by M. C. Cerny
“That’s not true, Elizabeth. You’ll be a hero.” He sounded like he needed to convince himself of this.
I sniffed my nose blinking my eyes. Who the fuck was he kidding? I wasn’t the one with a hero complex.
His narrowed waiting on my reluctant agreement.
“You’re just as insane as my husband if you believe that. I’m the face your kind does everything they can to forget I exist.”
“Elizabeth…” he chided me.
“Come on, I’m mixed blood. Barely legal. Parents are deadbeat immigrants from opposite sides of the globe milking the system, and my mother, that junkie was buried in Potter’s field anonymously. My father is a Port drifter weathering life’s storms with easy pussy. I’m nothing.”
He crowded me and brushed back hair that had fallen from my carefully crafted up do speaking softly. “What about your brother?”
It was a low blow that made me clutch my chest struggling to breathe in.
“My brother is a Marine. He serves this country that does nothing for him. Why should I give a shit or believe this is anything more than an opportunity for your upward job mobility?.”
“Elizabeth,” He swayed back and I couldn’t tell if his next statement would be a lie, a fabricated story to indulge my sorrow and pity, or some truth he wanted to protect me from. Agent Jackson was a good actor, I’d give him that.
“You can say my name a hundred times, but I don’t believe you for a minute.” I whimpered.
“Those weapons were sold by your husband to the villagers who joined in Abu Rahms cause, the very same gorilla sand fighters who ambushed and killed Marines close to your brother’s Infinity SEAL Team. A team that is scheduled to raid the area.”
“I don’t believe you.” I sat down on the edge of the desk feeling the air constrict around me. Adam couldn’t possibly have that kind of reach. What would he gain by doing that? He already had me, his little puppet. Setting up Eddie made no sense.
Agent Jackson pulled an envelope from his suit and dumped a series of six photographs on the desk. I pushed them around, my manicured fingers clicking on the table’s surface. I looked at my husband shaking hands with a desert sheik. Crates of weapons behind them and I remembered Adam taking a trip earlier in the year for business out of the country. His clothes were dusty and his shoes nearly brown with grit when he returned. His face looked smug and certifiably insane in his smile from ear to ear.
Denial filled me and I pushed the photos away. “This doesn’t prove anything.” I turned to go and Agent Jackson grabbed my arm squeezing it hard.
“Look again.” He shifted the photographs to the last one in the bunch. A satellite photo close up of my brother just outside the same village before it had all been blown to hell.
“Oh Eddie.” I traced the frame of his face.
I wasn’t a good person. I made decisions that were often selfish in my quest for freedom from this nightmare. It was amazing what a person would do when their back was pushed up against the wall. Adam was a bad man through and through. He made decisions simply because they had the power to hurt.
“The evidence is here, but we need more than satellite photographs. We need the schematics of those weapon plans.”
“How do I switch them out?”
He gathered up the photos stuffing them inside his jacket pocket.
“You take this drive and swap it out. This one has faulty schematics so if they’re used, they will look identical but they won’t be functional. It will buy us time to arrest your husband and extricate you into a witness protection program.”
I shook my head. If I was caught there was no one who could protect me from this man, this tormentor of my dreams. I lost hope a long time ago.
“What will happen to him?”
“Well, once he’s convicted, he’ll be incarcerated in a federal prison. Probably Colorado. Maybe they’ll even let you pick out his cell decor. Cages don’t need windows.” The agent snorted and I pinched my leg to ground me. How was this happening? Adam didn’t let these kinds of things happen.
“He’ll serve out multiple life sentences if he’s not killed by an inside job, and you’ll be a free woman.”
It sounded so neatly tied together. Too neat as he leaned closer.
“There’s a catch isn’t there?”
Agent Jackson crowded my space and slipped the drive into my purse. His chest brushed against mine and he tilted his chin down looking at me. Aside from his good looks, his eyes told me another story. There was a wealth of information he had and I didn’t, and that made him dangerous to me.
He sighed tracing his finger over the shell of my ear cupping his hand under my chin lifting my face to his.
“You are too smart.” He murmured as his eyes followed mine.
I jerked my chin away. “Don’t act like it’s a detriment.” My intelligence, my street smarts seemed to be a problem for men, but it would be their ultimate downfall. I would be the vessel to bring them down.
“I’ll never underestimate you.” His hand brushed a loose tendril of my hair back. His cologne filled my nose standing so close to me, the heat off his suit jacket infused my skin. I hoped his smell didn’t permeate my clothing because that alone would ignite Adam toward homicidal. He sensed everything.
“You shouldn’t. I learned everything I know from my husband.”
Agent Jackson cupped my face in his hands again and pulled me flush against him. Our breath mingled and his tongue slowly crept out to trace my bottom lip. My eyes widened and I tried to back away, but the spell of false promises and hope had been cast. I was sinking in an ocean without a life preserver. I prepared to drown.
“Tell me what you need to make this happen.” He seduced me with false promises he couldn’t keep. No one could. I learned early on throwing away caution was a fool’s errand.
“My freedom.”
An unattainable thing for sure.
“I’m not afraid of him, Elizabeth.” Agent Jackson was cocky, I’d give him that much.
Maybe it was the danger, the forbidden connection of someone who wanted me, even if they were using me that made me foolishly pant for the FBI agent. Rubbing my legs together, damp juices slipped between my folds. This single act signed his death and probably my own. A woman my age shouldn’t ache for death, but I did much more than love at this point in my life. I had nothing left.
Boldly I challenged him, my lips hovering a breath away, “Then be afraid of me.”
I let him kiss me and for a brief moment it felt good to feel wanted and not forced even if I was a pawn in men’s war games. I made the choice to allow hands to push and pull disheveling clothes in the small office that smelled of musty books and cheap sandalwood cologne. Agent Jackson’s hands went around my back. The zipper of my dress slowly made its decent down, the gold teeth releasing on his steady pull on a high-strung note. The metal scrapped against my skin and I wished they were knives slicing me into a million tiny fragments so I could slip to the floor the same as I entered it, insignificant and bloodied.
He pulled the fabric forward exposing my white satin bra underneath. His fingers traced the gentle swell and slope of my barely present curves. I gulped back the air in my throat and let him look his fill. Only Adam had seen me like this and dismissed me many times. He cupped my breasts and fingers rubbed over my swollen nipples through lace. I shifted on the desk parting my thighs easily for him. His dress pants grazed against me and for the second time I felt a stirring of something. A heady rush of untapped desires overwhelmed my clammy flesh with the forbidden.
“You are so beautiful and underappreciated. A man like Adam Huntley doesn’t know your worth.” His words whispered against my neck seducing me as he kissed down my chest, licking the satin to a damp spot. I closed my eyes pretending he was someone I wanted and not this thing that wormed his way into my life like a parasite. Adam would kill me for this if I let it go too far, I had no doubt.
“And you do, Agent Jackson?” I roughly pulle
d his head up for a moment my nails grazing his scalp. He groaned a disgusting sexual sound and I let him think that this might be my kink. He had no idea what I tolerated at home.
“Of course.” He went back to kissing and licking, but I felt nothing. I couldn’t even muster the attraction of danger this time. I was certain, my husband, knew exactly my worth, after all, that’s how I ended up in this predicament.
I felt something other than hate, fear, or disgust. I felt a strange motivation to get Adam out of my life and pursue something different. Agent Jackson’s hand touched my knee encouraging me to open wider and let him in. It was hard to say no, I resisted slightly only to find him much too persistent. His hand closed over my thigh in a bruising grip. He was no better than the rest of them, all of them wanted honey from the pot, but they didn’t want to do right by it. I was so tired of being used and discarded for a man’s pleasure that I was denied again and again.
“And if you wanted to plant anything else incriminating, the feds are more than happy to corroborate.” He huffed hot sweated breaths that made me nauseous between touches. I thought about my integrity and what I’d sacrificed already. I’d help them discover the truth but no more. No one deserved to be judged on lies.
“No. Stop.” Reason made me pause to catch up to the fluttering of my heart.
He shook me in his arms and the jerk of actions reminded me too much of my husband. “Give it up Elizabeth. You want this as badly as I do. I’ll make it good for you.”
The strange truth was that part of me did, but not like this, and not with him. As much as I fantasized and entertained the idea, it wasn’t with this man who manipulated me for a different reason. He wanted something from me just like everyone else. Would I never be free? Would there be a time I was more than just a chess piece being blindly moved in a game?
“It doesn’t matter what I want. If I’m not home in twenty minutes, showered and presentable for Adam, he’ll smell you on my skin and beat me until I give you up. He’s done it before just for shits and giggles and I would sing like a fucking canary to end the pain like the pathetic being I am.” I panted hard and terrified powering through. “Agent Jackson, are you willing to take that risk? Blow your cover and hard work?” I nodded tipping my chin down at his swollen dick.
He released my leg and backed away adjusting the ridge in his pants that quickly faded from the bite of my caustic truth. It was true; there was no man strong enough to stand up to Adam Huntley, but Adam Huntley himself.
“After then?” I make a non-committal noise and let him adjust the cups of my bra and the back zipper of my dress in a clinical manner. His groping hands no longer sexy and desire dried up quicker than the Sahara.
Glancing over my shoulder adjusting clothes, I cautioned, “Let’s survive this first.”
A tight forced smile creased my face as he kissed my lips lightly over the curve of my shoulder. He had no clue how badly he was going to have to fight to survive.
“I have something else for you.” He said removing a small box from his jacket.
The box was velvet and small.
“What is it?”
“If Adam suspects anything, we need a way to extract you.”
He opened the box and lifted a bracelet from inside moving to put it on me.
My hands flew up blocking him, “Whoa, what is that?”
“It’s part tracker and part poison.” The platinum chain held a dangle charm on the end in the shape of an infinity symbol.
“That’s Eddie’s Squad unit.” I said holding it up to the light. The charm was a replica of the one on my necklace. Someone had been doing their homework.
“The end pops off and you can depress a poison into his body immobilizing him for about eight minutes.”
Eight minutes.
What I could do to an immobilized man for eight minutes made the wheels turn.
This was tantamount to handing me Pandora’s box. My chess game was already down several key pieces. I didn’t care about losing this stand-in as my Knight. I was more than willing to offer up my King to bring down the Castle. My only goal was to selfishly protect the Queen. I was tired of being the mindless pawn of men.
“I’ll be in touch.”
“Wait.” I stalled him.
“Yes?”
“I’ll do it, but I need something in return, as in you do this now and I’ll do this for you.”
“I’m listening.” He leaned back all cocky and I gave him a name. I wanted her protected no matter want. I would do this horrible thing but I would temper it with something good.
Agent Jackson left me in the room to collect my thoughts. The thumb-drive nearly burned a hole in my classic Chanel purse and my wrist was on fire thinking about the choices it offered me. I steeled myself for the ride home and the coming weeks until Dubai.
16
Elizabeth
The jet touched down in the middle of the night. A smooth hop on the runway woke me in the cabin bedroom. Clammy skin from sweating through my clothes, a dry throat, and groggy memories filled my head. Looking down, I found myself still wearing the designer jeans and silk blouse that stuck to my back and breasts despite the recycled air conditioning. My shoes were long gone from the struggle to get on board the plane and a lonely red soled pump was somewhere back in Teterboro, NJ.
Adam enjoyed traveling in style, the cars he kept and lavish accommodations spoke to the ruthless activities I assumed he engaged in to pay for all of it. This time a sheik he was meeting offered to let him use his private jet. Something about testing it out before he bought his own. My Husband jumped at the opportunity. He popped enough pills down my throat to subdue a jittery race horse.
Flying was not my thing.
Each time I was forced to accompany him, my body broke out in a cold sweat, stress induced vertigo, and I started throwing up from the anxiety. In an effort to remain somewhat in control of my faculties, I begged Adam to let me see a doctor who would prescribe me something for the flight. His last-minute plans said we didn’t have time for my drama and he forced me to take whatever he’d been keeping in the bathroom cabinet dragging me from the house sans purse and jacket.
Already, I fucked up this up. I could see Agent Jackson’s smug face turning into a frown of disappointment and my window of opportunity shrinking by the second. Guilt and doubt churned my stomach. I didn’t know where or when I would be able to make the switch considering this trip was a spur of the moment I’d been anxiously waiting for as if Adam knew I was up to something.
Rolling over in the bed my back hit a wet spot making me cringe. Passing out was a blessing while Adam rubbed his body all over mine in the night. I reached under the sheets to check and everything was as it should be. My fingers found the small drive in my jean pocket, small and wedged deep down. He’d missed it dragging me on board and I heaved a deep sigh thankful I kept it on my person yesterday. I was equally grateful he hadn’t striped me to get himself off.
He was the epitome of a perfect gentleman.
I snorted.
A sound from outside the room startled me to sit up faster than my body would allow bringing on a fresh wave of dizziness.
The door opened.
My dragon appeared resting casually against the doorframe smug and bored with his treasure.
“You may want to freshen up before we disembark the plane, my dear.” Adam strode over in front of the mirror fixing his dark grey tie looping the silk over to form the perfect Windsor knot. His hair, impeccably groomed, eyebrows plucked to male perfection. Adam was so good you would never guess he was from the same ward of Newark I grew up in. Now he travelled like a king as a world class arms dealer intent on arming terrorists.
And lucky for you ladies, he was all mine.
A girl could be so fortunate.
I stumbled from the bed shaking off the last remnants of the drugs I hadn’t thrown up as recommended by Doctor Adam. I had no idea where he got his shit from off the market. I guess the only boon was
that I didn’t crave the shit the way my parental DNA did. My head ached. I pulled a bottle of ice cold perfectly PH glacier water from the bar guzzling it down my throat and headed for the cabin bathroom.
A dress hung by a shower with the accessories I needed to achieve the look of an American socialite. Grey silk edged with black lace and beading covered the dress. A matching head scarf hung next to it. I was shocked my husband observed any form of traditional dress, but I supposed parading me around in a bikini might get me stoned to death or at the least embarrass him. The dress was beautiful and Adam wouldn’t hear me complain. I wouldn’t dare, but small consolations like this fucked with my head. He’d keep me well dressed and subdued because it fit his image as long as he had use for me.
Under the hot water of the plane shower, the remaining cobwebs cleared. I washed quickly praying Adam didn’t change his mind to join me. His recent threats to fill me with his spunk left me an anxious mess. I wasn’t sure he could get it up to put it in the right hole, but when his violent mood struck anything was possible. The rougher he was, the more likely he could do it if he wanted to. I wasn’t going to hedge my bets.
His behavior of late had been more erratic, and in bed his body felt like a furnace burning me up. I mentioned he might be sick with fever, and he slapped me so hard I couldn’t leave the house for three days. There wasn’t enough magic foundation to cover those marks. Adam apologized over and over. The irony would be if he dropped dead of natural causes after all this.
I rinsed and dried off. Styling my hair was a chore now that it was Adam approved. Heavy layers weighed me down, and getting the curls perfect forced memories of another time I didn’t want to remember.
The dress slid over my skin hugging my waifish shape. The gunmetal color gave me a dewy glow. Light makeup and kohl rimmed eyes completed my look. Drop earrings of platinum and onyx jet beads finish off the ensemble. My necklace rested against flesh and bone, a subtle reminder of why I’m here. I’m ready and I hope I can switch out the drives. My purse held small items, lipstick and a fake tube of mascara which I planned to hold the drive. Agent Jackson thought of himself as my knight in shining armor. The last thing I want is any man comforting me when this is all over.