Freeing Lana (21 page)

“That’s
nice,” he said, bringing his hands together behind his head.

3

The
more she tried to convince herself that this was just another test, the more
she knew it wasn’t. The episode in the hallway had been the only required test
he had needed and Lana had passed it with flying colors. Though she knew it
hadn’t been, it still seemed like hours that he had sat there in his recliner,
resting his feet on the small of her back, seemingly unaware that she was
completely naked.

Had
she hoped for too much, too soon from Sergio? She was beginning to wonder. That
definitive push over the proverbial cliff into debauchery she had expected had
turned into a simple walk in the park. But just as she was beginning to lose
hope, considering the idea of getting up and walking the fuck out of there, she
again found herself looking over the edge of that cliff, and not only was
Sergio not holding her hand, keeping her safe, he had both of his hands on her
back. And then he pushed.

“I’m
certain you know what to do with this,” he said calmly.

Just
as she began to look up to see what he was talking about, it landed on the
carpet right in front of her face. It wasn’t hers – hers was still sitting on
the top of the trash van in Tink’s kitchen – but it was just as easily
recognizable. The stitching around the eyelets at its base gave away their hand
stitched origins. She didn’t have to turn it over to know that there was only
one hole in the material.

“Yes,
I know what to do with it Ser.”

“Then
what are you waiting for?”

Nothing,
she wasn’t waiting for a Goddamn thing. Lana balanced herself on one hand while
retrieving the black mask with the other and slipping it over her head. Just as
she had known, there had only been one hole in the mask and when it was
completely over her head, that hole was positioned perfectly in front of her
mouth. Rocking back on her knees slightly, she was able to balance herself
without using her hands. She tightened to cable behind her neck and found the
small lock hanging from one end. She had no trouble locking herself into the
hood. Once that was done, she returned her hands to the floor and waited.

Again
the time passed around her, only this time there was no desire to get up and
leave. Forever, that was how long she was willing to stay here in this position
now. If he had no intention but to sit there and torture her by not doing
anything else at all, her only response would be to thank him. He had no idea
of the absolute bliss he had evoked inside her simply by tossing that piece of
material on the floor in front of her.

Only,
that wasn’t true because he had to have known. Otherwise, why would he go
through the trouble of making the mask himself, just a she had done? He could
just as easily have bought one at Christina’s Toy Box; they had them there and
they weren’t that expensive. But he had made it himself and she was sure it had
taken quite a while to do it. Lana tried to picture him her head, sitting here
in this same recliner, piecing the mask together. She had no trouble imagining
him thinking of her as he sewed the seams, trying to make one just like the one
she had made when they had been together, just like the one she had kept hidden
for so long, hidden from him…and then Tink. As the gravity of that gesture sank
in, the searing revelation that she wouldn’t have to hide her mask any longer,
or her passion to walk in the darkest shadow of the darkest worlds, she felt
her heart release the weight that had bound it.

“Thank
you, Ser,” she managed, barely able to keep her voice from cracking.

“You’re
welcome.”

She
felt his feet lift from her back and heard the recliner squeak slightly as he
positioned himself and leaned forward. There was no sound but that of her own
heart beating in her chest, and even with her hearing a bit obscured by the
material against her face she could hear his breathing as he leaned over her.
The soft, rhythmic flow of air moving in and out of his chest was idyllic, only
adding to the clarity of the moment for Lana, a moment that had somehow managed
to transcend contentment or mere pleasure. And for a moment, though he was two
or maybe three feet away from her, she could feel his heartbeat as well. It was
beating in time with her own, whispering softly to the soul she thought she had
long ago lost. It spoke in a language that rendered meager words obsolete, a
language of flawless tranquility. Lana knew she was finally free.

“What
was it you wanted to talk about, Lana?”

The
question stirred her from her thoughts and brought her back from the reflective
peace, saddening her to some degree. It didn’t matter anymore. She had wanted a
shoulder to cry on, a friendly ear to bend, but in the wake of her new
realizations, her newly found perspective on herself and what that meant to
everything else, she no longer felt like crying. Any feelings of being lost or
confused had disappeared from her mind.

“It
wasn’t as important as I thought it was, Ser,” she finally said.

“Good,”
he said, “are you comfortable?”

“I’m
happy,” she said.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

1

 
Lana took her time as she carefully looked
around the room. After taking out the trash and washing the dishes, she had
gathered most of her clothes. Tink’s clothes would be waiting for him in the
dryer whenever he got home, but she wouldn’t. Moving was always one of those
events that offered a perfect opportunity to thin out a wardrobe and this was
no exception. Two bags of clothes found their way to the dumpster along with
the regular trash. Everything she planned to take with her had fit into the three
duffel bags and they were already in the car. She put the key to the front door
on the kitchen table and left, locking the door behind her as she pulled it
closed.

Just
as she got into her car and was about to back out of Tink’s driveway, a gray
sedan pulled in behind her, blocking her path. She watched as Mel Massey got
out from behind the wheel, waving as he walked toward her window. Lana turned
the ignition off and opened her door, swinging her legs out of the car but
remaining seated.

“Hello
again,” she said.

He
smiled and waved again, but Lana could clearly see the look on his face held no
warmth within it. She instinctively grabbed for her cigarettes and lit one as
he walked up the car. Mel motioned at the butt and she handed it to him before
lighting another for herself. He took a second, long haul on his before
speaking.

“It
looks like you’re moving out,’ he said, nodding toward the bags in the
backseat.

“It’s
just time,” she said, “but if you don’t mind, I’d like to tell him myself.”

“Of
course, that would probably be easier for him to take right now.”

“So
how’s he doing anyway?”

“I
take it you haven’t been by there today,” he said, but it wasn’t a question; he
already knew the answer to that.

“No,
why is something going on?”

“Yeah,
but physically he’s doing real a lot better. In fact, they may let him come
home today or tomorrow.”

Lana
was glad to hear that. The last thing she wanted to do was be the cause of
something going sideways with his recovery, and making things even worse than
they were going to be anyway. The deception about his son, and all that mess
before aside, she couldn’t deny what she felt for him. It was just that she was
having a hard time justifying those feeling now, not knowing if the motivation
behind them had all been a lie as well.

“What’s
up?”

Mel
looked uneasy, as if what he was about to tell her was going to hurt to say. A
part of her wanted to believe it didn’t have anything to do with her, but she
was quite certain it did, and that was unfortunate. She had to face the distinct
possibility that she had misread Tink’s partner, and he was going to make a big
stink about hers and Tink’s living together after all.

“Apparently
the state department got wind of the fact that you were living here,” Mel
started, staring at the ground as he spoke, “and with the added little twist
that his son was the one who had abducted you, they are starting to think they
might have missed a few things during the original investigation.”

Shit,
it was about her, every bit about her but then again she had already known it
would almost have to be. She had been intending on confronting Tink about this
herself at some point, though she had planned to wait until he got better, but
if the cops were wondering some of the same things she was wondering, then maybe
she wouldn’t even have to ask him hell, for all she knew it might end up on the
front page of the damn newspaper again.

“What
are they thinking?”

She
knew damn well what they were thinking, the same think she was thinking, but
she wanted to hear it as if in some way it might help her to convince herself
she wasn’t just imagining the bullshit that had been screaming in her head.

“Well,
they are playing things pretty close to their chest at this point,” he said,
“but it looks like they are wondering if he might have known you were there
well before he actually rescued you.”

Christ,
what would be worse, being a part of it all along or simply knowing about it
and not doing anything? Lana couldn’t really see any real difference between
the two, and even if there was a difference, she was certain it wasn’t big
enough to make any fucking difference, not to her anyway.

“To
be perfectly honest with you Mel,” she said slowly, “I have been wondering the
same thing.”

She
watched his face change slightly, and while she still saw no warmth, just the
cold calculating face of a police detective, he did offer a slight smile that
seemed to at least hint at some semblance of understanding. At least that’s
what she thought she saw in the careful smile on his face anyway.

“Yeah,
I guess I can see that,” he said.

“You’ve
known him for a long time haven’t you?”

“Yeah,
I’ve known him a little more than ten years, why?”

“I
was wondering what you think, do you think he knew? Would he really just leave
someone in a situation like that, I mean is he capable of something like that?”

“I
don’t know,” he said flatly. “I thought I did, but if there is anything this line
of work has taught me it’s that everyone, and yes that includes cops too, can
and most usually will surprise you at some point.”
 

“Well,
that’s really comforting to know,” she said, the sharp sarcasm intentionally
dripping from the words.

“Yeah,
but you did ask.”

“Yes,
I did, but you really didn’t answer me.”

Mel
stared at her for a minute, his face twisting slowly somewhere between looks of
confusion and a hint of anger, but then he smiled again, and this time she did
see something that might have been considered warmth, or at the very least
compassion.

“I
know,” he finally said, “but like I said, I really don’t know, not anymore.”

“I
can relate to that I guess.”

“Lana,
there’s something else about all this.”

“What’s
that, Detective Massey?”

“Well,
there’s some talk going around back at the station about the nature of your
relationship with Tink. I mean with everything else that’s coming out, people
are starting to ask more questions, more personal questions about it.”

“Personal,
do you mean about our sex life?”

“Yeah,
that is what I meant,” he said. “It’s just that some people are just
wondering.”

“Are
you wondering?”

“Yes,
I guess I am.”

“Well,
and you can tell the rest of them the same, it’s none of your fucking
business.”

“I
know, believe me I know,” he said, his hands rising up in front of him in some
innocent, defensive gesture, “it’s just that if it’s anything like…well, like
the other, then it makes people wonder.”

“Wonder
what exactly?”

“Come
on Lana, you know what I’m saying,” he said.

“No
Mel, I don’t know what you’re saying, so just fucking
say
it already.”

“Well,
if it is, and I’m not saying it is, but if it is similar in nature, then they
are wondering of everything about the abduction is all above board.”

“Are
you suggesting that if my sex life is not what they think it ought to be, then
I made that shit up? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”

“Easy
Lana, it’s not me saying that; I’m just saying people are wondering about it,
that’s all.”

“Get
your damn car out of the way,” she said, closing her car door and again
starting the engine with a roar. He was saying something else to her, but she
couldn’t hear him. When he moved closer to the car, she revved the motor louder
to make sure she couldn’t hear him. At the same time, she made sure he saw her
plainly as her middle finger raised above the others against the glass.
Finally, he retreated to his own car and backed out of her way.