Page 24 of Lure

“Haven’t decided,” I admitted. “If you said AB—I mean Alphabet, I might have to get mad at you.”

“So only for him?” He didn’t comment on me calling Alphabet A-B.

“Maybe. I really need to pee.” I pushed into the bathroom and started to nudge the door closed, but then paused to find him halfway to the bathroom but paused by the bed as though still giving me space. “I admit—I almost hope you say Boney Boy. So don’t tell me yet. I kind of want to savor that image.”

Petty?

Yes.

I pushed the door closed and headed for the toilet. The lights in the bathroom made the bruises on my throat really stand out. I tried to ignore them for now. I still had a cut on my back that was mostly healed. Bruises littered my arms and legs. Little ones. Big ones. But the one on my throat?

It had the look of a grotesque hand necklace. That sent a cascade of images shuddering through me. The man in the barn. The sudden charge. The grip of his fingers and the way he lifted my whole body. Suppressing another violent shiver, I made myself go to the toilet. If I was going to make myself sick…

Fortunately, I didn’t. I took the time to wash my hands and face after I pee’d, then I brushed my teeth. I was tempted to shower, but I had showered after we got in. It hadn’t been a long one, but it had been thorough. I’d braided my hair rather thanwait for it to dry. Leaving it, I pulled the door open to find the bedroom much brighter.

Voodoo had opened the curtains and the blinds to let the sunlight in to warm the room. The bed had been made, and there were clothes laid out at the foot of the bed. I opened my mouth to say something when I saw the blanket now folded up on the hope chest at the foot of the bed and the two framed photos.

They were the only items I’d been able to grab from my apartment. I hadn’t seen them since we left the house in Pennsylvania or wherever that place was. The plummeting feeling held me captive as I headed over to pick up the photo of me and Amorette. It was like a talisman to remind me she was real, not some figment of my imagination.

“It was time you got those back,” Voodoo said, a hint of apology creeping through the words. “I’ve had them since we got here.”

“I thought I lost them,” I admitted. Sinking down to sit on the hope chest while tracing my fingers over Am’s expression. I missed her so damn much. “I didn’t have time to get anything else and then we had to leave the car…”

“I know,” he said, facing me. “It got overlooked because we were a little busy. We’re going to fix that, Firecracker. We’re going to fix a lot of things.”

Meeting his gaze, I raised my eyebrows. “Can you even make that promise?” He hadn’t been able to keep the last one.

“It’s not a promise,” he admitted. “It’s an oath.”

I guess that answered that. Still, I hugged the photo to my chest. “I want to believe you.”

“No you don’t,” he countered, calling me on it. “You want to want to believe me. But we need to re-earn some of that trust. That’s next on the list. So, when you’re ready, we’re going downstairs and we’re going to let Lunchbox feed you, then we’llcheck on Alphabet and we’re going to do a real debrief. For you and for us.”

“What does a real debrief entail?” I really couldn’t shake the suspicion even if I would like to believe I could believe him.

“Get dressed, and I’ll show you. Easier to understand, and to trust, if you can experience it yourself.”

Meeting Am’s gaze in the picture, I turned the idea over in my head then lifted my attention back to Voodoo.Knowledge is power. I could practically hear her remind me. Truthfully? What choice did I have right now?

“Who did you have therapy with?”

Voodoo grinned. “Boney boy.”

I didn’t cheer.

Much.

Chapter

Nine

LUNCHBOX

We needed to do a supply run for fresh fruits and vegetables. Cold storage was full with meat and fish options. Dry storage was too. Frankly, if we didn’t like fresh foods, we could probably hunker down up here for another ten years.

Okay, maybe five. But if we continued to hunt that would easily supplement what we had. Shaking that off, I finished mixing up the eggs for omelets. I’d diced mushrooms, onions, spinach, and tomatoes. Three different kinds of shredded cheese along with bacon crumbles and ham.

There was more bacon going for the guys. They tended to eat a lot after an op. While this one had gone FUBAR, it had still been an op and no one ate well when we were on the move.

---