by Lora Ann
She ran her fingers through my hair and tugged me to her, kissing me passionately. She pulled back before things got carried away and answered, “Absolutely.”
*****
I had to return to the hospital to check on Shannon, so I left my girls to do their mother/daughter thing. Nik had agreed to meet me there. We were able to confirm with Lacey that E was going home later on in the day. There was now more than one reason to return to San Fran just as soon as we could.
I entered Shannon’s room, surprised to see her sitting up and chatting with a couple of men. My protective instincts kicked in, but in a brotherly way. Quickly, I learned they were investigating the disappearance of the senator. It’d been all over the news. Whoever had him better be fast with their game, or they were looking at many years behind bars. Odds were, one of his cronies had put on a show and the son of a bitch had escaped, once again. The need to take that fucker down rolled through my system. Keeping it all in check, I waited patiently for the interview to finish up. After the FBI left the room, I held Shannon’s gaze tightly. “Where the fuck do you think he is?”
She shrugged, which caused her to wince. Yeah, it was a bitch. I still had my damn arm in a sling. Though hers had been a chest wound, so the shoulder on that side would be tender. “I want to catch the asshole, too,” she admitted. “But I can’t tell you what I don’t know. Not like I was withholding info from the feds.” She glared at me indignantly.
Rightfully so. “I’m a dick. Sorry about that, Shannon,” I apologized.
“You can’t help it, cowboy.”
I tilted my head. “Meaning?”
“If you have a dick, odds are you’ll act like one,” she stated. The duh was unspoken but there.
I chuckled and shook my head. “You’re a piece of work.”
“So I’ve been told.”
After spending a couple of hours shooting the shit, I acknowledged she really knew nothing more.
“When they release you, let me know,” I affirmed, standing by the door.
“Aye, aye, Captain,” she said with a mock salute.
Shannon would be a great wife when she found the man for her. “I’ll be in touch.”
A strange feeling that couldn’t be shaken washed over me as I met Nik in the waiting room. He cocked his head to one side. “What’s with the look?”
Damn, he was as bad as his wife. “Something’s not right.”
“Elaborate,” he demanded as I watched him switch into fighter mode.
“Wish to hell I could, brother,” I confessed.
“Never ignore the gut, Alexander.”
He rarely used my given name, unless there was a point to be made or he was concerned. Wasn’t something I took lightly. “I’m not sure what to do about it,” I affirmed.
“First, let’s go back to the hotel and check on our ladies.”
Great idea! Until everything went to hell in a handbasket.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sofie and Aimee rush in. “Where’s Ari?”
Sofie’s eyes were bloodshot from crying. “She relapsed.” Her voice broke on a sob as she trembled.
Reaching out to pull her towards me, I inquired over her head, “What happened, Aimee?”
Nik had his arm secured tightly around his wife’s waist as tears streaked down her face. “We went shopping, but Ari looked overtired. When we sat down at the food court, she lost consciousness. They called the paramedics, and here we are.”
We all made our way down to the ER and waited for news. God, my poor daughter had been through enough. Surely she would be okay. At least that was my hope, as well as my prayer.
They eventually let us back to see her. Arianna was asleep, but I could tell how pale she’d become. We learned she’d had an allergic reaction to the pain meds they’d given her. She would be here until they got the medicine out of her system and found one that worked. Seemed we weren’t meant to leave Sacramento anytime soon.
After a rather heated debate, Nik agreed it was best if he and Aimee returned to San Fran to help Lacey out with Even. E was a demanding prick on his good days, but add that he was still under doctor’s orders to take it easy, and you had yourself a full-fledged motherfucker. He did not do, ideally sit still, well. At all. Matter of fact, none of us did. Just one more trait that screamed we were Strands.
Ari would be sedated for the next twenty-four hours, and Sofie looked exhausted. I finally convinced her it’d be best if we went back to the hotel, had a real meal, and slept. Her reluctance told me how much she loved Ari. However, if she didn’t take care of herself, she wouldn’t be able to care for our daughter. That was how I got through to her.
As she stripped out of her clothes, I ran a hot bath. She was slumped over when I entered the room. I stripped and then picked her up, carrying her to the tub. I sank down into the water and began to wash her. The moans coming from her told me this had been a wise choice. Knowing how tired she was took care of my libido. My only concern was taking care of her. Once she was bathed, I stood with her in my arms, snagged a plush towel, and made my way back to the bed. I tucked her in snuggly and kissed the top of her head. “Sleep well, kjære.”
She called out, “Alex.”
I turned around, “Yes, love.”
“Hold me,” she whispered.
I crawled under the covers and pulled her tightly against me. “Please, rest,” I implored, but she was already fast asleep.
There was no recollection of drifting off with Sofie, but when my cell phone continued to ring incessantly, I realized that was what had happened. I answered on a groggy, “Strand.”
“Alex?”
“Yeah, Shannon. Why are you calling?”
“Get here now,” she demanded.
I sat up straighter, waking Sofie in the process. “The hospital?”
“Quickly. You have to see this for yourself.” The line went dead.
Sofie inquired, “What’s going on?”
“I have no idea but sounds urgent.”
She rolled over and sat on the edge of the bed. “Then we should hurry.”
Once we were dressed and heading out of the hotel, I stopped abruptly and pulled her into my embrace. “I am so fucking in love with you,” confessing with my whole heart.
“Well that’s a good thing, because you’re not getting rid of me.”
I kissed her ferociously before we went to find out just what fate had in store for us this time. Bitch better behave, along with her sister destiny. I’d had my fill of those two to last me the rest of my life.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Viviane
Keeley was having reservations about leaving. While I understood her perspective, I couldn’t work with her around. She was far too compassionate, probably her damn good-girl upbringing. She’d made some shitty choices and ended up in a bad place, still, she wasn’t capable of making Caleb pay for his crimes. I, on the other hand, had no qualms about making the sick fuck my bitch before I took him down. I had seen him in full action. Knew what horrors he could instill upon another human being. Saw the pain, the terror, as life left his victims more times than I cared to recall. I had been the one to patch up his handiwork, just so he could do ten times worse the next time around. And then there was my Joe. We acknowledged our time with the senator had reached an end. Caleb had gone off the deep end. Yet Joe had felt he should at least round up the escapees before we left. Some sort of twisted honor code I didn’t understand or agree with. Now, Joe was gone. All because of the man strapped down to the hospital bed before me.
Time to teach him a lesson…or ten.
Keeley had insisted on watching, though my gut said this was her final demonstration. A driver would take her to the airport once I performed a little fear test. Working in the arts of torture, I had learned early on it didn’t need to be about pain. You could fuck with someone and never lay a finger on them. I decided waterboarding was perfect. Caleb was already restrained. We simply had to bind him in a few more places.
Stripping someone of their clothing was a great tool in humiliation. I gave the job of cutting them free from his body to Keeley. She stepped back from her accomplishment and affirmed, “He’s always had a nice cock.”
She hadn’t lied, as far as male anatomy went his was impressive, hair free, and standing at full attention. I held a set of clamps in my hand and watched as he throbbed at the visual. With no intention of giving him what he wanted, I proceeded to set up the torture device. I pushed a button that lowered his head while his feet were up. Then with a cloth over his nose and mouth, I instructed, “Turn the camera on and stand where I told you.” Everything had been set up where neither Keeley nor I could be visible. I put my finger over my mouth, reminding her not to speak during this. With a medicine syringe—not any different than one would use to administer medication to an infant—I dropped water over Caleb’s nose and mouth stimulating his gag reflexes. Underneath his head was my voice recording, distorted so you couldn’t tell it was me. “How many prostitutes have you killed?”
I raised his head up on the bed with a push of a button. “None,” he coughed out.
Without a word, the process was repeated. I would give him credit; lasting nearly two minutes under this form of torment was damn remarkable. Eventually he broke and confessed, “Thirty.”
I put him back in the head down position as my next recorded question came through. “How did you hide the bodies?”
He was crying when I brought him upright and answered, “Burned them all.”
I experimented this time and didn’t recline him back. Again the recording: “Were they all blondes? Petite? Early twenties?”
“Yes to all,” he sputtered out more water.
“What was their crime other than selling their bodies for drugs?” the recorded me queried.
This time, the Caleb I knew growled, “They impersonated my Rachel. Dirtied her with their sexual desires. They had to pay.”
“And Marissa?” I asked from his side, earning me a glare from Keeley.
He began to sob uncontrollably.
Deciding it would be best to leave him in this position until I returned, Keeley and I left the room.
She was pacing and crying. “That was horrible, Viv.”
“Really? After what you’ve seen him do, you think so?”
She shook her head. “I should leave.”
“Yes,” agreeing, “that’d be best.”
We heard Caleb’s howl downstairs and Keeley darted towards his location. I grasped her tiny arm, firmly. “You need to go. Now.”
She complied, but I had to wonder if she would be able to keep her mouth shut. First, I dealt with the senator. Then I’d find Keeley Kincaid and take care of her.
Simple.
Easy.
Perfect.
Something was eating at me about Caleb’s earlier confession. I raced back down to where he was still a blubbering mess. I stood behind the video camera and hit distort so my voice wouldn’t be recognizable. Yes, there was equipment the feds used that would be able to break through each of these diversions used. But it gave me plenty of time to leave the country, where I had several aliases to live under. Plus, I had plastic surgery scheduled as soon as this was finished, ensuring nobody recognized me ever again. I could hear Joe’s approval in my head. “That’s my brilliant girl.” Crap. Hopefully I wasn’t losing my grip on reality like the senator. A shudder ran through me at the possibility I could be slipping.
To bring me back from wherever the hell I’d gone, I flipped everything on and inquired, “Rachel has been dead for many years. Her husband did time for the accident. How were these prostitutes guilty of impersonation?”
Evil met my gaze and admitted, “They destroyed her memory. She’s mine. Always had been mine. She shouldn’t have died. Nik was supposed to, not Rachel.”
I swallowed hard, staring into the pits of hell as fire blazed from Caleb’s eyes. “You did it,” I gasped. “You killed your Rachel out of hate for Nik Strand.”
He roared and pulled so hard on his restraints that blood actually began to trickle. His gaze was riveted to the crimson now dripping off his body. I watched in abstract horror as he ejaculated from the sight and pain he’d inflicted on himself. Still breathing heavily, he confessed, “Yes. I cut the brake line to his work truck. I knew if he was dead, she would come back to me.”
Holy. Fuck.
With no inclination to go to him and help care for his wounds, I left the room. Having the confessions on a flash drive, I made a call. “I need you to make a delivery this afternoon.”
“Yes, ma’am,” came the reply.
*****
Keeley
There was a special place in hell for those who ideally stood by and watched a crime take place. Not for the first time, either. Redemption simply wasn’t available for women like me. Though I swore Lacey was standing right there when I heard, “Nothing you do is unredeemable.” Ha! Wanna bet sis! This was all kinds of fucked up.
I leaned against the seat in the back of the sedan and felt the weight of my participation in torture bear down. Worst part of it all, I had actually been aroused. God. Damn, I was seriously beyond help. Through therapy, I had drawn a conclusion that the excitement of what Caleb did to my body was some sort of residual from taking a mind-altering drug for so long. Made sense, right? It had to me and my counselor. But now, I had to face some hard truths about myself. Pain in any form brought me pleasure. Tears began to flow freely as I came to grips with what that meant. Either I lived a life without pleasure, or my destiny was tied to some sick son of a bitch who got off on hurting women. Yeah, no real options there. For the fiftieth time since hitting that rehab facility in Italy, I had to wonder if everyone was better off without me around.
The drive out to the airport was longer than usual due to traffic. Viv had set everything up with a private commuter jet to take me to Los Angeles. There, I’d board a commercial flight to New York City and then another back to Milan. The train would transport me back to Lake Como. I had to wonder if Tarius finally got free. What I’d done to him wasn’t exactly nice. No, let’s call it for what it was, another crime. I had slipped him a mickey at dinner and proceeded to tie him to the bed. Although the need to see him in his full glory had kept me there longer than I should’ve been. Come on, I’d only stripped the man—wasn’t like I took advantage of him or anything in that state. Call me foolish, but I wanted him to know how my body felt if we were ever to get busy. And um…yeah, I’d blown that option the moment I drugged him.
Viviane had been adamant that the drug would hold for hours. So why I even considered he would have A.) snapped out of la-la land B.) known where I had gone C.) was waiting for me somewhere in the shadows. Beyond absurdity. Odds were, Tar was history. I highly doubted he would agree to continue being my bodyguard after the stunt I’d pulled. Wouldn’t blame him for feeling that way, either. It would be challenging for me to protect someone I couldn’t trust.
Of course my other little problem was Even. Good Lord, when that man learned what I had done, he’d take me over his knee. Not in the fun way, but in the I’m-gonna-beat-your-ass-for-that-little-fiasco kind of way. Fuck it! At this point, I couldn’t win no matter which way I went. Lacey kept trying to call me and voicemail was all she received. I hated hiding from her, yet it was a must. Hopefully, she would understand. Her life was pretty busy, so I crossed my fingers she wasn’t suspicious. My cell chose that moment to light up with a text.
Keeley Michelle Kincaid so help me when I get my hands on you.
Apparently that twin sense was working its charm. Lacey was on to me about something. Question was, which one. I’d committed quite a few crimes in the last few days. Pretty sure I had at least one felony in there. Shit! I shut off my phone, not wanting her to inadvertently learn I was stateside.
The sedan pulled into a hangar where my plane awaited. Thank you, God. Before boarding, I looked around one last time unable to shake the feeling something, or rather someone wa
s tailing me. Just your nerves, Kee. No one will ever find out you’ve been here. Hoping beyond hope what I had just told myself was the truth. The alternative was enough to make bile rise up my throat. Nope. I was not going there.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Alex
What could Shannon possibly need to show me? That was what kept rattling around in my head as we drove to the hospital. Sofie grabbed my hand for reassurance. “I’ll check on Ari while you go see about Shannon.”
“You sure about that, kjære? I don’t mind you comin’ with me,” I assured.
“If it’s anything related to the law, I can’t be there.” She sighed, “Besides…she wants you to herself.”
Everything in me wanted to deny that, yet I knew it was true. Acknowledgment that I would have to table my friendship with Shannon, as well as our working relationship, was obvious. I didn’t have to like it, though. Nevertheless it would be best for her, and that was the only reason I could do it. I genuinely cared for her, wanted her to find happiness with her other half. She wouldn’t be able to do that if I was in the picture. At least not for the time being, later on when she had time and distance, it would be a possibility. Still sucked. I bent down and kissed Sofie with promise. There had been one too many delays since I had proposed. Something I needed to rectify, soon.
My emotions darkened as I marched down the corridor. No desire to be there. Plus, I’d no wish to hurt Shannon any more than I had already. Unavoidable, yet I abhorred it. My surly mood did not improve upon seeing the same federal agents in Shannon’s room as I entered. I eyed her pointedly.
“Alex, you have to see this!” A detection of excitement and something I couldn’t quite name was behind her words.
“Go ahead,” I prompted. “Let me see what you got.”
Her head inclined towards one of the agents who clicked the mouse on a laptop. What was on that monitor I had not been prepared for. “Holy shit!”
