Page 39

LILIANA

“ N o offense, sir, but how the fuck is this possible?” I growl.

I’m on an encrypted video call with the Kings, Mr. Emil, and Ignacio (though he’s sitting next to me). It’d been eight hours since I was arrested, and I’m finally home after the Kings’ lawyer managed to get me out of jail.

I can only imagine what I’ll owe them for this, but I’ll deal with it later.

“Dr. Gerald Michaels is currently contemplating the error of his ways in your father’s basement,” Mr. Emil says calmly.

On the outside he seems calm, but his hazel eyes glitter with a righteous fury. I suddenly have zero doubts that Rachelle’s piece of shit therapist will be suffering for hours and hours.

“Are you okay?” Mr. Emil asks, making me blink owlishly in surprise at him. “You were tased, weren’t you?”

“Oh yeah,” I admit. “Yes, I’m fine. I showered before getting on the call, and while it’s slightly bruised where the prongs entered my skin, I’m fine. I’m more worried about Rachelle.”

“So am I,” Jared interjects. “I’m glad you’re fine, Lili, but that place…”

“It should be closed down,” Theo grunts. “They refused to let the lawyer in, and stated that only someone married to Rachelle could gain access.”

“Which is illegal and sexist,” Mr. Emil mutters. “The boys have been working in the background on this, but it’s going to be a bit sticky.”

“I’m certain I’m going to dislike this,” Ignacio chimes in. “What’s the plan?”

“I’m Rachel Thompson’s husband,” Jared says, shifting in his square on the video call.

Gazing at him, I shake my head.

“You’re not hallucinating, Liliana,” Mr. Emil says wryly.

“This is dumb to argue about, but why can’t it be her wife?” I ask, annoyed.

“Because I hacked the system, and we’re the ones in the dog house,” Theo says.

“Of course you’d use this to your own benefit,” Ignacio sighs. “Tus pendejadas no les van ayudar a nadie.”

“It might help,” Elijah says with a shrug. “The institution also needs orderlies to work on call and are short staffed. They reached out recently for help and Theo managed to intercept an email.”

“Oh, please continue,” Mr. Emil says, looking as if he’s getting a migraine.

“I’m really good at lurking in the background and picking up information,” Elijah adds. “I’ll be able to see how Rachelle is and how this place works.”

“I honestly wonder if this place has legitimate patients,” Theo says.

“We can’t save everyone,” Jared reminds him.

“No, but I can drop a few comments into the right ears here in Portland to ensure that it spreads like wildfire,” Mr. Emil says.

“There are a few people who are very concerned about mental health issues who will be more than happy to take this on. In the meantime, we work on getting Rachelle out. I promised her this would never fucking happen.”

“You couldn’t have known,” I say, but notice the way Theo’s eyes shift slightly. “Right?”

“I was worried about the amount of medicine bottles in her apartment,” Theo says. “I had concerns her doctor may be trying to keep her overmedicated.”

“I didn’t know Dr. Michaels would have her committed, no,” Mr. Emil says. “We’re going to have to work together to get her out. Don’t fight about the logistics, okay?”

“What am I supposed to do in the meantime?” I ask.

“Or me?” Nacio asks. “It seems they have things in hand.”

“As frustrating as this will be to hear, I need the drug issue that we’re having handled,” Mr. Emil says with a wince.

“Keep your parole officer appointments, do what you’re supposed to do, guys.

I want you to be able to give Rachelle your full attention when she gets out, which means no loose ends. ”

Nodding, we hang up.

“Grab a bite to eat, Lili, and then let’s see if Dad’s guy was able to find anything on the drugs,” Nacio says as I collapse on the sofa. “I will run you a bath when we get home, I just need to do something.”

“Alright,” I agree, heaving myself to my feet. “I’m twitchy from being stuck in one place for so long. They insisted on strip searching me because of my weapons.”

“And you’re just telling me this now!” Nacio yells as I walk to the kitchen.

Oops. At least he’s not losing his shit over Rachelle anymore.

“Did you tell the lawyer guy this?” he asks, watching as I begin making a sandwich

“Yeah, he’s going after the asshole’s badge,” I say with a smirk.

“Baby, you should have led with that,” he groans. “Between the two of you, I’m going to end up with gray hair.”

“Does that mean I get to call you Daddy then?” I snicker.

I’m trying my best to keep one foot moving after another, because otherwise I’ll spiral and Mr. Emil is right. I need to run down the drug supplier and then blow him off the map. I’m done playing nice. I’ll pack the grenades on my next hunt.

The Kings aren’t the only ones who enjoy the chase. I simply enjoy the kill more.

ELIJAH

Fuck, this place gives me the heebie jeebies.

Dressed in dark blue scrubs, I notice there are different colors.

I wonder why, but decide not to ask. There’s an employee entrance I go through on my first day with a fake name, and go through the motions to get my badge and the rundown on the different areas of the institution.

As I walk through with a tall female nurse with a severe smoker’s cough and bottle blonde hair, I see Rachelle out of the corner of my eye staring off into space. I wonder if they’re giving her more medication, and what they’ve done to her.

Anger flows through my system, but I keep my face impassive.

“This is where we need eyes today. These inmates, ah, patients are some of our more dangerous people,” Nurse Roles explains.

“We keep them very well medicated. This will be a fairly cushy job for you. We’ll be running training for this section of the facility, which means we’ll be pulling most of the staff from here. ”

Ah, is she being for real right now? I’m a brand new floater for this facility on my first day. While this works out for me, it’s still negligent.

“That’ll be fine,” I say gruffly instead, my thoughts staying in my head where they belong.

The nurse smiles brightly at me and turns to the staff on the floor.

“We have coverage, folks. Let’s get to where we need to be,” she says loudly.

Within minutes, most of the floor is clear of staff outside of a nurse on the opposite side, and I blow out a breath as I lean against a wall, gazing at Rachelle. Occasionally, she moans as if she’s in pain, which sets off everyone else as well unfortunately.

“Argh, can’t you keep them quiet?!” yells the nurse down the hall.

Rolling my eyes at her uncaring words, I gaze up to see if there are any cameras. Frowning, I see there’s a disturbing lack of them anywhere.

“Working on it,” I call back at the unfeeling cunt on the other side of this unit. I honestly don’t believe these people should be working in this field. They’re all monsters.

Moving over to Rachelle, I crouch by her seat.

“Hey there,” I murmur softly.

Fuck, she whimpers as she flinches at my words, and I wonder what she hears if she’s on an antipsychotic that she doesn’t need. Are they giving her more? How long does this shit last?

I’m going to have to fight dirty to get inside of her mind, and I refuse to feel badly about it.

“Liliana says hello,” I tell her, watching as her eyes look over at me. Her pupils aren’t focusing, but I know she can hear me. That’ll have to be enough. “You know, she was a super cute kid. The punching came later.”

She grunts softly, her lips twitching, and I decide to keep going.

Sitting beside her so I can watch the room to avoid being jumped by an opportunistic patient, I continue to talk.

I tell her all about how Lili once climbed a tree and couldn’t get down, and how Nacio, Jared, Theo, and I had to figure out how to help her.

It was recess, which is why she was up there at all. She accepted our dare that she couldn’t do it. We were seven, if that. It was a stupid, fucking dare, but Jared went up that damn tree and guided her back down. She burst into tears before cursing the four of us in Spanish.

However, it didn’t matter, because she was safe.

The sound of my voice calms everyone in the room down. Launching into my next story, I feel fingers playing in my hair. My eyes dart around me, but there’s no one other than Rachelle close enough to me. Taking a breath, I keep talking.

If this is the only way I can help her right now, I’ll talk until my voice gives out. If this is a small way I can give her peace and I can earn some penance, then so be it.

RACHELLE

“You, my dear, have a visitor,” a nurse says as she walks into my bedroom.

I share it with a woman who screams all night, which means they follow me into my fucked up dreams. I make a small sound, my tongue beginning to feel a little less swollen in my mouth.

I have no idea how long I’ve been here, I know that the voice that tells me about Liliana visits me in my mind, and gives me something to hold onto.

I’m pretty sure he’s not a real person. This means my very overactive mind is creating entire conversations about a past that doesn’t exist. Fuck, I think I may finally be bat shit crazy.

It’s this place. It smells like sadness and desperation, the screams and grunting moans of the patients only seem to punctuate how awful this place really is.

Did she say I have a visitor?

“Wh….” I wheeze, unable to get the word out as the nurse moves my body where she needs to pull off my clothes.

“Huh? Sorry, I can’t understand you,” she says with a shrug. “Up you go. Can’t have your husband complain that you stink.”

Husband? I think about that way too hard as the nurse gets me into the bathroom to shower. My movements are jerky from the drugs, and her patience is razor thin as she takes over and scrubs my body clean.