Dots, chapter 14
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Devil's Canyon Road || past midnight
It sounded perfect, 'get to San Bernardino'.
Maps of the city popped up in Callen's head, but he didn't recall ever having heard of this Devil's Canyon Road before. There were some far away lights ahead which practically blurred into one bright dot if he narrowed his eyes toward what he figured was south of the place he was right now.
"Is that where we are heading to?" he asked.
She paused a beat before she answered. "As far as I know that's where the university should be. If we walk up to the North, it's a dead-end road. For cars, that is. We'd walk straight into the National Forest. But…"
Macey didn't finish her sentence, since she did not know if she was about to offend her companion. "Well, I've no idea if there are any safe places in that direction. And besides… to be honest, I don't think you are in a mint condition and we'd better find a place to get and clean that wounds of yours. They bled, remember?"
There was no use denying. Still, Callen did not like to be told things like she just did.
After all, he was used to taking care of himself. He didn't respond and stubbornly started walking the narrow road which was hardly tarmacked at all. Now his eyes were getting used to the dark, he noticed the uneven borders and potholes. There was the typical smell of pines and moist forest ground and there were rustles he didn't recognize.
No exhaust fumes or humming of traffic, nor shouts of quarreling people in busy streets.
Perhaps his face showed it, this uncomfortable feeling. Inwardly, he denied it. It was too dark for her to read his face.
She sensed it. Like he would.
He saw how she spread her hands when she continued in a quiet voice "Listen, I get it that you don't like to be mothered like I just did. And you don't have to like me. But now we're in this situation together and we both don't know for sure who we are coping with, so… If we want to get away from this place, we'd better hurry. I really don't want to deal with circumstances like we just escaped from again."
"We'd hear them coming Macey. And I don't scan any brightly lighted places where anyone will let us in at the moment. So — bleeding or not, there's no other option but to keep going like we do," Callen reasoned in the same quiet and calm voice.
He did appreciate it that she was no whiner. In one way or another it was obvious now that he unconsciously had shown a sort of distrust and uncertainty toward her. After all, she mentioned it. Still, it had been a mutual thing. A wrong start with misunderstandings.
They walked downhill for about a quarter of an hour in a steady pace, without speaking. She let him lead and Callen knew she was keeping an eye on him. He halted for a second, blinking his eyes several times. He shivered in the cool night air and he remembered how she only wore a thin blouse. "You're okay?" he asked.
She just hummed positively. "You?"
He hesitated just a beat too long. Just like Sam, she understood. "It's at least another hour if we continue like we do. Sure you —"
"Sure."
His reply came too soon this time. It was useless to tell her that he was feeling lightheaded and feverish. He guessed she knew.
Ten minutes later he couldn't help letting a deep sigh escape as he noticed three large trucks with their trailers which were parked on a small parking next to the road. In one of them, there was a small light which showed how the driver was reading a newspaper.
"What are you planning?" Macey nearly whispered. "A car, a phone, something warm to wear… Got any ideas how we should arrange that?"
It was hard to think clearly. He couldn't just bust in and make some demands. He just shrugged, feeling weaker than he wanted to admit.
"Let me give it a try then," she suggested. She knocked on the window, definitely giving the owner of the truck a near heart-attack.
"Excuse me, sir. Any chance you can help us? We apparently got lost somewhere this afternoon and it looks like we're running around in circles. Is this the road to Arrowhead Springs? Y'see, a friend of us was going to pick us up in there. Now my boyfriend met with a nasty branch and…"
The man just shook his head. "Arrowhead is at least ten miles to the east. Boy, you sure got lost indeed."
"Told you so," Macey now turned to Callen. "Told you, but you said you were right. Now… You think Mike is still waiting for us? He's probably asleep, like you should be too. That drinking of you of last night didn't really help. No way."
She nearly scuffed and her burst out surprised Callen as well. She sure knew how to play the game, but so did he.
"How about the 'I am not taking all that stuff with me anymore' and 'we'll pick our backpack up on our way back'. A fine mess, honey. Now what?"
The truck driver put his hands up as if he was surrendering. "Now listen, I get it that you're both tired. So am I. So… chances that you are some kind of Bonnie and Clyde should be less than two percent, so I suppose you don't plan robbing me?" He chuckled because of the joke he thought he made, but then seriously added "Listen, if you think you were lost, why didn't you use a phone?"
Callen simply shook his head while Macey answered with a deep sigh "Really? Have you ever, ever tried an iPhone in this, this middle-of-nowhere thing? No reach, yet George in here kept insisting I should try and try over again. Until the battery went low and even lower and it eventually died." She shook her head as if she was irritated enormously. And it worked.
The man took one of the largest and most outdated mobile phones from the passenger's seat. "See if you can call your friend. He must be worried about you. If you're lucky, he didn't call the cops yet."
Callen gratefully took the phone and dialed the number he knew by heart. He heard the phone ring four times when finally, he heard the voice of his friend speaking. "Yeah?"
Playing the game they were playing, Callen did recall the name Macey used for the so-called friend. It wouldn't have mattered who he called, as long as he used the name she made up.
"Mike, buddy! How good it is to hear your voice. You see, Macey and I got kind of lost. We're now at—" he shrugged and looked around.
"Devil's Canyon Road," the driver spoke in a soft voice, definitely understanding this couple's situation.
"You heard the guy, Devil's Canyon Road. Any chance you can pick us up in here, buddy?"
Sam's sleepy voice was gone now. "Damn, G. You sure had us worried. You're alright?"
Callen glanced at the others and he simply hummed. "Nothing that a band-aid can't fix."
He heard the grateful sigh on the other side of the line as he noticed how the truck driver started to grabble underneath his chair. For a millisecond, Callen held his breath, as always aware that violence could be everywhere.
But once the man rose again he carried a first-aid box which he handed to Macey. "Listen, I don't know how long it takes for your friend to come to this place, but I can open the trailer for you so you can, uhm, wait for help," the driver spoke in a soft voice. "I'm Mike too, by the way."
She sent him a grateful smile, took the box with her left hand and held her right hand to shake his. "Macey. Macey Garland. And this is George, George Callen," she said. "Thank you so much for helping us."
She motioned to Callen and followed Mike who opened the roller-shutters of the trailer. She felt goosebumps appearing everywhere with that sound and she suddenly was thankful that Callen was with her.
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Twin Peaks, Lake Arrowhead Resort || past 3 at night
Sam took his jeans and shirt and got dressed in a matter of seconds. After putting on his boots, he took his jacket and checked his gun. Once he was sure he was ready to go, he left the room. Then, he decided he needed to wake his co-workers.
He knocked on the door of the room which was opposite of his. Of course he didn't need to wake any other guests, so he waited a while before he knocked on it again. Half a minute later, a very sleepy Marty Deeks finally opened the door.
Without speaking, Sam simply entered.
For once, Deeks was not the first to speak. Kensi sat in the bed, wearing an old pink shirt which probably once was red. "What's going on Sam?" she asked.
"G," Sam replied. "He just called. He's alright. It's like you said, Deeks, he's okay and he's still with this Marcia. Presumably, she's okay as well. He's asked me to come and pick him up."
"Thank God he's alright," Kensi sighed.
Deeks let his hand go through his hair which was indeed 'styled by pillow' right now. "Did he tell you where he is, or rather, where they are?"
Sam nodded. "Mind you, Marty. I bet you love this. How does 'Devil's Canyon' sound?"
"You're kidding! That's practically in San Bernardino," Deeks said.
"Didn't sound like that. He told me they were in the middle of nowhere and were very glad that they met with a trucker who was friendly enough to lend his phone to him," Sam said. "So, we can do two things. I'm leaving right now, without you, or the two of you get dressed in a matter of minutes and we can talk this over on our way. You know, discuss what to expect and how to handle this."
Kensi got up and hurried to the bathroom. "Back in a sec," she said.
Deeks simply nodded and took his jeans. "You called Hetty already?" he asked.
Sam shook his head. "No need to wake the others. I mean, Callen can call her himself. It'll be better that way. Y'know, she appreciates it better if he does."
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Devil's Canyon Road || half past four at night
The first thing Callen noticed was the many times Macey licked her dry lips now they found the trailer as a shelter. She was more nervous now than she appeared to be when they had been imprisoned earlier.
"So your friend is going to be here soon?" she spoke in a soft voice.
Callen nodded. "He will."
Macey then gestured with the first-aid kit in her left hand towards his shirt. "Soon. Still, I think you should let me have a look at — at that. Wounds like that can get infected easily."
"As if I didn't know that," he murmured. Then he reached for the kit and sighed heavily.
She shook her head. "I understand that you would want to handle this yourself. But with that hand of yours… You see, I noticed you're right-handed, and there's no way you can take care of it on your own. So, since we're in this together right now, we should and could do this together, don't you think?"
He didn't like the way she was pushing it. On the other hand, Callen understood that she was right. He really could do without any more damage right now. Carefully, he lifted the hem of his shirt, only to notice it was stuck on the bandages underneath it. It sure bled more than he expected.
Her face was serious and her gaze focused on his abdomen. Again, she licked her lips, which now felt awkward for Callen.
She took some antiseptics from the box and opened a paper enveloped sterile gauze. "This should do the trick. It'll clean this mess first, then kill any germs that may do you more harm. A surgipad, some fresh dressing and it'll be okay for now." Her voice sounded calm now, and she looked up at him. "You ready?" she simply asked.
He send her a short and more or less insecure smile. He definitely wasn't ready for anything Macey suggested at all and Callen definitely wasn't in a shape right now to protest. He actually wished he was at the best place he could think of right now - at home.
At home and alone. No-one to worry about, no situations he had imagined to avoid by driving out of the city, the effort to find this woman and simply say 'thank you and thank you again, bye-bye and good luck with your writing career'.
Yet here he was. Feverish indeed and with someone he only met earlier that day and who wasn't too keen being around with him.
Together with her now, playing hide and seek with enemies which were hers and which might be his. Hiding in a trailer in the middle of nowhere. Hoping his partner was to arrive soon.
Again, he murmured. A nearly unheard 'Sure. You go ahead then this time.
He focused on her dark lashes and the serious frown between her eyes. A shade of a green eyeliner was all she was wearing as make-up. Very different from what he noticed of many other women he met in his life.
For the sake of avoiding the stinging experience of the antiseptics on his skin and the wound, the thinking of needles, stitches and pain, Callen asked "So, with this memory loss of yours… what things do you remember?"
He noticed how she clenched her jaws for a second and her fingers stopped what they were doing for the same few seconds too.
"Early childhood. Or perhaps it's only the awareness that all was safe. The realization that there was warmth, a loving base. Family." Her dark eyes caught his gaze, and she shrugged a little. "The rest… well. I don't really know."
Callen paused, not knowing how to express the sensation that came with her words. It was exactly that what he lacked, until he met Hetty and later on, learned to trust other people, managed to work with people he now considered his family, the warmth he experienced when he was with the Hanna-family.
He let the breath he held escape through his nose.
He then let his left hand rest on hers, making her look up into his eyes.
Then he finally said "I think I understand."
Thank you for reading! Of course, any review is welcome.
Knirbenrots