Pandora's Box Page 6

  "So if you did your job then why did they still take him?"

  "I don't know. Unless they didn't think I was going to finish it."

  "Get out of my way Elena."

  She moves to the side finally letting me by but as I open the door she stops me again.

  "I have what they want."

  "What do you mean you have what they want?" I ask turning around to face here.

  "Well, you have what they want. I left it on your counter as I was leaving. It wasn't worth anything to me anymore."

  For a moment we just stood looking at each other. I was so mad, so angry I could barely think straight. But as I looked at her I felt myself soften. We had a connection. Or so I thought. Was it all just bullshit? The ways her eyes softened as she looked at me... could someone fake something like that? And her face... her face. It looked at me practically pleading. For what I didn't know. For me to believe her? It was possible.

  "Do you know where they could have taken him?"

  "I have an idea."

  I tucked my gun into the back of my pants and pulled my shirt over it as I waved for Elena to walk in front of me. "I'm driving. Tell me where I'm going."

  We walked out the front door and headed to the car as Elena explained, "I don't think they're stupid enough to bring him anywhere that's associated with Sinclair's. But there's a warehouse near there. They used it sometimes for meeting underground hackers. It's a long shot but it's possible they took him there."

  "Address?"

  But as we got to the car her phone began ringing.

  "Hold on. It's my mom's nursing home."

  "Hello? Yes, this is Elena Roberts. Oh hello Andrew, is everything okay? No, I don't have a brother. If I did he would be on the list. Do me a favor, don't call the police just yet, but stall them if you can? I'll be right there."

  "Change of plans. We need to go to Brookdale Claremont Assisted Living Facility. It's on 5219 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. One of the CNA's just called me said my brother was there for a visit. Showed proper ID, and my mother who has dementia said she recognized him. Only thing is my brother died five years ago."

  "Well give me the address of the warehouse. I need to find Travis."

  "You're not going to need it because he also told me that he had a little boy with him. And Sam? The man was trying to get permission to take her for a walk off grounds."

  "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go! Now!"

  We pull into a spot near the front, and as we walk quickly up to the door she stops suddenly.

  "Why are you stopping? Let's go!"

  "No. Let me go."

  "Are you crazy? There is no way I am letting you go alone."

  "Hear me out. I have what they want. They might listen to me more than you going in there and waving a gun."

  "First of all, I can't let you do that. Second of all, I know better than to wave my gun around an assisted living facility. And third of all, how do I know you're not trying to pull one over on me?"

  "Look I know you don't trust me, and I don't blame you. But that's my mother in there. She's all I have. I wouldn't risk her for anything or anyone. Will you at least wait outside the door? You can listen to everything."

  "Okay. I will give you two minutes and if I don't like the way things are going I'm coming in. Deal?"

  "Deal. Now let's go."

  I sit outside the door and listen as she walks in hesitantly.

  "Hey mom, how are you? Who's this? A new friend?"

  "Hello, there my beautiful Lila! I haven't seen you in months! This here is Travis! He is Georgie's son! Why didn't you tell me that Georgie had a son?"

  "Mom, my name is Elena. Remember? I was here yesterday?"

  "Oh yeah... Elena. But you still didn't tell me that Georgie had a son."

  "Mom, George is dead. He died 5 years ago. This isn't his son."

  "Oh Lila, always making jokes. Except this one isn't funny."

  I could hear the agitation in her mother's voice increase and it was getting hard for me to stay outside the door knowing that Travis was in there.

  "I said my George was here and I meant that my George was here. I am not crazy God damn it!"

  "Okay, mom. It's okay. Relax. Where is George now?"

  "Right here," a man's voice said sternly.

  I put my hand behind my back and feel for my gun as I hear the familiar sound of someone racking the slide of their gun.

  "Timothy?" Elena asks in a shaky voice.

  "Surprised?"

  "Timothy? I thought you were my Georgie? What have you done with my Georgie?"

  I heard the old woman get up and I can sense her frustration as she asks for her George over and over.

  "It's okay mom. It's..."

  "Shut that bitch up!" the man says again.

  "Don't put your hands on her! Keep your hands off of her!"

  At the first sounds of a struggle, I can't wait any longer and I rush into the room only to see Elena's mother on the floor and Elena struggling with the man known as Timothy. I grab him by his shirt and pull him back with all of my strength causing him to bounce off the wall. His gun falls out of his hand and slides under the bed and when he sees that he no longer has any advantage he runs.

  "Mom! Mom!" Elena shouts as she notices her mother's head is bleeding and she is unconscious. I pull out my cell phone and dial 911 and let them know that it is an officer needing assistance as I help apply pressure to the wound in her head.

  "Travis?" I yell as I hang up my phone. "B? Mommy's here? Where are you bud? There you are," I say as I notice him hiding behind the chair. "Elena, hold this here," I instruct. "Come on bud. You're safe now."

  "Who was that mommy?" he asks as he flings his skinny body at me and wraps his arms around my neck.

  "I don't know sweetheart. I don't know. But I am going to find out."

  And as I say this Elena and I make contact and I know that there is more to this story than she is letting on. But she is going to tell me no matter what I have to do to get her to.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Elena

  I sit and hold my mother's hand as she lays still unconscious in her hospital bed.

  "I uh... I really fucked up mom. And I am so sorry. All I wanted was to keep you safe and look at what's happened? I never can seem to get it right now can I?" I ask as tears begin to roll down my cheeks.

  "You've done a couple of things right my Elena. My sweet, sweet Elena," she manages to get out as I gasp out loud.

  "Mom?" I ask not only relieved that she is awake but relieved that she also remembers my name.

  "Who else would it be sugar?"

  "Thank God," I whimper as I kiss the back of her aged hands and press them to my chin.

  "What happened to me? My head hurts something awful," she winces as she tries to sit up.

  "Don't move, please. You um, you had a bad fall. Hit your head. The doctor says you should be okay but you needed a few stitches."

  "I remember Georgie. Georgie was there," she says closing her eyes as I can see the confusion begin to take over. "But how's that possible? Georgie's been dead a good.... what? 5 years now?"

  "Yes, mom. George is dead."

  "So how was he...?"

  "He wasn't mom. That was a bad man trying to confuse you."

  "A bad man? Trying to confuse me? Why would anyone want to do that?"

  "I don't know, mom. I don't know."

  We sit quietly as I can tell she is trying to think and every once in the while she goes to speak but I can sense the confusion becoming too great.

  "Say Li-... Lily... Len..."

  "Elena mom," I answered sadly. This is the part where she forgets me.

  "What time can I go home? Georgie is bringing me some milk and I want to make sure that I don't miss him."

  I look down and shake my head sadly as tears start falling again and I can't bear to look at her anymore.

  "Couple hours mom, and then you can go wait for George."

  -------
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  Several hours pass and the doctors say that they want to keep her for observation. There are several police officers stationed outside of her door because of the way she was assaulted, but that still doesn't make me feel better about leaving her here. She gets agitated at one point over not knowing my name and the doctors give her a sedative to relax her so I just sit in the chair in the corner of her room and watch her sleep. So many things I could have done differently, but in the end, I did everything I did for her.

  "Elena?"

  I hear her voice before I see her.

  "Can I speak to you?" she asks standing in the doorway.

  "I thought you left?" I ask as I meet her in the hallway.

  "I was going to, but I couldn't until I knew how your mother was."

  "Thank you," I say softly and she smiles at me just a little.

  "We are going to have 2 cops stationed at her door until she is released."

  "And after that?"

  "I'm not sure. But she'll be here for at least a week if not more so we don't have to worry about that right now."

  "We?" I laugh.

  "You know what I mean. What about you? Do you have someplace to stay?"

  "I was just going to stay here for a little while longer and then head home."

  "Is it safe there?" she asks with genuine concern on her face.

  "Honestly? Probably not. But I'll deal with it. I always have."

  "Listen, I know that we are in a strange place right now, but you can stay with me. I'll have a detail patrolling the neighborhood and I have a guest room... and a panic room in case anything happens. And honestly? We need to talk."

  She looks at me and her eyes are darker than usual, more serious and I know that she's all business. And my heart hurts just a little because I was honestly falling for her.

  "Fine," I say matter of factly. If she wants to keep it business-like we can keep it business-like.

  "I'll be back in about an hour to get you. Does that seem like enough time?"

  "Should be plenty," I say turning around and walking back to my mother.

  --

  I meet her in the parking lot by the front doors and she's alone.

  "Where's Travis?"

  "He's safe," she says as she adjusts her holster that is at the back of her waistband.

  "Don't trust me?"

  "Ha!" she laughs as she tilts her head back for emphasis.

  "Don't answer that."

  "I won't. Do you need to go back to your apartment? Now's the time. I don't know how long this is going to go on."

  "Yes, please," I say as we walk over to her car.

  --

  She waits in the car as I go into my apartment and straight into the bedroom. I guess I was in too much of a hurry to even notice anything out of place, but as I go to the closet to get my duffel bag something feels off and then I feel a sharp pain in the back of my head and everything goes black.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sam

  I tap the steering wheel as I suddenly feel very anxious. It's only been a few minutes but something just doesn't feel right. I look up to see if I can see her apartment from where I'm sitting, but the balcony obstructs my view. Suddenly I hear a loud bang, and immediately I am out of the car and sprinting up the stairs towards her door. I see that it is ajar so I pull my gun from my holster and slowly edge it open the rest of the way with my foot. I see her splayed on the floor and I immediately want to go to her, but I can't because there are noises coming from the other room.

  "SDPD!" I yell and then I hear glass breaking as I run towards the room. But the window is open and there is no one there. I look out and I see the back of someone jumping over the railing onto the landing, and while my first instinct is to give chase I realize that Elena is still lying on the floor. When I go back into the living room she is slowly trying to get up.

  "Don't move," I say as I kneel down beside her. "I'm calling an ambulance."

  "No don't," she says through gritted teeth clearly in pain.

  "You were unconscious. You probably have a concussion. Let me drive you then."

  Looking at me she knows that I am not going to take no for an answer.

  "Okay," she says as I carefully help her get up and sit her on the couch.

  "Let me get you some ice and then I'll get your stuff. Anything in particular you want?"

  "My pajamas and underwear are in my top drawer. You can grab anything. There are some sweatshirts and t-shirts in my closet and my jeans are in the bottom drawer. And my laptop is on my bureau. I have an ice pack on the top shelf in the freezer. I get migraines sometimes and it's a lifesaver."

  I bring the ice pack over to her before I go into her room and notice that it has been torn apart. Her shoe is on the floor and it looks like the person dragged her into the other room. I can smell smoke like from a cigarette and look around to see where it is coming from and that's when I notice an almost burnt out cigarette left on the edge of the nightstand.

  "Elena?"

  "Yeah?"

  "You don't smoke do you?"

  "You know I don't."

  "Jackpot!" I whisper. "We need to stop at the station after I bring you to the ER. I think we may have a lead."

  --

  "I'm starting to feel like I'm living in that place," she says as we walk in the front door. I immediately rearm the alarm and go around making sure that everything is still locked up as she just sits on the couch and tries to ignore the thumping in the back of her head.

  "Well, you don't have a concussion so that's good. Just a bad bump and a nasty headache," I say as I check the back door.

  "Tell me about it," she says putting her head back and closing her eyes.

  "Are you hungry?"

  "No, I'm just tired."

  "Why don't you head up then? I'll bring your bag in a little while. There are fresh towels in the hall closet, and you know where the spare room is right?"

  "Right," she says quietly as she gets up and heads upstairs.

  I walk into the kitchen and heat up some leftover pizza and pour myself a glass of wine. It's completely silent as I eat and drink and my head won't stop thinking. Everything single thing of the last few days plays over and over and over in my head. How we met, what happened since then but most of all I can't forget her. Her eyes, dark and bright with passionate intensity. Her lips, full and supple. Her tongue, exploring and wet. Her hands, caressing and strong. Her skin, soft and smooth...

  I close my eyes and find myself catching my breath as I think about her. I don't know how to feel. I look at her and I just feel angry. But it's the kind of anger where I don't know if I want to scream at her or fuck her.

  I shake my head. This is not the time or place for this. Not to mention it was hard to shake the fact that she was using me. The sex? It was just a bonus. But she was using it as a means to get what she wanted. The part that tugged at me was that it wasn't for anything sinister. She was trying to take care of her mother. At least that was the story that she presented. But did I believe it? I still didn't know. I take my plate and bring it to the sink as I try to stop my mind from racing. Looking over I see her bag by the bottom of the stairs and decide to take it up to her. I also grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator and a bottle of Ibuprofen from the cabinet to bring to her.

  The door to the spare room is open and I hear the shower still running as I walk in and place the bag on the bed. I leave the water and the pill bottle on the dresser and turn to walk away when I hear her behind me. Turning around she is barely covered in her towel, and I feel myself take a deep breath. She is... so beautiful. We lock eyes, and I feel my insides get hot. I can't stop staring at her.

  A minute, maybe only 30 seconds pass, but it feels like forever before I look away.

  "I, um... I brought you some water and Ibuprofen. If you get hungry there's leftover pizza in the fridge so feel free to help yourself to that or whatever else you might want later. And uh, if you need anything I'm right down the hall."r />
  "Thank you," she says giving me a small smile.

  "Goodnight," I say nodding my head and then head to my own room where I shut the door before throwing myself down on my back on my bed and letting out a deep sigh. This needed to stop. We still needed to talk about everything that happened but I figured that could wait until morning. We had both been through enough tonight.

  And I needed to stop thinking about her like that. It was not productive and it interfered with my judgment which was the most dangerous thing that could happen right now.

  I sigh again as I go to my drawer and pull out some shorts and a t-shirt and change before climbing into bed. But even though I'm completely exhausted I find myself staring at the ceiling.

  --

  2:30 AM

  I'm sitting in a chair by the back door with my gun next to me on the table. I thought I had heard something about an hour ago, but it turned out to just be the wind. I was so worked up at this point though there was no way I was going back to bed. I can see the ocean from where I'm sitting and it's calming to me as I watch it.

  I hear her come down the stairs and I swallow hard. Looks like I'm not the only one having trouble sleeping. Her beautiful curly hair catches my eye and I suck in my breath as my eyes roam down her body, dressed in a short-sleeved nightshirt that only comes to mid-thigh. I lick my lips and rub my hands on my thighs thinking that would help me shake the tension I was feeling but the touching of my bare skin just made it worse.

  "Can't sleep?" I finally say as she nearly jumps out of her skin.

  "Holy shit! I didn't know you were up!" she utters in a terror-stricken voice. "You scared the shit out of me!"

  "I'm sorry!," I apologize as I walk over towards her. "Are you okay?"

  "Yes, Jesus. I just couldn't sleep, and I was hungry." She looks at me and there's a glint in her eyes. Like maybe that statement held some innuendo.

  "Like I said there's plenty of pizza in there if you want. Unless you're hungry for something else."

  Before I even think about it she is in my arms and her mouth is open and her tongue is wrapped around mine.