by Nicole Helm
Chapter Eight
Gabby didn’t know the last time she’d felt quite so light. Probably never here. It was probably warped.
Maybe if Jaime had showed up in her first year, it wouldn’t be quite so easy to fall into comfort or friendship or even pseudo-flirting. Maybe there would have been enough of the real world and non-ghost Gabby to keep her distance or to keep her head straight.
But she had been here eight years, and all of those things before ceased to exist. All she had was these past eight years, and they had been dark and dreary and horrible. It was nice to have something to feel light about.
It didn’t mean she wasn’t worried about Natalie. It didn’t mean she was happy to be kidnapped. It didn’t mean a lot of things, but it did give her the opportunity to feel somewhat relaxed. To breathe. To smile as she thought of Jaime’s bristled cheek under her mouth.
She made breakfast for the girls, which she did every Sunday. Even after she’d stopped counting the days, she made sure to know what days were Sundays so she could do this for them. Give them something, if not to look forward to, something that felt like this was home and not just prison.
She didn’t know if any of them still believed in home. She didn’t. This was a prison no matter what, but sometimes it was nice to feel like it wasn’t.
“We’ve been talking,” Alyssa announced with no preamble, which was her usual way of broaching a subject. She had only been here for two years and one of the illuminating things about being imprisoned with other people was the realization that victims could be good and bad people themselves.
Alyssa was a bit of a jerk. Had been from the first moment, continued to be these two years later. She was too blunt and always abrasive, never kind to the softer girls. In real life, Gabby thought she might have ended up punching the woman in the nose.
But this wasn’t real life.
“What about?” Gabby asked pleasantly, as if she cared.
“Rodriguez and his interest in you.”
That certainly caught her off guard, but she feigned interest in her breakfast. “Interest?”
“He’s traipsing in and out of your room at all hours.”
Gabby slowly turned to face the trio of women in the exact same situation as her. They should be friends and yet all she felt like was an irritable babysitter. “Are you watching me, Alyssa?” Gabby asked, not bothering to soften the threat in her voice.
She wouldn’t let anyone figure out what was going on, mostly because she didn’t think the girls could hack it, but also because she didn’t trust any of them. Perhaps same circumstances should have made them something like sisters, but when you were struck by senseless tragedy it was damn hard to remember to be empathetic toward anyone else.
“I’ve been watching him,” Alyssa said with a sniff. “Are you sleeping with him?”
Gabby blinked. She couldn’t tell if it was jealousy or fear or what that sparked Alyssa’s interest. She only knew she was tired. Tired of navigating a world that didn’t make any sense, and yet she barely remembered one that did.
She sighed. “The Stallion has gifted me to Rodriguez. I’m supposed to do whatever he wants.” She almost smiled thinking about how surprised The Stallion would be to discover what Jaime really wanted.
Alyssa’s eyes narrowed at the information but Jasmine gasped in horror and Tabitha looked frightened.
“Why you?” Alyssa demanded.
“I’m sorry, did you want to be offered up as payment for a job well done to any bad guy who walks through?” Gabby snapped.
Alyssa fidgeted, her expression losing a degree of its hostility. “Will it get you out?”
Gabby didn’t know what to say. What little pieces of her heart that were left cracked hard for Alyssa thinking there was any possible way of getting out. And then there was the very fact that if anyone was ever going to get them out, it would be Jaime.
But not like Alyssa meant. “No,” Gabby replied flatly. “Nothing we do for them gets us anything. We’re things to them, at best. Certainly not people.”
“What do we do then?” Jasmine asked, her voice wobbly and close to tears.
“We wait for him to die,” Tabitha said morosely, lowering herself to a seat.
Jasmine sniffled and sat next to Tabitha, but Alyssa still stood, staring at the girls and then at Gabby. “Maybe we hurry that along.”
Gabby’s eyebrows winged up. It wasn’t that she’d never wondered what it might take to kill The Stallion and escape on her own. It was just... She never thought the other women would have the same thoughts.
But Alyssa’s face was grim and impassive, and the other girls were contemplatively silent.
“There’s four of them, though,” Tabitha offered in a whisper, as though they were plotting and not merely...thinking aloud.
“And four of us,” Gabby murmured. A few days ago she would have shut this conversation down. She would have reminded them all that there was no hope and they might as well make the best of their fates.
She would have been wrong. Wrong to squash their hope, and their fight, like she’d been wrong to squash her own.
Jaime had brought it back, had reminded her that life did in fact exist outside these walls. Natalie, on the run. Blue skies. Freedom.
A dangerous kind of hope built in her chest. An aching, desperate need for that freedom she’d tried to forget existed. Even as Jaime had talked of ends and bringing him down, she had tried to fight this feeling away.
But it was all his fault she’d lost the reserves, because he’d appeared out of nowhere and trusted her in his mission. He’d somehow crashed into her world and opened her up to life again, not just existence.
“How would we do it?” Tabitha asked, her eyes darting around the kitchen nervously.
Alyssa eyed Gabby still. “Rodriguez wears a lot of guns, and if you are a gift, it means he gets awfully close to you.”
“I couldn’t steal his gun without him noticing.”
Alyssa shrugged easily. “That doesn’t mean you couldn’t get it and shoot before he had a chance to notice.”
The three women looked at her expectantly and she wondered if they hadn’t all gone a little crazy. “Or, he stops me and shoots me first.”
Alyssa raised a delicate shoulder. “Maybe it’d be worth the risk.”
“Then you risk it,” Jasmine said, surprising Gabby by doing a little standing up for her. “It was your idea, after all.”
This time Alyssa smirked. “But Gabby is the one with access to his guns.”
Gabby couldn’t think of what to say to that. She had access to a lot of things, but she couldn’t and didn’t trust Alyssa with the information, and she wasn’t sure she could trust Jasmine or Tabitha, either. All it would take was one woman to slip up or break and Jaime could end up dead.
It wasn’t safe to let them into this, and it wasn’t fair to refuse these women some hope, some power.
Leave it to Alyssa to make an already complicated, somewhat dangerous, situation even more twisted.
Gabby took a deep breath and tried to smile in some appropriate way. Scheming or interested or whatever, not irritated and nervous. Not...guilty. “I’ll see what I can do, okay?”
“Don’t put yourself in harm’s way, Gabby,” Jasmine said softly. “What would we do without you?”
Alyssa snorted derisively, but Gabby pretended she didn’t notice and smiled reassuringly at Jasmine. “I’ll be careful,” she promised.
A whole lot of careful.
* * *
JAIME STOOD IN the corner of The Stallion’s well-lit shed while the man paced and raged at the news Wallace had just delivered.
“How did they get away? How did my men get arrested? I demand answers.” He pounded on his desk, the dolls shaking perilously, like little
train wrecks Jaime couldn’t stop staring at.
“I don’t know,” Wallace said, shrinking back. “I guess the Ranger tangled ’em up with the local cops.”
The Stallion whirled on Wallace. “Who is this Ranger?”
“Er, his name’s V-Vaughn Cooper. With the unsolved c-crimes unit. Uh—”
Jaime lost track of whatever The Stallion’s sharp demand was at the name. Vaughn Cooper. He knew Vaughn Cooper. Ranger Cooper had taught a class Jaime had taken in the police academy.
Christ.
“Rodriguez.” It took Jaime a few full seconds to engage, to remember who and where he was. Not a kid in the police academy. Not an FBI agent. Rodriguez.
“¿Senor?” he offered, damning himself for his voice coming out rusty.
“No. Not you. Not yet.” The Stallion muttered, wild eyes bouncing from Jaime to the other men. “Wallace. Layne. You find them. You track them down. The girl, you bring to me. The Ranger, I don’t give a damn about. Do what you will.”
Layne grinned a little maniacally at that and Jaime knew he had to do something. He couldn’t let Cooper get caught in some sort of ambush. He couldn’t let a man who’d reminded them all to, above all else, maintain their humanity, get killed. Especially with Gabby’s sister.
“Senor, perhaps you could allow me to take care of this problem.” He smiled blandly at Layne. “I might be better suited to such a task.”
The Stallion gave him a considering once-over. “Perhaps.” He paced, looking up at his collection of dolls then running a long finger down the line of one’s foot.
Jaime barely fought the grimace.
“No, I want you here, Rodriguez. We have things to discuss.”
That wasn’t exactly a comfort, though he did remind himself that as long as he was here, Gabby was safe. He wasn’t so sure Layne would leave her be if Jaime wasn’t around, even with The Stallion’s distaste over hurting women.
Jaime assured himself Ranger Cooper knew what he was doing, prayed he knew what he was up against. If the man had outwitted the first two of The Stallion’s men, surely he could outwit Wallace and Layne.
“You have three days to bring her to me. The consequences if you fail will be dire. I would get started immediately.”
The other two men rushed to do their boss’s bidding, hurrying out of the shed, heads bent together as they strategized.
Jaime remained still, trying to hide any nerves, any concern, with cool disinterest.
The Stallion turned to him, studying him in the eerie silence for far too long.
“I hope you’re being careful with our Gabriella,” The Stallion said at last.
“Careful?” Jaime forced himself to smile slyly. He spread his arms wide, palms up to the ceiling. “Care was not part of our bargain, senor.”
The Stallion waved that away. “No, I’m not talking about being gentle. I’m talking about being careful. Condoms and whatnot.”
Jaime stared blankly at the man. Was he...giving him sort of a sex-ed talk?
“Women carry diseases, you know.” The Stallion continued as though this was a normal topic of conversation. “And she’s not a virgin, according to her.”
“I...” Jaime couldn’t get the rest of the words out of his strangled throat. The “according to her” should be some kind of comfort, but why had the man been quizzing her on the state of her virginity? Why did he think Jaime—er, Rodriguez, would care?
“Perfect in every way, save for that,” The Stallion said, shaking his head sadly. “Oh, well, then there were her toes.”
“Her...toes?”
“The middle one is longer than the big toe. Unnatural.” The Stallion shuddered before running his fingers over his dolls’ feet again.
Jaime knew he didn’t hide his bewilderment very well, but it was nearly impossible to school away. What on earth went through this man’s head? He ran corporations. Jaime doubted very much anyone in Austin knew Victor Callihan was really a madman. Perhaps eccentric, somewhat scarce when it came to social situations, but he was still known. Somehow he could hide all this...whatever it was, warped in his head.
“Regardless, if you are to be my right-hand man, and insist upon indulging in these baser instincts inferior men have, I expect you to keep yourself clean.”
“I... Sí.” What the hell else was there to say?
“Good. Now, I held you back because I have some concerns I didn’t want to broach in front of Layne and Wallace. I think we’ve been infiltrated.”
There was a cold burst of fear deep within Jaime’s gut, but on the outside he merely lifted an eyebrow. “Where?”
“Here,” The Stallion said grimly, tapping his desk. “I don’t believe that Ranger was smart enough to outwit my men unless he was tipped off. This is why I sent Layne and kept you with me.”
“I do not follow.”
The Stallion sighed exhaustedly. “You’re lucky you’re such a good shot, but I suppose I wouldn’t want anyone too smart under me. How could I trust them to follow my lead?” He shook his head. “Anyway, if Layne and Wallace fail, I will be assured it’s one of them, and they’ll be taken care of. If they succeed, then I know my suspicions are wrong and we can carry on.”
Jaime inclined his head and breathed a very quiet sigh of relief.
“If they fail, you will be in charge of punishing them suitably.” The Stallion frowned down at his desk. “I don’t like to alter my schedule...”
“If there’s somewhere you need to be, I can be in charge here. I can mete out whatever punishments necessary, gladly.”
The Stallion made a noise in the back of his throat. “This situation is priority number one. I need to do some investigating into this Ranger, and I want to be here for the arrival of Gabriella’s sister to do my initial testing. For now, you’re free to fill your time with our Gabriella. Get it out of your system before her sister gets here, if you would, please.”
Jaime bowed faintly as if in agreement.
“You did give her my message, didn’t you?” The Stallion asked, his gaze sharp and assessing.
“Sí.”
“And how did she react? Were there tears?”
The Stallion sounded downright ecstatic, so Jaime lied. “Sí.”
He sighed happily. “I should have done it myself, though I do like you telling her and then doing whatever it is you must do with her. Yes, that’s a nice punishment for the little slut.”
Jaime bit down on his tongue, hard, a sharp reminder that defending anyone wasn’t necessary, no matter how much it felt it was.
“May I go, senor?” he asked through clenched teeth.
The Stallion inclined his head. “Do what you can to make her cry again. Yes, I like the idea of proud Gabriella crying every night. And when her sister comes...well, I’ll bear witness to that.”
All Jaime could think as he left the shed was like hell he would.
Chapter Nine
Gabby didn’t see Jaime all day. She’d expected him—to pop into her room, to come into the kitchen at dinner, something. But she’d eaten with the girls nearly an hour ago and she’d been in her room ever since...waiting.
She shouldn’t be edgy, yet she couldn’t help herself. The more time she had alone—or worse, with the other girls—the more her mind turned over the possibility of actually killing a man.
Actually escaping.
But she had Jaime for that, didn’t she? Alyssa’s cold certainty haunted Gabby, though. Should she have thought of this before? Not just as angry outbursts, but as a true, honest-to-God possibility?
Of course, this was the first time in eight years Gabby’d had access to anything that might act as a viable weapon. If she could count Jaime and his guns as accessible.
Where was he? And what was he doing? Had The Stallion
sent him on some errand? Was he gone for good?
Her heart stuttered at that thought. Somehow it had never occurred to her that something might happen to him or that he might get sent elsewhere, but Layne and Wallace, and the other three men who sometimes guarded them were forever leaving for intervals of time. Some never to return.
Oh, God, what if he never came back and she’d missed all her chances? What if she was stuck here forever? What if all that hope had been a worthless waste of—
Her door inched open and Jaime stepped inside, sunglasses covering his eyes, weapons strapped to his chest. Strong and capable and there.
She very nearly ran to him, to touch him and assure herself he was real and not a figment of her imagination.
The only thing that stopped her was the fact that in three short days she’d come to rely on this man, expect this man, and in just a few minutes she’d reminded herself why she couldn’t let that happen.
He could be shipped out. He could be executed. Anything—anything could happen to him and if she didn’t make a move to protect herself and Jasmine, Alyssa and Tabitha...they’d all be out in the cold.
She tamped down the fear that made her nauseous. Jaime seemed to remind her of the best and worst things. Hope. Freedom. An end to this hell. Then how it could all be taken away.
“I have a bit of good news for you,” he said, slipping his glasses off and into his pocket.
Some of the fear coiled inside her released of its own accord. It was so hard to fear when she could see his dark brown eyes search her face as if she held some answer for him. Some comfort.
“Okay,” she said carefully, because she wasn’t sure she had any for him.
“Your sister and the Texas Ranger she’s with escaped The Stallion’s first round of men.”
“First...round.”
“And I know the Texas Ranger she’s with. He’s a good man. A good police officer.”
“But he’s sending another round of men,” Gabby said dully, because though she’d not spent a lot of time with The Stallion, she knew his habits. She knew what he did and what he saw. When he saw a challenge, he didn’t back down.