Chapter 3 - Lily
Lily
More curfews. I swiped up, eager for different news.
A small Kansas town organized roadblocks.
A prepper offering survival advice. I kept swiping, on the lookout for a book review or a new movie trailer.
Another cult leader demanding penance for our greedy ways.
One last swipe. A shrouded figure with an impossibly deep voice claimed the recent shuttle’s true mission was to destroy the comet.
I didn’t get the obsession. We lived in a world filled with solvable problems, if only we had the will, and people fixated on a tiny dot thousands of miles away.
It’s not that I didn’t care, because I did.
Sam Williamson, Ryan’s friend, discovered the comet, and the world rewarded him with harassment and death threats. Where was the justice in that?
I tossed my phone onto the coffee table and went into the kitchen to start the electric kettle. Hot tea beat throngs of drunk people staring at the sky at two in the morning.
Someone knocked at the door as I spooned sugar into my teacup.
“What’s missing? I’ll help you find it.” Violet’s habit of forgetting her keys and purse would get her into trouble one day.
It wasn’t Violet who knocked.
It was him. Dean Montgomery.
I stared, unable to speak. I should shut the door, but no words formed, and my arms dangled, useless. Why did Dean pick tonight to apologize? Why did I want to throw myself into his arms? A simple apology, and I’d forgive him. It wasn’t fair.
“The comet isn’t until later,” I said. Like an idiot.
He wore the same style of clothing, two sizes too big, so they hung and drooped, shrinking him and hiding what he hid beneath.
His hair—silky black hair, always short—was trimmed enough to lose its natural wave.
The familiar black eyes gave the impression that he judged the person in front of him. Judged and found them wanting.
Is that why he did what he did? Did he compare me to his supermodel?
“Hi. It’s been a while. We need to talk,” he said, without the contrition I deserved.
“What was that? You want to talk. Now?”
Surely I misheard. He wanted to come inside and chat?
“Your brother called me.”
“Ryan?” If he did, it brought Dean to my doorstep, and that meant an emergency. “What’s wrong? Is it my father? Is he in the hospital? He always puts others before himself, and that put him in the hospital, didn’t it?”
“Can I come in?”
I preferred the grim satisfaction of shutting the door in his face. Instead, I moved, and he swept past. His body heat leaped out, stabbing me, a thousand tiny pinpricks of awareness and something else. “What’s wrong with my dad?”
He scanned my apartment, noting the galley kitchen and living area. “Is your roommate home?”
“She went with her boyfriend to see the comet. What’s wrong?”
“You should sit down.” He set a plastic grocery bag on the kitchen table. “Can we close those blinds? I feel like I’m in a fishbowl in here.”
The sliding glass door led to a balcony that overlooked our apartment complex’s lake. Violet and I spent several Friday nights drinking sangria and worse on that balcony. “Go ahead. What’s wrong with my dad?”
Dean closed them and took the chair opposite mine.
“Nothing is wrong as far as I know. Here, take one. I stopped at a drugstore before coming over.” He pulled a package out of his plastic bag.
“I remembered you once said chocolate and peanut butter were fine on their own, but put them together and magic happens.”
He remembered that? I picked up the small candy wrapper, wary. This felt like a setup, with Dean preparing me for bad news, or delaying for time. “You’re scaring me.”
“I’m scared, too.”
“Dean.”
“Your brother called me from a number I didn’t recognize.”
My heart thundered. “So? He’s an analyst at the State Department. I bet he uses a lot of phones.”
Dean shot me a strange look. “We have two hours, maybe less. Ryan asked me to take you home.”
“To Deer Lake? What? Why? Dad does need me.” The offered candy left a thick, sweet film in my mouth and formed a rock in my stomach. “Two hours isn’t enough time unless we fly. Even then, it’s not enough time.”
“It’s going to hit us, Lily. I don’t know how your brother found out; he didn’t tell me. There wasn’t enough time. Sam’s comet will hit us, so I’m taking you home. Now.”
He sounded like one of those crazy people online. “If that were true, there’d be plans. Someone would stop it. Someone would warn us.”
Like that dark figure who claimed the space shuttle was sent to destroy it.
“I’m warning you. Right now. I get it. Who wants to visit Deer Lake? Awful place with awful people, but your brother trusted me. You should follow his lead.”
“My brother should reevaluate his opinion of you.” I called myself a naive fool after finding that note on my pillow, and tonight’s social media discovery confirmed it. “You should leave.” I rose.
“That can’t happen. Not without you.”
Dean used me once, but this was different. It veered into something worse. Something dark. “I’m not going with you. Of all people, you should know how little I trust you. If you leave, I’ll forget this happened. Stay, and I’m calling the police.”
“Okay,” he said. Calm, like he agreed with some bland statement. “You can. You can call them if you’d like. I’ll let you if it makes you feel better. False security helps. We’ll be gone by the time they arrive. Tomorrow, they won’t care where I took you or what I did.”
I was in trouble. This wasn’t confronting a jerk boyfriend. This was…I knew Dean my whole life, and I never knew him at all. “What are you going to do to me?”
He stood. “I’m sorry, Lily. Your brother asked me, and I promised to do it. I had no choice but to come for you.”
“Oh, God.”
I ran to the front door. Thick arms wrapped themselves around my waist, tackling me as I fell to the floor. My cheek scraped against the beige carpet.
Dean straddled my hips before moving, laying his body over mine, pressing me against the floor. I struggled to breathe, sucking in air. Struggled to move.
I gulped and managed a single, weak scream.
He covered my mouth. “I checked first. Your neighbors aren’t home.
No one will hear you. You won’t escape. I’ve fought men bigger and stronger than you.
” He stood, pulling me up with him. “Do you understand what that means? Fighting me is pointless and a waste of time. I’m the one in control here, not you. Are you listening?”
“I’m listening. You can let me go. I won’t try to escape.”
“This is your first time, not mine, Lily,” he whispered into my ear.
His lips touched the tender spot by my earlobe, and my body shook.
My knees almost gave out. “Zip ties are easier. I should use them, but they hurt more, so I won’t.
Not on you. Not unless you force me to. I’ll be gentle with you. ”
Zip ties for what? Oh, no. “Don’t. Please,” I pleaded. “Ryan wouldn’t want you to do this.”
“Tie you up? It’s too late for that. The rope is easier. Soft nylon.”
“Dean.” My voice broke. I wanted to plead or beg, and all I managed was his name.
“Anyone but you…” His grip tightened on my wrists and arms as he shoved me forward. His strength forced me to move, though his gentle touch avoided unnecessary pain. “We’re going to your bedroom.”
I took that back. “Please don’t.”
“What? Lily, you know me. Do you remember that time I carried you home when you skinned your knee? I took care of you then, and I’ll do it now, so don’t throw that kind of accusation at me when I’m the one saving your life.”
I didn’t know him at all. A ten-year-old’s skinned knee meant little compared to this.
Dean picked the correct bedroom without my guidance. He turned on the overhead light, keeping his grip tight. We moved to the dresser, my hips wedged between his, where he bent me forward, shoving me against the wooden furniture with a hand pressed to my back, preventing an escape.
I wailed, preparing myself for whatever horror came next. “Please don’t do this. You’ll regret it later. This isn’t you.”
“I’ll never regret this, and now, which drawer?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what you want.”
“Underwear.”
Oh, God. “Left.”
He pulled out a pair of black pantyhose. “These will do.” Dean shoved me toward the headboard, wrapping the nylon material around my wrist and pulling it tight. His quick movements proved Dean’s earlier statement true. He’d done this before, perhaps countless times. “Your legs next.”
Dean bound my feet, leaving me helpless and stretched across the bed. He disappeared from view and returned.
A cramp formed in my left calf from the odd angle. “It’s pinching me,” I said and yanked at the binding to prove it.
“You’ll live,” he snapped, not bothering to check. “Do you have an overnight bag?”
“No.”
“Liar. This will go easier if you’re honest with me. You don’t believe me right now, but you will. I came here for you.” Dean approached and leaned over me, so close our noses touched. “We’re in a hurry. Anything special you want to take with you?”
I didn’t answer.
“Anyone you want to tell goodbye? Your roommate, perhaps?”
Hope surged. “Violet. She’ll worry when she comes home, and I’m not here.”
“Okay.”
What did that mean? “I’m serious. She’s a detective.”
“No, she isn’t, or you’d have threatened me earlier,” he said, and left the room, returning with an empty plastic grocery bag. “I’m saving your life. You should thank me.”
“Are you going to kill me?”
He lifted a hand, surprised. “Have you listened to a single word I’ve said? I’ll pack enough for a couple of days. We can steal the rest, and I assume you have clothes back home. What about medicine and food?”
“Aspirin.”
Dean turned on the bathroom light. “You have an emergency medical kit. That’s smart. We’ll take it with us. What about food?”
Steam whistled as the electric kettle beeped and shut off. I’d forgotten about my cup of tea. Alone, I squirmed, rubbing my legs to loosen the binding, pushed myself up, and took a hop. Dean didn’t return, so I jumped again, grateful for the ugly beige carpet muffling any sound.
Closer.
“No, you don’t.” I fell harder this time. “I admire your bravery. Always fight back, Lily. Always. You give up, and you’re dead. Do you hear me? Fight back, but not with me. Never with me.”
“You’re insane.”
“It’s possible; I wouldn’t discount it. Your brother suggested it once, so maybe I am, but not about this. I’m here because I believe your brother. Do you know what he does?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Never mind. Say goodbye to your roommate.”
Hope bloomed in my chest at the chance of rescue.
Dean left to grab my phone from the table and held the screen up to my face. “Here she is.” He tapped the screen.
Lily: I feel awful. Going to bed. Please don’t wake me up when you get home.
Delivered
She’d believe that. Violet often called me a homebody.
“Anything else you’d like to tell her?” He asked.
I struggled to come up with a hint Violet would recognize as a call for help. “Tell her…tell her I’ll see her in Avonlea?”
He stuck a finger toward me. His thumb grazed my cheek. “Sweetheart, I don’t know what that is, but I know a secret message when I hear one. Let’s try this.”
He tapped the screen and showed it to me.
Lily: Have fun tonight. I miss you.
Delivered
My heart sank at the message. Glib enough to sound like any random message, and yet I recognized it as an obvious goodbye.
“When she wakes up in the morning, and I’m not here, she’ll call the police.”
“By the time she does, it’ll be too late.
” Dean picked me up, cradling me against his body.
His dark eyes softened, almost convincing me he cared.
His jaw tightened. “You don’t believe me yet, and that’s fine.
You will. I always put you first. I’ll take you home, Lily.
Back to Deer Lake. Either that, or I’ll die trying. It’s time to go.”
He opened the door and carried me outside. In another place and another time, I’d call it a lover’s embrace.