by A. P. Jensen
Even as Jordan started down the aisle the driver asked, “Who is she?”
Mr. Parker muttered, “Her name’s Jordan.”
She stopped in the aisle but neither man looked at her. Mr. Parker had a laptop on the table and the driver sat beside him with his head tipped back as if he were ready to take a nap. When neither man showed signs of direction she turned to take a seat across the aisle.
“You’re sitting over here,” Mr. Parker said without looking up from his laptop.
She stood immobile until he looked up. He jerked his head at the seat across from him. A long silence passed before she obediently maneuvered her way into the chair. Without another word, he returned his attention to the laptop.
“We dropping her off somewhere?” the man in flannel asked as if Jordan wasn’t sitting right across from him.
Mr. Parker squinted at his laptop screen. “No.”
The driver straightened and pushed his Oakley’s up, revealing the strangest set of eyes Jordan had ever seen. He had orange eyes; the color of autumn leaves and brown hair with bleached tips like a surfer as if he spent too much time in the sun.
“Excuse me?”
Mr. Parker tapped a few keys. “What?”
“You’re taking her home with you?” the driver said incredulously.
Mr. Parker scowled. “I don’t have a choice.”
“Is that so?”
“I’m going to need you to buckle your seatbelts,” the flight attendant said.
As both men complied Jordan stared straight ahead. She was used to people treating her as if she were invisible. The plane moved onto the runway and gained speed. She closed her eyes as the jet rose into the air.
“I’m Heath,” said the man across from her.
Jordan opened her eyes and saw that Heath had a hand extended towards her. She looked at his hand and then shook her head. Heath raised his brows and glanced at Mr. Parker who glanced up from his laptop screen.
“She can’t make physical contact with men,” Mr. Parker said.
Heath jerked his hand back and glanced down at Mr. Parker’s gloves. Mr. Parker closed his laptop with a snap and tapped his pointer finger in a strange, uneven rhythm on the hard cover. His eyes were fixed on Jordan. “These files don’t tell me how your mother died.”
Heath frowned and looked between Jordan and Mr. Parker, trying to decipher the undercurrents.
Jordan rasped, “Drug overdose.”
Mr. Parker’s brows drew together. “Star didn’t do drugs.”
Jordan didn’t try to contradict him. She knew the facts- she’d lived through it.
“Wait! Hold up. What the hell is going on here?” Heath snapped.
Mr. Parker glared at his friend. After a long pause Heath turned his head and took in every feature of Jordan’s face and cursed. He rubbed a hand over his face. “Were you ever going to tell me? I’m guessing Kelly doesn’t know about this either.”
Mr. Parker ignored him. “How long ago did she die?”
“Eight years.”
For the first time Mr. Parker looked shocked. “Who took you in?”
“I went into the system.”
“System?” Heath repeated, bewildered.
“Foster system,” Jordan said as if he was slow.
Mr. Parker’s face was expressionless. “Is that how William found you?”
A part of her wanted to fold her arms and mulishly refuse to answer. She never talked about her years in the foster system. Would Mr. Parker pass her off once he heard what she’d done to survive? After all, who wanted a teen that at the age of twelve had been locked in a padded cell? Jordan examined his composed, handsome face. She always wondered about her father. What girl wouldn’t? As a child, she prayed he would save her- from her mother, foster parents and from Haven. He hadn’t come. Now that she’d met him, she knew why. He wasn’t that type of guy- one that cared.
“No,” Jordan said.
“Then how did you meet William?” Her face was pinched with strain and Mr. Parker noticed her hands tremble in her lap. “It says in your files that at the age of twelve you were classified by the government as mentally unstable and a danger to society. Why?”
She looked at them with haunted eyes and didn’t answer.
“What did you do?” Mr. Parker pressed.
Jordan heard the accusation in his voice and her heart sank. Did he know what it felt like to have no rights over what happened in your life? She wasn’t ashamed of what she’d done - she had no choice. If this was his way of getting rid of her, so be it.
Jordan lifted her chin. “I crippled two people.”
Both men’s faces were expressionless.
“Why?” Mr. Parker said.
“Because no one else would.”
Mr. Parker let out an impatient sound and leaned forward. “What did they do to you?”
Jordan blinked. No one had asked that question. When she’d begged to be taken away from her foster parents, no one listened. Everyone assumed she’d lost her mind; no one considered that there might have been a motive behind the attack. After all, foster kids were trouble.
“It was self-defense,” Jordan said and clenched her hands together to stop them from shaking.
Mr. Parker realized that was all he was going to get for an explanation. “And then what happened?”
“They put me in a padded room.”
“And then?”
Jordan’s eyes were empty. “Haven.”
“According to your file, you died a little over two years ago in the psychiatric hospital. I have your death certificate.”
“Why would someone fake her death?” Heath asked.
Both men glanced at each other and then back at her.
“You didn’t tell me how you know William Stan.”
In poor defense from their dissecting eyes she looked out the window.
“I need to know,” Mr. Parker insisted.
When Jordan looked back at him, her eyes burned with suppressed emotion. Absently, she put a hand to her chest where the familiar pain throbbed. Terror that had been suppressed rushed to the surface. William with his crazed eyes, the torture she endured in the peach colored room in Haven. You belong to me. You’ll never be free of me. Her heart beat too hard, too fast.
“Why?” she whispered.
“Just answer me.”
Her eyes flashed. “I don’t owe you anything!”
She couldn’t breathe. Her hands fumbled with the belt buckle. Mr. Parker got to his feet but she didn’t wait to see what he would do. She rushed towards the back of the plane and pushed open the door to the miniscule bathroom and made it just in time. As the spasms passed she lay limply over the toilet. Tears burned her eyes. Would there ever be a time when his name wouldn’t make her sick to her stomach? Why wouldn’t everyone just leave her alone?
“Are you alright?”
Jordan rose as Heath set a bottle of mouthwash on the counter. She swished the liquid around in her mouth and splashed cold water on her face and felt marginally better. Embarrassment lurked in the back of her mind but she was too exhausted to care.
“Let’s go,” he said and motioned her back down the aisle.
Mr. Parker said nothing as she retook her seat. She stared mutinously out at the cloudy world outside. Heath murmured something to Mr. Parker in a low tone.
“I apologize.”
Jordan flinched in acknowledgement but didn’t look away from her view of the very blue sky stretching out before her. How could there be such beauty and evil on the same planet? A gloved hand cupped her chin and turned her head towards Mr. Parker. The gloves were warm and almost comforting.
“I’m not used to waiting. I can give you time but I will ask again,” Mr. Parker said.
She jerked out of his hold and looked away.
“You’re safe now,” he paused and then, “Do you know what he wanted from you?”
She was quiet for a long minute. Heath and Mr. Parker watched her closed expression, d
esperate for the answers she could provide. Both could see how she was barely holding herself together. Pushing her would only result in a fight that wouldn’t give them what they needed.
“He thought I could save his sanity,” she whispered.
“And?” Heath prompted.
“I failed.”
“Sleep,” Mr. Parker said.
After several minutes, she did so.
Both men were aware of the moment she finally drifted off into a fitful sleep. Donovan ignored Heath’s accusing stare.
“First William, now this. The media’s going to have a field day.”
Donovan ran a hand through his hair. “What a mess.”
“You think she just Awakened?”
“I don’t know.”
“You got her just in time to have her Declared,” Heath said casually.
“You think I don’t realize that?”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
Donovan’s temper flared. “I don’t have a choice, now, do I?”
“Did you know about her?”
“Do you think I’d leave a daughter behind, knowing she might carry my birthright?” Donovan asked in a monotone.
“I don’t know. Would you?”
“I’m here now, aren’t I?” Donovan stood and moved to the back of the jet, away from Jordan.
Undaunted, Heath followed. “I know you. Penn must have blackmailed you to take her. You wouldn’t have taken this on willingly but you’re the only one strong enough to do it.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“I guess not,” Heath conceded and folded his arms across his chest and glanced at Donovan’s inscrutable face. “Do you think William knew she was yours?”
Donovan’s mouth compressed in a thin line. “I’ll never know, now, will I?”
“Did anyone else know about Jordan besides Star?” Heath pressed, unable to leave it alone.
Donovan’s eyes kindled with banked fury. “Someone knows. They’ll pay.”
Heath noticed that Donovan’s eyes drifted to his daughter often, almost against his will. Heath relaxed a little. Donovan may be a hard ass but he protected what was his. Jordan would be safe, for now. The two men said nothing, each lost in their own thoughts. Both knew that Jordan’s arrival had just changed everything.
Chapter Five
Even in sleep Jordan sensed something reach for her. Her hand whipped up and clutched the gloved hand six inches from her face before her eyes opened. Mr. Parker noted the fear before she masked it and released him.
“We’re almost there,” he said.
“Here where?” she asked, looking out of the window at orange tinted clouds.
“Texas.”
“Texas?” She looked him up and down. Mr. Parker didn’t look like a cowboy. He looked like a slick mob boss.
She couldn’t muster up the energy to ask what was going to happen now. As the plane began its descent Heath and Mr. Parker spoke in low tones and she ignored them both. She peered out the oval window and saw a deserted runway flanked by daisies and pasture as far as the eye could see. As the jet landed and taxied the runway Jordan noticed one building, a barn housing two propeller planes and another white unmarked jet.
As soon as the plane stopped Mr. Parker impatiently unbuckled his seatbelt and strode down the aisle to the exit. Jordan followed. Two flight attendants nodded to her as she walked down the steps. She paused on the runway as Mr. Parker and Heath strode to a black Ford truck.
The setting sun cast the pastures in golden light. She felt as if she had landed on another planet. Gone was the sand and red dirt of Nevada. She took a deep breath. The air was sweet and warm. Jordan felt the humidity immediately, something that settled like a dewy blanket over her chilled body and she tipped her head back to enjoy the sensation. Jordan heard a door slam as Heath hopped into the truck and wondered if they would leave without her. Was it time for them to pass her off to someone else? She told herself she didn’t care. People had left her behind before.
“Hey!” Mr. Parker yelled over the plane engine.
Jordan opened her eyes and saw him glaring at her as he stood half out of the truck, leaning on the open door.
“Get in!” he yelled and didn’t slam his door until she started walking towards them.
She climbed into the back seat and buckled herself in. Heath gunned the engine and in a squeal of tires they were off. Through the tinted windows she stared at the unfamiliar sight of trees and gentle hills covered in blooming flowers. The serenity of her surroundings lulled her into sleep despite the catnaps. The men in the front seat didn’t speak and no music played on the radio. She wasn’t sure how much time passed but she roused when the car slowed.
Heath turned off the main highway onto a dirt road. Jordan felt a spurt of alarm, remembering how Haven was far from any civilization. She unclipped her seat belt in preparation to run and saw Heath’s eyes focus on her in the rearview mirror. She pulled on the handle of the door but it wouldn’t open.
“The child safety locks came in handy, Donovan,” Heath said with a broad smile.
Mr. Parker turned in his seat and glared at her. “What’s going on?”
“Where are we?” she demanded, tugging on the handle.
“Jordan,” he said but she wasn’t listening.
She slid across the bench seat to the other door and tried to shove it open, roll down the windows and then beat the glass with her fist. She was panicked, terrified. She wouldn’t be locked up again. She wouldn’t survive it. Suddenly the door opened and Mr. Parker reached in and dragged her out of the truck onto the dirt road. She fought him, straining and kicking out at him. She didn’t make a sound.
“Donovan?” Heath said.
“Wait for us down the road,” Mr. Parker snapped.
Mr. Parker didn’t say anything to Jordan as she struggled. Her eyes were empty because she was locked in nightmares. Mr. Parker dragged her off the dirt road to a stream. She thought he was going to throw her in but he dumped her in a bed of flowers and her feet splashed into the water, shocking her into stillness. She thought the water would be freezing but like the weather it was warm and soothing. The stream was wide but if you took a running jump you could reach the other side. Beyond the stream were more endless fields.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Mr. Parker growled and paced beside her. “You’re under my protection now.”
She didn’t believe him. He crouched beside her and grabbed her chin.
“This is my property. No one is allowed to cross the property line without my permission. You understand?”
The stream tugged her shoes off her feet and carried them off but she didn’t care. They were too big anyway.
“I’m powerful. Do you believe that?”
Jordan stared into his icy eyes and nodded. She could feel it.
“I make you this promise; you will not come to any harm under my roof. I swear it.”
Jordan stared into her father’s eyes; felt him willing to believe her. She could tell it meant a lot to him. His hand tightened ever so slightly and she nodded.
“No more running. Let’s get to the house before it gets dark,” he said.
Jordan rose and his eyes flicked down to her feet. She walked on the springy grass beside the dirt road and saw Heath waiting patiently before an open iron gate with a large P on the front. The gate wasn’t connected to a fence because on either side of the gate was the river. Anybody wanting to continue had to pass through the gate, there was no alternative. Heath reversed so she could climb in without walking on the road. She clambered in the back seat and neither man said a thing as they drove.
The stream ran on either side of the dirt road lined by trees and flowers. For several minutes her view was obscured by clouds of dirt and then she felt the truck rumble onto smooth concrete. Heath revved the engine again as the sun sent its last rays across the sky. A long driveway lined with tall trees led to a beautiful home made of dark wood and tinte
d glass. Wide front steps led up to a wraparound porch where a woman stood waiting. On the left side of the house was another long building and as the door rose, she realized it was a garage filled with cars. Heath parked the truck and opened her door. She jumped down and Mr. Parker tugged her out of the garage towards the house.
The woman standing at the top of the steps was dressed in white capris and a light pink shirt with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was in her mid-thirties or so with brown eyes and freckles sprinkled over her nose. She and Jordan were the same height, around five foot one.
“This is Jordan,” Mr. Parker said and walked into the house, leaving Jordan at the bottom of the steps.
The woman took in Jordan’s dirty clothes and shoeless state and then looked to Heath for an explanation. Heath looked extremely uncomfortable and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand.
“I’m Kelly,” the woman said, breaking the awkward silence.
The silence stretched. Heath cleared his throat and rocked back on his work boots. “She is Donovan’s daughter.”
“She’s what?” Kelly said in a faint voice.
For a moment Kelly seemed incapable of speech and then slowly walked down the stairs so she and Jordan were face to face. When Kelly’s arms rose, Jordan tensed. She wasn’t prepared for the woman to wrap her in a secure hug and rock her from side to side as if they’d known each other all their lives. The gesture was so far removed from Jordan’s world she didn’t know how to react. Kelly finally drew back and held Jordan at arm’s length. A frown marred her face as she took in Jordan’s expressionless face.
“Welcome home,” Kelly said.
She ushered Jordan into a foyer where Jordan stood beneath a glass globe melded with color. Straight ahead was a sweeping staircase that divided the room in half. To the right was a sunken, airy living room. The décor was expensive looking but not unwelcoming. On the coffee table was a glass cowboy boot with red Gerber’s in it. As Jordan took in the house she realized what made the house seem never ending. The glass walls made it seem as if the trees and pastures were part of the house. The wraparound porch continued around the house and Jordan saw Heath cross a bridge over the stream to a house in the middle of the pasture.
