Deadly Silence (complete) Chapter 144

“What is it, Mr White?”

Vivian frowned, wondering why he’d answer the phone so rudely if he knew it was Tyrell calling, but she pushed the thought aside; there were more important things she needed to focus on. “Gilbert? It’s Vivian.”

A brief silence, followed by, “Miss Vivian, why are you calling me using Mr White’s phone…?”

“Uh, well, there’s been a bit of a situation.”

Another silence. “I see…”

*How has no one told him what’s going on? Wouldn’t he be part of the security detail Tyrell talked about?* “I can’t really explain much right now, but Tyrell is, uh, hopefully taking anyone following us on a wild goose chase.”

“…why didn’t… never mind. Where are you? Are you safe?”

“I’m fine,” she sighed. “But I don’t… I don’t know about Sebastian and Laurent. There was… Can you to pick me up at the school, Gilbert?”

“I’m too far away to get there fast, but I know someone in the area. I’ll send him over to get you. Miss Vivian, I need you to stay on the phone with me until then, alright?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. We’re…” she glanced at a street sign as they drove by, so she could estimate how long until she was ‘delivered’, “maybe five minutes out?”

“Eight,” Jim corrected. “I drive this way a lot. We’re eight minutes away.”

“Who was that?”

“Oh, that’s Jim. He delivers pizza. Well. Right now he’s delivering me… It’s a long story, but I’m *safe*, okay? He’s just going to drop me off, and go back to work.”

“… alright. What can you tell me about what happened? Don’t say anything that shouldn’t be overheard by… Jim.”

“Well, Thanksgiving was interesting,” she told him, mind racing. “Auntie Pat showed up out of the blue, along with Cassidy and a few friends. They caused a scene, as usual.” Would he understand what she was trying to tell him, without telling him? Gilbert wasn’t stupid — the opposite, really — and Vivian was working under the assumption that hadn’t changed since he’d been benched from bodyguard duty.

“Cassidy?” He murmured, as if trying to recall why that name sounded familiar.

“Yeah. Not sure if you met her, but she and I met about eight years ago, then on and off over the years since. It’s weird, though… I didn’t know her and Auntie Pat knew each other, but here we are. Oh! Charles called, too. It was kinda crazy.”

“Charles Montague? I’ll see what he can tell me. What else?”

“Uh…” Vivian wracked her brain, but couldn’t think of how to tell the rest of the story without Jim learning more than he should about what was going on. “I met… Arlo? Did you know he’s all bark and no bite? Drools like crazy, too.” The panic she’d been ignoring was beginning to creep up on her now as the adrenaline in her system wore off.

“I have met the dog,” Gilbert replied, his steady voice helping to keep her centered as she worked to stay calm. “He’s… lazy.”

“You should have seen it. He ran into the foyer so fast he basically did an electric slide across the floor. Do you think they’d let me get a dog?” She was starting to ramble, distracting herself from the image of Sebastian’s totalled car that was now seared into her brain. She didn’t want that one image to come to mind every time she thought of him and Laurent; they had to still be alive. They had to.

“Miss Vivian, are you still there?”

“What?” She choked, snapping back to reality. Wiping her face, she noted with relief that her cheeks were dry. “Yes, I’m still here.”

“You should be close now. How far are you?”

Vivian turned to Jim. “He wants to know how long before we get there?”

“It’s just one more block.”

“Did you hear that?” She asked, since Gilbert had heard Jim the last time he’d spoken.

“I did. There will be someone there waiting for you. He’ll give you a code that you should recognize, as proof he is who he should be.”

“What kind of code?”

“We’re here,” Jim interrupted, looking nervous as he pulled up to the curb by the school’s front gate. It was the same spot both Gilbert and Tyrell used when dropping off or picking Vivian up from school.

“Oh, that must be him,” Vivian said as she looked out the windshield and noted someone standing by a red motorcycle a ways away. “A motorcycle?”

“Yes, that will be him,” Gilbert assured her, almost sounding relieved.

“Okay, great. One sec.” Vivian put down the phone and turned to Jim, who was watching her with wide eyes. “Thank you, Jim. I really appreciate you doing this for me.”

“Uh, yeah, n-no problem?”

“Here,” she began, holding out a worn business card. The boy stared at it for a couple seconds before carefully taking it from her hand. “That’s the number for this phone,” she explained, holding up the phone in question. “If something happens, call it. I’ll make sure someone gets to you. But only use it if you have to, okay? Emergency only. I’ll come back another day to pick it up, and return your jacket, so, please, don’t lose it.”

“Oh. Okay. But… you don’t think I’ll need it, do you?” He sounded worried, but Vivian didn’t want to lie just to make him feel better; sometimes the truth had to be spoken, even if it wasn’t fun.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I just know that I’d feel really bad if something happened because you helped me, so… this is my way of returning the favour. Or something.”

“Alright,” he nodded after taking a second to look at the card before a small smile tugged on his lips. “Thanks, Vivian. And… I hope everything goes… well, for you. That you make it home safe.”

“If I do, it’s because you helped,” she told him before getting out of the car and closing the door. She gave him a wave as he pulled back onto the road.

“Miss Vivian?”

“I’m still here,” she assured Gilbert.

“Did you really give him my card?”

“It’s technically Tyrell’s card,” she corrected as she tentatively walked towards the man leaning on the motorcycle. “But yes, I did. Was that a bad idea?”

“…no. It’s fine. Are you able to make it to the man I sent?”

“Yeah,” she said before hesitantly waving at the stranger. At her wave, he pushed off the motorcycle and closed the distance between them. “Uh…”

“Four. Four. Nine. Three. One,” was all he said, voice muffled by the helmet he hadn’t taken off.

Vivian blinked. She knew that number. Wasn’t that…? “Why is he giving me the lock code for this phone?” She half whispered to Gilbert, who grunted.

“That’s how you know he’s the person I sent.”

“…oh. Oh. Okay. Does that mean I can hang up now?”

“Yes. I will see you soon.”

Vivian slid the phone into one of the jacket’s pockets before taking a second to look the stranger up and down. It was hard to tell much about him, as he wore protective gear for riding a motorcycle; the only thing that spoke to the man as a person was the helmet he wore. It looked like a replica of the red Power Ranger’s helmet.

“Put this on,” he told her after she ventured closer. The helmet he offered her was of the blue Power Ranger. Yeah, this was definitely a personality thing.

Doing as she was told, Vivian slid the helmet over her head before tightening the chin strap. She felt ridiculous, but said nothing as she watched the man swing his leg over the bike. He looked back and motioned for her to get on.

Should she tell him she’d never been on a bike before? Pedal or motor? Pursing her lips, she decided saying nothing was the thing to do. Getting on the bike wasn’t difficult, though she was worried about it falling over as the man turned it on. “Hold on,” he called back as he revved the engine.

Taking his words to heart, Vivian wrapped her arms around the stranger’s stomach and held on for dear life as they took off down the street.