The Baby Package

by Sarah J. Brooks

  I’d resolved myself to living here and being in hiding. Guilt over my wife’s death and the awful position I’d put my sister in held me captive, it was easy to punish myself with solitude. I rationalized it was the right thing to do for my children; deprive them of a father to keep them safe and I figured if I solely focused on finding a cure for cancer, my life would be worth something.

  Imogen was changing that. She made me want to live again and that was something I didn’t have the right to desire.

  As soon as I sat down at my desk to start work, my FaceTime rang with my sister Gloria nighttime call. I’d turned off my FaceTime last night, which was our usual chat night and texted her after Imogen fell asleep, offering my apologies for falling asleep too early; again, more lies. I couldn’t avoid Gloria tonight though, I had to answer.

  When her bright beautiful face filled my screen, my heart felt good. It was nice to see her and hear her voice. It felt like it’d been years since I talked to her. These last two days with Imogen seemed like an eternity of anxiety, as it was terrifying and dangerous having another person in my world, and blissfully intoxicating to be in Imogen’s company.

  “Hey, big bro,” Gloria started. “Are you doing okay in the storm?”

  “Much better than expected,” I kept my face stoic, but my heart understood knew the depth of the statement.

  “It’s bad here, so it must be just horrible on the mountain. Wish we could be there to cheer you up.” She already was cheering me up.

  I offered a gracious smile. “I’m doing okay, but it’s pretty dark and lonely. I have enough power and provisions to last through, which is all I’d worry about. Can’t wait for the sun to come back.” I made idle chatter in an attempt to seem like nothing had changed but the weather.

  “The roads and schools are closed. The storm is predicted to last a few more days at least, with a second front coming in tomorrow night. Everyone is acting like it’s the end of the world. People can be such drama queens, you know.”

  I laughed, she was right. “People do freak over storms, but they can be dangerous, so not totally unwarranted.” I teased her. “They’re going to have to dig their cars out eventually, which usually causes people to grumble more.”

  “I guess,” she blew it off.

  A storm didn’t scare her; she’d been through so much worse in her life. Being twenty-two and raising two kids without notice or practice, just diving in and doing her best. She was running a company she didn’t know much about, managing a lifestyle that was beyond her years and doing a great job even though it wasn’t really a life she wanted. That weighed on me heavily at times, she was living my life for me at the expense of her own.

  “So,” she began with a chipper tone, which worried me as she often prefaced bad news with good in this way, “I wanted to give you the updates for the week. DJ and Ally are doing great. DJ made a new friend at soccer and we had him and his family over for dinner. It was nice to see DJ happy with a buddy. Ally’s play was amazing. She’s really quite the little actress. I think we should get her into acting classes as she really enjoys performing. It makes her happy and it’s hard to find things that make her happy these days. She likes getting lost in stories. She’s a lot like you that way, up in her head all the time. I worry about her.” I could tell from the intensity in her voice that Gloria was stressed.

  Ally was so little when her mom died, and I disappeared. She often thought of us as fairies or ghosts, because it was hard to recall us as real people. I knew that Gloria was doing her best to keep our memory alive but she couldn’t just shut Ally away from the world so she could love a mom and dad she didn’t remember. She and DJ had to move on and find new meaning in their lives, without loving parents to guide them.

  “I’ll pay for whatever she needs. Let’s get her into some acting classes at the theater and into anything that will take her mind off her worries.”

  “Thanks, I think it will help a lot. Okay, so believe it or not, that was the good news,” her voice dropped down a note and I could tell, there was a whole lot of bad news coming.

  “Okay,” I responded.

  “Mark has been falling farther into the drug world. His company is neck and neck with ours on the stock exchange, but there are rumors he’s pressuring doctors to use Halo with their patients. Their deals feel really shady. Some of Rainseed’s reps at the big hospitals are saying doctors are almost being forced to use a generic version of Mark’s pain suppressor, which is just Halo veiled as a generic. They are seeing a lot of addiction in patients, but doctors aren’t cutting back because Mark’s company has made some sort of shady deal with them, where they profit if they prescribe it.

  The Halo epidemic is getting out of control and Mark’s company has approached Rainseed again for a takeover. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I trust your executives and the board members, but they might be making deals behind our backs. I just don’t think it’s safe to trust anyone.” She was nearly in tears.

  “Just tell the partners to resist a sale of anything, block Mark and his people, and don’t authorize anything at all that looks suspicious. Send me all the documents they run by you. By law, Mark’s company is not supposed to be doing any business with Rainseed whatsoever. They were named as persons of interest in our deaths and while Mark was cleared, he has a restraining order.” I was livid, I wanted to kill that man for continuing to hurt patients and mess with my company.

  “It isn’t Mark. I think he’s planted people inside Rainseed. I can’t be sure, but it feels like we not only have spies within the ranks but people who are trying to drum up support for a merger of the two companies.” Her voice was shaking.

  I was so angry I could have put my fists through the metal wall. How could I put my little sister in such a horrible position? The poor kid was a marketing manager, she didn’t have the chops for deceitful people set on destroying me, my work, and my memory.

  “Keep physical records of everything and send anything suspicious to the authorities, they need to be involved. Don’t do this alone, Gloria.” I tried to encourage her, but the truth was, she was doing it all alone.

  “I’m struggling to do this without you, Dash. I need someone here who knows what Mark is capable of. He might be able to get away with this because I can’t stop him if I don’t know who I can trust. It’s just me and I have to make sure the kids are safe. I just feel sometimes you’d be better off alive, fighting them face-to-face with the help of law-enforcement, than hiding in a cabin sending me formulas I don’t understand. I mean, you’ll find your cure, I know you will, but maybe at the risk of everything you love. If Mark and the cartel grow strong enough they can come right for us. We really need a hero.” She was near tears.

  She was right. I would be of much better use to the world alive and fighting, but it was such a horrible risk.

  “Just keep yourself and the kids safe, Gloria. Let me worry about the company. You just keep smiling like nothing is getting to you and don’t sign anything until I see it. Our company is not for sale. No one can come in and overtake us, we’re doing fine. Just relax.” It was true no one could overtake us, but there was a very good chance they could betray us; however, I couldn’t let her know it was a possibility. She already feared it, so I had to alleviate those fears even if it was with false assurances.

  “Okay, it’s just…” she went on to protest but I interrupted her.

  “I promise, I’ll figure it out, you just lock everything up tight and make sure you have security with you at all times and leave the rest up to me. I’ll keep you safe,” I promised.

  “I’m not worried about our safety, I’m worried about the company you gave your life for.” Now she was crying.

  “I’m okay, we’re going to be fine. It’s late. Get some rest and we can discuss it tomorrow over text. I have a formula I’ve been working on. I want you to send it to the lab when you get it. As soon as I crack this, our company will be untouchable. Just give this all a little more
time and you’ll see, the good guys will win.” I wasn’t great at rallying, but I was doing my best.

  “I hope so,” she seemed a little more at ease.

  “I should let you go so no one traces our call. I love you, sis. Don’t worry, we will figure this all out.” I blew her a kiss and she caught it just like we did when we were goofy little kids without a care in the world.

  I switched off and sat there for a moment, shell-shocked.

  So, Mark was being sneaky and possibly planting people in my company. I’d draft a letter to HR, that Gloria would sign as her own and have them do a check on all our employees using their social security numbers. If any of them had associations with Mark’s company or anything suspicious show up, I’d instruct for HR to question them. I had to finish my formula and get my drug tested and out on the market. If word got out that our company had found a breakthrough, we’d be in the spotlight again and Mark wouldn’t risk anything dangerous. He’d already gotten too close once before. I just had to send the drug to trials, but I needed to amend part of the formula first. I was so close. It was awful not being in the lab, working. Gloria would submit the formulas as mine claiming she’d finally been able to break into the encrypted part of my computer. It was a stretch, but people at the company were so used to Gloria running it, they would probably buy the story with some speculation.

  Working always helped me when I was worried, so I set to work to figure out the last string of the formula I needed to try. The drug I’d created using protein strands that inhibited some forms of cancer. My aim was to inhibit them all, so I set to work and let my mind fix on science, which was a much-needed break from my immediate reality.

  Chapter 16

  When I woke up, I felt cozy and warm. My heart was still on fire from the day before, however, when I rolled over to cuddle into Dash’s arms and feel him next to me, I was disappointed to discover he wasn’t there. I didn’t have many mornings to share with him like this and I was sad to see he’d already gotten out of bed.

  Suddenly, I started to worry—was he regretting our time together yesterday? If I was a sane woman, I should’ve been the one who regretted acting like a hussy, jumping on a man I’d known less than twenty-four hours. Seriously, I hadn’t really even confirmed that he was an entirely safe person to be with. I sort of breezed over the whole, living alone, buttoned down in a high tech apocalyptic bunker with zombie games aspect and just went straight to fucking the man.

  I have to say my cheeks flushed a little at my wanton behavior. The best way to deal with the issue was to face it head on, so I got out of bed and hopped into the living room, using the walls to brace myself. My foot was actually feeling much better and with the splint he’d made me I was almost able to put my full weight on it. In the end, I must’ve only sprained it. I was so lucky.

  When I finally made it to the living room, I saw him slumped over his desk in the corner. I hoped he was just sleeping, but since, he didn’t seem to be moving at all, I ambled over as quietly as I could to see. My heart was thudding in my chest, what if something terrible had happened to him in the night?

  Why would I think that, if it was just the two of us here?

  I was definitely freaking myself out and I had to stop. I figured he’d wake up though because despite how quiet I was trying to be, I was making an awful lot of noise hobbling around.

  When I got to his desk, I was relieved to discover he was only sleeping. My heart didn’t stop racing, but luckily the irrational thoughts cluttering my mind with worry ended. I wanted to wake him, but didn’t dare; he seemed too far gone. I wouldn’t be able to help him to bed, so I left him there. Scrawled in front of him were notes from some sort of project he must’ve stayed up all night working on. While his whole thing was that he was some sort of off-grid energy guru, his notes looked far more like a doctor’s scribbling. Both scientists, clean energy engineers, and doctors had a lot in common, but pharmaceutical formulas were probably not one of them.

  Something told me I’d just bought into a well-crafted lie. I’d been working with medicine and doctors my whole college and recently, professional life. As a psychologist, most of my patients worked with psychiatrists and prescribed medication. His work looked much more like medicine than it did sustainable energy. I had to know more about him. The only way I was going to pacify my fears was to see if I could get up into the attic and get a look at what he was hiding up there. I concentrated on walking without making a sound. My heart continued to thud loudly, but it was the only thing making noise. I was as quiet as a mouse. When I got to the attic door, my hands were shaking, but I didn’t care; I had to see what I was dealing with. I had to know what he was hiding.

  I expected to find the door locked, but when we brushed past it the other day, I noticed there wasn’t a keyhole, so most likely the door didn’t lock. A lot of these old cabins had attic rooms and none of the doors on them locked.

  I was able to easily twist the door open. I almost cried out when the hinges produced a high-pitched squeak. I was ready to confess my sins to an irate and potentially murderous Dash, but he didn’t make a move. He was still out cold.

  I didn’t waste any time as I carefully mounted the steep stairs. The stairway smelled musty from age and disuse. It was quite an effort, but I was able to drag myself to the landing. The windows were covered with closed shutters up here as well, but thin streaks of gray light filtered in illuminating the dust and debris floating in the air.

  I could barely see anything at all, but each wall socket had a night light similar to those downstairs only these night lights were for children. Elsa and Ana from a Disney movie on one side of the room and a rocket ship and stars on the other side. For a boy and girl, I thought. Obviously meant for his niece and nephew who he said visited him.

  Immediately, I felt like a jerk for doubting him. Each end of the room was decorated differently. The far-right side had pink walls and a bed with pink ruffles. There were dusty, sad looking dolls and stuffed animals about the room, and a Barbie house with Barbies lined up inside. It looked like they’d been put away nicely, but stood at the ready for their playmate to return to them, but by the look of the layers of dust everywhere, they’d been waiting a long time.

  Again, a spike of dread raced through me. What if the kids were dead? The other side was in the much the same state of disuse, only it was decorated for a boy, with a blue comforter on the bed and Star Wars action figures on a nightstand, just as sad and lonely as the Barbies.

  The strangest thing was the pictures. I moved to the girl’s side first for a better look at a large picture on the nightstand. It was a beautiful raven-haired little girl with twinkling blue eyes, just like Dash. She was in his arms planting a kiss on his cheek. What froze me in my tracks, however, was the hand painted picture frame in the indelicate scribble of a young child which said, ‘To the best daddy in the world.’ He’d lied. This wasn’t his niece and nephew’s room, this was for his children. Children he hadn’t seen for a very long time. Now, I knew I was in trouble.

  No wonder he wanted me to leave after the storm and say nothing of our affair. He had a wife and kids somewhere. Who knew whether they were divorced, estranged, or dead? What was for sure is that he had them and they didn’t visit him here often. Possibly his work didn’t allow visits, but then why would he say his niece and nephew visited?

  I hated to think about it, but it felt like this room was full of relics and my horrible imagination veered towards the macabre—they were dead. Yet it didn’t make sense. Why would he be working on medical formulas or even sustainable energy configurations with an attic full of his dead children’s old toys?

  Regardless of the truth, he was obviously an expert liar. Just then, I heard heavy footsteps ascending the stairs. Even if I had made it back down the stairs without him finding me, how could I face a man who’d lied so blatantly to my face? However, at that moment I wasn’t concerned about the lies, I was afraid for my life.

  I froze as his dee
p and gravel toned voice echoed behind me, “I thought I expressly forbid you from coming up here.” Rage bubbled under his breath which he bit back in an effort to keep himself under control.

  I turned to face him. If I was going to die, it would be with dignity and without fear, although fearlessness was being a bit elusive at that particular moment.

  “You did,” I answered, trying to hide the quiver in my voice. “And I disobeyed you, but you lied to me. I believe you’re hiding something terrible here, and now I’m stuck in this cabin with you… falling in love. What happened to your children, Dash? Where are they?” I was so scared I almost passed out, but I held my own, even though I was visibly shaking.

  “I need you to go downstairs now.” He seemed so cold and unfeeling, so I tried a different approach, still not completely sure he wasn’t going to murder me.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t belong here. I don’t belong in your home and I don’t belong in your life. I couldn’t help myself, I just felt like there was so much about you I didn’t understand and frankly, I’m still a little afraid of you.” I burst into tears like an idiot.

  I realized at that moment, I was a mess. My brain was insane. Here I was, stuck in a cabin with a man who’d fucked me twice after just meeting me. I was injured and unable to leave. He could’ve been an opportunistic serial killer, getting his kicks before he offed me. He was pretty abrupt with the suave love making and my sex deprived ass fell for him hard. I didn’t even know how I felt as I stood there sobbing.

  “Please,” his voice sounded softer, less angry and harsh, “I’ll help you downstairs. I don’t want to stay in this room.”

  With that, his strong arm rounded my shoulder as his other arm caught up my legs and he hoisted me up into his arms. He then made his way down the pitch-dark staircase carrying me like a baby. I made sure to turn my face away from his and neither of us said a word.