by S. M. Dapelo
He continued “Now that amused me to no end, because I hate the bastard, and I was trying not to laugh. I looked over at Tanner; and his face was white. I don’t mean a bit pale; I mean pure white. I don’t know what happened while I was looking at him. Suddenly, his eyebrows went up to his forehead, and his mouth fell open. When I looked back you had Peterson in a wrist lock and were threating to slit his throat.” He chuckled at that, “So right then I asked that you become our liaison. Tanner started to argue, I cut him off. Stephen agreed on the spot.”
“And I was happy with that?” I asked.
“Hell no. You were pissed. You saw it as a demotion, and then you saw Tanner. Your reaction wasn’t any better than his, you quit and walked out; after kicking Brock in the crotch.”
“I’m getting confused,” I said.
Ethan threaded his hand through mine, working my wrist back and forth, “You and Tanner had a complicated relationship. Neither of you talked about or had anything to do with the other. To continue, you took off out of the office, and I followed. I was my usual charming self.”
“Meaning you didn’t say anything about babies?” I interrupted.
“I just met you, so no. I explained how if you didn’t become our liaison, Brock would and hiding his body would cause problems. That you’d still be in the field, but you’d have a lot of autonomy. Plus, you’d never have to work with Peterson again. Stephen followed us and agreed with everything I said, because he didn’t want to lose you.”
“I agreed?” I asked.
“After a lot of begging between myself and Stephen you capitulated,” Ethan’s hands moved to my other hand. “And that’s the first time we met.”
“That is not what I was expecting,” I stated.
“Only in the movies is everything magical,” stated Ethan. “I knew instantly that you’d be a good fit with us. Your brother took more convincing, but he eventually came around. I think you scored points when you threw a knife a Brock. As much as I dislike him, Tanner absolutely loathes him.”
Ethan continued his ministrations to my hand, which was calming me. When he finished, he turned to me, “No more questions?”
“You said I couldn’t,” I shrugged, “and that massage made me feel like jelly.”
He chuckled, then sobered and moved the hair off my face. “Sam, I’m not trying to rush you, but do you have any questions?”
“About what?”
He gave me a look and I caught on. “Ohh,” I felt myself blushing. I shook my head, “I really am a …” I stopped myself. “I just assumed it’s one of those things you automatically know how to do.”
“You don’t remember ever doing that?”
I shook my head and he gave a sly smile, “So it’s like I’d be your first,” he stroked my hair, “When you're ready.”
I bit my lip and looked down for a second, the looked into his eyes, “How am I supposed to know when that is?”
He moved his lips until they were right above mine, “We’ll work on that together.” Then he covered his mouth with mine in a feather-like kiss that slowly deepened until we were pulling each other closer.
I only heard the pounding of my heart … until a screeching started, and lights strobed. I pulled away, “What?”
Ethan was already cursing and heading out the door. “What’s going on?” I jumped off the bed and followed.
“Tanner,” bellowed Ethan as he charged down the hallway.
“I’m on it.” Tanner came bolting from downstairs, “I already sent the team to their posts. They’re checking everything out.”
“The video area is by the safe room downstairs. Where’s Berto?” asked Ethan.
“Right here boss,” Berto came up behind Tanner, with Mitch behind him.
“Take Sam and get her into the safe room, you know the code. Then get to the video feed and let us know what you see,” Ethan said as Tanner handed him a gun.
“What’s going on?” I demanded in a shrill voice.
“Someone’s in the compound that doesn’t belong here. An alarm was tripped.” Ethan’s face was grim, “Where’s Lyssa? Could she have done this?”
“Dude, do you honestly think Lyssa tripped an alarm? Lyssa?” Tanner said.
“No.” Ethan swung to look at me, “Go with Berto. I want you in that safe room.”
“I’ll stay with you and help,” I started.
“Sugar, you’re not in shape for this. I can’t be effective if I’m keeping an eye on you,” Ethan tried to reason.
“Sam, if he’s worried about you, there’s a better than average chance he can be hurt. Do you want that?” Tanner looked over at me. I shook my head, “Then go with Berto,” Tanner glanced at the fourth man, “Mitch go with them. When you get a bead on who’s here and where they are, head to their location immediately. Got it?”
“Yes sir,” Mitch answered. I stared at the man for a moment, trying to grasp what I was seeing. I shook my head, thinking I imagined it.
“Come on, Sam,” Berto went to grab my arm, but Ethan held his hand up for a moment, the kissed me. “Stay safe,” he whispered.
“You too,” I bit my lip and followed Berto down the hall with Mitch behind us.
We went down a couple of flights of stairs until we were in a basement I’d never seen before. “Does this happen often?” I asked Berto.
“No,” he shook his head. “They’re usually not this stupid. We’ll find them in a couple of minutes.” He stood in front of a keypad and hit a few buttons, and a door swung open. He moved behind me, “Sam I need you in there. There’s a red button on the other side, hit it and no one can get in there until Tanner or Ethan put their code in.” I turned to look in the sterile looking room when I heard a hiss behind me.
I turned to see Berto arched in pain and Mitch with a murderous look on his face holding a knife out of Berto’s back. I quickly spun behind Berto, holding the back side of Mitch’s arm still as I slammed my dominant hand as hard as possible into the same appendage. I heard the crack of the bone as Mitch screamed, instantly releasing the knife. He grabbed my shirt with his left arm and slammed me into the wall. I turned, taking most of the hit with my shoulder and kicking out with my leg hitting him in the stomach. Then I turned with my arm bent, throwing my elbow into his face with as much force as I could. He hit the floor.
“Come on,” I said grabbing Berto and pulling him into the panic room, closing the door and hitting the button he had told me to. “How do we contact Ethan in here?”
Berto, still holding his back, pulled his phone out and tossed it to me. “Only one that can get through the steel of this place. I’ve got that many boosters on it. Tanner’s on speed dial, number two.”
“Don’t move the knife and lay face down on the floor,” I said as I dialed out.
“What do see Berto?” Tanner’s voice came over the phone.
“Mitch stabbed Berto,” I said into the phone. “I pulled him into the panic room, he’s gonna need medical attention.”
“Sam, I need you to focus,” Tanner’s voice was instantly calm. “Is he breathing?”
“Yeah, he conscious. Mitch stabbed him low on the back. I didn’t want to remove the knife. I thought it might make it worse, for some reason,” I babbled.
“Good call. What happened to Mitch?”
“Umm …”
“Hit the speaker button, Sam,” ground out Berto, so I did. “She beat the shit out of Mitch. He was laying on the floor, last I saw,” yelled Berto.
“You hit the button? The room’s secure?” asked Tanner.
“I hit the button,” I confirmed.
“We’re locked up tight,” Berto yelled. “Someone come get that asshole and take me to the doctor.”
“I’m sending Xavier. Did she knock him out or just down?” Tanner asked.
“Not sure.” Berto’s breathing increased, “I was too busy bleeding on the floor.”
“Sam, how deep did the knife go?”
“It doesn’t look to far,”
I was starting to panic. “I thought all these guys were vetted. Get Berto to the hospital.”
“I’m busy right now,” I heard gunfire in the background, “Thank God you called me, not Ethan.” He was quiet for a moment, “I have Xavier on the other line, hold up.”
I dropped to Berto’s side, trying to look at the knife. That’s when I noticed something else, “Berto, do you wear one of those weightlifter belts?”
“I was working out when the alarm went off,” he was starting to hyperventilate. “When I’m gone let Lyssa know, I genuinely loved her. It wasn’t just sex. She was the most amazing person I’ve ever met. She’s expressive, she’s adventurous, she’s beautiful.”
I carefully started to move the belt away, then rolled my eyes, and pulled the whole knife out with one pull. “Oh my God, you just killed me,” screamed Berto. “You heard Tanner, don’t remove the knife.”
“You removed the knife?” I heard Tanner yell on the other end of the phone.
“It got stuck on his belt. It went into him a half inch at the most. There’s barely any blood,” I sighed, “He’ll live.”
“A half inch can hit a kidney,” cried Berto.
“No, it can’t.” I heard Tanner sigh, “You’re gonna be fine. Xavier secured Mitch. You failed to tell me you broke his arm.”
“Oops,” I muttered. “I’m still not sure how I did that.”
“It was awesome,” said Berto as he rolled to his back. “She’s totally the green chick from that movie that I’d normally be able to name, but the blood loss is making me dizzy.”
I clicked off speaker phone, “When were you guys going to tell me he’s a hypochondriac?” I whispered into the device.
“We assumed you’d figure it out eventually. You’re our focus, not his issues,” said Tanner. “Bandage him up and have him lay down. We’ll let you out as soon as we can.”
“You’re going to tell Ethan we were attacked by one of our own men, aren’t you?” I whined.
“There’s no way not to,” replied Tanner. “If you thought he was overprotective before, just wait.”
I hung the phone up, leaned over and put my head in my hands.
“He said I’m dying, didn’t I?” Berto sobbed, causing me to take a deep breath and hope that the siege would be a short one.
Chapter 21
Three hour and one Little Mermaid bandage later, the door opened. Ethan strode in, “Sugar, are you okay?”
“I was stabbed,” Berto yelled.
Ethan paused, shutting his eyes, “I wasn’t talking to you, princess. We know you have a boo boo.”
“He hasn’t shut up about it yet,” I growled. Ethan pressed his lips together to stop laughing.
Tanner sauntered behind. “Let me see,” he pulled Berto’s shirt up, shut his eyes for a moment, then hung his head. “You’re making a huge deal about a wound that could be taken care of … with a single Disney band-aid? Not even a huge Band-Aid, this one is designed for an infant’s finger. Did it even break the skin?” He turned to the door, “This guy might be the father to my nieces and nephews?”
Lyssa came rushing in, “Berto, are you okay?”
“It went in a half an inch,” he held her hand.
“He said that with a straight face,” Tanner deadpanned and turned away from him.
“It could have hit a kidney,” Lyssa tried to defend him.
“No it couldn’t have,” I huffed. “I even pulled out the flippin anatomy book to prove it to him.” I held up the book I found. I turned to Tanner, “What took so long? That game on Berto’s phone, the one with the birds, could only block him out for so long.”
“We had to search every inch of the property. Nothing showed up on the video feed, but we had to make sure,” Tanner was looking to the door.
I pointed at him, “You’re lying. Don’t deny it, you are. I heard gunfire.”
“We shot at a coyote,” he glanced at Berto.
“You’re fibbing,” I looked at Ethan, “He’s lying to me. I can tell.”
“How?” Ethan crossed his arms.
I picked up a second book, “Because I read this in the last hour, so I wouldn’t smother Berto. It tells everything about body language.”
“Well look at you with all the control,” smiled Ethan, who pulled me into a hug. “Yeah, we caught three others. Berto, I need you to fly the drones and see if there are any others outside the perimeter.”
“But I got …” Berto started.
“Dude, if you whine about a flesh wound that 0my baby sisters would walk off, don’t worry about Sam smothering you. I’m just gonna beat you until you grow a pair,” Tanner gave him an evil smile. “Half of Sam’s brain is literally fried, and she still kicked Mitch’s ass and saved you. You can fly a fucking drone.”
“Literally means …” I stopped and stared at Ethan. “How badly hurt am I?”
“Bad enough,” sighed Ethan, “It’s permanent damage. Your brain was electrocuted. We’re still trying to figure out why they wanted to mess with your memories.”
“Yeah. If they wanted you quiet, you’d think they’d just kill you right away,” Lyssa said as she helped Berto to his feet.
“Lyssa, shut up,” Tanner growled. She glared at him and helped Berto out of the room.
“Good job not offing Berto. I couldn’t have done it,” said Tanner staring at where they walked through.
“I’m putting Sam to bed, then I’ll be in the library reviewing everyone’s personnel files,” Ethan said to Tanner. “You take the first shift on the interrogation, then switch with me, in let’s say, four hours. You or I stay in the house with Sam at all times.”
“What about Xavier?” I scrunched my face up.
“He’s tossing Mitch’s place here, looking for anything that’ll tell us what flipped him. We have another team searching his place in San Francisco. Xavier’s in charge of that investigation until further notice.” Ethan put his hand on my back, gently pushing me through the door, “Babe, it’s after one in the morning. You need sleep.”
“So do you,” I started to argue.
“We’ll sleep after we get a few things figured out,” Tanner said as he walked past me, up the stairs. “Tomorrow you watch a few films I’m choosing. They’re violent, but the hand-to-hand moves can be pulled off. You need them back in your brain. We can’t keep relying on muscle memory or superhero movies for you.”
Ethan threaded his hand through mine, “Come on Sugar, let’s get you to sleep. One of us will be in the library if you need anything. It had to be scary being stuck in here.”
“It was annoying,” I grumbled. “Berto wouldn’t shut up. For three hours he insisted he was dying.”
Both men snorted and we headed up the stairs.
Chapter 22
I woke up and realized the tart smell of pineapple, bergamot, and apple on Ethan’s pillow wasn’t nearly as strong as it usually was. He hadn’t been in bed. I got up and looked around, finally dressing in jeans and a simple sweater. Suddenly the door slammed opened, and Ethan walked in. He was wearing the same clothes he had on the night before and while his hair was always somewhat mussed, this time it didn’t look intentional.
“Have you been up all night?” I asked.
He ran a hand through his hair, “Yeah. Everything’s taking a lot longer than expected.”
“All night? Did you find out anything?”
He stared at me a moment, “It’s work, Samantha. No questions.”
I sighed, “I just want to know what’s going on.”
Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose, “I don’t have the patience for this shit right now. Has it ever occurred to you that we’re trying to protect you? That someone might be targeting you for knowledge you had before everything went to hell?”
I thought for a moment, then shrugged, “I guess. But then shouldn’t I have a head’s up on what’s going on?”
“No!” Ethan threw his arms wide, “We’re just trying to keep you safe and calm.”
“What happened to you?” my voice was going higher.
Tanner took the toothpick that he was chewing on out of his mouth, “Mitch, and it’s just gonna get worse.”
I backed up, “Can’t someone else do this? Can’t you call Steve and let the agency deal with it?”
Tanner shook his head, “We don’t have time for this crap today, Ethan.”
Ethan sighed, “Let me change and I’ll be out there. That thing we talked about. Can you put Berto on it?”
Tanner stared at him a second, “Yeah, that might be for the best,” he turned and walked out, shutting the door behind him.
Ethan stripped his shirt off and grabbed a black t-shirt that molded to his perfect chest. Then he turned to me, “You’re on lockdown until further notice. It’s for your own safety until we go through every file on every employee. One of us will bring you breakfast soon,” he walked out the door, and I heard it click. I ran to it, trying to turn the doorknob. Locked. I pounded on the door for a few minutes, then kicked it.
“What the hell is going on,” I kicked the door again, then sat down on the bed. “This can’t be real,” I kept muttering to myself.
“It’s real,” Tanner had opened the door and stood there carrying a cup and carafe, with an even larger man following him with a tray. “Sam, I’m sorry you have memory problems, but you need to get a fucking grip. This is what we do, and we have to find out who’s behind this.” He had the man put the tray down as I tried to step around him. Tanner quickly dropped the carafe on the side table and grabbed me around the waist, swinging me around.