by M. C. Cerny
“I’m okay. Nobody got hurt and nobody died. It’s just stuff, right?” Katie shrugged dejectedly.
“Yes, but its stuff that was important to you and nobody deserves to have to experience shit like this.” Jacob felt the rage burning inside him. Of course nobody died, but some small part of Katie would be forever changed. She looked too contained and ready to shatter. He blamed himself. Eli was right that he should have left her alone to have a happy life, but how could he not be with her? He knew that his draw to her was so much more than physical. His body was filled with a loving ache because she hurt and no amount of money he had could make it go away or fix it.
“Let me call Sam. We can decide what to tell your parents. Grab what you need for the weekend. I’ll call some people and have them clean up and put a new reinforced door in.”
“No. I mean yes, but no. I need to do some of this on my own. You can call Sam and put the new door on, but I want to come back after the weekend and clean up myself. Please, Jacob. I need to do that much for myself.” Katie rubbed her temple. “I’ve run away from dealing with things in the past so I need to do this.” Katie rubbed her temple a second time and Jacob worried she really was hurt, but in a way that maybe couldn’t be fixed.
He walked over and put his hands on her shoulders, looking into her face. “That idiot detective didn’t get you any medical attention, did he?”
Katie laughed a little at his expression. “I refused medical attention from that very nice detective who you seem to think was being incompetent at his job.” Katie brushed her lips across Jacob’s, then let him go to stand on her own.
“I want a doctor friend of mine to check you out.”
“No. I don’t want to see any doctors. I’m just tired.”
“Sweetheart, I’m not going to budge on this one. He’s a friend and he’ll be waiting for us at my place.” Jacob looked very determined and Katie was slowly losing the battle.
She rolled her eyes at him and turned around, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m going to see what’s been left untouched in my closet and get my things together. We can talk about the rest tomorrow. I still have to go to work.” Katie walked away and Jacob got on his phone. He shook his head. Stubborn will. She’s worse than a mule, he thought. He’d never voice that out loud, though.
JACOB CALLED TREVOR FIRST TO illicit his help and asked him to get in touch with Katie’s boss. He wanted to let him know that Katie was going to be taking a leave of absence, and since he was Jacob Reed, a major station shareholder, it shouldn’t be a problem. Trevor was only too happy to relay the message and extended his concern for Katie. He warned Jacob that she had been through a lot last year and was still fragile. Jacob promised to take care of her and Trevor told him to send his love to his Katie-girl. He promised to have Jeff, her boss, call him first thing in the morning.
Then Katie told him her brother’s number, repeating it for him from the walk-in closet. She noticed that the closet seemed to be untouched, except for things grabbed off hangers and left on the floor.
Jacob called Sam. “Kit-Kat? What’s wrong, sis? It’s after 2:00am.” Sam Wilson was wide awake, currently working a stake out for his job with the FBI. He answered his personal phone when he saw the New York area code pop up.
“Sam? Hi, this Jacob Reed, your sister’s…”
“I know who you are, Reed. Where’s my sister?” Sam felt uneasy with Jacob being involved in his sister’s life, but he couldn’t do anything about his baby sister’s choices in companionship.
“She’s here. She’s grabbing a few things from her apartment, which was recently broken into.”
“Oh, my god. Put her on the phone. Is she okay? When did this happen? Who did this? I can be up there by tomorrow; Saturday, at the latest. I should have put her on a plane back to Kansas City when I had the chance.” Sam rubbed a helpless hand over his tired face.
“She’s okay. She wasn’t badly hurt, but I’m taking her to my place. I have full security there and, tomorrow morning, we’re leaving the city for my farm near Lake George.”
“Tell me what you know so far about the break-in.” Frustrated, Sam exhaled his pent up breath.
“Not much. I have my people working on video surveillance of the area and getting the police and forensic reports. We’ll go from there. Then I’ll have my people look for anything else.”
“Why wasn’t she protected around the clock? This is your fault because this happened on your watch,” Sam growled.
“Your sister is an independent woman. Would you have me tie her up and drag her off somewhere against her will?” Jacob fired back.
“Don’t be coy, Reed. I’m well aware of your resources. You didn’t think I’d look into the man my sister was seeing?”
“She had protection, but I can’t have my men tailing her 24/7 without her knowledge.”
“Why the fuck not? You’re a very important man with connections, Mr. Reed. I would have expected better from you.” Jacob knew Sam’s meaning was clear. At least her brother didn’t fuck around with the details.
“I get that you’re pissed, Sam, but I’m on your side. I’m on Katie’s side, but your sister might have other ideas about my guys tailing her ‘round the clock.”
“She doesn’t know much about you then?” Sam waited for Jacob to respond and knew he might have given too much away by calling Jacob’s bluff.
“She knows enough and will know everything by Saturday.” Jacob gritted his teeth, pissed that he was being taken to task. Sam didn’t even know the details of everything but, obviously, he’d throw Jacob under the bus if need be. Fucking FBI was as bad as those pricks in the CIA.
“You’re going to break her heart, and that’s going to become a problem between you and me,” Sam practically snarled into the phone.
“Am I? Does she know that much about you, Sam? About your insurance accounting job?” Jacob said the words with disapproval at Sam’s own lies. “Where is that firm located again? On 512 Welling Avenue? Who’s keeping tabs on whom, Sam? Don’t fuck me around because I won’t tolerate it.” Jacob threw the gauntlet down. He would make a good bet that Katie was unaware her brother was an active FBI field agent and not some insurance claim adjusting number cruncher.
“No, she doesn’t and, for her safety, we’ll keep it that way.” Sam bucked at the idea that, at this very second, Jacob Reed knew exactly where his car was parked for his stakeout. Fucking bastard, he mused. “I’ll call our parents in the morning and let them know what’s going on. You better keep her safe.” Sam hung up the phone and slammed his hand against the steering wheel of his vehicle.
Jacob shook his head and hung up. Just then, he saw Katie emerge from the bedroom, frowning tiredly with a duffle bag in her hands.
“Sam?” she asked quietly.
“Yes, he’s worried about you, but he’ll call your parents in the morning and then we can call them later, maybe before we leave.” Jacob took the duffel, which was deceptively heavy for its size. “Bricks, sweetheart?”
“I packed a little of everything. You never know what you might need while you’re away. Plus, you haven’t told me what we’ll be doing on this long weekend.” Katie had another small tote bag filled with toiletries and a few things that she couldn’t leave behind, and Jacob took that bag from her and they went down to his car.
“Hopefully, sweetheart, it will mostly be relaxing and just getting to know each other better.” A lot better, which filled him with an equal sense of pleasure and dread.
Jacob drove silently and kept watch over Katie, angry with himself and with his past life that he couldn’t escape. He should have said no to Eli, and dissolved Reed Software & Securities before this all started. Now their lives would always be plagued by the work he did and the government agencies they aided. He hated thinking that CIA prick was pulling strings and screwing with them by keeping extra tabs on them. Jacob pulled into the garage and grabbed Katie’s bags. Putting his free arm around her, he walked her to the elevator. When the e
levator door opened in his loft, Julian was waiting for them.
The men exchanged a look, and Katie looked thoughtfully between them. The adrenaline rush crashed in the car, and now she was just tired. “It’s really unnecessary. I’m fine. I’m sorry Jacob called you.” Katie yawed and put a hand over her mouth, slightly embarrassed.
“I’m Julian. I know Jacob was really worried about you and, besides, I have an apartment in the building. It’s more convenient than him dragging you to the hospital, wouldn’t you agree?”
Katie nodded and took her bag from Jacob. “I just want to change into something else. I’d love a cup of coffee since we’re going to be up a bit.”
“I’ll get that going, sweetheart. Take your time.”
“Make her some decaf. Poor thing looks ready to drop.” Julian fished through his bag and pulled out a small glass vile, pushing it across the counter to Jacob. “Only if she should have trouble sleeping, nothing else. I swear.” Jacob took the vile and pocketed it, grunting at Julian. The last thing he was going to do was drug her.
“I guess Eli filled you in. She was pushed by one of the break-in suspects and hit her head against the wall.” Jacob poured water into the Keurig coffee maker, turning it on.
“Yes. I guess you two will be heading up to the farm tomorrow?”
“Definitely. I hate that everyone else will be there the following day, but it can’t be helped.”
“Well, then, I guess you might want to make it the best 24 hours you ever had.” Julian pulled out his stethoscope and a penlight.
“Jacob, I smell decaf coffee and I know it’s not even Starbucks. Blech,” Katie pouted and wrinkled her coffee connoisseur nose.
“Sorry, Miss Wilson. That’s under this doctor’s orders for tonight.” Katie pouted at Julian’s statement and went over to get herself a small cup of the brewed coffee. After taking a sip, she made a funny face and put her mug down, glaring at the men.
“Okay, let’s get this over with.”
Katie crossed her arms over her chest, and Jacob came over and lifted her up to sit on the kitchen island. She made a squeaking noise and grabbed onto him. Julian came closer and used his stethoscope to listen to her chest, then took her pulse. She noticed that Julian was thickly muscled like Jacob but, from what she could tell by his fitted black t-shirt, his arms were less defined. While she wasn’t attracted to Julian, she could see why women might be interested in Jacob and his friends. He had a few lines on his face which told her he was probably older than Jacob, but not by much. His hair was dark and his eyes darker. Trevor would probably turn to goo when she told him about Jacob’s “hot doctor friend”.
“So how do you know, Jacob?” she asked as Julian continued his cursory exam of her.
“We worked together in the military a long time ago, and sometimes we consult on special projects. I live here in the building part-time. I heard you were mugged earlier this week. I wasn’t here; otherwise, I’m sure Jacob would have called me and I could have made your delightful acquaintance sooner.” Julian risked giving a knowing look at Jacob, who rolled his eyes when Katie wasn’t looking.
“That’s so Dr. Oz.” Julian laughed at her comparison between himself and the famous health doctor.
“Tell me, are you taking any medication?” Julian made notes on his I-pad.
“Besides birth control?” Jacob almost spit out his coffee. Leave it to Katie to find ways to get back at him.
“Uh, yes, besides that.” Julian tried to keep his expression professional and blank, but a small smile lingered at the corners of his mouth. Jacob was in for a shit storm when the others heard about this.
“No. I mean, I used to see a psychiatrist after I had this accident a year ago but, therapeutically, it wasn’t working out. She gave me a bunch of anti-anxiety and anti-depressants to take, but I stopped taking them after a month or so. They were totally not helpful. I never had such bad stomach issues than with those meds, and sleeping regularly was a problem for a while. I haven’t been on anything in almost a year, I guess.” Jacob continued to listen, trying to control his anger. All these details of her life that he never knew. He wasn’t permitted to know thanks to Eli and Julian.
“What was the accident?” Julian used the penlight to check her pupils, and felt her skull for bumps. His fingertips brushed over the old scar where he remembered giving Katie stitches last year. There was a small bump on her temple from this evening’s incident that would likely bruise.
“I don’t really like to talk about it,” Katie whispered.
“And you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I’m sure it’s not relevant to this evening’s events, sweetheart.” Jacob’s quiet tone was meant for Julian.
“Still, any kind of head trauma is important to note,” Julian persisted.
“Drop it, Julian.” Jacob turned to him, shaking his head. He didn’t think he could tolerate hearing the events of that night from Katie’s perspective.
“No, it’s alright. I mean, it was over a year ago, even if it’s still difficult to discuss. They think that I was in a car accident with a co-worker of mine. I was thrown from the car. Well, the doctors and the police reports say this. I was lucky that my injuries were miraculously minimal. I don’t remember actually getting in the car or anything after, except waking up in the hospital a few hours later. They said that we had…um…a lot to drink and neither of us should have gotten behind the wheel. The whole incident is surreal because I can’t for the life of me figure out why I would have been so irresponsible.” Katie focused on her hands in her lap, taking a deep breath. She wiped a tear from her cheek.
Jacob wanted to end the conversation and looked at Julian meaningfully, but Julian persisted. “And no memories since then? Any bad dreams that might reference the night it happened?”
“Nothing. I mean, the psychiatrist said that my nightmares were ‘night terrors’ and I had those for a few months afterwards, but they were weird, not detail-orientated. It’s only ever been flashes, like sitting in my office and then being inside the car, Tully yelling, a fire, then nothing. Total blank.”
“Have you dreamed anything recently?” Julian poured himself a cup of coffee, then took a look at her ankle. Taking out antiseptic and gauze, he cleaned the scrape on it and then checked the cut on her thumb.
“Just flashes here and there, but more from the mugging last week. It’s been interesting since I met Jacob.” Jacob’s gut clenched and he felt the acidity rise as Katie gave him a small sweet smile.
“Well, that’s to be expected. Jacob likes to keep things interesting. Your heart sounds good. Looks like it’s just the bump on your head so I’m going to recommend Jacob wake you every hour or so tonight to rule out any complications from a concussion, but I don’t think we need to any tests. You didn’t lose consciousness and remained coherent afterwards.” Katie groaned at the thought and rested her head on Jacob’s shoulder. “Your thumb looks fine. Ankle is just scratched, no sprain or anything, though it might feel sore for a few days. I think you were very lucky.”
“I told you I’m fine,” Katie grumped, looking up from under her lashes at Jacob, who rubbed her back and gently kissed her forehead.
“I would advise against any…uh…strenuous activity for the next few days.”
“Okay so no working out like running in the park?”
“No running. Take it easy, like you’re on vacation,” Julian reiterated.
“But sex would be fine?”
“Katie!” Jacob was ready to throttle both of them.
“What? He’s a doctor. He supposed to know these things. Besides, how strenuous can it be if we don’t go anywhere?”
“Julian, thank-you; good night and goodbye. I need to put this stubborn woman to bed.” Julian laughed. Jacob was sure to have his hands full with her.
“Good luck, Jacob. Call me if you need anything.” Julian headed out, laughing and waving behind him. Katie yelled goodbye, which earned a grunt from Jacob as he brought the coffee mugs
to the sink.
“I’m fine, I promise.” Katie hugged Jacob from behind as he stood at the sink, still afraid to turn around and touch her.
“You did that on purpose,” Jacob growled.
“Of course I did. Next time when I tell you I’m fine, will you just believe me?” Katie crooned.
“Yes, but I’ll still call Julian if you need a doctor. He’s one of the best and, while he’s a pain in the ass, I would trust him to take care of you.” Jacob sighed heavily.
“Ugh, fine.” Katie tossed her hands up, and Jacob herded her towards the bedroom and tucked her into bed. He set his alarm on his phone to go off every hour, but he had trouble sleeping watching Katie toss and turn.
At one point in the early morning hours, Katie kept mumbling things that Jacob couldn’t make out…except he knew it wasn’t in English. He even recorded some of what she was saying so he could examine it later. If she remembered something, he wanted to be able to honestly tell her what happened from this point forward, once they got through this weekend at the farm.
JACOB WATCHED KATIE SLEEP FITFULLY in the car ride up to the farm. He’d woken her up every hour the night before and both were pretty tired from the ordeal. She hadn’t even questioned taking the SUV instead of the jaguar. He just hustled her into the car after helping her get whatever else she needed for the extended weekend. Katie seemed more fragile, and had confided to Jacob about Tully’s accident. He felt like an asshole. He had about 24 hours before the rest of the team got up to the house and Katie would deduce that he hadn’t told her the full truth. Her life in New York was now going to be significantly different no matter how hard he tried to repair this betrayal. She would not be returning to the city anytime soon and she would hate him for it.
The highway exits passed by and the topography of the land changed. City buildings became suburbs, farms, and old homes. Rolling hills became craggy mountains, and Jacob finally drove up the long driveway, which was about a mile from any main road. It was dusk so there were a few lights on at the house. His caretakers would have the place fully stocked. He passed John at the gatehouse and the older man waved him on. His wife, Marta, must have been inside. Should they need anything, he could call them in the morning. Marta would probably want to make the meals. Once the house got busy, she’d certainly be appreciated.