"You don't know what the fu--" I stop myself. I'm getting too emotional for this conversation. "Look, if you're going to kill me, then just fucking kill me already. I'm bored with you."
His grin grows. "Really? I'm having fun." Those sapphire eyes catch mine, and the smile slowly falters. He points the gun to the side, away from me. "I'm actually not here to kill you. I mean, I will if I must, but that is not the purpose of my visit today."
Those words should bring relief, but I'm still at Defcon 1. "Then what the hell do you want?"
"I wanted to meet the newest addition, gage your threat level." His nose twitches. "Minimal. Which is a disappointment. Your work with Alkaline was impressive, but it must have been the exception, not the rule. All bark, no bite. Shame." The gun returns to my chest. "But really I want access to your computer. I have research to do. I searched the majority of the house but couldn't locate it. You will show me where it is and how to use it. Were you lying when you said you had a gentleman coming over?"
"No."
"Well, then we best get to it. Don't want you to miss your adulterous fun. Get up."
Fuck. Going to a second location never ends well. With the gun still on my person, we rise. Cain picks up the satchel from the floor he must have brought. I don't like it, but I lead the way toward the fireplace. For a second I'm convinced he's lying, that he's going to shoot me in the back of the head. I press the button under the fireplace, and it slides open. Still no shot.
The psycho keeps the gun against my shoulder the entire way down the ramp. "Huh. It's smaller than I imagined." I slowly march toward Doris. I'm about to enter the password that sends a warning to the others, but Jordan moves the gun to my temple. "No tricks, Miss Fallon. And familiar faces show up while I'm here you're the first to go, then your old friend upstairs. As I said, I don't want to kill you, but I will. Correct password please." Fuck again. I do as he says. The main screen pops up. "Looks simple enough. Suppose it'd have to be for you to use it."
"Gee, I can't tell you how wounded I am by your low opinion of me," I say, deadpan.
I get a quick smile from the villain. "I am sure you'll recover from the disappointment." He sets the satchel down and reaches into his pocket. My breath catches when he pulls out a syringe, using his teeth to get the cap off.
"What--"
Before I can form a defensive tactic, the needle pierces my neck. Whatever's inside burns through my veins. As the darkness envelops me, and I lose function of all my limbs, I hear the words, "Say hello to my brother for me."
Fade to fucking black.
*
A stinging chemical smell. Brendan and Dobbs above, shouting my name. Black.
Sirens. Jostling around as a car moves. Black.
Bright lights. Doctors and nurses circling me. Black.
When I open my eyes for the fourth time, I manage to keep them ajar for more than a second. Four walls, machines attached to my arms, antiseptic smell, and a gurney. Hospital. The right side of my head throbs, and when I touch it there's a bandage over my matted hair. My neck where that fucker injected me is sore too. At least I'm alive.
Brendan is asleep in a chair in the corner snoring lightly. My attempt to sit up fails the first time, but the second successful one alerts my guard. He lets out a snorting snore, and his eyes fly open. "Oh, hey," he says, sitting up as well.
"Evening," I say as I settle into the gurney.
He checks his watch. "Actually, it's just past two AM." The gentle giant stands and walks over. "How you feeling?"
"My head hurts."
"Yeah, you whacked it when you hit the floor. They already gave you a CT scan. There's no swelling so probably no concussion. Just a couple staples for the gash and some blood loss. Jem said they'd do more tests when you woke up."
"Is he here?"
"He's around somewhere, but…"
"But?"
"We both thought it best he keep his distance. Because of, you know. So I pulled guard duty."
"You know it was Cain?"
"Yeah. I came over around nine to check on you, but your butler told me you were out with Jem, which I knew was a lie. I'd just left him at the docks an hour before. When you weren't in the living room, I opened the fireplace and found you bleeding and unconscious on the floor. We tried to revive you, but when we couldn't, your butler phoned an ambulance and I moved you upstairs. Seems Cain injected you with an anesthetic. It's not dangerous or anything, no long term effects, just knocks you out for a couple hours." Brendan sits on the edge of the gurney. "I called Jem while we waited for the ambulance to make sure he'd be the one to examine you. We checked you in under a fake name, but there have been a few calls. We've just kept silent."
"That's why I pay a PR firm buckets of money to handle things like this. How long do I have to stay here?"
"That's a Jem question but minimum overnight for observation. I'm gonna go tell him you're awake. He was…" He ceases speaking to find the right words. "Well, let's just say he'll be very, very relieved you're up. As will the nurses he's been haranguing at non-stop. Be right back."
My friend squeezes my hand before walking out. When the door shuts, I let out a long sigh. The last time I was in a hospital bed I'd been Tasered, kidnapped, shot at, burned with acid and had a subway station fall in over my head. A measly gash and tranquilizer are an improvement. I guess.
Jem must have been nearby because five seconds after Brendan steps out, the men return. My doctor looks as horrible as I probably do. His dark hair is wild as if it hasn't seen a brush in years, and his clothes are mismatched and rumpled except for the white doctor's coat. The moment he lays eyes on me, that striking face falls with relief but only for a second before he shuts off again.
"I'll leave you two alone," Brendan says. "I'm gonna call Lexie, tell her you're up if she's not already on the plane."
"She didn't have to fly back," I say.
"Too late. We need to get ahead of this thing, if possible. Come get me when you're done with your…examination." He smiles at us both before departing.
Alone again.
Jem refuses to move from across the room, not sure how to proceed from here. I'll make it easier for him. "Aren't you gonna examine me?"
"Oh, um, yes," he says, shaking his head to clear it. He takes a tentative step, then another. "Do you have--"
He's too surprised by what I do next to finish his thought. The moment he's within reach, my arms spring around his chest, drawing him into an embrace. Jem stiffens as if I was Medusa and he just looked into my eyes. He even stops breathing.
"Just so you know, I'm not letting go until you hug me back like I know you want to. You know how stubborn I am. I'll hold on for hours if I have to, so you might as well just do it now." I pause. "Please."
He begins breathing again right away but it takes ten seconds before his arms encircle my body, and another three to give into the sensation of comfort this should afford us both. He relaxes and clings to me as hard as I to him. "I'm okay," I whisper. "I swear I'm okay."
I shouldn't have spoken. It brings too much reality to the situation. He moves away, once again refusing to look at me. "Do you have, um, any double vision or nausea?"
"Little nausea. I've had concussions before, and this isn't like that. I'm fine. Really. Besides drugging me, he barely laid a finger on me. He said he just wanted to size me up and use Doris."
"How did he even get in?"
"He was there when I got home. Dobbs let him in. He looked exactly like you, right down to your mannerisms and aftershave. It was uncanny."
"What did you say to him?" he asks, fear level rising a few notches.
"Jem, I knew it wasn't you right away," I say, sounding more offended than I intended. I take him through the whole ordeal only leaving out the incest revelation because I can only face so much right now. That's a whole other conversation.
"Do you think he believed you?"
"He left me alive. Supports the theory."
"Maybe. Or
he has something bigger planned," he offers.
"You don't buy he just popped over for a chat and to use the computer?"
"Do you?" I just stare at him. "Didn't think so."
I put my hand on his. "So, what are we going to do?"
He pulls his hand away and stands. "You are spending the night here, then tomorrow you're being released into Brendan and Lexie's care. Then you can either stay with them until we've defeated him or do the smart thing and leave town."
"We've been through this. I didn't run from Ryder, I'm not running from your brother."
"Yes, because your decision to remain in town had such a good outcome last year. You really want to go through an ordeal like that again?"
"Your brother is an international criminal. If he wants me dead, which he could have accomplished today, he could do it just as easily in France as here."
This realization doesn't assuage his fear, or mine for that matter. If possible his long face collapses even further. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for putting you in this situation."
"Stop saying that. It's not your fault. I don't blame you."
"I blame me. I know my brother. I should have known this would happen. I just--I don't know what to do, Joanna. I--"
"Hey." Jem's still close enough for me to take his hand again. He doesn't pull away. He doesn't even put up even a tiny fight when I hug him again. He even sits on the bed and embraces me back, squeezing me even tighter than I am him. "We'll figure this out. It'll all be okay. I know it." I kiss his cheek. "Just don't give into him. He wants you distracted. He wants you torturing yourself. Don't. Just don't. You don't deserve it."
Jem moves back enough to see my face, I think maybe to see if I'm sincere. I smile and cup his chin in my hands, rubbing my thumbs across his cheekbones before leaning in for a kiss. I anticipate hesitation but he allows this, though he barely kisses me back. He breaks away first, resting his forehead on mine. "I have to go. Any longer could raise suspicions."
"Okay," I whisper.
"I won't let him hurt you again."
I peck his lips. "Ditto."
He kisses my forehead before standing and walking to the door without looking back. I lay down against my pillow and sigh. Fuck. Oh, fuck. I'm scared. Not because a demented psycho has me on his radar, although that is a big, damn concern. No, because I recognize look I just viewed in Jem's eyes. Once in mine when I was twelve then in Justin's twenty years later after he lost everything. There's nothing worse in the whole universe than hopelessness. Nothing. Justin saved me from its clutches, then I saved him, at least temporarily. If there is a God in heaven please give me the strength to save Jem. Please.
*
Two things I hate more than anything are being beholden and being an invalid. Thanks to Jordan Ambrose I'm now both. Asshole. I did have a minor concussion and the anesthetic still in my system made me lightheaded so I can barely stand, which meant I had to be observed outside the hospital for at least a day. But even if I was the picture of health, it was three against one in the "Joanna can be alone" vote, so for the foreseeable future I will inhabit the guestroom at Casa Darby. As I'm not a total moron I saw the logic and didn't put up a fight. At least not today. I was released mid-morning and Lexie swung by in her Mercedes to pick us up. I rest in the backseat slumped like a sullen teenager while my parents in front discuss my curfew and rules of the house such as no going out alone or leaving without telling them. Oh, and no food in my room. This should be fun.
We drive to the mansion to pack my bags, pick up Brendan's car, and check the damage to Doris. There are a few paparazzi outside my gate as we pull in. People seem to think I was drunk and fell down. Let them. My PR team will sort it out, and I'll play along. Dobbs must have been listening for the gate because even before we park behind Brendan's Hummer, he steps out. The old man's face falls when he sees me, as Lexie's did before. I haven't looked in the mirror but I know it ain't good. I meet Dobbs halfway to the door.
"Oh, Miss Joanna. I am so sor--"
I hug him. His body stiffens. He must not know what to make of my uncharacteristic PDA. "You didn't do anything wrong. There is nothing to forgive. I'm fine." I release his frail body. "But I am starving, and we have guests. Come on."
Everyone follows me inside. Dobbs retires to the kitchen to fix me a sandwich while the heroes and I go assess the damage. The living room bears no signs of the night before. Dobbs must have cleaned up the broken glass. I was worried I'd be apprehensive, possibly even have a panic attack, but feel nothing. Yippee, I can live in my home without losing my marbles.
I open the fireplace and down we go into what easily could have been my crypt. Still no strangeness. I suppose after having a subway collapse around you and almost plunging to your death, someone inviting themselves over for a chat and putting me to sleep isn't high on the horror scale. The only sign of my assault is the faint bloodstain on the concrete. Dobbs must have spent an hour on his hands and knees scrubbing. It'll never fully come out. Maybe I'll put down a carpet or rug. Something gray and depressing to match the rest of the room.
"Looks intact," I say after I boot up Doris to run a diagnostic. "I'm still going to call Lizard to check for viruses. We shouldn't use her until then." I twirl around to face my friends. "And what about the warehouses? I don't want to pull up the uplink now."
"I'll do a fly-by on my way back from practice," Brendan says. "I've actually gotta go. You got this?" he asks Lexie.
"We can manage."
"Okay." He kisses his wife's cheek before turning to me. "You gonna be okay?"
"Yeah. Thank you. For everything. For finding me, staying with me, you know."
"Of course." He puts his arm around my shoulders and rubs my arm up and down. "You're family now." He releases me and kisses his wife. "See you later, babe. Be safe."
"Love you," Lexie says.
With a grin, Brendan strolls off to live his normal life. I miss having one of those. My own house isn't even safe anymore. "Fucker took us out of commission," I say. "We gotta get back up quick. I'll call--"
"Uh, you will do nothing. At least not today."
"He chose to surface yesterday for a reason. He probably has something huge planned and needed Doris out of pocket."
"Maybe, but that isn't our main concern right now. You are. You're in his crosshairs."
"I have been for over a month. We just happen to know it now."
"Regardless," she says, "we are going home, and you are resting. Doctor's orders. Come on. I'll physically carry you out of this house if I have to."
"But--"
"That was also doctor's orders. I mean it. Let's get your clothes and get the hell out of here. This place always gives me the creeps. Don't know how the hell you live here."
I'm too tired to put up much of a struggle. I need a shower too. Still have blood in my hair. I follow Lexie up and out, the fireplace shutting itself five seconds later. "How long do you think I'll be staying with you guys?"
"Until we catch the asshole."
"Then what?" I ask.
"Up to him. Personally…I hope to kill the son of a bit--"
The all too familiar sound of an explosion toward the front of the mansion shocks us both almost out of our shoes. What the…? Oh God. We stand slack jawed for a second before glancing at one another and sprinting out of the room. Dobbs is already at the front door, about to open it, when Lexie reaches him. The moment the door opens, a gust of scorching air assaults us. This doesn't stop Lexie for a moment. I'm the last out just as Lexie lets out a bloodcurdling scream.
Oh, God. No.
Brendan's Hummer is engulfed in flames with the driver's side completely destroyed. Black smoke curls up to the sky like a pitch black snake. The smell of burning human flesh causes me to gag. Lexie starts shrieking, "Brendan, Brendan," and starts toward the inferno, but Dobbs has the wherewithal to grab her by the shoulders to stop her. "No, Mrs. Darby. No. He's gone. He's gone."
He's right. Inside the flames, I can see a s
moking arm still holding onto the steering wheel with nothing attached, and even that burns into nothing but dust. Obliterated. Gone. Not even he could have survived this. Lexie crumples to the ground, folding in on herself as she gasps for air. Tears fill my stinging eyes as I join her down there. He's done it. He's destroyed the Triumvirate. The King is dead. And God save us all.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The End
I seem to be hosting a Priority Homicide reunion in my living room. Past and present colliding. The gang's all here: Kowalski, Mirabelle, Cam, and this homicide is such a priority even Harry's left his office to pitch in. And by pitch in I mean shoot me worried glances as he bosses the others around. They've been here half an hour and besides saying hello and hugging me the guys have left Lexie, Dobbs, and me alone as they process the scene in my driveway. Good thing too because Lexie is almost catatonic, and I have no idea what to say let alone do next. I just want to crawl into my bed and yank the covers over my head until this is all over.
"Mr. Dobbs," Mirabelle says as he steps away from Harry whose taken position by the fireplace. "Will you please come into the other room so I may take your statement?"
Dobbs glances at me, and I nod. "Yes, sir."
As they leave, Cam and Harry move toward the couch where I sit with Lexie. "Joanna?" Harry asks. "You look like you could use some fresh air. Come outside with me?"
I glance at a red-eyed Lexie for approval, but she just stares down at the shreds of the tissue in her hand. She's beyond caring about anything now. I'm almost there too. Almost. Don't have that luxury now. My turn to be the strong one. I stand and step toward Cam, whispering, "She had nothing to do with this. Go easy on her." My old partner nods. I squeeze his large bicep and walk over to Harry. "Fresh air would be great."
Harry half smiles and gestures toward the sliding glass doors. The air is less than fresh when I step outside with the stench of smoke and Brendan still lingering. Harry shuts the door as I sit at the patio table. My ex doesn't move from the door, he just stares at me with a mixture of anger and concern. As if anyone ever gazes at me any differently.
The Galilee Falls Trilogy (Book 2): Galilee Rising Page 20