Chapter 19

It took Dawn several minutes to stop shaking with rage. She sat on a small stone bench at the edge of Thule's property line, overhung with the branches of the first few trees of the forest that started abruptly at the edge of the grass. From that vantage, she could see Jake come out of the house, light a cigarette as he scanned the yard, then come up the path towards her.

She pointed to the cigarette in his mouth, "Give me one of those."

"You smoke now?" asked Jake, drawing out the pack.

"Only when I'm upset," said Dawn. She accepted the cigarette and let Jake light it.

Jake stood on the far side of the path. Both of them smoked without talking for about a half a cigarette.

Jake said, "I don't know this Thule guy, but I wouldn't be too hard on him about this."

Dawn's eyes flashed angrily, "Don't tell me you're on his side..."

Jake shook his head in the negative as he drew deeply on the last puff of his cigarette. Then, he dropped it on the path and ground it out emphatically, far more so than fire safety would require, as if he were carefully considering his next words.

"I don't take sides," he said finally, "But, I've seen Mrs. Vandevoort in action. If she sets her sights on you, you'd have to be gay or dead and preferably both not to have a hard time saying no."

"What about you?" asked Dawn, "Did you sleep with her?"

"I'm just a lackey," said Jake, lighting another cigarette. "That kept me off her radar. She came on to me five or six times as a matter of form. But, she's smart. If she'd been caught with me, it wouldn't have gotten her what she wanted. I'd just be fired and she'd still be stuck."

Dawn looked up at him angrily, "What are you doing working for Ivan Vandevoort anyway?"

"Delivering messages, watching Svetlana," said Jake. "That sort of thing."

"You don't hurt people for him, do you?"

"Jesus, no," said Jake. "This is Ivan Vandevoort, not John Gotti. I don't always get to deal with the cream of society. But, there's nothing like that. Some industrial espionage, maybe. That's about it."

"But, why are you working for him at all?" asked Dawn.

"I've got to make a living, Wildcat. Ivan offered me a job as an architect. It's just that the architecture business has been a bit... slow," Jake finished the sentence weakly, but added firmly. "Besides, I've got a son to feed."

"The Vandevoorts are not people, Jake," said Dawn gravely.

"I know," said Jake sighing. "I knew when I took the job. I just didn't know how bad. But, what about your friend, Thule? He's up to his elbows with the crown prick and his crowd all of a sudden."

Dawn bit her lip. She wanted to defend Thule. But, she couldn't trust that Jake wasn't pumping her for information. She wanted Jake to be on the up-and-up. He'd been the first boy she'd ever had a crush on. But, she'd had a crush on June Kane, too. So, she said, "I'm not real happy with that either."

They spent a little bit of time catching up. When Jake asked how her sister Donna was doing, Dawn had to admit that she hadn't heard anything since around Christmas-time, which was not an uncommon amount of time to go without contact.

Finally, Jake said, "Wildcat, as much fun as it has been catching up, I really am pretty close to dead on my feet. I've got work to do Monday morning and I've been on my feet for about twenty-six hours. Do you want a ride home or somewhere?"

Dawn stood and hugged him, "No. Thanks, though. Take care, Brute Squad. And, don't be a stranger. I know you remember my phone number."

Jake smiled as they walked back towards the house, "How are your folks?"

"Dysfunctional as ever," said Dawn, "but mostly harmless."

"Still together?" asked Jake. When Dawn nodded, he added, "Damn. Who would have thought?"

"They'll be together forever," said Dawn. "They live to make each other miserable. It's much more efficient to live in the same house."

Jake nodded and went around the side of the house. Dawn went back inside. Thule was sitting where they had left him, eyes closed, snoring softly. Dawn checked the clock. It was just past one thirty. Marigold had said to pick her up no earlier than two. It didn't take more than ten or fifteen minutes to get to her house from here. So, for a few minutes, she just sat in the recliner and watched Thule sleep. Dawn wished she weren't mad at him. His mostly-faded black eye, blood-matted hair and an angry red scratch running from ribs to stomach made her want to nurse him back to health even as she wanted to shake him until he behaved.

Dawn looked down at her nails, worried short like a boy's and covered with only a thin coat of clear polish. She frowned. They weren't the sort of nails you would imagine drawing a scarlet line of blood across a man's back in a moment of passion--or his belly for that matter. Tilting her head to one side, she tried to figure out how a woman would get her hand down there at the appropriate time. She didn't come up with an answer, but blushed as she considered the possibilities.

Thule looked so peaceful, Dawn didn't really want to wake him. In the short time that she'd really known him, he seemed perpetually tired. Dawn found that going to school and maintaining a B average and her meager social life were enough to make her feel tired most of the time. How Thule kept up with everything was completely beyond her.

Dawn thought about Marigold. She wondered what the protocol was for dealing with your girlfriend's boyfriend. She knew she was on dangerous ground with Thule more or less every time they were together. What had started out as mostly innocent teasing had turned into a kind of sexual brinkmanship. Until he'd kissed her, Dawn was beginning to wonder if Thule didn't really think she was hideous.

When Dawn had felt the handcuffs go on, she'd really thought that she'd just pushed him too far, either with the constant flirting or by sleeping with Marigold. She shivered a little at the idea of Thule claiming a right to her by extension. Then, she tried to decide if it was a good shiver or a bad shiver. Before she could, she discarded the whole line of reasoning. It just didn't seem like Thule's style to make such an assumption.

Finally, Dawn examined her anger towards Thule. Part of it was at his betrayal of Marigold. Of course, if what Thule had done was a betrayal of Marigold, then Dawn and Marigold had betrayed Thule. If Thule felt betrayed, he took it with impressive equanimity.

Dawn abandoned that line of thought. It was too confusing and too likely to make Dawn feel horrible about herself. She'd been in an extended manic phase for weeks and knew that the coming crash would probably bring her down hard. The new medication had worked less than a year before it stopped doing anything about the peaks and troughs. She really needed to get back to the doctor. But, any time she mentioned the doctor, it was the beginning of another fight among her and her parents. Her mother was convinced that her problems were all in her head and just an excuse. Her father wanted to help, but couldn't stay on topic long enough for the ensuing battle to reach anything approaching a conclusion. It would take a week of screaming before she got what she needed. Half the time, the fight brought on the depressive episode she'd been trying to prevent.

Hugging her knees to her chest, Dawn watched Thule sleep some more. She wondered how he managed to maintain his aura of brooding intensity even at rest.

Remembering her anger at him, Dawn focused on the question of where it had come from. She found it hard to concentrate on an idea too long without losing her focus. That was another problem with another pill to supposedly deal with it. She'd actually lost most of her anger at Thule by the time Jake came out of the house. But, it had flared up again when Jake had tried to make an excuse for Thule's transgression by talking about how seductive Mrs. Vandevoort was.

Thule wasn't supposed to be seducible, certainly not by someone he knew for less than twenty-four hours. If it was possible to flirt with him until he cracked, why hadn't he cracked for Dawn? She'd thought she was pretty good at flirting. She'd immensely enjoyed watching his discomfort as she ate her ice cream. Just how pretty was this Mrs. Vandevoort, anyway?

Scowling at Thule, she ran her hand through her cropped hair. It's probably the bangs, she decided. How the hell can anybody be sexy with bangs? Jumping to her feet, she decided that it was time to wake Thule. Kneeling next to him on the couch, she reached up and gently patted his cheek.

His reaction seemed instantaneous, his hand flying up and catching her wrist, pulling it away from his face before his eyes even opened. When he saw Dawn, he released her wrist warily.

"Sorry," he said, rising. "I thought you were slapping me again."

"No," said Dawn, smiling at his back, "I thought I would take a short break from the slapping so you could drive me to New York."

Thule turned back to face her, real menace in his voice, "Dawn, you've already slapped me twice. Don't do it again unless you're ready to deal with the consequences."

Dawn paled. At the same time, she had to fight the urge to jump up and slap him immediately, just to find out what would happen. Instead, she said, "It's almost two o'clock. We should get going."

Thule nodded, "I have a few things I need to do first. Feel free to make use of anything in the living room while you wait. It will be maybe a half hour." Then, he disappeared into the basement.

Dawn was still flipping through the channels on TV, trying to find something to amuse herself when Thule emerged with a laundry basket full of neatly-folded clothes. A few minutes later, he re-emerged with the basket, full of crumpled bedding. Dawn started giggling. She couldn't help it.

Thule looked puzzled, "What's so funny?"

Dawn stopped giggling long enough to say, "Somehow, I just never pictured you doing laundry."

"Why?" asked Thule, sniffing his armpit, "Do I stink?"

That made Dawn giggle more. Thule, seeing he wasn't likely to get an immediate answer, shrugged and went back into the basement. When he came back upstairs, he was carrying a brown file box as if it were heavy.

Sitting down at the computer, he began taking an array of cameras, microphones, and devices that Dawn didn't recognize out of the box, linking them up one by one to the computer, then putting them back into the box. Eventually, he came to one microphone that he kept hooked up to the computer for a little bit longer than the others. When he unplugged it, he grunted and laid it aside. Dawn watched with interest as he finished testing the rest of the units, then took the box downstairs.

When he came back upstairs, Dawn asked, "What was that all about?"

Thule took a flat plastic bag out of the drawer, unscrewed the bottom of the microphone, dropped a small disc from the microphone into the desk drawer, and slipped the microphone into the bag, sealing it, "I need to make sure that my equipment is in working order. I don't make it to the Spy Shop as often as I would like, so I did a quick test of all of my surveillance gear I haven't used recently to make sure that it was in working order. This one isn't, so I'm going to have it replaced. These things have a lifetime guarantee. So, when they fail, I bring them back."

"What an efficient spy you are," said Dawn.

"I wish," said Thule. "This stuff costs a fortune. If I hadn't bought all of the surveillance equipment, I'd have enough to buy a new car today."

Dawn looked around suspiciously, "Do you keep this place bugged?"

"No," said Thule. "Other than the web cam and microphone in the bedroom, there's no surveillance here. And those have physical blocks so that they can't be tapped from the outside."

"Why don't you bug this place?" Dawn asked.

"Because any surveillance can be used against you if it's found," said Thule, "If I had cameras and microphones here, I would spend all of my time looking for shunts to see if someone else wasn't using my gear to spy on me."

"How do you know they don't just have their own cameras and mikes?" asked Dawn.

"I doubt they would resort to that," said Thule.

"Why not?" asked Dawn.

"Because," said Thule, "if they suspected me enough to bug my house, they would probably just make me disappear."

Dawn chuckled before she realized that Thule was not smiling, "You're serious? You think the Vandevoorts would kill you?"

Thule nodded, "If they knew what I had, they'd probably throw anybody they could against me, including your friend, Jake. But, it doesn't matter. I've made contingency plans for the information I have to be disseminated if I die or disappear."

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?" asked Dawn sharply, "You'd still be dead."

"I'm sorry," said Thule reassuringly, "I don't mean that it doesn't matter. Of course I'd rather not wind up dead at the end of this. I'm pretty sure the Vandevoorts won't gain anything by killing me because it won't keep what I know from getting out. This," he held up the pen camera, "should be the smoking gun I need to tie it all together. Then, I can finish off Brianne and go to the FBI with what I've got."

"Thule," asked Dawn, her face serious, "did you really think I could be one of them? That I could knowingly turn you over to people who would kill you for what I told them?"

Thule sat on the couch next to her, sighing deeply, "Dawn," he said, "I've wanted to go to M.I.T. since I was about ten years old. I've sacrificed a lot to get there, denied myself a lot of things in order to save the money to be able to go."

Dawn nodded, wondering where this was going. Thule seemed to be able to tell that he was losing her. He tried a different tack, "Dawn, do you know Ioke?"

"Of course," said Dawn.

"Do you want her?" asked Thule.

"I... um. I never thought about it," Dawn lied.

"Well, I did once," said Thule, "and she turned me down. And the way she turned me down was so sweet that it made me want her even more."

"Okay," said Dawn. "What does all this have to do with me conspiring against you?"

"Brianne and The Vandevoorts offered me all of it," said Thule, "practically in one day--enough money to pay for the first two years of MIT, Ioke, and the promise that there was far more money and pussy available if I just played ball. And, in spite of everything I'd done up until that point and all the reasons I had to hate them, I seriously considered it and not just for a second. I never came close to turning, but for about a day, I rolled the idea around in my head. I realized that I could do it. Surveillance isn't the only thing they can turn against you. It's everything you do to your head to make yourself able to challenge them. All the tricks, all the techniques, all the chicanery--it's all the same techniques I would need to survive in their world. I could do it, too. I'm good at it. Marigold and Jonas are sweet people, but they don't have the tools to detect a viper in their midst. Worse, they've already committed to love and trust me. They would be defenseless."

Dawn nodded, her eyes wide. A frisson of fear and something she did not want to examine too closely ran down her spine. Thule went on, "It would be so much easier, too. I could keep Marigold and have Ioke and Brianne and June Kane and you and pretty much any other girl I wanted in my bed."

"Me?" asked Dawn, torn between being insulted and flattered to be on the list.

"Maybe not you," said Thule. "You're a little dense."

"What?" asked Dawn, too shocked to be outraged.

Thule smiled gently, "Dawn, why do you think June Kane told you to ride with me?"

"So I could spy on you for her and Brianne," said Dawn. "I thought we established that."

"And, were you a very effective spy, even when you didn't realize what you were doing?"

"No," said Dawn, lowering her head, "I didn't tell them anything new."

"Why not?" asked Thule.

"I didn't know anything they didn't already know," said Dawn. "I couldn't tell them anything new."

"Marigold knows more than they do," said Thule, "enough to wreck me if she went to them. I told her all of it, voluntarily and of my own free will, even though I started out wanting to exact revenge on her for what she did to Maya. I told her more that I've told anyone else."

"Because you're in love with her," said Dawn.

"Because I fucked her," said Thule, "and I'm stupid. Because I'm in love with her, I want to keep her as far away from this mess as I can. Because I'm desperate for allies and to be understood, I told her as much as I did. If I'd fucked you, I probably would have told you just as much. That's why Brianne and June pushed you to sleep with me."

"They didn't," said Dawn, but her voice trailed off. "Oh, shit. They did."

Thule nodded, "Do you know why I slept with Svetlana?"

"Because you're a pig?" suggested Dawn.

"Partially," said Thule evenly, "I'm sure there are a lot of unflattering reasons why I did it. Seeing you in obvious post-coital slumber over Marigold's shoulder certainly contributed. But the last thought I had before I decided to do it was, 'here's the one woman in the whole damned town I could sleep with and not have the Vandevoorts looking over my shoulder saying well-done.'"

"Thule," said Dawn, sighing, "don't ask me to understand why you slept with her. I don't think I can. But, I'll make you a deal. If you're willing to keep my secret--of how I was telling June and Brianne about you, I'll keep yours."

"I'll keep your secret," said Thule sighing heavily. "I promised I would. But, I have to tell Marigold about this. I put myself right in the center of the maelstrom, sooner than I meant to. It effects her, too."

"Thule," said Dawn, turning to face him on the couch, batting her eyelashes coquettishly, "do something for me."

Thule nodded, "What?"

Dawn crouched in like she was telling a secret, "Give me the cuffs--the ones you used on me."

Thule's eyes widened, "Why?"

"Because," said Dawn, brushing her bangs out of her eyes, "one day, when this is all over and we have the time, I want you to feel what it's like to have them slapped on you when you don't expect it."

"I don't think you want to do that," rumbled Thule. "I don't give up control... gracefully."

Looking in his face, Dawn shivered. She wanted to back down, but found she couldn't, "Thule," she said reasonably, "if you want my forgiveness and I know you do, even if you won't ask for it, get the cuffs."

Thule scowled and stood up. As he walked into his room, he muttered, "Crazy girls. I don't have enough in my life. I have to manufacture them."

"I heard that," called Dawn.

"You were supposed to hear that," said Thule as he came back with the cuffs, looped over two fingers. He handed them to Dawn. Pulling out his keychain, he started unthreading the smaller ring with the two handcuff keys on it, "Just remember that, whatever you do when I'm cuffed, eventually I'll get out."

He handed her the keys. Dawn shuddered at the look on his face. Then, he stood up and started gathering the things he needed for the trip, "Let's get going."

Dawn stood up and picked up her purse. "So," asked Thule, "do you forgive me? Are we back where we left off?"

Dawn nodded, "Sure. Just like Batman and Robin."

Thule whirled on Dawn, catching her around the waist, pulling her to him. She opened her mouth to protest and he covered it with his own, kissing her. Startled, Dawn tried to pull away, but Thule grabbed the back of her head, burying his fingers in her hair and refusing to let her go until the kiss was finished.

"That," he said emphatically, "is where we left off."

"I, um..." said Dawn as intelligently as she could.

"Now," said Thule, "let's go pick up our girlfriend. Do you drive?"

"I, um... what?" asked Dawn.

"Do... you... drive?" said Thule slowly.

Dawn was indignant, "I could take your car apart and put it back together in my sleep. Of course, I can drive."

"Fine," said Thule. He handed Dawn his keychain, "it's your big chance with the Batmobile, Robin. Wake me when we get near the city. I'll take over, then."

"Are you sure?"

Thule shrugged, "If I try to drive, I'm probably going to fall asleep at the wheel."

In the car, Dawn took a long time adjusting the seat and mirrors to her liking and steeling herself. Thule did not seem to share her concern over her driving skills. By the time she pulled out of the driveway, he was spread out as best as he could be on the back seat, head on a rolled up blanket, snoring softly.

When she pulled up in front of Marigold's house, Dawn looked in the rearview mirror. Thule already appeared to be sleeping soundly. She got out of the car, walked up the path, and knocked on the door.

Marigold answered the door, smiling, "Hey, Dawn," she said, "where's Thule?"

Dawn jerked a thumb towards the car, "sleeping in the back seat. He had a long night."

"Poor thing," said Marigold, "Come on upstairs while I grab a few things for the trip."

Holly waved at them as they went upstairs. Dawn waved back.

Once they were in the bedroom with the door closed, Marigold turned on Dawn, pushing her back against the door, kissing her, pushing Dawn's lips open with her tongue. Dawn's lips were still tingling from how Thule had kissed her. She moaned in the back of her throat. What the hell were these two trying to do to her? She wrapped her arms around the back of Marigold's head, kissing as well as she was kissed. Part of her wanted to stay up here all afternoon. But, when Marigold's hands slid up under the short skirts of the sundress, Dawn squealed and ended their embrace.

"Marigold," she said sharply, trying to pull away, but stuck between her friend and the door, "Thule is right downstairs."

"Oh," said Marigold, one hand stroking Dawn's bottom, the other sliding up the bad of her leg and inside her panties, teasing one finger even farther, "whatever would he do if he came up and found us like this?"

Dawn closed her eyes, her breathing ragged. Marigold kissed her throat. Dawn shivered, spreading her legs at the insistence of Marigold's hands.

Finally, she whispered, "No," It came out weakly. Even Dawn didn't believe she meant it. A little more evenly, she said, "Marigold, we have to go. Thule is waiting and... and, what's her name?"

Marigold traced a shiver-light touch on Dawn's clit before looking up curiously, "Who?"

"Your old friend," said Dawn, trying to remember, "uumm... oo, uh... Maya," she finally managed to blurt out.

"Oh," said Marigold, withdrawing her hands, "of course. We should get going. I packed enough clothes for both of us if we need to change. I had to guess a little at your sizes. I hope what I chose doesn't look too... scandalous on you."

"Jesus, Marigold," said Dawn shakily, "are you like that with Thule? It's no wonder he's always exhausted."

"No," said Marigold, picking up a barrel-shaped bag. "With Thule, he's always in charge. With you, I get to be in charge."

"You do?" asked Dawn, "Says who?"

"Says me," answered Marigold. Then, she counted off on her fingers, "I'm almost a year older. I'm a senior. And, I saw how you reacted when I told you how Thule orders me around."

"I..." said Dawn, blushing, "Well, maybe I did. But, that was to being dominated by him, not by you."

"Oh," said Marigold pouting, "Does that mean you won't let me order you around and bend you to my will?"

"I didn't say that," said Dawn uncertainly.

"Good," said Marigold gaily, "then let's get going. She wrapped her arm around Dawn's waist, leading her out of the room. Halfway down the stairs, she called out, "Mom, we're headed into New York. We'll be back late."

"Okay," said Holly, poking her head out of the kitchen, "be safe."

Dawn froze a little to see Marigold's mother. To Dawn, the arm around her waist was a clear admission of what they'd done. But, by Holly's reaction, she didn't seem to see it as anything other than an innocent gesture of friendship. Before Dawn could worry about it much, they were out the front door and on the path.

"Marigold," whispered Dawn, "you're shameless. What are your parents going to do it they figure out..."

"Well," said Marigold, "I imagine it would put the kibosh on further unsupervised sleepovers." Dawn helped her get the suitcase into the trunk. Marigold took her usual seat and looked surprised when Dawn took the driver's seat. She tsked.

"And here I was hoping to make an excuse to join you in the backseat and get my hands on you for a while," said Marigold. "I suppose you won't let me do that if you're driving."

"Definitely not," said Dawn. She looked sharply over her shoulder at Thule. He seemed to be sleeping, but with Thule you never could tell, "Marigold, are you drunk?"

"Nope," said Marigold, "just happy. For the first time, I have a lover that I chose entirely of my own free will. I even got to seduce you, which is something that I've always wanted to do. I'm just feeling... happy."

Dawn faltered trying to put the ignition key in and dropped Thule's keys on the floor, "You... you've always wanted to seduce me?"

"No," said Marigold apologetically, "I'm sorry, baby. I just always thought it would be nice to be a seductress, even if just once--to have somebody want me because I had driven them to the edge of madness with lust. I loved getting you all worked up."

Dawn, sitting back up with the keys in her hand, closed her eyes for a few seconds before she could say, more or less evenly, "I loved it too. Now, please don't talk about it anymore or we're liable to get in an accident."

Marigold nodded. Dawn looked at her curiously, noting the mischievous smile on her friend's face and wondering what she was in for.

-=-

Amazingly, Thule slept as long as they let him. As they got closer to the city and Dawn got more comfortable with driving Thule's big boat of a car, she asked Marigold, "What has gotten into you today? You're like a totally different person."

Marigold smirked, making it clear she was avoiding an easy joke, "I've just been taking stock. I feel like I've wasted the last four years of high school on Elliot." She said the name disdainfully, wrinkling her nose as if she smelled something bad, "It's not a new idea. Before Thule, it was like I was the only virgin left at Mannsborough, but I didn't know what to do about it."

"Umm..." said Dawn, unsure of how to answer that.

"I didn't know you at the time," said Marigold, "not well, anyway. And, to look at you, I never would have guessed that you were a virgin. You seemed like a bit of a flirt."

"I was," admitted Dawn, "I flirted with any guy I thought would protect me without demanding too much. When I was a freshman, I would have killed for a guy like Elliot."

Marigold's face got serious, "Dawn, he thought I was disgusting. He made me feel disgusting. And, he never laid a hand on me, even when I wanted him to."

"He never laid a hand on you," said Dawn, "and neither did anyone else. Mari, I don't think you know how lucky that makes you at Mannsborough."

"He couldn't protect me from Thule," said Marigold.

"Did you want to be protected from Thule?" asked Dawn.

"Not in hindsight," said Marigold. "But, at the time, it was pretty scary."

"Well," said Dawn, "Thule's different. I don't think anyone could have protected you from Thule. He's kind of a force majeur."

"You really like him," said Marigold. "Don't you?"

"Elliot?" asked Dawn. "Can't stand him. Always thought he was a prick."

Marigold laughed, "You know who I mean."

"I... um," said Dawn, "Was that our exit back there?"

"No," said Marigold. "And that was an obvious attempt to distract me from my question."

Dawn sighed, "Can we have this conversation some time when he's not actually here?"

Marigold laughed, "He's sound asleep."

Dawn glanced over her shoulder, "With Thule, you can never tell. He can probably hear us in his sleep. Or, maybe he's secretly recording this.

Marigold actually giggled, "Paranoid much?"

Dawn pointed a thumb over her shoulder, "When it comes to him, I don't think I'm paranoid enough."

Marigold frowned, "I thought you liked Thule."

"I do," said Dawn. "It..."

"Hah!" exclaimed Marigold, "I knew it!"

"Dammit, Marigold!" said Dawn. "You don't need to push so hard. I do like Thule. And, believe me. It wouldn't take much pushing."

"I'm sorry, sweetie," said Marigold, sounding genuinely contrite.

Dawn didn't answer, keeping her eyes on the road.

When she spoke again, Marigold's voice was dreamy, "I was just thinking that, if you and Thule and I were all sleeping together..." She broke off, "Watch the road!"

Dawn braked a little short. In the back seat, Thule rocked back and forth, but did not seem to wake.

"Maybe this isn't the time to talk about it," said Dawn. "I'm trying to drive."