Chapter Twenty-Two

Cleo

“Where are we going?” My voice sounded dull and lifeless. I watched as we roared out of the alley, taking the turn practically on two wheels.

“To find somewhere inconspicuous to wait out on Highway 80.”

His words didn’t make sense. We should be driving around, looking for Lily, not sitting on the side of the road, unless he thought…

No! Don’t even think it!

He came to a rolling stop at the next intersection, then surged forward, pinning my head back against the headrest. I could see the light at the next crossroad turn yellow and he sped up, zooming through on pink-tinted pavement. His aggressive driving was bringing me back to the land of the living. I reached down beside me, fumbling for the end of my seatbelt, pulling it across my hips, snapping it into place.

“Um…Jonas…?”

“What?” he barked.

“You think we might be able to slow down, just a tad?”

“We’re in a hurry, Cleo.”

I tried again. “Probably not a good idea to get pulled over by the cops tonight.”

“My driving is fine!” he growled.

If you say so…My hand clutched the dashboard when we screeched to a stop at the next light. When it turned green, we roared off again. There was a thud from the back seat, followed by a string of obscenities, then the click of a seatbelt. I smirked a little.

“Um…maybe you’d better put your seatbelt on, too,” I urged Jonas. “You know…it’s the law.”

He muttered something under his breath about back seat drivers being a pain in the neck—at least I think he said neck.

“I’m not in the back seat,” I retorted, but I was glad to see that he did what I asked. After another few seconds, the car slowed down perceptibly, coming to a sedate stop at the next light. “Better?” he asked with a tinge of sarcasm.

I gave him my best smile. “Very much, thank you!”

He grinned, then reached over and took my hand, giving it a squeeze. “Are you all right now?”

“Are you?”

“I’m not worried about me.”

“Let’s just concentrate on finding Lily. I can fall apart later.”

“We’ll find her, Cleo.”

It sounded like a promise, and even though I knew there was no way he could be sure about it, I clung to it like a drowning person would a life raft.

****

We were positioned where we could clearly see each car zoom past us on Highway 80, but were hidden in the deep shadows provided by a convenient row of pine trees. My heart rate skyrocketed with each dark car we saw. It seemed to me that Savannah’s ratio of dark to light cars was inordinately weighted on the dark side. Or maybe only people driving dark cars lived out here. Whatever the case, I’d probably end up having a stroke before the night was over.

As the evening dragged on, there were fewer and fewer cars whizzing by. I was trying not to panic, but was really beginning to think that just sitting here was a waste of time. We should be doing something…something proactive. Not just sitting on our butts. We should head back to town and start looking for Lily block by block, street by street. Anything was better than this! Not to mention the fact that Ellie was really getting on my nerves. If she made one more sexual innuendo toward Jonas, I would lose it. As it was, I felt like dragging her out of that back seat by her Miss Clairol tinted-hair and treating Jonas to a cat-fight the like of which he’d never seen before…one that he’d not soon forget.

Just as I opened my mouth to suggest heading back to town, Jonas sat up straighter, his attention focused on the dark car just passing us. Its brake lights glowed a couple of times, as if considering whether or not to use the truck stop exit. Obviously deciding against it, the car sped up and continued down the highway.

Usually, one sedan-type car looked like any other sedan-type car to me, but as I stared at this one, I felt hair stand up on the back of my neck.

“That’s it,” Jonas said, as he turned the key in the ignition and slowly pulled out of the shadows, never taking his eyes off that car. I re-buckled my seatbelt, my heart racing.

He allowed two cars to go by before he pulled out, then kept a measured distance between his car and the one we were following. I wasn’t sure what the plan was when these other two cars turned off and we were left on our own. I was pretty sure that Jonas had no idea either; that he was adlibbing again, making up a script as he went.

One of the decoys in front of us slowed, pulling into the turn lane with its left signal on. My mouth was so dry; I couldn’t work up enough spit to swallow. Once they turned, Jonas stepped on the gas to catch back up. We sped down the long, narrow two-lane causeway that led out to Tybee Island, surrounded by nothing but marshland. I stared, unblinking, focused intently on the first set of taillights, not seeing anything else.

“Why’d the turtle cross the road?” Ellie quipped from the back seat.

My mouth dropped open in disbelief and I shot a glare over my shoulder. She’s telling a joke? Now?

“What?” she snapped. “I just saw one of those turtle crossing signs and thought I’d try to lighten the moment a little. Sue me! So…?”

“So, what?” I asked.

“So why did the turtle cross the road?”

“I don’t know,” I ground out through clenched teeth, keeping my eyes trained on the taillights ahead.

“To get to the other tide…get it? You know, like the chicken getting to the other side?”

Jonas came to my rescue again. “You know, Ellie, it’s not really much of a joke if you have to explain it, but maybe it would’ve been funnier in another situation.”

We drove in silence for a couple of minutes until we met a car, coming from the opposite direction. It had both its high beams and fog lights on; blazing brighter and brighter the closer it got to us.

“Oh, my god!” Ellie screeched from the back seat. “Dim your lights, you moron!”

Though my left ear was ringing, I had to agree with her. The glare was blinding, and it forced me to look away until it passed us. I blinked to get rid of the black spots in my vision. When I looked again, we were driving across the Bull Creek Bridge and there was only one set of red lights in front of us.

What? I looked around in a panic. “Where’s the other car? Which one is that one? How’d we lose them?”

“Our guys just turned on a dirt road back there, just before the bridge. I can see their lights in my rearview.”

I twisted in my seat in order to see. Sure enough, I could see the glow of headlights inching off at a forty-five degree angle from the road. “What are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to drive up here past the curve so they can’t see me, whip this thing around at the entrance of Fort Pulaski, and head back.”

I didn’t ask him anything else, just clamped my icy hands tightly between trembling knees. Once we were out of their sight, he made a tight u-turn, then sped back to the curve in the road, before slowing down once again. The dark sedan was already pulling back out onto the road.

Ellie cursed, “They’re done? That was fast!”

She took the words out of my mouth, minus the cussing, though I might’ve been thinking some of those words. Surely, in that short amount of time, they’d only had time to dump one body, and not two.

I clapped my hand over my mouth to keep from crying out. Tears stung my eyes, and I turned and stared at Jonas as we crossed the bridge and drove past the dirt road, following the car back the way we’d come.

“We can’t do anything there,” he answered my unasked question. “If we follow them, maybe they’ll lead us to Spencer.”

I nodded, thinking about that creek we’d just crossed over…a creek whose waters would eventually flow into the Atlantic Ocean. Maybe the authorities would discover it before the sea creatures staked their claim; maybe they wouldn’t. In either case, we hadn’t been able to cheat death after all.

I stared out my window at the scattered jewelry blurring against the dark velvet sky, barely registering that there seemed to be a lot more “diamonds” showing up out here away from the city lights. I didn’t bother to wipe the tears that streamed down my cheeks. Raymond deserved to have someone to sorrow over him. It was the least I could do for the creative man who would never make roses out of palmetto leaves again.

****

The dark sedan pulled into the parking lot of the Pirate’s House Restaurant. Twenty seconds later Jonas rolled past the building, and whipped around the corner to park behind a large construction dumpster sitting in front of one of the city’s renovation projects. He cut the engine, then turned to me, thrusting his phone into my hand. “Call my boss…Joel McMillan. Speed dial nine. He knows I’m working on this story, but he doesn’t know everything. Tell him. Be sure to explain the police involvement. He’ll know what to do.”

I stared at him, mouth hanging open, unable to say anything.

“I’ve got a hunch that they’re heading for the tunnel. There’s supposed to be an entrance under that restaurant. I’m going to try to follow them. They’re probably meeting Spencer here. Cleo, I want you to stay in the car. It’s too dangerous for you to come too. I can only look out for one person, and if you were with me, that person would be you; then we’d both be in danger. Please try to understand.”

My mouth snapped shut and I finally found my voice. “It’s too dangerous for me, but not for you? You’re crazy! They have guns! What do you have?”

“Cleo, please…I don’t want you to get hurt. I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you.”

“How do you think I’d feel if something happens to you? You big idiot!”

He grabbed my face, kissing me, hard, then he whispered. “Please…”

I was in a daze from his kiss, something he’d probably counted on. “Fine! Just go!”

Ellie opened her door the same time he did.

“What the heck do you think you’re doing?” he snapped.

“Coming with you.”

“Weren’t you listening? It’s too dangerous!”

“How chivalrous of you! Yes, I was listening, and although your declaration of love was touching, I can take care of myself.”

“You’re going to get us both killed!” he growled.

“Nah! I can handle Mark. I’m an expert at it. The handling part.” She winked at him. “You know what I mean?”

Jonas muttered angrily under his breath as he reached down to pop his trunk, then disappeared behind his car. He was back in a moment, carrying a small canvas duffle bag. He rummaged in it a minute, finally finding what he was looking for. With lightning speed, he spun Ellie around, grabbed both of her hands in one of his, and noosed them tightly with the length of rope he’d retrieved. Her mouth gaped open in surprise as he quickly knotted its end. Not giving her a chance to gather her wits, he pulled a bandana out of his pocket and stuffed it into her mouth, stifling her cries before she uttered them. He whirled her back to face him, his nose almost touching hers, and snarled a whisper, “There! Something I’ve wanted to do ever since you showed up in that alley tonight. Consider it pay-back!” Then he pushed her into the car and leaned down to grin at me.

“I’ll be bahhk,” he growled in a pretty good Arnold Schwarzenegger imitation, and quietly closed the door. Before turning to leave, he shrugged on his ratty flannel shirt, buttoning it over his turtleneck, then pulled on his filthy ball cap, turning it around backward so it wouldn’t shade his face.

I watched him sprint across the street and disappear into the shadows while Ellie thumped and grunted from the back seat.

“Do you mind?” I snapped over my shoulder. “I’ve got to make a call and I can’t hear myself think with all your noise.”

“Mmmuf-ffoo!”

It wasn’t hard to figure out what that meant. I made a face that she couldn’t see, pressed the number nine on Jonas’ phone, and then “Send.” It rang five times before a sleepy voice answered, “Hello?”

“Joel? Joel McMillan?”

“Who is this?”

“Cleo Davis. You don’t know me, but Jonas Holmes asked me to call you…”