This Is Where I Sleep

by Tiffany Patterson

  Without any words, she scurried out of office, shamefaced.

  “Bert, what are you doing here?!” My father looked over my shoulder and saw the field director standing there. As governor, my father had met all the field directors in the state on numerous occasions.

  “How could you, Richard?” Disappointment was evident in his voice.

  “Look, you know how these young girls are. They come to work in these tight skirts-”

  “Shut up!” I yelled. I was sick of hearing his shit. “No one gives a fuck who you fuck, least of all me. Hell, your wife doesn’t even care as long as it’s not her. But betraying your state, your country while shaking hands with your constituents and holding babies for the cameras? All this time you were funneling poison to the most vulnerable. The ones you were supposed to protect.” I took a menacing step closer. My fingers twitched with anticipation as my father puffed up his chest trying to intimidate me the way he did when I was a child.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  He was lying. I could see it clear as day in those green eyes so much like mine. “This,” I snatched the file out of the director’s hands and tossed it at him. Papers fly everywhere. “Take a fucking look.” I pointed at the papers scattered on the hardwood floor.

  Ever prideful, he refused to bend down to pick the papers up. Instead, he looked down at them trying to read them. When he reached the first picture of him with a well-known drug runner out of South America, his facade slipped a little. His eyes moved to the next picture of a brothel just outside of Texas, on the Mexican side of the border where he kept many of the girls that were trafficked, and his face whitened. As the cold, hard reality that his time had finally come, he visibly deflated. For some reason, that pissed me off even more.

  “You know you caused your own demise,” I said, menacingly, taking another step closer, right on the very papers he was looking at. I got directly in his face. “The moment you threatened my woman’s life you started the countdown to this moment.”

  “I was doing you a favor!” he shouted. “That girl is not right for you. I groomed you to lead Bennett Industries. To do what needs to be done when times get tough. I taught you to make the hard decisions to get ahead. So what I had to get my hands dirty to get where I am. So what! You meet some girl in college and all of a sudden you care about the little man and being a fucking do-gooder. On top of that, you hire that bastard nephew of mine! That gets you nothing in this world. Fuck that little bitch. I should have killed her in Colombia when I-“His diatribe was cut off when my hand began s crushing his windpipe. “L-Li-,” he struggled trying to remove my lethal grip from his throat.

  “Liam!” I heard and felt the director yelling and pulling me to release my father, but all I kept hearing are his threats on her life.

  Suddenly an image of Coral and Laura giggling together the night before as they made cookies penetrated my mind. I pulled myself back from the edge. “I could kill you right now,” I threatened. “But death would be too easy for you. You deserve to live and watch your entire life crumble before you. Then you deserve to spend your last breaths locked in a six by eight-foot cell.” I pushed him away, nearly causing him to fall to the floor, but his fall was stopped by the FBI agents on either side of him.

  I heard him coughing and wheezing as I made my exit. I had no need to lay eyes on him any longer. I didn’t even look back to see if Brian or any of my security team was following me. I took my first deep breath and began to let myself feel free for the first time in five years. The only thing I wanted to do is get back to my ladies. Before I could get too excited, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I heard the almost maniacal laughter of my father behind me. He was being lead escorted by FBI agents on either side of him as his hands are cuffed behind his back, and yet he is laughing. The pit in my stomach grew.

  He was looking directly at me. “You think this is over?” he gloated.

  I narrowed my eyes but didn’t say anything.

  “I never fully trusted you either. You’re not the only one who had spies.” His eyes darted around looking at everyone that’s come with me. “I see you didn’t bring that little bitch with you. You should have.”

  I took long strides towards him and gripped him by the front of his shirt. “What the fuck are you talking about?!” I snarled.

  “How did you think I knew about you and her? How you planned to propose? You would never have told me that. How did you think I knew about what hotel room to send my men to?”

  I paused for a heartbeat. I stared into his eyes, and the answer became apparent. “Shit!” I turned and began running towards the door. “We need to get to Coral and Laura now!” I yelled to the men with me.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Coral

  “Hey, stranger. I guess I was right.” Nate’s tone was light, but I could hear a bit of melancholy in it.

  “Right about what?”

  “That you lied when you said you weren’t the marrying kind.”

  “I didn’t lie,” I defended myself.

  “Not to me. You were lying to yourself. You weren’t the marrying kind for me, but for him.”

  I ran my hand through my short curls. This was not why I called Nate. I peeked over at the opened bedroom door and noticed Laura stirring awake from her nap. “I’m not married,” I told Nate.

  “Not yet, but if the way your man showed up to my office a few weeks ago is any indication he’s definitely told you, you're getting married. And you either said yes or didn’t outright refuse, which is just as good as a yes. You had no problem telling me you didn’t even want a real relationship.”

  I really hated when people could read me so easily. I didn’t say anything because there was nothing to be said.

  “It’s all good. You never lied or lead me on. You told me your stance; I just wished it could be different. I had a thing for you ever since the first time I laid eyes on you. But the truth is, everyone knew it was you and Liam from the get go. Some of the guys even had bets to see how long it would take you both to make it official. I never participated ‘cause they’d secretly pissed me off, though I wouldn’t show it,” He chuckled.

  “Oh yeah,” I asked, absentmindedly, staring across the room at Laura and Ron.

  “But you know who would get really pissed about those bets?”

  “Who?”

  “Ron. I remember he’d damn near blown a gasket if anyone around mentioned you and Liam. I see he’s part of Liam’s security team now.”

  For some reason, Nate’s words send a prickly feeling down my spine. The same feeling I’d gotten earlier as I spotted Ron eyeing Laura and Liam. Never one to ignore my gut instincts I stored that information for later use.

  “So, you obviously didn’t call to tell me you were ready to give us a shot, so what’s up?”

  Blinking a few times to remember the initial purpose of my call, I began, “Listen, some shit is about to go down. And as a Senator on the Committee on Homeland Security, it’s gonna land right in your lap. I just wanted to give you a heads up.”

  “Does this have to do with Liam’s father?”

  “What about Li’s father? You know something?” I asked trying not to give away any details, but wanting to find out what Nate knew.

  “I don’t have anything concrete, but there have been low whispers about him for a while now. I really hope your boy is clean.”

  “My boy is fine,” I iterated, defensively, knowing he was referring to Liam. I knew my man had nothing to do with the illegal dealings his father participated in.

  “He better be. I refuse to lose to an international terrorist.”

  “You didn’t lose, Nate. You and I just…”

  “We weren’t meant to be. I can take a hint, finally. Listen, thanks for the heads up. I have to go.”

  “Bye.” I hung up quickly not wanting to prolong that awkward conversation any more than he did. I looked back over at Laura and Ron, and that same prickly feeling r
eturned. Laura was sitting on the floor coloring and singing to herself. It was adorable, but for most of the morning, I’d noticed anytime Ron tried to interact with her, she’d shy away from him. This wouldn’t catch my attention too much any other time, but Laura wasn’t really the shy type, and Ron had worked with Li for years. She should be used to his presence by now. My gut was telling me something was off, and I was pretty sure young Laura’s natural instinct had picked up on it as well. Kids were often better than most adults at reading people. When they were this young, they hadn’t become weighed down by societal expectations or pressures to be nice or polite, especially young girls. If they didn’t like someone, it was apparent. What my eyes were seeing was that Laura, for whatever reason, was no fan of Ron’s.

  “Hey Laura, do you have to go potty?” I questioned jovially making my way over to her.

  She gave me a contemplative look and shook her head. “No.”

  “How about you try anyway? Then you can finish coloring in the bedroom.” I began picking up her crayons and coloring books and took her hand to lead her into the bedroom towards the bathroom. “We may be in here a little while,” I tossed over my shoulder to Ron, who was now giving me a curious look. I didn’t waste time trying to figure him out. As casual looking as possible, I led Laura into the bedroom, shutting the door behind us. Unfortunately, there was no lock.

  “Sweetie, just see if you need to use the bathroom, okay?” I pleasantly smiled down at Laura, so she didn’t pick up on anything. I sighed in relief a little when she headed towards the bathroom with no more questioning. I sent a text to Jeremy, praying he gets back quickly.

  Hey, who knew what room I was in, in the hotel?

  Only me, Liam, his top security. That’s it.

  Ron? I responded immediately.

  Yeah. Him

  The message was short, as if he is having a realization as his fingers were typing.

  You don’t think…

  I do. I responded.

  Where are you?

  In the damn hotel room with him and Laura. I’ll handle it. I finished before stuffing the phone back in my pocket. I already know Jeremy was on the phone dialing Li’s number.

  “I finished. I did a little tinkle,” Laura emerged from the bathroom giggling.

  “Did you wash your hands? Go back and wash them,” I pointed to the bathroom, trying to buy a little more time. When she turned back, I went straight to my overnight bag and pulled out my glock and made sure it was loaded. I barely slipped the gun behind my back and into the waistband of my jeans before Laura was back. “Hey you, how about we go out and get you, me, and daddy some ice cream?”

  Laura’s eyes instantaneously lit up at the mention of a beloved treat. “With sprinkles?”

  “Sure thing.” I grabbed her hand and headed towards the bedroom door. As soon as I opened the door, Ron was standing right there. I stared into his brown eyes and saw it: the cold, the hatred.

  “Going somewhere?” On the surface, his voice was harmless enough, but I detected even the most minute intonations and inflections. His were telling me something a lot more sinister.

  “We’re going to get ice cream,” I said taking a step to move past him, shielding Laura with my body, but he moved with me.

  “I doubt that’s going to happen,” he gritted out.

  I felt something hard pressing into my lower abdomen, and I didn’t have to look down to know it was the business end of a gun. I gripped Laura’s hand tighter and pushed her body even further behind me. I stared Ron dead in his eyes and smiled. “You’ve been waiting for a while to do this, haven’t you?”

  “Yup.”

  “How’s it feel?” My own voice had taken on a lethal tone. He was too stupid and emotional to realize it, but he was no longer looking at Coral. The Scorpion had just made its appearance.

  He actually had the audacity to smile. “Feels pretty good.”

  Stupid. “Not that. I mean, how’s it feel to know you’re about to take your last breath?” I asked, pressing myself even closer into him.

  For less than a tenth of a second his face was a mask of perplexity, but before he could even comprehend my last statement, I’d gripped his wrist, pushing his hand up towards the ceiling, and elbowing him in the ribs.

  Boom.

  The gun went off, one nine millimeter bullet crashing into the ceiling and sending bits of dust from the plaster falling around us. My elbow caused Ron’s grip to loosen on the gun resulting in him dropping it. I turned slightly to see where Laura was, and she remained standing behind me confused and shocked.

  “Uhh,” I let out as one of Ron’s fists connected with my ribs, causing me to double over and my own gun spilled out of my waistband. “Laura, run! To the door!” I yelled as I turned my full attention back to Ron. I blocked another incoming fist, this time towards my face. I saw Laura run past us out of the corner of my eye, but my full attention was on Ron. I was on the defensive as he attempted to inflict rain blow after blow on me. I deflected them well enough as I was lighter on my feet than he was, but I knew I needed to apply a little damage of my own to slow him down. On his next swing, I ducked low and moved into his side fast, sending a left hook to his spleen. He howled and doubled over. I was about to send a kick to his groin when I hear…

  “Daddy!”

  The stampede of Li and the rest of the men with him caught my attention and in those few moments, Ron recovered. Liam’s big body entered my line of sight just as Ron grabbed me from behind and tightened his grip around my throat, pressing something hard and sharp to it. I couldn’t see it, but I knew it was an Army knife.

  “Ron what the fuck are you doing?!” Li’s voice bellowed around the room.

  I watched the different emotions shine in Liam’s eyes. First, it was shock, then pure, unfiltered fury when he looked at Ron, and a hint of fear and helplessness when his eyes landed on my neck.

  “Yeah, Ron why don’t you tell him what you’re doing?” I goaded.

  “Shut up!” Ron yelled in my ear.

  “You’ve been working with my father this whole time?”

  “Look, I was, b-but it wasn’t like that. I wasn’t involved in drugs, guns or women. I didn’t know anything about that.”

  I felt Ron’s spittle hit the side of my face as he tried to defend his actions. His grip on reality was quickly fading.

  “You told my father. You were the only person I told that I was going to propose. That’s how he found and why he threatened Coral and her family.” Liam was saying out loud what I too, had realized not that long ago.

  “SHE’S NOT RIGHT FOR YOU!” Ron yelled, tightening his grip on my throat.

  I felt my airway closing in and knew I need to make my move.

  “Daddy what is he doing?!?” A terrified Laura shrilled.

  I looked down to see that Laura had somehow moved to the front of Liam, clinging to Liam’s leg as she screamed and watched the scene in front of her unfold. The terror in her eyes broke my heart. I wanted to make it better for her. I glanced up to stare at Liam and try to gain his attention, but his gaze was caught between a crying Laura and where Ron held the knife to my throat.

  Brian’s attempts to grab Laura to get her out of the room led to even louder cries and fighting as Laura grasped tighter onto Liam’s leg.

  “Why don’t you tell him, Ron?” I taunted. “Tell him why you followed him around all these years.”

  “Shut up!” Ron’s voice was hoarse, knowing his secret is going to be exposed soon.

  “Why? If I’m not right for him, tell him who is,” I goaded.

  Finally, Liam looked me in the eye; his eyes filled with questions. I shifted my eyes down to a still hysterical Laura and back up to him and then again before raising my eyebrows.

  Realization took hold of Liam and without moving the rest of his body, his hand reached down and covered Laura’s eyes, shielding her from what was about to happen. With that done, I knew it was time to wrap this shit up.

  Liam
’s voice was low, deadly, yet filled with an underlying panic as he advised, “You have one more chance to put the fucking knife down if you want to make it out of here alive.”

  “You would kill me for this b-” he began, and for a second he let his hold on my neck go, pointing the knife wildly in the air.

  I didn’t give Ron a chance to finish when I sent an elbow to his ribs, gripped the wrist holding the knife, and twisted as hard as I could. Not letting the wrist go, I took a step and pivoted until I was now behind Ron, throwing my free arm around his neck. With his own hand I drove the knife into the center of his back, so deeply I knew I’d punctured his heart. I felt him struggle as the life left his body, but I didn’t let go until I heard the ceasing of his gurgling breaths and his heart had stopped beating. When it did, I released him and stepped back let his body fall to the floor. I took a deep breath and looked up to see Liam remove his hand from Laura’s eyes to pick her up.

  Within two strides Liam was pulling me into him with his free arm and I instantly sunk into him. I didn’t even care that his grip was so tight that I felt like I was being crushed. I welcomed this sense of security I’d only felt in his arms. I felt little arms inch their way around my neck and pulled back to see Laura was clinging to me almost as tightly as Liam. I was sure her mind didn’t understand what just happened, but she clearly understood I was in danger.

  “My family” were the only two words that kept going through my mind. Liam finally let me go, and I took Laura into my arms holding her against me, so she didn’t see Ron’s prone body on the floor as we exited the suite.

  ****

  Liam

  “I don’t understand why he did all this.” I shook my head, still in a fury as we rode from the FBI field office in San Antonio to the airport. I reached over and grazed my finger over the bandage on Coral’s neck. I knew my father had always been a power hungry SOB, so it was not hard to see how he ended up the way he did. But Ron? He was supposed to be my friend.