Warden Fall Page 9

  “No. No way.” He raised his hands in a defensive position.

  “All right—if you tell me what’s going on, maybe I can get help, but we’re not really getting anywhere here with me doing all the talking.”

  “Okay, let’s talk.” He looked to the right and moved closer to the web. He seemed to focus on each strand the spider spun.

  The sunlight sparkled in his dark hair and gleamed within the web. I couldn’t help myself. I grabbed my camera and adjusted the focus so both David and the web popped crisply from the outlining scenery.

  Whoa. The preview looked like a magazine ad. The lines in his face, his nearly pore-less skin—just perfect.

  David smiled as I raised the lens again. I set off the shutter on high speed repetition, hoping to get some of the sparkle from the spider’s web.

  “You like to take pictures, huh?”

  “Yeah. It’s an obsession of mine. You don’t mind, do you?”

  He shook his head, and I snapped some more. The last one had a beam of sunlight in the background. Damn if I couldn’t sell those as pictures of Jared Linden and gotten away with it.

  I closed the lens. “I’m still waiting for your story. I love photography, but I’m not that easily distracted.” Well, not right now, at least.

  “I’m not sure where to begin. Do you get along with your dad?”

  I leaned back, surprised. “I guess. I mean, most of the time. He’s a little judgmental, though.”

  “Mine too. In a big way.”

  “Is he the reason why you’re out here?” A fly buzzed my ear. I swatted it away.

  David shrugged. “Indirectly. If he’d just listen, just try to understand …”

  “I know what you mean. My dad’s got this crazy idea I can’t make good decisions.”

  “Yeah, mine too. He said I was worthless, and I’ve never done a selfless thing in my life. What does that mean, anyway?”

  “My dad thinks I don’t listen.”

  David propped his elbow on his knee and rested his chin on his fist. “Well, you’re listening now.”

  I smiled. A little girly tingle jittered through my chest. He was cute, and said the right things. Score another notch in that lottery ticket.

  My cheeks burned up in a flush under his sparkling gaze. Those eyes—so darn blue. I broke our stare, clearing my throat. “So, you had a fight with your dad, huh?”

  “Something like that. I tried to prove I was worth something.”

  “Did it work?”

  He took a deep breath and let it out in a puff. “If it did I wouldn’t be here.”

  The fly buzzed around David’s head and darted toward his right, snagging itself in the spider web. The more it thrashed, the more the webbing ripped and covered its wings … until the struggle abruptly ended. The web seemed to wink in and out of existence as the spider inched toward its prey.

  Despair settled into my gut. The thought of being totally overpowered—and to die like that—it just didn’t seem fair. The clouds drifted, and the web faded once more. So beautiful, but nothing more than an elaborate trap.

  David’s gaze moved from the spider back to me. He seemed to search through me, and his brow furrowed. Did I surprise him somehow, or was that confusion in his eyes?

  His expression faded into a smile. “Jess, you …”

  Another cooling breeze encircled us. David clamped his arms around his shoulders. His hands shook as they rubbed his skin.

  The hair on my arms stood on end as the sky darkened ominously overhead. “David, are you all right?”

  He wheezed, his body trembling as he bent over into a ball.

  “Okay, that’s it,” I said. “I’m getting you out of here.” I lifted him to his feet. He barely struggled, but drew away once we were standing.

  “I can’t leave the woods,” he said.

  “Oh, yes you can.”

  I nestled my camera into my backpack and flung the bag over my shoulder. David’s body seemed rigid as I pulled him to his feet.

  “Jess, please don’t …” His words were lost between chattering teeth.

  “Don’t nothing. You need help.”

  I yanked on his arm. Luckily for me, he was too busy trembling to fight me. We slunk through the trees, stopping each time David’s chill shook him too hard to walk.

  This is insane, Jess. You don’t know anything about this guy. Lord knows what’s wrong with him, and … A moist tap hit my head, then another. I glanced up. The clouds thickened. Another raindrop grazed my nose as a few birds flew for cover.

  Great. A rainstorm was all I needed at the moment.

  David studied a drip run down his arm, and turned his eyes up to the trees. “What …”

  “Come on,” I said, giving him a tug. “The trail is this way.” At least I hoped it was.

  Ferns scraped against my jeans as I pushed branches away from my face. I stopped once to untangle David’s shirt from a sticker bush before the woods opened up to the dirt path beside the road. It wasn’t where I’d come in, but it was close enough to get home.

  David tensed as we stepped away from the trees. Small circles appeared on the ground, darkening the sand from tan to brown as scattered droplets fell from the sky.

  David retreated toward the woods. “I can’t … I can’t.”

  “You don’t have much of a choice now, do you?” I led him forward.

  His muscles relaxed, but his eyes told me it was in defeat rather than agreement. David hunched his shoulders, ducked his head, and stumbled as I nudged him forward. I slowed my pace, hoping it would help him keep up.

  This is crazy, Jess. Just bring him to the … I stopped, alarmed by the movement at the gates to the base housing. Two men in uniform tossed their packs beside the door to the guard house. One fumbled with keys.

  In the entire four years we’d lived on that base, I’d never seen guards stationed at the entrance. A wave of adrenalin swept through my body. Sweat formed at my temples.

  David gripped my arm. Turquoise eyes, wide with fear, met mine.

  A twinge in my gut forced my whole body to tremble. I was right all along. It was him. He was the guy they were looking for. We were in deep shi … well, we were in a lot of trouble. Or was it just me? Was I in trouble? Was David dangerous?

  I forced a smile. Every part of me screamed to run, to flee to the guards and tell them, but when I looked into David’s eyes, the mistrust melted away, disappeared.

  Wait. Why did it disappear? I was scared to death a minute ago, wasn’t I?

  His eyes softened me. I was safe with him. I always had been.

  “I’m not going to turn you in. I promise.”

  His shoulders relaxed. “Can we please go back to the woods?”

  “There’s no way to warm you up out there. Now come on, and act natural.”

  I kept watch on the guard house as we walked toward the gate. One of the guys talked on a cell phone while the other unpacked his bag. Just keep walking. A large raindrop pelted my shirt, then another.

  David brushed away a rain droplet dribbling down his cheek and looked toward the sky. He gaped, his eyes questioning. Why did rain freak him out? Everybody’s seen rain, right?

  His nose and lips distorted before he ducked his head down again. Not really as inconspicuous as I’d hoped for, but at least he was keeping up.

  Relief washed over me as we passed through the gate. I couldn’t believe it. We’d actually …

  “Excuse me.”

  Oh. Crap.

  Every muscle in my body tensed. I could feel David’s bicep contract as I turned toward the MP. “Yes?”

  “Can I see some ID please?”

  “Oh, umm, yeah.”

  I reached into my pocket and grabbed my wallet. He made note of my driver’s license on a clipboard.

  The MP motioned to David. “And yours?”

  “He doesn’t have his license yet,” I stammered. “He’s only sixteen.�
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  My tense muscles got even tenser. There was no way David would pass for sixteen. He looked eighteen, nineteen. My brow furrowed. Just how old was he?

  A crack of thunder boomed overhead. David nearly jumped into my arms. The wind whipped up. I glanced to the MP. Please let us go, dude.

  David turned from my shoulder and stared at the MP. The officer moaned and blinked his eyes. He looked up at the sky and handed my license back.

  “Okay. You’re cleared. Thank you.” He walked back to the booth, massaging his forehead.

  No way.

  I shoved my license back in my pocket. “I don’t believe it.”

  David didn’t comment beyond a tremor as I maneuvered him across the street.

  We’d been incredibly lucky. The guy hadn’t even made a note of David. Maybe MP training wasn’t as hard-core as I’d heard.

  We moved past a bush near the edge of the sidewalk, and a sparrow hopped out. The bird fluttered its spotty brown wings as it snatched a squiggling worm on the concrete.

  David reared back, nearly knocking me over. “What the …”

  I tightened my grip on his arms. “Dude, it’s only a bird. Chill out!”

  “I’m sorry. It frightened me.”

  His eyes remained on the little brown-spotted minion-of-doom as it hopped onto the road. What kind of idiot got spooked by a bird? I didn’t push it. David obviously had serious issues. Hopefully they weren’t the homicidal kind.

  I cringed.

  No. He was just a guy who needed help. No homicidal anything.

  David’s gaze shifted from left to right. “Where are we going, anyway?”

  “Don’t be so scared. It’s not like the whole world is looking for you. What are the chances of your father just happening to be on Maguire, and driving down this road at this very minute?” I tried to gauge his reaction, but his expression didn’t change. He was worried about more than his father, I could tell. Was it really the MPs? The regular police? Worse? Maybe eventually he’d open up to me.

  As we turned onto my street, an open-top jeep sped toward us. David cried out and jumped away from the road. One of the soldiers inside waved as they drove by.

  “I really think I need to go back to the woods,” David said.

  The jeep turned the corner, not even hesitating at the stop sign. “It’s nothing. They’re only going to work. You need to lighten up.”

  You should bring him back to the gate. Turn him in. This is bigger than you, and you know it. If the Army is looking for him something is seriously up.

  I scoffed at my own idiocy. Paranoia was so un-cool. He’d be fine. He was just out of sorts with a fever or something. Besides, if he was a fugitive, and I helped him, I may just be setting myself up for the story of a lifetime.

  Or a lifetime behind bars.

  I decided to go with the first scenario. Much better karma.

  Head tucked down low, David allowed me to guide him while I kept a careful watch on the neighbors’ windows and front porches. The last thing I needed was a nosy housewife calling my dad.

  David dug in his heels as we turned up my walkway. He wrenched against my grip. “What’s that?”

  “My house.”

  “Your house?”

  “Yeah, this is where I live. David, are you delirious or something? Where did you think I was taking you?”

  I placed my hand on his arm. Perspiration beaded on his brow and his tee-shirt seemed far damper than it should have been in the light rain.

  Sweat?

  David scrunched his eyes closed and stumbled foot over foot. A torrent of unintelligible words streamed from his lips as his body went limp.

  My knee slammed on the pavement as I reached down to catch him—but he was nowhere near as heavy as I expected. Weird.

  His eyes opened and rolled back into this head. He coughed once before his gaze re-focused on me.

  “You’re done. I’m calling an ambulance.”

  He grabbed my arm. “No! I just need to get warmed up.”

  I shook my head and helped him back to a standing position. “I think it’s more than that, and something really strange is—”

  “I promise you, I’m just cold. Please just …” His words lost themselves inside a moan, and another shaking chill brought us both to our knees. David’s shoulders stiffened between my hands, becoming board-rigid before shaking fitfully.

  “Shoot,” I whispered, rubbing his arms in a fruitless effort to warm him.

  The sky opened up. Rain pummeled us. The sound roared through the compound.

  David’s pupils fixed on a point behind me. His jaw vibrated in time with the tremor. Dark wet tresses matted to his forehead. Water trailed from his bangs and down his cheeks.

  I gripped his face and pointed it toward mine. “David. David, listen to me. I need to get you into the house.”

  His eyes didn’t focus. His teeth chattered.

  “Okay. Let’s hope you heard me.” He grimaced as I hauled him to his feet. His shiver tightened his joints. The stiffness in his body fought against me as we made our way to the door.

  5

  Beneath the overhang, I fussed with my keys and pushed the door open. With some finagling I dragged his trembling form inside and into the family room, where he collapsed on the couch.

  “Stay here.” Like he was getting up anytime soon. “I’ll get some blankets.”

  I sprinted up the stairs, leaving muddy footprints on the carpet. Yeah, that wasn’t going to get me in trouble or anything. I threw open the linen closet.

  “Okay Dad, it’s like this,” I whispered to myself. “I know I wasn’t supposed to talk to strangers, but he was really cute so I figured it was okay … then he got sick. I couldn’t just leave him out there.”

  Yeah, that’ll work. You are in deep dog-poop, Jess.

  I threw two towels over my shoulders and grabbed a stack of spare blankets before padding down the stairs. Drying David’s clothing proved fruitless, but at least his hair wasn’t dripping anymore. Dad had left his gray sweatshirt hanging on the back of a chair. I peeled David’s wet tee-shirt from his back, trying to be careful of his injured shoulder, and pulled the warm fleece over his head.

  Still stricken with the chill, David rolled himself into a ball. I unfolded the blankets with a flourish and swaddled him in pink and yellow fuzz.

  “Okay. If that doesn’t warm you up, nothing will.”

  I admired my domestic-ness until the covers began to quake again. He had to have a fever. I cranked the thermostat up from seventy degrees to seventy-five.

  “David, I’m going to get a thermometer.”

  Chattering teeth answered me.

  Just call an ambulance, Jess.

  No. No ambulance. He’d been clear on that. No hospitals. Until I found out what was going on, I needed to keep that promise.

  I walked right by the telephone to the bathroom and grabbed the thermometer from underneath the toothpaste in the medicine cabinet.

  Closing the door, I cringed at my reflection. Yesterday’s eyeliner oozed down to my cheek. My bangs hung wet, lifeless, and clinging to my forehead. Lovely. I ran a fingertip under each eye, alleviating most of the raccoon syndrome. Who was I kidding? I’d never win a beauty pageant anyway.

  I uncapped the thermometer as I returned to David. He groaned. His chill rattled the coils in the couch.

  “David, I’m going to stick a thermometer under your tongue.” I had no idea if he could hear me over his shivering.

  After pressing the button to clear the digital readout, I pried his mouth open to slide the prong between his lips. His hand clutched the edge of the blanket. His fist shook against his chest.

  “Come on David. Snap out of it.”

  His eyes squeezed shut. His mouth formed a pained, straight line.

  “It’ll be okay.” A puff of air blew out of my lips. Saying the words didn’t help me to believe them. What if I was wrong? What if
he really needed a doctor? What if he died?

  I touched the chain on my neck, twirling the links around my fingers. The phone sat on the end table. One call to 911 would bring an ambulance, which was what he really needed. I reached for the phone and sighed. He seemed petrified of the hospital. But was it right to let him die just because he was afraid?

  The clock on the wall ticked, filling the room with its cadence. David’s teeth rattled against the plastic tube in his mouth. What was taking that thermometer so darn long to beep?

  I grasped my pendant, willing myself to do the right thing—if I could just figure out what the right thing was.

  My mother’s words seeped into my mind. “I had this necklace blessed. You’ll never have to worry about anything while you wear it.” Her image soothed me like a hug. I closed my eyes and fed on her strength.

  “All right, Mom,” I whispered, “here goes nothing.”

  Another tremor rocked David’s body as I unhooked the chain and refastened the clasp behind his neck. I touched my fingers to the golden oval.

  “Please God,” I whispered. “Please help him.” The shiver subsided, but his breathing seemed labored.

  Darnit. What was I supposed to do?

  I frantically searched the room for something to help. Pillows, magazines, remote controls, everything a good Jersey home should have other than something to stop a person from freezing to death.

  Three logs lay unburned beside the fireplace, leftover from the spring thaw. Perfect. I placed one of the logs on the steel grate and shoved some newspaper beneath it. Luckily, the dry wood caught quickly. I checked David’s blankets and glanced at the thermometer’s digital readout. 112. 113. 114. “What the …”

  David convulsed and bit down, snapping the thermometer in two.

  “Holy crap!” I picked up the half that fell on the blanket and tossed it on the table. My finger shot between his lips, and I pried his mouth open, praying he didn’t bite me by accident. I dug the rest of the thermometer from under his tongue and threw it over my shoulder.

  His head fell to the side, his body as limp as a rag doll. I did my best to hoist him to a sitting position as his eyes rolled back, exposing ghostly white orbs.

  “Omigosh, this is not happening. David! David!” No answer. I slapped his face.