A Somers Dream

by Patricia Isabel

  Gabe entered Shane’s house about an hour and a half after he got off the phone with his father. He wasn’t sure how he was going to tell Shane what happened so he took his time driving trying to come up with some sense as to why it did happen. Holten met up with him in the hallway looking worried. “How you feeling?” he asked, looking at Gabe, making sure he was truly fine and not just saying so. Holten heard about how bumps on the head can usually create aneurisms hours after happening. “I’m fine, really. I got hit hard enough to go down but not hard enough to stay down” he said as he patted his father’s shoulder. It still felt odd having Holten around the way he is but he was enjoying it. “How’s Shane doing? Is he feeling any better?” Looking past his father’s shoulder, he wondered where Shane was. Holten looked somewhat hopeful “Well, he ate more than just toast and he’s up and about. He’s in the backyard now”. Well, that was something, Gabe thought. “Does he know?” he asked and Holten only shook his head “Thought I would wait for you before telling him”. Gabe glanced his father’s way for a split second, “Well, no time like the present, right?” then made his way towards the backyard with his father following right behind him.

  Penny was not happy. Not only did she not know what the hell she was doing here, her captor was no help either. He had come in a couple of times to let her go to the bathroom and give her something to eat but other than that, nothing. She knew he could talk and she also knew he could understand her but with all her efforts at starting a conversation…you would think the man was a deaf mute. She tried placating, pleading and finally yelling with no luck. She was exasperated with the situation and no matter what she tried, she hit a wall, a six foot, 5 inch one to be exact, who left his tongue at the door every time he walked in. At least she got one thing out of him, she had asked if he could at least remove the shackles. He removed the ones from around her wrists but kept one on her left ankle. ‘Well’ she thought “it’s a start” and walked around the room to keep her strength. She knew she was in the woods because when she looked out the window, all she could see were trees. Unfortunately, the window didn’t open because, as far as she could tell, it was nailed shut. Penny knew it didn’t matter, she wasn’t going anywhere as long as Kong was guarding her. Sitting on the bed, Penny began to think of Shane. His voice, his eyes, his kiss, his laughter and his touch was so vivid in her mind that she could swear he was sitting next to her. ‘I wish he really was’ and felt her eyes begin to water when the reality hit her that she may never see him again. “I never should have walked away. I should’ve waited until he got to the house and heard his side instead of just running away. I never should’ve let that…that woman get to me. Now, I might never see him again”. The more she chastised herself, the harder the tears were beginning to flow. She couldn’t help herself, feeling defeated and scared, Penny laid on the bed and cried herself to sleep not knowing that someone was listening at the door.

  Marcus heard every word she said and started feeling a bit sorry for the woman. Normally, he didn’t really care about anyone but, for some reason, she was different. This one was tough and witty. He enjoyed the way she tried to get him to talk and the way she was patient in waiting for a sort of reply from him. And when he refused to say anything, she yelled at him. No one, as far as he can remember, has ever yelled at him. A smile crept along his face as he remembered how her eyes had that glint of anger. He believed he never saw a more beautiful pair of eyes in his life. Yea. He liked her and he felt sorry for what she was going through. ‘Lynesse must really hate her to do this’ he thought and wondered what that little woman in the room ever did to her. Hearing her cry behind the door was, in fact, breaking his heart. He knew what she was feeling. He too walked away once and regretted every moment of it. Marcus may be a big, intimidating man and he may come across as being hard and cold but deep down inside…he had a heart. And right now, his heart was telling him that he was an idiot for doing this to that lady for a cold and selfish bitch. Marcus walked back to the living room and sat on the couch. His conscience was getting the better of him and now he had to figure out what he was going to do about it.

  CHAPTER 26

  Gabe found Shane sitting by the pool in thought. He was wondering how he was going to tell his brother what had happened, especially when he didn’t know he went to New York in the first place to bring her here. “Hey” he said as he walked up to him. Shane turned, “Hey back” and returned to his state of thought. Gabe took a seat next to him and looked up at the stars. You certainly didn’t get a view like this in the city and he admired his brother for building a beautiful getaway. “You’re looking a lot better than when I left ya. Botox?” Gabe tried humour to gage his brother’s mood. Shane looked over at Gabe, “Nip and tuck, actually, with a collagen boost” he answered back with a grin. Shane was feeling a bit better, Gabe noticed. “Whatcha thinkin’ about?” He was gonna tread lightly before broaching the subject of what happened. “I was thinking on how to get Penny back. I realized I let her go without any kind of fight. I want to hear it from her own lips, right in front of me, that she wants nothing more to do with me before I move on” Shane let out a sigh “I’m kind of hoping she still does”. Gabe looked at his little brother with heartbreak. He hated seeing Shane like this…vulnerable. “You love her, don’t you” It was more of a statement than a question and Shane looked at Gabe’s with watery eyes “Yes. I do. But I don’t know if that is enough”. Gabe stood up and walked to the other side. How he was going to tell him, he didn’t know, but he knew it had to be now. “What if I told you I went to see her?” Gabe had his back to Shane so he didn’t see his reaction. “You saw her?! How is she?” Shane got up and went to stand in front of his brother “What did she say?! Does she want to see me?” Gabe smiled a huge smile, he could see the love in his brother’s eyes for Penny. “Whoa now! One question at a time. Yes, I saw her and she is fine. Or was fine” With that final statement Shane saw the troubled look on Gabe’s face. He didn’t like it. “What happened? Is she seeing someone else? What are you not telling me?” Shane was frantic. He never considered she would meet someone else. Could she have met someone else already? Holten had walked up to the both of them and he heard what Gabe had said, “Why don’t we all go inside and sit down. Gabe will explain everything there” and he motioned both brothers towards the house “I’ll make a pot of coffee”. Gabe looked at his father “You know how to make coffee?” Shane, ahead of them both, mentioned over his shoulder “You’d be surprised what he can do” and headed into the living room. Once seated, he waited until Gabe joined him and patiently waited for him to spill it all. Gabe drew a long breath and began at the beginning. He told him how he found Penny, how he had spoken to her and that she came back to Colorado with him. “So she’s here?!” Shane was excited. Penny was here! In Denver! “Where is she?!” He got up and was looking for his keys when Gabe stopped him. “She’s gone, Shane” “What do you mean she’s gone. You just said she flew back with you. Where did she go?” Shane was still looking for his keys when his father walked in with a tray of coffee. Holten was putting the tray down when he turned to look at Gabe. He knew that telling the rest wasn’t going to be easy. “Shane, sit down will ya” Gabe said while watching his brother “Something happened at the airport that you need to know”. Shane stopped what he was doing, walked over to the couch and slowly sat down, he knew he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear. Gabe told him what had happened in the parking lot at the airport and felt awful. Seeing the hope drain out of Shane was more than he could bare. Holten passed Gabe a cup but decided against passing one to Shane. He didn’t look like he could hold anything at the moment, let alone a hot beverage. “We’ll find her, son” his father said with determination in his voice “I already have people looking into it as we speak. I’m positive they’ll find her”. He sat next to his youngest son and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder “We will find her”. Shane put his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands. He had so many questions t
hat he couldn’t decide on which one to start with. He wanted to scream and yell at his brother for letting something like this happen but he didn’t. He knew if Gabe could’ve protected Penny he would have. Shane felt like he just got punched in the gut. “Dear God let her be alright” and with that prayer, Shane gave in and had finally let the tears have their way.

  Lynesse woke in the middle of the night wondering why no one had come to wake her when Holten came home. Did he not come home? Lynesse was about to summon the maid when she thought against it. No, this was better. If she woke one of the maids to ask questions regarding her husband, and that said question had gotten back to him, he would wonder why she had become so interested in his business. No. She would wait until morning, then she will get the answers that she needs to bring her plan to completion. Lynesse snuggled more into her pillows and brought the blankets up around her. She would get a good night’s sleep, look radiant in the morning, get the news about the little tramp then head over to Shane’s. Lynesse closed her eyes and began dreaming of Shane making love to her while whispering how much he adored her.

  CHAPTER 27

  No one got much sleep since Penny went missing. Shane kept pacing around the house waiting for the phone to ring with some kind of news as to her whereabouts. All Gabe could do was watch while Holten was in the next room, on his phone, talking with his man, Anthony Marks, about any progress regarding the matter. So far, Penny had disappeared off the face of the earth. Gabe had thought of contacting the police while he was at the airport and had mentioned it to his father at the time but they thought against it. If there was a city wide search, it may put her more in danger than what she already was. He just hoped that his father’s ‘man’ knew what he was doing because the longer she was missing, the more panic Shane was experiencing. Holten walked into the living room and Shane quickly went to his side. “Anything?” he asked, hoping for some tidbit. “After a lot of inquiring, Marks got a name” Gabe sat up at that piece of news “There was rumour that a man came into a lot of money, started buying everyone drinks when he normally begs others for one. After a bit of persuasion, Marks got him to talk and the name he came up with was Marcus. Does it sound familiar?” Holten looked at Shane, waiting for an answer. Shane thought for some time “No. I don’t anyone with that name. Gabe?” Gabe had to think back but didn’t come up with anyone he knew or had known with that name “No, I don’t either”. “Well, Marks is trying to get more information from the man so all we have to do is sit and wait”. “Hold up. Marks is with him now?!” Shane stared at his father “Then why are we sitting here?! We should be there questioning him ourselves! Make him talk!” Gabe had a feeling he would react this way, his brother was always impulsive. “And do what? Go in with guns blazing? Marks’ knows what he’s doing. He’ll get the information we need before you know it. There’s no point in getting over excited” Holten sat back in the couch. “Dad’s right, Shane. Let the man do his thing. Anyone want anything from the kitchen?” Gabe got up to get a drink looking back at Shane and Holten. Holten just shook his head and Shane looked like he had grown two heads. “That’s it? We just sit and wait? What if she’s in trouble, or hurt or worse?!” “Keep thinking that way and the wait will be worse. We need to stay positive, son” Holten looked at his youngest. He knew his words didn’t mean much but they were all he had at the moment. Marks’ was good at gathering information, even difficult ones. He had faith that his man would find the answers they needed to locate Penny and bring her home. And right now, faith was all they had.

  Penny passed a very uneventful evening. Tired and sore, she got up to walk around the room some so that she could work the kinks out of her aching muscles. “Being tied to a bed ain’t what it’s cracked up to be” she said to herself, trying to keep some humour in all this. Marcus walked in with a tray and had set it on the bed. Now that it was light, Penny could see him more clearly than last night. He was a handsome man but with plain features. He was extremely tall with brown hair and brown eyes that were so dark you would think they were black, how ironic. The man who kidnapped her had black eyes, Penny giggled at her thought which turned into laughter. Marcus stared at her ‘She’s finally cracked’ he thought as he wondered why she was laughing. “What’s so funny?” he asked her. Penny looked at her captor and in between giggles she explained “Well, kidnappers are evil in my book and well, you have black eyes. Evil has black eyes” Marcus was taken aback by this. Evil? Ok, he did a lot of shitty things but he wouldn’t go as far to say they were evil. That description did not sit well with him, not one bit. “So you know the color of evil’s eyes do you? Met one in person?” Marcus stood with arms akimbo, waiting for an answer “No, of course not but they are always black in the movies” she answered. “Not always” he replied and started to head for the door, he didn’t want to stay after her ‘assessment’ of his character. “No wait!” she quickly said “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said. Please, stay and talk with me?” Marcus turned around once he heard the plea in her voice, bad idea. The look in her eyes said it all and what they said was something Marcus didn’t want to hear. He was an ass for doing this and for someone he didn’t like to begin with. Marcus ran his hand through his hair and let out a long, deep sigh. “If I go to jail then I go to jail” he said and walked over to Penny. She didn’t understand just what he was going to do and she scurried to the other side of the room as far as her chain will let her go. He had a look of determination and that scared the living crap out of her. Penny was just about to scream when she noticed he had a key in his hand and was bending down towards the lock on the chain. “What are you doing?” she asked hesitantly. She didn’t want to spook him and he ends up rethinking about what he’s doing. With a click, she was free, sort of. Marcus stood up and turned towards her. “You’re gonna have to come closer if you want that brace off your ankle” and Penny was in shock. “What?” was all she could say. Marcus noticed she wasn’t about to budge so he strolled up to her and bent down. All she could do was look down at the top of his head, surprised at what was happening. With another click, she was free. Marcus stood up and stared down into her eyes “You’re free” he said to her “I’m sorry for putting you through all of this. She didn’t really go into detail about why she wanted you out of the way but I figured it had to do with some piece of art she wanted to bid on. She is pretty low that way when she wants something badly enough” Penny just stared at him, wondering what the hell he was talking about. Who was this ‘she’ he keeps mentioning? “I heard what you said last night” Penny was still so stunned she barely made out what he said “What I said?” she asked, she still couldn’t understand what was happening. She should just walk around him and head straight out the door while she could in case he changed his mind. Penny dared a glance at the bedroom door and wondered if she could make it. Marcus backed up a few steps giving her lots of room, he wasn’t going to hold her any longer and be a part of this. He hated to see this one go, she had sass and he liked that. But, given what she said last night, he knew her heart belonged to another and because of that, he backed away. Penny ran for the bedroom door, excited that she was finally leaving. Once she reached it though, she stopped. She turned around and saw Marcus looking out the window with his shoulders slumped. “Who wanted me out of the way?” she asked him, not expecting an answer. Marcus turned around to face her, guilt written all over his face for what he had done. He may not be able to take away what he did, but he certainly could tell her everything he knew. Walking towards her, he slipped past her into the hallway and made his way towards the kitchen. Penny followed him, she was curious as to what he was doing. Marcus grabbed his keys and headed to the front door, “You coming?” he said over his shoulder and he reached for the knob. “Where are we going?” she asked, not knowing if she should accompany him or not. All instincts told her no but curiosity told her yes. If he was going to harm her at all, he would have done so by now she figured and followed him to the door. Marcus opened the door and let her
pass “As I drive you to wherever it is you want to go, I’m going to tell you why you were taken” and Penny couldn’t contain her surprise. She stopped short in the hallway and Marcus bumped into her. It was like getting hit by a truck and he grabbed her arm so she wouldn’t fall. “Thank you” was all she could say and Marcus smiled at her. “No”, he said, “Thank you”. Penny didn’t know why he was thanking her but she wasn’t about to question it. She was being taken to see the man she loves by the man who was paid to keep her away. ‘Well that’s ironic’ she thought as Marcus got in the driver’s seat and started the car. “Where to?” he asked her and Penny gave him the directions. As they were on the road, Marcus began telling her everything he knew and, to Penny’s surprise, she wasn’t at all shocked to find out that Lynesse had planned the whole thing.

  CHAPTER 28

  Lynesse had woken up to find out that Holten never came back from Shane’s last night. He never stayed out all night unless it was for business and she had a pretty good feeling that wasn’t the reason why he was at Shane’s. Lynesse got up out of bed and got dressed, this was her chance to see Shane and his chance to beg for her forgiveness. Although it would be awkward if Holten was around but she was sure they would find a secluded spot somewhere. Exhilarated, she made her way out the door. If she hurried, she would make it there by noon.