Intaglio: The Snake and the Coins (28 page)

“You know that
artist?” Kip asked next to her ear.

Ava jumped. Kip
Chambers was almost
too quiet
.  It unnerved her.  Kip dropped
to a crouch, following the illustration of a screaming face to where it evolved
into a series of angry epithets.  The imagery was powerfully
present
. 
It reminded Ava a lot of her earlier work, when she had too many demons to
exorcise and hardly enough paint to do it.

“Yeah,” she
muttered, noncommittally. 

“M… O…” Kip
muttered, pausing atop the twisting shapes of the lettering with his fingers,
unravelling them like an ancient script.  “R… A—”

“Her tag’s
Morag,” Ava said.  “Really talented artist...
angry
.”

Kip nodded, his
gaze lingering on the images before him.  He stood up to follow the lines
of Morag’s painting with his fingers like a blind man reading Braille.  He
was completely drawn into the design, Ava realized.  Kip Chambers really
did
appreciate the complexities of graffiti as an art form.  It wasn’t a show.

“She’s got a
good eye...” Kip muttered, “nice rendering of text… complex... though the
overall style is pretty rough and inexperienced—” 

“She’s still a
kid,” Ava interrupted, riding a wave of annoyance.  “Not even out of her
teens yet.  That’s not really a fair judgement.”  Ava liked Morag and
didn’t care for her artwork being treated as if this was some competition.

Kip turned to
her, smiling bashfully, and stepped forward.  She took a step back just as
quickly. 

“I’m not saying
it like it’s a bad thing,” he said with a chuckle.  “It reminds me of my
earlier work, actually.  I’m just kind of talking my way through
it...  you know?  I tend to do that.”  He shrugged.

“Oh...” Ava
mumbled, uncertainty rising.

“Hey –
I’m
sorry,
okay?  Didn’t mean to sound rude.  I was just thinking out
loud... really, Ava.”

Kip reached out
as he spoke, and Ava moved out of his way, stepping next to the wall before he
could touch her. She liked an empty bubble of space around her, and she
intended to keep it that way.  Seeing her reaction, Kip frowned, but
didn’t follow.

“What is it?” he
asked.

“What’s
what
?” 
Ava snapped.  She did
not
want to have another heart-to-heart with
Kip Chambers.  One freak out in a day was enough,
thank-you-very-much!

“This,”  he
said quietly, gesturing between them, “ …and
you
.  I just don’t get
it.  What is it about me that bugs you so much?”  Annoyance flickered
over the surface of his face, like wind on water, then disappeared once more.

Ava grimaced,
not knowing exactly how to put it into words. 

“Kip,” she said
irritably, “I don’t even
know
you.”

He shook his
head and mumbled something that sounded like
“but I know you.”
  
Before he could explain, a distant siren interrupted them.

“SHIT!” Ava
barked, grabbing Kip's shoulder and tugging hard.  “Run, goddamnit!”

Her heart rioted
against the walls of her chest as the two of them sprinted toward the distant
fence.  Kip was fast, but she was faster, and the space between them
grew.  Her mind chattered in panic as she heard the sirens nearing. 
There was
no way
the police should be here yet... the train yard crew
hadn’t even seen them.  Ava
knew this
because she was extremely
good at hearing them coming.  Police were
second
... the crew was
always the first warning.  But there was no time to consider this. 

Ava was almost
at the chain link fence when something loud and dark surged forward on the
other side of the barrier, growling and sounding the alarm. 
‘The
police are at the fence!’
her mind screamed in horror.  They had the
dogs out... and they were
ahead
of them. 

She glanced back
to Kip.  His face was grim, feet pounding without stop.  He had that
hard look to his face she remembered from the night he’d fought with Cole.

“Gotta...
change... course...” Ava panted. 

She pointed
toward the West where the train yards dropped away to a hill and the river
bottom below.  Nodding, Kip picked up speed.

Their new path
swung away from the fence. They were almost to where the flat plain dropped
away when she heard the baying of dogs up ahead.  Seconds later, she saw
the bright bounce of flashlights as a group of officers hit the crest, coming
toward them.  She heard shouts, but she had no time to process their
words.

Ava skidded to a
stop, and Kip stumbled, catching her arm to hold himself steady.

“FUCK IT!!” Ava
shouted, swinging her head back and forth in frustration.  She turned in a
circle, her eyes taking it all in.  There was no way out if the police
were ahead of them…
not yet!
  Turning the other way, she could see
the same thing coming from behind.  More flashlights.  They were
trapped. 

She looked over at
Kip, her expression grim.  His eyes were narrowed, furious.

“When the dogs
come, lay face down on the ground and cover the back of your head,” Ava
snapped.  “Do
not
fucking run!  You are
not
going to
get away and the dogs are...” she grimaced, remembering.  “They aren’t
trained to be gentle.”  He nodded at her, and Ava let a defeated breath.

Up ahead, voices
called, dogs barking in response and lunging on their leads.

“This is the
police!” someone with a megaphone shouted.  “Put your hands on your head and
lay down on the ground!”

Without a word,
Kip and Ava lay down on the frozen ground, side by side.

Ava stood at the
phone in the police station, staring at the numbers, panic a tight ring around
her chest.  Her fingers were stained with black ink from being
fingerprinted and they hovered over the keypad uncertainly.  Though she’d
been interrogated on the way over, she’d refused to answer questions or make a
statement.

This was her one
phone call.

With a
frustrated sigh, she punched in Cole’s number, waiting while it rang again and
again...

“C’mon Cole,
pick up...”

There was a
crackle of connection and then his voice, brusque and businesslike, came
through the receiver:

“You’ve reached
Cole Thomas.  I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you leave a
message after the beep, I’ll return the call.”

“Fuck!” Ava
snapped, waiting for the beep, her fingers pressed against her temple.

“Hi, Cole...
it’s me.  Look, I’m in trouble... I was at the train yards and the police
came… Shit!  Look, if you’re there, Cole, I need you to—”

There was the
sound of fumbling and Cole’s sleep-thickened voice was suddenly there.

“Ava? 
What’s going on?”

Closing her
eyes, she let out a sob of relief.

“Oh, thank god,”
she gasped.  “Cole, I need help.”

“Okay...” She
could hear him moving around.  Covers being shifted.

“Look,
Cole.  I’m at the police station,” she said shakily.  “I’m… I’m in
trouble.”

“So I gathered,”
he muttered, and she heard the change in tone... his words growing cool.

“I was out at
the yards, and the police caught me and Kip Chambers but we weren’t even—”

“You were
what?!”

“I was out
showing Kip some of my work.  I was just—”

“Fuck,
Ava!”  His tone was furious. 
“Kip Chambers?”

She knew
exactly
what Cole looked like as he shouted it. 
‘His father,
’ her mind
hissed.  Ava wondered if this had been the right choice... maybe she
should have called her Dad’s agent, Alex.  He was a family friend, and he
would certainly would given her some legal advice.  She winced.

Alex’s first
call would have been to her father… and Ava didn’t want Oliver to find out
about this unless she absolutely
had
to tell him.

“Cole,” she
said, voice rising.  “I need you to... to...”

She had no
idea
what she expected him to do about this.  She wanted to say “call Marcus”
but he and Suzanne were still on vacation, so there was no help on that
front.  Her thoughts were interrupted by Cole’s voice, angry and bitter.

“Goddamnit, Ava,
I can’t fucking believe you took Kip Chambers out with you to—”

“Just STOP!” she
yelped, her voice breaking.  “I fucked up, okay?  I get that.  I
don’t have time to argue right now.”

“What do you
expect me to say,” Cole growled.  “Going out with another guy when—”

“It wasn’t like
that!” Ava snapped, voice rising.  “It was just business.”

“Fine.” 
The word was hard. 

For a second,
she considered hanging up, but this was it.  There was no second call.

“Look,” she
whispered.  (There were officers around the room, some of them watching
her.)  “I need you to call my Dad’s agent.  He’s in the phone book
under Alexander Munroe – he's in the yellow pages under Entertainment, I’m
pretty sure.  If you call him, he could probably help.”

“It’s two in the
goddamn
morning,
Ava. Do you get that?”

Sarcasm dripped
through the phone.

“Yes, Cole, I
GET that,” she snarled.  “But do
you
realize that the police are
about to charge me and I need some fucking LEGAL advice?”

There was a
pause, and then Cole’s voice, slightly calmer, came back through.

“Don’t tell the
police
anything
for now.  I’ll deal with it.”

Ava let out a
shaking breath, closing her eyes.  She could feel angry tears behind her
lids.  She was
furious
with Cole’s reaction, but she needed the
help, damnit!

“Thanks,” she
said tightly. 

He didn’t answer,
and a wary silence dragged out.

“I’ll be there
in a bit,” Cole mumbled, then hung up.  She stood, phone in hand, fury
leaving her breathing hard.

He hadn’t even
said goodbye.

With shaking
fingers, she returned the headset to the cradle.  Ava’s legs wobbled with
the after-effects of adrenaline and the unexpected two mile dash, but Cole’s
voice left her feeling like she was ready to collapse. 

‘Dad’s going to
be absolutely furious…’

For the first
time since she heard the sirens, she let the emotions rise up, tears of regret
pooling behind closed lids.  She knew, without a doubt, that
tonight
was a deal-breaker.

: : : : : : : :
: :

Hours later,
Cole still hadn’t arrived and neither had her so-called “legal
representative.”  Since she still wasn’t talking, the police left Ava in a
cell.  She’d had a frenetic night, and with the stress slowly wearing
away, she curled up on the narrow cot in the cell and nodded off. 

Overwhelmed by
exhaustion, she began dreaming almost immediately.  It was a mishmash of
colours and light at first, though it coalesced into a shape she recognized:
dark blues and greys lightening in the centre. There was a hint of buildings
and shipyards.  The painting of hers that had terrified Kip so much... The
image shifted until it was only the masts of two ships out on the open
sea… 

She stood on the
ship's deck, staring out across the water to the other ship following them like
an uneasy ghost.  Thomas was there, but he might as well be on the far
shores of the Americas, for all that it mattered.  She was a married woman
now, their friendship over.

“Just a few more
days and we should make landfall,” Jon said patting her hand. 

“A few days?”
she repeated dully.

She felt like
she was trapped inside a box.  As her husband, Jon came to her at night
(he always did), but the marriage didn’t feel real.  It would when they
arrived.  Ava blinked away bitter tears.  She didn’t want to reach
the Americas.  Didn’t want the journey to end.  Standing on the deck,
she could pretend that things had been different.  That she hadn’t had to
trade off love for security.

Next to her, Jon
chuckled.

“I know it is a
burden for you, my dear,” he said quietly, “but we are called to spread the
word of God.  I know you will adapt to the challenge with grace and
humility.  Never forget, Ava, the Lord has blessed this voyage.”  His
hand tightened atop hers, a shackle.  “As I hope, one day, he shall bless
our marriage.”

She didn’t
answer, just let her eyes slide to the horizon where the other boat followed,
as if tethered together.

‘Away… away…
away…’

It wasn’t that
Jon was unkind.  He was everything she’d expected him to be: patient and
good, unassuming and gentle with her.  It was that he wasn’t Thomas. 
He never would be.  Each day bound them closer together.  She had
bled only once on her journey… and that could only mean one thing.