Duskwood: the man behind the mask

28. You have to decide

Phil opens his eyes with difficulty, completely disoriented. Something bothers his nose and he reaches out to remove it: a handkerchief, still a little damp. His head hurts like never before and it takes a few more seconds for him to realize that he is pulling on the asphalt.

He tries to get up, but it's very difficult. He is dizzy and nauseous, and a terrible pain stings at the back of his neck. What happened? Slowly, his mind begins to wake up, until his eyes go wide and he staggers to his feet with fear on his face. No, hell no! He looks around him and realizes that he is alone. No sign of MC or Laura, only the van parked a few meters away, in the same place where he left it.

He searches for his phone without wasting a second and finds it lying on the grass, turned off. He turns it on and desperately dials MC's number: also off. Fuck! At that precise moment a call  from his sister comes in, surely Jake or Gabe have been tracking him and have realized that he turned on the phone.

He picks up immediately and Jessy's worried voice is heard:

Jessy: Phil! Where are you? Are you okay? What happened?

Phil: He took her, Jessy! The motherfucker was waiting for us. I don't know where he is but I'm going to find him, I'm going to kill that son of a bitch!

Jessy: Calm down, Phil, do you have any injuries?

Phil: No, I'm fine. I'll call you later, I'm going to find MC.

Jessy: Wait!

Phil: I have no time to waste, Jessy! We'll talk later.

Jessy: MC was taken twenty minutes ago, Phil.

Phil: What...?

Jessy: You won't be able to find her now. Calm down and tell us what happened, it's very important.

Phil freezes, not knowing how to react. Twenty minutes? Rage boils inside him and he clenches his fists in desperation.

Jessy: Are you still there? Don't scare me, please.

Phil: How do you know that...?

Jessy: Alan wrote to Jake, he even sent a picture...

At that moment Gabe's voice is heard on the other side of the line:

Gabe: Phil, are you fit to move?

Phil: Yes.

Gabe: Switch to video call and show us everything around you.

He does, but unfortunately, there isn't much to see. The van is parked on the side of the road, and a little farther, past a row of trees, the upper floors of the hospital can be seen. There is nothing and no one around, but something catches Gabe's attention:

Gabe: What's that on the floor? A piece of paper?

Phil: No, it's a handkerchief. I woke up with it on my nose.

Gabe: Does it smell sweet?

Phil: Yes.

Gabe: Chloroform...

Phil: Yeah, I thought so, but why use chloroform? He hit me on the head, it hurts to burst. He came up behind me and KO'd me without giving me time to do anything.

Gabe: I see... He couldn't calculate how long you'd be unconscious and he needed time to take care of MC. I'm guessing he knocked you out and then he put the handkerchief over your nose for it to kick in. Chloroform takes a few minutes to work. Can you tell me what you remember?