“That’s what we’re counting on, dear,” Fitz said and led me closer to the bed. “How do you work?”
My gaze slid across the other occupants of the room, noting some skeptical expressions aside from eager. I didn’t even like to talk about this with my family, much less a bunch of strangers. “I don’t know. Normally the people I get visions about are lost and need to be found. This is a first for me.”
“Okay, then how about we all just give you and Harlon some space and we’ll let you two figure things out,” Fitz said.
I nodded and met Harlon’s gaze. He was quick to take my hand and guide me to the other side of the bed. He laced his fingers with mine. His broad chest pressed against my back. His other hand was wrapped around my waist. The hint of his cologne teased my nose. He smelled delicious.
I shoved all those errant thoughts about his touch and the way he towered over me away and concentrated on Manny.
His heated breath tickled my ear. “Does this work for you?”
“Oh yeah, it works.” I fought the heat climbing my cheeks. Get it done and get out, I repeated over and over in my head. I reached for Manny and Harlon held me back with another whisper in my ear. “I’ve got you, Nina.”
I let out a pent-up breath. His hand steadied my trembling fingers as I reached to touch Manny’s hand.
Before I could make the connection, Manny reached out and grabbed my arm as if he were impatient. His fingers dug into my skin as I was jolted into a vision I wasn’t prepared to see.
I inhaled as every muscle in my body tightened, and the room around us changed. The bedroom we’d been standing in turned darker. Rows of dog cages lined the walls. The cages were empty, and the doors sat open. The dogs were ferociously barking while some attacked Manny.
My body trembled as Manny’s screams filled my head. Animals clawed and bit Manny’s body. He was lying on the floor attempting to cover his face with his arms.
Growls and teeth snapped as three dogs tore into Manny. The faint sound of a voice called out, “Fassen. Fassen. Fassen.”
There was movement in a shadowy corner just as a door busted open. Unexpected light filled the room. A woman stood in the doorway, a gun in her hand and a ferocious tiger at her side.
“Fassen. Fassen. Fassen.” The consistant commands still played steady and true coming from a device in another corner of the room. But not from the man being mauled.
“Fuss. Fuss. Fuss,” the woman screamed out. Lifting the gun in her fingers, she aimed at the stool on the opposite side of the room and pulled the trigger.
The shot rang out and the device she’d aimed at shattered, killing the recorded words.
The dogs stilled at the woman’s words and sat on their haunches. She led the dogs back into their cages and locked them in before dropping to her knees. “Dad, can you hear me?”
The man on the floor moaned.
“Daddy, just hold on. I’ll get you help.”
She pulled out her phone and dialed a number just as a noise from behind had her spinning around. “I need an ambulance to 1345 Sycamore Manor. Guard dogs attacked my father, but I have them caged. Please hurry.”
The tiger’s purr was deep and threatening as it paced the doorway, staring out into the hallway as if prepared to attack, blocking the woman from a possible intruder.
The woman hung up and sent a text before re-pocketing her phone.
“Daddy, hang on. Help is coming, and I’ve texted Harlon. Just hang on,” she whispered as she rose. Grabbing the cat by the stone-studded collar in one hand and holding the gun in the other, she eased out of the room.
Heat raged through my body like an uncontrolled forest fire. Panic invaded my spine like venom from a snake bite. My head felt like it was going to explode. Pain, unlike anything I’d ever felt, seized my body from my head down to my arms.
Manny’s body started to violently shake. He squeezed my arm tighter until I was sure he was about to break my bone. It was as though someone hit the restart button, only this time I wasn’t just watching as the dogs attacked. I was feeling the excruciating pain with him.
I screamed seconds before Manny’s fingers were peeled away. The connection broke.
My eyes flew open. Harlon’s hold on me remained.
“Help him. He’s reliving the pain,” I whispered seconds before darkness pulled me under.
Chapter 11
My eyes opened, and I blinked up at the unfamiliar ceiling far above my head. Moonlight streamed through the slightly opened blinds, creating stripes of moonlight on the carpet. The pain from touching Manny still echoed beneath my skin, which left me itchy and uncomfortable.
The sheets covering me and beneath me were wet and soaked through. I was no longer in the clothes that I’d worn to the mansion but in a long T-shirt. A bowl sat on the dresser near the bed, a cloth hanging on the edge.
Whatever I’d just experienced was unlike anything before and would never be again. Not if I had any say in the matter.
Harlon sat in the corner of the room, his gaze intent on me. A frown marred his face as he twisted a ring on his finger. He remained painfully quiet as regret and determination warred in his eyes.
“How long have I been out?” My hoarse throat felt like it was on fire. I yanked at the shirt collar, tugging at it to stop the feeling of being choked.
“Five hours,” Harlon said, rising from his chair. He crossed the room to a water pitcher and poured a glass, carrying it over to me. He sat on the edge of the bed. “You didn’t tell me you could heal.”
His statement didn’t make sense. I shook my head and tried to sit up. My limbs were still too weak to even hold myself up.
Harlon eased me to a sitting position and held me while I drank the entire contents of the glass.
“You’re mistaken. I can’t heal.” I’d never had that specific gift. It wasn’t possible. Then again, touching a man and reliving his attack should have only been possible in my dreams. Harlon was my catalyst.
“Dad’s pain has subsided, whereas he was convulsing every two hours. Something has happened, and his heart has stabilized.”
“That had nothing to do with me,” I said as Harlon put another pillow behind my head to prop me higher.
“Nina.” Harlon swallowed hard. “After you fainted, I brought you in my old room. You developed a bad fever, and while keeping you cool, the doctor found unexplainable bite marks. Bite marks you didn’t have that day in my shower.”
I glanced down at my shirt. “Where?”
He took my hand. “Everywhere, just like my dad, as though you were experiencing the attack the same as him. You were screaming in your sleep, and the mysterious bites just kept appearing.”
“Where?” I asked with more force.
“They’re gone. They’ve disappeared,” he said.
“You’re joking, right?” I asked, and my voice rose an octave.
He pulled out his phone and turned to a picture. “I knew you’d need proof. So, I took a picture for you, but it’s going to be hard to look at.”
I nodded and swallowed around the lump in my throat as he turned the phone for me to see.
I was lying on this same bed. Bites covered my arms and face. Harlon was holding a cloth to my head. Concern registered in his eyes as he stared into the camera lens taking a selfie of the situation for me to see.
The doctor stood on the other side of the bed, staring at my body.
A shiver skirted my spine and not from the wet sheets, indicating I’d undoubtedly broken a fever. This was the opposite of being in control. The vulnerability of the situation settled in my chest. What if Harlon hadn’t been a decent guy? What would have happened if he hadn’t had my back?
“Harlon, I’ll never do that again.” My statement was a whisper. “Who knows what transpired afterward? Who saw the bite marks on my skin?”
“Only the doctor and I did. Nina, I won’t tell a soul; you have my word.”
“And your dad? How is he?”
�
��Healing in ways the doctor couldn’t even imagine. He’s still unable to open his eyes or speak, but the marks are already starting to heal. You’re a miracle, Nina.”
“No, no, no. I’m not a miracle,” I said, trying to lift up further in the bed without much success.
“That session zapped your energy. You need to regain your strength. I’ll get you something to eat and be right back.”
My strength was exactly what I needed. My heart seized as I stared around the unfamiliar room. Horror crested as I realized I was completely at Harlon’s mercy.
My gaze landed on my sketchbook and the pencils resting on the bedside table. It was the only familiar thing in the room. I grabbed them both. Closing my eyes, I let the pencil slide across the paper in shapes that I’d seen in my dream. The girl from the vision sat on the stoop of a house smaller than mine. The duplex looked like all of the others around it with one exception. A tiger was staring out the window, and the girl was holding up her wrist, looking at her watch.
I put the sketchbook back on the table when Harlon reentered. He carried a tray of food, complete with a bud vase holding a single carnation.
“I figured you’d be hungry after sleeping so long.”
“I am,” I answered as he laid the tray across my lap. He lifted the dome-shaped lid to reveal a grilled cheese sandwich, soup, and an apple.
“Thank you,” I answered.
“When you feel better and get stronger, we’ll get you cleaned up and I’ll take you back to my house.”
I rested my hand over Harlon’s. “You need to delete that picture, please. I don’t know what happened, but I can’t afford for anyone else to find out.”
“I will.” Harlon’s gaze landed on my sketchpad. “When did you do this?”
“While you were getting food.”
He took the sketchpad and crossed the room, retaking his seat. “This is Suzie, my sister, and her cat, Mittens.”
“I figured. But you want to know what I didn’t understand when we witnessed Manny’s attack.”
“What’s that?”
“What words were being used on the dogs? You heard them, right? By touching me you got the full picture?”
“Us together worked like a charm. I saw and heard everything you did. Someone must have recorded Manny’s voice saying the words that triggered this. Fassen means attack, and fuss means heel. There’s no way he’d be telling them to attack him.”
“Sounds like someone wanted your dad dead and knew exactly how to do it.”
“My father co-owns the security company, but his passion has always been with the guard dogs. Suzie followed in the same path. He taught her to train them. Each dog that comes through the firm’s doors is trained for several years before they’re trusted with clients.”
“Had the dogs that attacked him been here long?” I asked as I bit into my sandwich.
“Three years. Suzie and Dad had started issuing them to clients two weeks prior to this event. Our guard dogs are highly sought after.”
“Your sister is alive,” I said, gesturing to the sketchbook. “I’m sorry I wasn’t much help.”
He lifted his gaze to me. “You’ve more than helped, Nina. You’ve given me hope that I can still put my family back together again.”
He dropped his gaze back to the picture and ran his thumb over the paper. “I don’t suppose you saw a street name?”
I shook my head. “No, but maybe the numbers on the door will help.”
I knew the minute he saw it. His lips twisted into a smile and he gasped. Not only were there numbers on the doors but there was a security sign planted in the flowerless bed full of dirt.
“The numbers and that sign will. You’re a genius, like my lucky charm.” Harlon shot up from his seat and crossed the room. He rested his palm on my cheek before pressing an unexpected tender kiss to my lips.
Tingles raced through me, waking my body the way a sleeping foot feels upon awakening. He held my gaze when he leaned back. “I have to go make a few phone calls. You okay?”
I nodded, unable to answer.
Was I?
Chapter 12
“I’ll be fine.” At least I hoped so as I watched him hurry out of the room.
After finishing the food on the tray, I slid my legs over the bed just as a knock sounded on the door.
“Come in,” I called out.
Ruby stepped into the room with an armload of folded clothes She laid them on the bed along with a cosmetic bag. “Harlon sent me to pick you up a few things since he didn’t let you pack.”
“So, he told you he kidnapped me?”
Ruby kept a straight face, not giving away whether that news was something she knew or didn’t.
“His determination to save his family drives him. It’s the reason I chose him to work for and not any of the others. He’s dedicated to helping his dad and to finding his sister. I’m not surprised he was willing to do whatever it takes.”
“So, he’s done this before?” I asked.
“These clothes should fit. I put shampoo, conditioner, and soap in the bathroom for you, and there are towels beneath the sink.”
“Thank you, but you didn’t answer my question,” I said as she picked up the tray and headed for the door. She opened it and paused.
“Harlon Simmons is a good man, Nina. He’ll do whatever it takes to bring Suzie home.” Ruby left, easing the door closed behind her.
“That’s what I thought.” I needed to get out of here. I needed to go home before I got pulled into this game even further.
I slid off the bed and held on to the bedside table until my shaky legs felt a little more stable. Taking the clothes, I used the furniture and the walls as support to stabilize my steps.
I didn’t think it was possible to look worse than I had at Harlon’s home. My hair was knotted like it normally would be after a fitful sleep. My face was pale and drained of color.
I lifted my shirt over my head. A pink scar stood out on my arm. I ran my finger over the raised area. He hadn’t lied. How was that possible?
I started the shower and let the water run while examining the rest of my body and what I could see of my back. I had not one new scar but three.
In the shower, I washed my face to wake me up. Maybe this was a dream. Maybe I was stuck in it.
I washed my hair and my body, resting my hand on the wall and my head under the showerhead, letting the heated water clear the fog from my brain.
When I turned the water off and grabbed the towel, I pulled the curtain open. A knock sounded.
Ruby must have forgot something. “Come in.”
Harlon opened the door and I realized my mistake. His gaze met mine before lowering down my body.
Concern crossed his eyes as he closed the distance between us. He ran the pad of his thumb over the fresh scar. “They didn’t all heal?
“Maybe they're just slow,” I offered. “I have three new ones.”
He leaned down and placed a tender kiss on my shoulder as he inched the towel down my body.
Heat climbed into my cheeks as his gaze turned assessing. As he kissed the second scar he found on the swell of my breast, I held in my moan.
“Where’s the third?” he asked.
He went to ease the towel down farther, and I stopped him, yanking it back up again. “Uh-uh, you can’t kiss that one. It’s on my inner thigh, and if you did, I might not tell you to stop.”
His eyes twinkled with delight as the heat grew between us. “When this is over, I have every intention of kissing that one too.”
I pushed against his chest, moving him out of the bathroom before I shut the door in his face. The pile of clothes still had their tags on them. The matching bra and panty set were red satin and lace. The top hugged my breasts, and the jeans hung loose on my hips. Ruby had been close in guessing my sizes, although not precise.
I used the brush in the bag, along with the toothbrush and toothpaste. Everything I needed to make me feel alive again. I even
took my time to use the neutral shades of makeup Ruby had supplied.
I stepped out of the room to find the bed remade with new linens and comforter. Harlon was standing by the window, staring down at the grounds below.
“I feel human again.”
Harlon turned at my voice. His gaze raked me from head to toe before settling on my face.
“Thank you for sending Ruby to get me this stuff.”
Harlon’s heated gaze smoldered in the blink of an eye. “Quinton and Milton are checking three addresses. I have to check the other one on our way home.”
“Of course,” I said. “I’m no hero. I can wait in the car while you do your thing.”
He gestured to the door and grabbed my things. “Actually, I was thinking I could drop you off with a friend who lives nearby. That way, I keep you out of danger.”
“I don’t need a babysitter, Harlon. I can just wait in your car.”
He turned and crowded me in the hallway. Cupping my cheek, he kissed me, making the protest die on my lips.
Ignoring the shame of hardly knowing the man, I kissed him back.
His hand slid up my arm, bringing us closer. A warm shiver traveled through my body at the warm touch. His tongue explored the recesses of my mouth and he swallowed my moan. I wanted this man for reasons I couldn’t explain. Just as quickly as it had started, he pulled away, leaving me tingling and wanting more.
“Humor me.”
What was the question? I pushed the sexual haze away and remembered; he didn’t want me to sit in the car.
I shivered beneath his touch, beneath his look, trying hard not to imagine him pinning me against the wall like a lumberjack might.
“What if you get into trouble? What if you need me?”
What if he did?
“I’ll be fine.” He winked.
He took my hand and led me through the house. We shared an unexplainable connection that sizzled and energized, like ten extra shots of espresso to my coffee. A bolt of lightning would have been less impressive.
Hard to Hold (Bennett Dynasty Book 4) Page 5