The Marradith Ryder Series, Part 61
“Shannon Vega from Channel Five?” I said. “ What are you doing here?”
“I’m here on a story. Why is it whenever something strange is going on, you turn up…?” she said.
“So you’ve moved to Colorado? I thought you were still on the air in Texas.”
Shannon planted her hands on her hips. “Well you haven’t told me why you are here.”
“I came here to look for Jenny’s cat. I’m sure no one has fed her. Did you see her?”
Right on cue, Fiona strolled in, still in the form of a cat.
“Yeah, I saw Morris here when I came in.”
The cat meowed in protest. “She’s a girl,” I said. “In fact, I came by here the other day and couldn’t find her. She must have been hiding.”
I scooped the cat up in my arms. We both glared at our intruder.
“ I haven’t heard anything, so I can’t help you with your story. And I am pretty sure the family wouldn’t want people just riffling through their things.”
“You know the Winslows? How?”
“My Uncle Leighton did.” I wondered if Fiona could feel my hands shaking. “He knew them both, though Jenny and I had just met.”
“Uh huh,” Shannon headed towards the stairs and I followed her. She stopped when we reached the kitchen, and spun on her heel to face me.
She was very pretty, and looked younger without all of the television make-up. Shannon was shorter than I would have thought. She tilted her chin to look up at me. I caught a hint of New York accent. Her long hair bounced around her shoulders when she spoke.
“You know, I don’t believe you. You have always got some story. What kind of trouble are you really in?”
The cat tensed against me. I held her a little tighter, because I had a feeling she’d launch herself at Shannon if given the chance.
“Nothing that I can’t handle,” I replied.
“Really? Because LessCost seemed like something out of your control. What happened at that gas station was, too.”
“And here I am, perfectly fine.”
“The disappearance of the Winslows is one thing. But I’d really like your story. You’re only sixteen. You’ve never been in any kind of trouble. So how is it that in such a short time you’ve been involved in two major shootings?”
“We live in a violent society.”
Shannon laughed. “Yeah. Sure.”
The cat hissed and jumped out of my arms.
“You don’t know what you’re really talking about, Ms. Vega. But I can tell you two things. First off, you don’t need to be concerned about me. Secondly, you don’t want to be involved anymore than you already are. Go back to your television station and read whatever they give you. Because you won’t find answers here.”
“Will Keyes said almost exactly the same thing when I interviewed him at the hospital.”
“You seem like a nice lady but I cannot help you!” I was losing my calm. “You need to understand what I am saying to you. Leave.”
“I ‘ll leave. But let me make myself clear. I’m going to find out what’s going on. I am not afraid of you.”
“Well that’s a shame,” I said. “Because you should be.”
****************
“Would you like some music, darling?” Syd asked.
Syd was driving her husband’s car. Jenny sat in the passenger seat, immobile.
Jenny Winslow shook her head yes. He turned the music up loud. It was classical music . Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. She recognized it.
It was not a melody that was simple enough to be hummed. But she could follow the tide of it, the ominous flow of sound. She realized that when she did, her head felt clearer.
More out of boredom than anything else, she decided to think of another piece of music. Something completely different. She tried to think of every rock song she could remember.
She felt Syd’s hold on her mind begin to recede, just a little. As she concentrated and held fast to the music, his hold began to draw back some more.
It was all noise to him. He did not want to listen….
Unlike her thoughts of fear, which caused him to clamp down harder into her mind. He enjoyed her agony.
Very deep inside her mind, she was gaining back some ground.
If her thoughts did not please him, he would not listen.
Which meant that she could start. Make some tiny steps towards freeing herself.
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©2009 Lori Titus
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MUSIC for this episode? Click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auzfTPp4moA
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June 16th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
Yeah Jenny might actually get to live again, if she makes it past running away from Syd that is.