Come To Me (Owned Book 3)

by Gebhard, Mary Catherine

  “Sorry to break up the party,” I replied, keeping my aim.

  She shrugged at the dead bodies around us. “Nothing that wasn’t expendable.” She gave a cursory glance to Lennox and I clenched my jaw.

  “Drop Lennox and maybe I won’t drop you.”

  “Really, Vic, there’s no need for dramatics.”

  I shot off a warning bullet above her head. The casing lodged in the cement, causing plaster to fall and hit her in the head. Alice glared, tipping her head so the plaster fell with a thud to the ground.

  “Did you know we didn’t even have to drug her?” Alice laughed. “She was already fucked up when we grabbed her. Top notch choice in women, Vic, really.”

  I took a deep breath, canceling out all periphery and extraneous noises. Once upon a time, I was a dead shot. This was what my training was for. It wasn’t so people up in their ivory towers could keep blood off their white houses. It was for this, to save the people I loved.

  “Don’t worry though,” Alice purred. “We woke her up extra special. Did you hear how much she enjoyed being woken up?” Alice laughed, but the sound was already fading. Nothing save the weight of my own gun mattered at that moment.

  “Just a few cuts here and there but it was enough to get her screaming like a stuck pig.” Alice goaded me, but I hid how much the blood on Lenny’s body boiled my own. A day would come when she would know what it felt like to be skewered. I would stick her like the snake she was and roast her over an open fire.

  But I couldn’t rush it.

  Alice gripped Lenny by the neck, shaking her slightly. “Really pathetic. She might have even called your name. I don’t know, it was hard to tell through all her slurred druggy speech.”

  Taking another deep breath, I adjusted my aim slightly. I pulled the trigger and the bullet whizzed through the air, hitting Alice in the left arm. She screamed and dropped Lennox to the floor. The look of shock on her face was almost as good as the realization that I’d caused her pain.

  I don’t think in all of Alice’s thirty plus years she had ever experienced any kind of real pain. She didn’t have a heart to break, and she was never in any position to feel physical pain. Her pain threshold probably ended at a stubbed toe.

  Clutching her now bleeding arm, she shrieked and withered out of sight like a dying plant. She wouldn’t die, unfortunately. I hadn’t had the opening to take that shot without injuring Lenny.

  I rushed to Lenny and checked her pulse. It was slow, but she was breathing. She was bloody, covered in cuts, but she didn’t appear to be in any life-threatening danger. She was still wearing the pajamas she’d gone to bed in.

  My gaze flicked away from her and to the dark hallway that Alice had disappeared down. I knew I could probably catch her, and Lenny wasn’t in any immediate danger after all. Bodies buoyed us, and if I ran now, Alice could be among them. Just as I was about to stand, Lenny moaned. I froze, hand stuck on top of her.

  Not today, but someday I would go down that dark hallway.

  I gathered Lenny into my arms, stepping over bodies to make my way out. Only minutes before everything had been so urgent, so immediate. I hadn’t bothered looking at their faces because I hadn’t had the time. Now, I didn’t look at their faces, but for a different reason.

  As I walked out, carrying Lenny in my arms, I came face to face with a man. He froze, jaw clenched, shoulders rigid, and stared at me. I stared back. Neither of us made a motion for our weapons. We looked into each other, but I felt no compulsion to kill. From the way the enemy reacted, I’d have said he felt the same way.

  We were just two ships passing in the night.

  No one disturbed me as I carried Lenny through the empty neighborhood. Then again, that was the key word: empty. Alice had fled and everyone else was dead. We made it safely back to my Subaru, but the safety had come at a price. In order to buckle Lenny into her seat, I’d had to add the weight of a few more bodies to my already suffocating soul.

  I wish I could say that over the years killing had culled my emotions. That faces and last words no longer mattered to me. That the people I stole away from this world were as important to me as passersby on the street.

  That would be a lie.

  Looking down at Lenny’s bloody body, I realized I had at least one reason to try and cull those—the lies that had spread between us like weeds.

  Truth was, all that had changed inside me was now I was used to it. I’d grown accustomed to the sounds of death the way some grew accustomed to the sound of wind. Didn’t mean it didn’t affect me. Their faces and their last words were forever imprinted on me. Some days I wondered if a kill would break my soul free completely, if there would be one final tremor to break free that which held the nearly deadened thing together.

  I quickly shook the image of me buckling Lenny into her seat, my hands still wet with blood. Images like those are pernicious; they’re the kind of images that will quickly break you—like when you have to put a bullet in the temple of a kid, you remember how surprised he looks.

  When the mom finds the kid, the sound she makes is unlike any other. The scream marks itself forever on your ears. It’s a unique sound, a wailing, haunted…surprised sound.

  So yeah, I don’t remember those things.

  With Lenny safe and buckled, I zipped out just as the sirens began to sound. I looked in the rearview mirror at her sleeping body, thinking back to the beginning.

  Lennox had burrowed herself inside me long before I acknowledged it myself. When she first moved in, I would walk along her hallway, never questioning why. One night I was walking the hallway and I heard a scream and a crash. Instantly my body constricted, my blood blistered. It was the first taste I had of that powerful, possessive ache I would come to know as the side effect of my love for Lenny.

  I tried to forget her.

  But I couldn’t.

  Just the thought that something was wrong sent my head into a tailspin. I broke into her room without reason or thought of consequence. She looked so scared, her red hair falling around her pale face. I quickly assessed that nothing was wrong—well nothing externally. Internally, it was obvious. She was haunted by nightmares.

  I could relate.

  I didn’t even pay attention to how little she wore—well, I didn’t pay too much attention. She was dressed in a thin lacy bra, but even though her tits were practically begging to be touched, it was her eyes that had me captivated. They were shadowed, haunted. Deep beneath the cobalt depths lurked a sinister reality.

  Sanity would have had me turning away, shutting the door, and locking her out of my life, but there was no sanity between Lennox and me. I had been drawn to her then the same way I was drawn to her now. Even though she was only asleep in the back seat of the car, I felt the urge to keep checking the mirror, as if she would suddenly up and vanish into smoke.

  Home wasn’t safe any more, not as long as Alice still breathed, so I skipped through Santa Barbara, drove through Santa Maria, and was in San Luis Obispo just as the sun was rising. Lenny still hadn’t woken.

  If I hadn’t realized then by the frequent patrols I made outside her apartment—I was basically one step below stalker—and if I hadn’t realized the night I stayed at her place, watching over her like some hardened sentry, I should have the day I invited Lenny to my “cabin”.

  It wasn’t a cabin: it was my safe house. Secluded in the mountains behind San Luis Obispo, I’d never brought anyone there, much less a woman I barely knew. By that point it was obvious to me Lenny was hiding something, but I was so preoccupied trying to feign that nothing was happening between us, I never looked into it. Maybe if I had and I had used company resources then instead after all was said and done, it would have turned out differently. Alice never would have discovered Lennox. Dean never would have faced the blunt arm of GEM. And maybe I could have saved Lenny from all of it, even from me.

  Especially from me.

  I pulled into the garage, momentarily stopping the deluge of flashbacks.
Lenny was still sleeping in the back, she hadn’t even woken for a moment in the hours it had taken to get here. I got out of the car just as the garage door closed behind me, shutting out the now risen sun. Then I opened the passenger door.

  Lenny lay sprawled out in nearly the exact same position I’d put her. Leaning forward, I put my bodyweight on the hood of the car as I examined her. Her leg was draped over the seat, her arm across her chest, her red hair messy and all over the place. It was a good thing I invested in the leather because it would be a lot easier to clean out the blood.

  I lifted her into my arms. Even though she was basically dead weight, it still felt like nothing. She drowsily curled into my chest.

  Looking back, I realized when I’d first invited her to my cabin I’d kicked down a domino that knocked down the entire chain. I should have realized then I was sending out an invitation I could never take back, but the day before she’d just unveiled a part of herself that made her more naked than any flesh. She’d told me secrets about herself that had opened her up like a lily. I’d felt compelled. Then again, with Lenny, compulsion seemed to be the name of the game.

  I was playing with fire then. It was like I thought I could keep stoking the flame, thought I could continue to get warmed by it, build it bigger and grander, and nothing would get burned. Lenny was so magnificent; I wanted to see where it would lead me. I wanted to see what color her fire blazed.

  The trip had ended when she’d tried to kiss me. She got on top of me, she took her shirt off, and she was more beautiful than my imagination had dared to dream. The fire licked my skin and I ran scared. The emotions she stoked in me were too big to rein in or control. The things she promised to unleash in me were beyond what I had promised myself. And then there was GEM. There would always be GEM, and to unleash that on Lenny was unfair. It was borderline cruel.

  I’d pushed her off me and she lashed me with her tongue. That wasn’t the end of it, though, because I’d had a taste of it, of Lenny.

  And Lenny was addiction.

  Now as I walked up the steps to my cabin, looking down at her pale face, I was just as enthralled as I had been then. She was my Lenny. She would always be my Lenny, but I couldn’t keep putting her in danger.

  I laid Lenny down on the couch in my office. I would have put her in the bedroom, but I wanted her near me and I needed to work. I needed to find out if our friends and family were safe. I needed to see if we were safe. I needed to fucking figure out a plan…but she still hadn’t woken up.

  Her lips were full, pouty, and effortless. Her eyebrows were unknit and her skin unwrinkled. I’d cleaned her wounds and the entire time she slept. She looked peaceful, and that had me uneasy. As I called Lissie and Zoe to check on their safety, a single red lock fell to her cheek.

  Zoe picked up the call and immediately started in on me, asking questions that could have gotten her killed if she’d known better. She didn’t know better, though. She was just another casualty in my war. I moved the hair from Lenny’s face and ran a hand through my own, trying to shut Zoe up.

  “Look, Zoe,” I grumbled. “I’m glad you know how to work a search engine.”

  “Fuck off, Vic. We were in the airport when the news came on. Gang fight in coastal California my ass. Over forty found dead. What have you gotten yourself into?” Zoe was sharp, but beyond that, she was keen. She saw things others discounted as coincidence. Because of that, we’d always had a “don’t ask, don’t tell” type of relationship.

  When Dean came and was hell bent on fucking up Lennox, he started with Zoe. She had a concussion and some bruises, nothing serious, but I took care of her. I’d used GEM for her as well as for Lennox. After that, it was a little difficult to continue our “don’t ask, don’t tell” dynamic. Still, we tried.

  Silence permeated through the phone as I refused to answer her question. Right then, Zoe wasn’t in any danger, and I could keep it that way if she stayed dumb. Zoe was stubborn like me, though, so she wasn’t giving up without a fight.

  “We’re having a great time visiting family,” Lissie said, coming on the line. I heard Zoe sigh, but inwardly I thanked Lissie. “The grandparents haven’t seen Thea since the christening. They weren’t super stoked that she was christened as a wicca…” Lissie started to ramble about the christening—or “wiccaning”. Both Lenny and I’d been present, as it was the day they’d made Lenny godmother to Thea. I could still remember her freaking out about it.

  “Does that mean I have to be the mother when you die? I’m not a fit mother, guys, I will fuck up your baby. You should choose someone else.”

  “No, our parents will take over if we both somehow die,” they’d assured her.

  “What does a godmother do?”

  “It used to mean you raise them in the faith.”

  “You guys are religious? I’m not religious. Again, maybe you should pick someone else.”

  “We’re Wicca, but again, we don’t expect someone else to raise our baby. We’re going to do it all. To us, it means that we love you and you have a special place in our and Thea’s lives.”

  I thought back on the memory and how they’d asked me to be godfather while Lenny had cried. She’d been understandably touched. I would have freaked the fuck out too, if she hadn’t already done all the freaking out for me.

  “That’s fantastic,” I said absently.

  “How’s the godmother?” At Lissie’s question, I looked over at Lennox. All of her wounds had been superficial. She had no broken bones and no deep bruising. Her cuts weren’t even that deep. I wouldn’t say she’d been lucky—luck didn’t happen in my world. They’d spared her. They’d set her aside for some other time, but it would be over my dead body before they got their chance again.

  “Vic?” Lissie pressed, and I realized I’d been quiet for a few moments. Shaking free of the memory, I turned on my computer to get to work. The ABCs had kind of gotten fucked. I’d had a chance to assemble, but I’d had to skip right to clearing out, so I’d never gotten a chance to break. That meant my gear was out there, ripe for the taking. I needed to check and see if anyone was poking around.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled. “She’s fine. Look I have to go. I’m glad you guys made it there safely.”

  “Vic wait!” Zoe came on the line. “I just need to say before… It’s been…” She paused. “Take care of yourself.”

  “I… Yeah.” I hung up and was dialing the next number within seconds. Eli’s low, smooth voice came clear over the receiver. For a second, I worried he hadn’t used the burner phone, but then I realized I’d dialed the damn number myself.

  “Are you in a safe location?” I asked just as Lenny mumbled something in her sleep. Scowling, I looked over to see her toss and turn on the couch. I was just about to stand when Eli spoke.

  “Yes we’re—”

  “Don’t tell me!” I cut him off, frustrated. “I just needed to know you’re safe. Hopefully I’ll have this all figured out soon.” Lenny moaned and rolled to her side. I held my breath, watching her, waiting to see if she’d wake up. Our family was safe—for now. A stockpile of information, aliases, and codes was back at the apartment unattended because I hadn’t taken the time to break. Sure it was encrypted, but any company worth their salt could break it. It was too late to go back. And I still didn’t have a plan.

  Yet all I wanted to do was get off my leather chair and wipe the sweat from Lenny’s brow.

  “Is that all?” Eli’s pissed off question broke me from my stupor.

  “Yep.” I heard him swear as I clicked off. Whatever he was going to say to me, I’d already said it to myself. Standing up, I went to Lennox and ran a hand across her forehead. She didn’t feel like she had a fever, but that wasn’t much comfort.

  My medical knowledge was pretty fucking limited. I’d relied too long on GEM’s resources. For all I knew Lenny was dying of an overdose or infection. I mean her wounds looked superficial, but I wasn’t a fucking doctor. She’d stopped tossing, but that could mean any
thing. As I placed a strand of hair behind her ear, a number I didn’t recognize rang the burner.

  I kept my hand on her forehead, answering, “Twenty-four-hour takeout. Do you want Chinese, pizza, or Thai?” Like I said, there are certain protocols and rules people in my line of work follow. If you’re like me, and you’re burned, you can’t simply answer an unknown call and say “Vic Wall, do you feel like murdering me today?”

  So aliases, codes, and codewords were invented. Only a few select people knew how to respond correctly to my question. If answered incorrectly, you hung up and ABCd.

  “Shit, people still do that?” I instantly recognized the cocksure tone of Seven, head of The Boogiemen. The way he responded, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was playing Xbox, as if life was always filled with contract kills and those filling the contracts.

  “What the fuck do you want?” Never mind he didn’t answer my question. If Seven wanted me dead, it wouldn’t matter what I did. I could ABC, do-si-do, or hide in the presidential bunker. Seven wants you dead, you’re dead.

  “I’ve got some information that might interest you,” Seven continued.

  “What do you want?” I moved the phone from one ear to the other, preparing for whatever sacrifice Seven would surely request.

  “Can’t a guy just do something nice?”

  “Sure, a guy can.” I let my words lie like hardening cement.

  “Jesus, you fucks fall in love and it’s like all the humor drains out your dick.” I stood and sat down on the chair opposite Lenny. Her breathing was still a little shallow and that didn’t sit well with me. Whatever drug she’d taken, she’d taken too much. Seven continued when I didn’t respond, “Consider it a wedding present.”

  “I’m not married.”

  “You’re bound more than those that are.” I wasn’t about to argue with that, though I did say, “For a man who isn’t in love, you sure seem to know a lot about it.”

  Ignoring me, Seven said, “After you called, you piqued my interest.”