Healing Inc.

by Tarbox, Deneice

  Her thoughts shifted to her friends and her beloved husband. She suspected that her friends had not been harmed but she knew this would be a deep blow to her husband, especially when he found out that she was pregnant. He must be going crazy about now. Her heart ached, not for her current situation but for the anguish she knew it would bring the man she loved. “God please watch over him.” She whispered into the empty room. Just then, her eyes were assaulted by the overhead light being turned on by someone entering the room.

  “I see you’re awake,” Harry said from the doorway dressed in his usual black leather attire. Her squinted eyes trailed him as he came to stand beside the bed. She noticed that the injuries she had inflicted upon him were still quite visible. “So, the little girl has blossomed into a little warrior.” A playful grin danced on his features. Evy continued to stare at him, the malice she harbored toward him evident in her scowl.

  “I suppose I’d have to agree with you on that one Harry.” Her attention was now drawn to the woman who had spoken and the thin white guy she had encountered in the ally. He was carrying a tray of food. They stood stoic in the doorway that Harry had just come through. She couldn’t believe her eyes as they followed Abby to the foot of her bed. “Don’t look so surprised, little sister.” Abby greeted with a wide smile. Evy’s eyes widened at her words. “I do hope you slept well.”

  “That might have been more easily done if these chains were off me,” Evy answered, trying to hide the sharp stab she felt from Abby’s declaration of their kinship.

  “Sorry dear sister, no can do. I’ve heard and seen what you can do with those chains off.” Both women shifted their gaze to the two males in the room who still sported busted lips, black eyes and multiple bruises from Evy’s attack. “Poor Edmond here was just supposed to drive,” she remarked indicating the man with the food.

  Placing the tray on the end table, Edmond quickly retreated from the room. Evy shuffled up as high as she could in the bed. Leaning back against the headboard, she started to eat the modest meal of peanut butter toast and orange juice, welcoming the nourishment. She would need all of her strength to digest what Abby had just told her and to devise a plan to get out of this mess.

  “So what’s the plan?” she asked.

  “The plan?” Abby echoed with a raised left eyebrow. “Why don’t we start with why you’re here?”

  “Okay…why am I here and why are you calling me your sister?”

  “You can thank your husband for that, or should I say my daughter? Either way, I had been looking for you for years until he brought you right to my doorstep. On Christmas day even! What luck!”

  “Lucky for whom?” Evy managed to ask in between bites.

  “You, actually. You see my original intent was to have you killed. That’s what I sent Harry to convince Raheem to do all those years ago. Too bad they weren’t smart enough to check a pulse.” She rolled her head and eyes until they landed on Harry who countered by fidgeting from foot to foot. “Your disappearance was a blessing. Until Chicago reopened the investigation, that is.”

  “All this talk but you still haven’t explained why or how we are supposedly sisters.”

  “Your mother broke my heart as well as daddy’s when she left us. I didn’t understand why my big sister took off without saying goodbye until I was much older. Getting cozy with daddy’s lawyer was all it took, he being my first good fuck and all.” Abby stopped and gloated at the memory of the older man having his way with her young body. “He explained the whole situation of how my father fell in love with Katrina and briefly considered leaving my mom for her.”

  She moved over to the window. It was then as Evy watched her stare out into the darkness, wearing casual attire of blue jeans and a pink cashmere sweater, that she noticed the slight resemblance between them. Abby was petite and olive with smaller facial features and larger breasts. Her black hair was longer and straighter, almost silk like, landing in the middle of her back. She could have easily passed for Caucasian. But they both had the same eyes. Evy could only assume that they had inherited them from their father.

  “Daddy doesn’t know that Katrina not only left New York heartbroken but pregnant with you. When I found out that he had willed her a substantial amount of his net worth, I had her found and dealt with.” Evy’s jaw came to a halt as she stopped chewing the piece of toast in her mouth. “Oh, yes,” Abby nodded turning back to her. “The car accident wasn’t a mishap. Harry’s usually very good at what he does and then some.” She reached out and rubbed Harry’s arm. “But, then we found out about you. As thrilled as I was to have a real blood sister, I could not risk having to share daddy’s fortune with you.”

  “Then why not just kill me now?” Evy felt that she was pushing her luck but she had to get into this psycho woman’s head. She couldn’t allow the fury she felt rising from the pit of her stomach to interfere with her chances of survival.

  “I plan to let Harry do that but not before I get Tyler and his rich uncle to dole out some of their cash.” Abby was giddy with the thought of being so wealthy. “You see if I remember correctly, Tyler is a bit of a sap when it comes to love. He was always so gentle and caring in bed, never realizing what a bore he was. I mean really, what kind of man doesn’t fancy having his dick sucked?”

  “Apparently one with no real incentive. It’s amazing how much more wanton and full of life he is now that you’re not around to suck it out of him.”

  “You’re so cute.” Abby’s words were full of sarcasm as she displayed a wry smile. “Harry.”

  Harry stepped closer to Evy and backhanded her sending the contents of her mouth flying across the bed. “That’s for your smart mouth and for hitting a gentleman.”

  “Hitting a gentleman, huh? You wait till my husband hits you, then you’ll have something to complain about,” Evy retorted. She narrowed her eyes, casting both him and Abby a foreboding glare that coupled with her words made the pair visibly flinch.

  After recovering from the bite of her words, Harry put his face so close to hers that their noses touched. “My, oh my have you changed! Perhaps I’ll have my time with you after all. I love me some women with attitude.” He grasped her chin with his large hand and slowly dragged his large flat tongue up the right side of her face. Evy revolted against his touch but could do little more than grimace due to the confines of her chains.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll unchain you first. It wouldn’t be as much fun if you weren’t able to fight back.”

  “Enough of that!” Abby’s voice was stern. She stood with her legs spread slightly and her arms crossed over her chest unable to hide her covetousness. “Harry don’t you have a ransom message to send?”

  Harry let go of Evy’s chin. “I’ll see you later,” he said seductively. He slowly moved his large hand down the front of her body causing Evy to cringe from his touch, not the least bit aroused by the act. He stood up and sauntered out of the room leaving the two women alone.

  “What makes you think Nathan Moriatti will pay for me?” Her eyes were closed and her breathing labored as she fought off the revulsion brought on by Harry’s vulgar touch.

  “Simple. You’re one of them, just as I am still considered to be. You see, that little monkey that I gave birth to ensures my safety within that family. The only one who could order me harmed is your boy Tyler and he’s way too craven to do such a thing. Besides, he has no idea that I’m behind this and that is another reason among many that I have to have you killed. Sorry sis,” she said with a smile turning on her heel to leave. “I’ll have Edmond bring you some more food,” she threw over her shoulder.

  Once again, Evy was left alone with her thoughts. She quickly ascertained that Abby wasn’t entirely the racist she thought her to be but she was far from capable of loving anyone but herself. She had no doubt her sociopathic sibling and her boyfriend would slay her. She had to find a way to survive this, not only for her sake but for the sake of her husband and unborn child.

  ***


  “From what I can gather, they are definitely sisters.” Marcus responded to Tyler who had just asked the same question for the third time in twenty four hours. “Again, when I saw the t-shirt with the Rollsworth company emblem on it I realized Evelyn’s connection to New York. Miguel helped confirm this by telling me about Katrina’s internship for the company and how she came back pregnant.”

  Tyler’s head was whirling. Marcus had been forced to hold off on this full disclosure until after the FBI could clear Tyler of any participation in the kidnapping of his wife. A day later and Tyler was still having trouble accepting it. He, Nita, Tony and Marcus now sat in front of the fireplace in the large expensively decorated living room of his mansion. All wore the same clothes that they had on twenty four hours ago, minus their suit jackets and shoes. The warm terracotta walls and the blazing fire did little to sooth them. Tyler had insisted that Nita and Tony go home but Nita wouldn’t have it.

  Two FBI agents, a short skinny red head and a tall blond woman were milling about in the kitchen, setting up surveillance equipment in anticipation of a call from Evy’s abductors. They had been unsuccessful in tracking down the van.

  “So you’re telling us that Abby’s father, Eric Rollsworth, had an affair with Katrina when she was only seventeen?” Nita pointed out. She shook her head at the thought of the older man taking advantage of her friend’s mother.

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Marcus confirmed. “It’s public knowledge that Mrs. Rollsworth is an alcoholic, even though she’s been clean for some time now. Apparently, her husband brought Katrina into their home under the guise of providing a role model slash nanny for Abby who was only eight at the time. I interviewed a couple of the other interns and staff who confirmed that the two were inseparable until Katrina suddenly went away. From what I gather no one knew why.”

  “This doesn’t explain why Abby would want to hurt Evy,” Tyler stated. He was riddled with guilt at having brought Evy to Abby’s home for Christmas. He knew it was only a matter of time before Abby found out about her but he still couldn’t shake the remorse of having introduced them so soon after their marriage, not to mention ruin him and Evy’s first Christmas.

  “That’s the million dollar question. She could have been hurt by Katrina’s departure, or the discovery of her father’s infidelity could have pushed her over the edge. I’m sure that the fact that Evy is now married to you doesn’t help matters. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget money. You’d be amazed at the extent people will go to have it.”

  “You still haven’t explained why Abby is a suspect.” Tyler was still in denial about the malevolent capabilities of his ex-wife.

  “The large African-American from the surveillance recording is Harry Pembroke, a bad news type of guy. The FBI has been tailing him for years, trying to catch him in action. They suspect him to be associated with at least ten rapes and murders but they haven’t been able to get anything concrete on him, he’s so slippery. Those are just the activities that we know about. According to the police report, he was one of the three men present during the assault on Evy and the murder of her boyfriend but he managed to disappear with the other two guys before anyone could connect him to it. Rumor has it, he and Abby met at a frat party many moons ago and have been somewhat of a hidden item every since. She has a lot of control over him.”

  “A frat party! Abby’s four years older than me which means…”

  “She was with him while you were married,” Tony finished for him.

  They noted the solemn change in Tyler’s features as the meaning of this sank in. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was now contemplating the paternity of his only daughter, Cecile. He had never questioned her dark skin because he knew that it was possible due to Abby’s multiracial background. Now he wondered if this was the reason behind Cecile’s rich coloring and kinky hair.

  “If we can find him we can find Evy.” Marcus knew he needed to refocus the group. He couldn’t have Tyler losing his temper with the FBI agents in the next room. “Does Abby own any secluded locations that you know of?”

  “Not that I can think of. It was a very fleeting marriage.”

  “What about before you were married?”

  Tyler thought hard about the short lived, sex filled time he had with Abby before she became pregnant. “Her parents owned a cabin on a lake just outside of Oneonta but that was a long time ago.”

  “I’ll let our FBI guys know about it. In the meantime, we need to stay by the phone like the agents requested.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Tyler’s jaw clenched as the words fell from his mouth. You inform your people, I’ll inform mine he thought. A moment later his cell phone chimed indicating that a text message had been received. Hearing the sound, the two FBI agents quietly filed into the room. All eyes were on him as he lifted it from the table to check it. It was from Evy’s cell phone.

  Do not try to trace this because you will find the phone is still in Oklahoma City. She is not. You have 48 hours to come up with $10 million. I advise you to contact your uncle to help cover this cost. She will only be returned after the money has been picked up from your uncle’s Laundromat.

  Tyler read the message out loud then looked to the authorities for guidance. The tall blond agent took his phone and went back to the kitchen to attempt a trace while the other positioned himself by the door in deep thought. Whoever had his wife either had balls the size of Texas or was downright stupid. He suspected the latter to be the case. He silently hoped that Abby wasn’t that dense. He couldn’t disregard the fact that she was still Cecile’s mother.

  “I guess it’s time to call your uncle,” Marcus stated, trying to keep his grin at bay. Until that moment, he had every intention of keeping all actions in the solving of this case legitimate. Now that the abductors had the audacity to challenge a mob king, of all people, their lives were in their own hands as far as he was concerned.

  He knew that Tyler’s uncle had been behind the discovery of the leaky information on this investigation. With that knowledge, he had been able to send Harry on a wild goose chase to Maine while he continued to connect Evy to Abby. Compounding this information with the ruthless reputation of the Moriatti clan, it would be a very cold day in hell before he stepped in the way of Nathan Moriatti.

  “The phone has been traced to a garbage dumpster around the corner from the homeless shelter down town,” the blond FBI agent informed them. “It looks like they put one of those guys up to sending the message, probably by offering him nothing more than a forty ounce for goodness sake.” The disgust was clear in her voice.

  “That’s okay,” Marcus assured her. “I think we know where to find them.”

  Chapter 17

  Snow fell in Oneonta on the last Saturday of January. Evy spent the day gazing out the window of the prison she had occupied for the last few days. She imagined that it was snowing where her loved ones were, hoping that it wouldn’t be the last snow fall she shared with them.

  She thought about her poor mother, Katrina and all the heartache she had caused her when she left home to be with David. Her mom had been an only child who had lost her own parents at a very young age and then her daughter to a selfish, sadistic bastard. The man who was her father had probably been some kind of father figure for her and more than likely used it to his advantage to seduce her. She surmised that she would never be granted the opportunity to decide whether she hated him for what he did to her mother, or love him for giving her the life she had eventually come to cherish.

  She knew her thoughts had turned grim but something told her to prepare for the worst. Abby had been in earlier in the day. Although she didn’t come right out and say it, Evy knew the visit was a goodbye. She apparently planned to spend the night at a fund raiser, granting her a high profile alibi in case suspicion ever turned her way.

  She wasn’t sure who she was left with but assumed Harry would be in at any moment to finish what he started the other day. They had bathed her and
changed her clothes after Abby stated she could no longer tolerate the smell. He had licked his lips, staring at her while she disrobed and sat in the bathtub exposed cleansing herself. Abby had auspiciously warned him not to touch her again until she gave the go ahead.

  The thought of anything of his on her again, including his lecherous gaze, sent shivers of discontent down her spine. She knew she wouldn’t be able to hold him off due to the fatigue of pregnancy and the bland diet that they kept her on. Luckily, she hadn’t had an ounce of morning sickness and was able to keep the little bit of food down.

  She idly played with the hem of the short gown. It was a simple pink cotton smock that Abby had slept in as a teenager. It was too short for Evy who was eight inches taller than her sister but more comfortable than the clothing she had discarded.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of men’s voices just outside her room. Fear gripped her as she watched the door knob turn. Time seemed to slow down as the door ominously creaked open, granting her a glimpse of her unwelcomed antagonist. He strolled into the large room wearing that grin she had come to loath with all her being. The room seemed to shrink in the presence of his large menacing mass but Evy refused to let him see any iota of fear she harbored.