Knight Shift

by Paulette Miller

  He couldn’t help noticing how soft and warm her lips were. He gave her a smile and said, “Just try to resist dance contests in the future—both in public and in private.”

  Penny’s face turned from green to white as she asked, “What dance contests?”

  At first he thought she was joking but, when he looked into her eyes and saw no lies, he knew that she had no memory of what she had done the night before, including the fact that she stripped for him. He stood up straight and scanned her body, giving her a leering smile and walked away without giving her any details.

  She demanded, “Tell me what I did!” When he remained silent, she threw a pillow at him. Without looking behind him, he caught the projectile before it ever touched him. He tossed it to the side and remained silent while he headed out the door with their bags.

  Chapter 24 - Final Leg

  While they traveled another leg of their trip, the mood between the travelers was much more relaxed. Jax even tried to make small talk. Although his attempts came across forced and rigid, Penny appreciated the attempt. When it was time for lunch, Jax suggested that they stop at a local park and have a picnic. He thought the fresh air would do her some good and would help her hangover.

  While they ate, Penny kept staring down at her ring. She said, “This ring is amazing. Where did you get it?”

  “In a vintage jewelry store that was next to the pizza shop.”

  Seeing the light reflecting off the facets as she turned her hand, she said, “I swear this ring could blind someone from across a room.”

  Jax smirked, knowing that was one of his selection criteria.

  While continuing to admire its design, she finally asked, “Is it real?”

  Jax replied without emotion, “It’s old.”

  She gave him a look and said, “That wasn’t an answer.” Gazing down at all of the gems, she said, “It must be fake or it would have cost a fortune. Fake stones for a fake marriage proposal…seems appropriate. Regardless, I’ll wear it with pride, my husband to be.” She glanced over at him after she added the last part so that she could see his reaction.

  He grunted in response.

  The real test of the power of the ring came when they stopped for dinner. After being seated at their normal bar and restaurant combination, Jax excused himself to go make his daily call to Sam. While Penny sat alone at the table, Jax watched from across the room as a man started to approach her. But when the light flickered off her ring finger, the man took a quick detour and headed in another direction. Jax returned to the table with an expression of pride that his ploy had worked so well.

  After their meal, they got back on the road. Knowing that it would be their last night before reaching their destination and sensing Penny’s nervousness, Jax decided to call it a day. After finding no rooms available in the first few places they stopped, they were informed that there was a convention in town and most of the rooms were booked. The only room they could find had one bed. Before Jax could respond to the man behind the desk, Penny said, “We’ll take it.” Jax agreed.

  After they got settled in, Penny expected Jax to go out that night as he had every night but, instead, he stayed in and dressed for bed. She followed his lead. The bathroom routine was much easier now that they were adjusting to being roommates. Although Penny kept her items neat and tidy, she left them out. She even smiled when she placed her toothbrush in the same glass as Jax’s.

  After he handed her his extra pillows and flipped on the news, Penny crawled in next to him. She was so exhausted, she fell instantly asleep with his pillow tucked tightly in her arms.

  During the night, Penny was restless and knocked her pillows to the floor. With nothing to hold on to, she rolled against Jax’s back and snuggled in. Jax’s eyes shot open when he felt Penny pressed against him. Unsure how best to handle the situation, he crawled out of bed. After retrieving her pillows for her, he crawled in on the opposite side from where she was now sleeping.

  In no time, Penny abandoned her pillows again and was pressed against Jax’s back. Once again he got out and moved to the other side of the bed. After they repeated the same routine for the third time, Jax gave up and let his bedmate snuggle into him. Since he was now lying on his back, she laid her cheek on his chest and draped her arm and leg over him, squeezing him tight. To his shock and delight, he had become her body pillow.

  When he shifted his position so that he could wrap his arm around her, she instantly tightened her grip, fearing he was trying to get away. Even in her sleep, she wasn’t about to give up her newest pillow. He sighed and held her, quickly falling into a contented sleep.

  In the morning, they both woke to a stream of sunlight coming into the room between a gap in the curtains. Penny was momentarily disoriented and unsure where she was. When she realized who she was clinging onto so tightly, she scooted away and said, “I’m so sorry.”

  While stretching out the stiffness in her body, her embarrassment over the sleeping arrangements turned to wonder when she looked at the clock and saw that it was ten o’clock. She said in disbelief, “It can’t be. I actually slept through the night without waking.”

  Jax added, “And some of the morning. You’ve been asleep for over twelve hours.”

  Pushing aside the fact that it was a rare occurrence for her, she replied, “You should have woken me and kicked me to my side of the bed.”

  He didn’t have the heart to tell her that he initially tried many times. It was the best night sleep he had ever had and, seeing her sleeping so contentedly against him, there was no way he would have woken her even if she had slept non-stop for days. Instead of telling her what he was thinking, he replied, “You’ve hardly gotten any real rest since we left home and were exhausted. You needed to catch up on your sleep.”

  “I guess so.”

  To avoid having to discuss how much the night meant to each of them, they both crawled out of bed and began to get ready for the day.

  After they were packed and were in the car, Penny asked, “How far is it from here?”

  “We should arrive this afternoon. I called them a few minutes ago and made arrangements. Your appointment is at four o’clock.”

  Penny’s stomach clenched into a knot, knowing what was soon to come. After over forty-five hours of driving, she was about to reach their destination where the bodies of her family were waiting.

  Chapter 25 - Identification

  When the travelers turned onto the road not far from the Richmond Airport that led to a special hangar erected specifically for dealing with the crash. Penny had to glance at the clock. It seemed like minutes ago they were leaving the hotel and now it was almost time for her appointment.

  Although she was now in an area of the country that she knew fairly well, everything looked surreal. As thoughts of the events to come filled her mind, her chest tightened and she found it difficult to breathe. With the target hangar a hundred feet away, she grabbed onto his hand. As she squeezed, she looked over at him with frightened eyes. “I’m not sure that I can do this.”

  “You aren’t doing this alone. I’ll be at your side through every step.” His unwavering determination gave her strength and, while intertwining her fingers with his, she nodded her head.

  After they parked Jax tried to release Penny’s hand, but she refused to let go. He said sweetly, “You’ll need to let me go for just a minute until we’re out of the car.” As she stared down at their intertwined fingers, she couldn’t force her fingers to release their hold. Jax lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it before helping her unlock her grip.

  As soon as she let go, the panic slammed into her chest like a battering ram. In a flash, Jax appeared at her door and, as soon as the door was opened, he took her hand back in his and the pain began to subside again.

  Jax guided Penny toward the building and found volunteers waiting outside the door. Although they were startled by Jax’s appearance, a woman finally gathered enough courage to ask their names. Jax introduced them, s
aying “This is Penny Blanchard. She has a four o’clock appointment.”

  When the woman looked at Penny, her expression softened instantly and she replied, “We were expecting you.” After jotting down something on the clipboard she looked up at Jax and asked, hesitantly, “And you are?”

  Although Penny had her eyes pinned on the door that she would soon be walking through, she heard the tone in the woman’s voice and snapped out of her daze. Before Jax could answer, Penny lifted his hand and pressed it against her chest, inadvertently causing beams of light to flash off her ring into the woman’s eyes. As the woman squinted, Penny announced proudly, “This wonderful man is Jax, my fiancé.” Seeing the judgmental expression on the woman’s face, Penny tightened per grip and stepped forward, so that she was standing slightly in front of Jax and added protectively, “Where I go, my fiancé goes.”

  Seeing that arguing with Penny would be futile, the woman smiled and said, “Of course. Follow me.”

  As they were led into the building, Jax couldn’t stop a smile from appearing on his face. Penny was like a lioness protecting her cub. Although this was a new sensation for him, he found that he liked it.

  When they passed through a hall into a room with several groups of people sitting around, several of them crying, their guide said sweetly, “Please have a seat and I’ll tell them that you’ve arrived. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  After the woman disappeared behind a door, Penny scanned those around her. When several looked over at them and she could see fear and disapproval in their eyes, Penny released Jax’s hand and wrapped her arms around his chest, informing all that Jax was with her. She hated the way people responded to someone that she cared so much about.

  Once their eyes returned to their own groups, Jax led Penny toward a chair. As they passed a group with a small girl who was crying, Penny stopped. After digging through her purse, she pulled out an unopened roll of Life Savers candies. She had bought several rolls at the last gas stop. After showing the item to the mother, the mother glanced over at Jax and hesitated. But when she looked back into Penny’s kind eyes, she nodded, giving Penny permission to continue.

  Penny then knelt next to the girl and offered the gift, saying “This is what my mother used to give me whenever I was sad.”

  Between sniffles, the little girl hesitantly took the candy and tried to offer a small smile.

  “Thank you,” the mother said. Afraid of the answer, she asked Penny, “Are you here to…”

  Penny nodded so that the woman didn’t need to finish her thought.

  While holding her daughter tightly, the woman admitted, “I lost Maggie’s father.”

  Penny took in a deep breath and replied, “I lost my parents and twin brothers.”

  The woman gasped and her hand instantly reached out for Penny’s arm and she said, “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  Looking down at the girl, Penny replied, “And for yours.”

  The woman motioned for Penny to sit in the seat next to her. Penny accepted and, after introducing her fiancé, she sat down with Jax next to her with her hand clutching tightly onto his.

  Jax watched as Penny and the woman comforted each other. He knew how much she hurt inside, but yet she was taking time out to offer support to strangers in pain. He couldn’t hide the pride he had for her projected strength.

  True to her word, their guide returned minutes later and called Penny’s name. The woman sitting beside Penny, squeezed her arm and said, “It’ll be okay. Lean on Jax for support, and we’ll be thinking about you.”

  Penny thanked her and Jax helped her stand.

  Although Penny knew that they were still within the bounds of the hanger, as she passed through the next door, the perception of the world around her changed instantly. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought that she had walked into a home’s small living room. The room was decorated in calming earth tones with an oversized couch and several chairs. Hung strategically on the walls throughout the room were paintings of beautiful, calming nature scenes.

  Although it was obvious that they had tried to make the room inviting, the disinfectant scent in the air informed her mind that this was all an illusion and something evil was nearby, waiting for her. She guessed it was right behind the brown door that her eyes couldn’t seem to look away from.

  Penny and Jax were directed to sit on a couch and, after only a few minutes, a pleasant woman in a pale blue suit entered the room from a side door. After placing four envelopes and several folders on the table, she sat in the chair opposite from Penny. Given the expression on the woman’s face, it was obvious that she had been warned about Jax’s appearance and was trying hard not to react.

  The woman said, “First I want to thank you for driving across country to get here. I know how difficult this must be for you. Although we’ve identified the bodies of your family, you were brought back to Virginia to validate our findings. Once in the room, all I need you to do is identify some trait or feature that will confirm each family member’s identification.” Pointing to the envelopes on the table, she explained, “In these packages, I have the personal items that each of them had on them when we found them. When we’re done today, you can take these items with you.” Knowing many need time to say good-bye and have closure, she added, “We won’t stay in the room any longer than necessary, but don’t rush yourself either. You and your fiancé are welcome to take as much time as you need.”

  While she continued to explain what was going to happen, Penny’s mind wandered. She looked around the room and wondered how many had already sat in the very spot she was now in and how many more would come after she left.

  Feeling Penny’s body tense and pulse rise, Jax squeezed her hand to remind her that he was right beside her. His touch brought her back to the moment. Although she offered him a smile, he could see the terror building behind her eyes. He wanted so badly to carry her away from this place and protect her from what she was about to face.

  When the woman asked if Penny understood everything and was ready to proceed, Penny nodded numbly completely clueless to anything that she had been told. She was going to have to rely on Jax completely to guide her through what was coming next.

  The woman picked up the envelopes, stood, and motioned Penny to follow. Jax helped Penny to her feet. Penny’s chest tightened as the woman opened the brown door. The slight breeze informed her that the room they were about to enter was the source of the sterile smell in the air.

  Jax guided Penny forward, who followed his lead without hesitation. When they entered the room, Penny shivered at the cold, lifeless air and squinted at the reflective silver metal and sterile white materials that covered everything in the room. Once her eyes and body adjusted to the new environment, she stared at her distorted reflection on the surface in front of her. Mesmerized momentarily by the image, she was brought back when she felt Jax guide her body to turn to the right. She did as requested and froze as she stared at four identical gurneys that she knew were holding the remains of her family. Several men in lab coats and gloves were waiting next to each of the bodies, which were each covered in a white sheet.

  Penny’s body began to shake and her grip on Jax’s hand increased to the point that her knuckles turned white. She watched as the first gurney was brought forward.

  Once in position, the blue suit asked, “Are you ready, Miss Blanchard?”

  Penny nodded on reflex. In reality, how would anyone be ready for this?.

  Based on the size and shape, she knew who it was before the man in the lab coat gently pulled back the sheet. Penny’s knees went weak as she stared at the pale white face of her father.

  As she stared at the man that raised her, she asked barely above a whisper, “Can you uncover his feet?” After they did as asked, Penny announced to the room, “This is my father, Henry. We used to tease him endlessly about his long toes looking like fingers. He had a hard time finding shoes that fit him.”

  The blue suit opene
d the first envelope and handed Penny a small plastic bag. Penny examined the items and announced, “This is his wedding ring and watch. My brothers’ and I gave him the watch for his fiftieth birthday.”

  The woman nodded to the technician, who once again shrouded the body of Henry. Penny wasn’t ready to say good bye and wanted to protest but, before she could make a request, her mind shifted focus to the second, much smaller body presented to her from a second technician.

  As the sheet was pulled back, Penny swayed as she stared down at the burnt face of her mother. Jax grabbed her around the waist to steady her. Seeing her mother’s blonde waves, Penny had a strange urge to ask for a brush to fix a few strands that moved out of place when the sheet was moved. Although the room was spinning, Penny held in her emotions and with her voice breaking, she announced, “This was my mother, Rose. If you check, you’ll find that she has a fake right knee. She hurt it when we were on our first family hiking trip where they didn’t need to carry me everywhere. She loved hiking and told me that she and my father were going to retire somewhere with a mountain for their backyard.”

  Once again the blue suit handed Penny contents of a second envelope. Penny said, “This is her summer wedding ring—no stones or fancy engravings. She told me she asked for one when we were still very little. She hated to take her wedding ring off, but said diamonds just caught dirt when she dug in her garden.”

  As they re-covered Rose, Jax leaned down and whispered, “Do you need to take a break before going on?” When she shook her head adamantly, he couldn’t help marveling at the mental strength she was showing.

  When the third body was brought forward, Penny surprised everyone by asking, “May I see my brothers together?”

  The blue suit looked to Jax for guidance and, when he nodded, she told the other technician to bring the second body forward. As the technicians positioned the gurneys and took their place next to the bodies, Penny whispered a plea to Jax, “Don’t let me go.”