Shell Game – Chapter 42 – Outsmarted

“Katherine, what are you doing here? This isn’t a good time.” Evan said, grabbing his wife by the elbow.

“Who are your friends?” Katherine said, looking at all of the new faces gathered in her husband’s apartment.

“It would take too long to explain.” It was then that Evan realized Katherine wore the pearl pendant necklace around her neck. In all his efforts to keep Lillian safely away from danger, here she was, accessorizing his wife’s outfit.

Realizing the man with the silver eye patch was now behind his wife and perhaps was still unaware Lillian had entered the room, Evan stood facing Katherine and squeezed her arms. “This isn’t a good time. I’m working on a case. Why are you here? It’s late. It would be good for you to leave. I can talk to you in the morning.” He looked so intently into her eyes, hoping that he would be able to tell her the gravity of the situation without saying a word.

“It can’t wait. I’ve been having the craziest thoughts. Thoughts about you, thoughts about this.”

“What do you mean?” Evan asked.

“I’m not sure,” Katherine said, breaking free of Evan’s grasp, “I was home, trying to go to sleep, and I saw this,” she spread out her arms to the room as if she were showing off a new room or painting. “All these people were here, but I’d never seen them before… except for her.” Katherine scowled at Claire, who crossed her arms and smirked in return.

“And what were they doing in your, our apartment? I couldn’t put my mind around it, but I knew you were in danger, so I rushed down here, and when I got to the door, I-” She turned around and for the first time saw the inky, one-eyed creature. Her throat closed immediately.

The man in black walked to her with his gun drawn and aimed at Katherine. “Well, well, well, Mr. Gold,” he purred. “And who do we have the pleasure of meeting this evening?”

“Put your gun down,” Evan said, “There’s no reason for anyone to get hurt.”

“I quite agree,” the stranger said, “though we’re dangerously close to finding a reason, don’t you think? Perhaps we should all have a seat and get back our composure.”

Eye Patch waved the tip of his gun to encourage Evan and Katherine to have a seat. Evan grabbed Katherine’s hand and whispered to her, “It’s going to be fine,” as he led her to sit down. All eyes were on Evan and Katherine as Eye Patch began to pace the room and speak.

“Do you remember the boy I told you about, Mr. Gold? The boy who outsmarted me and ran off with my treasure? I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I did wrong. How could an ignorant boy outsmart someone like me? Especially in the dark. Especially when he has no idea the stakes he’s playing. Obviously, Lillian was helping him, but why didn’t I notice? Was I so confident that I missed some clues that she was no longer safely stowed but had escaped into his clutches? Yes, I’ve had plenty of time to think about that. And I realized that I had been over-confident. I had been over-confident and had ignored some feelings deep within, twinges of something I’d never felt before, but now I know it is the feeling of her. For all her guile and cleverness, Lillian cannot use her powers without giving herself away, even if just a little. I’ve felt these twinges ever since I set foot in this town. Sometimes stronger. Sometimes fainter. But they’ve always been here.

“Just before this woman knocked on your door, I felt Lillian’s presence stronger than I have since that day in the cave, and yet I was once again fooled into thinking it was that stupid decoy you tried to pawn off on me. I must admit I was almost fooled, but it didn’t glow; it wasn’t alive. Surely, Mr. Gold, you must think me quite the fool. Or maybe you’re desperate. But, alas, it is you who are the fool. And now, I think I must hurt you and whoever this is next to you.

Because the one thing I know, and the one thing you know, is that Lillian brought her here. It is Lillian that adorns her fragile neck. And it is both of you who will pay for trying to trick me out of what is rightfully mine!”

In a flash, the stranger thrust out his hand to snatch the pendant from Katherine, but Evan, anticipating something like this, shoved his whole body at his attacker. A blue flash of light exited the gun in the stranger’s other hand, and Evan heard a cry from Katherine. But now, he had Eye Patch on the ground and using his fists in the hope of subduing this intruder.

The stranger, momentarily caught off guard, was slammed into the wreckage of the coffee table. He and Evan rolled between the sofa and the kitchen, each one trying to get the advantage. Again, Evan had the stranger on his back and tried to land a knockout blow to his jaw when Eye Patch grabbed Evan by the shirt and flung him across the room. Evan crashed into Harold, and the two men went tumbling into the wall.

By the time Evan had got free from Harold, he looked up to see the man in black standing over him, gun drawn and teeth bared. Harold tried to squirm out of the way, but Evan knew he was finished. All at once, he felt a sense of loss like he’d never felt before. Everyone he’d tried to help was now dead or in grave danger, and now there was nothing he could do to stop it. With unusual focus, Evan could see the stranger’s finger start to squeeze the trigger, and time seemed to slow down.

From off to his left, Evan saw Katherine tackle Eye Patch just as a blue bolt of light surged out from the gun’s barrel. The light hit the carpet just beyond Evan’s shoulder but close enough for him to feel the blast’s heat. He began to scramble to his feet and saw the man in black roll Katherine off his back. The stranger dropped Katherine to the floor, the impact knocking all the air out of her lungs.

Eye Patch reached down to grasp the pearl pendant when Evan said, “Don’t lay a hand on my wife!” The stranger cocked his head to Evan, droplets of sweat running down his forehead, “Oh my,” he cooed, “this is a nasty business, isn’t it?” Keeping the gun trained on Evan, the man in the silver eye patch bent over, grabbed the pearl, yanked the chain, and while Katherine still lay trying to get air in her lungs, the stranger stood holding the pearl in his black-gloved hand.
“At last,” the stranger said. “But for you and all of your trouble,” he turned to Evan, “I think the last thing you should remember of me is how I bested you and how I ruined your life.” Eye Patch swung his gun to aim at Katherine just as the pearl in his other hand burst into the brightest light.

The light pushed everyone back, and when it died down, there was Lillian once again. Her face was fierce as a lioness, and her stance was like a stone tower.

“Enough!” she bellowed. “Don’t do this treachery, Merlain. All you do is leave a trail of destruction and misery. You’ve devastated world upon worlds, and you shall not have another. This must end. You will not harm these people any longer. And you will be stopped, you and all your people. My father will bring you to justice.”

“Justice?” Eye Patch scoffed, regaining himself. “Shall I declare the charges against you to these people and see what is just? You are not a fool, Lillian. You are the Princess. You are the one dedicated to overthrowing my people. You are the one who organized the rebellion against us. When will you realize the fate of all your people was set the instant my supreme leader escaped your father’s realm – a realm built on lies? No longer was he beholden to your corrupt ways. No longer was he a slave to your father’s whims.”

“And when will you see that your supreme leader didn’t escape but was allowed to leave?” Lillian replied. “He was allowed to go and take all the rebels with him. What you don’t see, what you are incapable of seeing, is what a bitter end will come of your rebellion.

“I can see it. I can see it well. I could show this whole room if I chose to, but you and I know that would change nothing. You are a rebel at heart, as are all your people. We will continue to fight until the completion.”

“And yet, here you are, running and hiding like a guilty child,” the stranger cooed. “That, O princess, should speak volumes to all the worlds. Now, you can come with me peacefully back to prison, or we can do battle first. I can see in your eyes that you’re hungry for a fight. Come to think of it, I haven’t had a good fight in a while, and I’ve just realized how much I miss it. So, either way, you lose, but how many others must die in the meantime is up to you.”

Lillian looked around the room. She looked at Evan. “Thank you for protecting me. But I realized I was acting like a coward. This is not your fight, yet I brought it to your world. I thought, it was vanity, but I thought I could help you and escape my hunter. I knew bringing your wife here was a risk, but a risk worth taking. I’m glad you see this Merlain for what he is.” She turned to look at her captor. “I’ll go with you willingly, you mocker of justice. For the freedom of my people, and so all of the realms will know that justice defeats rebellion.” The room, once again, filled with light. After it passed, Evan saw that Lillian had transformed back into her pearl-like shape. The sphere hung in the air, floating like a large particle of dust in a sunbeam.

Eye Patch strode to the pearl, pulled out a strange silver box from inside his jacket, and closed Lillian inside it. Once the box rested in his coat, he turned to the rest of them. “Well,” he said with satisfaction, “my mission here is complete, and I must return her to face her doom.”

Evan rushed to Katherine, whose lungs had stopped their spasms and were allowing air in and out again.

“I’m so sorry. Are you hurt?” He looked into his wife’s green eyes. Katherine looked confused and tired.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“I’ll try to tell you later,” he said.

Then he heard Claire cry out. Evan looked and saw just the last bit of Margo run out the front door.

“Should we go after her?” Harold asked. Evan swung his gaze over to the table where all of Margo’s guns had been. The table was clear of all weapons.

The man in black hummed to himself, “I guess I’ll have to keep an eye on my back, won’t I?” the stranger said. “There was betrayal here tonight. It couldn’t be helped.” Eye Patch sighed, “Too sad. All too sad.” He turned to Evan. “A pleasure doing business with you.” He looked over to Harold. “I believe you should escape town, Mr. Huber. Without Margo around, my guess is Mr. Gold will do his best to hang all the murders around your neck.”

Huber nodded dumbly.

“Walk with me,” the inky man said, placing his hand on Harold’s shoulder. “I feel like we need a celebration.”

“But what about the police?” Harold whined.

“We will be long gone. And I wouldn’t worry about what Mr. Gold tells them about us. Anything he says, if he’s honest, will get him locked up in a sanatorium instead of jail.” At this thought, Eye Patch let out a deep-throated laugh.

“You shot my wife!” Evan charged.

“Don’t get so worked up,” Eye Patch said. “The wound isn’t fatal. She should recover in a day or so. But she will always carry the scar. Consider it a reminder not to come looking for me.

“Believe it or not, Mr. Gold, I wish you all the best. You proved a formidable opponent. I wish we could have had you on our side. But- what is that saying you have about spilled milk? Never mind.” He turned to Huber and beckoned him to follow. Harold, like an obedient dog, obeyed his master.

A moment later, the door closed, and Evan was alone in his apartment with Claire and a wounded Katherine.