Sienna (Dreamcatchers Romantic Suspense Series Book 5)

by Jamie Garrett

  Sienna

  Dreamcatchers Book 5

  Jamie Garrett

  Wild Owl Press

  Contents

  Copyright and Disclaimer

  1. Isobel

  2. Sienna

  3. Sienna

  4. Sienna

  5. Sienna

  6. Jace

  7. Sienna

  8. Sienna

  9. Sienna

  10. Jace

  11. Sienna

  12. Jace

  13. Sienna

  14. Sienna

  15. Sienna

  16. Jace

  17. Sienna

  18. Isobel

  19. Jace

  20. Sienna

  21. Sienna

  22. Jace

  23. Sienna

  24. Sienna

  25. Jace

  26. Sienna

  27. Sienna

  28. Sienna

  29. Sienna

  30. Sienna

  31. Isobel

  32. Sienna

  33. Jace

  34. Jace

  35. Sienna

  36. Jace

  37. Sienna

  38. Sienna

  39. Sienna

  40. Sienna

  41. Sienna

  Also by Jamie Garrett

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Copyright and Disclaimer

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 by Jamie Garrett

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. All requests should be forwarded to jamie@jamiegarrett.com.

  Connect with me on Facebook: http://facebook.com/JamieGarrettBooks

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  Cover design by The Final Wrap.

  Editing by Jennifer Harshman, Harshman Services.

  1

  Isobel

  Here she could be herself. Even through all the recent upheaval. The space was clean, clear, without any of the luxury trappings her mother had enjoyed. Isobel didn’t need Persian rugs or crystal chandeliers to feel at home. She knew her worth. This apartment was decorated simply: an elegant bed, a glass coffee table, and a sleek white sectional. She sat there, staring out at the over-bright office towers jutting into the skyline.

  She spent as little time as possible in the city. It was a necessary evil, but she was never comfortable there. It was too bright. The air was hazy and the roads stunk of exhaust. Up high, as she was now, the view was elegant, but down on the streets it was a mess of chaotic humanity. It had overwhelmed her at times when she’d been younger, until mother had taught her how to control that. She looked down on the tiny people bustling about below her. They were controlled by instinct, every one, even though they denied it. They worked to survive, scraping pennies from the pockets of the wealthy. When the sky grew dark, they’d return home, or somewhere else, and find the nearest piece of flesh to sink themselves into. It was a vicious cycle, fueled by desire.

  She tapped out a cigarette from a pack lying on the table, lit it, and took a long drag. No, humans didn’t see reason. It wasn’t so long ago that everyone believed the earth was flat. Now, nothing was different. There were such atrocities in the world; child armies, starving nations, and a suffocating atmosphere. Nobody cared.

  Isobel did, and she was the key to fixing it all. Humanity was beyond helping itself, and so she’d taken over.

  She took another drag of the cigarette and let the cloud pass slowly through her lips, watching the smoke swirl gracefully over her head.

  Her mother, Claudia, had died at home, her wiry body stuck to sweat-stained sheets. She’d screamed from the pain, until the end. In her dying moments, she’d grown calm and spoken for the first time in days, calling out for her daughter. She’d told Isobel she was special, that she’d been given a gift so she could do something amazing, and it was her job to carry the vision further.

  Isobel had promised, and meant it, but the last few months the vision had stalled. She deserved to be worshiped, but even she couldn’t save the world on her own. She needed others, others like her, but how could she accomplish her mother’s dreams without even the funding to continue her research? The military had taken it from her. An arrogant institution, crippled by its monolithic bureaucracy. She’d shown them miracles, right in front of their eyes, and still they’d ended the contract. Thirty-Four hadn’t given them enough evidence, they said, proof that the project would deliver. Had it not been for her personal side project, the entire organization would have failed a lot sooner. Now, she had to continue her research in secret, away from prying eyes. The government couldn’t know the research had continued. It was slow, and painful, and frustrated the fuck out of her. She ground the cigarette out on the table, leaving an ugly smudge of ash against the glass perfection.

  She’d show them. The world needed a leader, someone to show them how to live. They were certainly not capable of continuing on their own. It took control, real control—so soft and subtle that they’d never know they were being manipulated. Isobel knew that, and she used it to get what she wanted, often even without the use of her powers.

  So why had it failed her this time, damn it?!

  She stood, stripping off her robe, and let her long blonde hair drape over her shoulders. It trailed down her back as she walked naked to her closet. She selected a tight black dress and matching stilettos, checking herself in the mirror. Flawless, as always. Her mother had done well. All she had to do was run a brush through her hair and she was ready. She added a spritz of perfume and made her way over to the studio next door, where she’d set up her office for this location. Abel sat at a desk, watching the video feed on his computer. When she entered the room, he jumped to his feet and hovered near her like a dog that had been starved of affection.

  Abel wasn’t special. She had many men working for her, and he was just the latest in a string of promotions. They’d been necessary when some of her girls had started meddling where they didn’t belong.

  No matter, she’d take charge again soon enough. Meanwhile, she had a large stock to choose from. They hadn’t reacted as well to the experiments, but that just made them easier to exert control over. They were her lap dogs, a group of close allies that could be trusted with her mission and not to ask too many questions. Through a carefully crafted network, she was able to work on multiple continents without placing herself at unnecessary risk.

  “How are things tonight, Abel?”

  “Everything is fine, Miss Isobel. I missed you.”

  She smiled and walked past him, pouring herself a drink from the decanter that was sitting on a table near the window. She sipped at it, then set it down on the table. Her eyes darted toward the computer screen. A grainy black-and-white video was playing on a loop. What had him so fascinated?

  “What’s this?”

  “A contact sent me a video of you.”

  “Did they now?” She walked over to the desk. Her face was on the screen, or at least it looked like her. Facial recognition could be unreliable in some of the c
onditions she worked in, but the features were similar enough. That was her on the screen. Isobel leaned closer, squinting, and her eyebrows furrowing. So why didn’t she recognize the location?

  “They said it was from a store in Nevada.” Abel reached over and clicked to display the attached message. Along with the video’s information was a time stamp. The image had been recorded two days ago.

  “What does it mean, Miss Isobel? I don’t understand.”

  “I need you to leave, Abel.”

  His face went dark. Crap. She’d been forgetting herself lately. Keep the charm turned on, or you could set off her men’s darker sides. “It’s okay. I’m fine. I’ll come and find you shortly.”

  “Alright.” He nodded and then turned and shuffled out of the room. Isobel poured herself another drink, gulping it down. What the hell was going on? She closed out the video and reread the message. It had been delivered directly to her encrypted account from a Nevada contact. He’d never really been necessary before; there’d never been anything interesting out in the desert, but she’d made a point to cover all major cities. The video had been taken in a Las Vegas convenience store, over on the east side of town. She stared back at herself on the screen and shivered. It was just like she was looking in a mirror.

  Except that it wasn’t her. She hadn’t been to Vegas for years.

  She stared. The facial recognition software had taken rudimentary measurements of the girl’s features, but it couldn’t see what Isobel did. The nose was the same size, the eyes the exact same width apart. They even had the same pouting lips. That wasn’t an accident—not in her world.

  The girl was almost certainly a product of the experiments, but not one she’d ever heard of. Isobel thought that Claudia had told her everything. It seemed not. Opening another window, Isobel booked a ticket to Las Vegas. Far too many girls had already been lost. This time she was going to investigate personally. This girl was special.

  She had Isobel’s face.

  2

  Sienna

  “Sienna.”

  Her mother was speaking loudly enough for Sienna to hear over the music, but she ignored her anyway. She stared down at the screen in her hand, scrolling through her playlist and refusing to meet her mother’s gaze. Her mother, Laura, was always worrying, always asking questions and then throwing out advice like it was an imperial decree. Even when Sienna had turned eighteen her mother had continued to insist that every rule from her childhood was still obeyed, including never going to friend’s houses alone and calling to check in every hour. Having recently graduated from high school, and watched all her friends get ready to leave for college, Sienna was over it. She wasn’t going to college, enrolled to complete credits online instead. Her mother didn’t want her moving out of home to go to school, something that had caused more than one bitter argument between them. It was as if Laura couldn’t survive without controlling Sienna’s every action. Sometimes she’d just sit her down in the kitchen and look out the window while talking endlessly about all the various things that could go wrong.

  “Sienna!”

  She ripped her ear buds out and glared at her mother. “What?”

  Laura took a step backward. A sad look crossed her face, but Sienna refused to lose her scowl. “I’m making fried chicken. Do you want to come downstairs and eat with me?”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  Laura sighed and sat down at the foot of the bed. “You haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

  “I made myself a sandwich this afternoon.”

  “Oh,” Laura turned around and started folding the pile of clothes Sienna had left on the foot of the bed. “I just thought it would be nice to have a meal together.”

  “I said, I’m not hungry.” Sienna looked back down at her screen, putting in an ear bud.

  “I just—I feel like we don’t ever talk anymore. We’re so disconnected.”

  “I’m busy, Mom.”

  Laura’s head dropped and she turned to leave. At the last moment she seemed to change her mind, turning and resting her hand along the door jam. “Are you going out tonight?”

  “What does it matter?”

  “I don’t want you caught up with that boy, Sienna. He’s not right for you.”

  Sienna stood, shoving her cell phone in her back pocket and grabbing a denim jacket. “Okay, I’m done. I don’t want to hear it again, Mom. You don’t know the first thing about Tony.”

  “I know he’s been partying at the apartment complex on Sixth.”

  “So?”

  “The only reason people go there is to get drugs.”

  Sienna picked up her purse and shoved past her mother, quickening her pace down the stairs. Her mother had no idea. She wasn’t into drugs, and neither was Tony. He just wanted to get away from home, like she did. So what if he drank a little? Didn’t matter if she did either. God knows after years of listening to her mother she knew how to protect herself. Not that she ever got the chance. Laura didn’t trust her. She was always hovering, like she was waiting for something terrible to happen. It was suffocating.

  She pushed out the front door and took a deep breath, the cool air of the evening clearing her head. She walked out of her gate and down the road, each house like the previous. They lived in a perfect cookie cutter neighborhood, pristine houses with no soul and their inhabitants hiding behind a middle class facade. Sienna wanted to be in the middle of it all, with real people dealing with real problems, not just hiding away from everything the way Laura wanted them to.

  As soon as she was clear of the view of her house she pulled out her phone and texted Tony that she was on her way. They were supposed to be heading to Jerry’s that night for a barbecue, and so she could eat there. She’d take that any day over stony silence or another tense argument with her mother. Tony lived two blocks over, and could have picked her up at home, but she needed the walk to calm down. The light breeze continued to blow, ruffling her long blond hair.

  Things were easier when she wasn’t at home. She didn’t need to hide inside her headphones just to avoid another discussion she didn’t want to have. She could be herself without worrying her every move was being monitored. She looked upward at the first twinkling stars of the evening, thanking whoever was up there that her mom at least let her go out locally by herself. They lived in a small town, and everyone knew everyone else. If she didn’t have that, Sienna would have lost it a long time ago.

  Tony was waiting outside his place, wearing his signature skinny jeans, his black hair swept over one eye. “Hey.” He walked over and kissed her.

  “God, she’s driving me crazy.” Sienna didn’t have to tell Tony who she was talking about. He knew.

  “I know, baby. Let’s get out of here.”

  “So we’re going to the barbecue?”

  “I thought it’d be fun.” Sienna turned to walk to his car and Tony slapped her on the ass.

  “Hey!”

  “What?” He met her gaze with a grin and then climbed in the driver’s side, unlocking the other door to let her in. Sienna leaned back in the seat. She had thought that once they were on the road she’d relax, but all she could see in her mind was her mother sighing in the kitchen. She let out a loud sigh of her own.

  “Sometimes I really hate her, Tony.”

  “Yeah?” He glanced over at her briefly before returning his gaze to the road.

  “She doesn’t understand me, at all. All she does is talk about how I need to be careful, all these rules. She’s totally paranoid.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m an adult, for fuck’s sake. I shouldn’t have to follow all these rules anymore.”

  Tony reached down and turned the radio volume up to full blast. Sienna slapped his hand and turned it back down. “Are you even listening to me?”

  “Of course I am.” He took her hand. “But Babe, this is nothing new. Let’s just have fun tonight, hey?”

  She scowled, then forced herself to let it go. Tony was right. She’d gone ou
t to get away from it all, not talk about it all night. “Alright.” He reached over and turned the radio back up. Music usually helped her mood, but tonight all it did was irritate her. She rolled the window down and let the breeze in again. At least that was still feeling good. She watched the desert pass by her window until Tony finally made the turn into The Chateau. The real name of the place was Casa del Rio, but everyone called it by the nickname. There were three floors of rickety catwalks and bedrooms, each with their rusty window units straining to keep the apartments cool. Sienna followed Tony to the courtyard, where a group of people already sat around a cracked concrete table. They were greeted warmly and Tony jumped right into the conversation, moving through the different circles, greeting everyone. Sienna, still feeling the hangover from the latest argument with her mother, stuck to the sidelines. Just as she was starting to get mad at Tony for disappearing on her, her friend Maddie walked in from the parking lot. A six pack dangled from her hands and she set it down in front of Sienna. “Hey, Girl.”

  “Hey.”

  “What’s eating you?”

  “Nothing.” Sienna poked at the ground with her shoe. “Just sick of living at home.”