Wrong Place (The Wrong Series) (15 page)

“Thank you,” J
ess said.

She knew
that she had just been saved from the worst type of experience that one can possibly go through.

“Don’t thank me just yet,” Trish said.

Trish then got some things out of a large bag that she had been carrying and escorted Jess to the bathroom. She handcuffed her to the tub railing. Afterward, she stuffed a large sock in her mouth and taped her mouth shut.

“I told you not to tha
nk me too soon. Well, good night.”

As Trish went to her bed and turned the lights out
, she had only two things on her mind. The first was how she was going to manage to get rid of Jacob before he actually made good on his promise and killed her. The other was something that she hadn’t thought she would feel if she were ever faced with the situation she had just been faced with. Trish felt extremely guilty. She had been a part of terrifying this girl who was imprisoned in her hotel bathroom, and for what? Just because she knew some guy who might know some things that would paint the organization that she worked for in a bad light. No, this isn’t what she had thought life would be like when she was approached by Mr. Boyd. She dreamed of a life without rules where she could reach her full potential. All she had found for herself was a world of constant cover-ups and death. Nothing was right. She reached up and turned the light back on and walked into the bathroom. She reached down and took the tape off the scared girl’s mouth. After she removed the sock from her mouth, she took her handcuffs off and escorted her, still at gunpoint, back to the bedroom.

“Look
, I may have handled things wrong a second ago. There’s no need to be scared of me. If you do as I say, then I promise you will get out of here alive and unharmed. Now I want to treat you civil, but I can’t have you running away or that idiot that’s next door might actually kill me, so do me a favor and make this night easy and the tape and sock won’t be necessary,” Trish said in the friendliest and calmest voice she could muster up.

“Thank
you,” Jess responded.

“I’ll leave the handcuffs off until we go to sleep
, but for now, feel free to turn on the TV or whatever.”

As the night went on
, Trish and Jess exchanged small talk, and when it was time to sleep Trish handcuffed her to the bedpost. Trish felt bad enough just handcuffing her at the end of the night. It was as if she were treating this girl like an animal that she could simply cage at will. It felt wrong. I really should have picked a different career, she thought while feeling disgusted at her own soft heartedness.

Chapter 15

Nathan woke up in his hotel bed and turned over. There lay the girl that he had come to like, and like a lot. There lay Sam. What does she think of me, he wondered. Her hair was a mess, and she might have looked the worst Nathan had ever seen her, but still, the sight of her made his heart jump in a way that he hadn’t felt in years. He had spent so long chasing his first love Holly that he had never really stopped to consider that someone so strange, so beautiful, and overall, so much better for him could be out there somewhere. If she does feel something for me, great, and if not, well then I’ll just have to make her see me in a better light in the future, he thought. He looked over and saw the same camera that she had taken pictures of him with and had an idea.

“Should I get a
little revenge? I don’t see why not,” he said to himself.

He
then began snapping pictures of her, and almost on cue she woke up.

“What are you doin
g?” Sam asked in surprise.

“Oh
, I don’t know. I guess I just figured that one good turn deserves another,” Nathan said with a smile.

“You are going to give me those pictures. You know th
at, right?”

“
Well now, I know no such thing, Ms. Fisher. In fact, I think that I may just share these with the group when we get back to Lee’s,” Nathan said in a joking tone.

Sam then
sprang to her feet, and Nathan took a quick step backward.

“Come on
, give it to me. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt again.”

“Oh
, you just caught me off guard back in Birmingham. I’m ready for you now.”

Sam reached for the camera
, but Nathan pulled it away. He then held it above his head. With his 6’2 frame and his unusually long arms, he was able to hold it just out of her reach.

“Very funny. N
ow give it to me before I actually do get mad.”

“
Oh no! You’re going to have to take it from me if you want it.”

“Fine
, but just remember that you asked for it,” Sam said.

At that moment
, Sam plowed into Nathan, effectively knocking him down on top of his bed. She was frantically reaching for the camera that he had a death grip on when it suddenly became apparent to both of them. She was lying on top of him, and her face was only inches away from his. She could feel the warmth of his breath and the pounding of his heart, or was that her heart pounding? At this point, she couldn’t tell. She was short of breath, and at any moment she just knew that her heart would jump from her body. He turned loose of the camera and placed both of his arms on her back. Is he about to kiss me, she frantically wondered. She jumped off him instantly.

“Umm
, I’ve got to go shower. Just leave the pictures if you want to,” Sam managed to say before retreating into the bathroom.

What’s
wrong with you, she thought as she closed the door to the bathroom. Back on the bed, Nathan lay there puzzled and thought . . . yeah, there’s definitely something between us.

Later that morning
, after both Nathan and Sam had gotten ready for the day, she asked to speak to him for a minute.

“Okay
, I wanted to talk to you about two things.”

“What’s up?” Nathan
asked while hoping that this wasn’t going to be an awkward talk about what had happened earlier. He didn’t want this talk to end with them just being friends or some other nonsense.

“F
irst of all, I want you to have this,” she said and handed him a rather small pistol.

“I d
on’t know about this.”

“What’s not to know? I may not always be there to help you out
, and I want to know that you can protect yourself, especially if we’re going to be sticking together for a while.”

“Well,
it’s just that the one time I actually had to point a gun at someone, it didn’t work out very well,” he said and then described to her what actually occurred when he was taken by Jacob.

“
All right, so you didn’t take the safety off. That’s not a big deal. Look, I’ll show you how to work everything to do with this gun,” she said and proceeded to show him everything from where the safety was to how to load and chamber bullets.

“That’s good
, but I really hate guns, to be honest with you. I just can’t ever see myself pulling the trigger and taking another human being’s life, even if my own life was at stake.”

By this time,
Sam was a little frustrated. She only wanted him to be able to defend himself, and he was the one who said he wanted to stick with her. If he truly did want to stick with her, then he would have to at least learn and be willing to defend himself.

“Look
, I can respect that you value human life, but imagine if my life were at stake. Wouldn’t you want to be able to defend me in the worst situation?” she asked while trying to stay patient with him.

He hadn’t thoug
ht of it that way. He had no doubt that if it were Sam who was in trouble, he would do whatever was necessary to keep her safe, even if it meant killing someone.

“Yeah
, I would.”

“Okay
. Well, we obviously can’t do any target practice in the middle of a city, but for now, I just want you to get a feel for it. You know, get used to the weight of it and everything.”

“Okay
, but there’s just one tiny thing that might be a problem.”

“What is it?”

“I have actually never fired a gun. Do you have any tips for me?” Nathan asked, sounding embarrassed.

“Just line up the sights
, and don’t think too much about what you’re doing. Your body should act on instinct. Just raise your hand, and in one smooth motion line up the sights, and then without hesitation, pull the trigger. Oh, and don’t forget to take the safety off this time.”

“Okay, I’ve got it.
So what was the other thing you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Well
, this is somewhat hard to say, but it’s become clear that you have some feelings for me, and it’s not that I don’t feel anything for you. It’s just that I think in our current situation, we need to remain friendly but focused. I think that any type of romance that you may want to go on would only serve as a distraction, and in my world, distractions can get you killed,” Sam said while biting her lip.

“Why are you saying this? I know I felt something between us just a few minutes ago
, and I know you felt it, too. There’s nothing that me caring for you or you caring for me could ever do to endanger either one of us.”

“Look
, this is the way I want it to be, so if you care about me, please just let it be that way.”

“Fine,” Nathan
said in a defeated voice.

There was a long silence between them
until Nathan chose to escape the silence.

“I’m going out for a bit,” he said.

“It’s probably not safe for either of us to be out by ourselves. We’re likely being hunted, you know.”

“I’ve got this pea
shooter now, and you have all your
super
training, so I’m sure you’ll be fine whether I’m here or not,” he sarcastically said as he opened the door and left.

Sam couldn’t help but
feel all mixed up inside after he left. Why did I cut off any chance of anything ever happening with him? I definitely did feel a connection just like he did. Why am I so stupid, Sam wondered. It’s not that she hadn’t wanted to tell Nathan that she had strong feelings for him. As a matter of fact, she would have loved for him to kiss her just a few minutes before, but the truth was that she was scared. This was her first and only experience with anything that even resembled a relationship. Back at the academy, there was no time for such trivial things, and now that there might be time to think of such things, she only found herself to be scared, confused, and socially challenged when it came to interacting with a man who she might love. At this point, she didn’t even know if there was any sense in trying at all. She felt as if she was a lost cause.

“
I’m so sorry, Nathan. I’m just too messed up,” she said towards the door that he had just exited.

* * * * *

Trish heard a knock at her door, and after answering it, she discovered that it was Jacob.

“Let’s go. I’m ready to
pay this Lee guy a visit,” he said in an excited voice.

“O
kay, just let me take care of something, and I’ll be right out,” Trish said and then closed the door. She walked over to the bed where Jess was handcuffed.

“I’m leaving
, so the tape has to go back on. I’m really sorry.”

Trish t
hen applied the tape to Jess’s mouth. She hated to do it, but it simply had to be done. After that, she walked out the door.  She and Jacob got into their car and made their way over to Lee’s apartment complex. They climbed the two flights of stairs leading up to Lee’s room and made their way to Lee’s front door. Jacob stepped to the side, and Trish knocked on the door. After a few seconds, Lee walked to the door and looked out of the peep hole to see only a small girl standing there. Who is she? Oh well, she’s kind of cute, he thought as he opened the door. Much too his dismay, he soon discovered that a large man was accompanying her.

“Can I help you two?
” Lee asked.

Jacob
pulled a gun from his pocket and pointed it straight at Lee’s head.

“Yeah
, we would like to come inside and have a word with you,” Jacob said.

“Right
this way,” Lee said.

He was going t
o obey the man with the gun at whatever cost. Lee was 6’4”, and this guy who was escorting him at gunpoint was at least three inches taller than him. In terms of pure muscle, the guy was ripped. This must be how intimidated normal people feel when they see me, Lee thought to himself. As they made their way to Lee’s living room, Jacob began to explain exactly why he and Trish were there.

“Look
, I’m only here for two things. I want the flash drive that I already know you have, and I want the location of the place where Nathan Grey and Samantha Fisher are staying. If you give me those two things, you can get out of this alive, and if not, I’ll slowly cut off different parts of your body until you decide it’s in your best interest to tell me what I need to hear. Personally, I’m hoping for the latter,” Jacob said and smiled.

The truth was that Jacob had planned to do the latter as soon as Lee told them where to find Nathan and Sam
, but he figured that Lee might be a bit more cooperative if he didn’t know that just yet.

“The flash drive
is plugged into that computer right over there,” Lee said while motioning to the laptop lying on a desk in the corner of the room.

Jacob turned to grab the flash drive
, stupidly, and that’s when Lee struck. He leapt onto Jacob’s back causing them to both crumble to the ground and the gun that was once placed firmly in Jacob’s hands went flying across the room. Lee wasted no time as he began throwing punch after punch into the back of Jacob’s head. Trish, seeing that Jacob had clearly lost control of the situation, pulled out a small Taser from her pocket and simply walked up behind Lee and zapped him. As Lee fell off him, Jacob jumped to his feet in a rage. Then he jumped down onto Lee’s chest and put his hands firmly around his neck. He literally began squeezing the life out of him. Lee couldn’t breathe at all and felt himself beginning to lose consciousness. He looked deep into the eyes of the behemoth that had sat down on his chest and saw something unexpected. Jacob no longer had a face of hatred or rage. He was smiling. He had an expression of pure joy on his face as he was killing him. Lee thought that the devil himself couldn’t have such a crooked smile or hateful eyes.

“Stop it! You’re going to kill him. We’ll
never get any of the information we need if you kill him. Jacob, stand down!” Trish cried out.

Jacob slowly let
go of Lee’s neck and backed away.

“You’re
not going to tell me where they’re staying. You’re going to show me, and then if you’re lucky, I’ll kill you quickly,” Jacob said while looking down at Lee.

* * * * *

Nathan had just walked out of the hotel, and he was feeling rejected, heartbroken, and stupid. He quickly made his way to a small bar across the street. He had never been the type to drink alcohol to escape his problems, but Sam’s rejection mixed with everything else that had happened over the last few days had taken its toll on him, and right then, he just needed relief. He sat down and ordered. Rum and Coke had always been his drink of choice. As he sat there and drank, he began to wonder how things were going with Lee and the flash drive, and to be honest, he just wanted to talk to another human being. He could call Michael, but Michael had always come to him with his problems, and he had plenty of them. It’s not like he needs to hear about all my problems when he has so many of his own, Nathan thought. He made the call to Lee.