Kaylee lay on the cot. The room was a cell. Bare wood walls, caulk between each panel. She knew the roof was metal because she’d heard the rainfall a few nights ago.
A tiny slit of a window no bigger than an envelope was high on the wall so she was able to track the rise and subsequent fall of the sun.
Four days.
Every time she started to fall asleep, heavy metal music blasted from two speakers above the door. So loud she could still hear it at full blast, even when she had her hands over her ears.
Her eyes burned, hot and gritty. Her mouth tasted like an overripe banana. She hadn’t had anything to eat, and the only liquid she’d ingested was a discolored brown substance, given to her in a tiny bottle. It had tasted like muddy river water.
If Stuart can do it, so can I.
Thinking of him was as painful as it was helpful. Picturing his face in her mind, and the feel of his arms around her. His lips against her forehead. I love you. They’d had a hundred conversations in her head. Things they had never said. Things she would never get to tell him. All that was gone now.
He was dead.
Her life was over.
She wasn’t sure, yet, what they wanted from her, but she’d rather get that over with than continue this torturous waiting. Though, wearing her down past this point—to the point she would scream for it to end—would probably be where they would finally intervene.
Kaylee refused. She stared, bleary-eyed at the caulking on the wall and the knots in the wood and let her mind go blank. The music was too loud for her to think.
What felt like hours later, it finally shut off.
She blew out a breath. Hunger had become a weakness. Thirst was a distant memory. When the door flung open for the first time in what seemed like days, she didn’t even blink. She was lying on the bed with her legs bent over the side, her feet nearly flat on the floor.
“You look like crap.” Edmond hauled her to a seated position and shoved her back against the wall.
Kaylee wasn’t sure she wouldn’t fall back down to the bed again, the way her lower body was partially still turned.
Edmond snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Are you even listening to me?”
She blinked up at him.
“Great. I guess that’s the best we’re gonna get.” He tapped the screen of a huge phone in his hand, then turned it. “Smile for the camera.”
The flash erupted in her face.
Kaylee’s cheek smashed into the bed.
He tapped and swiped. “And…it’s sent.”
Seconds later the phone started to ring.
“Of course he’s calling now,” Edmond muttered. “Yes, sir.” He had the phone to his ear. “She’s not exactly ready. I understand.”
He tapped the screen and turned it.
The man on screen had gray hair but a handsome enough face. Tanned skin. “I can see the resemblance.”
“Yes, sir. She definitely looks like her mother.”
“Can you hear me, Kaylee?”
She didn’t move. Maybe she blinked. Kaylee didn’t care if that was true or not, or whether or not they wanted her to speak…she didn’t have the energy to even finish that thought. Stuart. She wanted to go to his funeral. To see him one last time, to touch his face, and to grieve. Even more so because of the memory of their sweet moments. She wanted to experience the loss of what could have been.
What her life would never be.
A family like her parents had. Marriage. Children. God, You’ve abandoned me. She wanted to feel His presence. The warmth of His love. But none of that existed here. It was freezing, and she couldn’t remember one single Bible verse, even though she’d tried to bring to mind all the ones she’d memorized. Even just one.
Any of them would do. She just wanted to hear the words.
“What is she talking about?”
“I have no idea, sir,” Edmond said.
“Get her up.”
Edmond laid the phone beside her nose and then hauled her to sitting again, this time leaning against the corner of the room at the foot of the bed. She rested her temple against the wall while he got on the phone again and stuck it in her face.
“Can you hear me, Kaylee?”
“Yes.” Nothing audible emerged from her mouth. She swallowed and coughed, then swallowed again. None of it helped, but she was able to croak out, “Yes,” finally.
“Good.” The old man on the screen smiled in a perfunctory display of appreciation. “I’d hoped to be there, but this new position prevents me. So Edmond has taken my place. He will be performing the re-education on my behalf.”
She flinched.
He continued, completely ignoring her reaction. Or he just didn’t see it. “When you’re done, there will be a high position in store for you. It was supposed to have gone to your mother, but she decided otherwise. Now that responsibility falls to you. The privilege of being by my side. Someone I can trust with my innermost secrets and, of course, my desires.”
Her brain couldn’t process the words, but the look in his eyes was clear enough. He’d wanted her mother. Now his plan was to settle for her.
Eight years ago, when her mom and dad had been shot in front of her, gunned down, she’d been barely out of high school. Her mom hadn’t wanted this. But he expected her to want it?
“Kaylee.” His voice cut through her thoughts. “As I was saying, of course you will be rewarded. If you do well there will be money enough to build the life you’ve always dreamed of. Travel. Riches. Parties. You can even do some charity work—after we have the wedding of the season so everyone worthy of our company can attend our event.”
Beyond the phone, Edmond stared at her. She didn’t dwell too long on the look in his eyes.
“Of course, all this is after you’ve been made suitable. And after that mess on your face heals. Edmond?”
“Yes, sir?”
“You may have to consult with a plastic surgeon. Just to make sure there’s no permanent disfigurement.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll get started with everything right away.”
“Excellent. You see, Kaylee? Loyalty is always rewarded.”
“What about Brad?” She didn’t ask about Stuart. She couldn’t even bear to say his name aloud. The feeling she had for him would be there, and then they would know the truth. Edmond would have yet more power over her. He would get in her head and break her down.
More than he already had.
“Your brother has made his own arrangements. Now you’re here. It’s time to make the best of it, and that starts with Edmond. Cooperate, Kaylee. There’s no use fighting it. You might as well make your time the most…pleasant.”
She didn’t believe a single word of what he was saying. Maybe he thought it was true, or he wanted to believe what he was doing was acceptable. Whatever helps you sleep at night.
“Soon enough we’ll be together.”
Of course, by that he meant together. She saw as much in his eyes. Kaylee swallowed again, enough to say, “You think I won’t murder you the second you turn your back.”
“Your mother would have.” He actually chuckled.
Even Edmond flashed his teeth in a kind of a smile.
“She certainly would have. She was a formidable woman, to say the least. I’m hoping you bring some of that same fire.” He touched his tie. “Though, I’m hoping you’ll refrain from spilling my blood. Especially when I can give you the world. So many women would jump at the chance to gain the opportunity you’re getting.”
“So pick one of them.” She had no energy for fear. All Kaylee had was the cold, and her broken mind.
Was this what Stuart felt? The way these people had treated him. Missions he’d been sent on. Things he’d been forced to do, and those things forced upon him for “training” purposes. She didn’t even want to know how awful it was.
Or how awful it would become for her.
Edmond seemed eager. That didn’t fill her with joy, but she doubted anything would right now. God, don’t leave me.
The old man on the screen chuckled. “Your mother coddled you. She failed to communicate precisely what you were bred to become. That won’t happen with our children.”
Edmond said, “Your training will be extensive. The idea of killing the man who is responsible for your survival won’t even enter your mind. You can rest assured of that.”
“I know I will.” The old man laughed again, and she thought she heard a tiny murmur of nerves. “But for now, I have much work to do, and so do the two of you. Until next time, my dear. I look forward to seeing what you become.”
Edmond tapped the screen and pocketed the phone.
“He’s insane.” She sounded desperate but it couldn’t be helped, and she didn’t even care to try and change it. “You don’t have to do this.”
“And yet I’ve never had a failure. All the times I’ve done this, I’ve never come up short. So don’t worry. In a few months, you’ll be living that ritzy life in Washington D.C., and I’ll be nothing but a memory.” He leaned toward her, a mockery of a bow. “Maybe a fond one. Depends on how you respond.”
“Probably I’ll puke on your shoes, but that’s just a guess.”
Edmond strode toward the door.
“You’re all insane. This whole thing is. People like you shouldn’t exist. Manipulating the world according to how you want it to be, thinking others are expendable pawn pieces for you to move around wherever you want.”
“Is there a point in there somewhere?”
“It’s not right.”
He shrugged. “Your friend Trina didn’t object. She jumped at the chance to...work with me.”
“You’re insane.” Maybe it was redundant to repeat herself, but limited capacity for thoughts left her with not much to work with.
“That’s what breeds success, I’m afraid. Genius with a dash of crazy. Only the strong and the powerful survive, and we all have our part to play in that world.” He grinned. “Just lay still and try to pretend you like it.” He waggled his brows. “Later, though.”
He slammed the door shut, leaving her mercifully, blessedly alone. To be continued. Kaylee wanted to vomit, but there was nothing in her stomach. She wanted to scream and cry but was so dehydrated she didn’t think her body was capable of producing even an ounce of moisture.
This had been the plan all along. Her brother had fulfilled his usefulness. It was her turn now, and Stuart was dead. She had plenty of friends; cops and people who knew federal agents. But they would never find her.
Kaylee would have to live this life. Until a day came, sometime in the future, when she could make a break for it.
Escape.
It didn’t matter how long it took. A month from now. A year, or ten years. Eventually she would find a way to get away from whoever that older man was.
For now, she would conserve her energy. Find a place in her mind where she could detach from whatever happened to her while keeping some of her sanity intact—even as they did everything they could to make her into someone else.
But Kaylee would always know who she was.
A Last Chance citizen. A church member and child of God. A bookaholic. A woman who had fallen for a broken man who deserved far better than life had ever given him.
You were right, Mom. Breaking free is always worth trying. No matter the cost.
She knew that now, despite the fear that would inevitably creep back in. Even though it had destroyed them, it had been worth it to be happy. Even for a short time.
No matter the cost.