“We're about to fall off the cliff,” the woman screams in the dark.
“No shit,” I mumble, surprised with her lack of grit when she is working for the darkest organization on earth. “Hey driver! Unlock the doors.”
“I think he is dead, and the car has security locks to keep you inside,” the woman says. “Those were Mr. Jay's orders since he suspected this would happen.”
“You think I did this?” I snap, but try not to move as the car begins to ease over the gravel underneath, skewing toward the cliff. “I just met you on the street. No one knows I am meeting Mr. Jay.”
“How about The Pillar?” the woman grunts.
The suggestion makes me feel better. Who knew? Now that she mentioned The Pillar may have caused the accident, I find myself feeling better.
“But don't think we'll let him save you,” she says. “The limo has an emergency system. Reds are on their way. They should be here before your stupid caterpillar comes.”
The car takes another heavy jolt and the others in the limo panic again. I don't. I try to see if I can kick the glass open without affecting the car's balance. I am not going to die in Black Chess's limo.
And even if it's The Pillar who planned the accident, I am not going to wait for him to save me.
"Shut up!" I tell the others, carefully crawling toward the window.
The car seems stable, so I get closer, now thinking of what to break the window with.
Peeking outside, I can't locate where we are. There is a river below the cliff, but it's unrecognizable to me.
A sudden bang freezes me in place. However, the car isn't moving. Then I hear a couple of footsteps on the roof.
"It's him," the woman says. "The Pillar!" She grabs me by the neck, trying to choke me. "I won’t let him have you."
I struggle, fighting her while the car bounces in every direction. "Stop it or we'll die." I elbow her in the face and hear her scream.
The car's window suddenly breaks, its shattered glass splinters inward, and I have to shield my face with my hands.
"Damn you, Pillar!" the woman shouts.
A smile forms on my face when I glimpse The Pillar's shadowy hand, stretching inwards toward me.
I stretch mine back, but when I do, I am shocked to find it's not The Pillar. In fact, it's a Red.
The woman laughs behind me. "Told you my men will get you first."
Chapter 3
Margaret Kent's Private Mansion,
Kensington, London
Margaret Kent was staring at her son’s picture, counting the days until she’d have him back from the Queen of Hearts. The vicious Queen who stopped at nothing to get her hands on the Six Impossible Keys.
Margaret gasped. It had been a long and painful road to find her son. And it seemed like it was only getting longer. She prayed that her plan would work out in the end, and she decided to start by answering her private phone that had been ringing all morning.
“Yes?” she picked up, doing her best to sound collected and as brutal as she’d like everyone to think of her.
“It's me,” the voice said. “Carolus.”
“What do you want? Didn’t I say I’m taking the day off?”
“It’s important. I have someone who wants to meet you, Duchess," Carolus said. "He says his name is Inspector Dormouse. He is head of the…”
“…Department of Insanity," Margaret said. "What does he want?"
“He says he has critical information that you need to know.”
“What kind of information?”
“Carter Pillar.”
“What about him?”
“The Inspector say he’s discovered something about him.”
“Something that I don't know?"
"He says he knows who The Pillar really is."
"Nonsense," Margaret gently rubbed her son's picture. "I know all I need to know about The Pillar; all the way back since the days in Wonderland."
Carolus took his time in saying, “Do you know why he killed the twelve men, though?”
Margaret put her son's picture aside. “He did it so he could plead insanity and be admitted to the Radcliffe Asylum to mentor Alice.”
“Don't you think he could’ve found easier ways to sneak into the asylum?"
"Of course. He could’ve worn a tutu, stood in Parliament Square, and cursed the Queen of England,” she said. “But being The Pillar, he had to act larger than life and do crazy things, so he killed twelve people, claiming the Alice Underground book drove him crazy.”
"That's not what Inspector Dormouse said."
"Whatever he said, I wouldn't trust a man who is asleep half of the time."
"Maybe that's why he sees things clearer."
“Meaning?”
"We're always awake. Always alert. Always thinking. Too much information could be the reason why we overlook a few details."
"Don't lecture me, Carolus. Don't act like you're a real person. You're merely a man's shadow. What did Dormouse say?"
"He wants to meet first, but he says he knows the twelve people The Pillar killed weren't chosen haphazardly. They all actually have one thing in common."
"Which is?"