Brain

by Candace Blevins

  “Yeah well, at least I’ll be alive. We’ll figure the rest out from there.”

  “Okay, the road’s about to get rough but we should be to the boat in five minutes.”

  “You signaled them?”

  “Yeah, they should be at the dock when we arrive. I’ll carry you to the yacht and send Gonzo back for the suitcase.”

  We’d carried one of the suitcases onto the plane, as Ivankov had told us to bring the money with us. We’d lied and told him the other was in a storage facility, as we hadn’t wanted to risk travelling with both together. He hadn’t bought it until I’d told him I didn’t want to put all our eggs in the same basket, and then he’d laughed, and I’d died a little more on the inside, just hearing his laugh.

  I shook my head, reminded myself I’d watched the life leave his eyes and waited for his heart to stop beating. He was dead. He’d never bother me again, and Ranger and Brain were going to get rid of the evidence.

  I remember Duke carrying me onto the yacht, and Bash cutting my pant leg off. I know they gave me a shot, and someone cleaned the wound and wrapped it. I’m not sure exactly who did what, but when they finished, I remember telling them I’d change my clothes when I woke. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough, because they told me I couldn’t sleep in bloody wet pants, and they cut them off, along with my underwear, but kept me strategically covered with towels.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Harmony

  I woke with a start, nauseated, and yelped in pain when I tried to get out of bed to run to the bathroom. Duke was right there, helping me, and he mostly carried me to the bathroom and then held my hair as I puked into the sink.

  Someone came to the door, and Duke told them to get a washcloth and some water. A few minutes later, he pressed a cool washcloth to my forehead as I puked some more. He also wrapped a towel around my waist, and rolled the top so it held. I still had my shirt, bra, and bulletproof vest on from earlier, but nothing below my waist. Other people’s blood had dried on my shirt by the time I conked out, but my pants and underwear had still been wet with my own blood.

  When I finally thought it was safe to step away from the sink, I pointed out, “Blood loss, major trauma, and riding in a yacht on the ocean don’t mix.”

  “Can’t argue that. If Gen were here, she’d make ginger tea, do you want me to see if there’s some stocked?” Bash handed him a new toothbrush and a small tube of toothpaste, which he set on the sink.

  I shook my head, realized that was a bad idea, and said, “No, but maybe a little Coke, and some toast?”

  He nodded to someone in the other room, and I asked, “Have we heard from Ranger or Brain?”

  “No, but I don’t expect to until we get closer to Jamaica.”

  I knew this, but had needed to ask, anyway. I looked in the mirror at the rest of the bathroom and told him, “I need to take a shower. I don’t know how much of this blood is mine, and how much belonged to someone else.” My shirt had a decent amount of dried blood on it, and I could see and feel the streaks on my arms where someone had tried to clean them, probably while I slept.

  “If you’d been anyone else, we’d have cleaned you properly, and changed all of your clothes while you were out.”

  Instead of responding, I opened the toothbrush package, and took a few minutes to brush my teeth.

  The bathroom was surprisingly luxurious for a boat, but there wasn’t a bench in the shower and I wasn’t sure I could stand long enough to wash my body and hair. However, a bath was out — if we put plastic wrap over the current bandage, it should be okay under running water, but submersion was out of the question.

  Bash came in with the Coke and toast. I accepted the glass from him as he said, “Gen’ll have Duke’s balls if he helps you in the shower. I’ll bring one of the outdoor chairs down and put it in the shower stall, so you can sit, and I’ll wash your hair, then we can stand you up and make sure all the blood’s washed off.”

  I shook my head, and Bash looked solemn as he told me, “I’m sorry about before, truly, but you can’t go in there by yourself or we risk you giving yourself a concussion when you fall. I’ll keep swim trunks on, and I’ll behave. You’re Brain’s woman, we all know that.”

  I took a sip of the Coke, and looked at my feet several long moments as I felt the sway of the boat. The yacht had come with a minimum crew of two who drove in shifts. I could’ve hired lots more staff — maids, cooks, and strippers I was pretty sure would do more than just take their clothes off, but the less people on the boat, the better, so I’d gone with the minimum.

  “Where’s Gonzo?”

  “In the bedroom, listening in case you need something else, so he can go get it.”

  “Why are you offering to help with my shower? Why you and not him?” I asked Bash.

  “Would you rather have Gonzo?”

  I shook my head. “I’d rather not have any of you see me naked, much less have to help me, but I don’t see another way.” I looked around, and said, “Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to hold off on trying the toast until after my shower. Someone is going to walk me to the toilet, and everyone will leave. While I’m sitting, I’ll get rid of my shirt and everything else, and will wrap a large towel around me. Someone can bring the chair in, and ya’ll can get me settled in the chair, and then leave. I’ll see how I do washing my own hair and cleaning everything except my butt, since I’ll be sitting on it. If I need help, I’ll call you in. If not, when I’ve finished, I’ll turn the water off, wrap myself in a dry towel, and then someone can help me to a chair in the bedroom. I have some sundresses packed, I’ll wear one of them so I won’t have anything on my leg. Then I need to take a look at the wound, and we’ll figure out how I’m going to get around without needing to be carried. I don’t dare bend my knee, which means ya’ll need to bring something to prop my leg on in the shower.”

  In the end, I only needed help getting into and out of the shower, and managed to get myself clean with no help. Bash got me to the bedroom when I was finished, and once I had the dress on, Duke squatted in front of me as I nibbled on the toast, and told me, “I can put a splint on your knee, two sticks on either side, and medical tape to hold them on, so you can try to walk without the temptation of bending your leg. I don’t mind carrying you, but I’m guessing you’d rather walk, if you can manage. How much pain are you in?”

  “I can handle the pain, I’ve had worse, the main thing is watching for infection.”

  “The yacht has penicillin in the first aid cabinet. We should probably start you on it, if you aren’t allergic.”

  “Yeah, that’d be good. What’s the deal with the captain? What’d you tell him?”

  “He thinks you were too drunk to walk when we brought you on board. We wrapped you in a blanket, so he didn’t see the blood. He’s used to ferrying the rich and partying crowd. The Coke and toast will just further the lie along. If he asks about you hobbling around, just tell him you’ve aggravated an old knee injury. If we end up splinting the knee, it’ll back it up.”

  I nodded and said, “Let’s get the bandage off so I can see the injury. What do we have available for first aid? Don’t suppose the kit has medical grade superglue?”

  “It does, but we can’t use it until someone takes a look at the muscle. It may need to be stitched.”

  I shook my head and started unwrapping as I told him, “I believe, with the angle of the knife, it likely stabbed the center of the muscle, so nothing should be severed. As long as I keep it immobile a few weeks, it should heal.”

  “You a doctor?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I have as good of a grasp of anatomy as any medical professional, and I’ve patched myself up enough, I know what’ll heal and what needs a doctor. When you live off the grid, you only see a doctor when absolutely necessary.”

  They watched as I superglued the cut closed, and I let Bash bandage and wrap it again, as he’d done a good job before and he could get to it better.

 
; As he worked, Duke asked, “You’ve kept the glass of Coke down, and the toast down, do you want something else? We have Tylenol, but you may want a little more on your stomach before you try it.”

  “Yeah, maybe more Coke and toast, and possibly a scrambled egg?” I was both starving and sick to my stomach. Hopefully, some more food would settle it.

  He looked at Gonzo, who went up the steps, presumably to fix my food. When Gonzo was gone, Duke asked, “Do you want us to bring your food down, or do you want me to carry you upstairs?”

  Being in the bedroom with Bash and Duke was too much, so I said, “I’ll try hobbling up the steps.”

  “No,” he said. “We’ll work on that tomorrow, but for today, I’d rather you let me carry you.” His voice softened and he said, “I can smell your pain, Harmony. Let me carry you.”

  I rolled my eyes and told him, “Fine. I want to be in a recliner, inside, but so I can see where the yacht is going. Maybe that’ll help my woozy head.”

  The upstairs area was beyond beautiful, and I felt like a truly pampered princess as Duke settled me in a recliner, and Gonzo brought my toast and eggs, and put the Coke in a cup holder on the side table.

  “Thanks, guys. Now, sit down and stop hovering. How long did I sleep?”

  “Three hours,” Duke answered as he sat across from me. Gonzo handed me the Tylenol bottle, and I got some out and handed it back to him with a polite, “Thanks.” I forced myself to make eye contact, and I knew they could smell how hard it was for me to do it, but there was nothing I could do about my scent. I’d worry about what I had control over, and that was my facial expressions. They were trying to help me, and I needed to try to be nice, back. Even if it killed me on the inside.

  I looked back to Duke. “I note I awakened without any of my weapons?”

  “You won’t need them on the yacht, but I’ll bring you whatever you want.”

  “Yeah, the sundress has small pockets. I’d like my pepper spray and knife, please.”

  Gonzo left the room, and Bash said, “I cleaned your knife, made sure no forensics lab’ll ever know what it was used for.”

  “Thanks, again. Why are ya’ll being so nice? I’m not used to having people take care of me. I appreciate it, but I’ll be okay on my own.”

  “We miss our brother,” Gonzo said as he came back into the room and held out his hand to show me my knife and pepper spray. I put one in each pocket, and Bash added, “We came on this trip to try to make things right. We can’t take back what we did, but we can show you we’re sorry things worked out as they did. Actions speak louder than words, in our world.”

  Duke looked around and said, “Guys, I’d like to talk to Harmony alone. Can ya’ll go to the other end of the yacht, somewhere you can’t hear our conversation, please?”

  When they were gone, Duke turned some music on and sat across from me again. “I know you’ve killed before, but was it self-defense, so you didn’t have an immediate choice?”

  He was trying to help, by making sure I was okay. If this was the first time I’d killed in basically cold blood, taking a life when mine wasn’t in immediate danger, he figured there was a chance I’d fall apart over it once I started thinking about it. I was fine, though, and didn’t want to talk about it, so I told him, “I’m thinking if I have an ice bag for my head and my leg, I’ll probably go back to sleep. This recliner’s pretty damned comfortable.” He looked at me another handful of seconds, and I added, “I’m not going to lose any sleep over it, Duke. He had to die. Even if I thought I could let him go and he wouldn’t come after me again, he’d seen you and Brain in your half forms at that point. They all had to die — I took one of them out. We don’t have to analyze the fuck out of it.”

  He looked at me a few more seconds, and I could almost sense him smelling for a lie. He finally grinned and said, “Okay. There’s quite a movie library — I’ll put the TV remote on the table beside you, get you some ice packs, and leave you alone, but I won’t be far. Just say my name and I’ll be back.”

  I explored the television’s menu, found the movies, and started a musical, but fell asleep not ten minutes into it, ice packs blissfully numbing the pain of both my leg and head.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Harmony

  In the three days it took us to make it to Jamaica, I got to know the guys better than I’d ever wanted to. We found poker chips and played poker for hours, we all yelled at movies as we watched them, and I eventually got used to them waiting on me hand and foot. Duke’s wife apparently likes salads, and he made me some nice masterpieces, but mostly they fed me steak and eggs, and some version of potatoes.

  And lots of bacon in the mornings, though I was used to how much Brain could put away, so I didn’t bat an eye at the amount they ate.

  When we made it close enough for cell service, I logged into a box not associated with me, and saw a message from Brain letting me know they’d taken care of cleanup, returned the plane to its owner, and would be joining us on the yacht for the trip to Mexico after I saw a doctor. I let him know the time the captain had informed us we’d dock, and told him a doctor wasn’t necessary.

  My leg hurt like a bitch, but it wasn’t infected, and wouldn’t heal any faster with a doctor than without.

  When we docked, Brain and Ranger were waiting to board, and I was so happy to see Brain, I cried. He carried me into the living area and ran everyone out so he could hold me and let me cry until I finished, without hurrying me.

  All of the emotions of the past days came out once I was safe in his embrace, and I couldn’t stop the tears. He didn’t talk to me, didn’t tell me everything was okay, just held me and let me cry, and I loved him for it.

  When I finally stopped crying, he kept holding me, and eventually he leaned down to give me a quick kiss on the lips, but I reached for his head, pulled it back down, and kissed him again. He soon took over, and I melted into him and let him kiss me silly. I wanted more, and more, but with my leg hurting, sex was out of the question for a while. I didn’t care, though. Just being back in his arms was enough.

  When he stopped kissing me and held me again, I whispered into his ear, “I killed him. I didn’t torture him, it wasn’t about revenge. He had to die, or I’d have never rested easy, knowing he was out there.”

  “I know, Buttercup, and I’m glad it’s behind us. Now we can look forward, to the rest of your life. The rest of our lives. You have a new face, new life, new name you can use on the grid.”

  I pulled back and looked at him a few seconds before saying, “I’ve forgiven Duke, Bash, and Gonzo. They took care of me, played cards with me, carried me when I couldn’t walk, and got me into and out of the shower with attention to helping me stay covered, helping me keep my dignity.”

  “They helped you in the shower?”

  I could almost see the fur on the back of his neck standing up, could hear the growl in his voice.

  “They helped me. Kept me from falling, helped keep my leg dry. I did the actual showering part myself, they just got me in, got the water right, sat me in the chair with my leg propped up, and the plastic around my thigh.” I gave his arm a soft punch. “Tell your wolf to get over it, already. Duke couldn’t help much, because he said Gen wouldn’t be okay with it since there was someone else who could help. Bash mostly helped me, and it was hard at first, but he tried really hard to make it as easy as possible on me.”

  He just held me in answer, without saying anything. I had no idea what that meant, but I let it drop.

  We had some time before the yacht left again — Ranger and Duke were going into town on a grocery run, and planned to call Ranger’s girlfriend while they were gone. Duke’s wife was supposed to be at her house, so they’d get to talk to both of them with one call.

  Bash and Gonzo said they’d be back in two hours. No one asked where they were going, and they didn’t offer any information.

  Brain told me the new game plan was to get off the yacht in Cancun, drive a few hours to a pr
ivate airstrip, and take another chartered plane to a small airport just north of New Orleans. This would keep us off the radar, and no one would know any of us had left the country. Ranger was expensive, but he was worth every penny.

  * * * *

  Brain

  Harmony seemed fine, mentally. Her biggest problem seemed to be her frustration with her injury, and I was impressed she was staying off her leg and not pushing it.

  I wasn’t sure what to think of everyone’s scent once we got underway. I’d expected tension and anger, but I smelled neither. Their scents were just… normal. Not exactly cozy, but not far from it.

  Harmony sat on a bench seat with her leg propped up, and directed the guys as they cooked, everyone comfortably cutting up with each other. I knew they’d had a few days together, and it seemed the men had gone above and beyond in taking care of her.

  I was glad they’d been there for her, but was a little jealous it hadn’t been me. Everyone backed off and let me do the carrying and holding, but they still brought her stuff — food, drinks, aspirin, penicillin. They knew what she needed and when she needed it, and it was going to take me some time to get up to speed, apparently.

  Ranger had been in charge of planning our trip home, and I’d been tempted to accuse him of trying to drag this out as long as possible in order to try to give the maximum time for a reconciliation with the guys, but I’d had to admit this was the smartest plan. We didn’t know who was in on Ivankov’s trip, and didn’t want more Russians coming after us to avenge his death. We’d hidden ourselves well getting to the island, so no one could trace us back to our true identities, and this route home would make sure no one could follow our path back home.

  Still, it’d been tempting to just charter a flight from here and get back to the U.S. right away, to avoid having to spend an extra four days with Duke, Bash, and Gonzo.