Chapter 18
Escape...?
The woman's eyelids quivered momentarily, then cracked open just a hair-- if Esgalmir hadn't had Elvish hearing he would never have guessed she was awake. Her training was good, he had to admit; she hadn't just snapped her eyes open and looked all around. But her breathing gave her away.
"Good evening," he said pleasantly. "You may open your eyes."
She complied and glared at him. "They mean you no harm," Sarah said with a smile.
-(I'm not so sure,)- Malfinien muttered. Esgalmir shot her a warning glance before turning back to their prisoner.
"Would you like to speak?" A nod. "I will only remove the tape if you promise to be civil." Another nod, this time impatient. Esgalmir, with a feeling of inexplicable foreboding, reached out and pulled the tape off her face.
"Where the ----are we?" were the first words out of her mouth. Sarah practically fell out of her seat, and Esgalmir sighed, then slapped the tape back on.
"Does that word fall within your definition of civil?" he inquired. She just glared at him. "I guess it does. Well, while you're with us, you'll observe OUR definition of civil:
"No more of that kind of language.
"No demands, and no threats. That means you won't be brokering any deals.
"Clear enough for you?"
She nodded furiously. -(For your sake, I'm glad looks can't kill,)- Malfinien commented in amusement.
-(Fortunately not.)- Esgalmir plucked the tape off for the second time. "Better?"
"No, but-" she stretched her neck and bent her back- "it's all I can expect, correct?"
"Precisely."
"And no escape attempts, either," Malfinien interjected in a warning voice. The policewoman turned her glare on her.
"I make no promises."
"Suit yourself," Esgalmir replied in amusement. "But if you do try, you won't get anywhere."
"We'll see about that," the woman muttered, in a voice obviously intended to be inaudible.
-(I imagine we will,)- Malfinien whispered to Esgalmir. He laughed.
-(Shall we begin-- how do you say? grilling her now?)-
-(I daresay now would be much better than later. We're only an hour from Duke now.)-
-(Refresh my memory, why are we going to Duke?)-
-(Only logical place near enough-- good medical facilities, excellent reputation, and I imagine they wouldn't have much trouble keeping it secret. We just need her to confirm it.)-
"Is there anything I should know?" the woman interrupted sarcastically. Esgalmir looked back at her seething face, then over at Sarah; the girl was looking out the window now, apparently ashamed of her previous outburst.
"Talk to Sarah," Esgalmir advised. "We'll talk to you momentarily." The woman snarled some words Esgalmir chose not to hear and sank back in her seat.
-(So, what should I start with?)-
-(I'll start it off,)- Malfinien answered. She cleared her throat, attracting the attention of the two back seat passengers, then began.
"What's your name?" Esgalmir was somewhat surprised by the way her voice suddenly shifted into a much more authoritative, almost commanding, voice, then remembered she was a teacher.
The policewoman blinked. "Officer Bloom," she replied after a moment.
"What were you doing at that house?"
"Someone set off the burglar alarm."
-(I told you not to go in through the window!)- Malfinien snapped at Esgalmir, but he was staring intently at Officer Bloom's face.
-(She's lying,)- he replied, not looking away. -(Look at her pupils, they expanded when you said that. Or, rather, don't look at her pupils-- keep driving-- but she's definitely not telling the truth.
-(Or not the whole truth, anyway...
"That's not the whole explanation," he continued, switching to English. "Why did you come expecting to find us there? How did you pin me as non-human?"
Bloom was momentarily lost for words. She looked out the window instead for a minute. Finally, she replied. "We were just sent to investigate a potential break-in, and the only reason I said you weren't human was I was trained specially to deal with this precise eventuality-- criminals that aren't human. Coincidence."
"Do you really think they're that gullible?" Sarah asked, incredulous. Then she sank back, looking embarrassed. "'scuse me..."
"She has a point," Malfinien observed dryly. "That explanation would hardly satisfy a 10-year-old.
"How about the truth? Strange idea, I know, but that's the only thing we're going to settle for, so you might as well out with it."
"Very well," Bloom answered, and sighed. "It's true that I'm specially trained for possible encounters with non-humans. It's true that we got a burglar alarm from that house. But we were already on the way to the house, because of a previous event."
"What event?" Malfinien asked intently.
"The discovery of a non-human."
"Oh really?" Esgalmir asked sarcastically. "And under what circumstances was this discovery made?"
"It was the only survivor of an accident, that's all I know," Bloom replied. Esgalmir looked into her eyes and nodded slowly, once.
-(She's telling the truth now.)-
-(Good. Let's hope it stays that way,)- Malfinien grumbled.
"Where is she now?"
"I-- don't know," Bloom answered hesitantly. Esgalmir narrowed his eyes.
-(She's lying again.)-
-(Put your knife to her throat, that often works wonders,)- Malfinien suggested. Esgalmir complied, so quickly that Bloom didn't even have time to blink.
"Where is she now?" he repeated. There was absolutely no change in his voice, but the knife to her throat did the trick.
"The non-human has been transported to Duke University for study," she replied tightly. "Now will you bplease/b get your knife off my throat?! What if we hit a bump, you idiot? I'd be decapitated!"
"You seem to be under the impression that we would care about that," Malfinien observed, smirking.
-(Don't we?)- Esgalmir sheathed the dagger swiftly and looked in confusion at Malfinien.
She rolled her eyes. -(Of course we do. It's just an intimidation method. Also known as 'lying.')-
-(Ah.)- Esgalmir frowned. -(Lying?)-
"Will you PLEASE have some manners?" Officer Bloom demanded. "We can't understand that... that gibberish!"
"iI/i think it sounds pretty," Sarah put in shyly. "Not to interrupt or anything..."
"Well, I didn't say it was ugly," Bloom snapped, but her face softened somewhat. She glanced over at Sarah and sighed, looked about to say something, and then leaned back in her seat.
-(Now if only she'll STAY quiet,)- Esgalmir muttered, this time in a voice so quiet no human could have heard it. Malfinien chuckled.
-(Now, you seemed a bit anxious about lying,)- she whispered.
Esgalmir shrugged. -(Well, I've always avoided it. Whenever possible, at least.)-
-(Mmm. If only we all had the luxury of perfection.)-
"Excuse me." Sarah had leaned forward to touch Malfinien's shoulder. "Umm... I need to use the restroom."
"Ah." Malfinien nodded sagely. "We'll stop at the next rest area."
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A/N: The brackets are, for whatever reason, on the list of characters that QuickEdit doesn't seem to be able to support, along with the underscore... hence the peculiar use of the -( and )-. Just means Elvish, like before.