Chapter 9

Chapter

Nine

GRACE

M y eyes were gritty and my mouth dry as awareness trickled back in. As bad as I felt, I didn’t want to wake further. The moment I did, I’d have to deal with the reality of where I was and what I was doing. Instead of forcing my eyes open, I burrowed against the pillow and pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders.

The lack of sound around me was even more telling than the fact I was in the bed. We weren’t in the car anymore. It must mean we’d arrived at our destination. They hadn’t been particularly forthcoming about where, except it was far away from Manhattan. From my place.

From the men who had come to get me.

A shudder rippled through me and sleep fell away like crumbling earth from beneath my feet. When my eyes snapped open, the last thing I expected to see was a man sitting in a chair, half-sprawled as he read a book.

He wasn’t Alphabet or Lunchbox. Though he looked to be about their size with how he dwarfed the chair. Dark hair fell over his forehead. It wasn’t as long as Alphabet’s nor as clipped as Lunchbox’s.

I frowned as I stared at him and he lifted his gaze from the book briefly to glance at me. His expression arrested me. For a moment, no emotion seemed to exist there, his eyes seemed pale but it could just be the way the light hit them. The absolute neutrality was more unsettling than a scowl.

“Boom?” I tested the syllable. That wasn’t right. “No… The witch doctor is the other guy. You’re… Bones .”

They had such weird names and at the same time, I kind of liked them. Bones straightened slowly as he studied me and lowered his book and emotion seemed to bleed back into his face.

“You’re Grace Black.” The deep, even voice offered no clue to his actual mood.

“Yes.” No point in keeping that a secret. “Where are we?”

Rather than answer my question, he asked one of his own. “How are you feeling?”

Exhausted. Everything hurt. My muscles. My bones. My heart. “I’m fine.” It wasn’t totally true, but at the moment, my complaints were a lot less than they had been.

“Miss Black, you and I will get along much better if you don’t lie to me.” Pale gray eyes seemed to bore into me as though he were capable of reading my mind.

“I don’t know you,” I said rather than try to argue that I wasn’t lying. I sat up, preferring to face him on a little more even ground.

“You know my guys though,” Bones countered.

“Lunchbox and Alphabet?” At his nod, I ran my tongue over my lower lip. “They’re your guys—how? They work for you?” Was this kind of mafia? I hadn’t really been able to parse the dynamic at the clinic.

The doctor had been straightforward. The men who pulled us out of the truck, they’d been rougher. Not as refined. Alphabet seemed—I wasn’t even sure how to describe it. A little more laid back, but Lunchbox had been more formal. More direct.

Bones?

I really had no idea what he was at the moment, other than intense.

“They’re my guys, my brothers,” Bones said, offering even less of an explanation. “They’ve also offered you protection, which means I have. What one of us commits to, all of us does.”

Pulling my knees to my chest, I frowned. “I’m not holding any of you to this. They got me out of a bad situation—after getting me home.” I sighed.

Home. Then I looked down at the knit blanket that was laid over me, I’d been wrapped up in it. My pictures were missing, but whoever brought me in here had made sure to bring the blanket.

Waking to a strange room was becoming a bad habit. The blanket helped.

“Anyway, I’m not holding anyone to anything. I’m out. If you can get me to law enforcement, I can file a report. I can reach out to my sister.” I still hadn’t called Am. I glanced toward the heavily curtained window. The blackout drape kept the time of day a mystery. “I need to call her anyway.”

“You don’t have to hold us to it,” Bones said as he rose. “They gave you their word. Now I’m giving you mine. We’ll make sure you’re safe. We’ll find out who is after you. Then we’ll deal with it. Until then, you stay with us.”

“No,” I argued. “I have a life and a sister. I need to get back to them.”

“Right now, you have a life because your captors put you on the wrong truck. I don’t like coincidences. I don’t like blind luck. You’ve benefited from both. If the boys had left after you got home, you’d already be back in chains and we wouldn’t know.”

My stomach sank at the description. As much as I wanted to deny the point, I couldn’t. There had been five men in my place. More men in that other car. I really was only free because Alphabet and Lunchbox came back in after me.

“I hate this,” I said, rubbing a hand over my face. All at once, the aches that I’d been ignoring crept through me. The bruises on my chest. The pulled muscles. The strain in my neck and in my back.

“I’m sure you do,” Bones said in an even voice. The pale gray eyes didn’t offer a lot of comfort or even platitudes. It was a directness I could respect. “Like I said, you have my word. We will take care of this.”

That sounded fantastic… in theory . But I didn’t know these men. “Why?” Were they do-gooders? Did they parachute into bad situations and save people? “Just because Lunchbox and Alphabet said they would help me?”

“Not only because of that. No. I explained it already. You need time to think about it and make your peace. You also need a shower and food. Voodoo got you some clothes.” He pointed to the bag on the dresser that I hadn’t noticed before. “There’s some hygiene products in there too, the basics. We’ll get more once we’re back at base.”

Base? What base? Were they military? That might make more sense and it seemed to fit these men. Bones was definitely as tall as the other two and the silk dress shirt and well-tailored slacks did nothing to disguise the thick nature of his muscles. The pair of rings he wore on his right hand—one on the index and the other on his ring finger—were squared and thick. Tiger’s eye decorated one, but I couldn’t see the stone in the other.

The man appeared urbane and well groomed, but that was all surface. He would fit right in on Wall Street. Unless you looked closer, and I wasn’t sure I would see it if we were in a more normal situation. He dressed the part, he spoke in a cool educated voice that held no trace of an accent.

Everything about him was a distraction. Camouflage. Hiding in plain sight. There was a much deeper, darker pool beneath all the gloss. Recognizing that didn’t make any of this easier.

“I’ll shower, not sure I can eat.”

The thought of food made me want to throw up. But I needed to scrub. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be clean again. Pushing the blankets back, I slid out of the bed. I was still mostly dressed, so that definitely helped.

“Then I have to call my sister. That’s nonnegotiable.”

“When you’re finished, come out to the kitchen. Just step out and come down the hall.” With those words, he let himself out and left me alone. He didn’t address my need to call Am or check on her.

Irritation rifled through me. I stared at the door for a long moment, then looked at the bag, then turned to the curtain. They were only in charge as long as I agreed they were.

I hadn’t agreed to anything.

At the window, I drew back the blackout curtain to see—a wall instead of a window. Who bricked up windows and put a curtain over it anyway?

A brief search turned up no other exit from the room except for the door to the bathroom—which only went into the ensuite—and the door to the hall.

Aggravated didn’t begin to cover it. With no other option, I dug into the bag. There were jeans, socks, panties, bras, and shirts. There were also a couple of hoodies. It was basic, but everything was in the right size.

I didn’t look too closely at that. The second bag had a pair of shoes in it. They looked like running shoes. Nothing fancy, but again functional.

Also, I wasn’t going to complain. The bag with the shoes also had another bag of toiletries. He’d even remembered a blow dryer, and clips to pull my hair back if I wanted.

The thoughtfulness sanded away some of my irritation. The shower heated swiftly and the water hit the perfect temp and water pressure. The combination made me linger, but I wanted to feel clean so I scrubbed every inch of me. Twice.

By the time I shut off the water, I’d turned a rosy shade of pink everywhere. Toweling off briskly added another layer of flush to my skin. I had to remove the tags off the clothes before I put them on. Normally, I’d wash them before I wore them, but right now—yeah, I’d just make do.

Once I was dressed, I combed my hair, put in a little leave-in conditioner, then debated using the blow dryer. My stomach cramped even as it released a gurgle. Was I hungry? Nervous? Or ill?

Maybe all three. I skipped finishing my hair to head out of the bedroom in search of my newly designated captors. At the door, I hesitated. I didn’t want to think of them as captors. That was kind of insulting considering they’d been party to liberating me.

But they were also insisting on protecting me and Bones hadn’t answered about calling Am or going back. He also dismissed me going to law enforcement. Or at least it felt that way.

Maybe I’d misread him.

Maybe.

Once I opened the door, the smell of bacon and eggs twined with coffee floated down the hall to greet me. My growling stomach grew louder. Arms folded, I headed down the hall.

Quiet male voices carried but they weren’t saying much. A couple of syllables then quiet, then a couple more. Maybe no one here was a morning person.

The padding of happy paws penetrated the bubble of my bad mood. Goblin came trotting out to meet me and I crouched to greet him. “Hey there,” I said, as he rubbed up against me. As soon as I started scratching him under his chin, he leaned right into the caress. “How are you, buddy?”

If only dogs could answer.

“He’s better now that he found someone else to try and con bacon out of,” Alphabet said from where he waited in the doorway to the kitchen. He looked a little rumpled and his eyes were bloodshot.

The lack of sleep had been on me. I’d crashed in the back of their SUV, but I had no idea if he or Lunchbox got any sleep.

“Well, he could deserve a slice or two.”

Goblin wagged his tail as I rose and he moved with me as I continued down the hall.

“He thinks he deserves a whole pound of it.” Alphabet’s tone was exceptionally dry.

“It’s good to know what you’re worth.” It was why we charged the rates we did for my time. I was worth it. That thought didn’t really have time to make purchase before I found myself under the steady gaze of the other three men present.

Bones sat at the corner table, a mug of coffee in front of him and a plate of food that included a stack of pancakes. The man next to him was Voodoo. I’d seen him briefly on the bus. He had a sleepy look about him and his hair was longer, more tousled than the others. I swore I got a shiver when he looked me over.

Shoving that inappropriate reaction aside, I turned to where Lunchbox stood at the stove. Dressed in a pair of khakis alone, he was shirtless and had a dish towel over his shoulder.

“What’ll be, Gracie?” he asked as he grinned at me. “Pancakes? French toast? I’ve got eggs, bacon, some grilled onions and peppers. The assholes ate all of the fried potatoes, but I can make you some hash browns.”

Normally, I’d go for a protein shake and some fruit maybe. “Coffee?”

“We have that too,” Lunchbox said, motioning to the pot. “But you barely ate anything yesterday, you need more today. So, tell me what you want. Omelet? Quiche? Quiche could take a few, but doable.” He paused to consider the kitchen. “Might be able to throw together a decent breakfast burrito too. Do we have…”

He backed up to the fridge and pulled the door open.

“Yes, we have salsa! Excellent. We also have some fruit, if you’d like a salad. Granola and yogurt. Whatever you like, we definitely need to add some protein.”

I swore my brain was not processing as fast as he was speaking. My stomach interrupted my musings with a gurgle. “Um… eggs and toast? Maybe a strip of bacon? No potatoes. The fruit would be nice too.”

“On it, get the girl some coffee, Alphabet,” Lunchbox said, then waved me to the table. “Have a seat. We’ll get you all fed, then we can debrief.”

“I can get my own or help?—”

“Nah,” Alphabet said, the corners of his mouth tilting up into a smile. He gave me a gentle nudge to the table. “Lunchbox is always in charge at mess times. Go sit. Let him feed you. He’ll feel better.”

I didn’t want to go sit with the two men I barely knew. Goblin leaned into my leg and I glanced down at his happy expression. It looked like he was grinning.

Cooperation might buy me some favors and then get me a phone. The longer I stood here smelling the food, the hungrier I was getting. Finally, I headed over to the table. The weight of their gazes pressed in on me as I took a seat, but when I glanced up, they weren’t paying any attention to me.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to get my rioting brain back under control. No one needed me paranoid. Alphabet was there with my coffee and not even a full minute later, Lunchbox put a full plate in front of me. The extra bacon and eggs wasn’t lost on me.

“Eat,” he said and gave my shoulder a light bump. “Don’t worry about the rest of the guys. They can wait until you’re done.”

I didn’t want to wait until I was done. I wanted to talk now, but no one said anything and the way Alphabet looked at me as he took the chair next to mine said they probably wouldn’t until I ate.

Fine.

I’d eat.