by Theresa Papa
“You’re right, Elizabeth!” He interrupts as his head plops forward into his hands.
I am surprised at this reaction and being caught off guard by it, I lower the gun to my side. He turns and grabs me into a sorrowful hug with tears streaming down his cheeks. My anger turns to anguish, and I cry with him. Till I realize I can’t remember when he’s ever hugged me before. After a while, I push out of his arms, back up a step, and set the gun now forgotten on top of his desk.
“Why, Daddy? Why would you ever do such a thing to me? Why have you never loved me?” I cry out to him, wanting him to look me in the eye when he answers while at the same time thinking I couldn’t stomach it.
His head is still down, and his voice is a whisper.
“You were right to come in here with a gun to make me pay for what I’ve done to you. I am sick, Elizabeth.”
Then his head rises, and he looks me straight in the eyes with sorrow and remorse in his expression. But the emotion I crave from my parents is always missing. There is no love; they are both completely devoid of love for me. What innocent child born into this world deserves to be given to people incapable of loving her?
My eyes focus again on him, and he has the gun in his hand. My whole body shakes uncontrollably. My heart beats so strongly I fear it will tear out of my chest.
“Your mother and I were never the parents you deserved,” he confesses. “I’m very sorry, Elizabeth.” Before I know what he intends to do, he quickly puts the gun to his head. I reach out and try to grab it away from him, but it’s as if I’m in a slow-motion film.
“No, don’t!”
The next several moments happen simultaneously. I lunge forward as the fingers of my left hand curl over his right hand. I feel his index finger squeeze the trigger. The gun fires and sends droplets of blood spatter through the air toward my face as I instinctively close my eyes.
The shot in my dream always startles me awake. As usual, sweat pours off my body, so I throw off the covers and sit up. With my fingers, I peel off the sweaty tank top I slept in. I remember that I’m on the yacht as soon as I look around the room and recognize the sway of the water. I decide to get up and make my plans for survival.
Carefully, I survey the dock area around the boat in the early morning light to make sure I’m still alone. Then I make myself comfortable on the deck and eat an apple left graciously behind by Nico and Samantha. The sun rises over the lake and brings colors of fire and warmth with it. All the yachts in their slips rhythmically pound out a beat as the small waves knock them against the docks. For just a few minutes, I lie back and let myself enjoy the sunrise and quiet of the morning.
One long, hot shower later, my emerald green gaze stares back at me in the mirror as I comb out my shoulder-length brown hair. My eyes travel down to my breasts. I put down the comb, let my hands slide over them, and cup their perfect weight and size. My mind wanders to Tony as he touched and kissed them in the pool house at Jaxson’s birthday celebration so many years ago. Regret takes hold at the thought of never actually making love with him. I let my fingers brush lightly over the small tattoo placed on my left breast near my heart and smile. I can’t believe he would risk his safety to rescue me from the club tonight. Some part of me wishes I could be there to see him again. I decide to contact him as soon as I can get to a computer to let him know I’m okay.
The chugging sound of a motor passes by the window. Since it’s the first sign of life I’ve encountered on the yacht, I check with my nose between the curtains. A rough-looking dude is standing on the bow surveying the marina. He’s shirtless, blatantly displaying a pistol stuck into the waistband of his jeans. Marcus did allude to the fact that he was not the only person looking to collect the money by kidnapping me. When I fish out Marcus’s phone and put in the passcode he repeatedly failed to hide, a shocking fact is revealed. There’s an app open on his phone that consists of a game that pays one million dollars to the player who kidnaps me and delivers me to the King. It has several current pictures and a physical description of me along with places I frequent. He mentioned this game has several different players. I just assumed a contract was out to kidnap me, but Richard Harrington is such a sick bastard, he actually came up with this app. The screen changes to a map with several multi-colored dots and a big red dot. I study the map with recognition of the lake on it, and the red dot next to it. There’s a blue dot moving slowly around the big red dot.
“Oh my God! He’s tracking me and the players!” I say out loud to no one.
All the other dots are thankfully far enough away for me to hurry and leave before I’m trapped here. I just have to time my escape when the dude on the boat is on the other side of the marina. Is Marcus’s phone the device being tracked? Should I destroy it, or would it be better for me to keep it to see where they all are? With no time to decide, I just turn it off, not knowing if that will sever the tracking connection.
I grab a bag and throw in some clothes and shoes from one of the closets. Nico must have made sure that his girlfriend had extra clothes on the boat. I select a cute, casual sundress with flat sandals to put on for today. She must be half a shoe size larger, but I can’t be choosy. Then I grab a couple more apples and other small food items along with a few bottles of water. I quickly lock up the boat and return the keys to the lockbox. Cautiously, I make my way from our family’s boat slip in dock B to the Lakefront Trail. I walk across East Solidarity Drive and around Shedd Aquarium to the front steps. The only plan I can think of is to keep moving, so I decide to go inside.
Once I’m in, I realize I don’t have my wallet or any money for a ticket. Spinning on my heel to leave, I bump into a six feet wall of flesh in line behind me. His fingers pulse with a strong grip on my upper arms to steady me. A handsome face smiles down at my bewildered one. I look up into enigmatic silver-gray eyes that seem to pierce right through me.
“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going,” I sputter.
“Why are you leaving? Forget your wallet at home?” he asks.
“Yeah, something like that,” I answer while I pull the strap to my bag back up on my shoulder and politely walk around him.
“Wait. How about I buy your ticket in exchange for you saving me?” he shouts.
I’m almost at the door when I decide to turn around out of curiosity. I take in all of him at once, and the whole picture is quite impressive. His body is more lean and lithe than my two cousins or Tony. He’s wearing snug-fitting jeans and a thin V-neck T-shirt showing off toned biceps and triceps. His dark hair is a little long and unruly, falling onto his forehead. His facial features are very angular with a straight nose and full, sexy lips. He takes a few steps toward me, and the smile reappears to reveal white, almost perfect teeth.
“What am I saving you from?” I ask with a smirk as I raise my chin to meet his gaze.
“Spending my day off alone without the company of the attractive woman I ran into at the entrance. You’ll save me from being unable to concentrate on the exhibits in the aquarium. All because my mind would be inundated with thoughts of the woman who I just let walk away, when I know deep down she is someone I want to get to know.” His eyes hold mine captive as they convey his sincerity. “Please allow me to pay for your ticket, and you only have to join me for half an hour. The rest of the day is yours alone should you wish it,” he pleads.
I can’t think of another place to go anyway without money or my wallet. We will be inside a public place, making it unlikely that he intends to kidnap me. The dots on the phone showed the player’s locations far away from here. This place has a lot of areas to ditch him if I need to, so I change my mind and decide to take him up on his offer. I smile politely and respond graciously.
“Maybe I would be bored seeing the exhibits solo. It would be fun to see them together. Also, not to have to go back and fetch my wallet would be much more convenient.” I hold out my hand to shake his. “I’m Lizzie.”
We both look
down at our hands as his long fingers engulf mine.
“I’m Jake. It’s nice to meet you, Lizzie,” he replies as his eyes meet mine again. Jake’s irises are gray, devoid of any real color. They remind me of a cloudy Chicago sky. The fact that they are so light makes it easy for me to see his attraction to me immediately by the way his pupils dilate the second we touch.
Jake and I proceed to enjoy many of the attractions at the Shedd Aquarium together. The Caribbean Reef, Amazon Rising, rivers, and lakes. Our conversation is mostly geared toward the aquatic life and politely formal. Jake sees a sign for the exhibit that allows patrons to touch the stingrays, and he morphs into a twelve-year-old boy with excitement.
“Look! There’s the stingray tank! Have you ever touched one?”
“No, and I don’t intend to do it now, thanks.”
“Oh, come on, you can’t be afraid. Are you?”
“Wasn’t kind, wonderful Steve Irwin killed by a stingray?” I scoff.
“Yes, but you won’t be swimming with them. Also, they have their barbs clipped. I assure you the aquarium wouldn’t have children touch them if it was dangerous,” he encourages.
“You’re probably right about that. But I’m really not in any hurry to touch a slimy stingray.”
“Come on, be daring and move out of your comfort zone. Look, here we are. You can see how many little kids are not afraid to go in and touch them.” He gestures toward the exhibit.
We are on the south terrace where a huge habitat filled with water sits beneath a tent. All the excited children are doing it, and none of them seem afraid at all. I guess I should try it for the experience.
“Okaaay,” I drag out the word. “I don’t want you to think I’m a wimp.” I smile, wink at Jake, and he grabs my hand happily to lead me to the entrance.
We are required to rinse our hands before we enter and are instructed to wash them on our departure. They coach us as to the proper etiquette for touching a stingray, which includes keeping our palms flat and horizontal to the water and never pulling on their tails.
“Come this way, Lizzie, it seems like a good spot over here.” Jake leads the way to a spot where they put chum in the water to attract the rays. It looks like the fish heads and squid tentacles certainly did the trick because the rays become quite agitated flapping their fins as they splash us. I instinctively turn and take a few steps away from the onslaught of saltwater. Catching me by surprise, Jake looks down at me laughing while using his fingertips to wipe the drips from my face. His expression softens as he glides the back of his fingers downward from my temple to my chin.
“You’re very beautiful.”
“Thank you.” I avert my eyes and feel my face flush.
Jake grabs my hand, and we go back to the edge of the tank. I hesitantly dip my palm, keeping it as flat as I can. He has a longer arm and reaches farther to snag a stroke of one of the sea urchins swimming by us. Then he turns to check on me and smiles as he comes over to help.
“Let me help you reach farther. I’ll hold on to you.” Jake positions me to give me the longest reach while he holds my waist, so I have more balance to lean in.
“Okay, get ready here they come,” he warns.
My palm skims over the ray’s back as it slithers away.
“Eww! It is slimy but gravelly, too!” I look up at Jake; his arms are still around me. He has that look in his eyes again; pupils dilated as they cover those gray irises like an eclipse of the moon.
He moves in to place a soft chaste kiss on my lips, then he whispers against them, “You’re so sweet. I seem to have lost my restraint around you.”
I smile but refrain from moving away, which he takes as a sign to kiss me again. Jake has lips that could prove to be very dangerous. The city should have to give out permits to use those things. Whew!
My knees are weak when he finally puts a few inches of space between us and speaks. “Let’s have some lunch, I’m starved.”
Chapter 7
Liz Pope
On the way to lunch, I convince Jake to check out the sea otters first. They are so adorable I can’t wait.
“Sea otters have the thickest fur in the animal kingdom. And look, Kiana sleeps with her tail in her mouth … awww.”
“How about getting some food in this animal’s mouth?” Jake crows as he points to his mouth.
“All right, let’s go eat.”
Jake treats me to lunch at the Soundings Café near the sea otter habitat. While I dig into my salad and he enjoys a sandwich, we get to know each other better.
“How is it that I feel I’ve known you my whole life?” he asks.
I shrug my shoulders since I’m still chewing my last bite of salad. Jake is a fast eater and consumes his lunch in no time flat. I really don’t have an answer to his question anyway. I am comfortable around him, I guess. He’s a very handsome man; a normal woman would be lucky to have a relationship with him. But not me. Once my past is revealed, he’ll either run in the opposite direction, or he’ll be all noble and think he can fix me. It’s funny how men try to approach the situation as if it’s a strategic play in a football game. If they can just get the quarterback in the right position and line everything up perfectly, then it’s a victory. Sadly, the decent men have made me feel too guilty for my inability to deliver the impossible. I have so many other reasons to think badly about myself that I’ve learned to keep people away altogether for my own mental health. Consequently, I am able to keep the fractures and weaknesses inside me, to myself, permanently buried in the desolation within.
Jake is still talking when I come out of my reverie as if I have listened the whole time. “I can do all the talking while you’re still eating. But when you’re finished, I have some questions. Just nod for yes.”
I smile and nod. Then I listen intently as he goes on.
“A couple of years ago, I went to Grand Cayman with a few of my friends. There’s a sandbar in the ocean there called Stingray City where you can swim with the stingrays. They swam around my legs, I touched the smooth white underbelly of one, and I even fed them out of my hand.”
My salad is gone, and I wrap up the remnants of my lunch as I shudder from his description. “Gross, what was that like? I can’t imagine letting them eat from my hand.”
Jake leans back in his chair, looking sexy as hell with a smile on his face.
“You are so cute when you do that …”
“Do what? Get grossed out?”
“Yeah, your nose scrunches up really cute, and you shake your shoulders.”
I give him an eye roll before I repeat the question, “So what was it like to feed them? Do they have teeth? Did it hurt?”
“It felt like suction, little vacuum sucking openings.”
He sits up again and leans his elbows on the table. “So here’s my first question. Do you live here in Chicago, or are you here for just a visit?”
I sit up, mirroring his posture. “If you get to ask questions, then so do I. It’s only fair, one for one. And yes, I’m from Winnetka. Now it’s my turn. Same question to you.”
“No, I’m from Wisconsin, staying in Chicago on business indefinitely. Question number two, do you have a steady boyfriend?” He smirks, then adds, “I don’t waste any time. Life is short.”
I smile at his directness and answer honestly. “I do not have a steady boyfriend.”
Jake’s eyes light up, and he nods like he’s affirmed some kind of sure thing. This makes me a little uncomfortable, so I follow my statement with another one. It’s one of the usual ways that I create my interception to his pass. Therefore, I keep him from getting his hopes up of this going beyond our little tour of the aquarium. Besides, I’m still not sure I trust him. The only evidence I have that points to his honesty is that there was no indication of a player in the immediate vicinity.
“But I recently left a serious relationship, and I’m not looking for another one right now. Just so we’re clear.” I care
fully assess his reaction to that revelation. He sits back once again and looks around the restaurant. Then he zeros in on me again and grins.
“Would you consider just to keep an open mind and take it moment by moment?” My eyebrows knit together in confusion as to what he’s getting at when he clarifies.
“Look Lizzie, when we met this morning, you walked away from me. Then in the next moment, you turned and talked to me. Then the next, you agreed to half an hour with me.” He leans in again, inches from my face grinning. “The next, you were in the stingray exhibit, and we kissed. Now we just had lunch and are about to see the beluga whales together. Try not to think beyond the next few minutes. Just live in the moment and have fun with me.”
His expression is so earnest I can only nod and agree to do what he asks, knowing in the back of my mind I’ll have to say goodbye and disappoint him. Especially now with Richard Harrington’s game forcing me to stay on the run. I can’t believe this is the first time it’s crossed my mind since we’ve been together. My head spins around to see if anyone is paying specific attention to us. Everyone seems to be enjoying the exhibits, ignorant of our existence. The presence of the public provides me with a small sense of security. In the back of my mind, I secretly hope it’s not a false one.
The rest of the day at the aquarium with Jake is so much fun. He’s a gentleman, quite witty, and along with his good looks, he’s almost too good to be true. We exit at six o’clock with the rest of the patrons. Jake quietly walks next to me. I can tell his mind searches for a way to prolong our time together. He managed pretty well inside when he purchased additional tickets to the aquatic show and other special exhibits to use up all the time until closing. He really has been nice by treating me to everything all day. I’ve had so much fun with him, and I guess I really don’t want it to end either, but it’s better if I keep moving. If he asks me to dinner, I’ll say yes. Then afterward, I have to nail down a safe place for the night.
