Chapter Four.

“Where are you taking me to?” Her persistent voice bored through his ears again.

Williams grinded his teeth but remained silent. He punched an icon on the electronic dashboard of the Tesla and it accelerated. He was going at 200 mph now.

She clutched at the sides of the seat as the increased speed sent her back into it. “Please slow down. You’re going too fast.”

He heard her fumbling about before clicking her seat belt in place. But he couldn’t look at her. Wouldn’t dare to. She was just too much to take in at the moment. He had to concentrate on the near empty road and the ache in his chest.

Williams’ head pounded like a tolling church bell and his knuckles still throbbed from the fight. He simply needed a few seconds of silence…

“I asked you a question! You can’t just pick me up and drive off without telling me what your intended destination is!”

“Did I force you to get into the car?” He asked calmly, not even sparing her a glance. Something burned in his chest and he gasped, stars sparking in his vision.

“What choice did I have? It was either going with you or staying back there for the police to find. And oh, let’s not forget about the two unconscious grown men in the alley!”

In Williams’ opinion, those men were lucky to be alive. They would feel the pains of their broken bones for a few years and the scars on their faces would disappear after a while. But they would live. That was more than they deserved.

A fist seemed to squeeze his lungs, sucking out all the air, and he had to hold back a moan. Blood rushed into his ears making every little sound seem like the blow of a trumpet.

 “Why are you screaming?” His limbs were going weak. He could hardly see anything.

“I’m not screaming.” She took in a deep breath. “Ok, I’m sorry. I’m not usually like this. Everything is just jumbled up at the moment. From my near death experience at the restaurant to you appearing out of nowhere to go all kung fu on my despicable Landlord and his creepy buddy. Now we are flying through the street as if we each have nine other lives stored somewhere.” She trembled. “It’s all too much…too much excitement for one life them. I’m really grateful you came to my rescue back there but…watch out!”

Her scream broke him out of the dark haze he had slipped into. He swerved the car just in time to miss a streetlight and it skidded across the road to bump up the opposite pavement.

He managed to turn the wheel again, and they were back on the road, still going extremely fast.

Beside him, Celine was going hysterical. “Oh my God! Oh my God! We are going to crash!”

Williams lolled forward again and his head fell against the steering. He couldn’t breath properly. There was something blocking off his chest….

“What’s wrong with you? Stop the car!”

He heard her but couldn’t see her anymore. Everything was blurry. The pain was too much. His heart was tearing apart….

The last thing Williams saw before he lost consciousness was the blinding headlights of an incoming truck.

††††††††

The truck was speeding right towards them! It was going to crush them!

Celine shook the strange man’s shoulder with all her might.

“We are going to crash!”

He didn’t even budge. He was either dead or asleep. Celine hoped dearly that it was the latter, because anything other than that would be far too twisted for her to handle.

He must’ve had quite a good number of drinks back at the carmollette. Now he was out cold in the middle of the road…right on the path of a much bigger vehicle.

Celine swore under her breath and threw her entire weight against the steering, sending the car racing and bumping into the other lane, this one thankfully free of traffic.

She had never ridden inside a Tesla or driven one before, but on reaching over his head towards the dashboard she easily located the brake icon.

Somehow she managed to turn the wheel, steering the car to the side of the road before pulling to a stop.

A terrible sense of nausea sent her running out and gagging into a waste bin.

She stood straight after that, taking in deep breaths of fresh air. Her skin tingled as the wind wiped off the cold sweat of fear that had pooled over her.

Celine had never been so scared in her life. From the encounter with Vaughn to the car ride with the crazy man who had rescued her…

“Oh no!” She gasped.

She rushed back to the car, turning around to the driver’s side. She pulled up the door.

“Hey…ah…wake up.” She poked his side. His body was firm under the suite.

His face was turned away from her so she couldn’t tell if he was breathing.

Rolling up his sleeves at the wrist, she placed a thumb there to check for a pulse.

Her breath caught in her throat, dread overwhelming her.

She felt nothing. The man who had rescued her had no pulse.

He was dead.

††††††††

Hammond found himself glancing at his wrist watch again. It was a custom made Rolex given to him by Williams for his last birthday.

8:43 p.m. About ten hours since he had injected a special drug into Williams’ system. He had dropped the tablets into the pineapple juice he offered Williams back at the hospital.

Hammond had been giving it to him in small doses over the past month, but today’s would seal the deal. The drug would cause him to loose blood flow to his vital organs, and he would go unconscious from it.

Ten minutes under such state of pure anguish and Williams would go into shock. Then enter a vegetative state for a couple of weeks before finally loosing life.

That was the reason why he had invited Williams out to get drinks tonight. He wanted to be around to make sure the plan worked…that no one interfered. But Williams had declined the offer.

Hammond shuddered. That was surely a painful way to go. But those who wanted Williams dead had been specific. This was the way they wanted him to die…completely at their mercy…

“Hammond!”

That broke him out of his thoughts.

“You’ve been staring at your food for over two minutes.” His wife frowned in concern. “Is something wrong with the meal?”

“No, Lilian. It’s perfect.”

She had prepared his favorite for dinner, as she always did on Wednesday evenings. The dish was a simple one; chicken casseroles with white rice and beef stew. The vegetable salad was like icing on the cake. Normally he would be well into his second helping by now, managing to chat with her and wolf down the food at the same time.

But not today. It was as if all his nerves were alive, on high alert. Even the little he had eaten was making him sick.

“Are you ok?” She asked, putting down her spoon. “You’ve been quiet and edgy since you got back. Did something happen at the hospital?”

“It’s nothing. I’m just tired from the stress of the day.”

Lilian sighed. “You’re so tired that you didn’t even notice the absence of your children?” She said in a quiet voice. She wasn’t playing the guilt card. Lilian was hurt.

Hammond, for what seemed like the hundredth time today, jolted. It was only now that he realized that his twin sons were not at the dinner table.

He searched his mind for an explanation but came up empty. Everything was blurry up there.

“All the kids in their grade are having a camp night at Aquarium Palace.” She looked up at him. “I told you about it last week. The school even sent you an email.”

“It skipped my mind. Things have been hectic at the hospital this week, what with it being the flu season.” This wasn’t the first lie he was telling his wife today. It was just one, a tiny one among a long list of them. He had been deceiving her right from day one.

“Don’t you think it’s time you took that vacation you’ve been talking about? You look worn out, and despite how much I try it only appears to be getting worse.”

Hammond didn’t think so, but didn’t say it.

“This summer we’ll go somewhere for an entire month. All of us. I promise.” He reached across the table and took her hand. “I know I’ve not been the best of companions lately, and I can be curt and distant sometimes. Everything would be ok once things settle down at the hospital.”

Lilian stared at him for a moment before nodding. “Will you eat your food now?”

Hammond smiled. “Sure. How about we turn on some cool music and have some glasses of wine afterwards…”

His phone vibrated in his pocket, eating up the remaining words from his lips.

Still smiling to hide his discomfort, he pulled it out and glanced at the screen. His head throbbed.

“I’m sorry, Lily. I have to get this.”

He was already on his feet and hurrying out through the kitchen door, into the verandah that faced the back garden.

“Hammond.” The voice said once he picked up. The voice was now a familiar source of torment to Hammond. The same voice had ordered him to destroy Williams. The same voice had threatened to reveal all of Hammond’s dirty secrets if he didn’t comply.

 “Guess where I am right now.”

Hammond didn’t know what to make of that. “I don’t understand.”

“I asked you a simple question.”

He sighed. This was the kind of foolish nonsense he had to deal with.

“I don’t know…at your house?”

The voice laughed deeply. There was nothing funny about it. It was rather disturbing.

“Wrong. For a medical doctor, I thought you would be more intelligent.” The stranger sighed. “We never had something like this when we were kids. Can you imagine it? Spending an entire night with all such glories and attractions of the sea? The wild sharks and swordfishes. The strange octopuses and clown fishes. The seahorses and squids. It’s every child’s dream.”

Hammond stopped breathing. “Are you…are you at the Aquatic palace?”

“Guilty as charged.” The voice became deathly cold and a whisper. “I see your children.”

Hammond felt like sitting down, but the closest bench was still too far. He squatted beside the hedge.

“Please, don’t hurt my kids. They have nothing to do with anything.”

“Of course I’m not going to hurt them. I’m not a psychopath, Hammond.”

“What do you want? Whatever it is…I’ll do.”

A brief silence and an airy exhale later, the voice whispered. “I thought it wise to update you. We just had a change of plans.”

“What?”

“I think it’s high time we met in person. Come to the clubhouse opposite the aquarium within twenty minutes. A second more than that and you won’t find me.” A pause. “You won’t find one of your sons either”

The call disconnected.

Hammond was numb with shock for an entire minute before he dashed into the house, grabbed his car keys, and despite his wife calling at him in concern, sped out of the compound.