by Sadie Jacks
I reached out a hand for her.
She slid hers in mine and we sat there in silence.
Chirping broke the melancholia that had settled in the bathroom.
“Let’s try this a different way.” Tali kicked off her shoes after she turned off the alarm on her phone. She hit the button for the drain and we waited while the water slid away.
Using a separate towel, she wiped up the bottom and sides of the tub as best she could. Tossing that towel away, she then stepped into the tub, her feet on either side of my hips. Raising each of my arms, she dried them off with a different towel. Ditching that one, she said, “Arms up,” as she crouched down.
I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and worked to get my feet under me as she raised my upper body slowly. I envisioned us in my mind as the intricate dance of two women in the shower played in my mind. She had me pressed against the wall, her body helping keep me upright.
She gradually lifted and pushed as I used my heels to help in whatever I could. Stuffing my face against her body, I made silly groaning noises into her neck and shoulder. “Oh Tali, so good. Yes.”
We were both laughing so hard by the time I got out of the tub that I almost fell over because my stomach was aching so bad. We stood there, one of us fully clothed holding the other completely naked with a towel between us. Propped up against each other, trying to not lay either of us flat on the floor.
“Everything okay in here?” Rafe asked from behind Tali. “Sounded like things were getting a little interesting for a minute there.”
We burst into renewed laughter. By the time we got our giggles under control, he’d gone again. Tali helped dry me off. I pulled on the tank top while she ducked down, my boy shorts in her hands. Using the counter for balance, I slipped each foot into the correct hole of the shorts.
She had them up and in place before I could take a good breath. “All good, sis. Feeling okay?”
I nodded, smiled. “So much better. Damn that Ryker.”
She snorted. Palmed something from the counter. Held out a glass of water. “Bottom’s up.” She dropped the two small pills in my palm.
I sipped some water into my mouth without swallowing, tipped my head back, let the anti-inflammatory medicine drop into my mouth and hurried to swallow everything before my gag reflex could get involved. I smacked my lips after I drained my glass. “Night night time.”
Tali nodded. “Thank the goddess.” She held her arm out so I could use her as a balancing option and we slowly made our way back into my bedroom. She helped me fall into bed and get my legs situated before crawling in over me.
“Night, shower lover,” she said softly.
“You dry me so well. Night night.”
We both burst into laughter again. It tapered away as we fell into sleep.
Chapter 15 – Willow
I knew I was dreaming. But even knowing that didn’t help ease the terror that held me captive. My body was stuck as my brain raged.
I came to already strapped down and immobilized. The tube in my mouth forced air into my lungs. He stood over me, his handsome face stretched into polite lines. “You have to do better this time, Willow. She’ll die if you don’t. Do you understand?”
Just as I was getting some feeling back in my fingers, I saw him depress the plunger on the syringe that he’d inserted into the IV line he’d set up in my arm.
“ease don do is,” I said, my words garbled around the tube in my mouth. I knew any begging was futile before he started. I had about thirty seconds before everything shut down again.
“You know why I’m doing this, Willow. I’m going to save lives. It’s you who are causing all of the failures and errors. How do you think it makes me feel when I have to throw another subject away just because you can’t get your mind in the game? All of these deaths are on your head. No one else’s.”
I felt the lead invade my veins. My muscles stopped responding to any messages. Nothing worked. My chest moved, but not because of any signal from my brain. He put the ventilator harness over my mouth as I slumped back into the bed.
From my research, I knew I had about twenty minutes before the sedative kicked in and I would essentially be dead to the world. He stole control of my body before stealing control of my mind.
His shoes squeaked and squawked on the plastic he’d laid on the floor as he moved around the hospital bed he’d set up for me six months after our honeymoon. I hadn’t been sick. But he had. And I was living proof that judging a book by its cover was a dangerous game.
He stepped into the other room. He was back in moments, his latest victim a silent wraith. She was nothing but skin and bone, her belly sucked in so far I could see the point on the base of her sternum. Her hair was chopped off at odd angles and her skin had a yellow cast to it.
Track marks and old needle injection sites lined her inner arms. Her elbows were sharp points that connected the fragile sticks of her upper and lower arms. But thankfully, mercifully, her eyes were already dead. She’d left this life long ago. It was only her body that hadn’t gotten the message.
“Now, let’s begin,” Ethan said. He grabbed his first implement, a modified taser. He thumbed the switch and put it against her belly.
Her body jerked and twitched in a sick paroxysm of dancing. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed against him.
Deep inside my mind, where he’d trapped me, I smiled. She’d bested him in the first round.
As he dropped her body, his handsome face morphed into that of the monster he carried under a thin shell of charm and doctorly superiority. His crystalline blue eyes lit from within like a demon inhabited his body. I could have sworn his skin withered slightly over his facial bones, but that was probably just the sedative playing tricks with my mind.
As her body hit the floor, he stood back. His chest heaved as his fists clenched. Between one breath and the next, he was stomping on her. I could hear the thin, snapping cracks. The deeper crush of shattered bones. The thick noises of entrails being squished under foot. It was a distinct noise I knew I’d recognize for the rest of my life.
And just as quickly as he started, he stopped. All motion ceased.
He pushed his hair back, straightened his tie, his lab jacket. Wiped a hand over his face. Then he smiled at me as if I’d made some funny little quip over an intimate dinner.
He approached the bed. Speckles of blood dotted every inch of him. One particular bead of crimson hung from the end of his nose like a tear.
I fought the sedative, knew—even without definite proof—what was going to happen next. The very fibers of my soul screamed and writhed as he brushed a blood-splattered hand through my bleached blonde hair. With his other hand, he kissed his fingers and laid them against the ventilator harness that kept me alive during these little experiment sessions.
“You’re so stunning, Willow. Every part of you. If you could just master the potential of your mind, you would be perfect in every possible way.” His breathing picked up. His panting breaths thick and heavy against my cheek.
Unable to move, to evade, he caught my face and turned me towards him. He removed the harness for a brief moment so he could lay his lips to mine. Just as my body was screaming for oxygen, he replaced it.
“Sleep well, my beauty. I’ll see you when you awaken.” He brushed his hand down my cheek as the lights went out in my brain.
**
I jerked upright in bed so fast I didn’t have a chance to feel the protest of my legs. My scream echoed through the room, slapped me in the face.
At the first sign of trouble, Tali rolled off the other side of the bed. As she popped up to her feet, her gun—a smooth and sexy Glock 19—was aimed and ready in her hands. “Come out here with your hands up, assmunch.”
Tears prevented me from laughing. All I could do was curl in on myself and try to let my soul heal with the washing flood of tears.
“Oh, baby,” Tali cooed. The slight thump of the gun on the nightstand, and then I
was cuddled in her arms. She ripped the blanket off the foot of the bed, wrapped it around me. “I’ll go stop the boys from invading.” She pressed a kiss to my head.
I pulled the blanket up and over my head. I was such an idiot. Such a whiny baby bitch that I couldn’t get past the horror.
I didn’t hear the thumps of the impending invasion, but I heard their soft voices as they talked out in the living room.
“She’s fine. Just a nightmare,” Tali said.
“Sweet fuck, I thought someone had come in and gotten her,” Rafe said.
I imagined him running a hand through his long hair right before he got sla—
SMACK! The sound of flesh against flesh was as familiar and comforting as Mama’s lasagna.
“Hey, watch it.”
“Like I would let anyone take her from under my nose. Asshole. You can leave now. I’ve got her.”
A smile pulled at my mouth as the mental image of her standing at the door imperiously pointing the way invaded my mind. It was a welcome distraction from the horror of my reality.
“I didn’t mean it like that, T. You know that. Come on, don’t be like that,” Rafe cajoled. He was probably giving her puppy eyes. The ones none of them could hold out against.
A loud smacking kiss, a hoot of victory, and the door slammed. I smiled. These people were my family. My literal safe harbor from the stormy seas of my life.
Tali stalked back into the room, a box of tissues, a bottle of wine, and half a bag of caramel dark chocolates. Under her free arm was her laptop. She was just as familiar with my nightmare routine as I was.
I scooted myself up towards the headboard, my arms pathetically weak still. I got a couple pillows stuffed behind me, and Tali helped wedge one under my knees after she dropped the Nightmare Recovery Kit on the bed.
Once we both got comfortable, we queued up the nighttime movie-thon. First up? Transformers. Unrealistic explosions, close to zero believable romance. And not one tear jerking scene in the whole almost-three-hour presentation.
We recited most of the lines and claimed a different mechanical robot slash car. Bumble Bee was mine and she couldn’t talk me into sharing. The familiar score, the sound of the explosions, the usual script lulled me back to sleep.
The wine and chocolate may have helped quite a bit, too. My last thought was a prayer to keep me safe from any more bad dreams. I have enough on my plate for tomorrow without compounding it with utterly shitty sleep.
Fucking nightmares.
Chapter 16 – Ryker
“Penn,” I mumbled into the phone.
“Hello Mr. Penn, I have a Mr. Rafael Amatucci and guest here at reception. I’m calling to verify your connection,” a pleasant feminine voice said down the line.
My eyes popped open. I turned to see the glowing numbers of the clock on my side table. “It’s four-fucking-thirty in the morning.”
The woman laughed softly. “Indeed, it is. Can you verify the relationship, please, sir?”
I got my head out of my ass. “Yes. Rafael Amatucci is a friend and I’ll vouch for him.” It was the second time in as many days that I’d claimed a closer relationship to an Amatucci than I’d ever thought possible.
“Thank you, sir. Enjoy your day.”
“Wait! Is the friend with him a female in her early thirties?” I asked before she could hang up.
“I can’t answer that information request, sir. If you would like to speak with Mr. Amatucci or his guest, you need to provide the correct name or visit during regular business hours. Have a good day.” The line went dead.
“Shit.” I rolled up on my elbow as I glared at the phone. I hit the number that had somehow taken up the number one position in my recently called list.
“For fucks sake, Penn,” Domenico Amatucci said. His voice was sleep rough and pissed.
Join the fucking club, bro. “Why the fuck is Rafe taking Willow for the forensic exam now? It was scheduled for nine a.m.”
“Because the nurse called Willow. They have mandatory training for certification renewal that she can’t miss. They bumped it up instead of pushing it back. Why does it fucking matter to you?”
“Because the reception nurse at Good Shepherd just called and woke me up. I figured I’d spread the love.” I plopped back down in my bed, scrubbed a hand over my face.
“Have you heard anything more from Wright or his team?” Domenico asked.
“Yeah. I got a call last night asking for access to my private and company phone records.”
He heaved a sigh. “Everything going to work out on your end?”
I snarled. “Just like I told Wright, my company is completely clean. My father was the one who did shady business. They can look at anything they want.”
“Ease back, man. I just wanted to make sure you were covered.”
I rolled my eyes, grimaced. “Sorry. I’m just fucking tired of having to answer for my father’s crimes.”
He laughed softly. “I knew of your father, but I didn’t have any dealings with him. I bet Pops did though.”
“Well, if you enjoy sordid drama, questionable ethics, and business deals that screw everyone but the big man himself, then enjoy your research.” I winced as I remembered who I was talking to. I sighed. “Do I need to apologize?”
“For speaking honestly? Never. My family doesn’t do traditional business, that’s true. But we’re honest, ethical, and dependable in those businesses.”
One of my brows raised. “Ethical? Really?”
He laughed again. “I said ethical. Not moral.”
I laughed. “Fair point. Any news on your end from Wright?”
He blew out a long breath. “No. I’m still waiting to hear from my contacts about how Errington found Will at the hospital at all. That’s the part that’s fucking up the flow right now.”
“You want me to ask around? I’m not on their board, but I’m friendly with a couple of the chiefs.”
A low rustling came over the line. “No. Not yet. Let’s keep that in reserve. If my end doesn’t pan out, we can try yours before I move on to more insistent means of communication.”
“Let me know.” I hung up. Scratching a hand down my chest, I figured I might as well get up and get the day going. I was a little surprised my alarm hadn’t woken me.
Until I remembered what day it was.
Fuck. My mouth pulled down at the edges as I mentally went through my day. I needed to set up a session with Synra. I was going to need the release by the end of this fucking day.
I pushed out of bed, stomped into the bathroom located at the far end of my room. I got the shower running as I did everything else. I stabbed the button to get the news on as I stepped into the glass shower that was bigger than most people’s dining rooms.
I’d just tipped my head to rinse my hair when I heard my name on the TV.
Breaking news: Business tycoon and resident billionaire, Ryker Penn, has been questioned by the DA’s office in conjunction with possible kidnapping charges. He was seen entering and leaving the DA’s office yesterday with the renowned Domenico, his personal attorney. No charges have been filed against Penn, but we’ll keep you up to date with the latest news.
I slapped the lever to shut off the water. Stormed out of the shower and straight to my bed where I’d left my phone. It rang as I was unlocking it.
“I swear if you’ve had something to do with this, I’ll—” Amatucci shouted.
“It wasn’t me. Why the fuck would I leak the story I’m trying to keep out of the press? I don’t need this kind of attention for PennCorp. Who on your end has loose lips?”
Amatucci made an animalistic growl. “No one in my business is stupid enough to speak to the press. Shit. Will. Stay close to your phone today, asshole.” He hung up on me.
I raced back to the bathroom, did a cursory rub down with a towel and moved to my closet to get dressed. I had my own fires to put out with this shitshow. I jammed my legs into my jeans, sat down and pulled on socks and tennis
shoes. I elbowed on a shirt before I grabbed up my keys, my phone, and my tablet.
My later appointment could suck my dick at my appearance. I had bigger things to worry about than how my associates thought I should be dressed. Another reason being the boss was so good. It looked like I was going to make those visiting hours at Good Shepherd after all.
**
“You’re too skinny, baby,” my grandmother said. Her voice was so soft as to be nearly inaudible. Her gnarled hands patted my arm.
“I’m sorry, Grams. I’ll try to bulk back up for you.” I’d have to buy a whole new set of shirts if I got any bigger. But this was the only woman who owned my heart. I’d do anything to make her happy.
A ghost of a smile passed over her mouth. “Good. My big strong boy needs to be healthy and vibrant. Not wasting away because he sits behind his desk too long. Ashcroft men are hearty. Not like those namby-pamby Penn boys. Oh, honey, I could tell you stories that would make your ears burn about your grandfather, my husband. He was so big and strong. Horny as a rabbit. But, oh my stars, did he make me feel good.”
I laughed. My grandfather had been the runt of the Ashcroft line. Which made him about average height in today’s world. He had been a beast of a guy though. Thighs the size of trunks, arms like mountains.
“I could do the same thing, Grams. So make sure you share accordingly.” I petted her hand.
She slapped at me. “Oh, you. You shouldn’t be telling ladies about your sexual conquests.”
“I’m just following your lead, you dirty old bird.” I kissed her knuckles. “Everything I know about how I treat ladies, I learned from you.”
Not exactly true, but I wasn’t about to send my Grams into an early grave with the reality of my sexual preferences.
“Then you treat them like princesses.” She dipped her chin in authority. “Good. That’s how you’re supposed to treat the love of your life. None of the wishy-washy bullpoop that I see on the television today. Once you find your lady, you wrap her up tight and never let her go.”