by Katie Ashley
Bishop held up his hands defensively. “I never said you couldn’t.”
“I’m not that old.”
I chuckled. “If anyone can pull off that long a haul, it’s you, man.”
Breakneck finally smiled. “Besides, I think it’ll do me some good to be on the open road.”
“Have you talked to Betsy about funeral plans for Sarah?”
Betsy was Breakneck’s ex-wife and the mother of his three children. While they had divorced years ago, they had somehow managed to keep an amicable relationship. He cleared his throat. “Yeah. I’ve spoken with her. She wants to wait until I get back to plan anything.” He gave me a pointed look. “Whenever that is.”
“Take all the time you need.”
“Thank you,” he replied, his eyes momentarily appearing glassy. After a few seconds, he cleared his throat. “I’m assuming Annabel has yet to speak to her parents.”
I shook my head. “When I mentioned calling them, she was pretty evasive.”
“That’s understandable. Her father is a real dick.”
“You know him?” I questioned incredulously.
“Not exactly. Just heard him speak on CSPAN before. Real right-wing nut job. The kind that hides a million secrets and shady dealings behind a picture-perfect smile.”
“Regardless of all that, I’m sure they’re desperate to know she’s all right,” I argued.
“You might be surprised. But in spite of all that, she needs to call them this afternoon. Should her identity be discovered crossing the border, we’ll have a hell of a hard time explaining why she’s with us.”
I nodded. “Okay. I’ll have her call them when she gets out of the shower.”
“I’m going to head out for now,” Breakneck said. He turned to Bishop. “Why don’t you come with me, and we can feel out the Raiders for help with a car?”
“Sounds good,” Bishop replied.
“I’ll come back later this evening to check on Annabel. Make sure she gets plenty of rest.”
“I will.”
Breakneck cocked his brows at me. “I don’t guess there’s any chance of you going back to the hotel tonight and letting Bishop or me stay?”
I shook my head and told him, “I’m fine right where I am. Besides, I think she would rest easier with me.”
With a smile, Breakneck replied, “Yes, she would. She seems to do everything better with you.”
His words stayed with me long after he and Bishop had left the room. My mind couldn’t help drifting to Deacon and Alexandra. I thought of how much she had needed him, physically and emotionally, after she had been tortured and almost raped by one of the Raiders’ enemies. While it was an honor to help Annabel through her dark times, I couldn’t chase away the nagging feeling that she was growing too attached to me. What would happen to her when it was time for us to go our separate ways?
SEVEN
ANNABEL
As I reached to turn off the shower, my gaze froze on my battered wrists. For a few moments, I could only stand there, staring at the marks I had made on them. I could almost hear my mother’s disdainful voice remarking on how the gashes would leave such unattractive scars. To be scarred in our world of superficial perfection would be as bad as having leprosy. I would now be forced to remember my moment of weakness and despair each and every day of my life—a physical testimony to a place and time when the weight of the world became too much to bear.
They would be there when I woke up in the morning and would remain throughout the day until I laid my head on my pillow at night. I would never play the piano again without seeing the scars, nor would I examine one of my furry patients without the glaring reminder. During spring and summer when I wore short sleeves, people’s attention would be drawn to the scars, and their minds would whirl with the possibilities of what had happened to me. Mostly, I knew, they would look disapprovingly at me because I had once tried to take my life.
While part of me was horrified at the thought, the other part relished the truth of the battle scars which adorned my body. Soldiers and police officers often were injured in the line of duty, and they wore their scars with pride. In a small way, mine would also be a testament to what I had been through and ultimately survived.
It was the small incision on my abdomen that caused the greatest emotional pain. It would be the one I couldn’t wear with pride. It would be a constant reminder of my physical shortcomings. While deep down I clung to the hope that I would someday be a mother, there was no gray area when it came to me experiencing pregnancy.
As a fresh wave of grief washed over me, I leaned back against the shower wall and thought about how I found myself now in a strange, otherworldly place. A place born of living three lifetimes in less than three months. There had been the Annabel I was before the kidnapping, the Annabel I was during my enslavement in Mexico, and the Annabel I would be now. And who was she?
After living such a controlled life both under my parents’ thumb and in captivity, I found myself alarmed at the thought of what tomorrow might bring. Questions of how to proceed with my life inundated my brain at almost warp speed. Once I started down that train of thought, I didn’t know how to stop it. I knew I was supposed to take only one day at a time as I recovered, even as little as one step, but I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen now.
A gentle knock came at the door. “Annabel? Are you okay?” Rev asked.
Realizing I must’ve been in the shower longer than I’d intended, I quickly turned off the water. “Yes, I’m fine,” I called.
After I toweled off, I realized I was too tired to dry my hair, so I combed it out and left it wet. I slipped into another hospital gown and what were apparently the post-op granny panties I was mandated to wear. When I came out of the bathroom, I found that only Rev remained. I wasn’t sure where Dr. Edgeway or Rev’s brother had gone.
“Hi,” I said softly.
He glanced up from the book he was reading. “Hello. Feeling okay?”
I nodded. “Much better now. Little tired.”
“I was worried about that. You need to get some rest.”
With a yawn, I replied, “I plan on it.” When I eased into the bed, Rev stood up to help pull the sheet and blanket over me. “Thanks.”
My head had barely touched the pillow when I fell into a deep sleep. I awoke to the unappetizing aroma of the dinner trays being brought around. I had always heard the jokes about American hospital food, but if there was anything worse, it had to be Mexican hospital food.
When I glanced over to where I had last seen Rev, he was still sitting in the chair beside the bed, watching TV. “Hey,” I said.
He turned his head to grin at me. “Hey there, Sleeping Beauty. I was wondering when you might wake up.”
His term of endearment made me smile. “I can’t believe how long I slept,” I said as I pushed myself into a sitting position.
“You needed it.”
An aide appeared with my food and set it down without a smile. “Gracias,” I murmured as she turned to leave. I opened the lid and then quickly shut it.
“You need to eat,” Rev urged, when I pushed the tray away.
“I’d like to see you try that.”
With a smile, he rose from his chair. He took the lid off my tray and then picked up a fork. He cut a piece of the pale, overbaked chicken cutlet. After he took a bite, his expression soured, and he quickly turned to spit the food into the trash can.
“That’s horrible.”
“I tried to tell you.”
“I’ll call Bishop and ask him to bring us some food that’s a little more appetizing.”
I smiled at him. “That sounds like a plan.”
After Rev made the call, he didn’t put his phone away. Instead, he kept looking at it and then at me. The expression on his face told me he was apprehensive about something. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“Are you sure? You look funny.”
A teasing smile p
layed on his lips. “That wasn’t a very nice thing to say.”
I laughed. “I didn’t mean it like that. You look like something’s bothering you. Like you need to tell me something you really don’t want to.”
Rev’s smile faded. “You’re very perceptive. You’re being discharged in the morning, so we’ll be leaving for El Paso.” Then he proceeded to tell me the plans that I assumed Breakneck and he had made earlier. “But before we leave, I need you to talk to your parents.”
My stomach churned at the prospect. “I tried to kill myself earlier today. Must I endure that as well?” I said, knowing I sounded bitter.
He stared at me, his dark brows furrowed. I could tell the wheels were spinning in his head about what kind of heartless girl I must be not to want to put my worried parents’ minds at ease. In the vast scheme of things, it didn’t matter what he thought of me, but at the same time, I couldn’t bear to have someone as good and kindhearted as he was thinking I was a bad person.
“Rev, I’m sure this all seems strange to you, but just like I don’t understand the world you come from, you don’t understand mine, either.”
His expression softened a little. “Trust me, I get that people have fucked-up families. But no matter what happened before with them, they have a right to know.”
Nibbling my lip between my teeth, I contemplated his response. I finally relented. “What if you called them?”
“Seriously?”
I nodded. When he still seemed unconvinced, I said, “Please?”
He exhaled a long, almost defeated sigh. “Do you want to speak to them after I have?” When I shook my head, he groaned. “Fine. I’ll call them.” He then wagged a finger at me. “But you owe me.”
“You’re right. I do. But for more than I can possibly repay.”
“Some things are on the house,” he replied, with a tender smile that made my chest tighten with emotion.
“I’ll give you my father’s private number. That way you won’t get the run-around from his aides.”
To my surprise, Rev put the phone on speaker. My father picked up on the third ring. “This is Emmett Percy.” Hearing his voice should probably have brought me some form of comfort, but it didn’t move me at all. When your parents have kept you at arm’s length your entire life, even a catastrophic event doesn’t change the way you feel. The only person I would want to talk to at the house was Connie, my former nanny, who was now employed as my mother’s assistant.
“Mr. Percy, you don’t know me, and I don’t know you. The only thing you do need to know is your daughter Annabel is safe.”
My father sucked in a harsh breath. “What do you mean? Who are you? Where is my daughter?” he demanded.
“The fewer details you know of her kidnapping and rescue, the better. That can be said for all parties involved. She is safe and recuperating, so any search efforts you had should be canceled. She will be returning home to you in Virginia in a few days.”
“I don’t believe a fucking word you’ve said. I want to speak to my daughter this instant.”
Rev thrust out the phone to me. His no-nonsense look told me I had no choice but to speak to my father. With a resigned sigh, I said, “It’s me, Father.”
“Annabel? Annabel, are you really okay?”
“Yes, I am. I swear. And I’m not being coerced into saying that, either.”
“Where are you?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
“The hell I don’t! Is that man the one who kidnapped you? I’ll have the CIA and the FBI on his ass in seconds.”
“Father, please. He saved me from something pretty horrible. He doesn’t need to be harassed by you or your minions.”
“I want you home—immediately. It’s been a media circus since you left—”
Rage boiled inside me at his comment. Gripping the phone tighter, I spat, “I didn’t just leave. I was kidnapped by a group of traffickers. Do you understand what that means? I had no choice. In anything that happened or anything that was done to me.”
My father remained silent for a moment as if he was trying to process the horror of what I had just said. But he wasn’t focusing on my torment—the unspeakable pain his daughter had gone through. No, I was certain he was worrying about how my family could find a way to get out of this unscathed both politically and socially. “I will send the plane for you right now. Wherever you are in the world.”
“No. It isn’t necessary.”
“Annabel, be reasonable. Your mother has barely slept in the two months you’ve been gone. Both of us are wrecks.”
Once again, he was thinking only of himself. It didn’t matter what I had gone through, the sleepless nights I had endured. “I’m sorry, Father. But that’s all you need to know right now.”
A humorless laugh came through the phone. “Fine. I see this experience hasn’t humbled you and has only made you even more headstrong. So if that’s the way you want to play it, I’ll just find your location from the phone tracer. Or have you forgotten that all my calls are traced?”
“This is a GoPhone. Good luck with that one,” I replied, before disconnecting the call. I tossed the phone back at Rev. “Happy now?”
He didn’t look happy. In fact, he appeared horrified at what had transpired between my father and me. “They had to know, Annabel.”
“Now do you understand why I didn’t want to call them?”
He jerked a hand through his hair. “Yes, I do. And I’m sorry—not for making you call, but I’m sorry that’s the family you have to go back home to.”
“It is what it is. My parents are horrible, my sister is tolerable, but at least I have a really good group of friends. They’re the ones I would want to know I was okay.”
His expression turned suddenly contemplative. “Do you have a boyfriend back home?”
For some reason, the very innocent question didn’t seem so innocent. “Why would you ask me that?”
He shrugged. “Just wondered who else there might be in your life worth getting back home to.”
“No, there’s no boyfriend.”
His brows shot up in surprise. “How is it possible a girl as pretty as you doesn’t have a boyfriend?”
The compliment seemed so foreign coming from him. In spite of that fact, warmth flooded my cheeks. “That’s sweet of you to say.”
Even though he looked slightly embarrassed, he said, “I mean it.”
“No, there’s not been a boyfriend for a while actually.” As I thought about the old Annabel’s life, I found myself almost smiling. “There was a guy I liked back in College Station.”
“A guy you went to school with?” Rev asked.
“Actually, he was a vet at the animal hospital I worked at.”
“Is that what you were in school for? To be a vet?”
I nodded. “I can’t imagine doing anything else. I’ve loved animals practically since I was born.” With a sly smile, I added, “I guess I found them to be much nicer than my family.”
Rev laughed. “I can see how you might believe that.”
I absently flicked away a piece of fuzz on my blanket. “I was in my first semester of veterinarian school. I’ve missed so much that I guess I’ll just start over in the fall.”
“I think you’ll be an amazing veterinarian,” Rev said encouragingly.
“And how can you tell?”
Cocking his head, he stared at me for a moment. “There’s something about you that says you have a caring nature.”
“Except when it comes to my parents.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself about them. Lots of people have complicated relationships with their families.”
“Do you?”
Rev smiled. “How quickly you forget—my father killed my rapist, gave up his church, and divorced my mother. I would say that makes for complications, doesn’t it?”
I shook my head. “But you still got along with your father, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I did. He was a good
man despite his faults.”
“You seem to get along well with Bishop.”
Rev grinned. “Ah, yes, my dear, sweet baby brother who should have been here half an hour ago with dinner.” After he laughed, he added, “Yeah, he’s my best friend. Along with our older brother.”
“What about your mother?”
The amusement in Rev’s face was replaced with such a look of admiration and tenderness that it caused an ache in my chest. “She’s my hero. Everything good and decent that I am is because of my mother.”
His endearing words, along with the conviction with which he spoke, momentarily left me speechless. I couldn’t help wondering just for a moment what it might be like to have such a woman as my mother. “She sounds like an amazing person.”
“She is.” The corners of his lips turned up in a smile. “She’s probably one of the reasons I’m still single. She’s spoiled me too much.”
“So there’s no girlfriend or wife back home?”
“No. There isn’t.”
Although I couldn’t explain why, his answer gave me a sense of relief. Hitting him with his question from earlier, I asked, “How is it that a man as handsome as you is still single?”
He grinned. “Stop it. You’ll make me blush.”
I couldn’t help laughing at his teasing remark. He was such a paradox—a tender, gentle soul wrapped up in a handsome, yet hard and gruff exterior. “Seriously, though. I might’ve only known you for a few days, but I can tell what a good, decent, and caring man you are. Not to mention the easy-on-the-eyes bit.”
Rev ducked his head shyly. “I don’t know why other than I got my heart broken a couple of years ago.”
My fists clenched at my sides, and for the first time in my life, I wanted to scratch the eyes out of a girl I’d never met—the girl who had dared to break Rev’s heart. “That’s a shame, because you deserve someone who makes you happy, not someone who hurts you.”
