by S. M. Dapelo
“Nope,” he shook his head, “Ethan said you stay here until he’s sure everyone’s safe.” he dropped me unceremoniously to the floor.
“Tanner, I can’t stay in here,” I whined, “And did you cook? Because I’m not eating that if you did.” The large man snorted and then quickly schooled his features when Tanner turned to glare at him.
“Get the fuck out,” Tanner pointed at the door and the large man headed that way with me following. Tanner grabbed the back of my sweater, “I’m not talking to you, I’m talking to Kev.”
“Kev?”
“Short for Kevin,” he kicked the door shut with one foot then turned to me. “Take a deep breath. You had surgery less than two weeks ago. You need to rest.”
“I’m getting sick of everyone telling me that,” I crossed my arms.
“Fine, then let’s try this,” Tanner stared me in the eye, “Your husband doesn’t look it, but he’s panicking. They were after you last night, and they flipped one of our guys to grab you. Right now, Ethan doesn't know who to trust, and he’s doing the only thing he can think of to keep you safe.”
“Keeping me a prisoner?” I asked.
“Yes,” Tanner nodded. “Now eat. I didn’t cook it. Ethan found out one of the guys was a cook in the military, so he put him to work. With someone watching everything he does in case he tried to slip anything in the food.
There was a knock and Tanner opened it. Berto walked in with a laptop, “This is for you,” he smiled at me. “Even though you could have killed me when you pulled the knife out. I figure you saved me more than hurt me, so I set this up like Ethan asked.”
I looked at it, “What am I supposed to do with it?”
“Learn,” he put the laptop down on the bed, then held up a book.
“Computers for Old People?” I stared at him as Tanner rolled his eyes.
“Do you remember anything about how to use a computer? Do you even remember how to turn it on?” smiled Berto.
“Give me the book,” I grumbled as I grabbed it from him. “So basically, I’m supposed to keep busy by learning how to use a computer? I’m not supposed to notice I’m locked in a room?”
“Exactly,” smiled Berto. “Who wouldn’t rather be working on a computer? You can use it to read the news, watch videos, find friends from high school.”
“No, she can’t,” Tanner growled. “We have a tight firewall. You designed it. You should know.”
“Well right now she’s just learning the basics.” Berto clasped his hands in front of him, “You have to know computers to function in today’s world. That’s what you work on today. Eventually, I’ll start some programming with you.” He reached over and grabbed the computer, “I even have a secure WoW server, so you can play if you want. No subliminal messaging for our group.”
I looked at Tanner, “What’s a WoW?”
He shook his head and looked up, “A make-believe life. Have a real one.” He physically turned Berto and started to walk him out the door when Berto pulled away.
“I forgot, Lyssa sent this.” He pulled something out from his back, “It’s a tablet. She downloaded some books that she thought might answer some questions.”
I looked at what he handed me, “How do I turn it on?”
Tanner reached over, “Here, let me.” He showed me how to hit a button, pulled up the library and handed it back to me.
I glanced through the titles, “Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret? The Body Book for Girls? The Karma Sutra?” I read out loud.
Tanner’s mouth dropped open, “What the hell? Gimme that.” He grabbed the tablet away, looked it over and then took a breath, “Why would Lyssa give her these?”
Berto shrugged, “I don’t even recognize the titles?”
“How do you not know these? The three she named are famous. The last one’s about sex.” He turned and shook a finger at me, “Which I’m taking off of this,” then turned to Berto again, “And the first two are about …” he stopped and took a breath, looked at me, then turned and whispered something to Berto.
“Ewwww,” Berto pulled away from Tanner, “How would I know about that? I have five brothers and no sisters.”
“Well I have two and I’m telling you those books are about sex and …” He turned and stared at me as he turned red, “Yeah, you should probably read everything except The Karma Sutra.”
I grabbed the tablet back, “Even this?” I showed him the title of another book. He did a double take.
“Start with the computer book. That’s more important.” Tanner pushed Berto toward the door, “Eat your breakfast while it’s still warm.” He just sounded tired as he walked out the door.
I reviewed the book for a moment before starting on breakfast. I finished and set everything on the tray, then walked around the room. What the heck was going on? I looked at the computer, the book, and the tablet then sighed. I grabbed the book and started reading. Books didn’t seem to take me much time to go through. After reading it I reached for the computer. No password, perfect.
Before long I found my way through a server that Berto had set up and was somehow in another drive marked videos. Maybe more movies? I opened the folder, and only one file was there. I clicked on it as it started. My heart rate increased, I heard ringing in my ears, then the world went black as I heard screaming from the computer and realized it was me.
Chapter 23
“How the hell did she even find it?” I heard Ethan yelling as things started coming back into focus.
“She’s smart. She went with the basics and expanded from there. I didn’t even realize that computer was mapped to that network.” Berto’s voice was high and he sounded defensive.
“Ethan, I think she’s starting to function. She’s started blinking again,” I heard Tanner say.
“Everyone out. I’m staying with her for now. Tanner take Berto and get them to talk. Do anything you have to,” I heard Ethan pause, “And I mean anything.”
“On it.” I heard two sets of footsteps walk away. The world was starting to form again, and I was sucked in air.
“Sugar? Can you hear me?” I recognized Ethan’s hand when he took mine. He started massaging it like he had the day before. I just nodded.
He kissed my cheek, “You’re shivering. I think you went into shock. I’m going to run a bath, then get you into it. How’s that sound?” I had no idea how to respond to that. “Hey,” he started to get up, “I got you this a few days ago. Why don’t you hold onto it while I run the bath?” I felt him put something soft into my arms. I slowly looked down and saw that I was holding onto a stuffed dog. I held onto it as I lay there, waiting for my mind to make sense of everything.
After a bit Ethan came back to me, “Can you walk or do I need to carry you to the bath?” He carefully took the stuffed animal from me and helped me sit up. He cursed and picked me up, taking me into the bathroom. Showers had just been easier since I could remember, so I hadn’t honestly paid much attention to the bath. As I watched the water run from the pump-looking faucet into what looked to be a free-standing stone tub, I realized I might have been missing out.
I heard Ethan doing something, then he was helping me out of my clothes and lifting me into the steamy water. He pushed me toward the front and slid in behind me. Then wrapped his arms around me and had me lay back on him. “You weren’t supposed to see that. We were keeping it away from you for a reason. It’s horrifying.” He kissed the back of my head.
My voice barely worked, “I thought I found a movie. The book talked about mapping drives, so I did what it said. I found that one, and thought I found a video folder. I thought that was where all the movies you watched were.”
“You won’t find it again.” Ethan stroked my hair, “I had Berto move it completely off all the servers. He has it on a flash drive now, and that thing’s in my safe.”
“How can someone do that to another person?” I was trying to control my breathing. I didn’t need to blubber two days in a row.
“You’r
e asking me that? It’s easy. I find the men who did that to you and I just pay them back in kind,” Ethan’s voice went cold.
“Please tell me you’re not doing that,” my voice hitched as I turned to hide my face in his chest.
“I’m never going to tell you what I do.” One arm went tighter as the other hand started to make circles on my back. “You can think I’m giving them tea and cookies, if that makes you feel better.”
“No needles,” I started crying into his chest.
“I’ll make you that promise. I’ll never use needles on anyone the way they were used on you. Never,” he kissed the top of my head again. I just cried until I was exhausted as Ethan held me.
I don’t remember getting out of the tub and into bed. But when I confronted reality again, I was laying in the bed and the sun was setting. “You’re up.” I looked to see Ethan sitting in a chair next to the bed clad only in jeans with several files in his lap.
“You stayed in here?” I was blinking, trying to remember how I got there.
“Of course, Sugar. I can review things in here just as easily as I can in my office.” His face softened, “How are you?”
I looked to the side as I thought about that question, “I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I didn’t see much before I blanked out. I guess you could say I feel defeated,” I looked at him, “Does that make sense?”
He put the files down and came over to the bed, “In a way, yeah. But instead of defeated, maybe you should realize you won. They wanted to break you and didn’t. We still don’t know what they were after, but one thing’s clear, you told them nothing. Then they tried to kill you and failed.” He gave a small smile, “They didn’t defeat you; you beat them.”
“Maybe I’ll feel that way in a couple of days, but right now, I don’t,” I started to sit up. “You were right. It’s better that I didn’t know what happened.”
He sat down and pushed a strand of hair back, “I usually am. I’m not saying that to brag, it’s simply the truth. I’ve seen more than most people since my parents did this before me. They never hid anything.”
“They sound like they loved you. Like they believed in preparing you.”
“Do you think so? The truth is they just didn’t notice I was around. I was an inconvenience. I had nanny’s and servants who raised me, not my parent.” He stroked my hair, “That’s why it’s so important to me, that when you’re ready, our children have involved parents in their lives.” He looked thoughtful for a moment, his jaw ticking.
I sat there for a moment and tried to figure out how to respond, “I don’t even remember my parents,” I started.
“Maybe Tanner can tell you about them, or Lyssa. They never mention them, though. And Sugar, one important thing to remember,” he paused as he weighed his words, “People in our profession, we don’t usually come from happy households.”
“You think there were problems?” I asked.
He nodded his head, “I do, but you need to ask Tanner about it in a few months.”
“A few months?”
“Sam, you have a lot of other things to work on first.” He picked my hand up and held it, “I know it’s selfish of me, but I’d rather you relearn how to trust me again first, before you worry about parents that are no longer around.”
“Who says I don’t trust you?”
He gave a small shake of his head, “You have no memory of me, of everything we built together. In your mind you’ve known me less than two weeks. You’re scared of what I do for a living, scared that it makes me a bad person.” He looked into my eyes, “I don’t want that. I want to work on building your trust for now.”
“You’re going to stop locking me in,” I raised a brow.
He barked out a laugh, “Hell no. I need you safe and this room is a panic room of its own. The windows and walls are bulletproof.” He turned and stroked my hair again, “I need to know you’re safe. Mitch didn’t try to attack me or Tanner, he was after you.”
“What I was thinking,” he continued, “is I’ll do most of my work in here with you.”
I thought about it and could only keep seeing the short clip that played on the computer. “I’ll do whatever you want,” I said listlessly. “You were right about the video, you’re probably right about this.”
“I hate seeing you with no spirit. It doesn’t mean we’ll never leave the room. For example, I need you to throw something on so we can go downstairs for a bit. However, I thought maybe we could eat in bed tonight and watch TV.” He sighed, “And when I’m not with you, I want you in here safe.”
I just nodded and thought about going to sleep. Then what he said caught up with me and I looked down. The sheet was still wrapped around me, but I didn’t have a stitch on. “Where’s my clothes?” I squeaked.
Ethan gave a small smile, “That’s what I mean,” he said sadly. “There was a time you were trying to implement Naked Tuesdays. You were literally trying to kick everyone out of the house on Tuesdays so you and I could just be naked. I liked that idea,” he smiled at the memory, “but logistically, we just couldn’t get it to work.”
He leaned over and kissed my check, “I’ll grab you something to wear. I think you have a sundress that you can slip on without too much work and just throw a cardigan over it.” He got up and walked into the closet. He came back with a grass green dress and taupe sweater. “Throw this on, I’ll grab a shirt and we’ll see what everyone’s doing downstairs.” He wandered into the bathroom as I quickly threw the garment over my head, realizing he never handed me any undergarments. I shrugged, it’s not like we were going to be down there long.
He walked out after adding a blue Henley to his jeans and grabbed my hand. “No shoes?” I asked.
He shrugged, “We’re in our home. Who cares?” He punched some numbers into a keypad that I had just noticed by the door and it opened. Then he pulled me through it.
We walked into the library, with everyone on the sofas watching a movie, that was displaying a savage scene. “You’ve been focused on Borne for a bit, Tanner,” Ethan commented as he opened the hidden door and walked over to his desk to grab some papers.
“Sam needs to watch it. She can copy the moves,” Tanner guzzled his beer.
“Are you done with everyone? Did you get everything you need?” I asked him as I stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.
“No, just taking a break,” Tanner stretched, glanced at me then turned back to the TV. “This is gonna take days.”
“Tanner, no talking about work with Sam. Sam, please don’t ask those questions,” Ethan was still looking through his files.
I gave a small nod and looked down. When I looked up, I noticed Xavier was watching me closely, “What?” I asked him.
“What happened to Samantha?” Xavier asked Tanner. “Her spirit’s gone.”
“I’m right here,” I muttered.
Tanner took a breath, “She saw the video.”
“The one with …” Xavier hedged.
“Yep,” Tanner stated, “It kind of broke her.”
“She’s not broken.” Ethan walked back in and put his arm around me as he shut the bookcase, “She’s in shock. In a day or two she’ll be asking questions all the time again.”
“At least it explains that fear of needles,” I rubbed the palm of my hand, realizing there was a red dot in the middle. How had I not noticed that before? My mind flashed to that scene and something clicked, and I turned to Ethan.
“The person who hurt me,” I licked my lips. “He had a distinctive ring on his pinky finger.”
Ethan kissed my temple, “We noticed it the first time we saw it. Berto’s trying to trace it, but it’s harder than it sounds.” I kept my eyes on the fight scene playing on the television. It ended and Ethan said, “Go sit down next to Tanner. I’ll grab us some dinner and we’ll head back upstairs.”
“Are you locking yourselves up?” Tanner yelled back to him, not taking his eyes off the screen.
“For a
little while. I’ll take over after Sam falls asleep and you do your bit. Then I want you outside the room while I finish it off. Hopefully, we’ll have the answers we need soon.” Ethan headed out the door and I sat next to Tanner on the couch and watched the movie. I took a breath and glanced at him, recognizing what I saw.
“You can do it, too,” I stated.
“It’s a family trait,” Tanner commented, still staring at the TV. “Rare, but we both have it.”
“What about Lyssa?” I asked, turning my eyes back to the screen.
“Her gift’s different,” Tanner said. “In a way it’s better than ours, in a way it’s not.”
“Why do you want me to watch this so badly,” I sat forward as another fight started up.
“Because he’s like you,” Tanner simply said. “No memory, yet able to kick ass.”
I licked my lips, “How long have Ethan and I been married?”
Tanner shook his head, “Don’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“Double check everything you were told. He told you, you told Steve. You never forget anything,” Tanner stated.
“Really?” I turned to stare at him, “I never forget?”
“Well, except the obvious,” he shrugged never taking his eyes from the television, “I understand you’re feeling exceptionally vulnerable right now. But if Ethan were lying, if he’s the one who hurt you, why wouldn’t he have killed you when he got you out of that car? Why would he have brought you back here and nurse you back to health? Why would he be scared shitless about your safety? I know you remember everything, but you also need to look at things logically.”
I sat back; my eyes focused on the scene in front of me and thought. “I recognize that ring,” I said quietly, “but I can’t place it?”
“That probably means you saw it before, but weren’t paying attention,” Xavier stated. We both looked at him, “The two of you get this look on your face whenever a fight scene comes up. Like you’re memorizing or absorbing it or something. It’s weird. But unless you’re doing it all the time, I’m betting things just hit your submerged mind. It makes it into the brain, but you’re not sure where you got it from.”