by S. E. Rose
We lie in silence on the floor for a few minutes. Finally, I stand up and finish plating our breakfast. I pass him a plate and then sit down on the messy floor and eat.
“That was delicious,” Jack announces as he stands up and holds out a hand for me. I take it and stand next to him.
“This,” I say, motioning around us. “Is a certifiable disaster area.” He laughs and places our plates in the sink.
“Well, we can clean this up, but first, I need to clean you up.” He picks me up and carries me up to the shower. We finish showering, but we don’t finish with each other. It’s a good hour before we make it back to the kitchen to clean up the other mess.
It’s 8:00 a.m. and we still have a whole day before us.
“What shall we do?” Jack asks while I sit on his lap. We stare intently at each other, saying nothing.
“I need to get out of here,” I whisper.
“Not happening.”
“Please, Jack, just up to Oliver’s. There are agents everywhere, we’ll be fine,” I plead, trying to give him my best puppy dog eyes. He tosses his head back and laughs.
“You are naughty. And a lot of good the agents did us last time.”
I poke my finger against his chest. “You should know. But seriously, I can’t stay captive here any longer. Agents, no agents, whatever, we need to get out of this house.”
“Fine, but just up to the main house.”
“Yes, perfect,” I say and I start texting Oliver before Jack can change his mind.
Laura: Oliver- can we pretty please come over for dinner? I’m dying here.
Oliver: (laughing emoji) Yes. Maybe your agents can hang out with my agents.
Laura: Yay! An agent party. 6?
Oliver: Yes.
“Done.”
“Huh?”
“We are going to Oliver’s at six,” I say and he shakes his head.
“You are hopeless.”
“I know,” I say with a shrug as I jump off his lap and head downstairs to clean the kitchen. I decide to spend a few minutes meditating in the garden. I reach for the door and find that it is unlocked. That’s strange, I think to myself. I must be losing my mind. Jack’s drilled into my head the “lock your door” routine so many times that I think he knocked a screw loose. After meditating, I spend time reading as Jack works out on the boxing bag. We make sandwiches around 2:00 p.m. and I remember I need to FaceTime with my kids.
“Hey, you,” I say when Lily answers.
“Hi, Mom!” she says. “How are you? Is everything OK there?”
“Yes, yes. I’m fine. Everything is OK.”
“How’s Jack and everyone? And Rose?”
“They are all fine. How are you guys?” I ask her with a bit of trepidation.
“Mom, seriously, I’m going to be alright. Maya, Nick, Chris, and Eva and I are going out tonight.”
“Well, be careful.”
“Seriously, woman, get a grip. We. Are. Fine.” She rolls her eyes with exasperation.
I laugh. “OK, sweetie. I love you and have fun tonight.”
“I will. Love you lots. Bye, Mom,” she says and hangs up as she blows me a kiss.
I feel him before I see him. “Those kids love you so damn much.”
“I know and I love them.” Jack wraps his arms around me and kisses my hair.
“You want to help me in the garden for a bit?”
“Sure,” I say as I close the lid on my laptop.
We work in silence in his garden for a few hours. I pick weeds and water plants and cut roses and snapdragons, two flowers I can actually identify, for a bouquet in the kitchen. My gardening skills have definitely improved under Jack’s tutelage. Of course, Jack watches me like a hawk and makes sure I only pull actual weeds.
“We should wash up. It’s almost quarter past five,” Jack says from across the garden.
I nod and I grab my flowers and head inside. I throw on a turquoise sundress and a pair of gold strappy sandals. I’m putting on some makeup when I feel Jack staring at me. I look past my reflection in the mirror to meet his gaze. He’s leaning in the doorframe in a pair of dark jeans and pale-blue button-down shirt. He looks edible and I lick my lips as I apply one last brush of powder on my cheek.
He saunters toward me and wraps his arms around my waist so that his head is sitting on my shoulder. “You are beautiful,” he whispers against my ear as he grazes it with his teeth. I feel the goose bumps up and down my arms and legs. I turn to face him.
“You’re not so bad yourself.”
“I clean up well, what can I say?” He smiles down at me, but then frowns. “I wish this would all be over, Laura.”
“Me too,” I say in a quiet voice. He kisses me gently and then takes my hand and leads me down the stairs and out to his car.
Rose is at the front door as we pull around the circular drive. She runs down to greet us as we get out of the car.
“Laura! Uncle Jack!” she cries in delight and throws herself, first at Jack and then at me. “I’m so glad you came up here. We are going stir crazy. I don’t know how I’m possibly going to survive the rest of the summer with Mum and Daddy. They are impossible!”
“Well, princess, you know you can always come down to the gatehouse and visit me whenever you want,” Jack offers and squeezes her hand.
“Awwww, thanks, Uncle Jack,” she says and rises up on her tippy toes as she pulls him down and kisses his cheek. He smiles down at her and I can see the love and adoration he has for his niece. It makes me smile.
Oliver greets us at the door with Mal. They smile and say hello. Mal grabs my hand as the men head toward the study for cocktails. Rose follows them asking Jack about his sleepover offer. He gives me a look as they walk away and I smirk at him. He smiles and puts a hand on Rose’s head.
“We need to talk,” I say to Mal with a raised eyebrow. She smiles sheepishly and walks us down a long hallway. It’s a wing I haven’t explored much. She opens a door and we walk up some steps and then down another hall. She opens a door into a wonderful conservatory. There are all sorts of flowers and plants in the room and sun filters through the windows that form three walls and the ceiling. It must stick out over the kitchen and pantry. It looks like a giant greenhouse. It has a small metal table with four chairs around it and several lounge chairs. Mal motions for me to sit and I sit at the table.
“Sooooo???” I ask, drawing out my American accent.
“What?” she asks and then laughs at the expression of frustration on my face.
“Laura, I don’t know. I don’t know what happened. One minute I was over him, or I thought I was over him, and the next minute he’s making love to me like we never have before. He’s just so different.”
“Mal, you were blind if you thought you were over him. I could see the chemistry between you two from outer space.”
“We haven’t told Rose anything yet. I want to take it slow and see what happens.”
“And sleeping with him is taking it slow?” I raise an eyebrow.
“Shush you. I can’t help that he’s mad sexy and after a drink or two last night. Well, I caved.”
“I hope you at least had the best orgasm of your life,” I say as I look over at her and watch a blush creep across her pale skin. “Well, well, do tell.”
She slaps my hand. “A lady never kisses and tells.”
“Well, good thing you aren’t a lady, so dish it.”
“After Rose went to bed, we had a nightcap. I was sitting next to him and he told me about how he had had a little crush on you and that in the end he just couldn’t stop thinking about me and him. He said he’d wanted to talk with me, but didn’t know how and thought I hated him. So he just stopped trying and then couldn’t get the nerve up to try. Anyhow, we talked for hours and when we went up to bed he took my hand and kissed it. I reached up and kissed him before I knew what I was doing. And then I ended up in his room. And well…you know.” She looks at me a bit embarrassed as her cheeks flush with colo
r again.
“I think it’s great!” I exclaim. I touch my glass of wine to her and we cheers. I change course and look at her with a more serious face. “Do you know about Alexei?”
“The boat?” she asks as if we are speaking in code.
“Yes.”
“We know. Jack texted Oliver.”
I nod. She reaches over and squeezes my hand. “We’ll be alright, I promise.”
“What is with everyone always promising everything will be fine? Seriously, I think we are all delusional.” I pause and look at her. “You are a lot surer of yourself than I am.” I look away and take another sip of wine.
The dinner is delicious as always and we all sit around the table talking. It seems so, well, normal. As we are sitting, Jack pulls his phone out and looks down. We all stop and stare at him.
“It’s nothing,” he says, reassuring us and everyone starts talking again. I suddenly realize that I don’t have my phone. I try to push my anxiety aside, but I know it won’t dissipate. What if the kids need me? What if something happens and I can’t reach someone? I scoot my chair back and both Jack and Oliver stand.
“Please excuse me for a moment. I…uh…I forgot my phone.” I squirm a bit at all the stares including Rose’s. “I’m just going to go get it.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jack says.
“No, no, you and Oliver go have some after-dinner drinks and I’ll get one of the agents to run me down to the house. It’ll only take a second. It’s on the charger in the kitchen.”
I can tell by his stare that he doesn’t want me going without him and I give him a hard look back that says “don’t even think about it.” After what feels like a minute, he gives in and nods. I excuse myself and head back to the main hall. I open the front door and find three agents speaking. They all stop and look up at me.
“I just forgot my phone, I’m going to go and get it. No need to worry, it’ll just take a second.”
A young man in a Men In Black-style suit steps forward. “I’ll drive you back, miss,” he says, nodding toward an unmarked car. I contemplate his offer for a moment, but only because he called me miss and not ma’am.
“Oh, no. Really, it’s OK,” I assure him.
“I’m sorry, but I’m under strict instructions not to let you go alone,” he says.
I roll my eyes because I’m guessing those instructions came from Jack and not Agent Banks.
Chapter 35
Laura’s Playlist: “Strong” by Robbie Williams
We slowly drive down the tree-lined drive and pull up in front of the gatehouse. The agent escorts me to the front door, which is unlocked. The door swings open. I swear Jack locked it. I don’t know why, but as I push open the door, I suddenly feel as though something is not right. I tell myself, I’m being ridiculous. I’m overthinking this locked-door thing again. The agent puts a finger to his lips and motions for me to wait in the hallway. There’s security just outside the house. I can see the car sitting just by the gate.
I wait for a few moments and the agent reappears and tells me the house is clear. He walks back out as I turn on the hall light. Everything seems in order. I start toward the kitchen and reach over to grab my cell phone.
“Well, hello, Laura.” A cold steely Russian accented voice emerges from the darkness of the main room and I go still. “I’m sorry I took so long. I was, well, how do you say, delayed by some unfortunate circumstances.” I turn very slowly and see Alexei standing in front of the sofa holding a gun with a silencer in his hand. I freeze, as a million thoughts go through my head. “I was rather hoping your boyfriend would be here as well. It would have been so much easier, but this shall be a bit more exciting, no?”
“Alexei, there’s security all over. In fact, they are right outside. If they hear me scream…”
“I don’t think they’ll be hearing anything.” He walks over to me in three strides and grabs my arm and drags me to the back door. He opens it and turns on the outside light, just in time for me to see the agent that had escorted me fire two shots into the car’s window. I gasp as I watch blood splatter on the window of the security car. “So, as you see we are all alone.” He motions for the agent to follow us back inside. The agent does so and takes a seat in the hallway.
Alexei turns back off the light and pulls me down the hall. When we reach the living room, he pushes me into a chair. He ties me to it with some rope. I hear my phone buzz, but he ignores it. As he finishes tying my left ankle he slowly traces circles up my inner leg and I stiffen in fear as his finger grazes my sex. “No knickers. You are a very bad girl, are you not, Laura? Maybe you won’t be so hard to tame after all.” I squeeze my thighs hard and he laughs as he pulls his hand away from me. “I’ll explore that later, but first let us put this on, I don’t want Jack getting a head start on me now.” He chokes me slightly so my mouth opens and he stuffs some kind of ball in it and then wraps a bandana around my mouth and head. I can’t talk and he smiles at me. “I can’t wait to shove my cock in that pretty little mouth of yours. Too bad you got your daughter and Jack’s niece back. They would have provided me with countless hours of amusement. Nothing’s like a tight young virgin, but alas, I probably would have just sold them. As you know, little girls and young virgins go for a very high price.” Tears begin to fill my eyes. I’m angry and afraid. And then I hear a car. Alexei walks to a window. “Well, well, things are about to get interesting. Looks like Jack has decided to join us.”
I take that moment of distraction to assess my situation. He tied my legs tight, but little does he know that my thumbs are double-jointed. I pop my thumbs out and wriggle my hands free. I grab the rope as it starts to slip to the ground. I leave my hands like they are tied and I look over at Alexei. He turns back toward me and walks toward my front.
“I think we’ll play a little game with our friend. You stay there.” He smirks and runs his hand up my arm. I shiver from his touch. “Ahhh…right, you can’t be bothered to stand. Let’s see how fast Jack can find you.”
He walks toward the dining room and I can no longer see him. I grasp the rope at my ankles and quickly undo it. Damn! This is difficult. I fumble and try again. It finally comes free. I look around, but don’t see either Jack or Alexei. Think, Laura, think! I close my eyes and take a breath and a memory comes stumbling back at me. The gun! I remove the bandana and ball from my mouth and lay them down. As quietly as possible, I creep across the room in the opposite direction of Alexei and I make it to the study. I pull the book and get the gun out of its hidden location. I release the safety and look at the bullet chamber, checking to see if it still has two bullets. I better make them count.
I make my way down the hall. I don’t see Jack. I peek out of a window and see Oliver’s car. Is Oliver here too? My phone buzzes on the counter again. I need to get out of here and find Jack. I start walking down the hall and then I see Jack, he steps quietly out of a door on the right and into the hallway. Door? I realize it’s a secret passage. I contemplate this for a moment and realize that the wall is shared with a small bedroom that Jack has set up as a study. Why on earth a man needs a library at one end of his home and study at the other is beyond me and quite frankly I have no time to question that in this moment. The wall closes behind him and he turns towards me with a finger to his lips. I nod.
I look beyond him and see the agent slumped against the wall, a bullet hole in his forehead. Jack raises his hands and I see he’s carrying a gun with a silencer. I’m confused because I’m holding his handgun. I didn’t know he had another gun. He sees the gun in my hand and is about to say something when I see Alexei come up behind Jack. He raises his gun and is about to hit Jack on the head with the butt of it.
“Duck!” I yell and Jack starts to turn and I yell again, “Jack, duck!” And just as the gun is about to make contact with Jack’s head, he does as I say and as I had practiced with my dad all those years ago, I take aim and fire right at Alexei.
It all seems to happen in slow motion. I
watch the bullet fly through the air into Alexei’s head and out the other side, lodging into the wall behind him. Blood and brain matter spray the wall and Alexei crumbles to the floor. Jack runs toward me and I drop the gun and fall to my knees shaking.
“Laura, Laura!” Jack is speaking, but I only see Alexei. It is not until he physically takes my head in his hands and turns it to face him that I see him and hear him. I don’t answer. I just stare. My mind goes blank. Jack picks me up and carries me to the great room and wraps me in a blanket. He holds me on his lap and picks up a phone and presses call. I am there, but not really there. I hear him talking. I hear words “dead,” “Laura,” “no,” “OK.” But I don’t process them. I can feel his lips pressing against my forehead and he’s rocking me, but I’m a million miles away. I just killed a man. I killed a man before he could kill Jack and me. I pulled the trigger, not someone else.
I don’t know how much time passes, but there are lights and sirens and police everywhere. And still, I sit on Jack’s lap wrapped in a blanket. I feel like I am in the center of a tornado and it is calm and peaceful as everything whips around me in chaos. After some time, I feel Jack stand. He still holds me. I’m carried to an ambulance and he sits on the gurney holding me. I hear him argue with a paramedic. I’m not paying attention. I see Oliver and Mal outside. Jack shouts something to them. I don’t hear the words. The ambulance goes fast and I feel every bump. I’m still stuck in the moment until we make a sudden turn and then I’m transported back. I remember something…I remember something from the night of the accident. But how, how is that possible? I remember the flashing lights and someone telling me to hold on and then everything went dark.
I close my eyes and curl up tighter against Jack. When I open my eyes, I am still in Jack’s arms. We are in a hospital room. A curtain is pulled around us and he is kissing my head and rocking me. I blink and for the first time since the gun went off, I sit up and look around. Jack tenses against me. I scan the room and then my eyes meet his. He searches them, concern and fear etched on his face. With trepidation, he brushes a hair away from my cheek.