Limbo

ANDY:

We've managed to get here before they start serving dinner again, so we're all standing here by the cars waiting for them to open up, and for Ash and Jinxx to show up with their chicks.

"What do you think is taking them so long?" Inna asks.

"Who knows," Jake replies, "I just hope Jinxx and Alice had enough sense not to let Ash and Melissa get upstairs by themselves, or we may not see them again tonight."

"Okay, everybody, you can come in now!" Alison calls from the doorway, as she turns on the lights on the roadside sign.

"We might as well go on in and stake out a table," Bob says. "They know where we are, so it's not like they can't find us."

He makes a good point, so we start walking toward the building. But before we get to the front walkway, CC stops and says, "Do you guys hear that? What the hell is that noise?"

We all pause to listen, and realize that it's the sound of a car, driving at a seriously excessive speed. "Who the hell would be stupid enough to drive like that on this road?" Charlie blurts out. "That's basically asking to get yourself hurt, or worse."

Before any of us can respond, a car comes hurtling over the hill, kind of reminding me of that old "Dukes of Hazzard" show. It whips into the parking lot so fast I almost expect it to roll over, stopping just before it runs into Charlie's car, and we finally see that it's our rental, the one that Ash is supposed to be driving.

"Dude, what the fu...!" Jake yells, trailing off into a shocked silence when the door opens and Alice launches herself out of the seat, almost falling onto the gravel, nearly hyperventilating and with tears streaming down her face.

Tiff starts sprinting toward her, with Susan on her heels, and they're helping her up as the rest of us catch up. "Sweetie, calm down and tell us what's wrong," Susan says. "Where are the boys? Did someone get hurt?"

She's obviously trying to catch her breath, and having trouble getting the words out, but after a few seconds, we can finally make out, "Gun... told me to get you... help..."

"What gun, honey? Did someone get my gun and hurt themselves?" Charlie inquires.

Angie apparently went inside without us noticing, because she pops up next to me holding a glass of water, offering it to Alice. "Take a drink, and try to calm down. We can't help the guys if we don't know what happened."

She takes a sip, then pulls in a couple of deep breaths, and finally manages to say, "No, not your gun, the girl had one. She and Ash wandered off, so Jinxx went to get them, then he told me in French that she had a gun on them, and to come let you know, and to call the police."

Everyone just stares at each other in shock for a second, then CC explodes, "That fucking bitch! The whole space-cadet thing was just a fucking act, she's one of them! That's the only thing that makes any sense."

"Okay, everybody, back in the cars, and back to the house, now!" Charlie barks. "Suze, call Chief Whitworth and have them meet us there. And someone else should probably drive that one back, instead of Alice."

Tiff and CC wind up driving Alice back, while the rest of us pile into the other cars, heading back to the B and B, at an only slightly slower speed than Alice was driving. We pull up in front of the house, and the first thing we notice is that Melissa's car, which was at the end of the driveway when we left, is nowhere to be seen now. Everybody jumps out and dashes up the front steps, and Charlie raises a hand to keep everybody back as he opens the door. "Okay, guys, lets check it out. Sue, you and the other ladies stay out here and wait for the cops, and be ready to call again if you hear anything going on in here."

He quickly hits the keypad, and we move into the living room, then spread out to different areas. CC, Jake, and I go upstairs and look through all of the rooms on both floors, even checking the closets to make sure the guys aren't tied up somewhere, but they're nowhere to be found. We dash back downstairs, and find Charlie and Bob waiting at the bottom of the staircase.

"Nobody upstairs, and it doesn't look like anything is missing," I tell them.

"Same for this floor," Charlie replies. "So why don't one of you go tell the ladies it's safe to come in, then we can go check out the storage shed and the garage."

Jake heads for the door to call the girls in, and just as they start coming through the door, my phone rings. I yank it out of my pocket, ready to tell whoever it is that I don't have time to talk, and to piss off, but then I see Ash's number on the display. I hit the button and kick on the speaker, practically screaming, "Ash, are you guys okay? Where the hell are you?"

"No, this isn't Ash. But he's here, along with your other friend," an unfamiliar male voice answers. "And before you ask, they're both in good health... for now. That is subject to change, though. So if you want to keep them that way, I suggest that you pay very close attention to what I'm about to tell you, because I'll only say it once. Do I make myself clear?"

"As crystal," I tell him. "Just tell us what you want. Whatever it is, if we can do it, you've got it."

"I thought you might," he says, chuckling faintly. "What I want is my mother's medallion, and you're going to get it for me. You have two hours to call me back, or you'll start getting your friends back one piece at a time."

I glance at the others, and everyone else looks as confused as I am, because we've been thinking that they already had it. But if they don't, then who does? Just to be sure that there's not another one we didn't know about, I decide to play dumb. Forcing my voice not to shake, I say, "Well, it would be a lot easier to find if we knew what we were looking for, so what does it look like?"

"Yes, I suppose that would be handy information to have," he responds, and then gives an exact description of the necklace that Ash found in the closet. Great, this is getting worse by the second, since we have no fucking idea now where the hell it is. I just have to be careful not to let him know that.

I notice that Jake and Alice are both making motions with their hands, holding them next to their heads like a telephone, and I realize what they want me to do, so I say, "Okay, that helps, but now I want something in return."

"Oh, really? And what gives you the idea that you're in any position to make demands?"

"Because we can get to your motherfucking necklace, and you can't, asshole! So unless you can prove that my friends are all right, you don't get shit!"

He's quiet for a few seconds, and I'm starting to worry that he's hung up on me, but then I finally hear, "You're a crude little bastard, but you're not lacking for nerve, and you're definitely not stupid, so very well."

We hear a bit of rustling, and some mumbling that we can't make out, then Jinxx says, "Hey, everybody, we're both here."

Alice nearly collapses from relief, and Inna guides her to one of the chairs, while I ask, "Are you guys okay?"

"Well, being forced to drive around at gunpoint isn't ever gonna make my list of fun things, but I'm not hurt. Ash got a bit of a knock on the head, but I don't think it's life-threatening or anything."
The other voice comes back then, saying, "Not yet, anyway, but whether it stays that way is entirely up to you. As I said, you have two hours to call this number back, or you'll start finding... gifts on your doorstep. And since you know what to look for, you can't use that as an excuse."

The line goes dead, and I just stare at the phone for a second, not quite believing that this is actually happening, until Alice bursts out, "I thought you said they already had this necklace! If they don't have it, then we need to find out who does, and get the bloody thing back!"

"Yeah, we thought they did, because we've turned the whole damn house upside down, and it's not here," I explain. "We even went through the garbage, and didn't find any sign of it."

"You don't think that maybe one of his people came in and found it, and just decided to keep it for themselves, or something like that, do you?" Susan speculates.

After that, everyone starts talking at once, tossing around various theories of what they think may have happened. This gets so chaotic that I barely register the first time Juliet says, "Hey, babe?"

At this point, I'm having a discussion with Susan about her idea, but when Jules actually shouts, "Andrew Dennis Biersack! Turn the fuck around!", everybody gets quiet. Then, almost simultaneously, Inna lets out sort of a squeak, Alice goes pale, and Tiff mumbles, "Holy shit, you're actually not crazy."

I turn around and see one of my notepads hovering in midair, right in front of my face, and written on it, apparently with the marker floating next to it, are the words, "Come with me, and I'll get it for you."

Notes