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Amelia
After Detective Stevenson picked me up at the truck stop, I could finally relax for the first time in a long time. I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes as we drove down the empty highway.
“You look exhausted.” He spoke with pity in his voice.
“I am.”
“Why don’t you take a little nap while we’re on the road?”
“That sounds nice.”
“Here.” He reached into the backseat and pulled out his police jacket. He draped it over me with his free hand before returning it to the wheel. “Better?”
“Yes. Thank you.” I pulled the jacket up to my neck and sunk into the soft leather seat.
I dreamed of Liam. We were in the woods, kissing, painting, cuddling while we made s’mores. He had never truly been cruel to me. What if he hadn’t left me in that room? What if something had happened to him?
You’re an idiot. He kidnapped you, tied you up, and locked you in a room.
I hadn’t realized I’d started to cry until Detective Stevenson lightly shook my shoulder. “Amelia? Amelia, are you okay? What’s wrong?”
My eyes fluttered open. We were stopped but it was so dark I couldn’t make out anything around us, except for tall trees.
“Yeah, it was just a bad dream.”
“Come on, we’re here.”
“Where’s here?” I unbuckled and got out of the car, finally seeing the familiar cabin he’d taken me to before I was relocated.
“I thought it might be nice to be somewhere familiar until we figure everything out.”
“Figure what out?”
“We think we found the murderer which means you shouldn’t have to go back into WITSEC.”
“You did?” I should be relieved but instead, all I felt was panic. What if that’s why Liam didn’t come back? What if they arrested him? I cleared my throat and tried to sound less upset. “You found him?”
Daniel raised a brow at me and nodded. “We think so.”
“Who is it?”
“Why don’t we get you inside. It’s freezing out here.” He put his hand on the small of my back and nudged me toward the door.
“Yeah, okay.” I tried to fight the sick worry in the pit of my stomach as he led me inside.
Daniel led me through the doorway and into the small living room.
“You hungry? I could make us something to eat.”
“No, thank you. I just want to sleep if that’s okay.”
“Sure thing. I’m going to get the fireplace lit and get us some heat going. You remember where the bedroom is?”
“Yeah.” I forced a smile and slipped into the bedroom, but I couldn’t shake the unease.
As tired as I was, it still took me a good while for sleep to finally take me. I couldn’t get my mind off Liam.
I slept for a little while, but finally, the dreams of Liam pulled me from my sleep. He was a good man. He may have done bad things, but he was a good man.
My door had been closed when I fell asleep, but it was now slightly open. I sat up in bed as Daniel’s hushed voice floated in.
“She doesn’t know...no, she never saw his face...I just checked on her. She’s still asleep...I thought I just had to get rid of the girl, now you say you want me to get answers from her first? That’s going to get messy...No. I can take care of it.”
Was there someone else there? I couldn’t hear another voice. I wondered if maybe he was on the phone. One thing was clear, that her was me and I didn’t like the sound of the rest. I needed to get closer. I had to see if someone else was out there. I stepped out of bed and crept toward the open door when a board under my foot creaked.
“Hang on. I think she’s up...I need to go.”
I turned back from the door and stood just at the foot of the bed when he came in.
“You’re up.”
“Yeah, I was just heading to the bathroom.”
“Good. You do that and I’ll make us some tea.”
“Thanks.”
I’d have a few minutes before he’d get suspicious. I locked the door behind me and looked around for an escape but there were no windows and nothing that could be used as a weapon. I’d have to bide my time and hope his lack of surprise would work in my favor.
“Amelia, tea’s ready,” Daniel called from the door and made me jump.
“Coming.”
I washed my hands and splashed cold water on my face before walking out into the living room.
Daniel sat on the couch with a teacup in hand and another on the coffee table. The fire crackled and set a flickering glow one might find romantic in the right circumstances but in this situation, I just found the deep shadows and orange glow unsettling.
He smiled and motioned me over. “Come have a seat.” Placing his tea on the table, he handed me my cup.
“Thank you.” I took a sip of the tea and sat it down.
“Amelia, I know this can’t be easy, but I need to ask you some questions.” He turned to look at me with soft eyes. Maybe I misunderstood what he was saying on the phone. Getting answers from me may just be asking me some questions. I’d become cynical.
“Okay.”
He let out a sigh. “Why did you decide to leave WITSEC?”
“I—um...” I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. “It was just too hard. I needed to get away.”
“So, you left of your own will?”
“Of course.” My heart pounded in my chest, and I took another sip of my tea
“When you left your house, where did you go? Where were you staying?”
“I... I was staying with a friend.” I sipped the tea which seemed to calm me. In fact, it was relaxing me a little too much. My body felt too heavy, and I leaned back in my seat.
“Amelia? You okay?”
“Yeah, I just... What kind of tea was that?”
“Oh, this? An herbal blend. Do you like it?”
“It’s good. I just... I don’t feel very well. I think I need to go lay down.” I stood and the room spun, the floor jerking out from under my feet. Daniel jumped up, wrapping his arms around me to keep me from falling.
“Whoa, I think you need to sit down.”
“I just...I don’t know what’s wrong...” My eyelids drooped and I struggled to keep them open.
“Oh, it might be the drugs I put in your tea,” Daniel said casually. I was able to force my eyes open for one last moment before they closed, and the world went black.
I fought through the fog that surrounded my mind. Wake up. Wake up. Open your eyes. I ordered myself as the haze slowly lifted. I forced my eyes open and was startled to see Daniel’s face staring back.
“What? What happened?” I was sitting in the living room chair but when I tried to move, I couldn’t.
“Good, you’re awake.”
I moved my arm and tugged against the restraints. There was a burning feeling in my hand, and I looked down to see an I.V. line coming from tape there. My gaze shot up to Daniel.
“Oh, that’s just fluids.”
“You drugged me.”
“I thought you needed to relax. Plus, it was easier to tie you up this way.”
“W—why?”
“I need some answers and you were lying to me.”
“Who are you? Cops don’t do this.”
“Let's just say I have a special skill set.” He smirked and walked to me with another I.V. bag in his hand.
“What’s that? What are you doing?”
“Oh, this is just a little sodium thiopental. It will help make sure you are honest with your answers.”
“No, please. I’ll answer—”
“Oh, I know you will, and this will ensure it.” He hooked up the drip and I fought against the restraints as the liquids mixed and made their way down the tube to my hand.
Within minutes, the effects of the medicine took over. I was dazed, almost euphoric. Everything looked fuzzy.
“First of all, I want to apologize. You seem like a real sweet girl. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Why did you leave WITSEC?”
“I—I was taken.” I tried to come up with a lie but all that would come to me was the truth no matter how hard I fought it.
“Taken by who?”
“Liam.” The answer poured from my lips effortlessly.
“And where did he keep you?”
“At his cabin, in his bedroom.”
“Who is Liam?”
“He was the guy I was dating. He was so handsome and so gentlemanly. And oh, my goodness, he was so good in bed.” I giggled.
“Why did he take you?”
“I recognized his tattoo from the alley when he killed that judge.”
Daniel jumped up and dialed someone on his phone. “Hey, it's me. It was Woods. We got him.”
“What?” He roared after listening to what they had to say. “What do you mean he’s gone? Well, find him.” He demanded then hung up the phone.
Daniel rushed over to me only a couple inches from my face. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been with you.”
Liam
“You lying bitch. Where is he?” I heard Detective Stevenson’s voice roar from inside as I slipped around the bushes that lined the cabin.
“I don’t know.” Amelia pleaded and all I wanted was to get in there to her.
I crept quietly up to the door, fighting my urge to rush as Chase rounded to the back. I had to be smart, or I could get us all killed. I peeked through the window to get a better idea of where everyone was located. Stevenson’s hand came down hard on the side of Amelia’s face, throwing her head to the side. She cried out and sobbed “I really didn’t know.”
My wolf clawed at my insides, demanding to be unleashed on that bastard for hurting what was mine.
‘I’ll kill him.’
There was no way to resist shifting once I’d seen Stevenson strike Amelia. My body grew and changed, clothes tearing apart and falling to the wooden porch. I growled before busting the front door open with a loud clatter, the door jamb exploded into splinters.
The detective whipped his head around in shock and I growled, low and feral. Amelia shrieked but I couldn’t take my eyes off of Stevenson as my body heated into a burning rage.
“Touch her again and they will be scraping your brains off the walls for a week.” Chase’s voice came from the other side of the room. “Now, back away from her slowly.”
Detective Stevenson put his hands up in surrender and started to step to the side. With the threat dissolving, I shifted back into my human form.
“Liam,” Amelia’s voice was full of surprise. “Were you just a wolf?”
I opened my mouth to speak but the coward suddenly dove behind Amelia’s chair. He pulled his gun from his ankle and held it to her head. That’s when the thin plastic tube running from Amelia’s hand up to an I.V. stand caught my eye. Whatever he was giving her was making her groggy and unable to think clearly because she smiled at me.
“Liam, you came for me.” She smiled even with the gun digging at her temple.
“Yes Amelia, I’m here. Everything is going to be okay.”
“Of course, it is. Because I realized you’re not such a bad guy. You do bad things sometimes and now, I think you’re also a wolf, but you’re a good man.”
“Can we talk about this later? Like, maybe when a psycho doesn’t have a gun to her head?” Chase asked as he crept around the living room, trying to find a better shot.
As he got closer to me, Chris glanced down to draw my attention to his ankle piece.
With Stevenson’s attention fixed on Chase’s gun, I knelt down and grabbed the extra gun from his ankle holster and aimed, which drew Stevenson’s attention to me.
We kept our guns pointed at him. But he kept his gun on Amelia. “No one move or I kill her.”
“Then we kill you. There’s only one way you leave here alive. Put the gun down and slide it over to me.” I demanded.
Daniel must have known he had no way out. He let out a roar of frustration before moving the gun from Amelia’s head to his. Before anyone could move, he pulled the trigger. There was a loud blast mixed with Amelia’s scream.
My professionalism disintegrated as I yelled out and ran to Amelia. “Amelia, are you okay? What did he do to you?” I gently pulled the I.V. from her arm, and she hissed at the pain.
“It was sodium...theo-something.”
“Sodium thiopental?”
“Yeah, that’s it.” She smiled at me. “You’re smart.”
“Thanks.” I couldn’t help but smile. The drugs were making her loopy. She was adorable. I lifted her into my arms.
“You’re also naked. What happened to your clothes?” Amelia giggled.
“It’s a long story. The effects of the drug won’t last long. Let’s get you out of here. Then I’ll find some clothes.”
She weakly wrapped her arms around my neck as I carried her to the car.
I laid her in the backseat and closed the door as Chase rounded the car and tossed me pants and a shirt from his trunk.
“Thought you might need these.”
“Thanks.” I quickly dressed as he continued.
“A cleanup team is on its way. They are also hacking Stevenson’s phone records so we can find out how high this goes. We know he was the cleanup guy for the judge, but he also worked for some other corrupt higher-ups. The team will also do a sweep for intel before making it look like he skipped town.”
“Sounds good.” I glanced back at the car. “I gotta tell her the truth.”
“I know. You do what you have to. We’ll deal with any fall back as it comes.”
I clasped Chase’s shoulder. “Thanks.”
“No problem. Let’s get her out of here.”