by Naomi West
He perked up at the good news, like he'd just received word of the governor's pardon. “Backups? Where?”
“Back at the office,” she admitted, “on my work computer.”
He could barely contain his smile, and he leaned down to kiss her. It was a soft, light kiss, like two rose petals barely touching the other. Abby smiled up at him, like she knew she'd made his day. He beamed back at her, feeling for the first time like there actually was a bit of goodness left in the world.
She had the files still! God, he hadn't heard such good news since …well, he didn't know when.
“Get some more rest,” he whispered, then kissed her again. He settled her back down onto the mattress and slipped off the bed. He crossed her room and stopped at the door, glancing back at her for one long moment, taking in the beauty of her naked form.
As he watched her drift off to sleep, though, another thought entered his mind. It was one that caused his smile to fade for a moment.
The files were at Pharma-Vitae. That still meant he needed to figure out a way to get them.
# # #
Abby
The doorbell awoke them both the next morning.
They'd slept the whole night together, their bodies entwined like two serpents, their limbs pulling them close. She must have been out like a light after the evening of pampering Zed gave her, because she didn't even remember his joining her in the bed.
Her eyes fluttered open as Zed jerked awake and hopped from the bed. He busily pulled on his clothes as Abby, rubbing her wrists idly, watched him get ready.
“What are you doing?” Zed hissed, as he pulled his slacks on and buckled his belt. “Someone's at the door.”
“What?” Abby asked, forgetting for the moment that she'd been effectively kidnapped by this hunk of a psychopath, and that this wasn't some romantic weekend getaway like her body was suddenly insisting. “Oh!” she yelped. “Shit!”
“Who could it be?” he asked, as he pulled on his dress shirt and began to button it. “Mark?”
Abby shook her head as she searched through a dresser drawer and pulled out a fresh pair of panties. She shivered wonderfully at the memory of the last pair she'd had on, and how it was still in the pile with her other clothes, torn to shreds by Zed's hands. “No,” she said, as she stepped into a bikini cut, “Mark wouldn't ever come here. Not in a million years!”
“Who, then?” he insisted, finding his gun and strapping it on.
“Probably Jackie,” Abby said, pointedly looking at the shoulder holster and the big, ugly piece of metal stuffed into it. “I haven't spoken to her in a couple days, and she's probably just worried.”
Zed glanced down at the gun under his arm, sighed, and shook his head.
“You can't wear a suit coat in the house, sir,” Abby said. “And, no matter who's at the door, they're going to think you're crazy for wearing a gun in the house. Besides, I thought we were trying to trust each other more, sir.”
“Shit,” he grumbled and went to take it off. “Guess you're right.” He stuffed it in the nightstand, on his side of the bed.
Abby shook her head as she realized that it had, in fact, become his de facto side of the bed. She'd officially come home from work with a pet psycho, and it didn't look like he was leaving anytime soon. She sighed, pulled on a pair of jeans, and began to find a t-shirt as the doorbell rang again.
Soon, they were both out in front entryway. Zed was tense, a bundle of frayed and raw nerves, and looked like he might jump out of his skin at any moment. Abby touched his arm as they approached the door, and he nearly leaped from his skin.
“Hey, hey,” Abby soothed. “It's going to be okay, all right? It's probably just Jackie. I've already told her about you, right?”
He nodded, taking a deep breath. “Right. Yeah, you're right.”
“She's probably just here checking in on me,” she reminded him.
He glanced away, his jaw muscles working so hard she was surprised she couldn't hear his teeth grinding.
She touched his arm and maneuvered to the side to get a good look at him. “Relax, okay? Everything's going to be fine,” she said, as she squeezed his bicep.
He grumbled as his eyes bore into hers, like two diamond-tipped drills. “Just remember,” he growled, as he snatched up her wrist, “I might not be armed, but I can snap you in two.”
There was the man she remembered. She took a step back and nodded. Plastering a smile on her face, she turned away from him. She ran her fingers back through her hair as she approached the door and put her eye to the peephole. She had been right. It was Jackie standing on the front porch, checking her phone, and looking awkwardly around.
Abby closed her eyes and tried to channel the spirit of Natalia Winters. She remembered how her mom would always receive producers and directors she was working with, men she couldn't stand. She remembered how she'd deal with the press, more people she couldn't care less about. The trick was to seem exuberant when you saw them, and to remember one of their good features while you spoke to them.
Compared to what mother had done, this was easy. She genuinely loved Jackie as a friend, not just an employee. If this had been any other situation, she'd have been overjoyed to unexpectedly see her.
After a fraction of a moment, she nodded to herself and opened her eyes. “Jackie!” Abby called, as happily as she could manage, and began to unlock the door. “How are you?” she called, as she swung the door open.
“Abbs?” Jackie asked. She peered inside, a wide, somewhat uncertain smile on her face. “Hey! Just stopping by so I could check in and see how everything was going.”
As Jackie spoke, Abby felt Zed step up behind her, his body a looming presence that was somehow both menacing and comforting at the same time. She could hear him breathing and could feel his strength behind her, so close he was almost pressed against her body.
“Things are great,” Abby replied, still grinning from ear-to-ear.
Jackie glanced around as she stood on the doorstep, did a little rocking motion and settled back on her heels. “Well, that's great!” she said, looking around again, her eyes settling back on Abby. “Mind if I come in?”
“Let her in,” Zed whispered, then took a step back into the entryway, still out of view of the front door.
“Oh my God,” Abby said, shaking her head at herself. She pulled the door open all the way and waved Jackie in. “Where are my manners? Come on in.”
“I always forget how beautiful your house is,” Jackie said, as she stepped over the threshold.
“I try,” Abby said. “It's a big place, and it gets lonely sometimes.”
“Not too lonely, I hope,” Zed said, as he stepped around the corner, a warm, transformative smile on his face.
Abby was struck by how his body language had changed in just those few short moments, with the smile even reaching up to his eyes. He looked genuinely happy to have an unexpected guest. It was stunning enough that she mused to herself that Natalia Winters could have learned a couple lessons.
Jackie took one look at Zed and glanced at Abby, a confused look on her face. “So, this is the guy you met?” she asked, laughing. “How'd that happen?”
“Long story,” Abby said, honestly, as she closed the front door.
“It was fate, I guess,” Zed said, still smiling like a hunky charmer. “She got into the accident, and I happened to be right in the same area, so I hopped out to help.”
“Right,” Abby agreed, as she moved around Jackie. Zed slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, his strong arms almost seeming to fit perfectly around her tiny body. She had to keep herself from melting into his crazed warmth.
“And we've been inseparable ever since,” Zed added, laughing.
“Well,” Jackie said in a slightly sing-song voice, “I know you two are sort of in the honeymoon phase still, but you really need to check in at the office. There's always something going on, and I can only run cover for so long.”
“I know
I've been keeping her from you guys,” Zed said with a laugh, “but it's just tough to let this little beauty go.”
Jackie laughed, a broad smile on her face. She glanced at Abby and raised her eyebrows appreciatively.
Abby smiled and stepped back a little from Zed's grip. “You know, Jackie's probably right, babe. I should go into the office and at least check in. Especially if I want to, I don't know, keep my job. Why don't you stick around here for a little while, and I’ll just run in for the afternoon and get caught up with some of what's on my desk?”
All three of them laughed.
“Tell you what,” Zed said, his smile still wide, “why don't you just run in and leave Jackie here with me? It'll give us a chance to get to know each other, and I can show her around the garden you and I've been working on. What do you think, Jackie?”
Jackie smiled uneasily and gave Abby a confused look. “Uh, sure?” she asked, her laugh uncertain. “Is that okay with you, boss?”
Abby glanced up at Zed and could tell from the slight curl in his lip and the glint in his eyes that it had better be okay with her. “Why wouldn't it be?” Abby asked, like she knew she was supposed to, smiling widely. “Let me go get some shoes on and put on a change of clothes, and I'll head right out.” She disengaged herself and headed back to her bedroom, her palms clammy with sweat.
“Why don't you have a seat in the living room?” Zed asked Jackie, as Abby turned the corner and headed down the hallway.
That look in his eyes had been unsettling—almost terrifying. What could she do, though? Abby trusted him not to hurt Jackie, as long as Abby kept her end of the deal, but what if something happened to her on the way?
“Hey, babe?” Zed called down the hallway, as he went to catch up with her. “Hold up a second.”
Abby turned as he came down the hallway. “What?” she hissed quietly.
“Two hours,” he said, his voice low and menacing as he snatched her arm and pulled her close. He leaned down, his face barely an inch from hers as his eyes stabbed her through like knives and held her attention. “That's all you get. You bring me the back-up files, you keep the cops out of it, or you know what happens to Jackie. You know I'm capable of it, too.”
Two hours? That was it? Abby swallowed and shook her head. “What if I get into a car accident? Or something happens to the file?”
“Guess you're going to have to pray for good luck,” he growled softly, then pulled her in and gave her a cruel kiss.
She grunted, but kept herself steady, feeling that familiar warmth within her growing between her legs. He was such a terrifying bastard, but there was still something about him that really got her engine going. Her legs even began to wobble as he reached down, grabbed her ass hard, and pulled her into him.
He pulled away, breaking the kiss. Her lips still stung with his heat. “Two hours,” he reminded her.
She nodded, her knees still weak. “Two hours,” she whispered back, as he released her from his hold.
Chapter Sixteen
Abby
She stormed into Mark Letterman's office and slammed the door behind her.
She was livid. Not only had this man betrayed the trust of thousands of first responders by forcing a drug on them that didn't work, but his actions had also gotten her and Jackie wrapped up in the middle of this whole thing with Zed. Responsibility rested squarely on Mark's shoulders, and she knew it.
“Woah, woah, woah,” Mark said, getting up from his desk, hands out in front of him, a stark look of surprise on his face. “Don't shoot, Abby, I come in peace.”
“Shut the fuck up, Mark,” she snarled, as she planted her fists on his desk and glared right at him.
“Hey,” Mark said, taking a step back as he made a disgusted face, “I don't need to take that shit from you.”
“You don't need to take that from me, huh?” she spat. “You, the lying bastard who got Dimalerax through approval, when you knew it was a faulty drug?”
Mark's face went carefully neutral, and he simply shrugged, then gave a little grin as he sat back down in his chair, like none of this was anything major. “What of it? Of course, I got it through approval. That's part of what we do. We sell drugs, and we make money. This is America, Abby.”
“But our drugs didn't work,” she hissed. “There are people who took it, hoping to end their suffering, and it wasn't any better than a goddamn sugar pill.”
“But they made us a lot of money,” he retorted.
“I should have you fired for this,” she growled, channeling a little bit of Zed.
Mark looked levelly at her, his eyes searching. “Oh,” he said, smirking. “You're serious, aren't you?” He cackled, actually cackled, a sound as annoying as broken glass and nails on chalkboards. “You think I managed to swing this on my own?” he asked, laughing again.
“When the board hears about—”
“The board?” he asked, cutting her off, then sputtering out more demeaning laughter. “The board, Abby? Do you know who helped me do all this?”
They actually helped him? They were in on it the whole time, and maybe directed him to commit fraud like this? Was this a wholesale conspiracy on an institutional level? She straightened up and took a step away.
“You know,” he said smoothly. “If you keep pushing and pushing and pushing on this, Abby, I think you're going to find that the tables can turn on even the CEO of a company. You think they're going hang their head of sales and marketing out to dry? A man who's made billions for them? Or some upstart CEO who just got the position? In fact, as much as it's already hurt us to quietly remove Dimalerax from the market, you might be pushing them too far already.”
She thought she just might break down in tears right there. Not from sadness, or from hurt, but shear anger over how completely she was painted into a corner. Abby cleared her throat and took another step towards the office door.
“Oh,” Mark piped up. “One other thing. Some reporter, Kara Singh, with The New York Times, is sniffing around, putting her nose where it doesn't belong. Keep giving me trouble, and I might just serve you up as the scoop of the year.”
“You wouldn't dare,” Abby said. “I had nothing to do with it.”
“Think anyone in the public gives a shit about that? You, with your good looks and your famous little pedigree? The press would latch onto you like a fat tick on a dog. They'd suck you dry and toss you aside before anyone knew the difference, swarming like sharks smelling chum.”
She shook her head slowly. “This is all your fault, though,” she said, almost disbelievingly.
Mark laughed. “You think anyone gives a flying fuck anymore? They just want to see someone tarred and feathered. They don't care who it is.”
Abby considered her options as she watched Mark recline in his chair like a mad dog that could strike at any moment. She could stay with Pharma-Vitae, but knowing what she knew now would certainly make her complicit in their crimes. Zed had been right about that part, at least. Or, the other option was to just leave. But, that still meant they could pin everything on her, and she'd have no way to see what was coming, or to be able to collect evidence for her own defense.
But, she realized, maybe there weren't just two options. Maybe there was a third way. “Fine, Mark, you win. You're probably right about my not being able to get rid of you.” Then, she turned, opened his office door, and stepped out into the eerily silent office floor.
Dozens and dozens of eyes were on the Ice Queen as she re-entered her realm for the first time in a week. Men and women alike scurried out of Abby's way as she stalked to her office, her heels like gavels on the office carpet.
Good. They needed to be afraid. Fear was a weapon, just like any other. And, maybe, if they feared her enough, that would give her some breathing room to do what she needed to. She entered her office and shut the door behind her. She flew to her desk and powered up her computer, her fingers drumming nervously on the chair's arms as she waited for it to go through its boot cycle.
>
She just hoped Mark didn't figure out what she was trying to do before she could manage to put it into action. She typed in her password on her computer, thanking her lucky stars Mark hadn't made a more overt move, like changing her credentials or password information. After her system logged in, she went to the files she'd found earlier, with Zed, and pulled them up.
Miss Kara Singh at the Times would have a field day with the amount of information Abby was about to cram down her throat. Abby just hoped she didn't choke when it mattered most.
She was just about to hit print on the files when Mark walked into her office without knocking.