Committed Chapter 10

“What is he doing with the police?” Ariadne asked as Paris led her to the spiral staircase leading upstairs.

            “Whatever he’s doing with them, it’s definitely not a good sign,” Paris pointed out.  “I don’t think letting them find you is a good idea either.”

            “Well, what can he do if he finds me here?” Ariadne asked, taking a few steps up the stairs anyway.  “The cops aren’t going to let him take me or anything, are they?”

            “I don’t know Ariadne but please, trust me on this.  Right at the top of the stairs there’s a closet.  The back of it slides open but there’s no visible handle or anything.  Get in there and they won’t be able to see you.”

            “What about you?”

            “I’m hoping once they think you’re not here that they’ll look elsewhere.”
            Ariadne couldn’t shake the feeling that this was all a bad idea, but the look Paris gave her as he watched her ascend the stairs put doubt into her head.  What was happening?  She shouldn’t be hiding from the police, they were supposed to be the ones who would help them.  But seeing them with Janus…

            Ariadne found the closet that Paris had mentioned and opened it up.  Coats hung from rackets, big puffy coats meant for later in the year when the weather got much colder.  Shoving them aside, she placed her hand against the back wall and pulled, using friction to get a grip.  Her hand slid along the door and she quickly wiped the sweat off on her pant legs before trying again.

            This time, the wall did slide to the side, and she stepped into a second closet meant for shoes.  She first closed the outer door before stepping inside the second closet and closing the second door.

            Even inside, she could hear the muffled sound of the police knocking at the door and she crouched low in the corner of the closet to try and hear better.

            “Mr. Montague?”

            The voice was unfamiliar, so Ariadne assumed it was one of the cops.

            “Yes, is there something I can help you with officer?”  Paris’ muffled voice asked.

            “I’m Officer Edmond Seth and this is Officer Hannibal Antenor, we’re here in response to the report of a possible kidnapping.”
            Kidnapping? Ariadne thought, her heart tightening in her chest.       

            “A kidnapping?” Paris asked.  “Who reported that?  I haven’t kidnapped anyone.”

            “Mr. Menelaus here says otherwise,” came a new voice, which Ariadne assumed was the voice of Officer Antenor.

            Ariadne cursed softly under her breath.  Janus had told the police that Paris had kidnapped her?  She found herself almost dumbfounded by his actions.  Why was he after her so badly?  And what did it have to do with that stupid ring?

            “Do you mind if we look around a little bit, Mr. Montague?” Officer Seth continued.

            “Well, no offense officers, but if this is a legitimate investigation than I think I’m going to have to ask you to leave and come back with a warrant.”

            “That won’t be necessary, will it, Paris?”

            Janus was speaking now.  She could imagine that simple smile on his face as he stepped up to Paris at the door.  Bile rose in the back of her throat and her hands knotted into fists.

            “You need a warrant,” Paris repeated, his voice sounding cold even muffled as it was to Ariadne.

            “Officers, did that sound like someone calling for help?” Janus asked.

            “You know what, Mr. Menelaus, that definitely did sound like someone yelling for help,” Officer Seth replied

            “I believe we call that probable cause,” Officer Antenor.  “We don’t need a warrant for that, smartass.”

            “Hey!  You can’t just-“ Paris’ cry was cut off and Ariadne resisted the urge to fling the closet open and go to his aide.  She forced herself to stay still and quiet.

            “Search the house,” Janus instructed.  “She has to be here somewhere.  Her car is in the driveway, after all.”

            Ariadne felt her heart plummet in her chest.  Her car was still parked outside.  Janus had gotten a good enough look at it when they’d fled the school to recognize it.  He knew she was still in the house and hadn’t left.

            She heard the sound of footfalls ascending the spiral stairs and she forced herself to remain motionless.  She heard the footfalls reach the top floor and pause at the closet.  The outer door opened and Ariadne felt her heart begin pounding louder in her chest.  Surely, whoever was out there would be able to hear it?

            There was the sound of coats being pushed about, but whoever it was quickly gave up and closed the closet door again, moving on down the hall.

            “You better hope we find her, for your sake,” Ariadne heard Janus say downstairs.

            “You’re not going to get her this time,” Paris replied.

            “Don’t be so sure.  This is how the story goes.  I always get the girl.”

            “Doesn’t look like she’s on this floor,” she heard Officer Antenor say.

            “Well, it’s not a very big house.  Get up there and help Seth look.”

            “Sure.”

            There was the sound of another set of feet ascending the staircase and then walk passed the closet.

            Ariadne assessed the situation and decided she couldn’t stay in there forever.  She slowly pushed the inner closet door open and stepped out into the main closet.  She then carefully opened the outer door and left it open as she snuck towards the spiral staircase.

            Looking down, she could see that the front door was still open and light was spilling in from the outside.  She could see the shadows of Janus and Paris cast against the ground.

            As she moved closer and eased down she saw that Janus was holding Paris at gunpoint and Paris had been cuffed.  Janus was holding the gun, once again with a silencer, with a relaxed grip and was checking the nails on his left hand as he did so.

            Ariadne caught Paris’ eye and Paris stepped to the side, forcing Janus to turn so that more of his back was towards Ariadne, drawing his attention away.

            “The two of us did quite the number on your face,” Paris said.  “I guess you weren’t expecting that.”

            “It was an unforeseen complication.  But, ultimately, you only delayed the inevitable.”

            “Yeah, well, you can’t really blame a guy for trying.”

            “Oh, but Paris, I absolutely can.”

            “What are you going to do, shoot me in cold blood right here?”

            “The thought had occurred to me.”

            “Well, that’s too bad, because you missed your opportunity.”

            Ariadne reached around Janus, grabbing his right arm, and yanked it upwards.  He fired a shot, the slap much louder being this close to the gun, and the bullet cracked into the ceiling.  Ariadne wrapped her leg behind Janus’ and pulled him backwards, sprawling him flat on his back.  She twisted his wrist as he fell, forcing the gun out of his hand and causing it to clatter across the floor.

            Instinctively, Ariadne started towards the gun, but Paris cried out, “No, leave it!” and Ariadne forced herself to abandon it.  Janus was already stirring on the ground, rubbing the back of his head where he had hit the couch at an odd angle on the way down.  Ariadne turned and follow Paris through the open door.

            “Please tell me you have your keys!” Paris cried, racing towards her parked car.

            “Get in!” was Ariadne’s response as she used the remote to unlock the vehicle and raced around to the other side.

            Paris, still cuffed, turned to face back towards the house as he opened his door and managed to climb.  Ariadne slammed the keys into the ignition and gunned the engine.  She reversed backwards, the passenger’s side door swinging open wildly.

            “Uh, a little help!” Paris cried.

            Ariadne jammed her foot down on the brakes and the car screeched to a stop. The transfer of momentum swung the door back clicking closed.

            There was a thud on the front of the car and Ariadne jumped with surprise.  One of the police officers had leapt onto the windshield.  She got a flash of a bulbous nose and sandy blonde hair before she slammed her foot on the accelerator and the police officer slid off of the hood.

            Ariadne swung the car to the left, aiming herself down the road in the opposite direction from which the police car was facing, and slapped the car into drive.  As she took off she looked into her rearview mirror and watched three dark figures racing towards the parked police car.

            “How are we going to lose them?” Ariadne asked, bringing up her mental map of the surrounding subdivisions.  She knew the roads well enough from driver’s training to know that this area of New Carthage was full of cul-de-sacs and dead-end streets.  One wrong turn and they’d be cornered.

            “I don’t think we’ll have to worry too much about that,” Paris assured her.

            She glanced over at him as he turned in his seat, grinning as he showed her what he had in his hands.  A key-ring with two keys on it was hanging from his finger.

            “You snagged the cops car keys?” Ariadne asked incredulously.

            “Yeah,” Paris laughed.  When he was cuffing me.  He didn’t even notice.

            “Where did you learn to do that?”

            “Where did you learn how to do a take down like that?  You managed to throw off Janus’ aim, knock him down, and strip him of his gun in just a few seconds.”

            “Kick-boxing classes over the summer and a little improvisation,” Ariadne replied.  “What did you take over the summer, a course in amateur thief skills?”

            “Amateur?” Paris asked.  “There’s nothing amateur about lifting a cops’ own car keys off of him while he’s cuffing you!  That’s golden league skills.  I think you can slow down now.”

            Paris last comment came in response to her taking a left turn through a stop sign too fast, screeching the tires as she did it.

            “Those rubber burns are going to leave a trail,” Paris said, glancing over his shoulder.

            “Hey, don’t be a back-seat driver.  And buckle-up would you?”

            “Oh, right, I’ll get right on that,” Paris laughed, shaking his shoulder’s to remind her of his cuffed hands.  “I didn’t snag the cuff keys while I was at it.  Do you have a hair-pin?”

            “You’ll have to tell me where you took these professional pickpocketing and lock picking courses once this is all over,” Ariadne pointed out, pulling a hair-pin out of her hair and placing it in Paris’ awkwardly outstretched hand.

            “Well, you’ll have to be discrete about it,” Paris replied, getting to work at whatever it was he was doing.

            They drove in silence for a while and Ariadne slowed the car, realizing she really didn’t have any location in mind.  Finally, she turned into a random driveway and turned herself around.

            “Okay, got it,” Paris said, producing the cuffs from behind his back in one hand and the bent hair-pin the other.  “Piece of cake.”

            Ariadne didn’t say anything and just nodded.  The sun was starting to creep over the horizon so that the sky was turning from a deep purple into a light gray.  Clouds hung low in the air waiting to be burned off by the fresh morning rays.

            “What are we going to do now?” Ariadne asked.

            Paris apparently didn’t have an answer.  He tossed the cuffs into the back seat and offered Ariadne the bent paper clip.

            Ariadne shook her head and didn’t take it.

            Paris nodded and rolled down his window, tossing the bent paper clip out.  He rolled the window up again and they drove in silence.