“I’ll ask him for an address.”
“No. Don’t. If he’s being deliberately obtuse, he’ll only continue to act that way for his own reasons.” Addison’s hands had turned white on the steering wheel.
“Do you know how to use the internet function on your phone?”
“Yes.” Shiri tried to hide her smile. She’d been clueless about almost everything five years ago and had to be taught things that were second nature to some of the other Conditioned on the island. Addison still sometimes treated her as if she didn’t know how to tie her shoes. “I’ll use that to look up the address. Good idea.”
She pulled out her phone and Googled the location. “It looks like it’s right at the end of Bonnabel Boulevard in Metairie. Does that help?”
“It’s better than nothing, I suppose. We’re going to have to turn around.”
Shiri gripped her seat. She’d never driven with Addison before, but if Spencer was to be believed, she acted crazy behind the wheel. Her friend maneuvered the car into what Shiri suspected was not a legal U-turn until they were driving in the opposite direction. Tires screeched and horns blared.
“Do I need to remind you that it would be very, very bad for us to get pulled over?”
Addison rolled her eyes. “Do you or do you not want to get to that girl before someone else does?”
“Still…”
“Oh, that reminds me.” Addison drummed her hands on the center console.
“Right behind you in the back seat is a bag. Get it, will you?”
She obliged, glad to have something to do to occupy her mind so as not to obsess about Daphne and Ella. How had the girls gotten to where they were? Why had they thought they needed to? She bit down on her lip as she pulled Addy’s bag onto her lap.
“What’s in it?”
“The new you.”
Shiri shook her head. “Pardon?”
“You sounded just like Guy right then.” Addison snickered.
“Pardon.”
“Would you prefer I said huh?” Pregnancy had given Addison Lewis a strange sense of humor. Or maybe Shiri just didn’t get what was funny.
“Inside that bag is the new you while we’re here.”
“What?” Shiri pulled open the black bag, and it didn’t help the confusion. All she saw inside was a plastic container.
“Open it.”
Shiri did and suddenly she understood. Inside the contraption was a black wig. She swallowed. It was stupid that she was getting emotional about this. For God’s sake, it was a wig. It didn’t mean anything. Why was she getting worked up?
“Shiri? I get it, okay. It was hard for me to put my wig on, too.”
“Why?” She sniffled as she wiped away one of her tears. “It’s just a wig.”
“Because it means hiding. And on the island, none of us have to do that. We all just get to be who we are, period.” Addison sighed. “When we come back here, it’s all about disguises. I spent my whole life acting a part until I met Spencer. You had to live behind walls, treated like some kind of a prisoner.”
Shiri felt her hands shake. “And putting on this wig does not mean that I’m going back behind those walls. It means that I’m refusing to stay behind them, right?”
Addy’s eyes were filled with tears. “We can’t be seen in public. We can forget that when we’re not here, but not when we are.” She indicated her fake brown hair. “It’s impossible to forget that we didn’t really get away, we just found a good hiding place. Someday, someone might find us.”
“No. They won’t, because we’re coming out of hiding whether they like it or not.”
Addison laughed. “Now you sound like Guy.”
“We all spend way too much time together.”
They fell silent as Addison made a left turn. Someone honked, and Shiri suspected her friend had done something else wrong. She wasn’t in the mood to correct her anymore.
“Do I just slip it over my own hair?” She’d never put one on before.
“Your own hair is probably too long.”
Since she had come to the island, she had refused to cut her hair. It had been her own form of rebellion against her past life. Madame had made her keep it a certain length: just below her shoulders. Long enough, according to Madame, for it to be pulled back but short enough that she looked unassuming and nonthreatening to their clients. Now it fell almost to her rear end.
Even she had to admit it was a little ridiculous. In her fantasies, she’d seen Ben again with her hair waving in the wind and he’d been drawn to her like a man possessed by the sight. She rolled her eyes at her own silliness.
“I’ll pull it up and then put the wig on top of it.”
Addison nodded. “It’s not like you have to fool the FBI. You just have to be able to walk around in public without attracting too much attention. Of course, you could probably leave it off, and Guy would never know.”
“It’s not Guy that worries me.” His temper might have been loud, but he was a gentle soul trapped in the body of a powerful man. If some were afraid of him, that served his purposes. Shiri just wasn’t one of those people who found him particularly intimidating—at least not anymore.
Now, the thought of Madame finding her was enough to make Shiri shiver. If she got caught, she’d be back in an Institution and probably tortured before she was put down.
No, the wig was going on. Right now. She flipped her head over and fiddled with her hair until it was restrained on the top of her head. With only the tiny visor mirror to help her, she had to do most of it by touch alone. After a few tries, she managed it. Next, she maneuvered her now-black hair onto her head. Her hair was really long, and it didn’t feel like there was even a bump under the wig. Guy must have had it specifically made to fit her head.
“How does it look?”
Addison eyed her sideways as she drove. “Amazingly, you got it straight the first time. It’s real hair, you know. Just like mine. I’m not going to ask where he gets the stuff.”
“One of his sources.” Guy seemed endlessly able to acquire whatever they needed.
“Spence probably knows, but I’m not going to question him about it either. Some things are better left unknown.” Addison pointed forward. “Oh, there it is. The Bonnabel Boat Launch.”
Shiri squinted to see the boat dock ahead. “This isn’t where it was last time. This isn’t the same dock.”
“Roman did say they’d moved it.”
“Yes.” Dread filled her stomach. Were the girls there alone?
“Pull up over there. I’m going to see if I can find the slip.”
“Shiri, I’m not sure they’re just going to let you run about the dock staring at everyone’s boats on a private marina. Someone might question it.”
“Then you’re going to do your best to distract whoever it is that monitors this place.”
Addison’s eyebrows shot up. “I am?”
“You’re Addison Wade, remember? I’m sure you can keep a couple of boat managers busy for an hour or so.”
“I’m sure I could. If you think you want to handle getting to the girls without me.”
“Addison, if I can’t do that, I might as well never leave the island again for the rest of my life.”
“All right.” Addison pulled the car into a space. “I’ll just go in there,” she said, pointing at a building that read Dock Manager, “and see if I can waste everyone’s time.”
Shiri opened the door and jumped out of the car. Her black wig bounced on her shoulders. It felt heavy on her head and it itched. She might not make it five minutes with this thing on her head. Plus, she was certain she looked pretty severe with black hair. Maybe that was why Guy had sent her that particular color.
He had a warped sense of humor. She just hoped she didn’t terrify the girls.
She ran out onto the dock. The boat had to be there somewhere with the girls on it. Neither of them could be left alone like that, and the longer they were unprotected, the more likely they wo
uld get caught.
She shuddered to think about it. Ben’s boat had been called The Twins. Hopefully he hadn’t changed the name of it. If he had, she might never find them. Now would be a really wonderful time for Daphne to start speaking telepathically with more details than she’d been dishing out.
Shiri had to work fast. Despite her statements to Addison, she wasn’t one hundred percent convinced Addy could keep people busy for a full hour. It wasn’t as if she could announce herself to be Addison Wade. They’d haul her off to an Institution as fast as they would Shiri.
She spotted a familiar boat, and for a second, she stopped breathing. There it was: The Twins. A grin broke out on her face. The boat still existed and the girls were on it. Rushing forward, she tried to keep her excitement at bay. It was possible the girls weren’t in there. It was possible this whole thing was a setup.
Nothing good had happened yet. She needed to maintain her cool.
It wasn’t as easy getting onto the boat as she’d thought it would be. The last time she’d done this, she’d had Ben to help haul her onboard. She looked down at her shoes. The sandals she had on did nothing to help her balance. She slipped them off her feet, hoping beyond hope she could manage this without killing herself.
Shiri grabbed the side of the boat to steady it, only that didn’t work. It moved, and her torso and arms went with it as her legs stayed on the dock. For a second, she stayed precariously both on the side of the boat and the wooden landing. Her heart rate picked up as she realized what was about to happen right before it did.
The boat, guided by the current, pushed farther from the dock. It couldn’t go out into the lake—no, the rope holding it tied to a piling prevented it from doing that. But it could—and did—sway too far out for Shiri to keep her feet on the dock and hold on to The Twins at the same time.
Seconds felt like hours, and yet they went by too fast for her to get herself firmly back on the dock. She had no choice. Wherever the boat went, she was going with it.
As she wrapped her arms around the top rail, she prayed she wouldn’t fall into the water. At best, she was a lousy swimmer. She’d only done it a half a dozen times, and only because Guy insisted that living on an island required they all have a rudimentary understanding of how to swim. Shiri had not taken to it naturally.
“Oh, shit.” She never cursed. Her early training on how to speak and what to say still controlled most of her word use. But this seemed like a good time to let loose. “Shit, shit, shit.”
Her feet kicked as she tried to use her lower body to leverage herself to the top of the boat. At her third attempt to pull herself up, it started to move back toward the dock. Two heads popped up above the side of the boat and stared down at her. For a second, they looked confused. Utter joy filled Shiri’s soul. Daphne and Ella looked so grown up and so beautiful.
“Girls.” Her voice was a mixture of terror and relief. “I’m going to fall in the water.”
They were both silent. Then Daphne’s face swirled with emotion. When she spoke, her voice was choked. “Seven, it’s you.”
“Well… sort of. No one calls me that anymore. I’ll explain. Could you help me by pulling me up?”
If she didn’t end up in the water, it would be a good day.
Fifteen
Ben tapped his foot on the accelerator, making the car go even faster. He dared any police officer to pull him over in the mood he was in. An Institution had blown up that morning. Shouldn’t they have better things to do?
The girls were at the boat. He just knew it. When he’d finally given himself permission to calm down enough to think, he’d figured it out. They loved the boat. They were after him all the time to go back out on it. If it were up to him, he’d sell the damn thing. He ground his teeth together. And why was that? Why did he want to sell The Twins?
He had no idea. It was as though the answer was on the edge of his mind. He could feel it, but he couldn’t access it.
Ben knew for certain that the girls were there and maybe, assuming their minds hadn’t been messed with, they could tell him what the hell was going on or what he’d fucking forgotten.
He pulled into the parking space too fast, slamming on his brakes. They screeched as he stopped. As fast as he ever had, he got the door open and got out of the car.
A brown-haired woman passed right by him, banging into his arm.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She smiled.
He nodded. She looked familiar… somehow. He didn’t have time to care how. His babies—even at eleven they were still his babies—had run away and put themselves in danger. He needed them. Now. And then he could holler at them for what they’d done. But first he had to hug them and assure himself that they were completely unharmed.
He grabbed his boat key out of his pocket. Leave it to the girls. He’d have bet almost anything they’d made a copy of the goddamn key. Sneaky. There was no doubt they were capable of such a feat.
Running down the dock, he saw a black-haired woman standing on his boat with his daughters. His eyes got huge. Who the hell was she, and what the fuck was she doing there with them?
“Hey!” he shouted as he ran toward the scene. His hand reached into his jacket, and he felt what he knew lay there. Gene had insisted he take the gun, and now he was glad he had. If that woman meant his daughters harm, he would shoot her in the head with no remorse.
“Get away from them!” He pulled the gun out and aimed it at the woman’s chest, surprised by just how steady his hand felt.
“Dad!” Daphne shouted, her smile getting wider as he ran toward the boat.
“Is that a gun?” Ella sounded horrified.
“It is, baby girl, and I’d rather not have to use it. So step away from the stranger while I figure this out.”
“Girls, do what your father says.”
He didn’t know who this bitch with the black hair was, but he’d had enough. In no way did he want the girls to listen to her over him.
Daphne and Ella scrambled away from the woman. He grabbed the hook that hung near the pole where his boat was tied. He pulled the boat toward him and boarded with ease.
He stared at his girls for a moment, drinking in the sight of them, unhurt. If they had been alone, he would have grabbed them until they begged him not to hug them so hard. But he had this stranger to deal with, and he didn’t like unknown people near his girls. He blinked. Especially Daphne. Why was that?
Hell, this was getting annoying. He wanted to kick the ass of whatever Conditioned person had done this to him. “Girls, get behind me.”
They responded quickly, running to do as they were told. That was a change. Usually he got an argument over everything. Even their tween brains must have recognized the gravity of the situation.
“Who are you?”
He stared at the woman even as he asked the question. She was tall, his own height, with striking green eyes he thought a man could get lost in. But that didn’t mean they weren’t full of deceit, lies, and evil agendas. Once upon a time, he might have romanticized a beautiful woman, but these days he knew better than to trust his softer side.
Her hair was the darkest shade of black he’d ever seen on a purely Caucasian woman. He suspected it wasn’t real, and that made him trust her even less. Unless she was ill, she had no business wearing that wig. It spoke of hidden agendas.
“That’s Seven, Dad.” Daphne’s voice sounded higher than usual. She was afraid. Good—the girls needed to understand just how dangerous things were. He couldn’t protect them from this forever.
The woman spoke. “He’s not going to know me, Daph.” She didn’t seem afraid, although when she met his gaze, it was with a wariness that showed him she wasn’t stupid. She knew how much trouble she was in.
“Don’t talk to them.”
She nodded even as she sighed. “All right, Ben, if that’s what you want.”
“Shut up. Don’t act like you know me.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not
sure I do. The Ben Lavelle I knew would have at least let a woman explain things before he pointed a firearm at her chest.”
Her words burned him a bit, but he ignored the sensation. Madame and the Institutions had kidnapped him. No way, no how would he make the mistake of thinking any of them were safe. Psychopaths wanted to hurt him, and what better way than to go after his family?
“I’ll ask questions. You’ll answer them. That’s how this is going to work.”
She nodded. “For the moment.”
“I have a gun pointed at your chest. I’ll ask as many questions as I want to for as long as I want to.”
The woman had the nerve to simply raise an eyebrow. Her guts impressed him, begrudgingly. Of course, it could simply mean she was crazy. Either way, he didn’t have time to indulge in any musings on the stranger with his kids.
“You can put the gun down. You don’t want to shoot me. If you did, you would feel terrible about it. I promise you, I am not any risk to your kids or to you. I won’t try to go anywhere.”
“We’ll see.” He motioned with his gun. “Move over there.”
It was important that he put some space between this woman and the girls. The farther the better, while he figured out what to do.
She complied by walking backward, not taking her eyes off him. Keeping his aim with the gun, he watched as she chewed on her lower lip.
“You really don’t know me at all, Ben?”
He shook his head. “Why should I?”
“Because we were… friends.”
This was such bullshit. “I assure you, I remember my friends.”
“Not necessarily. I’m a little bit concerned that Roman took more of your memory than he was supposed to.”
“I don’t doubt that someone has messed with my mind. If you know anything about that, you’ll be lucky if I don’t shove you over the side of this boat.”
She sighed. He could feel wariness coming off her. Not fear, he noted, which he found odd.
Illicit Connections (Illicit Minds Book 2) Page 15
