Page 17 of Intangible
Knox listened as Memphis threw up again. He wasn’t sure what he possibly had left in his stomach, but he knew something was wrong. This was obviously harder on the man than he originally let on. Crossing to the bathroom, he pulled Memphis off the floor.
“Come on, you need something to eat. Then you’ll at least have something to puke up. Drink this.” Knox placed a bottle of water in the man’s hand before dragging him through the room.
They walked back over to the diner, finding a corner booth open. It was a little early, but Knox ordered them both a large cheeseburger, a plate of fries and one of onion rings to share. He also had the waitress bring Memphis a ginger ale, hoping the soda would help settle his stomach.
When the food arrived, Memphis told him everything he had learned. He listed the plants he could remember on a napkin, along with drawing a rough draft of the area around the cellar.
“We don’t have long, Knox. The men are getting too brave.” The big man just nodded his head, a scowl crossing over his face.
“If they hurt her, I will rip every one of them apart,” Knox growled, matching Memphis’ thoughts exactly.
“The senator can only stall so long.” Knox frowned at Memphis’ words. He knew they were running out of time.
“Are you feeling better?” When Memphis nodded his head, Knox threw some money on the table. “Okay. I’m taking you back to the room before taking this information to the feds and our people. You need to get some sleep while we begin the search.”
“No, I’m going with you.” Knox would have argued, but the look on Memphis’ face made him reconsider. With a quick nod, the men separated at the hotel.
Knox went to the room set up as a command center to update everyone on the new information. He worried that the feds were becoming a little too interested in where he was getting his information. He had understood Memphis, not wanting to make his abilities known to the FBI, but they weren’t stupid. The look of disbelief on Agent Tanaka’s face said that he didn’t buy the story Knox had spun about Memphis being just another hired tracker.
Memphis went to the room to lie down until Knox returned to get him. Knox watched as the feds worked, using the little bit of information Knox could provide to whittle down the area to search for Thayer.
After agreeing on an area of the mountains she was most likely being held at, he walked back to their room to get Memphis. Knox found him sacked out on the bed with Murphy draped over his legs. Running a hand over the dog’s head, he shook Memphis awake.
“We have satellite images we need you to come look at. Don’t worry, I gave the feds an alias for you. I know you’re nervous about them finding out too much about who you are.” Knox grinned into his face as Memphis tried to clear his mind. Getting up, he slipped his glasses back on before following Knox out the door.
“Mr. Calipari, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Special Agent Dex Tanaka. If you’ll step in here, we have the enlarged aerials of West Virginia. We thought you might help us search for anything that might give us an idea of where to search.” The agent gave them both a smirk before he turned, expecting the men to follow him through the door.
Putting his arm across the doorway, Memphis stopped Knox.
“Did you give me the name of the Kentucky basketball coach as an alias? You know I went to the University of Tennessee, right?” With a smirk, Knox leaned into him.
“That’s for the hillbilly crack from earlier. Could be worse, you could be Coach K.” With a shove, Knox pushed Memphis in the door.
Covering one table was a stack of maps showing, in remarkable detail, the mountains of the Appalachians. It took two hours before Memphis found what he was looking for.
“This is it!” he said excitedly, looking around the room. “That’s the shed that’s next to the door.”
“Are you sure?” Knox asked, crossing the room to where Memphis sat on the bed, hunched over a map.
“As sure as I can be.” The men locked eyes as Knox debated. “Knox, this is it. I know it is.” Knox nodded at him once before turning to start organizing the rescue.
When he got tired of watching the feds argue over proper procedure, Memphis slipped out the door to return to his room. After taking Murphy for a quick walk, he sat down, picking up the stuffed rabbit.
* * *
Screaming. Fazing into the cellar, Memphis could hear muffled screaming.
“No!” he roared out when he saw the man fighting to wrestle Thayer’s pants down. Her shirt had been torn off and he could tell one of her eyes was already swelling from being hit.
“I’ll fucking kill you with my bare hands!” he yelled, walking toward the man. He was barely more than a kid, really. She had managed to pull off the hood hiding his face. The kid jumped up when he saw Memphis, running out the door of the room, holding his pants up.
Sliding onto his knees inside the cell, Memphis jerked the blanket over her. “Thayer! Are you okay? Thayer!” He would give anything to be able to pick her up and carry her away from this nightmare.
“Please answer me, baby.” He laid his forehead down on the side of the cot she had curled up on. He sat on his knees in silence as his chest heaved in and out. Thayer’s hand smoothed the air next to his head.
“I hoped you were real. You looked so real charging out of the corner,” she whispered. Looking up at her, he watched as she turned toward the wall, curling back into a ball. Memphis felt a sudden sharp pain in the back of his head.
“Oww! Thayer, I think I’ve found you. Ahh!” A second pain shot through his head. He started to fade slowly. “Thayer, I’m coming for you. Don’t give up on me!” he shouted as he faded away from her.
