by J. E. Taylor
“It’s funny,” he said, shrugging.
“You have a broken arm?”
Chris smiled and held the cast up. “Yep, smashed the mirror in your mother’s dance studio with it. That was before I knew I could do things with just a thought.” He tapped his temple with his index finger.
“Can I sign it?” she asked, surprising both Chris and Jessica.
“I guess so.”
Emily went running out of the room.
* * * *
“What the hell are you doing?” Chris whispered, sending a sideways glare at Jessica.
“She wanted to meet you.”
Before he could respond, Emily was back with a black pen.
She took his arm, holding it out so she could write on the surface of the cast on the inside of his arm. She etched ‘Thank you for saving my life, twice. I will never forget you. Em’ into the fiberglass and stepped back.
Chris looked at the autograph on the cast in silence, blinking back the tears that welled up in his eyes. “Anytime,” he finally said and looked over at Jessica. I’ll find a way.
He willed himself out of that room and stood in his bathroom looking down at the message that Emily had written on his cast, the print actually there on the fiberglass wrapping. Walking into his living room, he sat down on the couch staring at the scrawled message. It was his fault Frank was haunting them; he didn’t deserve this kind of thanks.
He looked out the window and thought about the girl he saved last night. She’d had had the same look of awe and gratitude on her face as Emily had this morning. Chris shook his head. “I don’t deserve anyone looking at me like that.”
Chris stood and headed out the door of his apartment. He needed some fresh air and the sun was out, so a walk in the park seemed like just the therapy he needed.
His mind wandered back to Jessica. Lunch, he thought and grunted, crossing into Central Park. As he passed the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he stopped and stared at the entrance before glancing at his watch. He didn’t have time to explore the museum today and continued his walk.
Maybe he’d show up Tuesday and surprise her. The more Chris thought about her, the more he realized he knew very little about Jessica. Sure, he knew her birth date, her medical, dental and marital history, even where she had worked before he kidnapped her. And in the time he had with her in the complex, he discovered her favorite color, that she hated to lose and she hated sappy romance novels. But outside of that handful of items, he didn’t know her, but he wanted to spend the rest of his life finding out the little things.
The small smile that had formed with his reminiscing faded, replaced by a melancholy hollow feeling in his chest. He wasn’t sure he would ever get the chance to have what he wanted.
Chapter 55
Jessica quietly read a book while she soaked up the sun, but after each and every line in the book, Chris’s blue eyes interrupted her progress. Her thoughts drifted to the feel of his hands on her skin, his lips on hers and she had to take a deep breath and sweep the thoughts away. After reading the same line a dozen times, she snapped the book closed.
“I’m going for a walk,” she said to the kids and tied a sheer wrap around her waist, wandering down to the water’s edge. She walked slowly, watching the waves roll up onto the sand as the gentle breeze swirled her hair around her face. The Pacific didn’t have the same strong seaweed smell at low tide as the Atlantic and the beach was more granular than the fine sand in York.
Jessica stopped and sighed, wishing she were on the other side of the country on her beach instead of this sandy white stretch in California. She missed her home.
“You’re a difficult woman to track down,” a female voice startled Jessica. Sharon Young stood a few feet away and she had a pad and paper in her hand.
Jessica recognized her instantly; she had been relentless five years ago. Jessica let out a little laugh. “What are you doing here?” she snapped and started toward the house.
“I wrote the script,” Sharon said, making Jessica pause and glare over her shoulder. “I saw the videos.”
“And?” Jessica turned halfway toward Sharon.
“There were things that couldn’t be explained. Do you care to comment?”
Jessica looked at her and fully turned, stepping toward her. Her head inclined as she glared up over her sunglasses. “No, I don’t care to comment.”
Sharon laughed. “I wouldn’t think so.”
Jessica didn’t like her tone, but turned back toward the house.
“You did something, didn’t you?”
Jessica felt her anger turn up a notch and turned back toward Sharon in disbelief. “Excuse me?” She slowly took off her glasses.
“I saw the videos,” she repeated, meeting Jessica’s gaze.
Jessica stared her down. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Something happened in that room and I think you did it,” Sharon said. “He told Tom that you would make a miracle happen. I heard him.”
Jessica shook her head. “I have no idea what you are talking about. And I am livid that you would try to make a quick buck off what happened down there. I bet you even insisted that Tom play the part. Didn’t you?”
Sharon smiled. “You bet I did.”
Jessica tilted her head and slid her glasses back on. “It will take a hell of a lot more than this to break up our marriage. And isn’t that what you’re really after?” she said, causing Sharon’s face to drop a little.
“I could show him the videos.”
“Tom knows more than you think.”
“Then why did he call me asking to see them?” She smiled sweetly back at Jessica.
She didn’t show it, but the statement rattled her. “He took the part. He’ll want to study what he can to get more of the flavor of exactly who Ty Aris was.”
“He called before he accepted the part.”
“What’s your point?” Jessica took a threatening step toward her and saw fear flash in Sharon’s eyes. “Oh, that’s right, you want Tom to yourself.” She laughed and then gave her a deadly glance. “You won’t get Tom just because you have videos of those animals raping and beating me. If anything, he will better understand what I did to survive.”
“It’s such a tragic love story,” Sharon started, feigning pity.
“Love had nothing to do with it. Now if you will excuse me, this interview is over.” She turned and walked back toward the house.
“Just one more thing, I thought you should know.”
Jessica kept walking.
“I slept with Tom five years ago, in return for leaving you alone.”
Jessica stopped short. She took a deep breath, put her game face on and slowly turned. Sharon proudly stood with her hands on her hips, smirking.
“I don’t really care what happened five years ago,” Jessica said, her voice coming out as a low growl in her throat. “But if you think you’re going to get a second chance with my husband, you’ve got another thing coming.” She stalked over to where Sharon stood. “I really wouldn’t mess with me if I were you,” she threatened with a smile and removed her glasses completely, sending Sharon back a couple of steps. “Now I suggest you get the hell away from me before I do something you will regret.”
Sharon backed off, her walk turning into more of a run and she continued to shoot wary glances over her shoulder like she half expected Jessica to be right behind her with an axe.
Jessica watched until she was out of sight and then headed back to the house. She passed by the kids and went inside to take a shower without saying a word.
So that’s why they all miraculously backed off my case five years ago.
Tom said he pulled some strings, but Jessica never suspected he had crossed the line. She wondered what other favors he did to get the wolves to back off. She closed her eyes feeling the anger simmer just below the surface, telling herself that she had no right to be upset with him after what she had done recently.
She heard him call her softly
and shut off the water. She stepped out of the shower and looked in the mirror, not bothering with a towel. “What do you want?”
Chris stared at her. “I...” he trailed off. “I can see you’re okay, I’ll talk to you later,” he said and turned to go.
“Don’t.” Jessica reached for a towel.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t go yet.”
“What’s wrong?”
Jessica shook her head and looked at the ceiling. “I just ran into a reporter on the beach,” she began and then looked at him. “She wrote the screenplay and has the videos of what went on.”
“You know, I can shut the entire thing down if you want me to,” he said, “at least the use of the actual complex.”
“How?”
“When I sold Aris Industries, I put a stipulation in the contract stating that they couldn’t use that space for anything. They were actually supposed to destroy it. I have a right to sue for breach of contract. All you have to do is say the word.”
“It would bring way too much attention. Neither of us needs that right now.”
“It would also bring me a hell of a lot of money.”
“Don’t you already have enough money?”
Chris shrugged. “But it would be fun.”
“You’re such an ass sometimes.”
“And here I thought I was an ass all the time,” he shot back, making her smile a bit.
Her smile disappeared again. “Tom slept with the reporter.”
“You slept with me.”
Heat flushed her cheeks and the anger she had a handle on escaped. “You don’t need to point that out to me.” She paced in the small space in front of the mirror. “He slept with her five years ago to get her to back off the story.”
“You slept with me five years ago too.”
He wasn’t helping and Jessica glared at him. “I didn’t have much choice in the matter then.”
“Jess, you can’t be upset with something that Tom did five years ago. And he had the right intention. He was protecting you.”
Chris was right, Tom had the right intentions but he still went about it the wrong way. “Having the right intention doesn’t always make it right. Besides, she’s a real bitch.”
Chris smiled. “Ah, that’s why this is bothering you.”
“Fuck you,” Jessica snapped and Chris stepped into the room.
“Gladly.”
“Go back to New York.”
“If you say so.” And he disappeared from the room, reappearing in the mirror. “Jess, you know I’d like to see your marriage end for the obvious reasons, but this isn’t something you should be getting upset about. Were you even married to him at the time?”
Jessica thought about it. The reporters had backed off about a month before they were married. “I don’t think so, but it had to be within a month of the wedding.”
“Give the guy some slack.”
“I don’t know if I can.”
“It was five years ago, Jess. If you can’t let it go, then you can’t expect him to forgive you if he ever finds out about us.”
“He will kill you if he finds out about us and my marriage would be over instantly. Tom hates you, Ty, truly hates you.”
“With good reason. I killed his first wife and I’m in love with his second wife. If the tables were turned, I’d feel the same way.”
Jessica didn’t know what to say. “How many people did you kill?”
“Too many,” he said quietly. “I’ll be paying for those sins for eternity, but for now, while I’m still alive, I’m just trying to do a little good to make up for all the bad.” He offered a half-hearted smiled. “Still, I’m no angel.”
Jessica nodded.
“Your daughter threw me for a loop yesterday. The way she looked at me, as if I was some sort of hero.” He laughed. “Me, a fucking hero. That’s laughable. The girl in the alley looked at me the same way and I don’t deserve that kind of treatment.”
Jessica cocked her head to the side. “The girl in the alley?”
“I saved a girl who was being attacked by three guys.”
“What’d you do?”
“I killed them. Vaporized, nothing was left but dust.”
“Ty?” she gasped, disappointment lacing her tone.
“They deserved it,” he said, getting defensive.
“You can’t do that.”
“It was self-defense. They were raping that girl and one of the guys shot at me. I just let loose.”
“He shot you?”
“The bullet never made it to me. I’m amazed I didn’t hurt the girl when I lost control, but I vaporized the bullet, the gun and the guy. I told you, if you had a clue of how to use this power five years ago, you would have killed me.”
“You don’t control it, Ty, it controls you.”
He smiled at her. “You’re wrong, Jess. It’s all just a matter of degree. The degree in which you control your temper is directly related to the degree in which you have control over the power. It’s a lot like the healing power. You can control the level that you release into someone to heal them. It’s not all or nothing. And exercising the ability also increases the level of power and makes it more precise.”
“You’ve been exercising the power?”
“You bet. If I’m going to be in a position to send Frank back to hell, I better damn well know how to control and use what you gave me to get it done, otherwise, we are both dead.”
Jessica shivered.
“You should get some clothes on,” Chris said. “And cut Tom some slack. He’s a good guy. If you can forgive me after everything I’ve done, it should be a cake walk for you to let this go.”
“Thanks. It’s nice to have a friend to talk to about this stuff.”
Chris smiled. “Friend, huh?”
“Yes. Friend,” she said. “I don’t have many.”
“That’s a surprise. I would have thought you’d be surrounded by friends.”
“I know a lot of people. But I don’t have any that I confide in. I certainly don’t have anyone that I can talk to like I can with you.”
“Outside of Tom, you mean?”
She shook her head. “We don’t talk like this. Until very recently, we didn’t talk about what happened to us. Don’t get me wrong, we do talk, but it has never come easy when it’s about that period of time.”
Chris looked down at his hands.
“You hurt me Ty, physically and emotionally. He saw that and it’s hard for him to understand how I could forgive you, much less love you. So we don’t really talk about it,” she said, watching as he avoided her eyes.
“I don’t even understand it.” He looked up at her.
“You don’t?”
“I never understood how you could remain so...” he struggled for the word, “kind,” he said and shook his head in frustration. “That’s not the right word.” He thought for a moment and Jessica actually saw his eyes light up when the word came to him. “Grace. You have grace, and I don’t mean just in the way you move, it was in the way you spoke to me and looked at me, even when I hurt you. There was definitely anger and defiance, but underneath, there was always faith and grace. Which to be honest, in the beginning, I just wanted to beat out of you.” He looked away from her. “But in the end, that’s what got me. So I know why I love you. I just don’t understand how someone with such faith and grace and goodness could ever love me.”
“I saw beneath the anger and indifference. I saw your soul and it wasn’t of the monster you were in there. It was of the man standing before me today.”
Chris’s eyes filled with tears. “You really are my angel.”
“Ty, I’m not an angel. I’ve done things. I’ve killed, I’ve lied and I’ve cheated, so don’t put me up on a pedestal.”
“You did those things because of me.”
“Killing, yes, but I lied and cheated long before you came along.” She laughed at the shock on his face. “I loved Mike for years, granted
we never acted on it beyond a kiss, but I still technically cheated on my husband.”
“Jess, without you, I would still be that monster.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do. We would have continued until we either got caught or were killed.” He took a deep breath. “So, even though you may think you’ve fallen, you are still my angel. I’m trying like hell to be Chris Ryan, but there are some things that just won’t die.” He didn’t elaborate, he didn’t want to. “You need to get dressed,” he said. “Because if I have to look at you standing there in a towel any longer, I’m coming through this mirror and will do something we both will regret.”
“One more question.”
“What’s that?”
“Have you been with anyone else?”
Chris looked at her for a long time without saying a word and then shook his head. “I’m not answering that question.”
“Why not?”
“Because, frankly, it’s none of your business.”
Her mouth dropped. “I’ll see you in a few days,” she said and walked out of the room in a huff.
* * * *
Chris watched her go, smiling. She hadn’t expected him to respond like that. He didn’t want to tell her that he hadn’t slept with anyone else since he left the complex five years ago. He certainly had women throwing themselves at him, especially when they found out he was rich, so he could have his pick of several beautiful women, but he didn’t want anyone else and if Jessica knew, he would be giving her all the control. He couldn’t do that, no matter how much he loved her. He needed to protect his heart from getting crushed because he knew how this game would end.
Chapter 56
Tom came home to find Jessica sitting on the deck with a drink in her hand, looking out over the Southern California sunset, the children, happily playing video games inside.
“Did you have a good day?” he asked and went to kiss her hello.
Jessica turned so he kissed her cheek instead of her lips like he intended. “It was good until Sharon Young ambushed me on the beach,” she said and he recoiled in shock. “You slept with her Tom?” Jessica stood and walked down to the sand.
