Two Serve And Protect_A Reverse Harem Romance

by Valerie O'Day

  All the staff had a friendly look about them, and there was lavender oil burning to give the office a calming feeling. All the women behind the counter were in pink or purple scrubs. It actually seemed like a nice place so far, but Lisa was still anxious to know if anything was wrong with her. She had unfortunately been reading horror stories online; deadly morning sickness and premature birth plagued her mind as she began filling out all the forms she was given as a new patient.

  Soon enough, though, she was called back, and her bloodwork done before she ever saw the doctor; the nurses attended to her well, though it was annoying to answer so many questions about her health and her history. She struggled to be sure she remembered everything, especially about the health of her parents and grandparents. It amazed her that people actually knew all this stuff. But then again, maybe it was a good sign she didn't know so much. Generally, if there was something to know, genetics were riddled with diseases and short life expectancy.

  The nurses then wrapped her arm in gauze and led her back to a comfortable room with cherry blossom wallpaper and that same music coming through the speakers. It made her feel much better, so that she was almost completely relaxed by the time Dr. Lanken knocked on the door and came in with a bright and genuine smile on her face.

  “Hi, Ms. Henderson, how are you doing today? I am Dr. Lanken, but you can absolutely call me Julie. I would imagine with the fact that I am helping you have a baby here that we should be on more comfortable terms with one another,” she said, holding out her delicate and well-manicured hand. Lisa took it and shook it, happy that Julie was as nice in person as she was on the phone.

  “I am alright, I guess, just a little nervous. I have kept myself pretty healthy, but I had my boys a long time ago when I was very young, and now I am over 30 doing it all over again. I am not sure I even remember everything, and I am sure some things have changed. I also have been having slightly unusual morning sickness. It isn't tapering off now that I am approaching 13 weeks, and it seems severe. I can't even eat anything until late in the day, and even then, it has to be small,” Lisa told the doctor, hoping for some news that it was alright.

  “That is pretty normal for some pregnancies. It just happens, but I can get you on a low dose of an anti-nausea medicine that might help you out until you are feeling a little better. It just may take a couple more weeks to bounce back from all of that. Also, I have your bloodwork here.” Julie pulled out Lisa’s chart and Lisa watched her look through everything, anticipating what she might have to say. “It looks like everything is normal. In fact, you look great, totally healthy, gaining just the right amount of weight, not too much or too little. I think you really have taken care of yourself. So, even if this is scary or different than what you expected to be doing at this time in your life, I think you are doing an excellent job. You and baby are going to be just fine.” Julie smiled, and Lisa let out a breath she didn't know she’d been holding. That was such good news.

  “That is great news. I was actually really worried. I think I may have turned to the Internet with my concerns a little prematurely,” Lisa admitted with a bit of embarrassment.

  Julie chuckled and shook her head. “Stay away from that stuff if you can. It can give anyone a scare. Don’t hesitate to call this office and ask anything. We are open pretty late for an OB office, and the on-call nurse can always be paged in what you think could be an emergency.”

  Julie then turned to the nurse to tell her to ready the prescription for the pharmacy and get Lisa on the schedule for her 20-week appointment.

  “I do have one question,” Lisa interrupted, knowing she had to ask. “Is a paternity test safe in the womb?” She was sweating at the idea of being judged, but neither Julie nor the nurse showed any signs of that.

  “We have to wait until after 20 weeks to do it for it to be accurate, and we can see how you feel about it then. Honestly, there are some risks, since it involves getting into the amniotic sac. However, I have not met anyone who suffered complications because of it. I will include some information about it on your discharge paperwork.”

  Lisa left the office feeling so much better about it all, even if there were even rougher times ahead. She felt like she could face them.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Lisa had a smile on her face, running through her head exactly how she wanted to tell Harlow and Leonardo about the fact that she was pregnant. She needed to tell them very soon, and then make her sons aware as well. She was wrestling with the idea of telling the officers separately or together when she had almost reached her car. Just as she was pulling out her keys from her purse, two men were behind her, one with a gloved hand over her mouth. She tried to scream, but it was muffled by the glove. She was flipped around to see them, but they both had on masks. She was hoping someone would see, but she was blocked from view between her own car and the large, blue van they had come out of.

  “Do not struggle. This isn't about you, it's about your husband," one of the men said in a gruff but accented voice. It was Hispanic, or perhaps Italian. Lisa wracked her brain and remembered what was going on with Thomas. Is that who they meant? How much trouble had he gotten himself into? "If you and your husband both cooperate, you get to live, and you get to go home to your sons. Is that understood?” the man asked.

  Lisa nodded, having no other choice as the men picked her up and slid her into the back of the van, one of them getting in the driver's seat and the other getting in the back with her. As the van began to move, the man back there with her began tying her hands and feet up, placing a piece of tape over her mouth. This was unreal. Here she was coming back from an obgyn appointment, ready to tell the two men she was falling for that she was having their baby, and she had been kidnapped.

  She began to sob, the thought of the health of her baby in her mind as they drove to who knows where. There were no windows in the back she could see out of, and the man in front stayed completely silent. It was the man in the back with her that gave her the information she needed about why she was being treated this way and what they wanted with Thomas. Clearly, this had nothing to do with the investigation. The IRS didn't go around kidnapping ex-wives for things like that.

  “Your husband owes our boss a lot of money. We are going to tell him where he can bring us that money to. If he does it and doesn't get any cops involved, then you get to go. No harm, no foul. But you might want to let your husband know that if you do make it out of this alive, he needs to stop making bad deals,” the man spat out in his accent.

  Lisa thought about that and realized that Thomas must have made some deal with a seedy person, or group of people. Maybe they were part of a game, or perhaps this was even about a loan shark. Why was Thomas doing this? Going into debt and partaking in criminal activity? Yes, they had their differences. They had grown apart and fought a lot after the first couple of years of their marriage. They didn't spend enough time together, and he was no romantic. On top of that, they never had agreed on parenting. But did she ever really see him as an all-round bad person capable of things this heavy? No, not really. But it was funny how you could be so wrong about a person you were certain that you knew.

  Lisa tried to remain calm, but she could feel her heart thumping loudly in her chest, letting her know her adrenaline was going. But it did her no good. Her cell phone was in her purse, which the man driving had up there with him. She had no idea where they were going and no way to ask for help. This wasn't a trunk she could pop open and wave out of, nothing like that. So, it was either Thomas did what they wanted, or somehow the cops got involved without getting her hurt or killed first.

  Lisa began to cry harder and didn't care what these two men thought about it. She was still cooperating; they couldn’t expect any more from her, considering she was pregnant and being kidnapped. Part of her hoped she was showing enough that they could tell she was pregnant. Maybe they would be lenient with any torture if they thought she was. Then again, if they were not aware that Thomas was an ex, they migh
t think the baby was his and use that against him as well. Damn it, if she ever got out of here, she was ready to strangle Thomas so he wouldn't have to worry about the IRS or the government coming after him. He would be too dead or paralyzed to be of any use to anyone. How she had survived in that marriage for so long with all that must have been going on behind the scenes, she couldn't fathom.

  Eventually, the van stopped. Lisa didn't bother moving. She knew she would have to be carried out of there.

  And so, she was. She looked around but saw nothing identifiable about where they were. They had been driving at least half an hour, and it looked like it was not in a direction she was accustomed to. They were in some kind of old warehouse or factory district. She could tell that by the ramshackle metal buildings around her, the trash all over the place, and the lack of any other signs of a human. For all she knew, this is where they were running their gang or business deals out of; some abandoned warehouse that nobody, not even law enforcement cared about.

  She was carried inside, feeling the dampness and coldness of the empty warehouse. There were just a few things scattered around, machines and supplies left behind. It looked like it might have been a printing press. She could hear sounds echoing throughout, but she doubted any of the people that might be inside would come to her aid.

  Lisa found herself being taken into a small room where she was sat against the wall while the man that had been driving pulled out his cell phone.

  A number was dialed, and Lisa waited patiently, trying to see if she could tell what was going to happen. She guessed they were either calling their boss or Thomas. If it was Thomas, he better get her out of this. That was all she could think about as the phone rang and echoed in that empty space.

  “Thomas Henderson, do not hang up or your wife will be in grave danger,” the man began, this one sounding American. “Lisa Henderson, your wife, is in our custody because you have failed to hold up your end of the bargain by repaying the two thousand dollars you owe to our boss. Your benefactor is holding your wife as collateral until you meet us at a place we desire to drop off what you owe, plus a bonus of three thousand for our trouble. Do not attempt to involve law enforcement, because both you and your wife will regret it deeply,” the man threatened. Lisa wondered how two men could be so cruel. Didn't they have a heart at all?

  The conversation continued with a drop point for the money. She could tell Thomas sounded nervous but could not make out his exact words. So, she was going to be in the dark until they either let her go or killed her. If only this was just a nightmare she could pinch herself to wake up from.

  Chapter Twenty

  Thomas dropped his phone onto the passenger seat next to him, a rageful growl coming from deep in his throat so loud that it scratched his flesh. He banged his hands onto the steering wheel in anger. Hanging his head, he picked up the keys and got out, getting his cell phone as well. He had just left work when he got the call he had been dreading. He thought he had it under control, that he had hidden his family well from the loan shark he had cut a deal with a few months ago, but apparently he was wrong. Payment was coming in the form of ransom, or his ex-wife would be dead for sure. He probably would be too, unless he ran.

  Not knowing what else to do, he dialed a number he hadn’t been sure he ever would again. After the divorce, his and Lisa's lives had become so separate aside from the boys. It was the way she had wanted it. He had been so angry and bitter about the whole marriage at the time that he just let it go and let her have what she wanted. Besides, he wanted to have girlfriends, and having his ex-wife hanging around all the time would clearly put a damper on that. But the last couple of months, as he had gotten deeper into trouble and lost his girlfriend, he had realized how dumb and selfish he had been. He didn't expect to get back together with her, but he did want to be a better father and a better ex and collaborator. Unfortunately, his antics with money could easily put a damper on that. Now, not only was he going to be in trouble with the government for what he had done with the taxes of his company, but he was also in deep with a loan shark.

  Most people in these situations had the excuses of drugs and gambling, but that wasn't it at all. It was just pure greed and immaturity on his part, trying to impress the women he wanted — the young pretty ones that responded to a wad of cash.

  Marsha Howard answered the phone, to Thomas's relief. He was afraid she wouldn’t, considering he was the one calling. Maybe she realized it must be urgent for him to bother. “And what exactly can I help you with?” she asked condescendingly. Thomas rolled his eyes. He was not in the mood for this, but there wasn't time to argue with the woman about her attitude, either.

  “Look, I know you hate me, and I get it, but this is about Lisa. She is in danger because of my stupidity, and I don't know what to do. You are the only person I can think of that might be able to help.” He heard his own voice, unrecognizable and out of breath, going into the receiver.

  “What have you done to Lisa?” Marsha asked, accusing him immediately. Technically, it was his fault, so he didn't dare say otherwise at this point.

  “She has been kidnapped for ransom. It is $5,000 to get her out. They said money by midnight and no cops or they will kill us both. Look, I got involved in some bad things, but she shouldn't have to die for it. This is serious. It is a big-time loan shark running the show here.”

  Marsha gasped. “Oh my god, Thomas. I can't believe you would do that. Look, I will get the money ready just in case, but lucky for you, Lisa happens to be seeing a cop. Give me all of the information you know about the loan shark and the drop point and I will go up to the precinct and see if they can help as well. You stay away so that it looks like you are following instructions. Got it?” Marsha barked through the phone. Thomas was in no position to tell her no, so he did just that, went inside his house to lay low while giving her everything he knew. Hopefully, this would all work out alright. He wanted to ask more questions about Lisa dating a cop, thinking back to the man he had met at her house the other day, but it didn't matter. In this case, it might come in handy, even if the idea made him cringe.

  ***

  Harlow was just finishing a cup of coffee on his break when a woman came into the precinct, completely frantic, and asking for him and Leonardo. On a second look, he recognized the blonde hair and expensive clothes. She had been the woman who ran the charity ball, who had purchased the two of them for Lisa. That meant that this was Lisa’s mother.

  Harlow called the other officers off of her and came to her side, putting his arm round her and whisking her into the tiny office where Leonardo was finishing up a sandwich. Leonardo looked up, startled, trying to figure out what Marsha Howard was doing inside of that cramped office, looking like she was about to have a heart attack, sweat dripping down her brow despite the cold temperature outside.

  Harlow led the woman to the chair on the far side of the room that was typically meant for him and got down to her level. Something was up, and Harlow looked to Leonardo, a knowing gleam in his eyes. If he had to bet, this had something to do with Thomas. They had him followed, especially after he had shown up to Lisa’s house yet again, and he had been trying to move his assets places, even going to ex-girlfriends to see if they would help. He was a desperate man, but this had to be worse than that. Something had happened.

  “I didn't know where else to come. I have five thousand dollars in my purse just in case, but my Lisa has been kidnapped. She told me about the two of you, that she was seeing you both, and I thought if anyone could help us, it would be the two of you. I am sorry for dragging you into it, but I can’t lose her!” Marsha said in hysterics.

  “Woah, slow down, you said that Lisa has been kidnapped? Who has her, and why does it require money?” Leonardo asked, wanting to get down to the facts.

  “Apparently her ex-husband made some kind of deal with a loan shark and didn't pay. They took Lisa to get him to pay. They told him no cops and he had to have this money by midnight at a drop point, or
they would kill Thomas and Lisa both,” she explained, calming down but tears still in her eyes.

  Harlow shot up, anger clouding his features. “I knew that guy was bad. This is completely nuts! He is going to get her killed!” he yelled in anger. Leonardo shot him look and nodded towards Marsha. It was not helping matters to get worked up like that, especially in front of Lisa’s mother.

  “Do you have any information on where she is or the name of the loan shark, so we can help? The sooner we get to her, the more of a chance we have at success,” Leonardo explained, placing his hand on Marsha’s shoulder.

  Marsha pulled a piece of paper out of her purse and handed it to Harlow. Harlow picked it up and began looking it over. “This guy has been on our radar before. He just hasn't messed up bad enough to grab him. He is a ruthless man,” Harlow said, passing the paper over to Leonardo so he could see as well.

  Leonardo looked over everything before going back over to the computer and typing the information into the system. He was pretty sure the loan shark would be in their records, and they might be able to find him and where he might be keeping Lisa that way.

  “Don’t worry, Marsha, we will take care of this one way or the other. We would never let anything happen to her,” Harlow said. “Let me go get you some tea or something, and Leonardo is going to see what other information we can get on this guy so we can find her.”

  Harlow left the room to head to the break room while Leonardo poured over the files in front of him as if he were a detective. Part of him had always wanted to do that, and maybe one day he would. He knew the force sometime let officers work their way up to that.