I boarded the plane and we were airborne within minutes. Captain Jack’s kamikaze takeoff not even fazing me as I stared out the window at the island until it disappeared from view. My brain was whirling with too many thoughts as the hours ticked by. There was something I was missing.
“Ms. Davies, I wanted to let you know we will be landing in twenty minutes.” The captain’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.
The flight attendant came to pick up my untouched tray a few moments later. I stowed the foldout table and fastened my seatbelt. Almost home. Part of me was looking forward to going back. Another part of me was seething in frustration and anger that Bennett had taken the choice away from me. He was so sure that he knew best for everyone. Well, he could keep being Mr. Bossybutt to his people. He no longer had any say in my life. For some reason, that thought brought a heaviness to my chest that had tears welling up again. There was a hollowness inside me that was growing the farther away from the island we got.
I rubbed my eyes and lay my head back against the seat. The questions circled round and round in my head with no answers in sight.
No longer able to stand my own what-if game, I grabbed the first bottle my fingers encountered from the mini fridge beside my chair. Taking a large gulp, the fire burned all the way down my throat and into the pit of my empty stomach. I raised the bottle in cheers as I mumbled, “Here’s to fate, you evil bitch. I’m done towing the line. As Molly would say ‘Mama is rockin’ some shit kickers and your ass will be wearin’ tread marks.’”
By the time the plane touched down, I was feeling much more relaxed. I plucked a few more bottles from the fridge and hurriedly stuffed them into my bra. It wasn’t like they couldn’t afford to restock. Waving my middle finger around the plane, I hoped Bennett could see me.
So long, sexy asshole.
I got a little dizzy when I stood up but congratulated myself on only stumbling once as I exited the plane. Captain Jack smiled knowingly at me as I carefully picked my way down the steps. Oops, twice. That last step came out of nowhere. I saluted the captain, nearly taking out my eye. He took my hand—probably to save me from injuring myself—and pulled it to his lips. I giggled. Then slapped my other hand over my mouth in surprise. Those little bottles may have been a bit stronger than I thought. He smiled at me but sobered quickly when he looked back down at my hand still clasped in his. “Is this a bond ring? I’ve never seen one, but I’ve heard of them.”
I blew a raspberry. “Bond, shpond. It’s for pro-proteshion. Shmexy basthard put it on me ’n’ walked away. C’you believe that?”
He laughed again. “Not even a full week with my people, and they drive you to drink. Was it Molly? That woman needs to be locked up for the safety of others.”
The shocked look on his face when I patted his cheek was priceless, and I giggled again. “You l-i-i-ke her. You want to do na-a-a-ughty things to her,” I sang.
He winced as I topped that off with a little booty dance. When I almost toppled us both to the pavement, he wrapped his arm around my waist. “Damn it,” he said as he wrapped his arm around me and heaved a heavy sigh as I continued to try to dance. “Looks like I’ll be driving you home. Uh, can you stay here for a minute while I tell my crew? Right here, ok? Don’t move.”
“Aye aye, capthain,” I said as he backed away slowly, ready to catch me if needed.
The runway was mostly abandoned, except for a taxi near the hanger. I waved happily at the man behind the wheel. He waved hesitantly back before checking his watch. A ray of late afternoon sun peeked through the gray clouds. I reached up, laughing as I tried to grab the beams of light. The weak rays grew brighter, and within moments I was standing in a circle of bright sunlight.
“Shit, did you do that?” Captain Jack grabbed my arm tightly and pulled me quickly toward the hanger. His co-pilot rushed over to take care of the annoyed cab driver. The captain mumbled to himself as I struggled to keep up with his long strides, “What am I saying? Of course, she didn’t do that. No one but a Kyrion could control the sun like that.”
In the hanger, he pulled open the back door of a black Lexus and helped me in.
“Oh goody, minibar!”
“It’s going to be a long night,” Captain Jack groaned as he closed the door.
28
Pain shot through my skull as my eyes opened on a whimper. Quickly I closed them and pressed my hands to my pounding temples. The slight movement caused my stomach to roll, and I gritted my teeth against the urge to gag. My dry mouth tasted like something had died in there. My back ached from the hard surface I was lying on and something heavy was squishing my breasts.
Several careful swallows later, my stomach felt a little more stable. I patted at my chest and my hand connected with something furry. Uh, was that a head? I remembered that Captain Jack had driven me home. After that, things were pretty blurry.
Please tell me I did not sleep with Captain Jack.
The person snuggled deeper into my cleavage then mumbled, “Mr. Skittles, don’t eat that.”
Oh, thank god. I knew that voice. But how did Dia get here? And why were we sleeping together on the floor? Thinking hurt my brain so I gave up trying and rubbed at my tired eyes. A huge yawn caught me by surprise, and I took the opportunity to stretch my sore body.
Dia grumbled and tried to fluff up her “pillow.” Grunting, I said, “Wakey, wakey, Sleeping Beauty. This is about to turn into a water bed if you don’t let me up.”
“Lia?” she mumbled sleepily. “Tell the head to stop moving, my bed hurts.”
Dia was not a morning person. She was all dazed and confused until she finally woke up all the way. Unfortunately, my bladder couldn’t wait. Shifting her aside, I carefully sat up and the room began to spin. When the tilt awhirl stopped, I pried open my eyes only to have them assaulted by the sunlight coming through my living room windows. It pierced my retinas like knives, and I covered my eyes with my hands. Kill me now.
When the pain eased, I squinted at the bathroom door all the way on the other side of the room. What I wouldn’t give for Bennett’s teleportation powers right now. Everything protested as I rolled to my hands and knees, my stomach sloshing uncomfortably. Oh god, please don’t puke. Please don’t puke. Please don’t pee my pants. Crawling seemed the safer bet. I made my way across the floor and leaned my perspiring forehead against the closed door. More deep breathing to prepare for my next move, then I reached for the doorknob to hoist myself up. So far so good, although it would help if my legs stopped trembling.
My death grip on the door was the only thing keeping me upright. I turned the knob, my added weight against the door swung it open quickly and sent me careening into the sink. I muttered about the stupid door as I took care of business. I washed up and splashed water on my face, feeling a bit sturdier.
Where the hell was the singing coming from?
The shower cut off, and the curtain opened. A naked Captain Jack stood in my shower, his shocked look likely mirroring my own. I screeched and spun around. Then hissed in pain as my head threatened to explode. Starbursts lit up behind my closed lids as my head pounded in protest, and I braced myself against the sink.
“What you doin’ in my shower?” I demanded, gripping the edge of the sink like a lifeline.
“Don’t leave a man hanging in the wind here,” he said in amusement. “Hand me a towel.”
I handed him the towel off the counter, making sure to keep my eyes closed. There was a hot naked man in my shower, and all I wanted to do was cover him up. This was a sad day, and I blamed Bennett for ruining all other men for me. The captain chuckled as I awkwardly slipped from the bathroom, my face heated in embarrassment.
Dia was sitting in the middle of the living room floor with a confused look on her face. “Have you seen my bed? It went for a walk and didn’t come back.”
“Mmm,” I replied, absently patting her on the head as I walked past toward the kitchen. I stood in the front of the open fridge as I took some aspirin wi
th a glass of water. C’mon headache–be gone. Setting the empty glass inside, I stood there dumbly staring at the contents of my fridge as if it held the answers to life’s questions. The taste in my mouth was grossing me out and my toothbrush was all the way upstairs. No way I would make it up there. I skimmed the mostly empty shelves and plucked up a jar. This would have to do. I gargled a sip of pickle juice, then put the jar back in the fridge. That was mildly better.
Several minutes must have passed while I stood there in a daze. Goose bumps pebbled painfully across my skin bringing me back to the present. For the first time I noticed what I was wearing. A snug white T-shirt molded to my bra-less chest practically making the material see through. The hem landed mid-thigh showing off my pale legs. There was a dark liquid stain near my belly button. What the hell had happened last night?
The bathroom door opened and Dia squealed, making me jump. “Best. Dream. Ever,” she gushed. “Are you gonna strip now? Pooh, I think my bed took my purse. Or maybe it was Mr. Skittles. Do you take IOUs?”
Captain Jack stood in the doorway with my peach towel wrapped around his lean waist and miles of damp muscle on display. He looked amusedly at Dia still sitting on the floor and flexed his biceps for her. She squealed again in delight, bouncing in place. She was wearing only his pilot jacket, and we were dangerously close to seeing if there was anything under it. I coaxed her to stop bouncing and asked where everyone’s clothes were.
“You guys are wearing most of mine.” Captain Jack calmly lounged against the door of the bathroom as if this happened to him all the time.
The doorbell rang. “Eeek, more strippers!” Dia shouted. “Get the door, Lia,”
A strident male voice sounded through the door, “Ms. Davies, this is the Port Lawson Police Department. We have a warrant to search this property.”
A warrant? For what?
Dia curled back up on the floor closing her eyes, mumbling about her cat again. Captain Jack stalked across the room with animal grace, all traces of the easy-going man from moments before were erased.
“Do you know why the police would want to search your property?” he whispered next to me while studying the door.
“The police want to search my property?” I repeated in shock. “They must have the wrong address.”
“Listen, I have a bad feeling about this.” He gripped my chin and turned my face toward him. “You don’t know me very well, but I need you to trust me right now. Let them in. Ask to speak to your lawyer. Call this number. They’re going to lock up all of your stuff. Give me your hand.” I watched still in a daze as he pulled a pen from thin air and wrote a number on the back of my hand. What was happening here? “I’m going to slip out the back and get in touch with the Kyrion. I’ll be close by keeping an eye on things. If you feel like you’re in danger, run.” He stood up, gave my hand a squeeze, and placed a quick kiss on my cheek. “You girls sure know how to show a guy a good time.”
He gave me a wink, then whipped off the towel as he walked away, tossing it over my head. By the time I extracted myself from the towel that smelled of peach body wash and sexy man, he was gone. I jumped as the front door handle rattled. Holding the towel to my chest, I went to unlock the door.
Blinking rapidly against the bright morning sunlight, I came chest to face with an angry policeman. He looked up at me, his scowl deepening as if my height offended him even more. Jaded blue eyes scanned me from head to toe, and a sneer of disgust tightened the thin mouth below his gray mustache. His barrel-chest and the beginnings of a potbelly strained the buttons of his uniform.
Behind him, a female officer peered over his head through the door, sharp green eyes cataloging every detail. Her dishwater-blonde hair was pulled tightly into a bun at the base of her neck, and a flush of excitement tinged her cheeks. A small flip notepad was held at the ready. The blue police uniform and gear dwarfed her lean frame.
“I’m Officer Landish,” the man harrumphed and hitched a thumb over his shoulder at the woman. “And the pup behind me is Officer Quinn.” A flash of annoyance passed across the woman’s face before she could hide it. “Are you Jillian Nova Davies?”
“Yes, that’s me,” I answered nervously. “What’s going on?”
Officer Landish puffed up his chest as he shoved a sheaf of papers at me. “Ms. Davies, we have a warrant to search this residence and your place of business. We need you to step aside.”
I took the paper. “Search? For what?”
“Ma’am, are you refusing to allow us entrance?” Officer Landish’s hand inched toward a can of mace.
“No, I-I just don’t know what this is about,” I stammered. Then I made the mistake of glancing behind me when I heard the back door ease open.
Officer Landish drew his gun and shouted, “Police! No one move! Put your hands on your head.”
I immediately put my hands up, and the towel that had covered most of my indecent attire floated to the ground. Landish eyed my damp white shirt that left nothing to the imagination with contempt. He spun me around and twisted my arm behind my back, marching me into my living room.
Officer Quinn worked her way around the perimeter of the room, gun drawn. When she reached the open back door, she called it out to Landish. Then she closed it and locked it. She put her gun away before heading over to check on Dia. “She’s alive. From the liquor bottles in the kitchen, I would say drunk.” She shook Dia’s shoulder. “Ma’am, can you hear me?”
“Mmmm . . .” Dia hummed.
Landish pulled out his handcuffs and slapped one around my wrist. “Sir, she’s not—” Quinn started.
“Quinn, when I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you,” Landish barked as he hauled me to the steps and placed the other cuff around the spindle of the railing. “The suspect is secured. Clear the upstairs.”
Quinn drew her gun again and eased her way up the stairs, leaving me alone with Officer Asshole. Landish turned to me. “Who is she? Why is she lying on your floor?”
“My friend, Claudia King,” I choked out as the nauseating smell of the alcohol fumes leaking from my sweating pores made my stomach churn. I gulped nervously wondering what in the hell we had done last night. “I don’t know why she’s on the floor, we drank a lot last night. Whatever we did, it was a mistake. I don’t usually drink—”
Landish told me to shut up and walked over to Dia to nudge her with his shiny black shoe. “Ma’am, can you hear me?”
“Mmhm, take your clothes off,” she mumbled sleepily.
Landish shot a contemptuous glance at me before he crouched down beside her. “Ma’am, are you ok?”
“Mmmm, I’m too tired to do it.” She slowly opened one eye. “Hey, what happened to the other guy? Can you tell him to bring my bed back?”
Quinn came back down the stairs. “Clear, sir.”
Landish nodded toward Dia. “Call this in for a squad. I think she’s on something. I’ll start the search upstairs.”
“Hey!” I shouted, fed up with being bullied. “What the is this about? You can’t go around cuffing people for no reason. I want to talk to my lawyer.”
Quinn spoke quickly and quietly into her radio while Landish headed for the stairs. The silence stretched out as Officer Quinn stood at the ready with her back against the far wall, continuously scanning the room. I tried to explain to her that Dia was maybe still a bit drunk and not a morning person. She ignored me. When I asked what I was suspected of, her gaze darted to the forgotten warrant lying in the foyer. Then she went on to list the allegations that were being brought against me.
My mouth gaped in shock. I couldn’t begin to make sense of half of what she said, but certain things stood out. Things like human trafficking and embezzlement. My god, what was happening here?
Then Officer Asshole came back downstairs carrying a black duffel bag in his gloved hands. A duffel bag that I had never seen before in my life. His sinister smile sent ice down my spine. “Gotcha,” he said. Then he opened the bag to show me the contents.
Neat piles of hundred-dollar bills lined the bottom of the bag, but it was the pictures I couldn’t look away from. There were tons of pictures of different people. Most of them people that I knew, shown in all kinds of depraved sexual poses. The one that caught my eye, though, was front and center.
Natalie, my former assistant. Her hands were tied to my four-poster bed. Tears leaked from her terrified eyes as she appeared to be screaming around a gag. The painful instruments and toys abusing her body made me gag. My stomach finally lost the battle to keep down its meager contents, and acid burned my throat as I threw up on Landish’s shoes.
29
How had my life come to this?
I scanned the gray ceiling of my jail cell again as if it held the answers. Worry for myself and Dia had kept me on edge since they had pushed me into the back of the police car. Dia had been rushed away in an ambulance while I sat there helpless. Then they had carried out my laptop, my phone, my camera, even my trusty vibrator. It had all disappeared into the back of a van while the local newspaperman took pictures. A crowd had gathered to watch the drama. Most wore looks of shocked disbelief, but I occasionally caught a look of superiority as they whispered about how justice was finally served.
“Davies, your lawyer’s here.” The jail door clanked open.
I stared from my seat on the uncomfortable cot, too numbed by all that had happened to register what the guard was saying.
“Davies, you meeting with the lawyer or not?” he snapped.
The inmate uniform chafed against my skin as the jailor escorted me to an interview room. To my astonishment, Eros was standing in the middle of the plain white room in a no-nonsense blue suit and matching briefcase. His hair was slicked back, and a pair of gold glasses sat on his nose. He winked as I stared at him in confusion. My heart shriveled a bit in disappointment that he was alone. Why had I thought Bennett would come?
“Ms. Davies, good to see you again.” Eros greeted me and shook my hand as if we were strangers. “Although I’m sure, we both wish it was under different circumstances.”
Paldimori Gods Rising Box Set Page 24