Lead the Way (15 page)

He has to get out of the hospital.  There are no ifs or ands or buts about it.  Eva’s

life may depend on it.  He remembers what happened in the parking garage.  He remembers being attacked.  He doesn’t know for sure, but he’s pretty confident that the man in the garage was Ryan.  Who else could it possibly have been?

The realization of the true nature of the danger Eva is in, sets in.  He doubts Ryan’s assault stopped with him.  Eva was definitely next on the list.  He vows the minute that the test is over and he can make an escape, he’s going to get out of this hospital.  All the time that is being wasted drives him insane.  Imagery of all the things that Ryan could be doing to Eva flash before his eyes.  He bangs his hands against the rails of the bed in frustration.   

Chapter 12

              Numbness in Eva’s hands wakes her up.  It doesn’t take long for her to realize that she’s tied up and can’t move.  Ryan paces back and forth in front of her.  She’s not sure whether she should speak or keep quiet.  She decides that she has to at least try and plead for her life.  She can’t just sit back and wait to die.

              “Ryan, please don’t hurt me.  I have a lot of money.  I’ll give it all to you, if you let me go.”

              Ryan spits in her face.  “Do you think that I would do all of this simply for money!”

              “Why are you doing this, Ryan?  I haven’t done anything to you.”

              “You’ve done plenty Eva.  You stole my life.”

              “You’re life?  I don’t understand.”

              “Do you think that I randomly chose you, Eva?  Do you think that I just happened to be at that bar five years ago and picked you out of the crowd?”

              “Did you?”

              “No, Eva.  I’d been watching you and following you.  Do you want to know why?”

              “Why, Ryan?  I don’t think we ever met before that night.”

              “What if I told you that Ryan Collins isn’t my real name?  It’s my adopted name.”

              “Okay.  I don’t follow.”

              “When I was a baby, I was given up for adoption.  The people who adopted me, didn’t want to raise a child, they wanted a paycheck.  I was a servant to them.  They barely fed me and locked me in a closet for hours at a time.  They abused me and no one raised a single finger to help me.”

              “Ryan, I’m sorry about your childhood, but I don’t see how your adoption has anything to do with me.”

              “Let me finish!” he screams, spit flying out of his mouth.  Eva tenses up and looks down at the floor.  “Five years ago, I decided to find my real parents.  I wanted to see who the people were that abandoned me and basically left me for dead.  I hired a private investigator and he searched high and low for my birth parents.  Guess what he found, Eva?” 

              Eva doesn’t dare speak.  She avoids making eye contact with Ryan.  She has a feeling she knows where his story is going.  She wishes that she could plug her ears.  She doesn’t want to hear what he is going to say next.

              “My private investigator found out that my birth mother’s maiden name was Mary Higgins.  Does that ring any bells, Eva?”

              Eva can’t hold her tongue any longer.  “I don’t believe you.”

              “My mother’s name now is Mary Taylor.  She married a nice man named Paul Taylor.  It wasn’t long after they got married that they had a child together, a daughter, it turns out.  My private investigator was able to find out all sorts of things about my birth mother.  I learned that my mother lives across the country, but her beautiful daughter, lived right here in the city.  Much to my surprise, my mother’s daughter was very easy to find.”

              “Let me get this straight.  You’re saying that my mother gave you up for adoption?”

              “That’s exactly what I am saying.”

              “I don’t believe that for one second.  My mother tells me everything.  If she had given a child up for adoption, she would have told me.”

              “Grow up, Eva. We all have skeletons in our closets.  You honestly think that you’re Mother would tell you about all her dirty little secrets?  What planet are you living on?”

              “So, all of this is to get back at my Moth-…our Mother?”

              “Bingo.  You’ve hit the nail on the head.  You’re a fast learner, Eva.”

              “So, what are you going to do, Ryan?”

              “Well, for starters, why don’t we give Mommy Dearest a little ring?” 

Eva watches Ryan go into her office and bring her laptop computer out into the living room.  She grimaces when her Mother’s face comes up on the screen.  She was hoping that her Mother wouldn’t answer.  She hoped that her Mother would be too busy enjoying her vacation.

              “Eva, How are you doing?”

              “Hi Mother,” Ryan says, standing behind Eva, so they can both be seen.

              “I’m sorry, who are you?” Eva’s Mother, Mary, asks.

              “Oh, you don’t recognize me?”

              “No dear, I’m sorry, but I don’t.”

              “Well, think back about thirty-three years.  What were you doing on July 10
th
?”

A confused look spreads across Mary’s face.

              “Mom, why didn’t you tell me you gave a child up for adoption?” Eva says, bringing her Mother totally up to speed.

              “What?  I don’t know what you are talking about?”

              “Mother, you’re secret is out.  Just stop lying.  It turns out that Ryan Collins, the man who attacked me, is the son you gave up for adoption.”

              “I don’t believe it.”

              “Well, believe it.  He’s here to kill me, Mom.  He wants revenge for what you did when he was a baby.”

              “Oh and Mommy, I’m coming after you next,” Ryan interjects.  “It’s time you paid, just like my putrid adopted parents finally paid.” 

              “Ryan, let me explain.  Give me a chance to explain why I did what I did,” Mary pleads.

              “Call the police, Mom!” Eva says, already knowing that’s exactly what her Mother is going to do anyway.             

“It’s a little late, Mary.  The damage has already been done.  Say goodbye to your daughter,” Ryan growls at the computer screen. 

              “Ryan!” Mary screams through the monitor.

              Ryan ends the call and Mary’s face disappears.  Eva is less hopeful about her chances now.  Someone in the outside world knows that Ryan has her captive.  The police are undoubtedly on their way.  Ryan has to make his move now, and get out, or they will catch him.  The window of her life is closing fast.

              “Do you believe me now, Eva?”

              “I do believe you.”

              “How could you not?  It was written all over Mommy Mary’s face, what she did.”

              “What are you going to do Ryan?  The police are coming.  You’re not going to get away with any of this.”

              “Oh Eva, Sis, it’s time for the grand finale.”

              “Grand finale?”

              “Yes, your suicide.”

              “No one is going to believe that I committed suicide.  Mother saw your face.  She knows that you were here.” 

“Eva, everyone knows you’re crazy.  You haven’t left your apartment in five years, for goodness sakes.  From the psychiatrists visits, to medication prescriptions, and your well documented hospitalizations.  And let’s not forget you’re carefully crafted suicide note,” he says, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket.  “You’re suicide will be undisputed.”

“What about the cameras?  The cameras will have captured your image.”

“Oh Eva, there is so much you don’t know about me.  I’ve taken care of the cameras.  I’m the invisible man.  As far as Mother is concerned, do you really think that she will want all of her rich and famous friends finding out about her secret?  I don’t think so.  So, there you have it.  We have a meeting on the roof.”

* * * * *

Gabriel watches the nurse check his IV’s and a monitor, after they return from his CT Scan.  The minute she is out of the room, he pulls out his IV.  He swings his legs over the side of the bed.  A wave of dizziness washes over him.  He sits on the side of the bed until it passes.

              His clothes sit neatly in a pile on a chair next to the bed.  He quickly puts them.  He has to get to Eva.  He quickly puts on his boots.  He ignores the pain in his head and his shoulder.  He peeks out into the hallway.  He quickly walks down the hallway.  No one seems to notice him.

              He puts his head down as he walks by the security desk manned by two security guards.  They are engrossed in their conversation.  They don’t give him a second glance.  As if it’s fate, a taxi cab is dropping two people off as he steps through the hospital’s revolving door.  As soon as they exit the vehicle, he jumps inside.  He gives the taxi driver Eva’s address and tells the driver to floor it.

              He checks his back pocket.  Luckily, his wallet is still there, but his cell phone is missing.  He asks the taxi driver to use his cell phone.  The taxi driver agrees to let him use it, passing it through the glass that separates the backseat from the front seat.  Gabriel dials Eva’s cell phone and then her apartment phone, but there is no answer. 

He’s worried.  He tells the taxi driver to floor it again.  He’s sure that Ryan isn’t going to stop his assault on him.  He’s sure that Ryan was there to go after Eva.  He has to get to the apartment and he has to get there now. 

He leans back against the seat.  The pain in his head is excruciating.  He would love nothing more than to just lay down and go to sleep, but not until he knows that Eva is safe.  He was having doubts about their relationship earlier, but now that he could lose her, his whole perspective has changed.  He now knows without a doubt how much she means to him.  He doesn’t want to be without her.

If something happens to her, he’ll never be able to forgive himself.  It was his job to protect her and he left her in harm’s way.  He starts to pray.  It’s all he can do.  He begs God to let him get to Eva in time.

* * * * *

              Mary stares blankly at the computer screen.  She’s always wondered if the child she gave up for adoption would someday come looking for her.  She always pictured it to be a happy reunion.  She never thought it would turn out like this.

              She expected some scars, some tears, and many questions from her long lost child.  She thought that once she explained why she did what she did, he would come to understand her decision.  She would have welcomed him with open arms.  Paul, even though he wasn’t the biological father, would have done the same.  She never expected her child to be the angry man she saw on the other side of the screen.

              When she gave Ryan up, she hoped that he would go to a nice family that would love and care for him.  She wanted him to have a good life, a life that she couldn’t provide for him.  Judging by what she’s seen, that wasn’t the case.  All of the things that she’s known him to have done, point to a troubling upbringing.

              She would rather have kept Ryan a secret to her grave.  The embarrassment that she feels over abandoning a child, she wished to have kept locked away in her memory bank.  But they say, what’s done in the dark always comes to the light.  Today is her day of reckoning.  She can’t keep her secret any longer.

              She has to call the police.  She has to protect her daughter.  Whatever the consequences, she is ready to bear them.  She walks to the phone and dials the number to the police.

* * * * *

              Gabriel pounds on the glass of the apartment building.  He covers his eyes to look inside.  There is no one sitting behind the security desk.  He reaches into his back pocket, the pass card for the parking garage is still there.  He runs around the side of the building and lets himself into the garage. 

              He runs to his car.  He remembers dropping his keys during the struggle with Ryan.  He finds them underneath Eva’s car and pops his trunk.  He retrieves a loaded pistol that he always keeps in the trunk.  He runs to the stairwell and takes the stairs two at a time, to get the lobby.