Chapter 13: The Roadhouse
We'd been driving along dark country backroads for almost an hour, more or less in silence, when the GPS started giving me strange readings, and I realized that our quarry must be on the move. Adrian, who had dubbed himself the Cell Phone Master, called the other car to let Dimitri know to watch out for some sudden changes in direction.
The other car was also an SUV, and riding in it were Dimitri, Eddie, Mikhail, and – I was surprised to learn – Sonya. Neither Rose nor Adrian had mentioned her when they'd gotten to my house before, maybe because they didn't think of her as a fighter, but I knew better than to underestimate the powerful, and slightly spooky, spirit user. We'd been driving in tandem the whole time, and Rose and Dimitri had mostly communicated via hand gestures that I hadn't understood in the slightest.
"So," Rose asked, as the blip on my tablet computer continued on its wobbly path southwest. "Just how close can that GPS of yours get? Ten feet, a hundred feet..."
"It can pinpoint someone to the nearest three meters," I said. "So it's certainly close enough for our purposes."
Rose let out an appreciative sigh. "It's completely amazing," she said. "You know, when all this is over, if you have an extra one of those things to give away, I'd be pretty grateful to get one."
I had to bite my lip to keep from spitting out a peevish No! It was instinctive, of course, to protect alchemist technology from outsiders, even now, when I was no longer with the organization. But Rose was taking time out of her own life to go looking for my daughters for me. I could at least give her the GPS device – couldn't I? I forced myself to maintain a neutral expression, glad that I had gotten better at this kind of thing over the years. "Maybe," I said. "When all this is over, ask me again."
"And, maybe in return," Rose said, "I could be Amy's mentor."
This time I couldn't keep the annoyed shock out of my voice. "What?"
"I just meant, her mentor through the world of being a dhampir," Rose said. "She must feel so out of place in a world of humans. Poor kid... She probably has no idea why she hears, smells, and sees things that no one else can."
"She's fine," I said, in the calmest tone I could muster. "What kind of mother do you think I am? Do you think I never told her that she was special?" Adrian reached up to put a hand on my arm in a show of support, but he didn't speak. I think he knew that this was a battle I had to fight for myself, and I appreciated his confidence in me.
"I'm sure you –" Rose started to say, but I cut her off.
"Before Amy started kindergarten, I sat down with her to explain that she was special. We watched The Incredibles together, and I told her that she was a secret superhero too, just like the little boy and girl from the family in the movie. I told her that she had to keep it a secret, because no one would understand, but that I always would believe her if she sensed something that I couldn't. I told her" – and my voice started to get choked up – "that I would always be on her side and that I would always believe her, even if no one else did."
"So you told her what she was?" Rose asked, after a brief pause.
"Drop it, Rose," Adrian said, in a low tone.
"She may never have heard the word dhampir," I said. "But she knows exactly what she is. She knows she is very special and very, very, very loved. Because that's what she is." And then I had to stop talking, for fear that I would lose control completely.
Adrian took my hand. "And Amy's grown up to be an awesome kid," he said. "So you've obviously been doing a great job."
There was silence in the car for a long moment. Then Rose said, "Well, I'm looking forward to meeting her then. Both of them. And I'm sorry if I suggested anything... I don't know, anything I shouldn't have."
"It's ok," I said automatically, though at the moment, it really wasn't.
"Really," Rose said, and I heard the strain in her voice. "I guess I had the situation all wrong. And when I'm wrong I say that I'm wrong, so –"
But just then, the GPS unit let out a piercing noise to let us know that we were getting really close to our target. And at almost the same moment, we came around a corner and saw a roadside bar and grill just off the main road. The bright red neon sign read "Fat Bobby's."
"I guess this is the place," I said, as excitement and apprehension bubbled up inside of me. "He must be in there."
"In a bar?" Rose said. "What the hell?"
Adrian muttered something that sounded a lot like, "I could use a drink anyway."
We pulled into the gravelly parking area, and Dimitri's car followed us, parking in a nearby spot. The whole parking area was lit up bright as day with several large floodlights. We all got out of the car to talk, and for me, it was my first opportunity to actually greet my old friends and acquaintances. Eddie surprised me with a bear hug, and Dimitri and Mikhail each offered polite handshakes. Sonya hugged me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I thanked them all for coming, as quickly as I could, not wanting to waste time, and they all waved off my thanks.
Rose and Dimitri took a minute to confer, and while they were talking, Eddie caught my eye. "It's nice to see you," he said. "Wish it was under different circumstances."
"Me too," I said.
"We'll have to catch up when this is all over," he said, and I nodded. Then I noticed that the car we were standing in front of was a gray sedan with Virginia plates. I asked Eddie to move a little bit so I could check the license plate, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw that it was a match for the one Amy's friend had described.
"Rose," I called. She looked over, saw where I was pointing, and grinned.
"Awesome," she said. "We're definitely in the right place. Ok, people, come together..." The dhampirs got together in a closer circle, with Adrian, Sonya and me on the outside. "Here's the plan," Rose said. "We're going to split up. Dimitri and Mikhail will be watching the exits, and the sedan, ready to follow the guy if he gets away. Meanwhile, Eddie and I will go inside and try to find him..."
"Without me?" I said. "No way. I'm the one with the GPS."
"But, Sydney," Rose said. "You said yourself that the GPS is only good to the nearest three meters. We know the guy's inside. All we have to do now is grab him..."
"Sydney," Dimitri said. "You can trust Rose. If the man you seek is in there, she'll find him for you."
"Yes, I'm sure she will," I said. "And I'm going in with her."
"That's my girl," Adrian said, grinning. He squeezed my hand.
"It'll be a waste of resources if I have to protect you and look for the perp," Rose said.
"Perp," Adrian muttered next to me. "Perp." He snorted.
"I don't want to waste time arguing," I said. "I'm going in with you and that's that. I live in the area. I know how local people act. And if it really is Rick or his friends, I'll recognize them."
"They might recognize you," Dimitri said.
"We'll recognize each other," I said. "And then it'll be time to act."
"Sydney," Rose said, in a tone that suggested she was about to make one of her extremely logical arguments. "We're trying to help you. I swear."
Adrian spoke up. "Little Belikova," he said. "If it were your kids who were missing, would you wait out here?"
Rose paused, then kicked at the gravel a little. "I hate you sometimes, Adrian," she said. "Especially when you make sense."
"You love me and you know it," Adrian said, and laughed. Then he took my hand and lifted it to his lips for kiss. I saw his eyes settle on my bracelet for a moment, and then he looked back up at my face. "Go on, Sydney. Go find the kids. Just stay safe." He squeezed my hand, then dropped it.
"Come on, Sydney," Eddie said, gesturing for me to come with him. "Let's go in." I smiled and took a few steps towards the door.
"Wait," Adrian said, jogging a little to catch up to us.
"What?" I said. "Do you –"
And he grabbed me and kissed me soundly, right there, in front of everyone. For a split second, I was embarrassed, shy to be seen kissing a Moroi in front of a group of dhampirs – but only for a second. After that, my brain left my head for a minute, and there was nothing but the feeling of his mouth on mine, his hands on my back and in my hair, and the heat of the kiss.
When he pulled away from me, I stared at him, wide eyed. He leaned close and whispered, "That's for luck."
"I guess I'll be pretty lucky then," I said, which was an incredibly lame reply, but really, it was amazing that I could speak at all after a kiss like that. I looked back over at Eddie, who was looking studiously at the ground. Then I glanced around and saw that everyone looked very uncomfortable, except for Sonya, who was smiling pleasantly. I smiled back at her, then said, "Come on, Eddie. And Rose too, if you're still coming." Then I began walking towards the door again, smoothing down my hair with my fingers.
A moment later, Eddie joined me, as did Rose, and the three of us stepped through the door at about the same time. There were two huge bouncers in the vestibule area, and we showed them our proof of age, then walked inside the main room.
It took me a moment to adjust to the initial assault to my senses, and I could only imagine how it felt for the dhampirs, with their sensitive ears and noses. It was a very large room, warm despite the February weather, and dimly lit with reddish lights. It smelled of sweat, fried food, and beer. Peanut shells crunched under my feet, and a jukebox somewhere was playing an old Rolling Stones song, loudly enough that I could feel some of the vibrations in my sternum.
There was a bar area to our right, and a lot of people in jeans and t-shirts were milling around, drinking beer and chatting. A seating area to our left seemed to function more of a restaurant, and I saw cheeseburgers, fries, and chicken fingers being eaten. No one was holding up a sign that said, "Hey! I'm the kidnapper!" In fact, everyone just looked like the typical roadhouse patron, here to drink beer, listen to jukebox music, and maybe make a connection with someone looking for a kiss – or a kick.
We made our way over to the bar area, and Rose gestured with her head to a young looking guy standing about halfway down the length of the bar. The guy was about 5'9, and was young, maybe 20 or 21, with pale blond hair and small features. In other words, he perfectly matched the description of the kidnapper that Amy's friend had provided. Rose sidled up to the bar, squeezing up next to the blond guy as if she were trying to get a drink. Eddie, meanwhile, was quickly scanning the room, looking for... I don't know, guardian things. Entrances and exits, windows, threats, whatever. Neither he nor Rose was paying much attention to me.
I went over to the far end of the bar, where there was some space to stand, and, in a brief silence between songs on the jukebox, I asked the bartender for a diet Coke. The bartender was in his early 40s, I thought, and pretty good looking for his age, if you liked muscular guys in shirts with the sleeves torn off. He raised an eyebrow at the request, but quickly got a glass and filled it from one of those little spray hoses that bartenders use. He worked quickly, the tattoos on his bare arms rippling as he moved. "Here you go, cutie-pie," he said, handing me a pint glass with a Pabst Blue Ribbon logo on it. "Haven't seen you here before," he said. "Or your friends, neither."
Cutie-pie? I thought, but smiled brightly. "Oh, we're just passing through," I said, speaking loudly to be heard over the music. "Just needed a break from the driving."
"Ohhhh," he said, knowingly. He also had to almost shout to be heard over the music. "You're the DD, then." He caught my blank expression and clarified. "The Designated Driver."
"You guessed it," I said, and smiled again. "So most people in here, you know them?"
"Oh, yeah," he said. "Nearly everyone, 'cept you three, and maybe two or three other folks."
"That's really cool," I said. "A real neighborhood place. I guess I'm asking because I saw a car outside with its lights on, and maybe you'll know whose car it is." I described the gray sedan, complete with the license plate number, and he nodded to show that he was listening.
"I know most these guys' cars," he said. "Had to keep keys overnight a few times, you know? But no one here got Virginia plates, that I know of."
"Too bad," I said.
"Don't want no one's battery to run down," the bartender said. "Even someone dumb enough to leave the lights on. I'll make an announcement at the end of the song." He gave me a small piece of paper and a tiny pencil to write the plate number down on, and as I wrote, I saw him fiddling with a small tablet computer stuck to the wall. I peered closer and saw it had a list of songs on it, and I realized it must control the jukebox. He took the paper from me when I was done, and I saw him slip it into the back pocket of his jeans.
"So how much do I owe you for the Coke?" I asked.
"Nothing," he said, smiling. "Good Samaritan rule, I guess."
"Thanks so much," I said, though honestly, I'd rather have paid than be in debt to someone. I gave him my brightest smile, hoping it didn't look too fake, and began to make my way back through the crowd to my friends. Rose was busy talking to the blond guy, but Eddie was just watching the room carefully, so I told him about the fake announcement I had asked the bartender to make.
"That was smart thinking, Syd," he said, shaking his head in pleased disbelief. "It's nice to have you back on the same team as me. Like old times."
"Team Melrose," I said, and he laughed. "Hey, what are Rose and that guy talking about?"
Eddie paused to listen. "He's asking her if she wants to get together tomorrow night. He says he'll be done with work at 7:30 or 8." Eddie wrinkled his brow in thought briefly, then said, "That's right after when the ransom is due, right?"
"It is," I said.
"What do you think?" Eddie asked. "Final nail in the coffin, or...?"
"I don't know," I said. To me, something about it seemed odd. What kind of guy would make a date for an hour after he'd picked up a ransom for a kidnapping? "Hey," I said. "I'm going to go ask the bartender something real fast." Eddie nodded and resumed his watchful stance.
I elbowed my way back through the rowdy crowd to the end of the bar again, and smiled at the tattooed bartender. "Hi again," I said, with that highbeam smile.
"Hi again, cutie," he said, and leaned forward. "Need another Coke?"
"Still on the first one," I said, and held it up to show that it was still half full. "But can I ask you something?"
"You can ask me anything you want."
"Do you know the guy my friend is talking to? I'm just wondering because... well, they seem to be hitting it off, and..."
"Worried about your friend?" he asked, and I nodded. "Yeah, I know him," he said. "That's Morgan. He's my buddy's little brother. Good kid really, though he's got the worst luck with the ladies." We both looked over to see Rose and the blond guy – who apparently was named Morgan – still talking away. But now Rose looked a little more sly than she had before. It was another one of her looks that I recognized. She thought she had this guy cornered.
"My friend has bad luck, too," I said. "If there's one guy in a bar who is like, a murderer or a kidnapper or something, my friend would go right to him."
The bartender laughed. "Then they're a match made in heaven," he said. "But don't worry. Morgan is a real nice kid. Wouldn't hurt a fly. He works double shifts on Saturday – he's an orderly at the hospital over in Roxboro – so he probably won't be staying out too much later."
We are so on the wrong track, I thought. Out loud, I said, "Wow, you really do know everyone in here!"
"I should," he said, and laughed. "It's my place! I never even left the state, 'cept once to see the Statue of Liberty when I was a kid. This bar, it's like my home."
"I'm just curious," I said. "Who else are the strangers in here, besides me and my two friends?"
"Hmm," the bartender said, and looked around. "Well, there's those two over there." He gestured to a couple in their late 30s, who were leaning so close together over their table that I thought they might start kissing any moment. "And there's that old guy, over there." He pointed out a man who was 70 years old if he was a day. "And that young fellow, on the side." And he gestured to a thin guy in his mid 20s eating a huge plate of chicken fingers, on the edge of the seating area.
"So few," I said, my eyes wide with feigned amazement.
"What do you want to bet those two are having an affair?" the bartender asked, nodding towards the couple, and I laughed.
"Seems like a safe bet," I said. "Well, I better get back to my friends. Thanks for your help."
"Anytime, cutie pie," the bartender said, and winked.
I began jostling through people to go back to Eddie and Rose. But just then, the song on the jukebox ended, and the bartender cleared his throat, ready to make his announcement. When the silence fell, however, Rose's words could be clearly heard in the entire bar, and what she was saying was far too distracting for the bartender to make his announcement.
"... they are! I know you know so just tell me!"
"I... I... I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean," Morgan sputtered. "I would help you if I could, I swear. You're real pretty... I swear, I don't mean no harm to any little kids."
"Cut the bull," Rose said. "Amy and Violet. Where are they?"
A tiny sliver of movement in the seating area caught my eye. The thin guy the bartender had pointed out was standing up slowly and sliding on a bright red coat. I saw him actually put chicken fingers in his coat pockets, then throw some money down on the table.
"Eddie," I said, trying to catch my old friend's attention. With his dhampir senses, he noticed my words even over the growing hubbub in the bar. I gestured with my head to the thin guy, and Eddie understood and shifted his stance a little.
"Listen," Morgan was saying. "I swear to God on a stack of Bibles that I don't know where any missing kids are, but if I can help you find them I will." Then he made the mistake of putting what he must have thought was a calming hand on Rose's shoulder. "If I can help..."
Rose moved so quickly that I could hardly make out her movements, but the next thing I knew, poor Morgan was on the ground, and Rose was straddling him. "Don't touch me," she hissed.
I understood what was going on. Rose was in battle mode, and saw everything as a threat. In her normal job, this was probably a good thing, but here among humans, it really wasn't. Also, since she was so locked into this target, she had missed the other guy, the one with the chicken fingers in the pockets of his red coat, who was now making his way steadily to the door.
"Rose," I called, and she looked up at me. "Rose, that's not the guy. It's –"
Then a lot of things seemed to happen at once. Two huge bouncers – the ones who had checked our IDs before – came running into the room to pull Rose off of Morgan. She was a match for them, of course, but in a crowded space like this, the fight that ensued was awkward and confusing, all the more so since Rose didn't really want to hurt any humans who were just doing their jobs. Meanwhile, Eddie went running after Red Coat, and managed to knock him to the ground forcefully enough that one of the chicken fingers was thrown out of his coat pocket. As for me, I was just trying to get outside so that I could alert everyone else about what was going on, but all the people who had been sitting down eating had already gotten to their feet to watch the fights, and it was hard to move as much as an inch. I guess it was fun for them to watch a good looking woman like Rose holding her own against two bouncers, each of whom could have been a stand-in for Shrek, should anyone ever make a live-action movie out of the old cartoon.
After a few moments of general melee, I guess someone made the connection between Rose and Eddie, and two bar patrons jumped into the fray to defend Red Coat. Eddie managed to fight them off, but in the process, lost hold of Red Coat, who again began trying to make his way outside. Meanwhile, a drunk guy near me was accidentally elbowed in the face by another drunk guy, and responded with a strong shove. Someone else shoved back, and it ricocheted back through the crowd, and I ended up getting nearly knocked off my feet. I sank to a crouch and managed to crawl under a table. I was cornered, but I was much more worried that Red Coat would get away than I was worried for my own safety. I drew in a deep breath and shouted "Adrian! Help us!" as loudly as I could. He wasn't the best fighter in the group, but he had the best hearing of anyone outside, except for maybe Sonya, and he was most likely to be listening for my voice.
Sure enough, a few moments later I heard a voice rising over the fray – Dimitri's. I ducked out from under the table in time to see Dimitri tackle one of the bouncers currently making things so tough on Rose. I also saw Adrian, who waved at me, then held up one finger, and then disappeared again. I figured that he meant he'd be back in one minute, and I ducked back under the table – only to find Morgan, the blond guy who Rose had mistakenly attacked. There was a thin trickle of blood running down his face.
"Are you ok?" he asked me.
"I'm ok," I answered. "You?" I gestured to his forehead.
"I'll be ok," he said.
I stood up for a second, just long enough to pull a slightly damp napkin from the tabletop, and then crouched down to hold it against his bloody forehead. "Sit up as straight as you can," I advised. "Apply pressure. You'll be ok."
"I'll get a doc to look at it later, when I go to work," he answered, taking hold of the napkin.
"Good idea," I said.
I was just starting to wonder what was keeping Adrian when I heard a strong female voice ring through the room. It was just two words: "Calm down." And a moment after I heard the words, I started to feel really... well, really calm. So did everyone else apparently, since the sounds of fighting slowed down and then stopped completely.
I felt almost too calm to stand up, but I also recognized compulsion when I felt it, and fought against it long enough to rise to my feet. Then I saw, framed in the doorway, Adrian and Sonya, holding hands. They must have worked this magic together, I realized, which explained why it was so very powerful. Adrian spotted me and waved me over to him, relief all over his face. I walked as if I were in a dream, stepping over spilled beer and a few broken chair legs. The crowd parted respectfully. The bartender looked over at me and waved sleepily, and I waved back.
Dimitri, Rose, and Eddie had already gotten to their feet. Eddie grabbed hold of Red Coat, and he and Dimitri began pulling him outside, with Rose cautiously bringing up the rear. The man wasn't protesting, but would probably begin fighting back the moment he was outside the sphere of the spirit magic.
"Everything is fine," Sonya said to the crowd. "No need to worry about any of the fights here tonight."
"It was just one of those funny things that happen at bars," Adrian said. "Not worth mentioning to anyone else, or thinking about again." Then he turned to me, and said in a quieter tone. "Go on outside, sweetheart. I want to know you're ok before Sonya and I stop broadcasting."
"One thing first," I said, and called to Morgan, who walked over to me like a sleepwalker. "Come outside with me," I said, offering my hand to him, and he gave me his hand like a child would have done. We walked out together, dreamily.
Back outside in the gravel parking lot, Red Coat was whimpering in Eddie's grip. "Don't hurt me," he said. "It wasn't my idea or anything."
Mikhail, who must have been watching the door this whole time, looked over at me. "Is Sonya ok in there?" he asked.
"She and Adrian have the whole bar under control," I said. "But they might need a little help exiting..."
"I'm on it," he said, and ran past me to go inside.
"What the hell is going on?" Morgan asked me, as the last bit of compulsion-calmness wore off. He was looking over at Rose, who was busy talking to Dimitri, probably comparing notes on the battle. Or maybe they were just flirting a little – it was hard to tell with them. Morgan didn't look so happy to see Rose, either because he was angry at having been attacked out of the blue, or because he was just sad to see that she apparently already had a man in her life.
"It's hard to explain," I said. "Just go sit down over there." I gestured to a concrete ledge that bordered the path to the door. "I'm going to get a friend of mine to look at your head in a minute or two. Just keep the pressure on."
"Um, okay, whatever," he said, and sat down obediently. Clearly he had given up on getting any answers.
I looked back over at Red Coat. Eddie was pinning the man's arms behind his back with apparently no effort, and Rose and Dimitri were right next to them, so it seemed pretty safe to approach. I took a few steps towards the man who I was fairly certain was at least partially responsible for the disappearance of my daughters. I didn't know what to say to him, and I looked away, my gaze traveling the faces of the dhampirs who'd helped me get this far.
"Is everyone ok?" I asked, not making any eye contact with Red Coat.
Dimitri and Eddie assured me that they were, and asked me how I was. I had escaped unhurt, and said so, and then I looked over at Rose, who had fallen silent. She was looking at Morgan, whose eyes seemed fixed on his shoes.
"Wow, I really messed that one up," Rose said. "I'm sorry, guys."
"He fit the description," I said. "I would have thought the same thing."
"Says the girl who actually spotted the right guy," Rose said.
"I was convinced the blond guy was the one, too," Eddie said.
"It was only logical of you, Roza," Dimitri said, in a voice that sounded stern to me but that made Rose smile.
"Besides," I said. "The only reason that I had time to look for another suspect was that I was confident that you could handle the blond guy all on your own. So, really – it was a team effort."
"Fine, fine," Rose said. She really looked mortified. "Let's drop it. So!" She clapped her hands together once. "What are we going to do with this jerk?"
"I kind of thought that I'd be questioning him," Adrian called, as he, Sonya, and Mikhail walked out of the bar. He walked hurriedly over to us, and immediately hugged me to him. Sonya and Mikhail hung back, and as I looked over Adrian's shoulder, I saw Mikhail put his arms around his wife.
Adrian and I took a brief moment to reassure each other that we were both ok. Then I asked him if he needed a rest before he "questioned" Red Coat. After all, the Moroi had just unleashed a huge amount of spirit energy, and I was pretty sure that the "questioning" he had in mind for our captive would involve even more magic.
"I'm fine," he said. "Anyway, it pretty much has to be me. Sonya doesn't really like using compulsion. It took some convincing to even get her to agree to that back there." He made a face.
"Let's find a place to sit him down for a minute," Rose said, and began looking around.
"While you're doing that, let me ask Sonya something," I said, and jogged over to the Moroi woman, who was talking in low tones to her husband. "Sorry to interrupt," I said when I reached them.
"Oh, not at all," Sonya said, in that weirdly pleasant tone of hers. "Do you need something?"
"I don't need anything," I said, "but he does." I directed her attention to poor Morgan, who was still sitting on the concrete ledge. "That's the guy Rose accidentally beat up a little," I explained, seeing her blank expression. "He's bleeding, and..."
She nodded. "And he needs some healing," she said. "Fair enough. I'll take a look." And she and Mikhail, still holding hands, went over to where Morgan was waiting.
Satisfied that the poor guy would be taken care of, I returned to Adrian's side. He put his arm around me, and we watched as the dhampirs continued to prepare Red Coat for questioning. Rose had opened the hatchback of her SUV, and Dimitri forced the man to sit on the edge, so that his feet were dangling an inch or two below the bumper. Eddie was inside the trunk as well, and it looked like he was tying the man's hands behind his back.
"What took you so long in there?" I asked Adrian in an undertone.
"I was writing the bartender a check for some of the damages," Adrian said. "It's his place, and I felt bad for the guy."
I smiled at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You're the best," I said.
"Pretty much," he said, and grinned.
After a few moments, Dimtri nodded at Adrian in a "go ahead" kind of gesture, and Adrian approached the nervous human.
"You're going to answer all my questions completely and honestly," Adrian said, and the man responded with slack-jawed agreement. "Oh, he's easy," Adrian said to me, in a low voice. "Thank God."
And then the questioning began in earnest.