Black Falcon: Complete Series Collection (115 page)

The first few are spam emails but then one catches my attention. The subject line reads:
I have something you’ll want to see
. It’s from an anonymous sender, which is even more puzzling.

I debate leaving it alone, worried that it’s one of those crazy virus emails with a link inside that will crash your computer, but then decide to at least open it.

Dr. Mead,

I have something you’ll want to see. Tell me if this is you and a certain rocker in this video. If you don’t want this to go viral, you’ll email me back asking for my demands.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Citizen

My eyes widen as I make it through the email and then I quickly reread the text before my eyes see the thumbnail of the attachment.

Oh—my—fucking—God.

No.

NO!

This cannot be happening to me.

I click play on the video as my heart races and turn down the volume on my computer. The shaky camera focuses on Tyke and I in the woods, catching the moment when I practically beg Tyke to fuck me.

The camera stays on us as he thrusts into me and I beg him to fuck me harder. I watch in horror as I writhe against the rock as I come, and then it shows where he shoots part of his load inside me and then pulls out.

The video stops and the breath I’ve been holding whooshes out of me. What in the hell am I going to do?

One thing is for sure, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep that video from going out to the world.

I square my shoulders and fire back a reply.

What do you want?

And now I wait.

T
yke Frannie is unusually quiet at dinner. I try, subtly, to catch her eye when no one is looking to make sure she’s okay, but she won’t even look in my direction.

I lean back in my chair, perplexed about the entire situation. I thought we finally had things worked out—that we were going to give “us” a shot—why won’t she look at me?

“Since we’ve all had a long day, I think it would be nice to have an evening off. Group therapy is cancelled for this evening, but I highly encourage you to use the time for personal refection,” Dr. Shepherd informs the group after we finish dinner.

The room begins to buzz as everyone considers having time on their own. Most of them discuss getting a card game together in the recreation room. Another client asks me to join, but I politely refuse because the only thing on my mind is finding out what’s bothering Frannie.

The moment she gets up from the table, I follow her. “Dr. Mead? Can I have a moment of your time?”

I’m careful to address her properly in front of everyone as to not raise suspicions. No one pays much mind when she instructs me to follow her to her office.

Once we’re alone she closes the door and then turns to me, tears streaming down her face. I quickly cross the room and wrap my arms around her in an attempt to comfort her.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

She sniffs. “People know about us, Tyke.”

My breath catches as I pull back from her so I can see her face. “Who?”

“Kimmy saw us go into my cottage together earlier today, but she swore she wouldn’t tell anyone.”

I furrow my brow. “Do you trust her?”

Frannie shrugs. “I don’t know. I think so. Gah! I’m not sure because when I checked my email today I got this.”

She walks over to her laptop and shows me the email she received.

My eyes hone in on the video and my hands begin to shake as anger washes through me. “Is that what I think it is?”

She nods. “It’s us in the woods. Someone filmed us, Tyke. What are we going to do? If this gets out not only will I lose my job, but the press will know all about you coming to rehab.”

I scrub my hand down my face. “I couldn’t give two shits about my reputation, Frannie. It’s you I’m worried about. I know how much this job means to you.”

I sigh. She’ll be so screwed if this gets back to Dr. Shepherd. As much as I want to run out there and threaten bodily harm to each and every person here to make them confess, I know I can’t do that. I have to keep my cool and figure out whatever this sick fuck wants.

“Did you reply to this?” I ask.

“Yes. I haven’t heard back though.”

I thread my fingers behind my head and stare up at the ceiling in attempt to keep my cool. “I want to kill them. I want to beat the shit out of whoever did this. They’ve got some fucking balls.”

Frannie grabs the hem of my T-shirt. “I know exactly how you feel. I’m beyond pissed—and scared—but we can’t lose our heads. We have to be smart about this. They can ruin everything with a few clicks of a button.”

She’s right. Another media scene portraying Black Falcon in a negative light would probably push Riff over the edge. He’s pissed at me enough already.

Even though I couldn’t give a fuck if people saw another sex tape of me, knowing the world was able to see that private moment shared between Frannie and me makes me sick to my very core. I want that look in her eyes when she comes to only be mine. I don’t want to share that part of her with the rest of the world.

I take a deep breath and try to relax my shoulders. “Can you forward me this email? If they respond, send it to me immediately so we can figure this out together. Okay?”

She stares up at me with tears in her blue eyes. “Okay.”

I lean over her desk and write my email address on a Post-it note. I hand her the paper. “I mean it. We’re in this together. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.”

I pull her to my chest and hold her in my arms. I know she feels lost without her twin, but I want her to know that she doesn’t have to feel so lonely anymore because she has me. I’ll be there for her.

F
rannie It’s been five days since I replied to my blackmailer and still haven’t received any word back. Every day that I sit here in this place, I grow more and more paranoid. I’m driving myself batty analyzing every single thing that every single person does here. Any one of them could have sent that email, and I’m determined to find out who in the hell is fucking with me.

Tyke leans his head back against the couch in my office and sighs. “Do you think it’s Arnold? The guy’s not right upstairs and could’ve been stalking you.”

I sag my shoulders. “I don’t know, Tyke. It’s possible, I guess. I just don’t know what he’d gain from doing this to us.”

“You don’t know what the asshole wants because they haven’t replied with their demands, and yet the video still hasn’t gone viral. I’ve got Trip keeping tabs on the tabloids for us, too.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. “You told your brother?”

Tyke shrugs. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch. He won’t say anything. Besides, he’s cool with it.”

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. “He is? He doesn’t care that you’re screwing your therapist?”

He pulls me into his lap. “First off, this is more than just sex. We’ve already established that. Secondly, my brother’s happy when I’m happy, and you, Frannie Mead, make me happy.”

I melt into him as he kisses my temple.

He pushes my hair away from my neck and nuzzles into me. “I can’t wait until we can be together without all this secrecy.”

“You really think there’s a future for us outside this place?”

“Of course I do,” he states confidently. “Don’t you?”

“I dream about it, but I don’t know how it will all work if we don’t see each other very often.”

He sighs. “It’s true I’m away a lot, but that won’t stop me from flying out to you every spare chance I get, and you can fly out to wherever I’m at on the road.”

I stiffen in his arms. “I don’t fly.”

“At all?” he questions.

“Like
ever
.”

“Can I ask why?”

Since we seem to be at a point where we are truthful with one another, I begin to tell him exactly why I won’t step foot on a plane again. “My sister...her plane went down in the Atlantic Ocean. None of the passengers survived, and all that was ever found of the plane was a partial piece of wing. Ever since then, I’ve been deathly afraid. It’s been four years, and yet I can’t seem to get over it.”

“That’s understandable,” he says as he rubs my back. “I think that reaction is perfectly normal.”

“Well, my family doesn’t think so. My mother thinks it’s ridiculous that I can’t get past my fear and pretend like they aren’t evil killing machines.”

“Maybe someday you’ll feel differently but until then, no one should push you.”

“Thank you.” I wrap my arms around him, loving that he seems to understand my feelings about the situation.

I sigh as we stay locked in our embrace. “What are we going to do about this email? Do you think we need more time apart to throw people off our scent?”

“What good would that do? They’ve already caught us on tape. There’s not much we can say to dispute that,” he answers.

“I don’t know.” I pull back so I can look him in the eyes. “We can always deny it. The video doesn’t zoom in on our faces too much.”

He shakes his head. “Believe me; your face was pretty clear. They’ll know it’s you.”

I toy with his hair, thinking of a new plan. “Well, what if you appear interested in someone else here? Do you think that would lead people away?”

“No. That’s a terrible idea. And I won’t do that to you.” The tone in his voice is adamant.

“Come on, Tyke. We’ll both know it’s just for show, and I’m not asking you to sleep around—just be extra nice to other women.” I take a deep breath. “I know it’s a crazy, irrational plan, but will you just try until we can figure out who is behind all this?”

He huffs. “I don’t like it.”

“For me?” I bat my eyes at him. “Once it’s over and you’re out of here, we can come clean. By then it won’t matter as much if the world finds out we’re together.”

His body shifts below me, uncomfortable. “Okay, I’ll do it, but you have to promise that you won’t get all jealous because this is your idea. If you start acting like a psycho stalker, I’m done with the fucking game.”

“Fair enough. But I promise to keep my inner crazy on lockdown.”

For the next week, after our little plan of diversion is set in motion, Tyke does exactly as he promised. He’s overly nice to every female within five feet of him, but I can honestly say it doesn’t bother me in the slightest because the moments when no one is looking and he winks at me, I know that I’m the only one on his mind. That he’s being overly flirtatious to protect me. Because I asked him to.

It’s a completely weird and screwed-up situation, but one I feel is completely necessary until we find out who in this place has dirt on us.

While most of the women respond to his innocent come-ons with blushes, smiles, and giggles, there’s only one person who seems to be taking it a little too seriously.

Josie Sullivan.

It’s no secret Josie demands to be the center of attention, but she’s completely eating up every ounce of what Tyke throws at her. I know it shouldn’t bother me that’s she’s reading too much into what’s going on between them, but I can’t help it. Her body is amazing, and she’s a celebrity. Any woman who tells you that type of competition doesn’t worry them is a liar. I wish he would focus on someone else more, but Josie seems to be putting herself in close proximity to him all the time now.

I turn my attention back to the products in front of me. While Kimmy is on the other side of the store buying cleaning supplies for the facility, I’m being sneaky and checking out pregnancy tests in the pharmacy aisle.

It’s been three weeks since Tyke and I first had sex, which by my calendar makes my period a week late. I know it’s probably just the stress of everything going on causing the delay, but it doesn’t hurt to know for sure.

Once I find the test that most doctors seem to recommend, I quickly pay for it and shove it into my purse before I go and search for Kimmy.

The entire ride back to Serenity, I listen quietly as Kimmy drives and babbles on about her design school courses. It’s totally rude of me to just pretend that she has my full attention, but I can’t help being distracted by the fifteen-dollar test that has the potential to be a gamer changer.

“Frannie, are you okay?” Kimmy asks. “You seem distracted. Is it Tyke?”

I shake my head. Even though Kimmy knows that Tyke and I’ve fooled around, I don’t feel the need to divulge any additional information about our relationship, especially until I find out who is behind the video.

It could be anyone, so I’m on high alert with all my secrets.

“No. That was a one-time thing. He hasn’t crossed my mind really since then,” I lie.

She frowns. “I’ve noticed him being overly flirtatious with everyone but you lately. Do I need to nut punch him for being a dick?”

I burst out laughing. For some reason, the thought of petite Kimmy punching Tyke is comical. “No. But thank you for the offer.”

She smiles. “What are friends for?”

It’s a nice thought—being friends—but I can’t allow myself to give in to the idea, no matter how genuine she seems. She has stuck to her word about keeping my secret, though, or at least I think so. Wayne hasn’t let on that he knows anything if she has blabbed to him.

After I say my goodbyes to Kimmy, I make my way down to the little cottage that’s been my home for the last month and quickly lock myself inside. The plastic sack crinkles in my hands as I pull the pregnancy test out of it and read the directions. It says it’s best to use the first morning’s urine, but I can’t hold out until tomorrow.

After peeing on the cotton tip of the white stick as instructed, I place the cap on and place it on a piece of toilet paper on my sink. I stare anxiously as I watch the saturated cotton inside the test begin to change the lines on the test. When not one, but two pink lines pop up in the window, my breath catches.

No.

No. No.

No. No. NO!

This is the completely wrong time for this to be happening. I knew it was a possibility, but never did I think it was going to actually happen. Tyke doesn’t want a baby. He told me that himself. And while I’ve just came around to the idea of trying to let my guard down and become something more than a friend who fucks from him from time to time, I know we’re not ready for this.