The Other Sister (Sister Series, #1)

by Leanne Davis

  “Jessie, stop! Stop it! It’s Will.”

  Will. She recognized the voice. Will Hendricks. The soldier. Her soldier. The only person who ever realized she was in trouble. She stopped moving, but her heartbeat raced like it was ready to leap right out of her chest. Dripping with sweat, her shirt clung to her back.

  Will immediately let go of her arms. He backed up from the bed as she came to. Will always released her. She trusted that.

  “Why is it so dark in here?” She hated the fearfulness in her voice, almost like a whine of anxiety.

  “I put you in my bed because you fell asleep. I turned the light out when I left.”

  “I can’t sleep in the dark.”

  “Okay. Okay, Jessie. We’ll turn the light back on. I didn’t know.” She heard his voice and its soothing quality, like he was talking her down from the ledge of a building. She could have been that, couldn’t she? She was like a crazy person trying to jump off a building. Then the lamp on the bedside table clicked, and she blinked as the soft, golden light filled the room, and revealed Will sitting beside her on the bed.

  The clock said it was only three-thirty. She hoped a good night’s rest would put things into better perspective. But she only made it halfway through the night. She slumped back down onto the pillow.

  His brown eyes were watching her. “What was it about?”

  “What?”

  “Your nightmare.”

  “The dark. What is it ever about?”

  “The cell?”

  “Yes.” She sat up. “Stay in here, please, I only fell asleep because I knew you were there.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not getting into bed with you.”

  “Then will you get a chair? Please, Will?”

  He tapped his foot impatiently. Did he think she was trying to seduce him? After what he saw tonight? Yeah, right. She supposed his mistrust was well deserved. She was known for just that.

  He finally went out and got a dining room chair, which he brought into the bedroom. He sat in the corner as far away from her as he could get. There was no mistaking Will wanted nothing to do with her.

  “That doesn’t look very comfortable.”

  “Neither was hanging out in the air ducts of the building you were being held in. I can handle it.”

  “Right, soldier. You can handle it all, can’t you? But you can’t handle being in bed next to me.”

  He sat down on the hard chair, and crossed his arms over his broad chest. He looked her straight in the eye. “I’ve had sex with women against walls too, and I’m not averse to sex for the sake of having sex. So, no. I’m not going to sleep next to you, precisely for that reason: if I should, accidentally or otherwise, wind up having sex with a kid like you. Besides, you’re just baiting me, because that’s what you do. You might as well stop. You’re not getting the upper hand with me, and you can’t manipulate me. So if you’re really freaked out, and I believe you are, I’ll stay over here. However, if you’re trying to prove you can seduce me for the sake of causing trouble, then I’ll leave. Which is it?”

  “Stay. Please. I’m sorry,” she said quietly, chagrined. He nodded and got up to turn the hall light on, before coming over to turn the bedside lamp off. The bed and chair were cast in shadows, but the hall light still illuminated the room.

  She lay quietly for awhile. He was quiet too, his head leaning against the wall, although there was no way he could last very long like that.

  “You killed four men that night.”

  Will shrugged at her statement. He looked at her, but she stared at the ceiling.

  “I can count.”

  “Does it bother you? Do you ever think about it? The way you did it, so silently, so easily… it looked easier than making a phone call! Do you realize how easily you can murder a man?”

  “Yeah, I realize it. I sometimes think about it. But remember, it wasn’t anything new for me.”

  She pondered his answer. Her entire life was spent in and around the military. She knew soldiers, and she knew what they did. She just never felt it so personally before.

  “Do you like that? Killing people?”

  “No. But if you hadn’t been in there needing my rescue, I would have taken a grenade and blown up the entire place as well as everyone in it.”

  “Is that normal? Do you always enjoy killing whoever our government says is your enemy?”

  “No, it isn’t normal.”

  “But you do it so ruthlessly. You scared me. I was terrified of you, almost as much as I was of them. You’re so cold. I thought I was next. You did not even act human while you were there. Is that how you like to be? Is that why you’re a soldier?”

  He shook his head. “I’m a soldier because I’m good at it.”

  “That’s why I hate soldiers, to them, killing is nothing. It’s normal. I don’t understand how anyone could want to make a career out of that. You don’t seem like you’d want to. You’re so decent. It’s hard for me to recognize the man here in the United States was the same one in Mexico. You hardly asked if I was okay the entire time we were together.”

  “Okay? You wanted me to ask you if you were okay? Jesus, Jessie, I saw you! How could I think for one second you were okay? Do you think it’s normal for me to watch a girl being raped from the roof? But I was there, loaded down with enough guns to do some serious damage. And what did I do about it? Nothing. Because I could do nothing, because my sole goal was to get you safely out of there. So I sat and watched it… for hours. I let them do that to you. I heard you. I saw you. And eventually, I had to turn away. I couldn’t watch it. It was that bad. I know why you’re not okay. I don’t have to ask why.”

  Her tears started falling halfway through his admission, but she kept staring at the ceiling.

  Softly, he added, “I’m glad I killed the mother fuckers. I would have taken the time to gut them slowly if I could have. Is that what you wanted to know about me?”

  “Yes. It’s what I wanted to know. I… wish you could have done that too. I think about that, what I wish could happen to every one of those men. Who were they?”

  “I don’t know. Your father didn’t find out?”

  “No. He doesn’t talk about it.”

  Will didn’t comment. She finally asked, “Why do you act like you don’t want to know me? Just because of what I do? Who I am? Because of the sex tape?”

  He snorted. “Because it’s impossible to look you in the eye after what I saw. You discount it, but I saw it all. And I can’t look at you without seeing it in my mind again. And it leaves me ashamed, knowing that I failed you.”

  She closed her mouth. She didn’t know any of this. Couldn’t have known. Her stomach twisted, and the emotions inside her became overwhelming. It was humbling to know the placid, quiet, exterior she’d seen thus far in Will, kept his feelings so well concealed.

  It also meant Will Hendricks would never regard her as a normal woman.

  “Why didn’t you tell my father everything you knew?”

  “It was the least I could do for you. This wasn’t a soldier’s mission, it was a cop’s. I had no business being there, but at least, I got you out.”

  “You will always feel guilty about me, won’t you? That’s the kind of man you are, isn’t it?”

  “I’ll never be at peace with what happened in Mexico. Neither will you.”

  “You’ll never look at me like I’m a normal person. Like how you see Lindsey, will you?”

  “No. There’s no way. Neither will you look at me and see me as normal in your eyes.”

  “You would probably hate the kind of woman I am if you didn’t know me from Mexico.”

  “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter.”

  “What does this make us, Will?”

  “Survivors, I guess.”

  Silence fell between them, before she replied, “I don’t know anything about you.”

  “You don’t need to know anything about me.”

  “I do. I need to know you.”<
br />
  “You won’t know me. There won’t be time.”

  “How old are you?”

  He sighed. Wasn’t he going to answer her? Finally, he said, “Twenty-eight.”

  “Is that why you keep referring to me as a kid?”

  “Yes. You look about sixteen no matter how much makeup and trashy clothes you try to appear grown up in.”

  “I think my sister’s interested in you. I saw her looking at you at our house.”

  “Nothing to do with you.”

  She turned on her side. “I know. How long have you been in the military?”

  “Joined up a year after high school.”

  “Why?”

  “Always planned on it. Special Forces were my childhood dream.”

  “I don’t get why anyone dreams of making war the main theme of his life.”

  He chuckled. “You’re really not a very good general’s daughter.”

  “No, I’m really not.”

  “You have any idea what your father’s like? I mean, in the field? He’s brilliant.”

  “No one cares if her father is brilliant if she—”

  “If she what? Why is it you hate him so much? Because he favors Lindsey?”

  “Well, there is that, but so much more. I don’t want to explain it. You won’t understand.”

  “Try me.”

  “No, you already know too much. What about you? Where’s your family? Why aren’t you married by now?”

  “She couldn’t take the life.”

  Jessie’s eyes popped open. “You were married?”

  “Three years.”

  “What happened?”

  “She couldn’t take my coming and going. She got pregnant, and I was on a tour when she miscarried. She couldn’t forgive me for not being there when she needed me. She left me.”

  “I had no idea,” she said, visibly processing his words. It was all so grown-up. She didn’t even imagine he had a history. “What do your parents think about your life?”

  “No parents. Dad left when I was kid, and my mom drank herself to death shortly after I joined up.”

  She was shocked. The silent, calm, serious soldier whom she knew nothing about suddenly became human and had a whole life, relationships, as well as color to his personality.

  “Thank you for telling me. I didn’t think you wanted me to know anything about you.”

  “I don’t. But here you are.”

  “Where is your ex-wife now?”

  “Northern California. That’s where I’m from. She stayed in the house. I think she’s dating someone new.”

  “Do you hate her?”

  “I would’ve liked if she were stronger. We met when we were young. I thought she could handle it.”

  “Stronger? I watched my mother live half her life alone, raising us, hating my father’s perpetual absence, and walking on eggshells whenever he came home so as not to ruin what little time they had together. My father missed everything important in our lives. Military living isn’t a life, much less a marriage, it’s a holding pattern. I would never marry a soldier. Ever. It’s nothing but heartache.”

  “Somehow, I don’t see you getting married.”

  No, just having a baby, she almost said, but thought better of it and shut her mind down. The whole point of spending time with Will was to stay away from there… and relax. She yawned. And to sleep. Finally, the need for sleep won out. If only Will could help her with the rest of her life.

  ****

  The next morning, Jessie woke up alone. Of course, Will returned to the post. Always more soldiering to do. She didn’t know how to perceive his help. She groaned as her dismal life came into focus. The things she said to Lindsey, her own humiliation last night, the anonymous sex, and Will. God, it never ended with her. Lindsey was right about that. The nausea began to well up again, and she ran to the bathroom. If the pregnancy was causing this, she hated it. It was the ceaseless reminder of something she wouldn’t acknowledge and couldn’t deal with.

  She found Will’s note, telling her to call a cab. He even left her a twenty, assuming she probably didn’t have any money with her. She wished she’d awoken before he left. She wanted to solidify the tentative truce they seemed to have forged. She hoped after this, she would see him again. But first, she had to face her sister, praying that her sister didn’t tell her father.

  She took a cab to the neighborhood where she parked her car. She went home, and snuck in quietly. After changing her clothes, she drove to her sister’s apartment once again. She knocked hesitantly. Lindsey opened it, and nearly shut it in her face. Jessie wedged her shoe in the door.

  “I don’t ever want to see you again.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t care. I’m done. Totally done with you and all your shit. I know you didn’t go home last night. I don’t know how you managed to get even a decent guy like Will to sleep with you after what he’s witnessed. I don’t know how you do it, but you still do it, don’t you? Even Will, the one man you knew I liked. Fuck you! Lord knows you’ve done it enough to me.”

  Jessie stepped back. She’d never heard Lindsey swear, or talk with such vehemence. “It’s not like that with Will and me. I swear to you, Lindsey, we didn’t have sex. We won’t. He doesn’t see me like that. He sees me more like a wayward puppy he saved from getting hit by a car. He doesn’t want to take the puppy home and own it or take care of it, but at the same time, he has a connection to it even if he doesn’t want one.”

  Lindsey stared at her, squinting her eyes. “Maybe you didn’t sleep with Will, but you still said all those things. Right there in middle of the restaurant. Don’t worry, someone got it on their cell phone. It was recorded. Hit YouTube a few hours ago. The General’s Daughter—At It Again. Only this time she’s after her hero.”

  Jessie closed her eyes. Oh God. No. Her father would hurt her. Not figuratively, but literally this time.

  “Everything you said and did last night went viral.”

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, knowing her apology was utterly inadequate. “I would take it back if I could.”

  “Nothing you do can ever be taken back or fixed. You announced to the world that I’m a virgin, right in front of Will. How could you? I hate you! Don’t come back here again. Dad called, looking for you. You’d better go to his office.”

  “Linds—” The door slammed in her face. Jessie leaned her head against it as fat tears welled up and plopped over her cheeks. How could she face her father? What would he do to her? Jessie straightened, turned, and obeyed her sister.

  Chapter Ten

  Jessie entered her father’s office, and there was a buzz around her as she walked past her father’s soldiers, men and women whose entire careers were focused on honor and duty. She was an embarrassment to all they stood for. She knew that. She disgraced her father, and therefore everyone in uniform. Until now, she loved that reputation. She wanted to remain just what she was. But now? Now, she wanted to disappear into vapor.

  Her skin flushed, she was completely ashamed. She was their enemy, making a martyred walk through the gauntlet. Finally, she entered the sterile world of her father’s office. He stood up at her arrival. His face was stony and imposing. He stared her down, unflinching, and unmoving until she dropped her gaze and took a chair.

  She tried to believe her behavior was only because she liked thumbing her nose at her father. But in fact, all her life, everything she did was primarily to get his attention. She was not proud of who she was or what she did to get her father’s love. Even more humiliating is that nothing worked.

  “Do you think I arranged to get you home safely just so you could do this to me? I should have let you rot in Mexico.”

  She turned her head away.

  “You’re a bad person. You do bad things. You wonder why Mexico happened to you and not Lindsey? Karma, that’s why, or God giving you what you deserve.”

  “I’m sorry, sir,” she whispered, her voice barely audib
le.

  “You’re sorry? You humiliated yourself, your sister, and me. Sorry doesn’t even touch this. Will took you home? What did you do with him?”

  “Nothing.”

  He laughed a hollow laugh. “I’ve had the displeasure of watching my daughter giving head on a full screen. How many other men have to live with that? Don’t patronize me with your virtues. I repeat, what did you do with him?”

  “Nothing, sir. I swear.”

  The general fell silent. She finally raised her eyes to his to see what he was doing. His eyes were on his desk, but they were unseeing. Finally, he plopped down in his chair and leaned back, to put his elbows on the armrests. Then, with his fingers on his chin, he finally smiled. “We’ll just pass the baby off as his.”

  Jessie’s mouth fell open, and her fingers raked into her palms.

  “How did you know?”

  “I’m not as stupid as you. You’re not good at hiding anything. We’ll just let Will think he fathered it.”

  “No. We won’t. He knows it can’t be his baby. I really did not sleep with him.”

  The general continued to stare at her.

  “I didn’t, sir.”

  “That’s a first. The one time it could have actually worked to our advantage. At least, your sister isn’t like you. I always hoped she was more selective, not that she was still a virgin, and there you were laying into her as if that were a bad thing. So explain to me why Will Hendricks doesn’t hate you? Why did he help you last night?”

  “Because he feels sorry for me.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “He knows, doesn’t he?”

  “What?”

  “Will must know everything. Otherwise, he’d be reacting differently to you. He’s protective of you, and if that’s not possessiveness, then what? He must know what happened to you. Does he know you’re pregnant?”

  She nodded her head.

  The general pressed a button on his phone. “Send Colonel Hendricks in.”

  Dizziness washed over her. The room was closing in, her father was staring at her, and now Will came in with that strangely perpendicular perfect stride of a good soldier. Will stopped and saluted her father, without looking this way or that. His face totally expressionless, he stood there, not even glancing her way. It was as if she were suddenly invisible. Like that, she saw the root cause of most of her problems: she was always invisible, despite how hard she tried not to be. But somehow, it hurt much worse that Will refused to see or acknowledge her.