Sliding (The Stone Series) (36 page)

“I was working for the government
investigating Ted and his links to the mob and certain terrorist’s cells of
interest. He got himself in pretty deep with the wrong people. He was stealing
money from his company and the people he was working for. He was investing
money from one party to make money for another. His life was spiraling out of
control but through him we were getting close to a terrorist cell and their
money. It was our goal to freeze their assets and get them into custody. Ted of
course was going to go down with them for his part in the deal but other things
crept up along the way. We had his home and office bugged and that’s how we
knew he was looking for a private investigator. When he made the appointment to
meet with the person we got there first and I posed as the man he thought he
was meeting. He hired me to spy on his wife whom he suspected of having an
affair, that’s where Asia and Mr. Taylor come in.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready to
hear about that yet. Can we skip that part or at least the details of it for
now, please?” I beg.

Mac has a look of sadness in his
eyes; it’s as if he feels the pain for me, like he wants to take the pain for
me. I ask him to continue with the story and he lets out an audible sigh
releasing the tension that’s building within him before continuing.

Mac doesn’t know how to explain to Brook the sight he found early that
day. Should he tell her about the bondage, she knows from the pictures he
shared with her that Asia was into it, did it with her husband? Instead of
going there now he decides to tell her how he got involved with her.

“After Ted hired me I started
following Asia and Mr. Taylor and I bugged the place where they uh…frequented.
That’s how I knew you were looking for a head of security. I decided working as
a triple agent if you will, would be the best way to serve all the purposes at
once. I did the same thing with Mr. Taylor as I did with Ted. I listened in to
conversations and when Mr. Taylor scheduled an appointment for a security
specialist I intercepted their appointment and got myself hired to be your head
of security in Connecticut while your husband was planning to leave for
California.”

Mac stands when a young
attractive woman enters our view. She takes our drink order and I can’t wait to
feel the cool liquid of my drink slide to my stomach then hopefully it will go
directly to my head. I need to be drunk if he’s going to continue this story.
The alcohol actually clears my head and it gets me to thinking about me with
Mac in this plane and where we’re heading to and why.

“Um…then who are you working for
right now? Why are you taking me somewhere and while we’re on that topic where
are you taking me?”

“I am not working for anyone at
the moment. This was my last job with the government. When it was over I
planned on retiring and getting some well-earned rest and relaxation in the
sun. I am taking you to my ex-partners home at a destination its best you don’t
know about. You may think right now that you won’t contact Mr. Taylor but in a
few days you’ll want to and I can’t chance you being found right now. I don’t
want you to contact anyone and tell them where you are and put yourself in
danger and that goes for your family too. I have put in orders for your family
to be contacted so they’ll know you are safe, Mr. Taylor included but no one
will know your whereabouts. The people who killed Asia and Ted can easily link
you and Mr. Taylor to the money and come after you looking for what they feel
are owed to them.”

I interrupt him, “So wait that
means that Tate’s in danger too? Who’s keeping him safe?”
 

“Dominick has been contacted by
my team and he’ll keep Mr. Taylor safe, he’s good at what he does, Mr. Taylor
will be fine and I am making sure that you are as well.”

Mac doesn’t tell her that he is taking her to Jonesie’s island getaway in
the South Pacific. He doesn’t tell her that this is not entirely necessary but
that his main motivation is just to keep her safe. Mac is taking her to his
ex-partner’s private home in paradise that after years of service he well
deserves. He’s taking Brook there to keep her safe first and foremost but also
so he can spend time with her, to get to know her, maybe take away some of the
pain her husband has caused her. She deserves a man who will treat her like a
princess, the way she should be treated and cherished, and a man who would
never betray her with another woman, a man like him.

I don’t know what part of this
horrific story I can deal with next. Should I ask Mac what happened at Asia and
Ted’s house or what occurred between my best friend and my husband? I choose to
ask Mac to continue with either part. Mac says that he has to excuse himself
for a while to check in with his superiors and file a report then shower off
the soot and grim covering him. He promises to continue when he returns and
suggests that I try to get some sleep while he’s gone.

As Mac goes into another section
of the plane I settle in to reflect on the happenings of today. With all that
happened I have not yet stopped to think about what this all means to my
marriage. I feel as if my whole relationship with Tate has been a lie. How many
other women were there over the years? When did he start cheating on me? I
start thinking back over the years to every time I questioned Tate’s fidelity.

I think back to the first night
at the school dance.
 
Why did Tate pick
me to dance with? Why did he ask me to be his girlfriend? When Tate asked me to
dance instead of any another girl there that night I thought that it must have
been
some kind of bet he had with his friends or a prank. I was waiting
for him to start dancing with me then leave me on the floor alone looking
stupid while everyone laughed and pointed at me. Now I wonder what really did make
him choose me.

I start to question why Tate was always so possessive over me. Was it
because he assumed that I was doing to him the same thing that he was doing to
me? So any time I spoke to another guy he just assumed that I was fucking him
and that’s why he went crazy? There was that time when my friends met some boys
at a carnival and Tate lost it. I wonder now why it upset him so much when I
repeatedly told him I didn’t talk to those boys. Was it because if that was him
at a carnival with his friends he would have talked to another girl? Then there
was the time in New York when he gave me a bunch of hickeys because some older
boy saw me cheering and asked Bobby’s brother who I was. Why should that have
upset him so much? Could it have been because he was also checking out girls
and wanted to do more with them?

The stress of the day and the alcohol of my now third drink mix together and
affect me more than I thought it would. I find myself drifting off to sleep in
my seat.

Mac showers, gets changed into clean clothes then calls in to file his
report. He knows he should have placed this call at least an hour ago but he
has been avoiding truly processing the scene he saw at Ted and Asia’s home. He
knows it will bring back demons he needs to stay buried deep now more than
ever. He gives a brief summary of the call Ted placed to Brook and states that
he shared pictures with her of Asia and Tate in numerous compromising
positions. He cringes when he remembers the look it replaced in her eyes. He
speaks about the state of the house when he arrived then the gun shots. He
explains about the locked windows, the broken window and the entrance he used.
He wants to skip over how he found the victims but he knows that he can’t. He
has to remove himself, remove his past from what happened today. He tells his
superior that Ted was positioned in a chair at the foot of the bed. He was
bound and gagged and undoubtedly force to watch his wife raped by at least one
if not more men. His wife was gagged and bound as well but in a sexual bondage
manner. One she was known to find kinky and often requested her lover to put
her in. Each victim had been shot twice, once in the chest, one in the head. He
explains about the ticking sound and the explosion. His superior thanks him for
his service once again and promises he’ll have everything he needs when he
arrives at his destination and that they’ll stay in touch as more information
becomes available. He’s told to be safe and when he hears the name that turns
his stomach Mac hangs up the phone and downs his drink in one gulp then heads
into the bathroom to throw up. He splashes water on his face and pushes his
demons that have surfaced back to their dark cave deep inside him. He knows
sleep will not come tonight without them resurfacing with vengeances.

As I sleep my subconscious mind
continues where my conscious mind left off. My mind starts checking off each
time Tate questioned my fidelity or I questioned his. There was the time he got
mad that I was going with my cheer squad to the States game, questioning me if
I was going to have boys in my room. He flipped over Adam, my cheer partner
before he knew he was gay.
 
Then there
was the
Lindsey Crooke fiasco when she told me in the bathroom that Tate
and Bobby had been getting sex lessons from Bobby’s older brother, Eric. Not
long after that Tracie DelRicco came up to me and told me that Tate was not a
virgin when I lost my virginity to him and I thought he lost his to me, she
said he slept with her and other girls before me. Over the years I heard that some
of the older guys Tate hung out with went to parties on the college campus and
hooked up with girls. Now I wonder if Tate went with them. Did he hook up with
girls there? I always wondered what he did during those weekends at UNC when he
didn’t come to see me. I know what happened at the parties I went to at the University
of Kentucky. The athlete’s were able to have any girl they wanted, many times
more than one girl at a time. Did Tate do that too at UNC parties? When did he
start cheating on me? Was Asia the last one or is there a girl right now in his
bed with him in California? I am forced awake at that thought to find Mac
sitting across from me watching me sleep.

“We’re almost ready to land and I hate to have to ask this again but…”
and he hands me the blindfold. “It’s for your own safety.” He is clean and
dressed in different clothes, a tight white t-shirt is stretched across his
broad shoulders and well defined chest and stomach and he’s wearing faded jeans
slung low on his narrow hips. I ask him how long I have been asleep for and he
tells me not to worry about it, I was exhausted and in shock, my body needed
the rest. I put on the blindfold again as the plane lands and Mac guides me off
the aircraft and into a car. Mac sits next to me in the backseat, someone is driving
us but they never speak, not even to Mac. I can smell Mac’s shampoo, cologne
and manly scent and they are intoxicating, my sense of smell is so much
stronger when I am unable to see. When we arrive at our destination Mac helps
me out of the car. Once the driver has driven away he removes my blindfold and
we are in paradise. The weather is beautifully warm without that Connecticut
humidity and the sun is shining. I look at him and for the first time realize
just how gorgeous he is. This feeling I’m starting to have in my stomach is
unsettling but I’m sure it’s just because I feel like Mac’s saved me. They say
people start to have crazy feelings and ideas like this about someone who has
saved them in a crisis, some sort of hero worship. And I ‘m sure that’s what’s
happening to me right now, nothing more.

Chapter 10: Paradise

We are on an island by the look and feel of things and in front of us is
only what I can call a compound because it’s just too grand to be called a
house. Upon further inspection I learn that there is a main house, servant’s
quarters, a pool house and not one but two guest homes that are larger than
most people’s full time residences.

Mac and I walk to the guest house closest to the ocean and he tells me
that this compound belongs to his ex-partner.

“I thought you worked for the government? You make this kind of money?” I
ask.

“Not from the government, Jonesie and I do what you civilians call “going
rouge” Mac responds.

As we approach the guest house he informs me that it’s a four bedroom so
we’ll stay in the same house so he can be close by just in case I need him. He
assures me I am completely safe and as far away from harm’s way as I can get
but I am still shaken up over the events of the last…I have no idea what day or
time it even is at this point. My senses are in such disarray I feel exhausted
just thinking about it. It’s all starting to hit me hard now, the shock is wearing
off and I need to be alone and fast so I can allow myself to crash.
 
When Mac offers to show me around I decline
his offer and ask just to be shown to my room. Mac looks let down for some
reason but complies.

My room is peaceful and the view is stunning. There is a complete wall of
glass that looks out to the ocean at the back of the house. There is a switch
on the wall that darkens the glass so no one can see in but I can still see out
or I can pull the blinds and curtains and the room will become blanketed in
darkness. There is a king sized bed with lush bedding in taupe and a soft
lavender. The three walls are painted a matching taupe color and the bathroom
matches the room perfectly. There is a chenille sofa in a blue hue with red and
orange pillows to add some pop of color to the room. It is facing a huge flat
screen television that is suspended on the floor to ceiling electric fireplace
complete with blue stones. Mac asks me to make him a list of toiletries,
clothes and anything else I require for at least a month’s stay and I just nod.
Mac gets the hint and leaves me alone to deal with my grief.

I can sense that Brook wants to be
alone with her thoughts so after I show her to her room and ask her for a list
of items she requires for her stay I leave her alone. I can tell by the way she
is behaving that she is not going to make me that list any time soon so when I
go to my room it’s the first thing that I do. I guess her size to be around a
two and write down panties, bras, socks, shorts, tops, workout clothes, sports
bra, and bathing suits. Her shoes size is going to be trickier but I’m guessing
a six. I noticed her feet were tiny when she was sleeping on the plane so
peaceful, as if her whole life hadn’t just been shattered by her husband and
her best friend. She’ll need running sneakers, sandals, flip flops and flats. I
move on to the toiletries and record shampoo, conditioner, hair styling
products, deodorant, perfume, body wash and lotion. I’ll call one of my
contacts and send them over to the Taylor house to make sure on the sizes, to
check on the brands she uses and if I’m missing any items. Before I realize
what I am doing I have created a full list of items a woman would need, a list
only a lover could put together. The memories are coming closer to the surface
and I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to hold them at bay.

I try to speak to Brook again later
in the day but she’s in her room with the door closed and she’s not answering
me when I knock. At first I am concerned and think about kicking the door down
but then I decide it best probably not to. Luckily for me this is when Sven
arrives and we head to the gym. I leave a note for Brook taped on her door
telling her I am in the gym downstairs and to feel free to interrupt me if she
needs anything. She never does. Sven helps me to relieve my pent up stress and
I feel better after our workout and my shower.

I try again to entice Brook out of
her room this time with food to no avail. So I get myself comfortable on the
couch with a plate of food and a beer. I made fettuccine with a homemade pesto
sauce, crispy bread and a tomato and onion salad. I enjoy cooking but hate to
cook just for myself. Now that I have someone else to cook for again I plan on
doing a lot of it. Too bad she won’t come out to eat any of it with me. I must
fall asleep on the couch sometime after midnight only to be woken up shortly
after by Brook’s screams and cries for help. When I get to her door it’s locked
and she’s not opening it for me so this time I do what I wanted to do earlier
and I kick it down with one swift blow. I pull my gun from my hip and then
realize that she’s in the room alone in bed clearly having a nightmare. Even
the sound of my banging on the door and kicking it in has not woken her from
the hell she’s experiencing in her sleep. I know the feeling. I grab her in my
arms and take her to the floor with me. I start to shake her awake while I hold
her body close to mine.

Mac tries over and over again to get me to open my door, join him for a
work out, eat with him but I’m not interested. I feel bad, he seems like a
lonely guy who’s happy for some much needed company but I’m not the kind of
company that anyone needs right now. I spend the day on my bed in the same
clothes I’ve been wearing since I left my house in Connecticut. I just lay
there staring at the ceiling trying to make sense of what has happened. I am
grieving for my best friend who betrayed me in the worst way then was killed. I
want to be mad at her; I want to slap her across the face. I want to hate her
but I can’t. How can I hate my best friend who was just brutally murdered?
  
But how can I forgive her? Then there’s
Tate. The only man I have ever loved. When I can’t think about it anymore I
strip off my clothes and climb into my bed. The sheets are so cool and smooth
against my naked body they feel like heaven. I fall into a sound sleep instantly
but soon after the nightmares begin.

I am standing in Asia’s house with her and Tate. They are standing
together with their arms casually draped over one another when I walk in and
they make no attempt to disengage upon seeing me. They actually ignore me and
walk upstairs to the bedroom so I follow them. When I enter Asia’s bedroom she
is tied up like in the pictures Mac showed me. She is on all fours with her ass
up in the air; she’s naked except for black lace up boots that go to her
thighs. She has her wrists tied to her ankles and Tate is standing over her
naked with an erection and lust in his eyes. I watch as he climbs on the bed
behind her and when he pushes into her he turns and makes eye contact with me.
He fucks her fast and hard, making her come quickly so he can find his release
just as fast. When he does he yells out my name instead of hers. Then I hear
the popping sound and Ted enters the bedroom with a bullet hole in his forehead
that is gushing blood. Two masked men come in behind him and start shooting at
Asia, Tate and I. I can’t move; my legs are just too heavy so instead I just
stand there and scream.

I am woken from my dream to find myself naked on the floor with Mac
shaking me back to reality.

“Brook, wake up. You’re safe. You’re having a nightmare. Its okay, I got
you. You’re safe with me. Wake up” Mac coaxes me out of sleep.

I blink my eyes over and over trying to adjust to the light and my
surroundings. When I do Mac realizes that I am in his arms naked. He blushes
and grabs the sheet off my bed and covers me. I am unable to move even though I
am naked in a man’s arms that are not my husband’s but what does that matter at
this point? My husband has spent a lot of time apparently naked in another
woman’s arms, the arms of my best friend.

Mac is holding me close to his firm body. He is rocking me and making
soothing sounds. I feel safe in his arms and I don’t want him to let me go. I
start to remember what my dream was about and it scares me again so I wrap my
arms around Mac as best as I can so he won’t let me go. He has very broad
shoulders and a rock solid chest making this task somewhat difficult. Mac must
sense my need for closeness because he holds me tighter and then lifts me up
onto my bed. He gently places me down and lies behind me, spooning me close to
him. The last thing I hear before I fall back to sleep are his gentle
whisperings.

I lay in bed with Brook the rest of
the night
waiting for her to be
awoken again by another nightmare
but
it’s not her that wakes up hours later in a cold sweat. I wake with a start and
for the first few minutes I think it’s Holly in my arms and then I am forced to
remember. I sit up and rub my hands over my head and face only to find Brook
looking at me.

“Who’s Holly?” she asks.

“She was my first partner a long
time ago.”

I rise from her bed and say, “Well,
I’d better go make us some breakfast.”

Brook says she’s not hungry but
asks for a computer.

“You can’t contact anyone even by
email, Brook; it’s not safe enough, not yet. Give it a little more time. I made
sure your family was contacted, they know you’re safe.”

“I just want to be able to get
music. It’s the only way I know how to communicate my feelings, to process
what’s going on in my head. I need to have music Mac, please or I’m going to
drown in this.”

I shake my head yes and try to
smile. I know all too well what it’s like to drown in memories.

I leave her alone in her room all
day. I don’t try to coax her out with pleads of lunch or a workout and she
doesn’t make any attempts to leave her room either. When Sven comes today for
our workout we work each other over for a couple of hours with a little kick
boxing and I am happy to see when we are done that some of the supplies I
requested for Brook have arrived. After a shower and a fresh change of clothes
I bring them to her. All of the clothes I requested are left outside of her
bedroom door that I replaced this morning while she silently laid in bed with
her back to me. Alongside her clothes are some of her toiletries, the others
should be here shortly. I knock and tell her that she has things waiting for
her outside the door and that I’ll leave her to it.

When I return later to try to get
her to come and eat something with me the packages are gone. I’m happy to see
that she at least got out of bed to retrieve them. But I need to make a plan to
get her to eat. The woman weighs ninety pounds and can’t afford to lose another
ounce. I have made us a meal of chicken with cheese and artichoke hearts
accompanied by green beans and rice pilaf. I ask her to join me but again she
refuses to come out of her room to eat. She asks again about a computer so she
can access whatever music she wants. I promise she’ll have it tomorrow.

I wake up to hear Mac saying the name “Holly, Holly” over and over again
like he’s in horrible pain. He’s covered in sweat and he looks agitated in his
sleep. I must have fallen back to sleep after my nightmare while he was holding
me in my bed. I am naked but I have covers wrapped around me. Mac is lying over
the covers in a pair of cut off gray sweatpants that are slung just below his
belly button exposing his bare chest. I watch him riveted to my spot on the
bed. I always appreciated his good looks but now that I am looking at him
closer and have the pleasure of seeing him without a shirt on I realize for the
second time how strikingly gorgeous he is. He keeps his curly brown hair
cropped close to his head and I have an urge to rub my hand over it. He has a
beautiful skin tone and I wonder if he may be bi-racial. His physic is what you
would expect from a Marine who works special ops and “goes rouge” as he says.
He also works out for hours a day doing weights, cross training and kickboxing
after running for five miles. I know, I used to work out with him in
Connecticut. He has hair on his chest between his pecs and a happy trial but
the rest of his chest is smooth looking. I wonder what it would feel like to
run my tongue down his chest and over the six pack of his stomach. I have no
idea why I am thinking about doing these things in a time like this. It must be
because I have not had sex for so long and my body is just reacting to his
beautiful form. Maybe I’m trying to find an excuse to sleep with him and get
back at Tate.

When Mac wakes up he blows off my questions about his nightmare and once
again tries to convince me to eat. I know I have to eat soon but I just don’t
think that I can hold anything down in my stomach. He agrees to get me a
computer so I can get my hands on some music. I know I need to start to process
what’s happening to my life and in order to do that I need music. I figure I’ll
take baby steps…music today, dancing tomorrow, listening to the details of the
rest of the story from Mac the next day.

When Mac knocks on my door later in the night he tries once again to get
me to join him for a meal but I refuse. He tells me I have a surprise outside
of my door and once I hear him walk away I go to look to see if it’s the
computer. I am eager for the music to soothe my soul. It’s not a computer but
instead clothes. Clothes all in my size. There are tops and shorts, bathing
suits and workout clothes, bras and panties and even shoes. I have no idea how
he knew what size to get me or what colors or styles I would prefer but he did
great. I have only known him for a little over six months. Could he have been
paying that close attention to me over that time that he’d know what I’d like?