Heller’s Decision (51 page)

Authors: JD Nixon

One of the men
in the back pulled out his phone from one of his many pockets and
dialled his colleague. They spoke for a couple of minutes and from
the tone of his voice, it became apparent that not all was well
with Rose and Marcus.

“Oh man, his
nuts are in so much trouble,” he told us when he hung up. “He went
off to take a leak. Reckons he was gone no more than a minute and
when he returned, they’d done a runner on him.”

“He lost them?
Both of them?” I asked.

“Yep. They
scarpered. Probably back home by now.”

“One great, big
happy family,” I said sadly. “Rose must have forced Marcus to
leave, because he didn’t want to go back to Kirnin.”

“It’s not our
problem, Chalmers. Let them sort it out for themselves,” said
Farrell. “I’m sure we have enough problems to worry about without
taking on everyone else’s.”

Yeah
, I
thought glumly,
like a missing boyfriend and being unemployed.
Not to mention a number of injuries that were currently reminding
me of just how much they hurt.
All three of which I was going
to have to attend to back at home.

The rest of the
trip back to the Warehouse passed in a daze, none of us speaking. I
was weary to my core by the time I’d exchanged heartfelt soggy
greetings with Daniel and Niq and made my way to my flat, followed
by a retinue. I lay on my bed, lapping up everyone’s overwhelming
sympathy for my injuries. It was pretty crowded in my bedroom and I
wondered just how many people exactly could squash into it because,
at that point, we seemed to be pushing a world record. There was
barely room for me amongst the people perched on my bed and
standing around it. But despite the room being filled to capacity,
I still suffered from the noticeable absence of one.

Where was my
Heller?

As we waited
for the doctor, someone handed me a padded icepack for my eye.
Daniel and Niq both filled me in on what had happened without me,
talking over the top of each and sometimes contradicting each
other. When I hadn’t arrived to pick up Niq as promised, he rang
Daniel again to find out if I’d been delayed by something. As
Daniel had seen me leave to go to the basement with all intentions
of picking Niq up, he began to worry about me. He drove to pick Niq
up, screeching to a halt when he came across my abandoned car in
the street.

Panicked, he
rang Clive, who took over so Daniel could keep going on his
journey. Everyone knew something bad had happened to me, but it
wasn’t until Daniel saw the photos sent to the office
administration email address that the picture became clearer. It
hadn’t taken long for Clive to find a cowering Rose and Marcus in
my flat. Daniel told me later that all hell broke loose with that
discovery, and I’d probably been better off not to be around to
witness Clive blowing his lid. He was probably right about
that.

I wanted to
take a shower to wash away the contact with Kirnin, but both Clive
and Farrell advised me not to so that the doctor could clean and
attend my injuries properly. And on his arrival, Dr Kincaid agreed
with them. He shook his head jadedly as he opened his bag.

“Am I ever
going to receive an uninterrupted night’s sleep with you
around?”

“No more than I
am with me around,” I quipped, but as he’d been born entirely
without a sense of humour, much like Clive, he failed to even crack
the hint of a smile.

He pulled out
some swabs and started daubing at one of the gashes Kirnin’s ring
had caused, having to bend at an awkward angle because of the
people sitting on the bed.

“Clear some
room,” he grumped, creating a purposeless shuffling of the
bed-sitters that achieved nothing except an artful rearrangement of
some limbs.

Even from in
the bedroom, we all heard the door to my flat burst open and slam
shut. Footsteps strode across the floor.

“What’s one
more to add to the crowd?” I muttered, expecting Sid to
materialise. He’d been downstairs scouring the Warehouse security
footage to see if he could pick up any material evidence against
Select Security about my abduction. It hadn’t been decided what
we’d do about the matter, but I suspected the police wouldn’t be
involved, even though that was my preference.

I turned my
head to give Sid a brief smile on entry, but it wasn’t him.

“Heller,” I
said faintly, all heads turning to look.

He showed no
manners, pushing everyone aside to reach my bed, even forcing the
doctor to take a step sideways. He didn’t say anything, just looked
down at me, his face stony, the backs of his fingers brushing my
cheek.

“Everybody
except the doctor, out of the room,” he ordered in a harsh
voice.

“Thanks for
including me in the list of honoured guests,” the doctor snarked,
as everyone else trailed out, some more reluctantly than
others.

Heller was
filthy and looked tired. He appeared as though he’d just driven all
night through a hundred small towns to reach home, a fact he
confirmed immediately.

“I came as soon
as I saw all the messages when I finally returned to a township. I
was out of range for most of the other time.”

“I’ve tried and
tried to ring you.”

“I would have
come sooner, my sweet, but I didn’t know. I
hate
not knowing
what’s happening to you. It was Kirnin?” I nodded. His face set
even harder. “I’m going to kill him.”

“Excuse me, but
I’d prefer it if you saved your expressions of homicidal intent for
when I’m not in the room to bear witness,” the doctor said mildly,
probing around the same gash. “I think we’ll err on the safe side
and put in a couple of stiches here, Miss.”

“Okay. And no,
I
won’t
faint,” I said before he asked me, something which
he seemed to do frequently, even though I told him that just as
frequently.

“Good to know.
I must keep that in mind for future reference.” And the sparkle in
his eye as he said that made me wonder if perhaps he wasn’t quite
as dour as he seemed.

He cleaned and
patched up the second, smaller gash, deciding it didn’t need
stitching.

“As for the
shiner, it’s going to be a beauty, and I bet it hurts, but there’s
not much you can do about it. The eye puffiness will reduce in a
day or so, and here . . .” He rummaged around in his bag, dropping
something in my hand. “Some anti-bruising cream. It won’t make the
bruising invisible, but might reduce its level, if you decide you
need it. And of course, more painkillers.”

“Can I have a
shower now?”

“Yes.” He cast
Heller a disdainful sideways glance. “Take him in there with you.
He looks like he needs a good scrub.” At the door, he threw over
his shoulder, “But remember, no sexual intercourse in there. I’m
not coming back here again tonight, no matter what you do to each
other.”

We took his
advice and showered together. We lathered each other slowly and
methodically, not in any kind of lustful way, but in the way of
having someone you’d craved seeing and touching re-enter your life.
Our bodies all soapy, he pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around
me so that we touched at every point. And we kissed – long,
intense, deep kisses, more tender than passionate, more dreamy than
sexy – while the water sprayed over our bodies and whirled down the
drain.

He dried me off
gently, but was much brisker on himself. I stared into the bathroom
mirror in horror.

“I don’t even
want to look,” I decided, gratefully tearing myself away from the
sight.

“Then
don’t.”

He switched out
the lights and led me by the hand to bed where we slipped under the
covers and immediately entwined our legs. And though I felt him
stirring and hardening, he didn’t press me. I didn’t press him
either, both of us content to just be together again.

“I’m very
tired, Matilda. It was a long drive.”

“Where were
you?”

“A distance
from here.”

“That doesn’t
tell me much.”

“It’s not
supposed to.”

“What were you
doing?”

He paused
before answer as if considering whether or not to answer.
“Training.”

“For what?”

“I wasn’t the
one being trained.”

“You were
training people? What in?”

“Some
particular skills I possess.”

“Is it
dangerous?”

He sighed. “You
have too many questions.”

“You don’t have
enough answers,” I retorted.

“It’s not
dangerous at the moment. It’s training.”

“What do you
mean it’s not dangerous
at the moment
? Will it become
dangerous at some point?”

“Most
probably.”

“What will you
decide then, Heller? Will you continue doing these special
projects, or will you decide to keep your focus on your
business?”

“I have already
made my decision, Matilda. I will continue to do them.”

“You weren’t
there for me tonight.”

“I’m here for
you now.”

“Farrell helped
me escape from Kirnin’s place.” I wasn’t quite sure why I said
that. He stiffened beside me and then made himself relax.

“I must thank
him for that.”

“He wasn’t the
only one there,” I mumbled, not wanting to bring any ‘special’
attention from Heller to Farrell.

He kissed my
forehead. “Sleep, my sweet.”

I dozed for a
while, then half-roused. “Heller?”

“Hmm?”

“Will you be
here in the morning?”

“Yes. But I
must go away again in a couple of weeks.”

“I wish you
wouldn’t.”

“I must.” He
was quiet for a few minutes. “Matilda, I’ve been thinking a lot
lately.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll be away
on and off now. Because of what has happened tonight, I’m now
worried that when I leave you, nobody will supervise you.”

I sat up in
anger. “
Supervise
me? I’m not an unruly toddler,
Heller!”

“I’m sorry.
Poor choice of words. I need to know that someone is looking over .
. .” My eyes shot daggers at him. “. . . looking
after
you.”

“What’s that
supposed to mean?”

“Knowing where
you are and what you’re doing. The fact that you were hiding
enemies in my home without anyone noticing speaks volumes to me.
The fact that you were abducted and nobody noticed for hours until
Kirnin sent those photos speaks volumes to me. I don’t want these
things happening in the future when I’m not here and not
contactable. I want you to be accountable to someone. I want
someone to notice when you’re not where you’re supposed to be or
not doing what you’re supposed to be doing. And for that reason,
I’ve decided –”

“
Another
decision. Aren’t you quite the decisive man lately?” And yeah,
maybe my tone was a little sarcastic.

He laughed to
himself. “Matilda, I make hundreds of decisions every day. This is
one of them.”

“So glad to
hear you spare me one-hundredth of your attention every day.”

He only laughed
again, ignoring my attitude, probably realising it resulted from
his absence and my pain, rather than any real petulance. “I’ve
decided to reinstate you as an employee.”

I sat up again.
“What?”

“You will
return to work here as a security officer under Clive, starting
tomorrow.” He caressed my back. “Or when you feel better. You will
answer to him.”

I barely heard
the second part, interested only in the first. “Really? I can work
here again?”

“Yes. That’s
what I’ve decided.”

“But what about
the whole punishment thing? The need for discipline?”

He smiled and
clasped me to him. “What’s the point of being the boss if I can’t
do what I want?” But then he became serious, brushing a loose lock
of hair from my forehead. “Your safety is so important to me. I
can’t stand to see you in pain, my sweet.”

“Thank you so
much, Heller. I’m excited about returning to work.” It was only
much, much later that the ‘answering to Clive’ part of what he’d
said started sinking in.

“Go to sleep
now.”

We settled
against each other and I’d nearly dozed off when something began to
needle me.

“Heller?”

“Mmm?”

“All this is
now going to end with Select Security, isn’t it?”

He kissed my
forehead again. “Go to sleep, my sweet.”

And though I
realised that was not an answer, after a while of listening to his
even breathing, I slept.

~~~~~~ ######
~~~~~~

About the
author:

JD Nixon lives
in Queensland, Australia, letting a wild imagination run free.

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