by B. B. Hamel
“Hello?” I call out loudly. I lean against the wall, steadying myself. “Hello? Mom? Connor?”
There’s no answer.
I walk back to the bed and check the comforter. I don’t have my phone in my pockets and I can’t find it anywhere on the bed. All of the drawers are empty and so is the closet, so there’s nothing I can use there. I try the door again, this time hitting it harder with my shoulder.
“Mom!” I yell as loudly as I can. “I’m stuck! Someone, please help!” I wait a minute, listening at the door, before yelling again and again.
It takes maybe five minutes of yelling before I hear someone out in the hall. I back away from the door, feeling relieved. “Mom,” I say loudly. “Is that you?”
There’s no answer, but I hear the person stop outside of the door. Maybe it’s one of granddad’s nurses or something like that, and her English isn’t that great. But that doesn’t seem so likely. The person pauses outside of the door and I hear it slowly unlock. I start to feel a little uncomfortable, and so I back away further.
The door swings open. Standing framed in the doorway is a man that I don’t recognize at all. His face is beaten badly and he has blond hair. He looks like someone kicked him in the mouth and when he grins, he’s missing a couple teeth.
“Been waiting for you to wake up,” he says, coming toward me.
“Who are you?” I ask him. “Where’s my mother?”
“She’s not here,” he sys, grinning madly. “My name is Sergei, and I’m going to hurt you now.”
“What?” I run up against the dresser on the other side of the room. “Help!” I scream, but that only makes his smile get bigger.
“Nobody is coming,” he says. “There is no rescue here, pretty girl. You were kidnapped by one of my associates and brought to this house because your uncle wanted us to have you.” He stops right in front of me, an evil look on his face.
“Your uncle ordered us not to touch you,” he says, “but I got my fucking face smashed in for this job, and the money doesn’t seem like enough.” He looks down at my body and back up to my eyes. Fear ices through my veins. “But you’re fucking pretty, aren’t you? I think you’ll be a nice little bonus.”
I scream and shove him back, but he laughs. He comes at me and I kick out wildly, aiming for his balls. He twists at the last second, blocking my foot with his hip, and then he comes at me hard. He grabs my wrists and throws me onto the bed.
I struggle, screaming, kicking, thrashing. He laughs the whole time as he pins me down. I managed to get a wrist free and I rake my nails down the side of his face.
That only pisses him off more. Three red lines run down his cheek and his eyes go blank with anger. He hits me in the face once, twice, and it feels like he’s knocking my skull into tiny little pieces. The world goes spinning again and I can barely move as I feel him struggling to get my pants off.
I groan and try to roll away, but he grabs me and puts me back. I swat at him, trying to punch him as hard as I can, but he shoves me back down and hits me again.
The bastard gets my pants off. He groans and paws at my body. “You sexy fucking bitch,” he says.
There’s a noise in the hallway, and Sergei looks up. I watch as another man steps into the doorway, another man in a black suit. “Sergei, what the fuck?” he guy says.
Sergei hesitates. “Fuck this bitch,” he says. “Who cares about her?”
“We were ordered not to touch her.”
“You think I give a fuck?”
“Help,” I say weakly, and Sergei slaps me. The guy in the doorway doesn’t seem to mind.
“Fucking shit, man, be fast,” he says.
Horror fills me. For a second, I thought he might stop this and save me, but I know I’m doomed. Sergei is going to rape me, and I’m going to be left a shell, broken and used. I stare at the man in the doorway, and he just smiles back at me.
His face explodes. One second he’s looking at me, and the next his face is a mess of blood and teeth. His body crumples to the ground.
“What the fuck—” Sergei says, backing away from me. Connor appears in the doorway, wearing a black turtleneck, black cargo pants, and holding a gun with a silencer at the end. He pulls the trigger and Sergei stumbles back, two holes in his chest. There’s almost no sound from his silenced gun. Connor walks calmly up to him and puts a third bullet in his skull.
“Eat shit,” he says, and spits down on Sergei.
“Connor,” I say.
He turns to me, slipping the gun into his belt. He grabs me in his arms and pulls me against him, holding me tight.
“You’re safe,” he says.
I start sobbing. I thought I was about to be raped. I was inches away from it, moments away. I’ve never seen people die before, never seen blood like that, but Connor saved me. He came in so calmly and killed those men.
“What’s happening?” I ask him through my tears.
“We’re taking this place back.” He pulls back. “You need to stay close to me. Okay?”
I nod once. Pain rolls through my body.
He touches my face gingerly. “I’m going to kill them all for this.”
“Connor,” I whisper.
“You’re mine, Sydney. Nobody hurts you and gets away with it. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” I kiss him deeply, joy ringing through my body like a bell.
We kiss deep and full like that for a few moments. It feels like hours and hours and hours but it’s probably only a few seconds before he breaks off the kiss and looks toward the door.
I feel fear as another man steps into the doorway. I quickly pull my pants back on.
“Jonathan,” Connor says.. “You good?”
“All clear up here.” Jonathan pointedly doesn’t look at me, which I appreciate.
“Ryan?”
“Moving downstairs.”
Connor nods. “Let’s go.”
The man named Jonathan smiles at me and I recognize him suddenly. I’ve seen him around the house, he’s one of the guys that Connor hired. And I think Ryan is another of them, a younger guy.
Connor looks back at me. “Listen, Syd,” he says. “Stay right behind me. Do you understand? And if anything bad happens, you have to run.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’ll get to your grandfather and make sure he’s okay.”
I nod my head once. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
“Good.” He grins at me. “You’re brave as hell. I’m proud of you.”
I feel a warm sensation in my chest as I follow him out of the room and into the hallway. We creep along silently and I can hear people downstairs talking. Their voices float up the central stairwell, echoing off the wood and the marble.
Connor and Jonathan gesture to each other, and they seem to understand. We go into motion, creeping down the steps, and my heart is hammering in my chest.
I don’t know how I got to this moment. I thought I was safe at home, and things were changing rapidly but that I wasn’t in actual danger. Now suddenly I was almost raped and I just saw two men get killed.
Connor loves me. And I love him too. That’s what I’ve been feeling this whole time, the words I’ve wanted to say to him, but haven’t been able to. Now though, it seems like such a simple thing to tell him that I love him. It seems like the most natural thing in the world. Even if things are so strange in our lives and there’s so much immediate danger all around us, I still feel good and right at home with him.
We creep down the steps and he reaches back to hold my hand. We come to the second floor landing and pause there. Jonathan heads forward and sweeps through the nearby rooms, but they all seem to be empty. He comes back and we continue our descent, moving very slowly as we get close to the ground floor.
The voices are louder now, and I can make them out. They’re talking about what they’re going to do with their payment after this job is over. They seem to think it’s an easy one, and one guy keeps laughing about buying some
prostitutes as soon as they get paid.
Jonathan looks over his shoulder and nods at Connor who nods back. Connor looks at me, holds one finger to his lips, and steps forward. He takes something out of his pocket and pulls a pin.
For a second, I think it’s a grenade, but instead of exploding it lets off an insanely loud burst and a bright light. I don’t get blinded, because I’m halfway up the steps, but the men downstairs start screaming.
I creep forward to watch. Connor and Jonathan go down the steps, guns out. They kill the first three guys they see instantly, no hesitation. Connor stands in the middle of the room and looks back at me, grinning, when another guy steps out from the shadows, gun aimed at him.
“Connor!” I scream.
The man’s face melts as a bullet tears through him. Connor whirls around, gun raised, but Ryan steps out from behind him.
“Got your back,” he says, grinning.
Connor grunts. “How many left inside?”
“None,” Ryan says. “Took out three. Plus this guy. There are five more outside.”
“Bar the door,” Connor says. Ryan and Jonathan head off to lock things down.
Connor comes up the steps and takes my hand. “Are you ready?”
“For what?”
“We’re going to see your grandfather.”
I nod once, nervous, but ready. “Okay. Let’s go.”
We head forward, back toward my grandfather’s library, my nerves singing with fear and excitement.
29
Connor
The door to her grandfather’s library is locked, and I have to break it down. When the thing finally gives, we find two nurses huddled on either side of the hospital bed.
“It’s okay,” I say to them. “I’m Julia’s husband. We’re here to help.”
They stand, look at each other, and then they run. They don’t even look back as they bolt out the door. I sigh.
“You do look scary,” Sydney says, smiling at me.
“No I don’t. I’m friendly as fuck.”
She shakes her head. “There’s blood on your face.”
“Oh.” I wipe my face off. “Did I get it?”
She shakes her head. “You just spread it around more.”
“Shit.”
“It’s okay. Look.”
I follow her gaze over to the hospital bed. Her grandfather is there, and although he looks horrible, his eyes are open.
“Granddad,” Sydney says, walking over to him. “I’m so sorry, granddad.”
I watch as she leans over and kisses him softly on the cheek.
“Sydney,” he croaks and looks at me. “Connor.” I don’t think he notices that I have blood on my face and that Sydney was clearly beaten up recently. He’s too distracted by his pain and his mind obviously isn’t totally clear.
I stand behind Sydney, nodding. “Julia wanted to be here. But Evan stopped her, turned her away.”
“Why?” he asks.
“I don’t know, granddad, but it’s true,” Sydney takes his hand. “Mom’s been fighting for you. But Evan sent his men here and they were trying to keep us from you.”
“Noise,” he says.
“That was the men,” Sydney says. “And Connor, he...” she tails off.
“Took them out,” I say, grinning.
A small smile passes over his face. “Good,” he says. “Nurses were scared.”
I laugh and Sydney smiles.
“Are you okay?” she asks him.
“No,” he says. “Not long. I need my medicine.” He looks over at the side table.
I walk over and pick up a syringe. I frown at it then comprehension dawns.
“How many?” I ask.
“Three drops,” he croaks. “Or... more.”
“One for now,” I grunt, and drop a bit of morphine into his mouth. He accepts it gratefully and lets out a breath.
“Granddad,” Sydney says, kneeling down next to him. “You know Mom wanted to be here. You mean a lot to her.”
He coughs and then smiles. “No. Hates me.”
Sydney looks confused. “What?”
“She does. Wasn’t always. The best.” He coughs again, and there’s some red on his lips. Sydney wipes it off with a tissue next to the night table.
“Syd...” I say.
She gives me a look and goes back to her granddad. “I don’t think it’s true. You two had a hard time, but look. She got married, she runs the company. She loves what you made, and you helped to make her.”
He smiles at her. “You. Remind me. So much. Of my Annette.”
I cock my head and assume that’s the name of his wife.
Syd smiles. “I miss grandmom.”
“I’ll be. With. Her soon.” His eyes glaze over slightly.
“Granddad, listen. I need to know something.”
He looks back at Sydney. I can tell he’s struggling to remain coherent, but the morphine is working and he’s dying, really dying.
“Are you leaving the company to mom?”
He smiles at that. “Love you, honey.” He looks away, his eyes glazed open. He’s still breathing, but he’s not there anymore.
Syd stands up. I take her and move her away from the bed before wrapping my arms around her.
“Is he...?” she asks.
“Not yet,” I say. “But soon. He’s going to cough up a lot of blood. It’s going to be very unpleasant. But I’ll do what I can.”
She nods against my chest. I can feel her crying, but she does so noiselessly, like she doesn’t have any noise left to make.
I hold her like that before finally walking her out to the main room. Jonathan and Ryan are out there, waiting respectfully.
“The goons outside?” I ask them.
“Left,” Ryan says. “Scared them off, I guess.”
“No,” I say. “Evan called them back. He knows we won.”
“How’s the old man?” Ryan asks.
“Not great. Give us a second?”
The two men nod and walk a ways away. I look back at Sydney. “I’m going back in there. Wait out here. I’ll take care of your grandfather.”
“Okay,” she says, nodding. She looks into my eyes. “Thank you, Connor. For everything.”
“Just doing my job.”
“I mean it,” she says. “I love you. Really. I didn’t expect it. I didn’t...”
I kiss her hard, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her against me. She returns my kiss, and I don’t care that Ryan and Jonathan can see it. I just don’t care anymore. It doesn’t matter. It’s all done now. The old man is going to die in there, and I’m going to take care of him in his last moments. Whatever decision he made about his company is going to stand. We’re not going to get the will changed.
I don’t care about any of that. I really don’t. I have what’s important, and that’s Sydney. She’s the only thing I need, the only thing I care about in this fucked up world. She’s the only one I need.
We kiss long and hard before slowly breaking off. She smiles at me and I cup her chin. “Be back soon. After this, we can do whatever we want.”
“Good.” She hugs me, pressing her face against my chest. “Let’s travel.”
“Where do you want to go?”
“Anywhere. I don’t care.”
I grin and kiss her one last time. “You got it.”
I squeeze her hand then step away. She walks over to Ryan and Jonathan as I head back into the library, back over to her grandfather.
I’ll keep him comfortable in his last hours, since there’s nobody else. The nurses ran away, and who knows how long before Julia gets here. I’ll take care of him, and then I’ll take care of Sydney.
Because she’s mine now. I fought and killed for her, risked my life for her. I’d risk a lot more. If she wants to travel, we’ll fucking travel, that’s all there is to it.
I shut the door. I’ll do my job. And I’ll have my prize. Sydney is mine, always will be mine. I’ll spoil her rotten, take care o
f her, because she makes me feel better than I ever guessed she could.
Things are going to be okay.
30
Sydney
Two Years Later
I look out over the valley and smile as I breathe in the fresh cool mountain air.
I’m alone, at least for the moment. Connor is out somewhere, gathering up wood for the fire. Maybe twenty feet away lies Mack, our black lab. He’s chewing on a log and looking as content as possible.
I’ve never felt so calm before in my entire life. The air in the Swiss mountainside is so fresh and clean. And every spring and river is pristine. We drink right from the ground. I never thought I’d like camping, but after two years of traveling all over Europe, I’m beginning to realize that I love the outdoors. Nothing makes me happier than walking along a trail with Mack and Connor on either side of me, protecting me, keeping me safe.
“What are you doing?”
I look over and spot Connor walking toward me. “Nothing,” I say, smiling.
He walks right up to me and kisses me deep and hard, like it’s the first time he’s ever seen me. “Fire’s ready.”
“That was fast.”
“What can I say? I’m good at it.”
I laugh and put my head against his chest. He holds me there as the sun slowly starts to dip down over the horizon. Mack barks at us and Connor laughs.
“He’s jealous,” Connor says.
“He’s a momma’s boy.” I kiss Connor again, feeling that old familiar thrill run through me. “Can you blame him?”
“Not at all.” He grins at me. “But to me, you’re just a spoiled rotten girl.”
“Good. That’s what I want, Daddy.” I kiss him again on the lips.
We’ve gone out of our way to live a calm and comfortable life these last two years. We’re not married yet, but I do wear an engagement ring. He proposed to me in Spain, outside of a bullfight. He said that if I said yes, he wouldn’t make me go in, and I laughed and said of course. We never did see a bullfight. From there, we spent three weeks in expensive hotels, and he showered me with gifts, most of which I shipped back to the US for my mom or had to sell when we got back on the road. His divorce from my mom was final last year, and he got over two million dollars in the settlement, all perfectly legal and above-board. Even though the reason for that nice big check isn’t exactly the divorce.
