He did learn that the boy had been adopted while Analise was pregnant with Aurora. Yet he never witnessed anyone treat the children differently. That fact, along with everything else Matt and Analise had done for his family is why he considered them family.
“Alright, I think they are content for a few minutes.” Taking a seat on the sofa, he got right to business. “So, what I need to see you about is to get you set with your duties here. As you know, new agents work as ranch hands here. They live and eat in the bunkhouse. So tomorrow, I need you to move from your room in the main house to the bunk house. The foreman will get you set mucking out the stalls.”
“Mucking out the stalls?” Nathaniel was confused.
Matt smiled at him. “Sorry, Nathaniel, even though you are Stella’s son, you are still a brand-new agent. Time to pay your dues.”
“I know, and I don’t want special treatment. It just wasn’t what I expected you to say.” Nathaniel looked around the room, then back at Matt, who was still smiling. “You are enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Very much. So, city boy, time to go muck the stalls.” Matt stood up and moved toward the children, sitting down he began playing with their toys with them. “Time for baths and bedtime, little ones.”
Nathaniel realized Matt had dismissed him. Matt had never played the big boss role with him before. Now that he had, Nathaniel didn’t like it at all. Not much he could do about it. He wanted this job, time to do his part. Rising, he went up to the room that had been his since he arrived at the ranch last year. He was going to miss the privacy the room offered. Sleeping on a bunk in an open room of the bunk house with the other ranch hands did not appeal to him.
Chapter 4
He watched from the shadows. Analise was right on time. He took pleasure in watching her discover the dancer lying unconscious on the alley street. The dim street light cast them in a soft glow. She was so lovely. When this was all over he would claim her as his own.
He saw Felicity quickly brush the peanut shells off the unconscious dancer. From where he stood he could not tell if Analise had noticed them or not. Oh well. Even if she missed them, she had not missed his gift to her. Like a cat brings a mangled mouse to his owner, he brought this beaten and wounded girl to Analise.
Just like the cat’s owner, he knew Analise would not truly appreciate his gift. Such a shame really. It would uncomplicate things if he could show her his true colors. He knew it was foolish to desire her. The smart thing to do was to kill her alongside her husband. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and his heart wanted her.
Watching the two women, he had a moment of panic. No this could not be happening. He planned this out perfectly. He would leave the beaten and unconscious girl in the alleyway. Analise would find her and call the cops. The girl would get medical treatment and of course, remain silent. The man that hired him would be confident the girl learned her lesson and just put her back to work. Analise would also see the peanut shells and rush back home to tell the agents that their nightmare was not over. Fear would spread through the Agency, again.
However, Analise and Felicity were not calling the cops. Instead, they were holding the girl up between them and taking her with them to Analise’s car. Damn it! This was not the plan. Felicity just had to come along and go all agent on the situation. If Analise had come alone like she usually did, then his plan would have worked. He had not counted on Felicity being in town though.
Turning, he made his way between the other buildings. Keeping to the shadows, he went undetected. Even in disguise he knew it was smart to be seen as little as possible. He had not lasted this long in his profession by taking risks. Time to do damage control on this unplanned development.
Chapter 5
The last week had gone by fast. Nathaniel had moved into the bunk house with the other new agents. The only chores the foremen had given him thus far was mucking out the stalls in the stables and cleaning the bathroom in the bunkhouse. At times, he thought the foreman hated him. After all, the other new agents were assigned to work with the horses and cook for the entire bunkhouse. He was not so lucky though, both his jobs involved messing with excrement. Whether human or animal.
He wrinkled his nose as he pulled the dirty, sodden hay out of the stall, careful not to step in more excrement. He breathed out his mouth as to not let the odor get stuck in his nose. He couldn’t help but think of the other new agents and their assignments, which were considerably easier and more pleasant than his.
Straightening, he rested one hand on the shovel and wiped his brow with the other. The smells in the stables when the stalls were being mucked out were brutal. Not at all the same comforting smells he was used to experiencing. He learned his first day that when the stalls started to be mucked out the foul odor permeated the air of the entire stables.
He had rested long enough. The straw wasn’t going to lay itself. The sooner he finished the quicker he could move on to more pleasant activities. He placed the shovel against the wall and grabbed the pitchfork. Scoping up fresh straw, he began laying new bedding into the stall. The nagging feeling of bias washed over him as he threw the fresh hay into the stalls and stomped to the next.
He was finishing up the last stall when Matt walked in. Analise, his mother, his father and Felicity filed in. Putting the pitch fork down, he turned to face the five of them. The spacious room closed in on him. The look on Felicity’s face put his nerves on edge. Something had happened, just what he wasn’t sure.
“I thought it would be best if we just came out here to you, instead of waiting for you to shower and join us,” Felicity said as soon as Nathaniel turned to face them. “Look, what I have to say is important, but it is not going to be news well received by any of you.”
“Felicity, what is going on?” Matt asked.
“Well, you all know about the girl Analise and I took to the hospital. Well, there was more to it than that.” She looked down at the ground and then back up again. “We need to work on getting Lawrence out of prison.”
“What do you mean getting Lawrence out of prison? That man was a traitor and murderer. How could you suggest we get him out of prison?” Stella stepped toward the other woman.
Kirk grabbed his wife from behind. “Let her finish, Stella.”
“Fine but don’t think I am buying any of this Lawrence innocent crap.” She pulled free from her husband’s grasp.
“Because there were peanuts on the girl’s body. That says that Lawrence was not the man doing this,” Felicity said.
“Peanuts?” Matt asked.
“Peanut shells to be exact. I brushed them off to keep Analise from coming into contact with them. But that alone suggests that Lawrence was not responsible for what happened.”
“Just because someone put peanut shells on that girl doesn’t mean that Lawrence wasn’t behind all of this,” Stella pointed out.
“Stella, please listen. Everyone, please listen. Felicity has a point. I have never felt right about the traitor or killer being Lawrence. Whoever has been behind the murders is highly intelligent. This person went without detection for so long. No way he was going to leave a paper trail to an offshore account and DNA evidence behind on a Halloween costume,” Analise offered up.
“She has a point, Mom. I mean, think about it. I know Lawrence is a strange man, but that is because he is on the Autism spectrum. He lacks social skills, that does not make him a killer. This new bit of evidence does suggest he might have been set up.”
“Ok, fine. But if Lawrence was set up, then that means the real traitor and killer got off free. Why start attacking a random stripper and leaving peanut shells on her body?” Stella asked.
“Yeah, it doesn’t make sense at all. Something strange is going on and I can’t figure out what it is,” Matt said and ran his hand through his hair.
“Well, think about it. This person is a serial killer and people like him can’t just stop killing. To him, this is a game, a very sick and twisted game,” Felicity sai
d.
“It is like cat and mouse, and we are the stupid mice running around looking for a small piece of cheese. Instead of finding the cheese, we keep getting burned,” Analise muttered.
“With the peanut shells and not knowing what is going on. I think we need to call Savannah in on this,” Matt said.
“Analise goes every week on the same day to deliver gift baskets to the strippers at that particular club. She knows that stripper. This was not a random attack, guys. That girl was targeted and left as a message. I think her life might be in danger.” Nathaniel looked towards Matt.
“Valid point, Nathaniel. It wouldn’t be the first time this psycho has had Analise in his crosshairs. I will tell Savannah that we are bringing the girl here. Analise has nurse’s training and is in medical school. She can help take over some of the medical care for the girl. We need her here. She just might have the answers we need.” Matt turned and left the stables with the rest close behind him.
***
She was not sure how many days had passed exactly. She remembered the in and out of consciousness happening several times. Extreme pain and unfamiliar people marked those brief moments of consciousness. She vaguely remembered being taken from the hospital to someone’s house. She had woken up a few hours ago, to find herself lying in a huge bed in an equally huge room. The room was light up by natural sunlight that filtered through the huge window. Ivory curtains with a touch of lace at the edges framed the window. Soft, light blue paint graced the walls.
She noticed two women staring at her. They were vaguely familiar, and she realized she knew them from the hospital. At least she was clear-headed enough after waking up to comprehend their names when they told her—Analise and Felicity. Both women seemed to be very attentive to her needs this morning. Felicity had brought her some clothes to wear. Analise had busied herself to make sure everything she needed was in the bathroom.
Standing under the spray of the hot water, she moved with care. Her body felt like it had been bruised from the inside out. She moved to wash herself, but it was proving to be a feat. The pain in her muscles was like she had been flash-burned on the inside with acid. Her face contorted with pain as she turned to rinse the soap off. After a few moments she managed to get rinsed off. She grabbed the shampoo and squirted some in her hand. Pain shot through her chest as she tried to wash her hair. Sweat broke out all over her body. It was too much. She dropped to her knees. Hunched down on the tile of the shower as the hot water rained down on her. Her jaw clenched against the pain. She couldn’t remember ever experiencing pain such as this.
Wait! She couldn’t remember anything. Absolutely nothing. It all seemed so surreal and like maybe this too was a dream. It was a dream. That was it. She was trapped in a nightmare and any moment she would wake up and the pain would be gone. She would remember everything, and life would resume like normal. The problem was she was unsure what her normal life was. It felt like there was a huge wall inside her head. A brick wall she couldn’t break through no matter how hard she tried.
Getting out of the shower, she yanked the towel off the rack. Her movements shaky, she dried the best she could. Her panic over having a blank memory pushed the physical pain aside. Wrapped in a towel, she stared into the mirror. Her face was swollen. Multi-colored bruises in various stages of healing littered her face. Looking down she noted that there were too many bruises to count. Her body looked like someone had mistaken it for a punching bag.
Looking back at her face in the mirror she tried desperately to remember who she was. This is a nightmare. How can one not know their name? Maybe the ladies she met earlier could help her out with who she was. After all, they had to know who she was.
Grabbing the clothes Felicity had loaned her, she dressed carefully. The whole time mindful of the pain that each movement caused. Dressed in the emerald, sleeveless, silk blouse and straight-legged black dress pants, she took another look at herself in the mirror. The outfit was appropriate, and she was thankful for Felicity for loaning them to her. The problem was she could not remember who she was or what she used to wear. Staring at herself, she felt out-of-place in this outfit, like a child playing dress up. Taking a deep breath, she left the bathroom and made her way down to the kitchen.
Chapter 6
“So, you remember absolutely nothing?” Savannah asked. Her skepticism evident in her tone and facial
expressions. “There has to be something you remember.”
“No. Nothing. It is frustrating not being able to remember my own name.” She shook her head. “Analise keeps calling me Lucky. Apparently, I was some stripper. While I don’t remember who I am, that fact feels off somehow. I can’t explain it.” She began to massage her temples.
“Well, don’t stress too much. I am sure your memory will return in time,” Analise told her. Her voice warm and compassionate, in complete contrast to Savannah.
“It does stress me out. It is like there is something very important that I must remember. Yet when I try, it is like a hammer is hammering away inside my head. I want to remember who I am and what feels so important that I must remember. I hurt all over and I can’t stand the additional pain.” Looking at the people around the table, she swiped away the single tear that had trailed down her cheek.
“Well, let’s see if Asad can help discover your identity. He brought a mobile fingerprint kit; it should give us a place to start,” Savannah said. “You don’t mind, do you?” She asked as if challenging the younger woman to object and therefore confirm her suspicions.
“No, I don’t mind. Anything to help figure out how I am and what happened to me.”
Asad took the time to explain the machine and how it worked to her. Once she was comfortable, he took prints from both hands. He never did anything that should have caused alarm, yet she couldn’t help but be afraid of him. Something about him made her very nervous. Shaking it off to just being the situation itself, she settled in to wait. Soon they would know who she really was, and Lucky would be a name of the past. Her past though, as she apparently took her clothes off for money under that name.
She knew she had to come to terms with the fact that she had done those things. But if she did that, then what other worse things would she learn about herself? If only she could remember and leave this place. She didn’t want any of those forgotten secrets coming out. These people were kind and sweet, not the kind that accept any more sordid details about her. She was ready to bolt from the room when Asad broke the silence.
“Well, this is interesting.” He continued to stare at the screen as if he didn’t believe what he was seeing.
“What is interesting?” She sat up straighter. “Did you find out who I am?”
“No. That is what is interesting. Your prints are not a match for anything in the United States. It doesn’t make sense. I mean, I have a picture and it is you, and it is simply from an arrest for prostitution. It lists your name as ‘unknown’ and listed under alias is ‘Lucky.’ That is all there is. None of it makes sense”
“I have a friend in Interpol. Let me call her and see if your prints match anything overseas. Even with our connections, we can only run prints for the States. She should be able to check international prints for me.” Standing, Savannah took out her cell phone and walked out the room.
“Hey, what is it? I know this is frustrating, but if anyone can find out who you are it’s the Centaurs. We have ways to find the information we want, it just may take a little time,” Asad told her as he reached out and patted the back of her hand.
“You found an arrest record. Not only did I take my clothes off for money, but I had sex with men for money. I don’t remember doing these things. I can only imagine what you guys think of me now.” Lower her head, she let the tears fall.
Analise knelt in front of her and took her hands into her. “We do not think anything of you. Whatever you did, that is in the past. You have a chance to change that now if you want. We will help you start a new life away from all of that.”
Analise let go of her hands, and tilted Lucky’s chin up until they were eye to eye. “And if you get your memories back and you want to go back to that life, well, that is your decision. No one is judging you. We are here for you no matter what you decide to do.”
“How can you say that? I mean, look at what I have done. You can’t possibly say you would be my friend if I went back to doing those things.” Breaking eye contact, she stared at her hands.
“Why not? Friends are friends no matter what. I take those care packages to the club because I want to help people. I do not do it to feel superior to someone else. Please do not think that of me.”
“Are you always so open and friendly toward people? No one is that friendly and non-judgmental.” Lucky whined.
“Oh, believe me, she can be very judgmental and hostile when she wants,” Felicity said. “Trust me I have been on the receiving end of her hostility and judgement.”
“Really?” Still staring at her hands, she picked at invisible lint.
“Yeah, she wanted to gouge my eyes out a time or two.” Felicity looked at her and smiled.
“In my defense, when I met her I thought she was sleeping with my husband.” Analise blurted out.
“Sleeping with your husband?” Lucky looked up from her hands. She moved her head back and forth between the two women. “Oh my, I can see why you wouldn’t like her. But why would you think that?”
“I did not know about the agency or any of the danger I was in at the time. I was told she was Stella’s niece and that Matt gave her a job here as a housekeeper. Well, she always dressed in fancy clothes, perfect hair, perfect make up, and never cleaned a single thing. However, Matt refused to fire her.”
The Making of a Centaur Page 2
