Deliver Us From Evil

46

SHAW AWOKE SLOWLY and then tensed. He’d had a cracked skull once before and it felt like he had one now. He flexed his arms and legs but the bindings had been applied with skill. The more he pulled, the tighter they became. He finally sat motionless.

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he sensed that the room he was in was small and, except for him, empty. There were no windows, so he must be in a cellar or maybe an old storage building. The floor was a concrete slab. The only light came from under the door that was directly in front of him.

With each beat of his heart there was an accompanying throb in his head. He deserved this, for letting someone sneak up on him that easily. Yet he’d let his guard down because he’d been thinking about things he shouldn’t have.

Evan Waller could have two possible reasons for kidnapping him. First, he was jealous and wanted to take out his rival. Second, he’d discovered who Shaw really was. The first reason didn’t seem so plausible, especially since Janie had let it be known that Shaw was removing himself from the field. But if Waller had found out who Shaw was, he wondered why he wasn’t dead already. Maybe Waller wanted to gloat first. Maybe he wanted to torture Shaw like he had the terrorists before he’d killed them.

He raised his head slightly when the door opened and the man came in. Silhouetted against the partial darkness, the man said, “Are you awake?”

“Yes.”

“Are you hungry or thirsty?”

“Yes.”

Shaw figured if they untied him to eat and drink, he might have an opportunity to escape. The man came forward. Shaw didn’t recognize him as one of Waller’s men. The fellow held a bottle of water in one hand and another object in his other. He unscrewed the bottle top but he didn’t untie Shaw. He just held the bottle to his lips and let Shaw drink.

“And just so you know, we have you in a clear firing line.”

Shaw looked over the man’s shoulder and sensed someone else in the darkness.

The man took the drink away and held out a chunk of bread.

“Bread and water?” asked Shaw.

“Better than nothing.”

“Mind telling me why you caved in my skull and kidnapped me?”

“Basically for your own good.”

“Why don’t I believe that?”

“Doesn’t matter to me what you believe.”

“Okay, now what?”

“Now you just sit there and chill. We’ll treat you well, food, water whenever you want it.”

“All that water I’m going to have to take a piss at some point.”

He pointed to his left. Shaw saw the toilet in the shadows. “Just let me know.”

“Just like that?”

“Like I said, just chill and pretty soon you get out of here.”

“Where’s Waller?” Shaw said sharply.

“Who?”

“Now I don’t believe you again.”

The man locked the door behind him, leaving Shaw to puzzle all this over once more. He rocked back and forth in the chair and quickly found that it was bolted to the slab. These folks had put some thought into this. He wondered how far away from Gordes he was. He had no idea how long he’d been unconscious. He might not even be in France any longer.

If these guys weren’t with Waller, who were they? No, of course they had to be with him despite his captor’s feigned ignorance. He also wondered what Frank was thinking. When Shaw didn’t show up at the airport Frank would go to his hotel room. Then he’d conclude that Shaw had screwed him and gone AWOL.

He leaned back in the chair and took a deep breath. He was out of options. And Janie was probably with Waller right now. Or maybe dead.