The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
Play Against Danger
By: Sapphire
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Chapter Six: Complicated
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Location: Kings Mountain, Vermont
Friday Evening
Maggie needed a quiet minute to herself and ended up not far from the group, standing at the floor to ceiling windows of the lobby staring at the mountain, the ski slopes glowing from the floodlights illuminating the lower runs. She would have preferred the catwalk up on the lighthouse at home, the cold wind blowing in off the wintry Atlantic, calming her as it always did. But this was Vermont. There was no lighthouse, no Atlantic. It wasn't even safe to go off on her own to find an out-of-the-way corner to sit and think.
"Hey," Scott said, walking up behind her. "Want some company?"
"I don't know," Maggie said, not even turning to look in his direction. He slipped his arms around her from behind, pulling her back to lean against him. She stood with him that way for a minute, then shrugged him off.
"Um…" Scott said quietly, "did I do something wrong?" Maggie had been so happy and carefree at the rink, and now she was distracted and anxious.
"No," she replied, not elaborating. Scott sighed inwardly.
"Well, I feel like I must have," Scott said. "Things between us were so easy this afternoon, and now you're pushing me away again. You keep running hot and cold with me, and I can't figure out why."
"I'm sorry," Maggie said, finally looking up at him. "I'm not trying to send you mixed signals. That's what I'm doing, isn't it?"
"Yeah, you are," Scott confirmed. "Look, I'm just going to cut to the chase," Scott said. "I like you. A lot. And after this afternoon at the ice rink, and that kiss in the suite, I think you like me, too. I still want a chance with you," he told her, taking her hand in his. "Remember in Montana, before we all left?" She nodded. "I think I used that cheesy old cliché, 'Say the word and I'm yours'."
"I think you did," Maggie recalled with a slight smile. Scott smiled back.
"Look, I didn't come up with this whole ski weekend idea as an excuse to win you over or anything like that, but when Jessie mentioned in an e-mail that you'd been dating, I thought maybe you'd be open to the idea of you and me," Scott explained. "It's cheesy, but it's still true: just say the word and I'm yours." Scott watched her expectantly.
"I honestly don't know what I want when it comes to you," Maggie said with a frustrated sigh. "I have been dating, but it hasn't been serious. I don't think I'm ready for serious right now, and something tells me you want more than a casual date or two."
"So that's a maybe?" Scott said hopefully.
"I wish I could answer that," Maggie said wistfully. Scott studied her for a long time as she turned to stare up at the slopes again. Her hand was still in his, which he took as a good sign, because he had a burning question to ask her and he wondered if this wasn't the moment to ask it.
"There's still that other guy, isn't there?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Maggie said, eyes still on the mountain beyond the glass.
"Unfortunately?" Scott asked, his interest suddenly piqued.
"It's complicated," Maggie replied hesitantly.
"You said that in Montana," Scott pointed out. "How complicated is complicated?" Maggie heaved a sigh and tried to pull her hand away from his. He didn't let go. "You said you loved him, and I respected that. But that was six months ago. You said yourself that you've been dating other people. I'm just trying to understand what's holding you back."
"I'm so tired of being miserable," Maggie said, a few tears tracing their way down her cheeks in the reflected light from the ski slopes. "I'm trying to let him go."
"That's why you've been dating?" Scott asked, trying to put the puzzle pieces together; things she said, all the silent little cues and clues she was giving him, things he'd picked up from correspondence over the last months, and those kisses this afternoon.
"Yes," Maggie confirmed. "I'm sick of feeling like this, but I can't just forget and move on. Do you really want to know how complicated this is?" Maggie asked. Scott nodded. "He's known me two years, made me think he cared, and then… He brought home a fiancé from overseas," Maggie told him. "He knew her less than six months and decided to marry her. Do you know how hard that was?"
"It had to be very hard," Scott said, not sure what else to say.
"I knew- everyone knew- the engagement was a huge mistake," Maggie said. "He did figure it out and broke it off, but for me," Maggie continued, "I'm not the girl he chose to be with. I still don't know if I'm okay with that or not, but I don't have the luxury of distancing myself to figure it out because I have to live with the constant reminder of seeing him every single day."
"Why?" Scott asked. He thought he knew, but he wanted her to say it. "There's something between the two of you that you aren't telling me, isn't there?" he asked.
"He's a family connection," Maggie admitted. "He's working on a special project with my Uncle Benton. He's living with us, too. The project is why he came back from overseas." She looked up. "And before you ask, no, I can't cut ties with him. I'm not going to explain how or why, but I will tell you that his family adopted my brother. He and Matthew are very close, and I have to accept that he will always be there if I want my brother in my life. I need to figure out a way to live with it, and it's going to take time."
"You were right. It is complicated," Scott said when he realized she was finished.
"I'm sorry I just dumped all that on you," Maggie apologized wearily.
"Yeah," he said, thinking over everything she'd said. He was left with just one conclusion. Scott slowly lowered her hand to her side and let go. "I have to admit," he was reluctant to say, "that the rejection hurts."
"I'm sorry, Scott," Maggie said, her heart aching for him. "I'm such a mess."
"For what it's worth, I'm glad you told me," Scott said.
"For what it's worth," Maggie returned, "I wish things had been different."
"Me, too," Scott said. What else could he do? What else could he say?
"Are we still friends?" Maggie asked uncertainly.
"You have to ask?" Scott retorted. Maggie shrugged.
"I wouldn't blame you if you walked away and never looked back."
"Why? Because that's what you'd do in my place?" Scott asked.
"I would," Maggie admitted, "but I don't have that luxury with him."
"We're still friends," Scott assured her. "I'm disappointed, but I'll get over it."
"Thank-you," Maggie said earnestly. Scott just nodded, and they both turned their gazes out the window toward the mountain, standing close enough their arms touched.
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"You've spent a lot of time with Scott today. Alone," Jessie said as she, Maggie, and Jonny walked toward the restrooms off the main lobby. Maggie blushed a deep shade of pink. While Jessie's curiosity increased at that, Jonny watched Maggie with worry.
"I guess so," Maggie replied, avoiding looking at either of them. She had been spending an awful lot of time with Scott. And they'd been as close as Jessie's comment had implied. Just thinking about those kisses made her blush. But Jessie and Jonny had no idea how serious their most recent conversation had been, or how jumbled Maggie's feelings were about the matter.
"The two of you have been shooting off sparks since you met in Montana," Jessie commented, watching Maggie curiously. Maggie blushed harder.
"Oh?" Jonny spoke only a single word, but it was loaded with meaning. Maggie shifted uncomfortably under his scrutinizing gaze.
"I think you like him. A lot," Jessie said with a teasing smile. "I'm pretty sure he likes you, too." Jessie glance at Jonny, expecting to see that crooked, mischievous smile of his, and was surprised to see an altogether different expression on his face. Worry. Jessie turned her gaze back to Maggie. When she looked again, really looked, she realized something was off.
"Is there something between you and Scott?" Jonny asked, his tone was almost accusing, Jessie thought, and she realized she was missing something. She wondered what Jonny knew that she didn't. "Maggie," Jonny prompted when she remained silent too long.
"It's not either of your business," Maggie finally said, "but I know you, and neither of you are going to let this go without an answer."
"True," Jonny said simply.
"Scott's great, but we're just friends," Maggie said.
"Are you sure about that?" Jonny accused. "Because it wouldn't be fair of you, considering… you know."
"Considering what?" Jessie demanded, but was ignored.
"Yes," Maggie assured, glancing up to meet Jonny's gaze briefly. "You know I wouldn't hide something like that. I told Scott a long time ago, and he knows it hasn't changed. He says he understands."
"Understands what?" Jessie asked, growing irritated at being ignored. Whatever they were talking about was important, and she hated being left in the dark.
"Good," Jonny said, relieved. "I can tell you like Scott. He really is a good guy. But you have other things to figure out. I worry about you, ya know?"
"I know," Maggie said quietly. "Don't worry."
Jessie kept looking back and forth between the cousins, her mind racing. On the surface they weren't saying much, but reading between the lines… Whatever it was, they implied it had been going on for a while. So, she thought back over the last months, to before they ever went on that trip to Montana. Maggie had been struggling emotionally since the summer. Jessie had tried to get the older girl to open up, but had to leave for college in the fall with no resolution. Returning home for the holidays, it was quickly clear that Maggie hadn't been coping well, but the only obvious strain Jessie had noticed had been between Maggie and… And then it clicked. She understood exactly what they were talking about.
"You're in love with Price, aren't you?" Jessie suddenly accused. Maggie paled. "You are!" Jessie was stunned. How had she not seen it? It explained so much about Maggie. And the implications were enough to make Jessie's head spin.
"I see I'm still an open book," Maggie sighed, tears glimmering in her eyes. Jonny gave her a sympathetic look.
"But you avoid him," Jessie said, trying to make sense of it. "I thought you didn't want him- weren't interested." Maggie was shaking her head.
"He doesn't want me," Maggie corrected. Jessie was so stunned, she just stared at Maggie, unable to speak. "You wanted to know about me and Scott, right?" she asked, tears gathering in her eyes. "He asked me out. Twice. And I turned him down, twice. He knows there's someone else. I told him in Montana. We're just friends. Anything else is between the two of us."
"What about Price?" Jessie asked hesitantly.
"As for Price," Maggie continued, a few tears escaping, "I'm so tired of being in love by myself. I just want to be done with it." Jonny and Jessie could only watch helplessly as Maggie turned and fled.
"She doesn't see it," Jessie said, watching Maggie run up the main stairs and disappear around the corner. "Price is absolutely, madly in love with her."
"I know," Jonny said, then sighed. He'd been over this same ground before.
"I suppose Price doesn't see how she feels, either," Jessie suspected.
"No," Jonny agreed, "but that's not a surprise with the way she avoids him."
"I noticed that when I got home for Winter Break, but I assumed she knew how Price felt, but she didn't feel the same way she used to about him," Jessie said. "I thought that's why she was avoiding him."
"Nope," Jonny said with a sigh. "That started at Thanksgiving. After Claudia. But Hadji says Maggie started to change way back when Price was first dating Claudia."
"Hadji knows, too?" Jessie was annoyed.
"Yeah," Jonny admitted, "but Maggie made us promise to keep it to ourselves. We did, because Maggie started distancing herself from everyone last summer. It's worse since Thanksgiving. It's like she's suddenly afraid to let anyone too close, and we didn't want to give her a reason to push us further away."
"Even you?" Jessie was surprised. "I thought you were getting pretty close."
"Even with me she keeps a kind of distance now. Think about it, Jess," Jonny explained. "She's only known us for twenty-two months or so. Me, Dad, and Matt, we're the only family she has, but we aren't the people who loved her and raised her, and we can't replace them."
"That's Hadji talking, isn't it?" Jessie said with a knowing, faint smile.
"Yeah, but it's true," Jonny admitted. "I don't know what Claudia said to Maggie up on the lighthouse that night, but whatever it was, Maggie's now afraid she'll lose us. I think she's pushing us away because she doesn't want to get hurt again."
"Does she even realize what she's doing?" Jessie asked. Jonny shrugged.
"We don't know," he said. "Hadji and I have Maggie mostly figured out. What we can't figure out is, if Price was interested in Maggie, why did he start seeing Claudia in the first place? And now that she's gone, why is Price holding back if he loves Maggie?"
"I don't know, either," Jessie admitted with a shake of her head. "Maybe one of us should say something. If one of them doesn't do something soon, they're going to lose each other." Jonny shook his head.
"Hadji says to leave it alone, and I think he's right," Jonny confided. "If we tell Maggie how Price feels, she won't believe us. If we told Price how Maggie feels, he probably won't believe us, either. They've got to figure it out themselves."
"I think Hadji is right," Jessie said with a sigh.
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Maggie was a complete mess. She let herself into the suite, wiping tears from her face, closing the door behind her. She went into the room she shared with Jessie. She wet a washcloth in the sink in the bathroom and pressed the cold cloth to her eyes. After a few minutes she pulled the cloth away and checked the mirror. It had helped a lot.
Mentally, she debated whether she wanted to go back down to the lobby as she pulled her tear dampened sweater off. She wandered over to look out the glass double doors that led to the room's private terrace. Needing a few minutes of calm solitude, she pushed them wide open, stepping out into the cold winter air. She knew she wasn't supposed to go out there, per Race's orders, but she crossed the terrace to lean on the railing anyway. She looked out at the dark mountain range against the starlit sky, ignoring the cold that easily penetrated her green, lightweight turtleneck.
Without a hint of a warning, Maggie felt two hands reach around her. One grabbed her around the waist, the other clamped down over her nose and mouth, holding a damp cloth over them. A strange but sweet smell confronted her senses as instinct made her fight whomever was holding her. Almost instantly, the twinkling stars began to swim before her eyes. Her limbs started to become heavy and her eyelids drooped.
"Chloroform!" was her last conscious thought.
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He dragged his unconscious victim inside off the balcony. He didn't want this one, but the opportunity to have one less standing in his way was hard to pass up. It would be much easier if he could push her off the terrace and let her fall to her death, but he knew that would be too conspicuous. What was needed was something more…subtle? It depended upon one's definition of subtle.
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Scott looked at his watch. It had been almost twenty minutes since Jessie and Jonny had come back from the restrooms without Maggie; too long in his opinion. He especially didn't like the half answers he'd received when he asked where she'd gone. With everything that had been happening, it didn't sit well with him that she'd gone up to the suite alone. He knew she was scared, and it seemed out of character for her to suddenly run off like that. Something was up. Scott rose from his chair and headed for the stairs.
"Hey Scott, where are you going?" Blain asked, noticing his unease.
"Upstairs to find Maggie," Scott replied absently.
"Is something wrong?" Ryan called after him.
"I don't know," Scott called back, not stopping to turn, "but I'm going to find out."
"She has been gone a while," Jessie said, exchanging a look with Jonny.
"I'm going, too," Jonny said, getting up to follow Scott.
"Me, too," Jessie said. Hadji exchanged looks with Ryan and Blain. Silently, they stood and followed after them.
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Scott got a prickly feeling at the back of his neck the moment he was within sight of the suite. Walking faster, alarm bells went off in his head as his nose detected the faint odor of smoke. He broke into a run. Cold fear consumed him as the scent of smoke grew slightly stronger as he neared.
"Scott!" Jonny called, "Do I smell smoke?" Scott nodded, relief flooding him as Jonny ran up to the door, key card in hand. The rest weren't far behind. Jonny swiped the key card in the reader, then turned the handle and pushed the door open. Entering the suite, the smell of smoke was stronger, and Scott was horrified when he saw wispy curls of it leaking out the top of Maggie and Jessie's bedroom door.
"Maggie!" Scott shouted at the door, banging on it with his fist when he reached it and found it locked. "Maggie! Open the door!" Silence. "Maggie!" he shouted again, knowing in his gut she was in there. "Wake up and open the door!"
"Can we get in from the terrace?" Ryan asked. "We could break the glass-"
"No, the terrace doors should be locked," Jessie said with a shake of her head, "and the glass is bullet-proof. You can't break it."
"Then we'll have to break down the door," Jonny said, stepping back.
"The door is solid oak!" Blain pointed out. Jonny ignored him and gave it a powerful kick. The satisfying sound of splintering wood cut the air. The metal latch plate held, though, so Jonny gave it a second kick. The door flew open and hazy smoke puffed out.
"Can't see through the haze of smoke," Scott choked out as he and Jessie charged into the room, holding their sleeves over their noses and mouths. "It's too dark."
"Lights don't work," Jonny reported, trying the switch, nothing happening.
"Find Maggie! I'll open the terrace doors," Jessie said. Two more steps and she went flying, tripping over something on the floor and landing sprawled, stomach down, on the carpet. From down on the floor where the air was almost breathable, she could see bright orange flames beginning to lick up the side of the far wall.
"Someone else get the terrace door!" Jessie shouted, hastening to her feet, grabbing the comforter from the bed as she raced across the room to the flames.
"Maggie!" Scott exclaimed, spotting her on the bed as the comforter was pulled off.
"Get her out of here," Ryan told him, rushing across the room to help Jessie smother the flames with the comforter while Blain went for the terrace doors. Maggie wasn't moving, so Scott scooped her up into his arms.
"I will help," Hadji said, hurrying to assist Scott by taking Maggie's legs. Jessie and Ryan had the orange flames snuffed before they were out the door. The two of them got her safely to the couch in the living room.
"I thought you said the doors were locked!" Blain exclaimed, throwing them open with ease. Cold air rushed in, the smoky haze wafting out.
"Yes!" Jonny exclaimed, light from the bathroom suddenly spilling into the smoky bedroom. "This'll help, too," he added, switching on the ventilation fan to help clear the smoke. "Is everyone okay?" he asked, stepping out of the bathroom to join the others.
"I think so," Jessie said, rubbing the heels of her hands where she'd caught herself when she fell. "I'm not sure about Maggie, though."
"Scott and Hadji got her out," Ryan said, poking the pile of scorched comforter with his foot. "Something tells me this was no accident."
"Not likely," Jessie agreed. The room was nearly clear of the smoke, but the acrid smell of it still filled the air. There was very little damage, the fire having been contained to the far wall, near the table and lamp in the corner, part of the wall and ceiling there were coated in a black film from the smoke and flames. The comforter was a total loss.
"Well, that explains why the lights didn't work," Jonny said, pointing toward the lamp on the nearest bedside table. "They're unplugged. I'm guessing you and Maggie didn't do that," Jonny said. Jessie shook her head. Jonny got down on hands and knees to closer inspect the site of the fire. Pulling back the comforter, he revealed a few shreds of partially charred yellow fabric and a partly melted lamp cord. "Weird. This lamp is still plugged in," he noted. Jonny gingerly took hold of the cord where it wasn't hot and unplugged it before he lifted it up. The wires were bare in some spots. Jessie, Blain, and Ryan bent down for a closer look. Jonny tilted the cord at another angle. At the base, near the plug, were obvious signs of cutting.
"I was right," Ryan said seriously with a disbelieving shake of his head. "This was no accident." Jessie stood up again and looked around the room, her green eyes searching carefully for anything amiss. Her gaze found Maggie's duffel bag in the middle of the floor, blocking the walkway.
"That must be what I tripped on," she said, narrowing her eyes. "But Maggie's bag shouldn't be there. It should be next to the television, beside mine." She pointed to her own duffel bag. She looked closer at the scraps of fabric by the melted lamp cord. "That was Maggie's yellow turtleneck," she said, pointing.
"Must have tampered with the fire alarm, too," Blain said. "It didn't go off."
"What's that?" Ryan asked, pointing toward the bed. He walked over, bent down, and picked something up that had been half-hidden beneath the bed skirt. He held up a white cloth for the others to see. Jessie walked over to get a better look. She leaned forward, her nose twitching as she smelled the cloth.
"Chloroform!" she exclaimed.
"I was wondering how Mags could sleep through all that," Jonny said with a scowl.
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Hadji helped Scott push the couch closer to the terrace doors, then opened them. Maggie was breathing steadily, and they hoped the fresh air would help to revive her. But the cold air did nothing to wake her. Scott stepped out onto the terrace, grabbing a handful of snow. He touched the snow to Maggie's face, hoping it would wake her. No response.
"Maggie. I am needing you to open your eyes," Hadji called to her, to no effect.
"She's not waking up," Scott said, his voice betraying his fear.
"She is not having any discernable difficulty breathing. I believe this is something other than the smoke," Hadji surmised, kneeling on the floor beside the couch. The fire was altogether too suspicious. Something happened while she was up here alone. Very gently, Hadji reached out and ran his fingers through Maggie's hair, spending a couple minutes feeling for any sign of injury to her head. There was nothing. Letting go of her, he sat back on his heels with a frustrated sigh.
"She won't wake up for a while," Jonny said, appearing from the bedroom. Blain, Jessie, and Ryan followed after him. "She was knocked out with chloroform."
"I suspected this was all deliberate," Hadji said, rising to his feet.
"Why try to kill her?" Scott asked, alarmed. "I thought she wasn't the target."
"She probably isn't," Jonny said with a sigh, "but she was up here alone. And we already know whoever is behind this doesn't care who gets hurt."
"I'm going to call Dr. Mansfield," Jessie said. "We should have him check on Maggie. And I'll ask him for some cleaning supplies. We need to make the bedroom livable again. I'm going to tell him the fire started by accident. I'll offer to pay for things that need replacing. We don't want trouble or too much attention because of this. I want to downplay it, and since there isn't much damage, I think we can get away with it." Hadji and Jonny were nodding in agreement.
"We'll downplay what happened," Ryan said, speaking for his cousin and best friend as well as himself, "as long as you think we're all still safe enough. This was the fifth attempt made on our lives."
"We shouldn't have let her come up here alone," Jonny admitted, exchanging a glance with Jessie. "If we'd just followed our own advice and stuck together, this wouldn't have happened."
"If you're sure," Blain pressed.
"We're sure," Jessie affirmed.
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To be continued…
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