Parker Security Complete Series

by Camilla Blake

  “Well, definitely keep me posted,” Jenn said. “But really, Lena? If that’s something that you’ve been thinking about, you should talk to him. He might be thinking the same thing, too. I know it’s probably going to sound totally obvious, but that’s really the main takeaway I’ve gotten from all of my life coach training—communication is key! It is so important. It’s crazy how many people don’t realize this, or they might realize it but then still expect the other person to be a mind reader. But you’re smart, Lena, and you’re not impulsive. So I’d say if you’re thinking about this, then it’s obviously something that has been on your mind.”

  “It has. And I know I’m not usually impulsive. I guess I just feel… I don’t know. Almost not like myself? But in a good way, if that makes any sense. I feel like with Shep, I’m a different person. Or not different, just better. Like, a better version of myself. Does that sound crazy?”

  “Not at all. It sounds like you’re in love.”

  “That too.”

  Jenn let out a squeal. “This is really so exciting.”

  “Don’t get too carried away. Listen, my bus is about to pull up, so I’m going to go. But thanks for the advice. And I’ll talk to Shep and we’ll figure out a time for us to all go out together, okay?”

  “Sounds good! I’m going to go tell Gary!”

  I smiled as I got off the phone and boarded the bus. I got a seat by the window and settled in for the ride out to the Richmond. I would often do an Uber to commute, but I also liked taking the bus, particularly the 2 Clement, which was slower than the 38 Geary or the 1 California, but nowhere near as crowded, and was generally an enjoyable ride. A good place to sit and think, which was what I wanted to do. I wanted to really think about what it would be like to live with Shep. I had been living on my own for so long now, I wondered if it would be a major shock to my system. Everything seemed fine now, but was that just because I knew that he had his own place he could go back to?

  The long bus ride didn’t exactly help me come to any conclusions, other than I just really liked the idea of knowing that Shep was going to be around, and so living together seemed like a natural progression. The bus let me off a few blocks from my house, so as I walked, I tried to let myself imagine that I was coming home to him, that he would be there when I walked through the door. It made me feel giddy. So much so, that I almost didn’t realize he actually was there, in front of my house. He was on the front steps, not sitting this time, but sort of pacing back and forth. He stopped when he saw me.

  “Hey,” I said. “I was just thinking about you. It’s funny, because I was just thinking that it’d be nice if you were here when I got home—and here you are. I didn’t realize you were going to be stopping by. You decided not to go to the gym?”

  “Uh, yeah,” he said. “Not now, anyway. I just couldn’t wait to come over here and see you. I wasn’t sure what time you’d be getting home.”

  I paused. Hadn’t we texted earlier and I told him that I was going to try to leave the office by six, but I was planning to take the bus home, so I’d be a little late?

  “You know how the 2 can be,” I said. “Did you forget about the spare key?” I smiled, but he did not smile back like I’d expected him to, nor did he come over and kiss me, as I’d gotten used to him doing. Before heading up the stairs, I started to walk over to him, because, I reasoned, he shouldn’t be the one who always initiated that first kiss. The expression on his face didn’t change, though; it wasn’t his usual warm smile; his eyes did not look happy to see me. Was something wrong? Had I done something? I was about to ask him just that when I felt someone step right up behind me and press something heavy and damp over my face. It was a rag, and it smelled slightly sweet. It made me gag, except I couldn’t really gag because it was pressed so tightly against my face. I was aware of arms around me, holding my own arms down, preventing me from ripping the rag away. I kicked out and my foot hit the bag of dropped groceries. The rag wasn’t obscuring my vision, though, and I could see Shep just standing there, watching. Except I realized, as everything began to fade to black, that it wasn’t Shep. That wasn’t my Shep; it was Holden.

  ***

  My arms ached. My head was pounding, and I had an awful taste in my mouth. I struggled to lift my head, felt my neck scream in protest. I forced my eyelids open. I was in a room, a concrete room with one single overhead hanging light bulb. The room was maybe ten feet by twelve feet, and I was in a straight-backed chair, my hands tied behind my back. The fog in my head cleared a little more, and I remembered walking up to my house, seeing Shep waiting there.

  Except it hadn’t been Shep.

  And then whoever he’d been with had come up behind me and put that rag over my face, probably soaked in chloroform. How long had I been out for? Where was I?

  I looked around. The room was bare except for the chair that I sat in. There was a metal door with a narrow rectangle of frosted glass. The more awake I became, the faster my heart started to beat. I kept waiting to wake up, find myself safe in my own bed, Shep’s arms wrapped around me. I’d tell him about this dream and we’d have a laugh over it.

  But that didn’t happen.

  I was now as awake as I was going to get, and I was still in this chair, arms still tied behind my back. I moved my wrists around, trying to loosen the rope enough so I could get free. I needed to pull my arms toward the front of my body; my shoulder muscles felt like they were going to snap if I didn’t.

  My mind raced as I strained my wrists against the rope. I could feel that the right side was loosening; I’d be able to pull my arm out in a few more seconds. The rope hadn’t been tied that well. When I was finally able to pull both hands free, I let out a gasp of relief as I wrapped my arms around myself. My legs were not tied, and I stood up. My knees felt a little wobbly. I walked over to the door and grasped the handle, knowing that it would be locked, but needing to try anyway. The handle didn’t budge.

  I put my ear against the pane of glass and listened, trying to make out any sound. I didn’t know if the door was soundproof or if there was just no one around, but I couldn’t hear a single thing.

  I turned away from the door and surveyed the room. No windows. No way to get out except through that locked door. The doorknob was a Kwikset, the most common—the same one I had at my own house, in fact—but I didn’t have anything even remotely close to being able to pick it with. The black elastic holding my hair back was going to be of no use. My breathing started to increase; I could feel myself starting to get claustrophobic, even though the room was plenty big. I stood still and tried to slow my breathing, tried to talk myself down. Losing my shit now would not help anything. I needed to keep it cool and try to figure out how the hell I was going to get out of here.

  But before I could think about that, I heard a sound on the other side of the door, and I backed up to the far wall. The door opened, and there was Holden and two other guys I didn’t recognize. One of them had a gun.

  “Look who’s up,” Holden said. He walked all the way into the room, the two other guys following. The last one in kicked the door shut, but not before I was able to get a glimpse of a short hallway that looked like it opened into a big space, like a garage or barn. “Let’s not do anything stupid, okay, Lena? Because Abe right here, he’s a pretty good shot. This close range—there wouldn’t be much of you left.”

  “What do you want?” I said, and I hated the way my voice shook. Holden heard this and he smiled.

  “What do I want? Oh, I want a lot of things. Probably won’t get all of them. No, I know I won’t get all of them… but I got a big one. And that’s important. And that big one is you.”

  “Are we gonna kill her?” the shaggy-haired kid, who did not have a gun, asked. Inwardly, I cringed, but I tried to keep my expression neutral.

  “Easy, there, Junior,” Holden said. “No, we’re not going to kill her… yet, anyway.” He looked at me. “See, Junior here has never actually seen someone murdered. Oh, he’s seen d
ead bodies before, but there’s a difference between seeing a corpse and actually seeing a person become a corpse. Ain’t that so, Abe?”

  Abe nodded, a smirk on his face.

  My heart thudded wildly in my chest, but luckily they couldn’t hear it. My blood felt ice-cold, and it didn’t seem that my brain wanted to function properly, but I knew I needed to keep my wits about me if I had any chance of getting out of here. I had originally written them off as harmless hillbillies, but I knew now that was a mistake. They were dangerous, but they were also capable of doing something stupid. They might kill me even if they didn’t mean to.

  Holden looked at Abe and then at Junior. “Why don’t you boys give us a minute,” he said. “You can stand right out there in the hallway, if you want.” Abe nodded briskly and stalked out of the room; Junior hesitated, wanting to stay, not wanting to miss a second of the action. How old was he? He barely looked out of his twenties.

  “Go on,” Holden said. “You’re not going to miss anything good, I promise. Bring that other chair in here for me, though.” Abe came back a second later with a chair, which he deposited on the floor in front of Holden. Holden waited until they had both exited before he turned back to me, rearranging the expression on his face.

  “Hi, Lena,” he said, and he had changed the inflection in his voice; he sounded exactly like Shep now. I squeezed my eyes shut, which didn’t offer any protection against the sound of his voice. “I’m so glad I finally have you here, all to myself.” He had brought another chair into the room with him, and he sat on it backward, folding his arms over the back of the chair. “Do you love me, Lena? I want to hear you tell me you love me. And say it like you mean it.”

  I opened my eyes. That is not Shep, I told myself. “I don’t know what you want from me,” I said, “but why don’t you just tell me now so we can stop with whatever the hell this is. Because whatever this is, it’s completely unnecessary.”

  Holden stared at me for several seconds and then broke out into a grin, a very un-Shep-like grin. Which was good. I needed to see him for who he was and not let myself for a second think that he was actually Shep. Because he wasn’t, and I knew this.

  “Big talker,” he said. “You are a big talker, you know that? That’s one of the things I noticed about you right away. Well, after the fact that you’re just so damn… ordinary. I thought you’d at least be a knockout. See, Shep and I, being identical twins, I know the caliber of woman he could get. Because it’s the same caliber of woman I could get, and I sure as hell could get with someone a lot hotter than you.”

  “Great—congratulations,” I said. “But seeing as I’m not trying to get with you, why do you care who your brother is with? Does it matter to you that he’s happy?”

  “Oh, is that what it’s called? You barking orders at him, trying to domesticate him and that shit? Don’t think I don’t have your number. You’re starting to get older—now you want to settle down. You realize maybe it was a mistake to think that you’d be happy to go through life alone. Maybe getting married and popping out a couple of kids would be a good idea; you just need to find the sort of man to do it with. Shep is not that man.”

  “We’re not talking about getting married. Or having kids. I don’t know what you think is going on between us, but it’s very—”

  “The only thing ‘going on’ between the two of you—that is going to be acceptable to our family—is… well, nothing, if you want to put it bluntly. We could very easily take care of that right now, you know. If you were, say, dead, then there wouldn’t be any you for Shep to go out with anymore, now, would there? Sure, he’d be upset about it, but he’d move on. He’s got his fighting to focus on, and of course there’s helping out his family. Because we’ve been here all along, you see. You just want to waltz in and steal him from us—I’ve seen that shit go down before. Not in this family, but in other families, and they just let it happen. They just let some high-minded bitch come in and take away their son, their brother, and think that she’s the one who’s going to be calling all the shots now. Just like you. Don’t think we don’t see it. Don’t think that we didn’t want you to come over that first time so we could really get a feel for you. I know you thought that whole brunch you put on would really impress us, but if anything, it just cemented the fact that you’re a pretentious, stuck-up bitch. And you have no business being with my brother.”

  “I can see you feel very strongly about this.”

  “I do. My whole family does, as a matter of fact.”

  “Right,” I said. “Everyone but Shep, the person that I’m actually going out with. It would seem that his opinion should matter here, shouldn’t it?”

  “Sometimes people are blind to what is best for them. Shep usually has a good head on his shoulders, but in this case, I’m afraid, he just isn’t seeing things clearly. And so that’s what family is for. Family is there for you when you’re about to make a huge-ass mistake; they’re there, waving their hands, trying to get your attention, to save you from having to go through something unnecessary.”

  “He makes me happier than anyone I’ve ever met,” I said. “And I know I make him happy, too. If you’ve really got his well-being in mind, shouldn’t that count for something? Shouldn’t that matter?”

  “You might make him happy now because everything is new. Who isn’t happy when things are new? When everything the other person does is cute or sexy or just somehow in tune with everything you ever wanted? I mean, that’s how it is for everyone, at least in the beginning. But then you start to get used to each other. Your little habits start to annoy the shit out of each other, but by that point, you’re too far into it. You want to believe you’ve got some sort of chemistry, but it’s not that at all. It’s just new, and it’s not going to be new forever.

  You’re smart, though. You know a good man when you see one, and you’re not going to let Shep go. Even if he wanted to end things with you, you’d find a way to trap him. ‘Forget’ to take your birth control, probably, have a little oops. You know he’d never run out on a kid. You’ve probably got this whole thing planned out, except you weren’t counting on the fact that his family is not going to allow that thing to happen. The only ‘chemistry’ the Parkington family is interested in is what Uncle Devin is doing over in his house. Anything else is just a distraction.”

  “I just don’t understand how your family can think that you know what’s best for him. That you think abducting me and keeping me in some room is the right way to go about doing things.”

  “Oh, no one said anything about right,” Holden said. “We’re not so interested in what is right or not. I mean, come on—look around. Does this seem like the sort of place where we really give a shit about that sort of thing? Nice, normal people wouldn’t do this. And I did try that route, Lena. You can’t blame me for this, really. You were warned. I called you and tried to have a civil conversation with you, but you either didn’t take me seriously or thought that you were smarter than me. That’s the problem with people like you—you think you’re smarter than everyone else. I guess I’m the one who’s got to break it to you that you aren’t. My old man didn’t even want me to call you, but I told him that maybe you’d realize it was the right thing to do.”

  My old man didn’t want me to. So that meant the whole family was in on it, and Shep had no idea. How could a family do something like that? All the while telling themselves that they were doing what needed to be done?

  I gave Holden a defiant look. “I’m not breaking up with him.”

  Holden scoffed, shaking his head. “You’ll learn,” he said. “I know you’re gonna be a hard nut to crack, but you’ll learn. I’ll give you some time.” He stood up. “But I’ll also give you this.”

  His fist came flying around and caught me right in the side of the head, whipping my head violently to the right. I felt woozy, and black dots burst across my vision, but I refused to let myself pass out. I would not give him that pleasure.

  “Christ, you�
��re tough,” he said with a sneer, opening and closing his hand. “We’ll see how tough.”

  He left, pulling the door shut firmly behind him.

  I sat there, stunned, the pain throbbing in time with my heartbeat. Well, at least I still had a heartbeat, I thought miserably, which meant I was still alive.

  Did I think they would kill me? I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to wait around and find out, though. I also didn’t want to end up one of those victims who went along with everything their captor said, did all the right things, just to wind up dead in the end, anyway.

  If I was going to die, it wasn’t going to be without a fight.

  But I didn’t want to think about that yet. There might still be the potential to reason with him.

  I went over to the door and gave it a yank; once again, it didn’t budge. I walked the perimeter of the room, eyes down. Nothing on the floor, barely even any dust. Someone must have swept or vacuumed it recently. I felt some slight discomfort in my lower belly; I was going to have to pee soon, and there sure as hell wasn’t any place in here to do so.

  “Goddammit,” I whispered. I tried to take deep breaths. Losing it now was not going to help in the least. But I knew that I was in serious trouble, and that if I had any chance of getting out of here, I was going to have to play along with Holden’s little game.