Games of Fire

by Airicka Phoenix

  When she finished, she slumped against the pillow, exhaustion cementing her bones, weighing them down. Spencer brushed her hair off her face. He pressed a kiss to her brow.

  “We’ve been through the residence in question,” Detective Marlow said, rapping his pen on his pad. “We have evidence to corroborate your story—”

  “Why would you need to corroborate her story? She’s the victim!” her father demanded.

  “This is just procedure, Mr. Valdez. We have to look at a case from all sides.”

  Her father didn’t seem pleased, but kept his mouth shut.

  Detective Marlow continued. “Is there anything else you can tell us, Sophie?”

  Sophie started to shake her head, but stopped. “Joe … he’s the one taking those girls in the paper. He was keeping them in that room.”

  The detectives exchanged glances.

  “We know,” Detective McLeary said.

  Sophie shifted higher on her pillow. “Did you find their bodies? Did you find …” she faltered, her gaze darting up to Spencer. He squeezed her fingers, giving her the go-ahead. “Aimee?”

  “We found … remains,” Detective McLeary said cautiously.

  “Remains? What does that mean?” her mother asked.

  “He was using chemicals to dispose of the bodies,” Detective Marlow answered.

  Chemicals. A blinding flash of images blazed behind her eyes of a claw-footed tub. Her nostrils burned. Her eyes swam. Her stomach churned.

  “Where?” Sophie croaked, staring hard at her lap.

  “Sophie …?” Concern colored Spencer’s voice.

  “Where?” she said louder.

  She was gripping tight to Spencer’s hand now, so tight it was a wonder his bones hadn’t shattered. Her skin was clammy. She could feel beads of sweat rolling down her spine.

  “We think in a tub in the basement,” Detective Marlow replied, confirming Sophie’s horrors.

  “Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!” The heart monitors screamed. It roared in the confined space. Her head swamped with the noise, drowning the low, whining moan that kept pouring from her throat.

  “Sophie!” Spencer was there, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to look at him.

  “I was there! I was there!” she squealed, hooking trembling fingers into her hair as bile pooled in her throat. “I was in that tub! He made me shower in that tub! I was in … I was … he stood and watched as I showered, knowing … he knew! He let me shower … I was in that tub!”

  She was pulled into his arms and rocked, but the thought of having him touching her, touching her when she was tainted by the remains of all those girls had her shoving him back as her skin crawled and her stomach muscles heaved.

  “Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!”

  “Sophie!”

  She shook her head violently. “Don’t touch me!”

  Over the chaos, there were other voices. Someone had summoned the doctor. He ran into the room, two nurses at his heels.

  “It’s all right, Sophie,” he was saying as she was forced onto her back and restrained by the nurses. There was a sting in her arm. Then everything washed away into a soft, blissful black.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  It was dark when the rocking currents of unconsciousness released its hold on her. The steady beeping of her heart serenaded the silence, barely muffling the bustle outside the closed door. Sophie blinked her eyes and fought to focus.

  The room was illuminated solely by the single fluorescent light suspended above the bed. Her friends were gone. Her parents too. But there was a single figure asleep at her bedside, slumped forward with his head resting on his folded arms on the mattress next to her hip. The light danced through the pale strands falling over his peaceful expression. She felt herself smile. That was all she did, but it seemed to be enough to alert him that she was awake.

  He raised his head, rubbing a hand over his face. “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey.”

  He dropped his hand and studied her. “You okay?”

  She dropped her gaze. “I’m sorry.”

  His fingers curled around hers, untangling them from each other and bringing them to his lips. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

  She still couldn’t meet his eyes. “He made me shower in that tub. He knew what he’d done and he still made me use it.” She bit her lip when it trembled. “All those girls … they died there and he …”

  His warm fingers brushed aside a strand of hair and tucked it behind her ear. He said nothing, but she was grateful for that.

  “I feel so dirty.”

  He rose out of his chair and sat next to her. His arms wound their way around her, pulling her into his chest. She returned the embrace, binding her arms around his ribs and mashing her face into his shoulder. She closed her eyes, breathing him in, injecting him into herself to replace all the scents and memories of the last three months.

  “Is he dead?” she whispered, her voice muffled by his shirt.

  “I should have hit him harder,” Spencer muttered after several minutes of silence. “But he will never hurt you again. It’s over. You’re safe.”

  Sophie leaned her head against his shoulder. “I’m tired, Spencer.”

  He smoothed her hair. “I know, baby.”

  “Lay down with me, please? I need you.”

  He wasted no time crawling into the narrow bed with her. His arms closed around her tight, just short of suffocating her. “Close your eyes,” he murmured into her cheek. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

  The reassurance of his promise had her falling into the first real sleep in months.

  Chapter Fifty

  “Tell me what I missed,” Sophie said to Spencer a few days later while she waited for the doctor to sign her release.

  Lying next to her on the cot, Spencer chuckled. “Didn’t you already hear all this a thousand times?”

  She shrugged, smiling. “Tell me again. I missed so much. This is the only way I can live it all.”

  He sighed with mock exasperation. “The things I do for you! All right.” He coiled a lock of her hair around his finger. “Janice had the baby.”

  “A beautiful girl,” Sophie added.

  Spencer nodded. “They named her—”

  “Sylvia.”

  “She was five pounds.”

  “Seven ounces, and looked like ground beef, which isn’t a nice thing to say about your sister, by the way.”

  He lightly tugged on her curl. “Hey, who’s telling this story?”

  Sophie giggled. “Sorry.”

  “Better be.” He kissed her nose. “Where was I?”

  “How Janice asked you to hold the baby …”

  “Ah, yes.” He cleared his throat. “So Dad gives me this mushy pile of wrinkly flesh and …”

  Sophie’s heart melted at the adoring smile on his face. “She looked just like you as a baby.”

  “Definitely a heartbreaker in the making,” he agreed.

  “Now you love her.”

  He snorted. “What’s there to love? She’s smelly and snotty and … she’s okay.”

  Sophie laughed. “You love her.”

  He brushed her cheek with his knuckles. “Not the way I love you.”

  Despite the warm glow pouring through her, she wrinkled her nose. “I hope not.”

  He flicked her nose. “I’m trying to be romantic.”

  “You know what’s really romantic?”

  His eyebrow lifted. “Chocolates?”

  She shoved his shoulder playfully. “Getting out of this hospital! I can’t wait to get back to my room and sleep in my bed and wear clothes that don’t show my butt.”

  He made a soft humming sound of agreement. “Your parents changed a few things since you were last there. They threw out your mattress and put in new carpets, but everything’s the same otherwise. Also.” He grinned. “I happen to like watching you walk in these gowns.”

  Sophie swatted at him. “Perv.” Her smile faded a no
tch. “Mom told me. At least they hadn’t really moved like Joe was trying to make me believe.”

  Spencer shook his head. “They never stopped looking, Sophie. None of us did. We knew we would find you.”

  “And you did.”

  Again, he shook his head. “You’d already done all the hard parts.”

  She touched his lips. “You saved me.” She changed the topic, knowing he would never believe her. “How’s Jamie?”

  He shrugged. “The same. Mom and Dad are looking into getting him some help.”

  “I’m sorry—”

  “Hey, I told you. It’s not your fault what happened with Aimee. You had no way of knowing what Joe had planned. You didn’t ask him to take her.”

  “If I hadn’t said anything—”

  “She would have found another reason to be angry.” He touched her face. “Aimee wasn’t very good at not being angry about something.”

  “Do you think Jamie will ever forgive me?”

  Spencer shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  Guilt crushed her chest, even as she told herself again and again that it wasn’t her fault that Joe took Aimee. That she had no control over what happened. It was a solid brick house resting on her shoulders. She doubted she would ever be able to let it go.

  “Hey.” Spencer kissed her fingertips, pulling her back from her dreary thoughts. “I think this moment deserves a gift.”

  Curious, she watched as he dug into his pocket and removed a small, square box. He held it out to her.

  She took it, thankful she was no longer strapped to the heart monitor, because her heart was going a mile a minute. “What is it?”

  “Are you asking me or the box? Because I don’t think it’s going to answer.”

  She elbowed him gently. She pulled the top off, her fingers trembling, and peered down at the gorgeous silver ring nestled inside. The soft sunlight spilling through the window glinted off the twin heart-shaped diamonds nestled cozily in the center of two interlocked hearts that wove into a sleek band. Carved into either side of the hearts were their names.

  Her heart about stopped. “Spencer …” Elation, terror, uncertainty all raged through her as she fought with her mind on what to say, how to reject him, did she even want to reject him?

  “It’s not what you think,” he said, freeing the ring from its velvet bed. “I’m not asking you … that, not right now anyway. Neither of us is ready for that and I’d do it in a much better place than a hospital room.” He grinned at her shocked look. He kissed her gaping mouth and pulled away. “This is my promise that I will always love you and will always be there no matter what happens.” He turned his hand slightly so she could see the engraving along the inside of the band.

  Her breath caught as she read the single word engraved into the smooth silver.

  Blondie.

  “Where …?”

  “I saw it while we were shopping for your dress. I had it in my pocket that night. I was going to give it to you, but …” But they were both nearly killed and she was taken, was her sinking thoughts. But he finished with, “You wound up seducing me and making me forget all about it.”

  Sophie blushed. “Did you tell my parents why you were in my room, in your boxers?”

  He winced a little. “I think they kind of figured it out. I didn’t exactly have a lot of time to clean up the mess we made.”

  Her flush deepened. “And my dad let you live?”

  He shrugged. “I was convincing when I told him I was crazy about his daughter.” He smiled a little. “So, what do you say? Will you accept my promise?”

  Sophie looked at the ring he still held and smiled. “Like you could ever get rid of me now, mister.”

  He slipped the ring down her middle finger. “Mine.”

  Please enjoy an excerpt from Lila Felix’s new release, How It Rolls (A Love & Skate Novel)

  Chapter 1

  Four Years Later

  Falcon

  Talking on the phone with Nellie was like talking to Alice from the Wonderland, flighty and whimsical. One day I was going to give her a petit-four and see if she shrunk so Owen could put her in his pocket.

  “You’re gonna hate me. And then you’re gonna kill me,” Nellie said over the phone.

  “Come on Hellie. I could never hate you and if I killed you, my mom would kill me. And then there would be a line of ladies weeping and mourning over their loss.”

  She laughed over the phone and I had to pull the phone away from my ear. My sister-in-law was hella loud.

  “Oh my stars Falcon, you’re right. What was I thinking? We must think of the welfare of all the single women—not. Ok, so are you game for one more job?”

  “For you?” I really didn’t want to take on any more work, but for Nellie, I would do just about anything.

  “Yeah, well, me and the team.” Her voice rose at the end of that statement, an indication that she felt bad about asking.

  “You want me to manage the team’s money?” I didn’t realize it was that big of an issue.

  “Yeah, we’ve got more team members and we’re thinking of making our own league instead of just one team. So there will be fees and then there’re t shirt sales, signed posters and you know I hate the suit crap. No offense.”

  “Hmmm, ok, for you, I will. And I’m going to ignore the suit comment lady.” I was the suit to which she referred. I was an accounting major at Tulane with a minor in business administration. Which was funny considering my torso and arms were completely covered with tattoos and I still had my Mohawk. Nellie called it edgy. I called it ‘Here I am. If you don’t like it, I have a special finger gesture just for you.’

  “Lunch?” She asked.

  “Yeah, noon at the Union?”

  “Ok, be there or be…wait, you already are square.” She caused herself to giggle.

  “Ha ha ha. Bye dork.” I hung up the phone and went into my Econ class making sure to turn down the volume on the ringer. Dr. Glusman was notorious for taking students’ phones if they rang during a lecture. The classroom was built as a theatre but classes were held here. I assumed they probably meant for large classes to meet here but instead this class was only about thirty students on a good day. Today was not a good day. There were maybe a dozen in attendance and Dr. Glusman paid meticulous attention. You couldn’t be a skipper on his watch. Plus, he loved to test on lectures only. Screw the books, your grade depended on listening to his nasaly voice. Plus, he looked just like Bones from Star Trek. You had to watch to see if he said ‘green blooded hobgoblin.’

  He cleared his throat to get attention from the class while his slide show appeared on the screen. This week’s series of lectures was about public economics—welfare, taxation, social programs, etc. I took diligent notes but personally I thought that if everyone would just help each other, there would be no need for those programs. But thinking in Dr. Glusman’s class was frowned upon. You listen, you take notes, you study, get a good grade. That, I could do.

  Class ended and we all had to go to the front and sign the attendance roster. He watched us like a hawk while I signed my name

  Hawk watches Falcon sign his name? You’ve lost it, man.

  I picked up my backpack and headed towards central campus, to the Union. I walked up the pebbled steps and grabbed a tray, not knowing what to get.

  “Falcon!” I heard and saw her hair immediately. One thing about Nellie, you’d never lose her.

  She did a couple of hand motions towards a tray in front of her. I put my tray back and headed to the table. I sat down across from her and did a ‘turn around’ motion with my finger. She had changed her hair and when she turned the top half was pink and the bottom half was purple. She had it up in some kind of bun thing so both colors could be seen.

  “So, what do you think?” She asked me this every time she did something to her hair and it was my job as her brother/friend to come up with a quirky response. It was our thing.

  “I’m wondering where the Holograms and the
Misfits are. That’s what.”

  She glowed at that response. We were both 1980’s TV fanatics and she knew what I was talking about. I could tell.

  “Falcon Black did you just make a Jem and the Holograms reference?”

  “I did. It was a girl cartoon, but damn those Misfits were hot and truly, truly, truly outrageous.” She clapped and as if we didn’t ordinarily warrant extra attention from the other tables, we had it now.

  I stood and bowed to her and then to the rest of the room while she giggled at me. “I’m so glad I bought your lunch. You deserve it for that one.”

  “So where’s Owen?” I asked even though I could see my brother towering behind her, waiting for his moment.

  She checked her watch and then shrugged. “He should be here any minute.”

  He bent down at her ear level and whispered, “I’m here.” She almost jumped across the table.

  “Good grief Owen. Stop doing that crap. And you,” she pointed to me, “stop helping him.”

  We both laughed at her and she soon joined in. I finished my meal and let them finish their meals together while I went to my afternoon class and then back to the restaurant to work.

  My second class of the day was easy. It was American Literature and Nellie knew all of the books like the back of her own hand. She helped me when I needed it and I loved her for it.

  I got to the restaurant about three o’clock. I liked to get my work done before the dining room got busy. I couldn’t stand trying to work over the clanging of plates and the banging of pots. I already had payroll done for the week so I paid out the restaurant’s bills for the food deliveries and finalized the numbers for the day. I took the money and zipped it all up in a leather bag and ran through the bank and deposited it before going home.