Morgan, Nicole - Sweet Salvation [Sweet Awakenings 2] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Nicole Morgan

Samantha tried to hold her as her body became limp, but she wasn’t as strong as she used to be. She looked at the clock and knew that she didn’t have much time before that son of a bitch Metcalf would return. She never wanted to kill him as much as she did the moment she heard Shelby say that she had given herself to him. She began to drag her body to the back door of her office when a guttural scream ripped from her throat.

  She was supposed to save herself for him, for Samuel. She shook her head as she dropped Shelby’s arms. She was getting confused. She walked to the other side of the room and stared at her image in the mirror that hung above the small refrigerator. She touched her face. Good, she was still there. She wasn’t gone. For a moment there, she had thought she had referred to herself as Samuel, but that didn’t make any sense. Samantha shook it off and turned away from the mirror.

  She screamed when she saw Shelby lying on the floor. She was about to run to her to help her when she heard a man’s laughter. It sounded evil. She swung her head, surveying the room, looking for signs of the man. She didn’t see him anywhere. But he was here, she could still hear him. His laugh was taunting her. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the sound. Where was it coming from? Behind her. He was right behind her.

  She turned quickly and tried to scream but couldn’t. The deep evil sound of laughter was coming from her. She stood, looking in the mirror as she watched in horror at the sounds that were coming from her throat. How was it happening? Suddenly, the laughter stopped. There was a look on her face she didn’t recognize. And then he spoke. Or rather, she did, but it wasn’t her voice.

  “You look surprised to see me, Samantha. Don’t you remember me?” the voice asked her.

  She tried to ask who he was, but the words wouldn’t come out.

  He laughed at her again. “You really don’t remember? I am you. I understand your confusion. Yes, I will not lie. I was disappointed when you had decided to live your life as a woman. I realize our teenage years were a bit traumatic, but I truly believed that you would find your way and learn to live as you were born, as a man.” He sighed as he ran a hand through the hair that rested on top of her head.

  “Do you remember yet? No, fine. If I must, I will tell you. But quickly. Metcalf will be back soon, and I want Shelby safely tucked away in the car and ready to leave before that time comes.” The man who had taken up residence in her body looked at Shelby, or rather, she looked at Shelby. This didn’t make any sense. She shook her head.

  “Stop fighting it, Samantha. You are only putting off the inevitable. Look, I know that we were not blessed with masculine features and the body of a man, but we were born with the most essential essence of a man. You should not have ignored that. I will be taking over now. Ah, you are starting to remember me, aren’t you? Yes, it is me, Samuel. The one whose name is on your birth certificate.”

  She stared at the image in the mirror. She could feel herself slipping away. She was starting to remember things, bad things. Horrible things.

  “Stop it. The past does not matter. So you were confused. But you knew. Deep down, you knew. Why else do you think you kept putting off your gender reassignment surgery? Face it, no matter how much you wanted to live your life as a woman, your heart just truly wasn’t in it. But you have no need to worry. Shelby is our savior. Her beauty and innocence brought me back. She saved you before you committed a sin. God would not have forgiven you for altering what he had created. And now, with you gone, I will be able to take her away so that we can be together. Man and woman.”

  Samantha said nothing. She could say nothing. Her voice was frozen, and she knew that she was losing. She remembered Samuel now. Sam, as he liked to be called when he was younger. But that only brought on the memories of the relentless teasing from the other kids. Sam, Sam, doesn’t look like a man. He has a dick, but he looks like a chick. They used to chant it over and over again. She tried to turn her head to see Shelby, but she was no longer in control of any of her movements. She was fading fast.

  “It’s okay, Samantha. I will be happy for the both of us. Go away now. That’s a good girl, good-bye.” He spoke to her softly, his words soothing her until she retreated back inside herself to never return again.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Rex arrived at Shelby’s therapist’s office high on life. He had just finished signing the paperwork on the offer he was putting in on the house. Mrs. Brooks said she had already spoken to the owner, and they were ecstatic that things had moved so quickly. The remaining paperwork that would need to be done was merely a formality.

  In the next week, Rex would get a cashier’s check for the amount of the sale and he and Shelby would move into their new home and start their life together. He had been so excited he had called Colleen and Cullen to tell them the good news. He hated to admit it, but the old couple had grown on him. There was nothing that could bring him down from the mood he was in.

  He was all but whistling Dixie when he pulled into the parking space in front of the office and was perplexed when he saw all of the lights were off. That’s strange, he thought to himself. It looked like no one was in there. He glanced at his watch and saw that Shelby should have at least ten more minutes in her appointment. He reached for his cell phone to see if he had missed any calls, but he hadn’t.

  He exited his car and walked toward the building. He peered in the windows and tried to see if there was anyone inside. It was so dark he couldn’t see anything. He looked around once more. The parking lot and sidewalk were empty. There was no one around. The city street was surprisingly desolate.

  He reached for his phone and dialed Shelby’s cellular. He let it ring until he got her voice mail. He didn’t like this. Something was wrong. He scanned the parking lot. There were no other cars here. He walked to the side of the building and began looking in every window he came across. He still couldn’t make anything out. The windows were tinted glass that blocked out any light from coming in.

  Frustrated, he picked up his phone and dialed Andrew and Cullen’s cell phone numbers. He got both of their voice mails. He was sure they were supposed to be on duty right now. He hung up and called the main number for their department. His call was answered by a petite blonde whom he remembered having a couple of interludes with. Knowing that she had a little bit of a thing for him, he used it to his advantage.

  After a few minutes of charming her, he convinced her to get a message to Andrew and Cullen to meet him ASAP at this building. It was against procedure. Civilians weren’t supposed to be able to request any officer they wanted when they needed assistance. But she said that she was willing to do it for him. Rex thanked her for her kindness as he felt a little guilty for having to flirt with her.

  Feeling confident that they would be here soon, he started to walk back around to the front of the building. As he did, he dialed Shelby’s phone again. He stopped. He heard something. It was ringing. He held the phone away from his ear so he could hear where the sound was coming from. Inside. It was coming from inside. He walked back a few steps to where the sound seemed loudest. He looked around and didn’t see a phone. The ringing, though louder, was still faint. He looked in the window again. There. Lying on the floor, he could see her phone blinking.

  He rushed around to the front of the building, determined to get in by any means necessary. If that meant breaking out a window then he would. He ran to the door to jiggle the handle in an attempt to judge the strength of the lock. But he was surprised by the door opening. It had been unlocked this whole time? Why hadn’t he checked that?

  Without a thought for anything other than finding Shelby, he ran inside, shouting her name. He opened every door along the way before finally reaching the door where he had seen her phone. He pushed open the door and had to fight something that was stuck underneath it. He reached down and yanked on the item that was wedged there. It was Shelby’s purse.

  His gut tightened, and a dark feeling of dread poured over his body. Where was she? “Shelby, are you in here?” Rex scr
eamed it. “Shelby, answer me!” He stood there for a moment and listened. He didn’t hear anything.

  He tried to flick on the light switch but nothing happened. He glanced around the office and noticed that the screen saver wasn’t lit on the laptop sitting on the desk. He looked around, something was off. He took a moment to get his bearings. What was it? He glanced around the dark room and saw a mini refrigerator. Then it hit him. No noise! The electricity was off. That was what seemed strange. The electronic hum that you hear when electronics are plugged in was absent. An eerie quiet had settled in the building.

  Rex was ready to turn away and search the other offices again when a door caught his attention. He grasped on to the handle. He hesitated for just a moment as he silently prayed that she would be okay. He opened it in a quick movement. A closet. It was just a closet. There was nothing here except–Oh, Jesus. Rex reached out and pulled the hanger from the bar. He looked at it in disbelief. On the hanger was a dark, zip-up hoodie jacket with a dark ball cap looped through the top of the hanger. They matched the description Shelby had given Andrew and Cullen exactly.

  He threw the hanger down and was about to call 911 when he heard it. The quiet was gone. Someone was in here. He could hear their breathing. Shelby? No, whoever this was, they were trying to even their breaths to remain as quiet as possible. He had come across many Tangos in his days in the SEALs who had attempted to hide under the same camouflage of silence. But his training had prepared him for just such an illusion. He even knew where they were. They were standing behind the door, the door that he had swung open. It wasn’t just the purse that had blocked him from opening it. There was someone standing behind it.

  He picked up his phone as he had originally intended, only this time he pretended to place a call. “It’s me, no, she’s not here. I’m going to go check outside again. I don’t know. It’s not like she ever listens to me anyway. Lord only knows where she wandered off to now.” He ended his fictitious call and walked toward the door as if he were about to leave.

  He swung the door closed, ready to attack, but he was alarmed when he saw Samantha standing there. Before he could speak, he felt the knife cut into his side. He instinctively drew away, grabbing on to her arm and slamming it down across his knee. It only took once and the bloody knife fell to the floor. Rex grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground. He had never hurt a woman before. But give him a woman who stabs him and all bets were off.

  “Where is she?” Rex demanded from her as he held her down.

  She said nothing but laughed in a deep and tortured sound. “You’ll never find her. She belongs to me!” She spit in his face.

  Rex was stunned. He had met Samantha many times in the past months. But that didn’t sound like Samantha. It sounded like a man. He shook off the disorienting contradiction and asked again. “I said, where is she? What have you done with her?”

  She started to struggle. She was able to get one hand free, and she dug her fingers into the cut in his side. He screamed in pain while he got her hand back above her head. “Where is Shelby?” he asked again, trying to sound calmer in hopes of getting some cooperation from her.

  She lay completely still for a moment and then began struggling with a frenzy. He was doing everything he could to hold her still and she was wiggling across the floor like a worm. He finally straddled her completely and used his lower body to hold her down. He had her pretty well under control when he reached for his phone.

  Dialing 911, he was surprised by the knee that came up in full force, effectively immobilizing him as he wheezed and coughed. How had she managed to get loose? He saw her coming at him with the knife again. The bitch really wanted him dead. What the hell was going on? He swung his leg out and swept her feet. She fell with a thud. There was no way he survived all those years in the navy to be taken out by a delusional woman with a knife. His pain was subsiding, and he was breathing easier, though he felt a bit dizzy. He went to reach for the knife, but his hand brushed across Samantha’s trousers. Rex froze. He felt something. Was Samantha a man? No, he must have been mistaken.

  His momentary lapse was enough to give Samantha the chance to scramble up with the knife. She was set to plunge it into Rex’s chest as he reached his hands up to stop her. He had without a doubt now realized that he was up against a man. And although he was small, he was somehow managing to get the upper hand on Rex. Enough! He needed to find Shelby. If that meant taking this son of a bitch out, then so be it.

  Rex grabbed on to the knife. Already beginning to overpower him, Rex started to bend the guy’s hand backward in an attempt to break his wrist. Shouting, he heard shouting. Evidently, the bastard did, too. He began to struggle to get away. Rex got up, trying to get to him before he escaped, when he felt the room spin. He was weak, and she or he was getting away.

  He looked down at his shirt and saw the blood. He was cut deeper than he had originally thought. His adrenaline had kicked in, effectively keeping him going, but now he could tell his blood was spilling from his body too fast. He began to yell. He could hear Cullen and Andrew shouting for him. Finally, Rex staggered to the front waiting room and grabbed on to Andrew to avoid falling down.

  “Jesus, Rex! What the hell happened?” Andrew yelled. Cullen had already begun to call for an ambulance and backup when he saw the blood.

  “They’re en route.” Cullen snapped as he pulled his gun from his holster and made the motion to Andrew that he was going to check the premises.

  Rex grabbed on to him as he passed him. “She’s gone. I mean, he’s gone. There’s no one else here. He’s done something with Shelby. We’ve got to find her. Get me a bandage, or something to stop the bleeding. We’ve got to find her.”

  Andrew and Cullen looked at each other. He wasn’t making any sense. “Who’s done something with Shelby?” Cullen asked.

  “Samantha, I mean that guy, shit–I’ve got to find her.” Rex’s breathing was becoming erratic.

  Andrew looked at Rex and helped him into a chair. “Look, tell us what you know. We’ll find her. But, shit, Rex. You’ve lost a lot of blood.”

  “Ambulance is here,” Cullen said. “In here, guys.”

  The paramedics came in and tore at Rex’s shirt to see the wound. “Jesus, what the hell cut you?” the paramedic asked.

  “Knife,” Rex muttered. “Shelby? Guys, call Jack, he’ll help –”

  “He’s losing consciousness. Go get the gurney. Jesus, he’s lost a lot of blood. Officers, see if you can find the weapon. I don’t know what he was cut with, but it looks bad. The doctors might want to know,” one of the paramedics ordered.

  Forty minutes later, Tamara stood outside the operating room pacing. Jack had told her to wait there. He had gone to help Andrew and Cullen. So here she stayed, just like Jack had told her to. She felt utterly helpless. But she would stay, and she would pray that Rex came out of surgery okay. And she would pray for Shelby, pray that they would find her and that she would be safe.

  “This doesn’t make any sense,” Jack told Andrew.

  “Shit, you’re telling me. I don’t know what the hell to make of any of it.” Andrew was running his hands through his hair. It was a habit he had whenever he got nervous.

  “So her stuff is here, but there’s no sign of her or her therapist, Samantha, anywhere and –”

  “Andrew, you’re not going to believe this.” Cullen had just run up to them.

  “What?” Jack and Andrew asked in unison.

  “The prints on the knife. They belong to two people.” Jack and Andrew stood still, waiting, knowing that there was more. “Samantha McAllister, Shelby’s therapist, has the identical fingerprints of Samuel McAllister, a juvenile delinquent whose paper trail stopped about twelve years ago. The same time Samantha McAllister enrolled in our local college. Their social security numbers are the same.”

  “Shit, Rex wasn’t delirious. He had figured it out. That’s why he kept saying he and she simultaneously,” Andrew said.

  “Ar
e you telling me that Shelby’s male stalker is also her female therapist?” Jack asked them.

  “Yeah, listen, we’ve got to work fast. Wherever he’s taken her, there has to be a way to find it.” Cullen was just as worried as they all were. Shelby was a friend. A friend who had already been through enough.

  Jack, Andrew, and Cullen got in the cruiser as they sped from the scene. Jack waited as the two placed calls to various people on the police force who could check records for anything from vehicles to hotel rooms. They had to find her. Rex was in surgery and couldn’t help her. If they didn’t find her, they wouldn’t just be letting her down but Rex, too. No, they had to find her. Not finding her was just not an option.

  The surgeon pulled his mask from his face as he entered the waiting room. “Rex Metcalf?” he asked, summoning whoever was waiting for news on his patient.

  Tamara stood. “Yes? Is he okay?”

  The surgeon placed his hands on her shoulders. “Yes, he lost a lot of blood, and we had to give him a transfusion. But his wound, despite all of the blood loss, was superficial.” He shook his head as he smiled. “I’ve got to tell you, I’ve seen knife wounds that could cause a lot of damage. He was really lucky.”

  “Oh, thank God. Thank you so much! Can I see him?” Tamara asked as she wiped her tears.

  “He’s in recovery right now. The anesthesia should wear off soon enough. You should be able to see him within the hour. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other patients to see to.”

  “Of course. Thank you, Doctor. Thank you so much.” Tamara was already reaching for her purse on the chair. She had to call Jack. He would want to know.

  “Tamara?”

  Tamara turned and all but ran into Jack’s arms as he entered the waiting room. “Where’s Shelby?” she asked.

  He shook his head and held her. “I don’t know yet, baby. Rex?”

  She wiped her tears. “He just got out of surgery. The doctor said that besides the blood loss the wound wasn’t that bad. He’s in recovery now. What about Shelby? What have you guys found? Anything at all?”