by Flora Dare
He just nodded at her sharply, and after a long moment said, "I guess I see what you are saying. I guess listening to one's heart is foolish."
Her mouth twisted and she said, "It really is. You just can't trust other people to be there when the chips are down."
His eyes softened and he said, "Hey, I'm here for you."
"No, you're here so that you and your little friends can sleep well at night, knowing you 'protected' me." Jena stood abruptly and looked down at him, unaware of how forbidding and cold she'd become and said, "I appreciate the gesture, but I learned my lesson long ago. I know better than to expect people to be there for me." Her anger at being left finally flared up and she continued, "I admit, I forgot for a moment, let my guard down. But like all things, the moment passed. I don't need you. And I don't need people who don't even know how to say goodbye hovering around the edges of my life."
She turned her back on the man and strode away, letting anger carry her up to her home, where she threw herself into the shower and let the loneliness and fear and sorrow explode out of her. Her sobs shook her from head to toe, while the hot water pounded her flesh. She finally picked herself up off the floor of the shower and flicked the hot water off. The shock of the icy water hitting her face brought her firmly back to herself.
She might be alone. She might be missing those big stupid bears. But she was strong, and she wasn't going to let this break her, any more than she'd let anything else in life destroy her. Jena popped out of the shower and called her editor to see if there was anything interesting for her to go do. Now was a good time for a travel piece. Taking pictures of some far flung locale sounded great to her, even if the pay was terrible, which it always was.
She mulled over the list of offerings. None were the exotic escapes she was hoping for, but none of them were sensitive or dangerous assignments either. She settled on one she could easily drive to. Jena still wasn't ready to try flying.
If she ran into Don one more time, she just might scream. She had to answer the door to him, since Vera could see the door and was very aware of what Don was doing. And Vera wasn't above sending him on errands, including telling her to come to dinner. At least now, other than Vera’s errands, Don no longer came to her door. Jena made it clear she'd answer, but wasn't going to be drawn into any private conversations.
Still, she knew he was keeping an eye on her and it was driving her mad. She had to watch Vera grow more attached to Don as each day slipped by. She loved the bounce in Vera's step, but feared what would happen if he just up and disappeared. She supposed that he'd at least shown back up, not like Matt and Jack.
~ * ~ * ~
Jena ran into the waves, swimming out past the break. At the rate she was going, she was going to be running a marathon every day. Swimming was so much more exhausting, plus the only way to reach her favorite beach was by boat or just swimming out to it. Swimming out wasn't bad, it was with the tide, practically pushing her up on to it. She loved the little island. It was such an odd location and had such a small area you could land a boat on that she'd never seen anyone else out there.
She ducked down into the little tunnel that connected to a hidden cave. She finally relaxed, feeling safe for the first time since she'd boarded Don's little plane. Why didn't I come here sooner? She fell asleep on the soft, warm sand, sleeping deeply for the first time since Don first appeared. Jena finally woke up to the water lapping at her toes. She hadn't meant to stay so long, it was going to be a real slog getting back. She stretched and swam back out into the ocean.
She was focusing so hard on her swim that she didn't notice the small speedboat on a crash course with her, it wasn't until they were practically on top of her that she even heard them. Jena panicked, fearing Jason had found her. She tried to dive under the boat, but she felt a hand in the center of her back, grabbing the material of her suit, yanking her into the air. In the seconds she was in the air, she could only gasp at the strength plucking her out of the water, until she landed on her side against the wood and the air was pressed out of her. She scrambled to her feet, and aimed for the side, determined to launch back into the water.
Instead, she crashed into a massive chest that crushed her in its arms. A strangely familiar voice said, "Stop. Please, Jena. Stop."
Shock made her freeze, but then she put her hands up and pushed away from Matt's chest.
She said, "Let me go, now."
He released her immediately, and she staggered backwards, tripping over Jack's feet. She pushed herself backwards with her feet, until she had her back to the edge of the boat. She flipped a hand to grab the edge, the other extended towards the men. Trying to ward them off.
Silence hung over them, as Jena's eyes darted from one man to the other. She tried to gather her strength. When she moved, she was going to have to get over the edge and dive deeply. The boat was faster than her, but there was no way the beefy men would move fast in the water than her. For a moment, she wished she was a dolphin-shifter or even a selkie. She did not enjoy swimming as a wolverine, so shifting was out of the question.
"Jena, please, don't go overboard." Jack's voice shook and Jena didn't understand. Both the men looked strangely white.
Matt slumped to the deck, sitting with his hands in his head, and said, "You swam off hours ago. I thought, we thought," he took a deep breath before continuing. "We thought you'd been swept away. You were moving so slowly in the water."
Jena didn't move but said, "I was swimming against the current. Of course I was moving slowly." She felt her heart slow down, although the shock of seeing the men almost undid her. She had no chance to armor herself against them and now she held on to the edge of the boat to keep from flinging herself at them, to feel Matt's chest against hers, to feel Jack against her back. She wanted them with a strength that shocked her to her core. Seeing them again showed how wrong she was, she was never going to forget how much they were meant to be together.
Jack said, "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
She started to laugh, almost couldn't stop to say, "You scared me. Don said Jason might try and find me, then I'm almost hit by a boat and yanked out of the water. It was unexpected."
She knew she should slip over the edge, but she couldn't leave them, not yet. She just needed a few more moments. She had to have her goodbye, this was probably her one chance. But she couldn't make herself speak anymore. As the adrenaline flowed out of her, she felt her eyes tear up. She fought them back, she would not let them see how weak they made her. That just seeing them tore her apart with longing. They sat there in silence, until Jena felt like she was in enough control to speak.
"Well, you clearly wanted to see me about something." She was shocked how measured her tones managed to be. She was proud of herself. Her hard fought control would keep her safe from them hurting her anymore. She pulled herself up, making the boat rock. Jena was surprised to see them tense, as if they were going to fling themselves at her, and her eyes went wide. They all froze again, until she turned and sat on the wide edge, and said, "I just wanted to get up off the ground."
The men exchanged glances and sat opposite of her, giving her lots of clearance. Jena appreciated the gesture, although she didn't like how well they could guess what she might need. Now that she was comfortable and in a place she could much more easily plunge into the ocean to escape, she could tuck her feelings down hard inside and sit in the silence until the men finally spoke.
Matt said, "Don told us to come."
"I'm not Don."
"He's worried about you."
Her lips pressed together. Oh, Don was worried, and that made them come. She was such a fool, there was nothing between them. She said, "I fail to see how that has anything to do with you."
Jack said, "Please, don't."
"Don't what?"
Matt said, "You know we had to go."
"You drugged me. I woke up to everything gone. And a one line note. And an angry enemy on my tail, apparently."
Jack said, "W
e did what we thought was best in the moment."
"And it involved not trusting me in the least. It means you, rather than saying anything to me, left me in a place I had been attacked, alone and unable to defend myself. Not able to tell if the men picking me up where good guys or bad guys. Or even if you were good guys or bad guys."
The men went silent. Finally Jack said, "It wasn't like that."
"Wasn't it? Are you telling me I woke up to a cold campsite only in my head?"
They both shook their heads. Jena looked at both of them. The men were only here because Don asked them to be. They didn't actually want to be here, to be near her, doing any of this.
"Then I come home, and the news is, pardon the pun, exploding with stories about a plant being bombed! A manufacturing plant we were all heading to!"
Jack started to say something, but Matt shook his head at him and he stopped. They all just stared at each other. Closure was for suckers, this was even worse than not knowing.
She pulled her legs over the edge and said, "Let me do the courtesy you failed to offer me. Goodbye, gentlemen. I'm going home."
Matt said, "We're going to follow you to shore."
"If you feel the need, you have made it very clear that I can't stop you from doing whatever you want. You will soon see I am perfectly capable of doing this swim."
She slipped into the water and headed for shore. Half expecting them to zoom off with a flourish, she was surprised that they were following her. She almost made it to the break, it was only waist deep, when she heard a shout as she stood. The boat was close as the men jumped into the water and ran towards her. Her instincts let her down again, as she stood her ground. She should have run, instead, she was pulled into Matt's arms.
For a glorious moment, she was wrapped in Matt and Jack's arms as the waves crashed around them. She forgot everything but their strength and warmth and couldn't help but cling to them. Matt pressed a hard kiss to her mouth and Jack bit her neck.
As Jack went to lift her, she came back to herself and said, "Please, you have to let me go."
Matt said, "You are ours. Your body knows."
"It doesn't matter. I'm the master of my body. And I know you're going to leave. Do you want to fuck me on the beach and leave me again? I don't even really know who you are. Do you want me to bend to whatever you want right now so you can just leave me again the moment your little group or whatever you are calls you? That's a slave and I'm not interested."
It shattered her heart all over again to break away from them. She felt their arms grab for her, but she slipped out of their grip and ran toward the shore.
Jack shouted, "Wait, please."
Jena paused, but didn't turn back.
He said, "We're not killers or terrorists. We're special agents under cover. We're trying to prove that they are not legitimate researchers, but that they are experimenting on shifters. That's what we were doing. We hurt no one - I swear it. We completely cleared the facility. No one died."
She just couldn't believe them. She believed they would say whatever they needed right now. Jena just wanted to sink to the ground and wail, but she couldn't let them see her flinch, to give them a place to push against her will. She kept her eyes forward and stared walking. Finally, she glanced back and saw them just standing where she left them. Don was standing on the beach in front of her and as she passed him, he put a hand on her shoulder.
She said, "Don, please, don't stop me. You reassured yourself, I'm okay."
"That's not why..."
"It doesn't matter," Jena said.
"Of course it does."
"No, Don. How long would it be before whatever kind of organization you are calls them away again? Maybe they wouldn't leave me drugged and vulnerable, again, but the only thing that future leads to is pain. Please Don, let me walk away before it really will hurt me."
He dropped his hand and nodded. He said, "I'm not moving though."
Jena nodded and kept moving away from the beach. She knew if she stopped, if she even looked back and saw them, she'd never be able to take another step away from them. She could not give that power to anyone. Even if the strange threads that were woven between them tightened around her heart with every step she took. They would take whatever physical thing they wanted from her and leave her an empty husk. Never again.
~ * ~ * ~
Jena threw the last bag into her car and shut the trunk. She dropped her keys at the voice that said, "Guessing it ain't a laundry run?"
She gasped, spun around and said, "Jesus, Don, you almost gave me a heart attack."
"You were just gonna take off without saying anything." His voice was flat, and she just looked at him and lifted one eyebrow. He dropped his eyes and the void between them grew until Jena finally took pity on him and broke the growing silence.
"Don, I know you're just doing your job. But you know I'm not going to run my mouth off to anybody and blow your cover. I just need to get the hell away from everything for a while."
"Run your mouth? You think I'm keeping you under surveillance because you might give away the operation?"
Jena shrugged at him and said, "Don, it's been two weeks, wouldn't the maybe bad guys have come for me already?"
"Maybe bad guys?"
"Hey, all they did was hire a creep. Someone blew up a building. I'm really not sure if you're good or bad. And I don't care. If you were going to try and kill me, you have had plenty of time. And so have they."
Don shook his head and said, "They play a long game. I wish you wouldn't go. Besides, it will make the boys rage."
Her spine straightened and her nostrils flared as she said, "Don, I don't have a mysterious organization paying my bills. I need to work."
Before he could retort, they heard Vera call out, "Jena! Hang on!"
The other woman hustled over, holding out a paper bag. She said, "Your favorite. When you said you had some work coming up, I wanted to make sure I got these to you before you headed out."
Don looked startled and said, "You knew she was going?"
Vera's face went cold and she said, "She and I are friends, unless you want to vet that too?"
Don went bright red. Jena had never seen the man so discomforted. She hugged Vera and said, "Thank you so much! I'm not going far."
"Oh, to the big park?"
Jena didn't want to confirm anything in front of Don, so just smiled and said, "I'll make sure I get a good picture for your wall."
Vera turned to Don, struck a belligerent pose and said, "Are you going to want to approve that too? She brings me pictures back from just about every trip she goes on for my picture wall." Vera turned on her heel and strode back to her house, with the other two left to watch.
Jena finally said, "That went well for you."
Don watched Vera walk away and said to Jena, "I'm handling her about as well as Matt and Jack handled you."
"Give yourself some credit, Don. She's still talking to you."
Before Don could retort, Jena hopped in the car and drove away.
Chapter Eight
Two days later, Jena pulled into her parking spot. She pulled her things into her cottage and plopped in front of the TV. She almost groaned as the first thing that popped on was yet another talking head reporting about the explosion. She leaned over to change the channel when it finally caught her attention.
"As authorities continue to comb the wreckage there are still no casualties reported. At this time, all workers have been accounted for. At this point, it appears there have been no deaths. The plant explosion is still considered of unknown origins, but no indications of outside materials have been found."
Jena sat back, mulling over the news. Not that it mattered, as the heat on their organization died down, Don would go back to work and they would all forget about her. At least she wasn't in love with murderers.
As she lay on the couch, there was pounding on the door. Vera burst into the house in tears and grabbed her. She pulled Jena outside, then int
o her cottage. She shoved an envelope into Jena's hands.
"Vera, what is going on?"
"Oh Jena, it's Don, they've taken him."
Jena sank into a chair and said, "I don't understand, who?"
"I don't know who it was. He just swept in last night, grabbed him. Said if I called the police we were both dead."
Jena wrapped her arms around Vera and rocked with her.
"He was very angry you weren't here, that's when he left the note for you."
"Did you read it?"
"No. They said they were watching. I believed them."
"So they know I'm here."
Vera nodded and whispered, "I'm so sorry. I should have just gone..."
"No Vera, you were right." Jena stopped and pulled open the note. It was brief.
Meet on the island in the bay. There is a boat waiting at the dock.
"Okay, Vera, I'm not going to let them hurt Don. Did Don ever give you any 'in case of emergency' instructions or contact information?"
Vera paused and said, "No, I mean, yes, he definitely gave me emergency contact numbers. You know I keep the neighborhood emergency list updated." Vera pulled some papers off the refrigerator, and flipped it to Don's entry. She said, "Yes, a young man, Matt Jack. Strange name, perhaps I copied it wrong."
Jena felt a rush of relief.
Vera looked at her and frowned, "He said our phones where tapped. How will we call them?"
Jena frowned, "Everything I've ever read is about how sophisticated modern surveillance equipment is. Have you noticed anything unusual the last few weeks?"
Vera shook her head, but reached into the drawer and pulled out a pen and paper. She quickly scribbled a note and handed it to Jena. She had to just hope that they weren't in a crazy spy movie and that they weren't reading the note by listening to the vibrations the pen scratches on paper made in the windows.
"Do you still have your dive gear?"
"Yes. In the boat house."
"We don't have much time. I need a wet suit and tank."
