Survival Games (10 page)

Ty decided to
follow his own orders where Jessica was concerned, no one touched her,
including him. He brought her food and clothing each day but for the most part
didn’t talk to her. She ignored him at first, but then after a couple of weeks,
she started to say hi when he entered the room. He just nodded, acknowledging
the salutation, and as always, she said thank you when he put the tray down for
her. She surprised him each day by getting on the treadmill of her own free
will and running. He had gone out and got all the seasons of
Metropolis
and played a disk for her when she ran and when she wasn’t running, he piped in
music.

He watched her,
planning the diversion that would get her the hell out of this place. The
diversion she said she would beg for.

“I don’t know your
name,” Jessica said one day when he brought her lunch. “What’s your name?”

Ty looked at her
for a moment, debating on whether he should answer or not. “Ty,” he finally
said and started to leave.

“Ty.” She spoke
his name softly, causing him to turn back.

He was not
prepared for the impact of hearing her say his name. The world disappeared and
there was only her. His heartbeat thundered in his ears and he stared, silently
counting to ten before he dared move a muscle. He inhaled and blinked the room
back into view.

“Is it possible to
have a book to read?” she asked sheepishly, surprising him.

“Um,” he paused
and tilted his head a bit. “What kind of book?”

Jessica shrugged a
little. “I don’t know. Something good.”

Ty smiled a
little. “What I think is good might not be the same as what you consider good. What
authors?”

“Is there anything
new out by Tom Clancy?” she asked, surprising him yet again. “I also like David
Balducci, John Grisham, Anne Rice, Stephen King and Dean Koontz,” she added.

“Wow, no sappy
romance novels.”

Jessica laughed. “I
hate those things.”

Ty nodded. “I’ll
see what I can do,” he said and left the room.

“Thank you, Ty,”
she said softly before the door closed.

Ty stood in the
hallway with his hand on the doorknob fighting the internal need to go back in
and wrap his arms around her. He wanted her so bad it hurt and today when she
said his name, he had almost given in. Patience was not a virtue he possessed,
but he forced himself to be patient this time.

He took a deep
breath and headed out to get her what she had asked for.

That evening, he
came back with her dinner tray and held up a finger to say just a minute. He
left and returned with a stack of books for her. She lit up like a Christmas
tree.

“Thank you.” Jessica
smiled and took the stack from him.

Their hands
touched and an electrical charge raced through his cells just like the first
time their eyes met. He smiled, mumbling, “No problem, gotta go” and slipped
out as fast as humanly possible. If he stayed, if he stayed he’d do something
he would regret and it wasn’t time yet.

He went back to the
control room and breathed deep. He looked at the plan he had devised over the
last few weeks to obtain Jessica’s target. It would be a hell of a challenge
and he would need the company’s contacts to pull strings to get them on the
set. That wouldn’t be too hard considering the company supplied most of the
wiring for sound and video equipment for the entertainment industry.

He placed two
calls and waited. Frank and Chris arrived a few hours later and he mapped out
the strategy. “What do you think?” he asked when he finished.

Chris nodded. “Sounds
possible. But there are so many things that could go wrong…”

“It’s risky,”
Frank said. He chewed on his lip and rubbed his hands together. “Well if anyone
can do it, it’s you.” He nodded.

Frank set the
wheels in motion and they waited for the call to come in.

Jessica was
engrossed in a scary Dean Koontz novel and when the door swung opened, she
jumped, blushing at her reaction to the interruption.

Ty suppressed a
laugh. “You really like that scary shit?” he asked setting the tray down near
her.

“Yeah, don’t you?”
she answered, folding the corner of the page over and setting the book on the
mattress. She looked at the food on the tray and sighed. It was a salad again. She
would kill for a good steak.

“Sure, but I’m twisted,”
he answered with a smile.

Jessica laughed aloud
and glanced up at him. Her eyes drifted back to the tray. “Not that I’m
complaining, but don’t you know how to make anything other than salad?”

His smile
faltered. “Like what?”

“I don’t know. Something
in the realm of protein would be nice for a change,” she said, keeping eye
contact.

Ty nodded. “I’ll
see what I can do,” he said and went to leave. As always, Jessica said thank
you.

He paused in the
hallway leaning against the door fighting his desire. He wanted to feel her
beneath him and hear her whisper his name as he made love to her. He took a
deep breath and headed for the bathroom off the kitchen. He was in need of a
shower to cool down.

* *
* *

Jessica stood,
approaching the door. She wrapped her hand around the doorknob, silently
wishing for a miracle. “Open,” she whispered and turned the knob.

The latch
unclasped and the door swung open.
Holy shit, he forgot to lock it this
time!

Warily, she stuck
her head out in the hallway, looking in both directions before stepping out of
the room. Her heart slammed in her chest, flitting like a Mexican jumping bean
with every step she took.

She glanced to her
left. She had been down that way before and swung her head in the opposite
direction. The hallway took a sharp turn to the right where she envisioned her
room ended. Tentatively, she started in that direction, her heart pounding so
loud now it drowned out all other noise. She kept glancing behind her, making
sure he didn’t come from that direction. Jessica leaned against the wall at the
corner and closed her eyes for a moment. She opened them and peaked around the
corner. An elevator stood at the end of the hall and she took the turn, walking
faster toward her escape.

Jessica’s eyes
darted down the hallway behind her and then to her right as she stepped in
front of the elevator and pressed the button. Her heart jumped into her throat,
hammering, pulsing in her ears so loud she didn’t hear the computer voice
requesting the retinal scan.

The doors slid
open and she turned staring into his dark twisted eyes.

“Looking for a
ride?” Frank asked and his fist connected with her eye.

Jessica stumbled
back, hitting the wall, but didn’t fall down, the liquid fire of freedom
freezing in her veins, turning to a fear that constricted her throat. Her
internal alarms blazed at his murderously cool stare and he barreled down on
her. She turned to flee.

Frank grabbed her
and slammed her into the far wall face first, pushing himself against her back,
ripping at her clothing. “You just made a big mistake,” he whispered in her
ear.

Jessica panicked,
she couldn’t move and bruising, tearing pain accompanied each of his violent
thrusts. She closed her eyes and silently screamed.

Ty!

His name blasted
through her conscious mind with the power of a freight train.

Ty stood under the
stream of water, his eyes closed and his hands rinsing the shampoo out of his
hair when the sound drowned out all other thoughts. The terror in her voice
shot him into action. He bolted from the shower, grabbing a towel as he ran by
the rack and wrapping it around his waist, sprinting into the hallway and
rounded the bend by the elevator, sliding to a stop less than ten feet from
where Frank was raping her against the wall.

“Let her go,” he
growled.

Frank glared his
way. “You let her out of the room,” he shot back, but did not show signs of
stopping what he started.

Ty launched
himself at Frank, tearing him off her and tossing him onto the floor. He
grabbed Jessica by the upper arm and led her back toward her room, holding onto
the towel so it didn’t slip off. The water was still dripping from his body,
leaving a trail of wet footprints all the way back to her room. He threw her
into the room and shut the door behind him, staring at her.

Remnants of
shampoo slid into his eye and he pressed his palm to it to stop the stinging. “Shit!”

“Why did you stop
him?” She hitched her breath in.

Ty shrugged. “I
heard you scream and I reacted,” he said and headed into the bathroom.
What
the fuck are you thinking?
He glanced at his reflection and stepped into
the shower, letting the water drown all thought for the moment. When he stepped
out of the shower, he dried his body, toweled off his hair, and ran his hands
through it to get some semblance of order before he wrapped the towel around
his waist and stepped into the room again.

“How the hell did
you get out of this room?” He stood as far from her as possible, not daring to
get any closer.

“The door was
unlocked,” she admitted as her eyes scanned him, painfully aware that all that
stood between them was thirty feet and a towel.

“Bullshit!”

“It was.”
Jessica’s eyes snapped back to his.

Ty took a
threatening step toward her and thought better of it. He turned to leave.

“Why did you stop
him?” she asked again.

He looked at her
over his shoulder. “I told you, I reacted.”

“You said you
heard me scream.”

He nodded.

“I never screamed
out loud,” she stated, looking down at her hands and back to him.

Ty tilted his head
and turned back toward her, the inquisitive look on his face would have been
comical in any other time and place.

“I heard you
scream my name,” he replied, his eyes going hard.
What kind of game is this?

Jessica pressed
her lips together, blinking the tears away. She curled up on the mattress and
brought the sheet up. “Thanks for stopping him,” she said, tightening her jaw
and blinking the sheen from her eyes.

Ty gave a slight
nod and left the room.

Frank was waiting
for him in the hallway.

“You let her out,”
Frank seethed.

“No I didn’t.” Ty
glared at Frank and headed to the quarters off the kitchen where his clothes
were. “I’ll check the program to make sure there isn’t a glitch.” He shot a
glance over his shoulder. “You weren’t supposed to touch her Frank.” He slid
behind the door and pulled on his clothes, coming out a few minutes later
buttoning his shirt.

Frank leaned
against the wall with his arms crossed. “She was trying to get out of here,” he
said. “She needed to be taught who’s in control and you haven’t been doing that
lately.”

Ty shook his head.
“You shouldn’t have touched her,” he repeated and stepped forward. “You’ve got
the other two,” he added. “Fuck them any way you want and you even have Mike if
that floats your boat, but Jessica is off limits.” He towered over him, his
eyes boring smoking holes in his skin. “Understand?”

Frank clenched his
teeth together. “I got it.” He stormed out and into the control room.

Ty followed and
glanced at the monitors. Jessica had drifted to sleep and he reached over,
dimming the lights for her. Angela was lying on the mattress with her hand
between her legs pleasing herself. Lisa was pacing in her room muttering under
her breath and Mike was lying on his mattress staring at the ceiling. “Looks
like Angela needs a good fuck. Go pay her a visit,” he said to Frank.

Frank stared at
Jessica’s monitor.

Ty reached out and
wrapped his hand around Frank’s throat. “Don’t even think about it,” he
whispered in Frank’s ear.

Frank tore his
gaze away and glanced into Ty’s eyes, swallowing hard. “Okay,” he said.

Ty let him go. “You
want me to set one of the girls up for you?”

Frank watched
Angela and nodded. “Both of them this time,” he instructed. He looked over at
Ty. “Don’t you want to see the three girls together?”

Ty looked at the
monitor and slowly shook his head. “No.” He looked back at Frank. He didn’t
want to share Jessica with anyone. “She is to be left completely alone. I’m the
only contact she should have until we bring her target in,” he added slowly,
smiling for Frank’s benefit.

Frank looked
between the monitor and his stepbrother. “You’re playing her?”

Ty nodded. “She’s
different,” he answered looking at Jessica, praying Frank bought his bullshit. “And
it’s going to take a hell of a lot more to break her than what we normally do.”
He glanced at Frank. “Or haven’t you figured that out yet?” He didn’t wait for
an answer.

He strode down the
hall opening Angela’s door. She jumped pulling her hand out from between her
legs. Ty offered her a knowing smile. “Come with me,” he said and took hold of
her arm as she approached him trembling. He brought her to the room with the
couch and left her handcuffed to the wall where she couldn’t get into anything.
He opened Lisa’s door and repeated the command and the short walk to the room,
bringing her in and sitting her on the couch. Frank was already at it, running
his hands over Angela. Ty tossed him the keys to unlock her and went to leave.

“Aren’t you staying?”
Frank asked in surprise.

“No,” he said and
closed the door behind him. He had more important things to do, like getting a
look at the hallway footage.

Inspecting the
tape over and over, with the sound cranked, repeating the crunching punch to
her cheek through to when he slid onto the scene. He tapped the speakers
shaking his head. He clearly heard the punch and Frank’s voice, but no sound
emitted from her. In each pass, Jessica didn’t utter a sound. He took a deep
breath and stared at the monitor for a minute before he got up and headed to
her room. He stepped in and walked over to her sleeping form, kneeling beside her.
He reached out, moving the hair from her face, gently tracing the bruise Frank
left on her cheek.

How the hell
did you do that?

Jessica’s eyes
fluttered but didn’t open.

Ty stood and left
the room before he woke her.

* *
* *

Jessica heard his
silent question and opened her eyes as the door closed.

I have no clue.