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I CANNOT BELIEVE I keep crying in front of Owen. What is wrong with me? First, last night and now this afternoon. I lost it when I realized I didn’t have my mother’s necklace. It’s the last of what I have from her besides her ashes. I never wear it because I’m afraid to lose it and I’d never forgive myself. Now, I’m glad I haven’t been wearing it because Patrick definitely would have taken it from me the other day when he grabbed me. But now it’s sitting in a sandwich bag under the corner of the dirty orange carpet in my apartment. I need to get it back.
“Where are we going?” I ask Owen as we’re maneuvering through the downtown West Palm Beach traffic. We gathered all my belongings into a suitcase and then ate lunch on the balcony of his condo. Owen’s been quiet ever since my crying incident in the front hallway, only asking if I’m hungry, what I’d like to eat and drink, and answering my questions about Bella. He’ probably trying to figure out how to get rid of me.
“My office. I want Matt or someone in our IT department to look at that key. The sooner we figure out where it goes, the sooner this can all be over.”
Yep. He’s definitely trying to figure out how to get rid of me.
“I’m going to leave you at the office while I go to your apartment and get your mom’s necklace.”
“Owen, you know you don’t need to do all of this for me. I can take care of myself. Please don’t feel obligated to help me. You’ve done enough already and I really appreciate all that you have done.”
We pull into a front parking spot in a parking garage that has a sign that says Owen’s name. He kills the engine and opens the truck door. “Come on. Let’s go.”
We ride in the elevator in total silence, only the quintessential elevator music playing in the background and the elevator ding as we pass each floor. When the doors open, Bella goes running into the office and I watch a young girl swoon over her.
“Bella!” she grabs up the puppy and starts loving all over her. Bella clearly loves the attention.
“Payton. Any messages?” Owen asks the girl holding Bella.
“Yes. They’re all on your desk. The urgent ones on the top, but it’s just the gem show people. They keep calling to talk to you. I’ve been transferring them to Erick, but thought you should know how much they’re calling. Also, the contracts that Gabriel needs you to sign are also on your desk, and Matt asked that you stop in to see him if you came in at all today.”
“Thank you, Payton. Payton, this is Mallory. Mallory, this is one of my assistants, Payton.” Owen introduces us.
“Nice to meet you.” I tell her as I shake her hand.
“You, too.”
Owen’s got a lot going on, obviously, so why is he doing all of this for me? I don’t understand.
“You can watch Bella for a bit?” Owen asks Payton, and she just gives him a look like he’s an idiot for asking. I can’t help but laugh. “Thanks Payton.” He turns to me, “Follow me.”
I follow Owen through the massive office, around sections of cubicles, past a recreation room, and through a bunch of security doors to one door that says ‘Information Technology’. We’re apparently starting with IT. Owen scans his iris and his palm at the same time and we hear the door click open. This is some high-tech stuff.
When we enter the room, it’s nothing like you see on television. It’s not dark and scary, nor is it bright white and disorienting. It looks like all the other offices and cubicles we just passed. Not what I was expecting.
“Through here.” Owen leads me to an office in the corner. “Jackson”.
A Native-American man stands up from behind his desk to greet us. “Owen. It is nice to see you here in the dungeon.” He shakes Owen’s hand.
“Jackson, this is my friend Mallory. Mallory, this is our head of IT, Jackson Long Feather.”
“Nice to meet you.” Jackson shakes my hand.
“You, too.”
“I need a favor, Jackson. I have a key that I’m hoping you can look at and tell me where to start in finding what it goes to.” Owen turns to me and I hand him the key and he hands it to Jackson.
We both watch Jackson turn the key in all directions, seeing if there are any identifying marks, but there aren’t any. He then taps the key against the palm of his hand as he stares up at the ceiling.
“I think I have read about this, but let me check something.” Jackson sits down at his desk and then starts feverishly typing on his computer and then maneuvering his mouse, then more typing. He finally starts nodding his head. “Yes. I thought I had read about this before.”
“What is it?” Owen asks.
Jackson turns his monitor so that we both can see what he’s looking at. “It is a key to a new type of safe deposit box.”
“What do you mean by ‘new kind’?” I ask.
“You know how when you open a safe deposit box at a bank, they have one key and you have the other, and that is the only way you can open it?”
Both Owen and I nod.
“Well, this new kind only needs one key, but it has to be a specific key. They built the locks such that they will not open without this key. Ever. They are impenetrable without the key.”
“That’s not possible. We can drill into them. I’ve seen it on television millions of times.” I say.
“Yes. You have, but these boxes are built so that if any attempt to open the box without the key, the box will self-destruct and destroy everything in the box.”
“Wait. Are you telling me that there is no way to get whatever’s in the box that this key goes to without this exact key, and if we try, it will explode?” Owen asks with a lot of doubt in his voice. “Is that even possible?”
“That is exactly what I am saying.” Jackson hands the key back to Owen.
“How is that legal? What bank would have something like this? The feds would be all over that.”
“Agreed. It is highly illegal, but not in all countries. China, for example, has these in their private banks. Russia and North Korea have them as well. But I would not limit your search to banks alone.”
“Where else should we be looking?” I ask, intrigued that Patrick would know anything about this stuff.
“You can buy these safes on the black market and install them in your home or business, or really anywhere.” Jackson says.
“This just got a lot harder.” Owen mumbles to himself, but we all hear him.
“That it did.” Jackson agrees.
“Thank you for your help, Jackson. I’ll let you get back to work.” Owen and Jackson shake hands.
“It was nice to meet you.” I tell him as I follow Owen out of the office and through the maze of offices and cubicles all the way back to where we started. Payton has Bella sitting in her lap as she’s typing away at her desk.
“No calls, please.” Owen says to Payton, and she nods her head.
I follow Owen into his office, and he closes the door. The entire walk back to his office, I contemplated the situation I’m in and it’s too dangerous. I can’t let Owen help me anymore.
“Look, Owen. This situation is getting too dangerous, and I appreciate all you have done for me over the last few days. Patrick is a bad guy. I don’t know all that he’s into, but with fancy boxes and keys, the entire Federal government looking for him, and what he’s done to me... it’s too much. I’m just going to bow out now, go to my apartment, get my necklace, and wait for him to show up. I’ll give him his key in exchange for letting me go on my own. He’s reasonable, and I’m sure the key is all he really wants.”
I aim for the door, but Owen grabs me by the elbow to stop me. That triggers the defensive training I took when I was at the women’s shelter. I turn around in the opposite direction and with my other arm; I swing from under his arm and break the connection.
As I do this, my right leg comes up and I attempt to kick his knee, but his defensive training kicks in as well and suddenly I’m facing away from him, my face against the wall and both arms behind my back.
“What the fuck are you doing!” He yells. His front is against my back. His lips are in my hair against my ear.
I relax immediately. “I’m sorry. It was instinct.” I apologize.
“Are you going to try to take out my knee again if I let you go?” He asks, still up against me.
I shake my head. “No. I promise.”
Owen waits a few moments before I feel him start to release me, but all he does is let my arms go and turn me around in the small space between us to face him. I’m against the wall and he’s got both of his elbows on the wall on either side of my head. You couldn’t put a postcard between us. We’re so close.
“What just happened, Mallory?” he asks as his eyes bounce back and forth at mine.
I stutter, “Um... I, uh... took a class.” I’m so thirsty suddenly. He’s so damn close.
“Tell me again what you’re planning to do.” He demands.
“Well... um, I’m going to go to my apartment, and...”
“Wrong answer.” He interrupts me.
“Owen, I can’t ask you to get anymore involved than you already are. It’s dangerous. Patrick’s a dangerous man.”
“You never asked. I volunteered. And you’re right. He is a dangerous man, which is why you aren’t doing this alone.”
“Owen, no. Thank you for all you’ve done, but I’m just going to give him the key and be done with it all.” I try to push Owen away with my hands on his chest, but it’s like pushing a brick wall. He doesn’t budge.
“Do you honestly believe that if you give him that key, that he’ll let you go? After what he did to you? Because you’re kidding yourself if you think he’ll let you live. He’ll get his kicks out of beating you until you’re unrecognizable, probably rape you in every aspect of the word... multiple times, take the key, and then finish you off, Mallory. You will not survive if you leave. You will disappear.”
Owen’s right and I know it. Patrick will kill me once he’s done with me. Owen must feel me lose my resolve. “Will you promise me you’ll let me help you? Please?”
I rest my head against the wall and look up at the ceiling. I slowly nod, “Yes. I promise. Thank you. Again.”
“Don’t thank me. I want to kill the bastard myself for doing what he’s done to you.”
I don’t know why, but what he just said sends a wave of joy through me. I want to climb into his arms and never leave them. I want to be held by him. I want to hold him; to protect him, too. I want to be his rock, just as he’s being mine. How on earth did this happen in less than two days?
We stare at each other for a long moment. I’m watching his eyes bounce back and forth at mine; his micro facial expressions showing a battle going on in his head.
“I want to kiss you.” He whispers in our small space against the wall.
“Good.”
I watch the micro facial expressions and he looks like he’s come to a decision, because they stop and his face relaxes. “I shouldn’t touch you. You’ve been through too much already.”
“You shouldn’t touch me only if I tell you not to.” I place my palms on his chest. “I’m not telling you that.”
“You should.”
I nod in agreement. “I should, but I don’t want to.”
“Why?”
I don’t know how to answer him. What I’m feeling towards him is something that I’ve never felt before. I want to be strong for him, but I also know he won’t judge me when I’m weak. I want to protect him like he’s protecting me. I want to battle his demons that I can see he has in his face, but he’s not mentioned them to me. I want him to rely on me like I’m relying on him.
And all of these feelings could just be me freaking out about all this shit about Patrick. I could be having some kind of hero complex over Owen, and these feelings could just be a flash in the pan. Sparks that will go away because they’re imaginary to begin with.
I push Owen away, and this time he lets me. “What’s next? What do we do? I need to know what the plan is because following you around like Bella for the rest of my life isn’t much of a plan.”
Owen straightens his shirt and I can see him adjust himself through his jeans. I felt that hardness on my stomach, but I didn’t want to acknowledge it. “Right now, I’m going to bring you back to my condo while I go retrieve your mother’s necklace. Then I’ll pick you up and we’ll go back to the house. Tonight, we’ll come up with a plan. Sound good?”
“Does what sound good?” a man that looks like an older version of Owen walks into his office.
“Gabriel, meet Mallory. Mallory, this is my oldest brother, Gabriel. You met his wife this morning, Olivia.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m glad you’re safe.” Gabriel says while shaking my hand.
“Nice to meet you, too. Thank you.”
“What’s up?” Owen asks Gabriel as he goes through the messages that are stacked on his desk.
“The gem show that starts this weekend. What do you need? You got everything you need?” Gabriel asks.
“I think so. Erick’s been running point. Have you checked with him?”
“No. Not yet. He’s at the venue. Just thought I’d check with you first. I can call him.” Gabriel takes out his phone.
“Actually, let’s video chat with him.” Owen looks at me. “Do you mind waiting a few minutes?”
“Of course not. Take all the time you need. I’ll just sit over there unless you need me to leave.” I point to a comfy-looking couch on the opposite side of the office.
“Nope. Have a seat.” Owen smiles at me and suddenly I’m wishing he had kissed me.