Page 134 of Waiting For A Girl Like You
Chapter 31
“How long?”
She asked the question as Michael carried her up the stairs. On the second floor, he made a quick right, leading into a narrow hall. The upper level didn’t have a landing like Haven House, coming off as more of a suburban home than a grand estate.
Or maybe that was the drugs talking. Her senses were overloaded the second they entered the house. Someone had been blaring music, the bass shaking her brain while Michael carried her through the insanity.
“Damon tried to take Claudia and Madison with him when he ran off with Emily,” Michael explained. “Parker told Taylor where they were going, and when you guys thought you would be cute and snatch Kris, I returned the favor. Taylor was ecstatic to begin her bullshit plan.”
He turned down another hall, taking them deeper into the house. “Honestly, I expected more effort from you guys to find them.”
“We didn’t know they…” Her head fell back, dangling mid-air when she could no longer hold it upright. “…were gone.”
“And that’s something you need to take up with your family,” Michael said, slowing as they neared the end of the hall. “I made sure their parents knew they had been taken.”
A door closed in the distance. “I’ve got them all together,” Bruce said as he approached. “Claudia’s calm. I gave her something that will help her relax, and that’s safe for the baby.”
“The next time they lock her up, make sure they don’t do it for more than an hour,” Michael ordered as he paused to speak. “We can handle most things, but a feral Claudia will take off more than someone’s ear next time, and keeping her crated for long periods only makes it worse.”
Jamison gasped, which made both Michael and Bruce chuckle.
“Relax, Jamison. Bruce and I know never to fuck with a Fairweather woman,” Michael said. “But Claudia is a whole different kind of demon.”
“I told her she could have time with Madison tomorrow if she behaves,” Bruce added. “That took the fight out of her, and she sat on her mattress without much prompting.”
“How could…lock…pregnant…cage?” Her mouth didn’t work again, and she stiffened her body in protest. “Hurt.”
“It’s to protect her more than anything. She could hurt the baby, and we don’t have proper medical care here. Not yet, anyway.” Michael jerked his chin at Bruce. “Taylor’s father wants to see her in Tulsa tomorrow.”
“Tulsa?” Bruce frowned. “Why the hell in Tulsa?”
“Sounds like he was chewing her ass out about that plane, and she blanked when he asked where she was.”
“Does Taylor even know where she is?”
“Probably not,” Michael sighed. “My guess would be that she just went with the first big city she could think of that might be near here.”
It was Bruce’s turn to sigh while Jamison dangled helplessly. Those two freaky women were back again and listening to the conversation. One stood at her head, the scent of vanilla and patchouli overtaking her as it floated in the air. Jamison knew the scent because it was the same smell that drifted on the wind at Haven House. She always assumed it came from a bloom in Ty’s garden, but never figured out which one. It was strongest whenever it rained or when a full moon shone bright in the sky. Once, when she was a little girl, she asked Simone which flower held the smell, and all Simone would say was that no flower in the garden produced that particular scent.
Tears pricked her eyes at the thought of Simone, and she moaned. A knowing—a cruel realization—hit with acute clarity. This house. No matter how strong she convinced herself to be, she had to accept that she might never leave it. These people were going to use her and then kill her.They couldn’t very well let her go. Perhaps Claudia, Emily, and Damon had been unconscious when they arrived, but she hadn’t.
And Michael knew this. He would know she had paid attention. She belonged to Liam and would have noted the dips in the road, counted the seconds between turns, and memorized the small details down to the emblem on the outhouse looking building at the end of the rural airstrip where they landed.
Michael would understand that if she were free, she would relay the information to the authorities, and this house would be found.
“Kill me,” she breathed. “You kill me.”
Michael shushed her with a grin. “We’ll get to the fun stuff soon. Promise.”
“Are you done with me for tonight?” Bruce asked.
Michael grunted with a nod. “Go see Kris.”
A surge of adrenaline hit, and Jamison swung her legs violently. “How?”
“How did I get Kris? Don’t worry about the details. Just know that I have loyal friends anywhere and everywhere I go.” Michael tilted his head to the right. “She’s in there, Bruce.”
Bruce knocked softly on a closed door. It opened a fraction of an inch, and the angry, pale face of a boy on the cusp of becoming a man appeared. When he saw it was Bruce, he opened the door more, revealing a woman sitting on the bed in the room.
