Perfectly Toxic

by Kristine Mason

  “Thirty? Used to be fifteen,” she teased, tracing his pec with the tips of her fingers.

  “I’m not in my twenties anymore.”

  Cash had celebrated his thirty-seventh birthday last April. The reminder of his age stung. Being in his arms again, encouraged that after finally hashing out their issues, they could make their marriage work, she still had an enormous amount of regret. Because they were both stubborn, they’d spent two years apart when they should have been together as husband and wife.

  “Why’d you go quiet?” he asked.

  “When you brought up your old age, it made me think about how we’ve let two years slip by us.”

  He rolled her onto her back and pinned her beneath him. “I should spank your sweet ass for the old age comment.” He smoothed her hair from her face. “But I’m going to let you off the hook this time, because I was just thinking the same thing. I was wondering where we might be if I would’ve told you I was worried about losing you. Do you think we’d have kids?”

  She grinned. “Do you think we should? Neither of us are very level-headed.”

  He cocked a brow and nodded. “I suppose not. But we have this big house, the pool and yard. Plus, I think it’d be fun to teach a kid how to fix a car.”

  “Don’t forget there’s also knife throwing and defusing bombs.”

  He smiled and brushed his thumb along her lips. “We might get a visit from child services if we do that.”

  “Then maybe we should stick to baseball or football.”

  “Probably a good idea.” His smile faded. “Will you marry me?”

  “We’re already married.”

  “We didn’t do it proper and I never took you on a honeymoon. So, I’m asking you again. Will you marry me?”

  She wrapped her arms around his back. “I want my daddy and friends from the Glades at our wedding. I’m sorry I didn’t tell them about you. I didn’t think about how that would hurt you, I was too busy worrying about my own hurt.”

  Regret and guilt darkened his eyes. “I deserved every word you’ve said to me.”

  She placed her hand along his hardened jaw. “Words like I love you? I want to move back to Tallahassee and marry you all over again?”

  “You know exactly what I meant.”

  “Of course I did. But how can we move forward if we keep bringing up the past? We’re going to make us work.”

  He relaxed. “Absolutely,” he murmured against her lips. As he kissed her, his length hardened along her thigh.

  She grinned. “What happened to needing thirty minutes?”

  “You. There’s nothing sexier than hearing my wife say she loves me, is moving home and marrying me again.”

  She moved her hand between their bodies. “Then I guess there’s no point in giving this any special kisses,” she said, stroking his arousal.

  He gave her lower lip a light nip. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

  When his stomach grumbled, she said, “Let’s go to the kitchen. I’ll make you something to eat.”

  He climbed off her, then went he-man on her again, and lifted her in his arms. “I need a shower that involves special kisses first. Then while I make us something to eat, we can talk about when we’ll move your stuff back.”

  Her chest tightened. She was really going to do it. Give up everything she’d done the past two years since moving back to Everglades City, and come home to Cash. As he carried her in his strong arms, the panic lessened. She knew in her gut it was the right move.

  Without Cash, no place felt like home.

  Chapter 7

  Cash and Mel’s House, Tallahassee, Florida

  Saturday, 1:28 p.m. Eastern Daylight Saving Time

  CASH’S SMILE GREW as Mel swam alongside Dolly in the pool. With determination and Mel’s help, the dog paddled toward the ball Bobby had just tossed her way.

  “This is nice back here,” Harrison said, as he toweled off and took the chair next to Cash’s. “I’d love to have a pool in my backyard.”

  “What’s nice is having people here using it again. It’s usually just me and Dolly.” Since Mel talked Harrison into staying one more night, he’d even have the opportunity to break out the grill and cook up burgers and brats.

  Life was good. He had his woman back, his dog, and the beginnings of a small party. Jude and the boys from the garage planned on stopping over after they closed for the day. Once he had a beer in his hand, his afternoon would be complete. When he realized Harrison stared at him, he looked away from the pool. “What?”

  “I’m sorry for what I said at the bar. I had no place, and what you’ve got going with Mel is none of my business.”

  “It’s all good, man. I like knowing she has someone looking out for her when I’m not around.

  “So you two talked?”

  Cash glanced at the man. Other than his therapist, and occasionally Jude, he didn’t talk about his relationship with Mel. He wasn’t proud of how he’d screwed them up, but their relationship was their business. “Yeah, we talked. Didn’t she say anything to you about it?” While he cleaned up around the yard, and took care of the pool, Mel had gone to the hotel to pick up Harrison and Bobby.

  He shook his head. “She just said she wanted to stay another night.”

  Yeah, he could definitely use a beer. Why wouldn’t she tell them she was moving back to Tallahassee? Especially Bobby. Like him, the kid had been lost without her here. Then again, he shouldn’t read into what she had or hadn’t said. Could be she wanted to talk with each man privately.

  “I think Dolly’s ready for a break,” Mel called as she swam the dog near the shallow end of the pool.

  “That’s my cue.” He rose from the chair and grabbed a towel. After laying it on the concrete, he stepped into the water, then lifted Dolly. “That swim will zonk her out for a couple of hours. Won’t it, girl?” he asked the dog as he carried her to the towel.

  “I wouldn’t mind a nap,” Mel said, as she left the pool, wringing her long blonde hair.

  He loved her naked, but damn if he didn’t love seeing her in a sexy bikini. Remembering Harrison, he glanced over his shoulder. But the man wasn’t paying attention to Mel. He had his sunglasses on and his head tilted back against the chair.

  “If anyone should complain about being tired, it should be me,” he said when she knelt beside him.

  “You weren’t complaining last night,” she countered, and took Dolly’s life vest from him.

  He grinned. “You’re right. Which is why I think we should do everything we did last night, again tonight.”

  “Everything?”

  He drifted his gaze from her breasts to the front of her tiny, hot-pink bikini bottoms. Pictured them off, his mouth replacing them. “Maybe a couple of new moves, too.”

  “Interesting.” She bent close to his ear. “There are only so many ways to insert A into B.”

  “True. But I’m talking about foreplay.”

  She looked to where Bobby still swam in the pool, then to Harrison, who now had his mouth open and was snoring away. “I’m intrigued,” she said quietly, and narrowed her eyes. “Where did you come up with these new moves, and have you used them on anyone?”

  He finished hooking Dolly into her wheelchair. Once the dog rolled off toward the covered patio, he slid his hand behind Mel’s neck. “You ruined me for anyone else. There hasn’t been another woman since the day I caught you trying to steal the BMW. It pisses me off that you’d even think I’d cheat on you.”

  “Sorry. You know I can get a little jealous.”

  “Oh, I know.” During the first six months they were together, an old girlfriend tried to mess things up between him and Mel. They’d been out one night when the ex had pulled Mel aside in the women’s restroom and told her a made-up story about him and her. Mel was escorted from the bar after she pinned the woman against a bathroom stall, and pulled a knife on her. In Mel’s defense, the woman had goaded her. Plus, he knew Mel well enough to say confidently that she would
n’t have cut his ex. She was all about leaving a lasting impression.

  She gave him a sexy pout. “Does this mean you’re too mad at me to show me those moves?”

  “I’m sure you can come up with a few ways to help me get over it.”

  She slid her gaze to his dick, then licked her lips. “Definitely.”

  His cell phone rang, but he was too busy staring at her mouth to care.

  “Aren’t you gonna answer that?” When she stood, the triangle of her bikini bottoms was right at his eyelevel. If they were alone, they’d be around her ankles before she could blink.

  “Cash, your phone,” Harrison called.

  “Go ahead and answer,” he said, and looked up the length of Mel’s curvy body. He stood, maintained a reasonable distance from her so as not to embarrass their guests, then leaned toward her ear. “I can’t wait to fuck you later.”

  “Dang,” she whispered. “I can’t wait until later.”

  “It’s Jude.” Harrison rushed over with the phone. He looked to where Bobby swam laps, then said, “Noah showed up at the garage, claiming Madeline drugged and tortured him.”

  ****

  Cash helped Mel from his truck, then took her hand. Bobby climbed out of the back passenger seat, and fell into step with them and Harrison.

  “Noah must’ve decided to come here when he didn’t find me at the shelter,” Bobby said as they made their way toward one of the opened bays.

  Cash didn’t respond. Everyone except Bobby knew the truth, but they agreed to keep quiet until they saw Noah and could assess the situation.

  “I hope he made some money,” Bobby continued. “The more I think about going back to work and getting my own place, the more I…oh, God.” Bobby froze. “Noah? What happened to you?”

  Mel tightened her hold on Cash’s hand and leaned toward him. “That could be Bobby,” she whispered.

  Cash didn’t want to think about that. “Stay here,” he said, letting go of her hand. He looked to his men as he neared Noah, who sat in a metal folding chair near a Toyota Ross should be fixing. The kid’s lips were cracked and bleeding. The circles under his eyes were so dark, it looked as if someone had used him as a punching bag. His eyes weren’t just bloodshot, the whites were almost completely red. His pale, hollow, dirty face had been scratched, as if someone or something had clawed him. Cash looked to where the man’s folded hands jerked in time with his shaking legs. Blood stained Noah’s fingernails, and Cash wondered if Noah had sliced up his own face.

  “Noah, it’s me, Bobby. Talk to me, brother. Who did this to you?”

  Noah looked up at Bobby. His entire body trembled as he slowly flipped his hand to reveal the underside of his forearm. “M-M-M-Madeline.”

  “What about Troy?”

  “D-dead.”

  “Did you see a body?” Cash asked, not sure what to believe.

  Noah shook his head. “Sh-she told me.”

  “Madeline told you Troy was dead?”

  Noah nodded. “Drugged us. No, no food. Sick. Sick. Sick!” Noah gripped his face. Before he could damage his skin more than he already had, Sully and Ross grabbed his arms.

  “Calm down,” Cash ordered, and looked to Jude. “Has he had anything to eat or drink?”

  “No.”

  Mel stepped forward. “I’ll go in the break room and find something for him.”

  After she headed toward the back of the garage, Cash knelt next to the man. “How’d you get here?”

  “W-walked.”

  “How far? Do you know where Madeline lives?”

  He closed his eyes and frowned. “I-I think Georgia. I-I can’t remember. There’s so much blood. So much. You don’t understand what I saw. What they made me watch.”

  “They?” Bobby asked.

  “I-I don’t know his name. He was nicer. He-he was going to fix me.”

  Cash glanced to Jude, who raised a brow and shook his head. “Fix you how?” Cash asked.

  “Take a-away what M-M-Madeline did to me. The drug.” He tried to break free from Sully and Ross’s grip. “Let go!”

  When Cash noticed the chafing around Noah’s wrists he nodded to his men. “Let him go.” The moment they did, Noah scratched his forearm where the telltale signs of needle punctures remained.

  “Here,” Mel said, as she approached, carrying a Mountain Dew, chocolate bar and chips. “Sugar and carbs always takes the edge off when Daddy has a crazy spell.” She handed the soda to Cash, and tore the wrapping off the chocolate bar. “Eat this, honey, and then we’ll get you to the hospital.”

  Noah bit into the chocolate and hugged himself. “No h-hospital. Can’t help.” He looked at the soda Cash held, reached for it, then took several long swallows.

  “Tell us about the blood,” Sully said. “Did you see these people hurt Troy?”

  He shook his head, and explained how Madeline and a man had brought him and Troy to a large plantation house in the middle of nowhere. Once there, they were bound, gagged, then separated. “They drugged me and made my eyes stay open,” he said, finishing the chocolate. “And…and forced me to watch videos.” A tear slipped down his cut cheek. “Gory videos. So much blood. The whole time, all I could hear was M-Madeline’s voice, even when she wasn’t in the room. Sh-she kept telling me to do bad things. To kill. H-hate.” He grit his teeth and fisted his hands. “I wanted to. I wanted to cut the bitch wide open. Cut her and watch her bleed for what she was doing to me.”

  Noah drew his knees to his chest. More tears fell as he looked to Bobby. “Why would I even think that? I-I would never hurt anyone.” He slammed his feet to the concrete, anger and outrage contorting his face. “She wanted to make me a monster like her. She told me so. She would build her own army of monsters to feed on the weak and innocent.”

  Bobby wiped a hand down his face. “Noah, man, you’re no monster. You’re a good dude. Tell us what happened to Troy.”

  “Madeline said the guy killed him. Smashed his head against the floor until his brains spilled out, then choked whatever life was left from him.”

  Cash took the bag of chips from Mel. “Head to the office until we’re finished.”

  “It’s okay,” she said.

  None of this was okay to him and he didn’t want Mel exposed to Noah. “Just for a few minutes.”

  “No.” She stepped around him, then in front of Noah. “Noah, why did they let you leave?”

  “I-I escaped. I heard them talking. Th-they were going to get more subjects,” he said with a snarl. “That’s what me and Troy were. Test subjects.”

  “What the hell?” Ross shook his head. “Are you saying these people were experimenting on you?”

  Noah nodded. “Th-the shot they gave me this morning didn’t do anything to me. Not like the d-days before. But the video kept playing, and I still could hear Madeline telling me to be bad. When I thought they were g-gone, I knocked my chair over. It t-took a while, but I got free. And then I ran.” He looked to Bobby. “I thought they’d get you, too. They needed more subjects, and I thought they’d go to the shelter, so that’s what I did.” He dropped his gaze to his trembling hands. “I ran into the guys that kicked the shit out of us and took our money and stuff.” He leaned forward, reached in his back pocket, then threw a wallet to Bobby. “I hope they’re still alive,” he said on a sob. “If I killed them, I didn’t mean to. There’s something in my head now, and I gotta get rid of it.”

  Mel blew out a slow breath. She turned to Harrison, said something, then faced them again. “You need to go to the hospital. They can draw blood and test it. That’s the only way to know what kind of drug they gave you. Doctors will notify the police and—”

  Noah laughed without humor, and Cash didn’t like how the man stared at Mel with pure hatred. “I’m fucking homeless. Half the homeless in Frenchtown are addicts. Do you think the police are going to believe me or even give a shit?” He shook his head. “What a stupid bitch.”

  Cash lunged for the man, but Sully and Ross sto
pped him. “Get him to a hospital and out of my garage.”

  “Cash, this isn’t how Noah is,” Bobby said. “It’s whatever they gave him that has him weaving in and out. Trust me. I know this guy. He’s not like this.”

  Mel knew Noah and knew this wasn’t him talking, but the drugs. Before Cash had a meltdown and kicked the crap out of the man, she’d remove herself from the room. Plus, she wanted to discuss this situation with Harrison, and how it should be handled. She held up a hand. “I’m stepping outside, while you guys talk some more with Noah. Harrison, why don’t you keep me company?”

  “Good idea,” Cash said, relief in his eyes. He straightened his shirt once Sully and Ross let him go. “I’ll come get you when were finished.”

  When she and Harrison stepped into the sun, Mel slipped on her sunglasses, then motioned for him to follow her. “What do you think?” she asked, leading him toward a picnic table under an awning behind the building.

  Harrison stepped around an old coffee can filled with sand and cigarette butts, then sat at the table. “He should go to the hospital. But I don’t think the police are going to believe the guy. They’ll assume he pushed some bad crank into his veins and is tripping.”

  She sat across from him. “Do you think that’s what happened?”

  “Bobby said he saw this Madeline woman, so we know she’s real.” He frowned. “How far is Georgia from here? Noah thinks that’s where he was taken.”

  “Not far. Half hour by car. So it’s possible he could’ve walked here. Just depends on where Madeline lives.” She took off her sunglasses, then rubbed her chin with the back of her hand. “What if Noah is telling the truth?”

  “And Madeline and the guy with her are experimenting on people?” He let out a breath. “Do you want to call Lola and ask her if she can find a contact with the Tallahassee PD? Once we figure out where Madeline lives, we might have to deal with law enforcement in Georgia, too.”

  “What about Ian?” she asked. Ian Scott, CORE’s owner and the man who also created ATL, had begun his career with the FBI. According to Lola and Harrison, Ian had many friends in both high and low places.