Collateral Damage_A Tethered Novel

by Jessica Wayne

  “Good and then?”

  Her grin was full of hatred “I will kill her. I won’t let you down, my love.”

  “I know you won’t.” Lindsay transformed before his eyes, and he looked smugly at the woman currently bound and gagged in the corner.

  Her fear filled eyes widened, and Lindsay laughed. “Look familiar, bitch?” she asked and slapped the woman across the face. “This is going to be fun.” She clapped, and Malcolm kissed her deeply.

  * * *

  Timothy sat in the bright waiting room of the Addiction Recovery Center just outside of Boston. The room was a cheerful sunshine yellow with paintings depicting parks with brightly colored birds on the walls.

  If anything, the decor made him want to pop a pill of something that would make him forget he ever sat in a room like it.

  But there must have been something to it because they had the best recovery rating in this part of the country.

  “Mr. McGinley come right this way please.” A woman wearing all white stepped from the back, and he and Ashton followed her down a hall and into a large room that was empty except for one person.

  Zeke Adams had only been in this place a short time and already looked significantly better than the last time Timothy had seen him.

  “Hi, Mr. McGinley, thanks for coming to see me.” Zeke offered him his hand and Timothy took it easily.

  “Of course, what can I do for you?”

  “I wanted to talk about-” he sighed, and his eyes shifted down to look at his hands. “My sister.”

  “How are you coming along in your recovery?”

  “Fine. I haven’t used since you brought me here.” His tone was defensive as his eyes shot back to Timothy’s face.

  “That’s good.”

  “It was hard at first, a lot of pain came back to the surface, but I’m dealing with it.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “I want to talk about Paislee.”

  “What about her?”

  “Where is she?”

  “That’s none of your concern right now.”

  “She’s my sister.”

  “A sister you didn’t even know was alive until I told you in that drug house. A sister mind you, that was taken, and you didn’t even bother looking for her.” Was he being rough? Definitely but Zeke Adams needed to understand just what he had sacrificed that night Malcolm and his men had taken Paislee away.

  “He said he would kill her.”

  “I understand that, but you didn’t even try Zeke.” Timothy leaned forward. “I don’t know if I can trust you enough yet to tell you where she is. I will tell you that she is safe, cared for and that I will protect her with my life, if necessary, but that is all.”

  Zeke nodded, fresh tears rolling down his lightly freckled cheeks. “She was my world, you know. I worked my ass off to provide for her, all I wanted was a good, solid life for my baby sister.”

  “I believe you, but that’s not the way it turned out. The easy road is hardly ever the best option.”

  “I know that now.” Zeke wiped a tear from his cheek. “Can you give her this? Please, you can even read it first if you’re that worried about it. I just want her to know that I am doing this for her and that I’m so damn sorry.”

  Timothy looked down at the note in his hand. “When the time is right.” He took the folded paper and stuck it into his pocket.

  “Thank you.” Zeke offered him the ghost of a smile. “And thank you for doing this for me.”

  “I’m doing this for Paislee,” Timothy responded quickly. “Now I need you to tell me everything you remember about Malcolm Gentry.”

  * * *

  Paislee’s attention was pulled from the book she was reading when a knock sounded at the door.

  Thinking it was one of the guards, she didn’t bother checking the peephole and simply pulled the large door open.

  “Hi, can I help you?” she asked, surprised to see a woman on the other side.

  “Yes, I think you can.”

  She never saw the punch. It landed on the corner of her jaw, and Paislee’s head whipped back, sending her body with it. She landed on the floor, dazed and the woman rushed her, kicking the door shut behind her.

  Paislee put her hands up to block the attack, but the woman had successfully caught her off guard. “What the hell do you want?” she screamed at her attacker.

  “Your blood, bitch.” She pummeled her fist back down into Paislee’s jaw, and her eyes settled on the silver cuff around her bicep. “This is what I need.”

  “Don’t take it off,” Paislee warned, dazed.

  “Oh, I’m going to take it off, and then I’m going to kill you.” She ripped the cuff off and stared down into Paislee’s face. “Do you know who I am?” She sneered.

  Paislee shook her head.

  “I am Giselle, Timothy is mine, do you hear me? Every single part of him is mine. How dare you try and take what is mine!” she screamed and pulled something out of her pocket.

  Paislee caught the glint of red and her eyes widened. “No!” she screamed just as the stone was within view. She screamed in agony as the stone began to pull the magic from her veins.

  “How does that feel, bitch? He told me it would hurt you, but I had no idea how enjoyable it would be for me to watch.”

  Paislee couldn’t hear a thing she said, her mind so overtaxed due to the pain the garnet was inflicting on her. The only thing she could focus on was that it would soon be over and then she wouldn’t have to feel anything anymore.

  “Paislee!” a man yelled her name, but Paislee could barely hear it. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she held on to what little life she had left. Was it Timothy?

  “Get away from her!” someone, not Timothy, yelled as Giselle was ripped off her. “Paislee, can you hear me?”

  Jake’s face came into view, and Paislee caught sight of his worried expression. She did her best to nod and opened her mouth to speak, to warn Jake that he needed to get the stone from Giselle.

  “What happened?” A deep growl sounded in the room, and Paislee tried to stop the tears from streaming down her face. Timothy knelt beside her and glared at Jake.

  “It was that woman, she had Paislee on the ground when I got in here. I don’t know what happened.”

  “What woman?” Paislee heard Ashton ask.

  “She was right-” He turned, but Giselle was gone. “I don’t understand, she was right there. I came in and pulled her off Paislee.”

  “Paislee,” Timothy said softly. “Can you hear me?”

  Paislee nodded.

  “I’m going to lift you, okay?” he said softly.

  “We need to call an ambulance. Don’t move her,” Jake insisted, but Timothy ignored him.

  “Ashton, figure out what the hell he was doing here before I kill him myself.”

  “What? Kill me? I didn’t do anything!” he insisted as Ashton pulled him down onto the couch.

  Timothy carried her into the bedroom and laid her gently back. “I’m going to put the cuff back on, okay? Just in case whoever was responsible is still nearby.”

  Paislee nodded and felt the coolness from the steel against her skin. She could see Timothy clearly now, his face hardened in anger.

  “It was Giselle,” she whispered.

  Paislee had been prepared for anger, but the unfiltered rage that crossed Timothy’s face had surprised her. “Fuck,” he growled. “I’m so damn sorry, Paislee.” He leaned forward and pressed his head against hers. “Dammit, I’m sorry.”

  She lifted her arms up and wrapped them around him as her body began to shake. Death was not something she was afraid of. In fact, she was prepared for it. But as she held on to him, she realized just how much she enjoyed living.

  * * *

  “Did you get her?” Timothy asked into his phone.

  “We can’t find her. It’s as if she disappeared.” Ashton’s voice was full of frustration and he cursed under his breath.

  “Keep an eye out. I kno
w Giselle, she won’t go far.”

  “Were watching. How’s Paislee?”

  “Still asleep, I don’t know what the hell happened. How did she get up here?”

  “She killed Jim.”

  “How?” How in the world had Giselle killed a fully trained ex-GI?

  “His throat had been cut.”

  “Something about this isn’t fitting. Giselle is insane, sure, but I don’t see how she could take down a fully trained man and make it out with no injuries.”

  “She took down a witch,” Ashton reminded him. “Paislee is no easy target.”

  “Yeah, I suppose so.” He rubbed his forehead. “I guess we won’t know anything for sure until Paislee wakes up.”

  “Did you get anything out of the brother about Malcolm?” Ashton asked him.

  “Unfortunately, no, he didn’t remember much, the drugs had seen to that, and what he did remember were things we already knew.”

  “Shame.”

  “It is, but we hadn’t counted on him remembering much anyway.”

  “True.”

  “We need to know what Malcolm has before we can make an executed attack on his estate. We could go marching in there and be shot down before we let out our first breath.”

  “I fear that if we wait much longer, we’re going to end up with Malcolm on our doorstep. I’m going to get into touch with my contacts with the bureau, see if there’s some way we can get some intel. I was hoping not to do it, it could raise flags if I’m not careful but at this point, I think it’s our only play.” The phone line disconnected, and he set it down on the table.

  Timothy knew Ashton was right, every single day they sat on it was another day Malcolm had to prepare. There was a war coming to them, and they needed to be sure they were ready for it.

  Chapter 27

  Jayde Walker stepped out into the dark with a smile on her face. She had finally gotten her term paper finished and was certain she was going to get an A on it.

  Her professor was tough, but Jayde had poured days into making sure the paper was up to expectation. She was one step closer to graduation and then she could start her work as a resident in at Seattle General. Her future was just within reach. She wouldn’t be known as the ‘freak’ anymore, or ‘the weird girl’ because of the strange things that happened around her.

  She would be known as Dr. Walker, M.D. She grinned into the dark as she pictured herself helping others while wearing the coveted white coat.

  “Excuse me,” a man’s voice sounded behind her, and she turned to see a handsome blonde man with a bright, kind smile.

  “Yes?”

  He blushed and stepped towards her. “I saw you in the library.”

  “Yes, I was in there.”

  “I, uh.” He rubbed the back of his neck and Jayde could see he was nervous. It was cute and added to his kind demeanor. “I was wondering if you wanted to grab a drink?”

  She smiled. “I would love too, but it will have to be another night. I just finished my term paper, and I want to get back to my dorm to give it one more look over.”

  “I totally understand, I just, I really want to take you out. What about dinner? Or coffee? If you’re going to be up, I bet you’d like some coffee.”

  She thought about it as she studied him. He had kind eyes, and he wasn’t being overly pushy with her. Besides, she could use a cup of coffee to help her get through the rest of the night.

  She smiled. “Okay, I’d love to grab a cup of coffee.”

  “Awesome.” He grinned, and Jayde was glad she’d agreed. “Shall we?” he asked and held out his arm.

  She slung her arm over his and allowed him to walk her through the dark. They turned a corner, and for the first time since meeting him, she began to feel nervous.

  “What are we doing? The college coffeehouse is that way.”

  He pulled her into an alley and slammed her against the wall. “I promise this part won’t hurt a bit.”

  The kindness that had been in his eyes was gone, replaced by madness Jayde couldn’t understand how he’d hid. She tried to access the power in her veins, but in an instant, he had covered her face with a cloth and her world fell away.

  Chapter 28

  Paislee opened her eyes and winced as the light from the window enhanced the pounding in her head. What the hell happened? She asked herself as she tried to sit up. It felt like her body had been hit by a semi that then had the courtesy to back over her afterward.

  She rubbed the heels of her hands against her eyes as the memories came flooding back to her. The woman had attacked her over Timothy. Who the hell was Giselle anyways?

  The stone. How had she known? Did Timothy let it slip? Was he still seeing her? How did she get it? One word came to mind: Malcolm. It was more likely the sadistic bastard had exploited Giselle, used her feelings for Timothy against her.

  Her old captor certainly had a way of using people against each other. She’d seen him do it.

  The door opened slightly, and Timothy stepped in. She saw him visibly relax as soon as he saw her sitting up.

  “How are you?”

  “My head feels as if it’s on fire and my body aches but I’m alive.”

  Timothy took a seat on the bed next to her and wrapped his arms around her. The gesture was so sweet, so normal that it took her by surprise.

  “I’m so sorry, Paislee.”

  “What are you sorry for?”

  “Giselle and I, we used to see each other.” He released her and sat back.

  “I gathered as much. Doesn’t mean you are responsible for her psychotic ass.”

  “What happened?”

  “I’m an idiot, that’s what happened.”

  “What do you mean?” he wondered.

  “There was a knock at the door, and I opened it without checking to see who it was first. I got comfortable and didn’t see the punch until it was too late. I may be good with my magic, but I’m not very physical. I never got the chance to learn, so when she punched me, it knocked me back and stunned me long enough for her to land a few more good ones on me.”

  “You were able to get your cuff off, is that why we can’t find her?”

  Paislee stared at him a moment. “I didn’t take my cuff off. She did, and then pulled a garnet out of her bag.”

  Timothy’s hands fisted into balls. “She did what?”

  “She used the stone just like Malcolm had and started to draw out my magic. I don’t remember much after that, just the pain.”

  Timothy stood and walked to the window. “How in the hell did she find out about you?”

  “Probably Malcolm.”

  “Malcolm.”

  “Makes sense doesn’t it? How else would she have gotten it?”

  “What doesn’t make sense is why garnets are suddenly your kryptonite. I thought it was only the necklace. You’re sure that’s not what she had?”

  “Positive. Malcolm would never let her to take it on the off chance she lost it or was killed. He’s way too paranoid.”

  Paislee turned at the sound of a light knock and saw Ashton standing just outside of the door.

  “Hey, Ashton.” She offered him a smile. “Come on in and join the party.”

  “I’m happy to see you’re alright Paislee.”

  “Me too.”

  Ashton turned to Timothy. “Parish claims he didn’t see anything and has no idea where she went.”

  “Jake?”

  “He claims that he stopped Giselle.”

  “I need to thank him then.”

  “No. Not until he is cleared.”

  “Cleared? You don’t think he had anything to do with it do you?”

  “I think it’s suspicious that he was here in the first place, on the very day you are attacked and one of Ashton’s men is killed.”

  “Killed? Who?”

  “Jim, who was working downstairs.”

  “Oh no, I’m so sorry, Ashton. He seemed so nice.”

  “He was a good man, and it ap
pears he didn’t try and fight off his attacker. Since he is happily married, I cannot imagine it was Giselle he invited in.”

  “Do you really think Jake has anything to do with it?” she wondered.

  Timothy didn’t hesitate. “I think it’s possible.”

  “Then let’s go talk to him.”

  “Paislee, you need to rest,” Timothy insisted.

  “I need to stop sitting on my ass doing nothing. Before you, I was careful, on edge, and watched everything around me. Now, I’ve been attacked because I got complacent. I won’t let that happen again.”

  “Paislee-” he started, but she put her hand in the air.

  “I’m no delicate flower, Timothy, so stop treating me like I am.”

  After a moment he nodded. “Fine, but we do this my way.”

  * * *

  Paislee, Timothy, and Ashton made their way downstairs to the security office. It was hard to wrap her mind around the kind-faced Jake having anything to do with Malcolm, but unfortunately, she was smart enough to recognize the signs and knew it was worth looking into.

  They stepped into the security office, and Ashton cursed. It took Paislee a moment to notice the feet sticking out from under the desk.

  “Is he dead?” Timothy asked through gritted teeth.

  “No, just unconscious.”

  “Fuck,” Paislee muttered.

  “Fuck is exactly right. Turns out we’ve had a traitor in our midst this entire time.”

  Ashton got on his radio and told them to lock down the building, but if Paislee had to guess Jake was long gone by now. Which meant their only lead had disappeared.

  “We have to make a move soon Timothy. You might be okay waiting around to see what happens, but I’m not.” She turned and walked out of the office.

  * * *

  “You failed.” Malcolm eyed the woman standing before him.

  “That asshole interrupted me.” She shot her finger to Jake who leaned against the wall.

  “This asshole interrupted you because McGinley was headed upstairs. We can’t risk him getting his hands on that stone.”