Lose Control (Firebacks Book 3)

by Linda Verji

  This was definitely not August House.

  Last night’s memories came rushing in and along with them the intense anger that had pushed her to run despite her low mood. The bile rose in her throat as her mind conjured up an image of Hanna.

  Chryssa didn’t even care about her job. She was confident enough in her skills that Harrington Shultz was not her end all be all. But that bitch had messed with her mind. She could’ve lost her baby. She could’ve lost Eli. She could’ve lost her life.

  That bitch.

  Chryssa had no doubt at all that Hanna had orchestrated the whole thing then roped everyone along. Smart recognized smart and despite his accolades, Dr. Stiles had never seemed particularly sly. He was just a pawn. And Chryssa didn’t deal with pawns. She was going straight for the queen.

  That bitch.

  Her escape had been surprisingly easy. Chryssa knew that if she got caught it would mean extra days and an almost prison like existence. However trying was better than just staying and hoping that Dr. Stiles didn’t do anything funny. While still in line for her medication, Chryssa had come up with a soft plan of escape.

  Using her nausea as an excuse she’d asked to be allowed to go to her room after getting her night meds instead of staying in the common room with the other patients. She still felt bad for knocking out Danielle who’d been assigned to escort her. She meant only to punch her then while she was still down, but she had underestimated her own strength and the poor girl fainted.

  She hurriedly divested Danielle of the white slacks and matching polo-shirt that was characteristic of the orderlies’ uniforms. After putting the uniform on herself, Chryssa tied Danielle’s hands, legs and gagged her with fabric from her sheets then tucked Danielle into her bed. Hopefully the living breathing lump in her bed would delay the alarms. The uniform helped her get past the front door. One of the newer doctors held the door open for her as she left.

  She could’ve taken Danielle’s car keys too but she knew that would be an exercise in futility. August House was low security because most of the patients were in here voluntarily. However that didn’t mean that there weren’t any security measures. The guards always required identification before letting anyone in or out. She couldn’t just drive out. Instead she burst the glass of one of the cars in the parking lot. While the guards were distracted by the blaring alarms and scouring the lot because they assumed that someone was trying to steal a car to drive out in, Chryssa snuck out.

  Still hyped on adrenalin from her daring escape, Chryssa ignored the sting of the glass still stuck to her elbows and power-walked to the main road. It was only seven o’clock but Chryssa wasn’t about to be Ted Bundied out here, so instead of hitching a ride with the several cars that passed her, she trudged on.

  Unfortunately her baby and her still lingering depression did not like long walks. Once the adrenalin faded, the meds she’d taken earlier in the night kicked in so did her nausea as well as debilitating tiredness. She was forced to stop at the nearest motel.

  She could have called Eli but she didn’t. First; because she didn’t have a phone anymore and second because she needed to fuck Hanna up.

  Eli would not approve.

  “Ma’am,” The female voice shouted again through the door. “Did you hear me? One hour to checkout.”

  Chryssa didn’t reply. After a while she heard fading footsteps. Tiredly she sat up on the bed, despite her natural inclination to just go back to sleep, she knew she had to get up. She needed to stop Hanna.

  Stop Hanna. The more those words tossed around in her head, the more shots of adrenalin coursed through her veins until she was angry enough to start moving. Each movement as she precise as she undressed then lay the matching polo-shirt and pants on the bed, she walked to the bathroom.

  The bathroom was no better than the wallpaper. U-G-L-Y. There were smudges of dirt on the walls, dust hills on the corners of the floor and the toilet had a brown rim running around the bowl. Chryssa kept her shoes on until she got right to the edge of the shower.

  After an icy shower, she a air-dried, used her hand-lotion to oil herself then once again dressed up in the uniform. She stared at her image in the mirror as she combed her hair into a semblance of order then tied it into a ponytail. Her eyes were still droopy but there was barely banked fire in there too. Stop Hanna.

  The woman who had checked her in last night was by the reception desk when Chryssa came down the stairs. Chryssa handed her the room’s keys. The woman started. “We offer breakfast for-”

  Chryssa cut her off before she could rumble out a figure, “No breakfast. Do you know where I can find a cab?”

  The woman looked Chryssa up and down. Her polo shirt still had sweat stains underneath the armpits. Her white pants were dirty from the dusty road as well as from the splashes of vomit from when she’d stopped to spill her guts out on the side of the road.

  Anyone else would’ve asked how this woman was going to afford cab-fare looking like that. After watching Chryssa borrow a pen-knife from her yesterday night, then slash the sole of her rubber shoes to produce a debit card, the motel manager had no more questions. She made the call.

  When they were poor, Chryssa had seen the kind of public mental hospitals her mother was forced into. There the staff wasn’t as nice as the private institution she could afford now. But she didn’t know what the future held. Maybe one day she wouldn’t be able to afford August House.

  Just in case she needed to pull a runner, she’d sown a back-up debit card into her only pair of rubber shoes. Anyone who packed her clothes for her after a breakdown would automatically take them. Eli had unwittingly aided her escape.

  While Chryssa waited for her cab, she went to the ATM machine outside and withdrew some money. The moment the cab driver saw her and her dirty clothes, he asked for his fare upfront. Chryssa wanted to cuss him out but she wasn’t up to it. She was nauseous, hungry and tired. Any energy she had she was saving for Hanna’s ass.

  “R&M,” she directed the driver towards one of the popular apparel stores. She was among the first clients of the day. The door clinked as she pushed it. The assistants’ heads turned, more than a few noses were wrinkled when they saw her, a few turned their back on her assuming she couldn’t afford anything in here. Chryssa walked to the racks carrying women’s suits and started fingering them as she looked for her size.

  “Excuse me, we don’t allow-”The manager rushed towards her, probably to kick Chryssa out. She stopped midsentence when Chryssa flicked her hand at her. Between her index finger and middle finger she held a bunch of notes. A bunch of hundred dollar notes. Her tone immediately changed, “That grey will look lovely on you, Ma’am.”

  The woman who came out of R&M an hour later was not the same one who’d walked in. Replacing the messy orderly’s uniform was a grey pant and vest suit over a striped purple, blue and white shirt. The tiredness in her face was camouflaged by good makeup and her hair tamed into curls that fell over her shoulders softly. They’d even managed to relieve some of her hunger with a glass of fresh juice and crackers.

  Chryssa looked at her reflection in the doors as she exited the store. It really was true. Image was everything. There was a little smile on her face as she noted that her look would now get her past any door. The smile however had an edge. That bitch Hanna.

  The cabbie’s tone when she got back into the cab had changed. There was new respect in his eyes as he asked, “Where next Ma’am?”

  “We’re going to Harrington Shultz.” Chryssa said. “But we need to make one stop first.”

  ***

  Hanna smiled as she arranged another book on the shelf in her new office. As a senior partner at the firm she had an office on the second floor. It was much smaller than the one she had had at Green, Green & Becket, but it was much better than the alternative; being out on her ass. With just one stone she had killed two birds.

  Her impending joblessness and Chryssa!

  Settling on her swivel seat, Hanna took a
nother look around her office. Dark wood, black leather and shiny steel; Strength. She smiled.

  She pressed on the intercom. “Aaron.”

  “Yes Mrs. Clayton,” the little twink had offered to be her PA as soon as she got here. He’d probably seen that Hanna was the new queen of the playground and wanted to cozy up to her. Good move. Hanna liked strategists.

  “Go get me a cup of coffee. No sugar. No cream,” Hanna snapped. “And tell them to give you a lid today.”

  “Yes Ma’am,” Aaron answered spiffily.

  Aaron came back thirty minutes later and set the covered cup of coffee on her desk. Smiling brightly he asked, “Anything else?”

  “You can leave,” Hanna said waving him out of the office. She heard the door softly close as she uncovered her coffee, its pungent aroma filling the space. Lifting the cup, she tilted it to her lips – and almost chocked.

  The cloying sweetness was suffocating to the tongue. It felt like they had dumped the whole tin of sugar in this one cup of coffee.. Had she not made it clear that she wanted no sugar? What the hell was wrong with that boy? How had Chryssa even managed to put up with this kind of ineptitude?

  Sneering she put the coffee cup back down on the desk as she shouted, “Aaron! Aaron!”

  There was no answer, but a minute later the door opened. Hanna was just opening her mouth to start berating Aaron when she saw who was at her door. Her mouth snapped closed, then opened again.

  It was almost like seeing a ghost rising from the dead. Chryssa Williams stood at her door with a gift basket in one hand. “Hello Hanna.”

  It was the soft words that activated Hanna. She jumped to her feet, quickly pressing on the intercom, “Aaron, call security.”

  There was no answer. Chryssa closed the door behind her. The lock snapped into place almost ominously.

  “Aaron. Aaron. Aaron,” Hanna insisted as Chryssa watched her with her with an amused expression.

  Chryssa looked – almost normal. Her hair was perfectly coiffed, suit neatly pressed and smile in place. But there was just something about her eyes. This bitch is crazy.

  Hanna pressed on the intercom key frantically. “Aaron. Aaron. Aaron.”

  Still no answer.

  Hanna felt cold fear trickled down her spine and seep into her limbs but didn’t let it show on her face. She could’ve screamed but that was not her style. Screaming was for pussies. If this bitch had a gun on her, girlish screams wouldn’t help anyway. Her voice did not tremble as she asked, “What do you want here?”

  “I just wanted to welcome you to Harrington Shultz,” Chryssa said setting the gift basket on the table between them.

  Hanna took a quick glance down. Roses, chocolate, wine, a book, no visible weapons. It all looked very harmless, but she wasn’t fooled. She picked up the receiver, pressing it to her ear and keeping an eye on Chryssa as she dialed, “I’m calling security.”

  “I hope they get here in time,” Chryssa said in a bored tone as she picked the green bottle of wine from the basket. The dark liquid inside danced as she grasped it in one hand while fingering the label.

  “In time for what?”

  Chryssa smiled, “To save you.”

  She slammed the bottle on the table. The shattering of glass and splashing of liquid was so sudden that Hanna actually jumped. When Chryssa raised the bottle again, the bottom half was gone and only jagged edges pointed towards Hanna.

  The wine bottle was now a weapon.

  CHAPTER 37

  Hanna’s heart jumped to her throat with the crashing sound of glass shattering against the wood. The fear that hit her was so intense that she couldn’t hide it underneath her usual calm façade. Her eyes widened, her breath quickened and her hand fell away from her ear, phone still held limply in her fingers.

  Like the fear, her need to run was instinctual. She took a step back as her eyes quickly shifted to the door.

  Chryssa blocked it. There was nowhere to run.

  The only sound in the room as the two women stared each other down was the dull dial-tone of the phone still in Hanna’s hand. Tension swirled around like a rope, tying both of them up in knots of apprehension. Hanna felt a cold sweat trickle down from her neck to her spine.

  Chryssa’s stance was casual as she tapped the partially broken bottle against her palm with a small smile on her face like this was just a game for her. But Hanna wasn’t fooled. The bottle wasn’t just a threat. She was coming after her.

  Hanna felt like a rabbit being chased down by a rabid dog. Predator vs Prey. She knew Chryssa expected her to run. It would only make the hunt sweeter. There was only one solution to this; don’t do what the predator expects.

  Swallowing down her fear and schooling her expression into one of nonchalance, Hanna smiled, “So what do you plan to do, Williams?”

  “What do you think I’m going to do, Simms?” Chryssa returned the smile though her expression was more feral than amused. Still keeping an eye on Hanna, she bent suddenly and yanked at the wire that ran from the wall to the phone. Immediately the phone in Hanna’s hand went dead.

  No dial tone. No Security. It was just her against Chryssa

  “You wouldn’t dare.” It felt like her face would crack from all this fake smiling, but Hanna didn’t let it drop. She would not show weakness.

  “Wouldn’t I?” Chryssa edged towards Hanna’s side of the desk, bottle still firmly clasped in her hand. The conversation was banal considering all the emotions that were spinning between the two women. Both knew the other was an equal match.

  “They’d arrest you before you even made it to the door.” Hanna moved further away from Chryssa, the handset still clasped in her hand. Kicking off her heels, she reminded Chryssa, “Murder One.”

  “Insanity Plea.” Chryssa also kicked off her shoes.

  If she didn’t do something she was going to die. Hanna swiftly assessed her options. She’d already calculated that Aaron was either already dead or had been playing her so screaming wouldn’t help.

  Chryssa was now on one side of the desk. Maybe if she used the other side of the desk, she could run fast and….

  Chryssa’s chuckle cut into Hanna’s scheming. “Don’t even try. You wouldn’t make it to the door.”

  Chryssa was much taller which meant longer legs than her. Running was not a choice. There was only one option.

  It all happened so suddenly. One minute Chryssa was stalking her around the table, the next Hanna had lunged at Chryssa handset in hand. Her aim was sure and she caught Chryssa by surprise. There was a hard thump as heavy plastic met skin and bone. Chryssa staggered back in pain palm to her temple.

  Hanna didn’t know she’d been hit too until she felt shards of glass cut into the side of her face. Excruciating pain rushed all the way from her face to each nerve ending. She could even feel a part of the glass embedded in her cheek.

  She had no time to wallow in the pain because once more Chryssa was charging for her. They each grasped the other’s wrist trying to dislodge the other’s weapon as with the other hands they threw punches. Neither of the women screamed as they grappled. In the scuffle and both the handset and bottle fell to the ground.

  Hanna could taste blood in her mouth as one of Chryssa punches met the side of her lips almost taking a tooth out. Blood streamed from the cuts on her face but she continued to fight. Adrenalin and the certainty that if she didn’t she was going to die, kept her going. She yanked hard on Chryssa’s ponytail. Chryssa growled then flipped Hanna with both hands on her neck. Hanna went crashing into the bin in an almost somersault falling onto her side.

  Swiftly Chryssa followed her down, but Hanna held her off with a swift kick to the breast. Chryssa fell to the ground on her back. Breathing hard and knowing that Chryssa was still going to come for her, Hanna sat up quickly, fists already raised.

  But Chryssa didn’t come after her.

  Hanna wiped the blood on the corner of her mouth with the back of one hand as her eyes swung to Chryssa. Chryssa was o
n her back on the carpet, arm on her forehead, eyes open and taking deep gulps of air. Her lips were moving. Quieting the blood still rushing in her ears from adrenalin, Hanna strained to hear.

  Through deep breaths, Chryssa muttered, “You win. You win. You win.”

  Triumph suffused Hanna’s senses as Chryssa’s words seeped into her psyche. Triumph because she’d just won. Sure her face was bleeding – but she’d just won. Again! She was Hanna Simms.

  The triumph was however marked by disappointment. The fight had ended faster than she expected. It had been a while since she’d beaten a bitch up and Chryssa had barely put up a fight. Apart from the hit with the phone, a few punches, a pull of the hair and kick of the breast she was down? Bloody disappointing!

  Kneeling to look at the fallen Chryssa, she spat, “You act like such a bad bitch and only one kick took you out?”

  “Just call security,” Chryssa muttered shifting her arm off of her face. “That’s what you were going to do, right?”

  “You’re going to jail forever,” Hanna gloated making no move to reconnect the phone even as she stood up. This was the end of Chryssa. Even Bradshaw wouldn’t be able to convince the other partners to keep her after this stunt. After she pressed charges for assault, her career would be irredeemable. Hanna chuckled, “I’m going to bury you so deep even a bulldozer won’t be able to get you out.”

  “Just tell me why you did it. Why would you mess with my medication?” Chryssa sighed as she sat up. The effort seemed to take all of her energy. Hanna sneered as she watched her. Weak ass. Even her voice sounded tired as she said, “You could’ve killed me.”

  “It’s not my fault you’re crazy.” Hanna laughed looking down at the exhausted Chryssa. In her exhilaration at finally putting down Chryssa for good, she kept gloating. “You think you’re so bad. You’re nothing. I run New York. Do you know how easy it was to get your stupid doctor to change your pills?” She snapped her fingers. “This easy.”