The Lies Behind That Smile

Chapter Twenty-Eight

They were moving, the gentle rocking of the van confirming Nikki's suspicion but that was about as much as she acknowledged anything outside of her subconscious. Curled in a protective ball she attempted to sleep on a bed of coats but rather than the relief of oblivion her dreams were peppered with memories of Ezekius and she woke constantly. There was still the matter of the book Zeke had given her but that would wait. Nikki reasoned that after all he'd done, he deserved at least a few hours mourning.

The radio played, churning out music Nikki didn't recognise, annoying her no end but the silence when it was off was worse - her thoughts were scattered and lonely. She tightened her arms around her midriff. Yes, that was how she felt, lonely; lonely and decimated.

In her embrace she protected the thick book, refusing to let it out of her grasp. He'd died to give her this book so she was sure as hell going to look after it. Up ahead, a melodious tune chirped above the noise of the radio. Sam's phone was ringing. Nikki scowled, she knew what was coming. They were being summoned back to Romania. No doubt by Roxy who disapproved of their current activities.

With one hand on the wheel, Sam pulled out his phone.

"Hey--" he stopped short. Nikki could almost imagine the angry words Roxy would be spitting at him.

The van jerked unceremoniously to a stop. In the back and unrestrained, Nikki flew forward managing to halt herself before she impacted with the front seats.

"What?"  Sam's voice was low and deadly. "When?" He paused, listening intently to the voice at the end of the line. "What exactly happened, tell me everything."

Josh twisted in the seat, his eyes questioning Sam. "What's happened?"

"Wait a sec, I'm going to put you on speaker." Taking the phone from his ear Sam held out his phone. Nikki noted his skin had lost colour and he was breathing a little too heavily.

"Josh ..."

With his single word, Sam alerted Nikki to the problem. Joanne. Whatever came out of his mouth next was not going to be good. Neither would Josh's reaction.

"Where's Joanne?"

"She-"

"She was taken." Nikki raised an eyebrow. It wasn't Roxy who was relaying the news but Nate. "You need to get back here asap." 

"What do you mean taken? By who? What's happening over there?" Josh leaned towards the phone, his voice rising as he became agitated.

"We were fishing off the old jetty just north of Sam's. I was going to bait the line but couldn't find what I needed. I was only at the other end of the jetty when I saw ... Well, I'm not one hundred percent sure what I saw but it looked like she fell in."

"You said taken." Josh snapped impatiently.

"Yeah. I ran to help her thinking she'd leaned over too far or something but when I got to her she was being pulled down. There were at least four pairs of arms wrapped around her and then she was gone."

"What? Did you try and reach her? What happened then? What the hell is happening over there?"

Sam peered over at Josh. "Calm down, take a breath and close your eyes. Can you still feel her?"

Josh grit his teeth before nodding. "Yes, yes I can, I can feel her, it's not a strong connection but there's definitely something there." He spat his words out fast making hard to distinguish what he was saying.

"Okay, so we know she's still alive. Nate what did the arms look like?"

"They were covered with grey material but the hands looked human. And they were bony and pale, almost white. Sam, they were Carrada's."