by Linda Verji
“Don’t worry. I’ll help you find him,” Damián said then spoiled his offer by adding, “After all that’s all I’m good for.”
She opened her mouth to tell him to stop being so childish but before she could he’d already left the room.
“Ugh!” Aiko closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. What was happening to them? Lately it seemed like they couldn’t have a conversation without it devolving into an argument. For Pete’s sake they weren’t even married and already they were acting like a couple on the verge of divorce. She didn’t know what Damián wanted from her? Did he want her to stop caring for Lincoln? Cut him off? Because that wasn’t going to happen. Lincoln was an important part of hers and Seraphina’s life – a part she wasn’t willing to let go. Damián would just have to accept that or else this wasn’t going to work.
As for the accusations against Lincoln, they were as ridiculous as the man who’d brought them to Damián. Aiko had fought with Lincoln. She knew the kind of man he was – a good, loyal man. Nothing and no one could sway her from that belief – certainly not Archie.
IT WAS NOW going on four days and they still hadn’t let Lincoln go. He’d given them everything he had yet they remained unsatisfied with his answers. Once they’d discovered that darkness was his weakness they used it like a weapon to torture their truth out of him. They’d plunged him into it over and over again until he didn’t know when it began and when it ended, only that it was eroding his sanity. Minute by minute it chipped away at his reason, cracking it, fragmenting it piece by piece.
This time there was no one to pull him away from the cliff – no Aiko to help him hold on to that ledge. Maybe it was because he now knew that she’d found herself someone new and wasn’t waiting for him to come back. Maybe it was because he’d realized that those values that had kept him surviving in North Korea – no longer applied. There was no country to be loyal to, no one to be honorable to because they had betrayed him – and now they were torturing him.
Hopelessness, misery and disillusionment played like a tune inside his head shoving him hard towards the line that divided sanity and insanity. Time became an illusion, like a circle that had no beginning or end, and the past began to merge with now.
“Tell me the truth, Lincoln,” Spencer – or was it one of the North Korean guards - gripped his chin as she – or was it he - stared at him. His or her features were so blurred, that Lincoln couldn’t figure out who was talking as she, or he, said, “Tell the truth.”
“I’m telling you the truth,” Lincoln thought he mumbled in English. In truth, he’d reverted to speaking Korean.
The guard – or was it Spencer – uttered a disgusted grunt and shoved Lincoln’s head back. “You’re useless.”
A second later, he or she exited the room with a click of the lights and a loud bang of the door leaving Lincoln all alone in the darkness. Again. Lincoln’s chest began to tighten again and his breath sped up. He tried to tell himself that it was just darkness, that it was nothing to be afraid of. But the shadows that smiled at him maliciously from the depths of that darkness said something different. They said that they were here for him – to take him back.
“Get me out of here,” he thought he cried out. In truth, all he did was utter a strangled grunt. He could hear people speaking outside his door but he couldn’t tell what they were saying, partly because their voices were muffled by the door and partly because Ryang was now laughing in his ear.
“You’re not going anywhere.” Ryang’s voice rang in Lincoln’s cracking brain, embedded itself deeper. His presence suffocated Lincoln as he whispered, “I told you we would meet again.”
It could’ve been minutes, it could’ve been hours, it could’ve been days of being locked all alone with Ryang in this dark cell, but eventually the door flew open and the light flooded in swallowing Ryang within its brilliance. Lincoln blinked several times to clear his sight. Eventually, his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness but it was still hard to focus on the person headed towards him.
“Apparently, you have friends in high places,” Spencer said. Recognizing her voice, Lincoln closed his eyes and stiffened, expecting another blow to his upper body. Instead, she circled his seat as she added, “And they say we should tell you to stop digging. You keep digging and you’ll end up back in the grave you were in for the last five years.”
Keys jangled behind him and the air moved as if she was bending then the handcuffs fell from Lincoln’s wrists. Spencer circled back to face him before lowering to her hunches and working on the chains on his legs. The disgust was clear in her gaze as she straightened to her full height and stared down at him. “You’re free to go.”
And with that she exited the room.
It took a while for Lincoln to accept that he was free and even more time to stumble to the door. Two guards were waiting outside the door, and they half-walked and half-dragged him out of the building. Once they were outside, the guards shepherded Lincoln into a black SUV. Soon they were on the road and a few minutes later they dumped him back in front of his motel before speeding off.
The moment he got to his room, Lincoln slumped against the closed door. Despite his being free, fear still held him firmly in its grip. His stomach trembled with each breath he took, and every inch of his body throbbed with residual pain. On unsteady legs, he stumbled to the bathroom and looked into the mirror. As soon as he saw the bloody and swollen mess that was his face, his insides twisted. He bent over the sink and retched but there was nothing to throw up – his stomach was too empty.
He collapsed onto the floor and lay down for a long while but eventually he managed to pull himself to his feet. Turning on the water, he splashed some water onto his face. The hot water stung at his wounds, licked at his icy blood and infused it with warmth. Soon the warmth melted his hopelessness and fear, and replaced it with only one thought; certainty that he needed to know who’d done this to him.
Sure, he was glad that he was out of North Korea and Spencer’s hands, but his ‘rescuer’ had also threatened to throw him back into the pit if he didn’t follow his rules. And Lincoln couldn’t let that happen. Not again. Twice was enough for him. He needed to know who his enemy was so he could guard against him.
It was that thought that led him back to Partridge. Rather than confront the man at his office again, Lincoln followed him home. Partridge’s eyes widened in shock when he saw Lincoln standing at his doorstep. The man had no time to react. One second he was blustering his excuses and the next Lincoln had him by the throat and was shoving him into the apartment.
Thirty-six minutes later, Partridge was lying unconscious on his couch and Lincoln had a name.
CHAPTER 20
On Monday, Brenda was back in town and frothing at the mouth.
“You were supposed to take care of him-” The woman paced the length of the living room. She turned to glare at Aiko who was seated on a settee. “-and you didn’t.”
“He told me he was leaving with you,” Aiko defended herself, trying not to let her own irritation spill into her voice. Though she understood that Brenda’s anger was a cover for her worry, she didn’t appreciate it being turned on her. What was she supposed to do? Tell Lincoln not to go. He was an adult – not her child.
“He only left because of you and your- your- your man,” the older woman raged on. “After everything he’s done for you, how could you abandon him like that.” She heaved a deep breath, her voluptuous chest lifting with the effort. Her eyes glittered with unshed tears as she added, “He saved your life.”
“I know,” Aiko said softly even as Brenda’s words sent guilt rippling through her and stung at her conscious. As much as she wasn’t Lincoln’s keeper, there was no denying that this was partially her fault. After all Lincoln had left almost immediately after she’d introduced him to Damián.
“You’re not even out there looking for him.” A tear slipped down Brenda’s cheek.
“I’m doing the best I can. I reported him as a missing
person yesterday and Damián’s hired a PI to find him.”
“Damián.” Brenda snorted as she plopped onto her seat. “He’s probably happy that Lincoln isn’t here anymore. Are you sure that he’s not involved in Lincoln’s disappearance?”
Was this woman serious? How could Damián even be involved in Lincoln disappearance when Lincoln had left all on his own? Aiko bit back a ruder response and said, “Don’t worry. We’ll find him.”
“Hmm.”
After a long moment of silence, Aiko left to get Brenda something to eat. Heaving a sigh, she opened the fridge and stared unseeingly at its contents. This was her fault. If she hadn’t bowed to pressure and introduced Damián to Lincoln… If she’d insisted that Lincoln stay in Montgomery… If she’d made sure that he got on that plane with his mother… If she-
“It’s not your fault,” Femi’s voice cut into her troubled thoughts.
Startled, Aiko spun around to find her sister standing by the door. “I didn’t even hear you walking into the room.”
“You seemed lost in your thoughts.” Femi crossed the room to lean against a counter. Her gaze and voice were filled with concern as she said, “Don’t let Brenda guilt-trip you into thinking that this is your fault.”
Aiko reached into the fridge and pulled out a couple of tins filled with food. “I know I shouldn’t, but she’s right about some stuff.”
“Like what?”
“Lincoln saved my life.” Aiko set the tins on a counter then bent to open a cupboard. Extracting a plate, she said, “The least I owed him was making sure he was okay.”
“And you did the best you could,” Femi returned. “It’s not like you can pack him into your handbag and carry him around with you. He left on his own. No one forced him to leave or to lie about it.”
“That’s just the thing.” Aiko spooned some food onto the plate. “He would never have left if I hadn’t introduced him to Damiá-” The ringing of her phone cut off her words. Grabbing the gadget from the counter, she checked the screen and sighed. “Speak of the devil.”
With all the tension between them, Damián was the last person she wanted to talk to. Something about her tone must’ve been off because her words earned her a curious stare from Femi.
Ignoring her sister’s look, Aiko answered the phone. “Yes.”
There was zero warmth in Damián’s voice as he stated, “You’re not home yet.”
She rolled her eyes. “I know.”
“Where are you?”
“At my dad’s.”
There was a long pause on his end of the line then he said, “I suppose this means that Lincoln is back?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she sniped. Was he implying that the only reason she ever came home was to see Lincoln? When all she got from Damián was a long silence, she said, “For your information, he’s not back.”
“Oh.”
His short response annoyed her even more. Obviously it was too much to expect that he apologize for making assumptions. Her jaw stiff, she asked, “Did you need anything else?”
“No. Just get home soon.” And before she could tell him that she’d get home when she was good and ready, he hung up on her. Anger rippling through her, she kissed her teeth and set her phone back on the counter.
“Is something going on between you and Damián?” Femi drew attention to the fact that she was still in the room.
“Something like that.” Aiko grabbed the plate and crossed the room to stop in front of the microwave. She shoved the food in and set the timer before turning back to face her sister. “Lately Damián and I don’t seem to be on the same page. Sometimes I think that I’m trying too hard with him. I think of how we met, of all the problems we went through with Zoe and with matching up, we finally get it together and Lincoln turns up. I try to make having both of them in my life work then this happens. Maybe I’m just trying too hard. This could be God telling me that it’s time for me to pick one man and let go of the other completely.”
“Don’t talk like that,” said Femi. “The fact that you and Damián have been through so much yet are still hanging on is testament to how much you two love each other.”
“But it doesn’t feel like enough anymore.” Aiko sighed. “If it was just Lincoln between us, then maybe we could work it out. But there’s also Archie and Carmen-”
“Carmen!” Femi’s eyebrows shot up. “I know about the thing with Archie, but what about Carmen? I thought you two were friends.”
“Long story…” Aiko went ahead to explain everything that had happened - from the conversation in the bathroom to the woman’s current stalker-ish behavior because Aiko was now ‘appropriate’ to talk to. “She keeps blowing up my phone asking me out for lunch.”
Femi burst into laughter. “That’s all? I thought it was something worse.”
“I think it’s bad enough,” Aiko said, a little annoyed that her sister wasn’t taking the situation seriously.
“Okay, it is,” Femi acknowledged. “But it’s nothing we haven’t dealt with before. If you let every random racist conversation keep you from living your life as you want, you’ll end up never living.”
“But it’s not random,” Aiko protested. The microwave dinged time, but she ignored it and said, “She’s my mother-in-law.”
“Yes. She’s your mother-in-law, not your man. If Damián was the one who was two-faced then you’d have something to worry about,” Femi countered. “If Carmen wants to run her mouth, let her. It’s not like you live in the same house or sleep in the same bed.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want a mother-in-law who’s so...” Aiko didn’t even know how to define Carmen.
“We all want better in-laws,” Femi countered. “Trust me, it could be worse. At least Carmen looks like she is regretting her behavior, and Archie is giving you guys space. Can you imagine if Brenda was your mother-in-law and you and Lincoln were having problems? I love the lady, but she takes protective to another level.”
Aiko chuckled. “I suppose you’re right.”
“I am.” Femi smiled.
Sobering up, Aiko sighed. “It feels like I’m being pulled in every direction, and it’s not helping that things with Damián are so complicated.”
“You think they wouldn’t be complicated with Lincoln?”
“I think they’d be less complicated.” Aiko rubbed her temple with two fingers. “There’d be no more questions about why I’m paying so much attention to him. He’s Seraphina’s father, our families get along great, plus I owe him for-”
“Stop.” Femi lifted a hand to halt her sister’s words. “You don’t get into a relationship with someone because they’re the father of your child, or because your family likes them, or because you owe them. Those are the wrong reasons. And believe me, I know all about wrong reasons.”
Aiko didn’t refute the statement because it was true. If anyone knew a thing or two about wrong relationships, it was Femi. Before she’d married Lewis, she’d been in a long-term relationship with Cara and Will’s father, Micah. Micah was the definition of a ‘bad’ man. Despite not having a job, sponging off of Femi and still refusing to marry her, he’d also been abusive. Yet she’d stayed with him for six years because he was the father of her children. It’d taken him punching five-year-old Cara for Femi to finally say ‘enough’.
Femi continued, “You don’t want to be with a man because you pity him or you feel indebted to him or because everyone loves him. What matters is, are you in love him?”
Aiko didn’t have to think about the answer. She already knew who she was in love with. She said softly, “I could learn to fall in love with Lincoln. I did it once. I can do it again.”
“And what about Lincoln?” her sister countered. “You think he wants to be with someone who’s in love with another man. Someone who’s ‘learning’ to fall in love with him? You think he wants that?”
When Femi put it that way it sounded so unpleasant. If in Lincoln’s shoes, Aiko knew that she wouldn’t
want to be with someone who wasn’t fully in love with her, someone who was with her just because it was convenient.
Femi’s tone softened as she said, “If Damián is the one you’re in love with then find a way to fix this.”
“You say it like it’s so easy,” Aiko said. She went ahead to explain everything that had been happening with Damián for the last couple of weeks including how even the mention of Lincoln was enough to start a fight between them. “I know that other women screwed him over, but I’m not them. He doesn’t seem to realize that. He keeps acting like I’m going to just walk out on him tomorrow to be with Lincoln.”
Femi’s lips tilted in a slight smile. “But isn’t that what you’re thinking of doing?”
“Because he’s pushing me to it,” Aiko said, frustration in her voice.
Her older sister observed for a long silent moment before saying, “Maybe Damián just needs reassurance that he’s the one you want.”
Aiko opened her mouth to say that she’d already done that, but Femi rushed in before she could with, “Real reassurance. So far all you’ve done is throw words at him during fights. You guys need to talk when you’re both calm, lay out your concerns and negotiate the ground rules for your interaction with Lincoln. Come to some kind of arrangement that will make both of you comfortable.”
It sounded so good in theory but… Aiko heaved a sigh. “I just don’t know if Damián will be interested in talking.” With the way he’d been acting, she wouldn’t be surprised if all she received was the silent treatment for her efforts – or worse another argument.
“You won’t know until you try,” Femi urged.
JUST A FEW miles away from Aiko, Damián was receiving his own dose of real talk.
Josiah, who was seated in his study with him, warned, “Keep acting like this and you’re going to drive her straight into his arms.”