Chapter 6 Tessa #2
Tessa swallowed hard. That was a direct hit at her, at what she'd said to him in the park.
She forced herself to ignore the hurt and focus on the mystery.
"Then why would they think you chose someone else.
.." Her eyes widened as her mind started ticking through possibilities, connecting dots. "Oh, no..."
She turned and looked at Jackie as things started to fall into place. A tune was running through her mind—something she'd heard recently but hadn't paid attention to at the time. Where had she heard it?
"That tune..." she murmured out loud without realizing it.
"Tessa?" Ryan and Jackie both looked at her expectantly.
"I should have put this together sooner," Tessa said, rubbing her forehead as the pieces clicked into place one by one. "Of course it would make sense." She frowned, trying to work through the implications.
"You've figured this out, haven't you?" Ryan said, his eyes sharp on her face.
"Tessa?" Jackie's eyes widened.
Before Tessa could say more, the door bolt slid open. All three of them turned toward the sound as the giant walked in, pushing a wheeled cart with three trays of food, a carafe of coffee, and several bottles of water.
"Breakfast," he announced in that strange gravelly voice. Then, surprisingly, he added, "I'll be outside if you need anything."
Tessa's head shot up, and she moved quickly toward the cart before he could leave. Her eyes scanned the trays, and her heart leaped when she saw it. "Pepper," she breathed, turning to look at Ryan and Jackie with wide eyes. "I think it's time to put Plan A into action."
"We'll need to use Plan B as well," Ryan said, standing up from the cot with careful, controlled movements that suggested he was still fighting the effects of the drugs in his system.
"That giant isn't going down with just a few sleeping pills and some pepper.
We need to be ready to physically overpower him if necessary. "
"Let's do this," Tessa said.
They worked quickly and quietly. Ryan dumped half the pepper packets onto one of the meal trays while Tessa crushed all the sleeping pills and pain medication into powder form using the edge of a water bottle.
Jackie mixed the powder into one of the water bottles, shaking it until the liquid looked clear again.
When the giant knocked and entered twenty minutes later to collect the empty trays, they were ready.
"I can't eat this," Tessa said, pushing her tray toward him with a grimace. "It's way too spicy. I think someone made a mistake in the kitchen."
The giant paused, looking at the half-eaten food on her tray. "Too spicy?"
"Try it," Tessa challenged.
The giant hesitated, then, perhaps curious, perhaps suspicious, picked up the fork and took a bite.
Almost immediately, his eyes widened. He started coughing, his hand coming up to his throat.
"Here," Tessa said, offering him the doctored water bottle. "Drink this."
The giant took it gratefully and drank deeply, chugging nearly half the bottle before he stopped. He set it down on the cart and took a step back toward the door.
"Thank you," he rasped. "I'll... I'll get you a new meal."
"Take your time," Ryan said casually. "We're not going anywhere."
The giant nodded and turned to push the cart out of the room. He made it three steps before he stumbled slightly. Five steps before his movements became distinctly uncoordinated. He reached for the door frame to steady himself, missed, and went down hard on one knee.
"What..." he started to say, then his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed forward onto his face.
For a moment, none of them moved. Then Ryan was across the room in three long strides, checking the giant's pulse.
"He's out," Ryan confirmed. "Help me get his keys and any weapons he might have."
They found a ring of keys on his belt, a cell phone in his pocket, locked with a passcode they didn't know, and a gun in a shoulder holster under his jacket. Ryan took the gun, checked it quickly, and handed the phone to Jackie.
"Try to unlock it if you can," he said. "We need to call for help."
Just as he did that, the Giant’s hand slashed out and grabbed Ryan’s ankle, sending him falling forward, the bed hitting his stomach. He flipped in a flash, jumped up, and knocked the giant out.
"The jacket," Tessa said. "Ryan, take his jacket. You'll need it if we have to go outside to hide the gun."
Ryan stripped off the giant's jacket. It was a heavy canvas work jacket with a fleece lining, and he pulled it on. It was huge on him, but it would hide a weapon.
The door was unlocked, and they pushed it. It swung open onto a narrow hallway with stairs at the far end.
"Let's go," Ryan said quietly. "Stay close and stay quiet."
They moved up the stairs carefully, Ryan in the lead with the gun, Jackie in the middle, and Tessa bringing up the rear. At the top of the stairs was another door, this one unlocked.
Ryan eased it open and peered through. "Clear," he whispered.
They emerged into what appeared to be an abandoned farmhouse. The windows were boarded up, and dust covered every surface. But there was furniture. It was old, covered with sheets, and signs that people had been here recently. Fast food wrappers in a trash can. Empty mugs and water bottles.
Ryan moved through the house like he was clearing a building in a combat zone. His movements were quick and efficient, checking every corner. When he was satisfied they were alone, he relaxed slightly.
"No vehicle," Jackie said, looking out through a gap in the boarded windows. "We're going to have to go on foot."
She scanned the area outside, then pointed. "Based on the sun's position and what I can see of the landscape, I think we're about five or six miles outside of town. There's a main road that way. If we can get to it, we can flag down help."
"Then we move," Ryan said. "Stay together. If anyone sees anything, call it out."
They left through a back door that opened onto overgrown farmland. Trees and brush provided cover as they moved away from the house, heading in the direction Jackie had indicated.
Tessa glanced back once and saw Ryan grab his side briefly, his face tightening. But when she started to ask if he was okay, he shot her a look that clearly said not now, and she closed her mouth.
They moved through the woods for what felt like hours, but was probably only forty-five minutes. The terrain was rough, and more than once they had to help each other over fallen logs or through particularly thick underbrush.
Jackie was saying, "I think I can hear traffic up ahead," when Ryan suddenly stumbled.
"Ryan?" Tessa turned to look at him.
He had gone pale and was pressing his hand against his right side under his jacket. "I'm fine," he said, but his voice was strained. "Keep moving."
They made it another hundred yards before Ryan's legs gave out and he collapsed.
"Ryan!" Both Tessa and Jackie rushed to his side.
Jackie sucked in a sharp breath when they moved the jacket aside. The entire right side of Ryan's shirt was soaked through with blood.
Jackie’s eyes widened as she pulled up the shirt to see a white dressing now soaked in blood. She cautiously moved it aside and sucked in a breath.
"His stitches," Jackie said, her hands already moving to assess the damage. "He's reopened his wound. Probably during the fight with the giant when he fell on the bed."
Tessa stared in horror. "Why didn't you say something?"
"Because we needed to get out," Ryan said through gritted teeth. "And we're not there yet. Help me up."
"You need medical attention," Jackie said firmly. "You're bleeding heavily."
"Then let's get to that road and call for help," Ryan said, trying to push himself to his feet and failing.
Together, Tessa and Jackie got him upright, supporting him between them. They staggered forward through the trees, and finally, they broke through to a paved road.
Jackie pulled out the giant's phone, still locked, and tried various common passcodes. Nothing worked.
"There," Tessa said, pointing down the road. "I see a car coming."
She stepped out into the middle of the road and waved her arms frantically. The car, an old pickup truck, slowed and then stopped.
"Please," Tessa called out. "We need help. We need to call his father."
The driver, an elderly man with kind eyes, took one look at Ryan's blood-soaked shirt and immediately pulled out his own phone.
"I'm calling 911 right now," he said.
“No!” Ryan gritted out, his voice weak. “Please, I need to call my father.” Tessa looked at Ryan, who gave her a weak but genuine smile. “Please call my dad.”
Tessa nodded, her hands shaking and her head shot around. “I… I don’t know his number.”
Ryan rattled it off, and Tessa punched in the number, but before she could dial, the phone went dead!
“I was on my way to the gas station and diner just up the road,” the man told them. “I’d offer to take you into town but…” He glanced down. “My one tire has a slow leak, and my spare needs to be pumped up. I won’t make it there. Not safely anyway.”
“It’s fine,” Ryan breathed as he fought to stay conscious. “Just get us there. My father will get here.”
The kind man helped them put Ryan at the back of the pickup, and Tessa, not caring if he wanted her there or not, climbed on with him, positioning his head in her lap. Jackie climbed in the front with the man.
“Hang in there, Ryan,” Tessa told him. “We’re getting help. Hang in there.” Her hands shook, and her heart pounded. She tried to keep her eyes away from all that blood. She wasn’t very good with blood, and she was already feeling queasy. But she ignored it as she cradled Ryan’s head in her lap.
“Tessa..” Ryan whispered. “I… We’re going to be fine.”
Then his eyes rolled back, and he passed out, unconscious from blood loss.