Jack idly played with her hair, picking up a lock and twisting it around his finger before pulling it back off her face. The sweat had curled her hair and made it appear darker, a look which suited her. Midway through their athletic bout she had loosened his left hand so he was able to caress and fondle, to hold and probe, as she twisted above and around him. He found it difficult to even look at her, let alone willingly touch her, but he needed information and he knew from past experience how to get her to talk.
She lay perpendicular to him, with her head resting on his hip, and he knew it was no accident that each time she moved her hair brushed over his groin, her silken strands falling down to caress his sensitive skin. Running his fingers lightly over her forehead, he trailed them down as far as he could reach and began to lightly stroke her earlobe. Come on Liz, he willed, move your chin up a little and come a fraction closer, then I'll gladly strangle you with my one free hand. Perhaps sensing the danger she moved further away then sighed in contentment murmuring, "Jack, I'm very impressed that you found me, however did you manage it?"
"I just followed the clues you left me."
"Clues? What clues?" she asked, sitting up in bewilderment.
"You know, the fishing knot, the restaurant flyer, everything."
Springing off the bed, Liz forcefully secured his free hand then wrapped herself in her silken robe. Jack knew she was alarmed about something but he couldn't even begin to guess what it could be. Leaning close she used her fingernails, sharp and painful, to move his face so they were eye to eye. "What clues Jack?" she demanded.
So he told her about the Surgeon's Knot known as Jack's Lure, Chase's car parked on the corner of Sierra and Nevada, the Donner Kebab flyer, Lake Angela. He watched Liz carefully, noticing the goosebumps as they broke out over her exposed arms, how she crossed her arms defensively over her chest, the rapid breathing. She's scared, he marvelled, and wished he knew why.
He remained silent, willing her to talk, to reveal her worry. Looking at him, Liz shook her head as if in denial, then burst out laughing wildly, her head thrown back exposing her long elegant neck. Jack remembered kissing that neck as it arched back over the side of the bed... but that was years ago, back when he was enraptured, before he discovered he was ensnared.
Wiping her eyes Liz sank down beside him and drew her knees up to her chin. She suddenly looked small and vulnerable, but the grin of triumph belied the posture. Leaning in, she kissed him on the lips, her mouth still tasting of sex, tasting of him.
"Don't you just love life Jack?" she breathed happily. "Just when you think it's a bitch, it turns around and does magic... I still can't fathom how you got here, perhaps it was divine intervention... I left his car at a random corner near the off ramp where I was parked, and the restaurant flyer must have been added later. I only left the knot because I wanted Kim to know who had taken her husband, I didn't know it was called Jack's Lure."
Laughing, unable to contain her glee, she said, "I didn't even know you were alive and I certainly didn't leave clues, I intended that he never be found again, but.. that's what makes this so perfect... you follow clues I didn't leave to rescue him and yet you're the one who kills him... I looked over the edge Jack and he was lying quite still. With a fall of over 20 feet onto hard ice, there was no way he could survive being shot, the fall and the cold."
Leaning close, she kissed him again, this time trying to slip her tongue into his mouth but he held his lips clamped tight. "Oh come on Jack, don't pout, I had enough of that from your sonny boy. You know, in all the time we were together he only ever said two words to me... Perhaps I ought to send Kim a card of condolence for her loss. How should I sign it? From Liz, who fucked your husband, or from Daddy, who killed your husband, hmmm...
"So why did you shoot him Jack? Oh, don't misunderstand me, I'm thrilled you did, but also puzzled... you didn't like him? I seem to recall he did save your life just two minutes before you shot him, getting you out of that spruce trap. And let's not forget the Major, yes, he saved your life by killing my Daddy, which is why I wanted him dead. I had planned him a lonely death, with no light or warmth or food, his only sound the screams of his family as they're hacked to pieces. Yeah I wanted the bastard to suffer... but you Jack, you made it perfect."
Jack was sinking into a mire, the liquid ooze pressing in as he sank lower, the constriction to his chest becoming painful, his stomach squeezed and he knew he was about to throw up or his bowels explode or maybe both. Liz jumped away in alarm and fetched a plastic bowl from the kitchen. She loosened his right arm so he could lean over and throw up. With a look of disgust she cleaned him up and dumped the contents of the bowl down the loo.
Returning, she stood at the side of the bed, "Christ Jack, look at you, you're as bad as he was, another weak stomach. You know, I feel sorry for Kim, he was so bloody boring, no imagination at all. Oh, he had a great body... great stamina too," she smirked, "But no capacity for evil at all, very limiting really. Kim should thank us for what we did for her... So why did you Jack? Why kill him?"
Jack's mind was swirling, unable to answer... why had he shot Chase? He remembered the unrelenting pressure of unease, every action by Chase seemed normal and yet Jack felt the menace, the underlying tension, the claustrophobia pressing all around.
"I thought you'd brainwashed him..."
"Nah, I wouldn't waste my time. He wasn't a keeper Jack, not like you. Oh yes, I'll keep you alright. I only snatched him to kill him and it's just a happy accident that I ended up with you, I really thought you were dead."
"But Chase said you told him I was alive, you warned him I'd come and kill him."
"I was just playing with his mind. It worked too, he got really upset when I said you were alive and had no wish to contact Kim, even when she was hospitalised. Oh yes, I assured him, he's abandoned you both. 'That's impossible,' he said. But I was right, you did abandon them and you did kill him... I must be a fortune teller, I should set up a booth."
Liz paused and listened intently then raced for the door, grabbing her jacket, snow pants and boots on the way out. Straining, Jack couldn't hear anything except the blood pounding from the horror of what Liz had said. Should he believe her? Yes, he had the terrible feeling it was the truth.
Liz returned inside, stamping her feet to remove the snow from her boots and rubbing her arms for warmth. Her voice was bright with excitement. "Ha," she cried, pacing the room in long strides, her cheeks flushed from the cold, "When I was in China I heard this wild tale of how you were marked for assassination by the US Government to ensure you couldn't reveal their secrets. The Chinese didn't believe you were dead, but they didn't care as they knew the US would deal with you."
Laughing, she spun around in a circle, hugging herself in her joy. Throwing herself down alongside him she giggled, "Guess what I saw outside. A military plane flying very low and parachutes coming down. They don't do maneuvers here because of the communication black hole. That can only mean one thing, they're here on a special mission. They must be hunting for you Jack... and I'm the only one who can save you. Oh how delicious, I love it!."