Page 22 of Lost In The Dark

I was so relieved when the private plane, which our family apparently owned, touched down in New York, later the next night. I had never been on an airplane before, and I knew if the circumstances had been different, I would have found the entire thing exciting, especially the take off and landing, but the truth was, I was so exhausted I had barely registered much of it.

After waking at four A.M. that morning we had watched a movie, during which Asher and Eli had nodded off pretty quickly, but I had been petrified to fall asleep again. I just didn’t have enough fight in me to face whatever memory came next. Not yet.

Later that morning the guys had ordered breakfast, which I had picked at, then we’d gotten ready and packed up our belongings.

Max met us at the police precinct for my witness interview. We talked about my demand to see the tapes which had been found in the senator’s basement, but that had been before the memories started to return, and now I had changed my mind. There was no way in hell I could survive watching those tapes now.

Just the mention of it being a possibility was messing with my head, and by the time the detective, from the day before – who I feared and hated in equal measure - had shown us into theinterview room, I had been too worked up and anxious to handle any of the questions put to me. Just being in the station again had terrified me and I was sure I would be rearrested at any moment.

Then the detective started in with his questions. I told him what I could – what I had remembered – but it wasn’t good enough for him. He lost his temper after my fifth answer of ‘I don’t remember’ and started yelling at me that I was lying again, just as he had the day before in the multiple interviews I endured with him.

Max had stepped in and ended the whole thing, but by that time I was in the midst of an anxiety attack, shaking, sweating, and curled up in a ball rocking under the table.

It had taken Asher and Eli even longer than before to talk me around, and by the time Eli carried me on to the private jet, I had been an exhausted, emotional mess.

My brothers had tried hard to encourage me to eat once we were on the plane, but my stomach was in knots with all of the anxiety and I couldn’t face food. Then they tried to get me to rest and that had terrified me.

I had spent the entire flight staring blankly out of the window as the two memories I had recalled played over and over again in my head. By the time we touched down I was ready to crawl out of my own skin, and I felt like I was losing my damned mind.

“Addy?” Asher pulled my attention to where he now stood in the aisle above me. “I just want to make you aware I have security outside, okay? Kane is there. He’s our head of security, and he’ll be your personal protection if or when you’re ready to leave the house alone. There’s also four other men with him. They might look a little intimidating at first, especially since they’re armed,but they’re all good men, and they’re there to protect us. They would never hurt you.”

“Okay,” I nodded, but I was already beginning to tremble again. Intimidating looking men with guns. Just that thought had me right back in the middle of the memory of that warehouse.

“It’ll be okay, sweetie. We’ll be right at your side the whole time,” Eli added as he stood and peered over his brother’s shoulder. “You want me to carry you again? You look so exhausted.”

“I c-can walk. I’m okay,” I assured him even though I felt about as far from okay as I’d ever been. I felt like I was crumbling into pieces with every second that passed, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

“Come on then. Let’s get you home.” Asher held his hand out to me and I took it, too afraid to step off of that plane alone. I needed them both at my side if I was going to keep moving. Keep breathing, even.

Asher led me carefully down the steps of the plane and out into the cool evening air. My injuries were making movement awkward and painful and my wrist throbbed angrily. I needed some of the pain pills the hospital had given me, but they had been lost in the chaos of my arrest. I was trying to cope without them, but the more tired I became, the harder that was.

I dare not look at the cars and men waiting at the foot of the steps on the runway for us. Instead I kept my focus on Asher who was in front of me. I felt reassured knowing Eli was right at my back too.

“Boss. Everything okay with the flight?” A deep, slightly raspy voice asked as we got on to the tarmac. Instinctively I positioned myself behind Asher as much as I could, while still holding hishand. Eli came to my side and wrapped his arm around my back supportively.

“All good. We’re just glad to be home,” Asher sighed. “Is everything okay at the house?”

“Fine. Adam has everything ready and he cooked in case you haven’t eaten. I arranged the extra security,” the stranger confirmed.

“Extra security?” I looked to Eli with worry.

“We need to be careful until we know who took you, Addy. The extra security is just a precaution,” Eli assured me.

“You think they’ll c-come after me?” I asked, my voice getting higher and higher as my panic soared.

“It’s unlikely,” Asher said firmly as he turned so he was facing Eli and me. “But we’re not taking any chances with your safety. I want you to feel secure in our home, okay?”

“And I w-will be, right? Secure? They c-can’t get to me…can they?”

“No one can get to you in that house,” the strange voice spoke up. He stepped forward and I looked up to take him in. He was as tall as Eli, maybe a little taller, and built with muscles on muscles by the look of him in the form fitting shirt he was wearing. His shoulders were huge and twice the width of my own, and hanging from them was a gun holster, with a gun at his hip. “We have the best security money can buy, and every man under my charge is highly skilled and trained. You’re safe there,” he continued as his eyes met mine. They were wide with long, thick eyelashes, but it was the color I couldn’t take my eyes from. They were green, dark green, with small fecks of amber andbrown. I’d never seen eyes like it, and they were focused entirely on me at that moment.

He coughed and tore his gaze from me, looking antsy as he ran one of his huge hands through his messy chestnut colored hair. I caught a glimpse of tattoos up his right arm, but he moved too quickly for me to make out what they were of.

“Addy, this is Kane. He’s a good friend of mine from my time overseas. He takes care of the security of our home and of the New York office. He’s also going to be your personal protection for now,” Asher introduced. I looked up at Kane again. There was no question of him being a handsome man, but he was also intimidating as all get out, and I had no intention of ever leaving the house alone if he had to come with me.No thank you.

As if he heard my thoughts, the blank stare on his face turned into more of a scowl and I instantly retreated back behind Asher. I would have hated to be impolite before all of this, no matter the situation, but it seemed that was just another part of me I’d let go, because I had no intention of making nice with growly, scary Kane.

“We should get Addy to the car. She’s tired. It’s been a heck of a day,” Eli suggested, and Asher nodded. I was grateful, when we started moving, to find Kane had disappeared. I looked around us as we moved towards the large black Range Rover. There were several men that I could see surrounding us at various points, all with gun holsters, some visible, some tucked under jackets, but all obvious even to me, who was pretty clueless.

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