Chapter 35
Todd wouldn’t stop staring at my neck. Like it made him visibly angry.
The teen at the restaurant hadn’t looked too bothered by it, but perhaps my outfit had been enough of an attention grabber that they hadn’t paid much attention to anything else.
In either case, sharing my tale with Todd, started with my neck.
That I wore a collar for my own protection since the last person they’d held in my position had taken things into her own hands and my captors didn’t want a repeat performance.
I most definitely did not tell him it was a shock collar, or what I’d done to escape. I was making enough admissions for one day as it was, and I didn’t want him to feel any worse for not taking a bigger part in my rescue.
As I continued with my story, I confirmed I’d been held by the Seal.
And only admitted, when questioned, that I’d been kept underground in a cell.
That I’d lied about the medical questions asked of me.
That the Seal thought I was precisely what I wanted them to be—a key.
And that I placed the blame for my predicament on Mads, who Todd confirmed was still very much in custody and had been questioned ad nauseum about my disappearance.
Ignoring the venture into my pit, and the waking visions of Imaginary Todd, I told him about Warden White and Madame.
Gave him physical descriptions, and more than a couple unsavory descriptors when it came to the bitch—sorry, I meant the heartless-sadistic-control-freak-wench who wanted to hold me in captivity until I produced the Seal’s equivalent to a golden egg.
But my stomach plummeted once I got to the subject of Three.
I didn’t say her name, because it was a subject tied to my own identity that I only wanted to broach once, and now was not the time.
Instead, I told Todd about the woman raised in captivity, how she was a child in a woman’s body, how she’d consistently sing about the Seal’s prophecy, how she too had a large scar on her face, and how she never once questioned her role.
“Please tell me she came with us. That she’s in another room.” The plummeting in my stomach deepened, hoping to all hope that my memory was a hallucination rather than reality.
“What do you mean?”
“Wasn’t there someone else with me?” Panick struck my chest. “When you picked me up?”
He shook his head. “You were the only person I saw, Delilah.”
“Oh my god, I’m such a bad person!” I flipped my feet over the side of the bed. “We have to go get her, I just left her in the woods! She’s never been out before.”
“You’re not going anywhere.”
“Like hell I’m not, I convinced her to come with me, and I just left her! I’m such a bad person.”
“No, no, you’re not bad.”
“She was so annoying. I couldn’t take it anymore. And I just left her!”
“Was the woman with you in the parking lot?”
“Yes, she was with me in the trees, and I just left her there wearing bright pink pants and a stupid Venice sweater!” I don’t know why but that somehow made me feel worse.
Oh my god, I’m such a horrible, selfish, person.
Todd placed a warm hand on both of my knees, keeping me in place as he typed something into his phone. It buzzed almost immediately, then he tucked it away. “There. Handled.”
I must’ve understood him wrong. “What?”
“Fawzy and Thruppy are headed to check out a tip about a woman with a scar on her face. I gave them the coordinates where I picked you up.” I was about to voice my worry about my situation being made public, how I’d asked Todd to be the only one involved—until I’d concocted a plan—but he continued, “As far as they’re concerned, they’re still looking for you. Not the woman-child.”
“But—”
“No buts.” Todd didn’t give me an inch to argue. “They will find her. They will handle it.”
“But—”
“This is their job, Delilah.” He was firm, his tone final. “So do us all a big favor by… Not. Getting. Your. Ass. Out. Of. Bed. Not everything rests on you.”
“Oh.” Maybe it was that easy. “Okay then.”
But it didn’t make what I’d done any less horrible. And if Three wasn’t okay, the guilt was going to eat me alive.
?
Still coming to terms with how awful I was, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to notice Todd’s near constant shifting of his shoulders. The half-baked attempt to lift his arms, before lowering them again.
He was wrestling with something. My best guess was that he had a question, about something sensitive, and he wanted to handle it with tact.
I, on the other hand, was tired of constantly feeling like there was another shoe about to drop, so I said, “Alright, out with it.”
Direct eye contact. Nose exhale.
Oh, it was serious serious then.
“I’ll only ask you this once, and only because the timing is right,” my hands fisted the sheets, “is Almeida One the father?”
“What?” I almost laughed, but I sensed he was digging for something deeper. “No.”
“Okay, I see.” From the expression on his face, I couldn’t tell if this was better or worse.
“I already told you, all he did was—”
“—cuddle and occasionally stick his tongue down your throat. Yeah, I remember.”
An almost verbatim rendition of what I shared with him months ago, I nodded. “Then, why?”
“Because.”
“Todd.”
He shook his head. “My mind is painting a very dangerous picture, Delilah, one I’m not sure I’m ready for.”
“What do you—"
Crash! Glass shattering behind me, Todd vaulted to his feet as I spun around with fists clenched, only to find a familiar face who looked like he’d seen a ghost.
My stomach dropped.
Hands extended, keeping the shape of whatever he once held, the man froze. His eyes were missing their mischief. His dress shirt, but no tie, lacked its usual crisp edge. And though he still had his constant five o’clock shadow, it was darker, more pronounced, like he missed a shave or two.
Unfortunately, this meant I couldn’t hide any longer, because standing before a puddle of fresh cut dahlias and broken glass was Jack.
Oh no. Oh god. What the hell was he doing here?
“Delilah.”
“Jack.” Nerves licked my insides as I hiked my knees up, hiding my new shape beneath a tent of blankets.
He side-stepped the broken glass, gaze fixed. “What the hell is going on?”
I stared daggers at Todd, considering how I was going to punish him for his betrayal, but he was busy signing, “What are you doing here, Jack?”
“What am I doing here?” Jack seemed caught between two places. “You said family emergency.”
Todd nodded. He’d meant it. Which suggested he hadn’t given me up, hadn’t betrayed my confidence and gone to Jack.
But then how did Jack find us?
“I thought that with everything you could use a friend, but this was not the sort of emergency I was expecting. Now, what the hell is going on?”
“You’re asking the wrong questions, Jack.”
“The wrong questions?” Despite the obvious shock and sense of betrayal, there was still a warmth to Jack’s tone.
“You’ve been gone for days, while the team has been working day and night in search of Delilah.
And when I came to check on you, like a good friend, I find you here.
With Delilah. So, you tell me, Galt, what sort of questions should I be asking? ”
“Wrong—”
“I asked him to come,” I interjected, though the panic was real and pounding in my chest. The urge to run was back and stronger than ever, but I’d played my part in this and wasn’t going to let Todd take the blame. “Alone.”
“What?” Jack looked between the two of us. “Why?”
That’s when he saw it. The second monitor. If he’d still been carrying the flowers, he would have dropped them. Again. I didn’t miss the way his knees buckled as he said, “Is that?”
I should have taken the band around my waist off. It didn’t seem like such a big deal at the time to leave it on. Not when Todd already knew, but the monitor was betraying me, and I wanted just one reveal to be on my terms. Not forced or evidenced out of me.
“Delilah, are you—”
Nope, I definitely wasn’t doing this here. Jack would have to wait. The last thing I needed after Todd’s recent line of questioning was for him to witness me telling Jack, that somehow, despite all fucking odds, he was going to be a father.
“I need ice chips,” I blurted. Yes, ice chips. Good idea. People in hospitals got ice chips all the time for some reason. And I was fairly certain wherever the ice chips were located wasn’t directly outside my room.
“I think there’s something we need to addr—”
“And a broom,” I added. “Or someone’s going to get a shoe-full of glass.”
I missed whatever it was Todd signed over my shoulder, but it had Jack furrowing his brow.
“Ice chips?” Jack confirmed, squaring his attentions on me, as I hiked my blanket tent higher. “Of course, whatever you need. But then we’re having a talk.”
“Ice chips and a broom,” I corrected. “And you’ve got a deal.”
Jack gave a curt nod, which involved a half bow and a warning glance at Todd, as he promptly left—for what I hoped was going to be a rather lengthy roundabout search.
Todd, still standing next to me eyeing the space once occupied by Jack, made no move to go. Since my plans required a solid thirty seconds of unsupervised activity, I added, “Both of you.”
The expression on Todd’s face said, ‘you’ve got to be kidding me.’
Naturally, I one-upped him with an overzealous smile that said, ‘I am absolutely fucking not,’ declaring me the winner.
Tossing one last glare over his shoulder, Todd trudged his way out of the room.
He knew better than to tell me not to do anything stupid. After three months underground, I was going to do whatever I damn well pleased. And as soon as both sets of footsteps were gone, I shot to my feet.
I thought I was going to be ready to face reality.
I definitely was not.
I couldn’t do this. Nope, not here. Possibly not anywhere, ever.
Holding my breath, I did what I failed to do earlier and removed the IV port from my arm. Movies made it look so easy, but in practice it was so unbelievably gross I had to keep my urge to dry-heave in check.