She looked at him in delight. “You know what? I just might manage that.”
He grinned. “Good, because you never know. We’ve got to take these things one day at a time. Life is over way too fast in some cases.”
“I hear you,” she said quietly. “It’s not exactly how I want to think about life, but you’re right.” As she sat there, nursing her coffee, she sent Troy several more texts. Can I come down there?
No.
Please.
No.
Okay, I’m coming.
NO!
Laughing, she texted back. Okay, just teasing.
Make sure that you are.
Not in any danger here.
How do you figure that?
Nobody even around. Just Axel and me.
Where’s Mason?
Took off in a hurry.
I’ll call him.
“Troy will call Mason to make sure everything’s okay.”
“Well, I tried myself, except he’s not answering,” Axel said, staring down at his phone. “I’ll try Nelson.” He lifted his phone to his ear, trying to call him. But, when he got no answer, he looked at her, clearly concerned.
“Go,” she said.
Immediately he shook his head. “Hell no, I’m not leaving you behind.”
“Well, you should,” she said. “We can’t have any more people hurt.”
“Exactly,” he said with emphasis.
She glared at him. “If I order you, will you go?”
He burst out laughing.
She sat here, her chin propped on her palm. “Then let’s both go,” she said.
“No,” he said. “That’s not happening either.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely I’m sure,” he said.
Just then the door opened, and Troy walked in, but he wasn’t alone. She looked over at the man beside him and bolted to her feet. “Lionel,” she cried out and raced toward him.
He gave her a wan smile but let her hug him. In fact, as she held him close, he wrapped his arms around her, and what started off as a gentle hug, ended up with the two of them almost supporting each other upright.
She looked at him and whispered, “Are you okay?”
He shook his head. “Not sure I’ll ever be okay again,” he whispered.
She led him to her spot and sat him gently down on the chair. “I was so afraid they’d done to you what they did to Tabitha.”
He looked at her with huge puffy eyes.
“Oh, God,” she whispered.
He nodded slowly.
“This is an outrage,” she whispered to Lionel. She grabbed another chair to sit down beside him and looked at Troy to see if he understood but could tell from the look on his face that he did.
Axel stood, went for coffee, and brought a stout cup of black coffee to Lionel, sitting across the table from him. Without saying a word, Lionel seemed to calm down some.
She patted Lionel softly on the shoulder as she got up and huddled with Troy, to have a private conversation. “Evidence of it?”
“Date-rape drug,” Troy whispered, as he nodded, then turned his back to Lionel, drawing Berkley closer, so the poor guy couldn’t hear more. “Lionel was knocked out several times and then attacked. They used him, took photos, and when he woke up again, he had no idea except that he’d been abused and sometimes beaten. It happened at least three times, possibly four or five. He’s not even sure. The last time they left him bleeding pretty badly. He went to the doctor, and that’s when he realized the doc already knew about it, even made a comment about something they shouldn’t have done.”
“That little bastard.” She straightened, her hands clenched into fists.
Troy grabbed her and said, “Slow down. He’s already dead. Remember?”
“Too bad,” she growled. “I’d like to punch him into the ground myself.”
“And we also have the doctor’s phone and the other manager’s phone, plus the doctor’s computer,” he said, “and it’s more damning than anything. I have emailed the photos and the schedule.”
“Schedule?” she said, in a horrified voice.
“Yes, schedule.”
“Let me see it,” she said. He brought it up on his phone, and she studied it in shock. “They planned these attacks? And they organized them in advance?” Something was almost familiar about it, but she didn’t really understand why.
“Yes,” he said, “they did.”
Berkley was shocked. “That’s pretty low for anybody,” she said. “But to plan something like this, over and over again? That’s sick.”
“Oh, it gets worse,” Troy said. He brought up the calendar again, tapped a day several days ago, and said, “This was on the schedule before the blast.”
She looked down at it and slowly sank back against the wall, looking dumbfounded. “It’s got my name right there.”
He nodded. “They were done abusing Lionel for a while, and they wanted a woman again.”
She stared up at him, feeling heartsick. “They would do to me what they did to Tabitha?”
“Yeah,” he said. “You were on the schedule. So whoever caused the sabotage kept you from being drugged and raped. You could have been really hurt.”
*
There was no easy way to tell her, but Troy figured blunt and straightforward was the best. But then the look on her face about did him in. He wrapped her up in his arms, and she curled up against him. He could feel the shudders rocking through her. He looked over at Axel, the two of them sharing a look, still amazed to be shocked at the depravity of some people.
Troy gently moved Berkley over to the table with Axel and Lionel.
“What was it Denny said? Something about a group of men like this?” Troy asked.
“I think that was Chucky,” Axel said. “I think those two knew more than they let on.”
“Maybe so,” Troy said. “And maybe that’s why they wanted out. Maybe that’s why they were so sick of life here and what they were seeing and hearing evidence of.”
“Probably,” Axel said. “Bastards.”
Now with Lionel and Berkley here, both of them shattered by the news and revelations, Troy wasn’t even sure what the next step was. He had to keep them both safe, before whatever group of assholes decided to try to hurt them again.
“We can’t know who all is involved though, can we? Are they listed?” she asked.
“Quite a few of them are listed, yes,” Troy said. “They paid for the honor.”
A shudder racked through her as she stared at him. “Why? Why are men so horrible?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Only some men,” Troy reminded her. “Lionel has confirmed those he can ID.”
Lionel gave a nod, his expression grim, but he seemed to be sitting taller now that he was surrounded by people to support him.
She leaned up against Troy’s chest and burrowed against him. “I don’t even want to think about it,” she said.
“The thing is,” Troy said, “Lionel says that he woke up in the body bag and doesn’t know how he got in there.”
She stared at Lionel. “Seriously?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I woke up in the body bag. In the freezer. That was unnerving, I tell you. I managed to get out of the body bag and realized where I was and got out. I thought I was dead for sure, but it was so similar to every other time, only this time it didn’t feel like I’d been raped.”