” Cooper frowned over the display, tapping the screen a few times.  “It’s here.  According to this her phone is right here, but I can’t get it to zoom in any more and see where exactly it is from where we are.”

Maddie’s eyes grew as wide as saucers.  “What if she’s in that hidden room?”

Gabriel couldn’t help but dismiss that with a snort.  “Oh come on, Lexi probably left the phone inside and that’s why she hasn’t been answering today.  I was willing to go with you on this little field trip, but I have real work to get back to.  Just go on home and I’m sure Lexi will turn up soon.  She probably went for a drive or something.” 

“He’s right, maybe she went to the movies to blow off some steam and got lucky?” Cooper suggested helpfully and Gabriel resisted the urge to smack him.

Maddie didn’t bother to reply to Cooper.  “Okay okay, I’ll go home.  But promise me you’ll look into the thing with the blue prints?”

“First thing in the morning I’ll make a call.  Scout’s honor,” Gabriel gave her a reassuring smile.

“She was right; you do have a nice smile,” Maddie’s head cocked to one side as she studied him.

That caught Gabriel by surprise.  “Lexi said that?”

“She said a lot of things,” she smirked.  “Whatever’s going on between the two of you, don’t give up on her, okay?  I’ve known her a long time and she doesn’t let herself fall very often, I’d hate to see her get hurt.”

He didn’t want to see Lexi get hurt either, even if she had been the one with the cutting words the last time they’d spoken.  “When she does come home, have her give me a call.  Or if you wouldn’t mind…” he handed over a business card.

“I thought you said she was probably fine wherever she is?”

Busted.
  Gabriel shrugged, “Still, it’ll put my mind at ease.”

“Here, take my card too.  Just in case you need anything in the middle of the night, I’ll be right at your fingertips,” Cooper held out one of his own cards.

“Alright,” she accepted the card, turning it over in her fingers. “Who knows, I might find myself all alone some night, in desperate need of a little distraction,” Maddie replied, her voice soft and breathy, deliberately teasing him.

“I can be very distracting,” Cooper’s smile widened. 

“Tell me something I don’t know,” she smirked.  “See you guys later, thanks for trying.”  With a little half salute, Maddie turned and got into her car. 

“I like that girl,” Cooper sighed, watching her drive away.

“You like all girls,” Gabriel pointed out, already climbing into the driver’s seat. 

“What about you?  Ghost stories?  Really?  You’ve got it bad for that chick.”

“Shut up and get in the car, I’ve had enough wild goose chases for the night.  Time to head for home and get some rest.”

“Then you don’t think there’s anything to what the housemate had to say?”

Gabriel looked up the driveway to the house that was once more shrouded in complete darkness.  “I didn’t say that.”

Chapter Eighteen

Lexi awoke to a splitting headache, a metallic taste in her mouth that she vaguely recognized as blood.  Wrists and ankles were bound painfully tight to the chair, right hand still bare, and she immediately clenched it into a protective fist. Straining at the bonds only made her wrists and ankles burn and the knots showed no sign of slipping.  The old wooden table was set for a tea party with delicate cups and saucers, dirty and smudged, like the one she’d held up in Chloe’s room but the dishes were bare.  A flickering oil lamp provided the only illumination, the glass half covered with soot, obscuring what light there was.  The same ancient bed she’d seen in the visions stood tucked away against the wall, the ratty bedclothes matching the tattered drapes hanging on the walls.  No sign of any windows or doors, Lexi could understand how such a room could be so undetectable. 

Chloe sat across the table, her face bowed and shadowed in the uncertain light.  Upon closer inspection, the other “child” at the table was not a child at all, but a large lifelike doll propped at the head of the table to preside over the ruined tea party.  Dressed in a white cotton party dress, the doll stared ahead with sightless eyes.  Tearing her eyes away from the unsettling view of the doll, Lexi’s gaze returned to her niece, relieved to see the gag hung loose around her neck.  “Chloe?  Honey, can you hear me?”

Chloe’s head came up, her cheeks stained with tears.  “Aunt Lexi?”  Her voice sounded small and defeated, as though she’d lost any hope of escape.

“Oh, thank God,” the knot in Lexi’s chest eased at the immediate response.  “How are you, are you okay?” she whispered, not wanting to draw any attention to the fact that she was awake, in case Allie was within hearing distance.

“I can’t feel my feet…” Chloe whimpered, fat tears spilling from the corners of her eyes.

Oh Christ
… Lexi resisted the urge to tear up herself, knowing she had to keep it together until they escaped.  “Listen to me, it’s gonna be okay Chloe, your feet are just numb from the ropes.  As soon as she unties them you’re gonna get those little pins and needles tingling when you walk, like when you fall asleep funny and your arm goes to sleep, but there’s nothing to worry about, I promise.”  Immediate guilt assaulted her for making that promise.  Depending on how long she’d been tied up like that, any manner of irreparable damage could have already been done, but she needed Chloe’s spirits up for now.  They could deal with any permanent consequences later; one hill at a time. 

It wasn’t clear if Chloe was buying it or not, the girl didn’t acknowledge what she said at all.  When she did speak, it was with a shaky whisper.  “I’m scared; I want to get out of here.”

“I know Sweetie, and I’m gonna figure out a way to get us out of here, I promise.”  There she went again making promises she had no idea if she could keep.  Her own feet began to feel those telltale signs of blood loss, numbness and tingling and she tried to ignore it, focusing on what she could control.  “How long has she had you tied up in here?”

“I don’t know… a long time,” Chloe sniffled.  “Days, I think.”

Of course she’d have little clue of the passage of time without any windows.  “But does she ever untie you and let you walk around?”  It was easier not to call Allie by name or to refer to her as Chloe’s mother; whatever Allie had turned into, she was no longer the sister Lexi knew and loved.

“Sometimes, when she wants us to play games.”

“Us?”

“Bianca and me.”

Lexi’s eyes widened in surprise, “Bianca, the little girl who died here?”

Chloe nodded.  “That’s why she keeps me here; she wants me to play with Bianca.  Sometimes with the other kids from before, but mostly it’s just me and Bianca.”

Her head was throbbing, making it hard to think, and Lexi rode out a wave of dizziness when she tried to shake it clear.  For whatever reason, Allie had become fixated on the ghosts and keeping them happy, and they had to figure out how to use that to their advantage.  “Can you ask Bianca to tell her to let us free?”

“That won’t work, Sophia wants us here.  I heard them talking, she wants to keep more kids here like before.  Bianca didn’t like the other kids that were here before, but she likes me, she wants me to stay here with her forever.”  Chloe’s eyes were wide and frightened; an edge of hysteria to her voice.

Sophia… Bianca’s mother… this was starting to make a little more sense now.  “That’s not gonna happen.  The police will come looking for us and they’ll find us just like what happened before.  Only this time they’ll come before it’s too late,” Lexi replied with more confidence than she felt.  While she was sure Gabriel would come looking for her when she turned up missing, how long would it take him to realize she was gone?  Maddie and Paul might not realize anything was wrong for days and assume she was staying with Allie for an indefinite time period.  “So you said she does untie you every once in a while, to play?” 

Chloe nodded weakly.  That was good, very good.  Provided she could get Allie to do it again, now that she was tied up too.  Why on earth had Allie tied her up instead of just getting rid of her like she’d done with Neil?  Not that she was complaining, but it couldn’t help but worry her what else Allie had in store for her.  For them both. 

“Okay so listen up, this is what we’re gonna do.  The next time she comes in here, we’re gonna…”  A loud click came from the doorway in the dank little room and the wall swung inward. 

Allie stepped into the light, a covered tray balanced on her hip as she shut the door behind her.  “Here we are for a lovely tea party,” she called out in a singsong voice, the smile on her lips at odds with the situation at hand.   

“Allie… this is crazy, you’ve got to let us go.  How long do you think you can keep us here?” Lexi began, trying to reason with her in a steady tone of voice. 

“Long enough,” the clipped answer came as she set the tray down, removing the cloth covering it with a flourish.  “Now then, who would like cakes and tea?” she asked brightly. 

Talk about déjà vu… it was all eerily reminiscent of the vision she’d seen of the other little girls trapped in that very room.  It was if history was repeating itself for some freaky reason.  Only instead of continuing with the script, Chloe didn’t give the expected response.  “Don’t eat that, it’ll make you sick,” she warned. 

“Don’t be silly, I made them just for you and they’re delicious,” Allie waved the caution away. 

“No really, they’ll make your stomach hurt,” Chloe insisted adamantly, speaking from experience. 

Allie bent over Chloe’s slight form, fingers lightly stroking her hair.  “Now, now my lovely, mother would never do anything to hurt you,” she punctuated her statement with a sharp tug of hair until Chloe’s face tipped up to meet hers.  “You must eat your cakes and tea if you want to grow up big and strong,” Allie smiled sweetly.

“Allie…” Lexi called out sharply, trying to divert her attention.  “Leave her alone, you’re hurting her.”

Allison released her hold on Chloe’s hair, eyes glittering in the lamplight as she approached Lexi.  “Would you like some tea, my dear?  You must be parched.”  

“Yeah, yeah I could use some tea, thanks.  How about you untie my hands so I can have some?  And cakes too, I can’t eat them all tied up like this.”

“You think me a great fool, don’t you?” Allie’s eyes narrowed.  “Release will not come so easily,
cara mia
.  First there will be games, many games for my Piccola.”  She reached out to lightly stroke the hair on the doll propped up at the table.  “Play by the rules or there will be punishments,” her accent grew more pronounced, an Italian lilt to her words. 

“You’re not Allie,” Lexi gasped in horror at the stranger looking out of her sister’s eyes. 

“I am now,” Allie replied serenely.

“Sophia?”  Lexi hazarded a guess, “Is that you?”

Allie’s smile widened at the recognition.  “I like this body.  So strong and full of life.  I am beautiful again,” she ran a hand over the curves of her body.  “Now Jack will come home to me.”

Was that what she wanted?  To be reunited with her dead husband?  “Sophia listen to me, you can see Jack again.  You just have to move on from this place; let go and move on into the light and then you, Jack and Bianca can all be together again.  You can be a family.”

“A family…together…” Allison murmured; her eyes unfocused.

“Yes, just let go of Allie and leave, be free…” Lexi coaxed her, having no idea how such a thing was done.  Could it be that simple?  She had to believe that once Allie was in control of herself again she’d let them out, there had to be that part of her buried deep inside that knew right from wrong. 

Instead, her attention snapped back to the present with a scowl.  “There is no light,” she hissed.  “Do not speak to me of such things.  We will play games, lovely games, my Bianca and her new friends until Papa comes home and
then
we will be together.  Now, drink your tea before it grows cold.”

“Untie me,” Lexi replied through clenched teeth.

“Dio mio, what kind of hostess am I?  I will help you my dear,” Allison’s smile grew hard and brittle as she approached Lexi’s place setting and poured out a steaming cup.  The aroma of sweet tea wafted through the air as Lexi watched her warily, not quite certain what to expect.  She sure as hell wasn’t going to drink any of the stuff.  “Open wide, time for tea.”

“No thank you,” Lexi bit out, clamping her lips shut as Allie lifted the dirty cup to her mouth.  Allie wasted no time prying her lips open and some of the tea splashed into her mouth.  Hard fingers clamped down on her jaw like a vice, forcing it closed.  A flare of panic swept through Lexi as she started to choke, the hot tea burning the soft palate of her mouth as she coughed and sputtered, forced to swallow in order to breathe. 

“There now, isn’t that good?”  Allie smiled sweetly, immediately forcing another swallow and again until all of the tea was gone, though some spilled down the front of her shirt.  Lexi fell back against the chair as she was released, still coughing, her eyes red and streaming from nearly choking on the vile drink. 

Almost immediately her stomach warmed; the same feeling as after a dose of Nyquil, or maybe a shot of good whiskey and Lexi wondered, exactly what was in the tea?  “I don’t understand… why are you doing this?” she demanded in a raspy voice.

If she even knew the answer to the question, Allie gave no response.  Instead her head cocked to one side, as though listening.  “We have company.  Be good children, I’ll be back to play soon.”  Without a backwards glance, she left them trussed up, shutting the door behind her. 

“Come on, make as much noise as you can,” Lexi encouraged the second Allie was gone but Chloe looked skeptical. 

“She’ll punish us if we make noise.”

“I don’t care; this is our best bet at getting out of here, attracting someone else’s attention.  Now come on, put those lungs of yours to good use.”  Screaming as loud as she could, Lexi paused to catch her breath after a while, swallowing back a wave of nausea as Chloe continued to yell for all she was worth.  Having no clue if anyone heard them or was even still near the house, Lexi took a deep breath for a second wave of screams.  After several minutes, the only thing she had to show for it was a sore throat and a ringing in her ears.  “Okay okay, we can stop now,” she croaked, seeing that Chloe showed definite signs of fatigue as well, her cries no longer as strong.

“Do you think someone heard us?”

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly.  “But at least we tried.  Hey, thanks for the heads up on the cakes by the way.  Does the tea make you sick too?”  Her stomach was starting to roil, but Lexi wasn’t sure if it was from a real cause or just nerves. 

Chloe shook her head weakly.  “Just sleepy.  That’s when she moves you.”

“Moves you?”

“Yeah, from the table to the bed or back.  She always leaves me tied up when she leaves the room now, after I tried to get away.”

Lexi couldn’t help but smile at the little girl’s spunk.  “Listen, I’ve got a plan,” she swallowed again, tongue feeling thick.  “The next time she comes in, let’s try and get her to untie us to play a game.  Then you make a run for the door while I keep her distracted, okay?”

“What if I can’t run?”

She’d forgotten about Chloe’s feet… “Just do your best, okay?  I’ll try to wait a little bit to give you some time to get the circulation going again.  In fact, that’ll lull her into a false sense of security.  Can you do that for me?”

“I’ll try,” Chloe nodded.  “Lexi… are you okay?”

Lexi’s head started to droop, eyelids heavy.  “Yeah, I’m fine, just a little tired is all.”  The phone in her pocked buzzed and she jumped, wondering if she could manage a way to answer it without the use of her hands, but no amount of wiggling could maneuver her pocket to accomplish it. 
So near and yet so far away…
  But if everything went according to plan she’d be able to call for help, hopefully from outside the house with Chloe by her side. 

The next thing she knew, her head was jolting up as she startled awake, still foggy with dreams that weren’t her own.  “Chloe?” Lexi called out, heart thudding loudly in her ears.  “Did I fall asleep?”  Chloe made a soft sound, not quite stirring to wakefulness right away.  How much time had passed was unclear, the house was quiet, and there was no sign of Allie or Sophia… whoever she was.  “Chloe…” she called again, disturbed that her niece didn’t respond.  “Wake up!”