Page 58 of Waiting For A Girl Like You (Haven House #4)
T ime regained its momentum, propelling Jamison into motion as Taylor’s shrill laughter chased her down the dark hospital hall. The vile sound reached a crescendo just as another shadow barreled out of an empty room, tackling her before she could escape.
But, of course, it wasn’t a shadow. It was a man dressed in clothing so dark he was nearly invisible. Her eyes adjusted quickly, and her fight instinct took over. Growling in rage, she punched his masked face, and while her aim might have been off, she landed the hit.
“Bitch.”
Parker.
Understanding his involvement was one thing, seeing him with Bruce and Emmett another, but hearing his voice and recognizing his build sent Jamison into a rage. She clawed at his face. “I will kill you!”
Tossing his head back and forth to avoid her nails, Parker slammed a fist into her stomach. She doubled over, gasping as she crashed into the wall.
A few feet away, Carter continued to struggle with the larger shadow man on top of him, but he was losing more and more strength as whatever they injected into him did its job.
“Poor baby. He was so cute.” Taylor stepped primly over Carter’s legs, moving toward Jamison, who was still fighting for breath. “You guys always hire the hottest bodyguards. ”
“We trusted you!” Raw instinct surged, and Jamison lunged, but Parker caught her around the waist before she could reach Taylor. “Samuel trusted you! My dad trusted you!”
“Uh, yeah, but they wouldn’t fuck me.” Taylor waved a second syringe about in the air. “I tried for years. First, with your brother, but Samuel gets weirdly focused on projects, and he can’t even notice a pair of great tits and a firm ass right there in front of him. It was so frustrating.”
“Because my brother is a decent human.”
“Whatever. No, he’s not. Samuel’s a total dick. A hot dick, but still a dick,” Taylor scoffed. “On the inside, he’s just like my man. Every Fairweather male is. Some hide it better, while the others—the best ones—let it all out.”
“Your man? Is this about Toby? You’re one of them? Those losers, Taylor?” Halting her struggle against Parker, Jamison edged her laughter with ridicule. “That’s disappointing, even for you.”
Twisting the syringe between her fingers, Taylor jabbed it menacingly toward Jamison’s face. “They’re not losers, you entitled cow. They’re my friends, and if you keep saying horrible things about them, I’ll stick this needle right in your eye.”
Taylor stepped closer as she made her threat, and Jamison tried to break free, but when she couldn’t, she jerked her head back to crash her skull directly into Parker’s face. The solid crunch of his nose felt good, and a tiny flare of satisfaction came from knowing she’d done a little damage.
“And then I’ll jam this into Evie’s eye,” Taylor seethed, the insanity in her tone growing wilder.
“Stupid, stupid Evie. Ugh, I hate her. What makes her so special, huh? She’s not that pretty, and she ruins everything .
She sent my husband to prison. My husband, Jamison .
Your bitch sister basically killed him, and all he did was respect her and want to bring her into our family. ”
Parker continued to groan behind Jamison, swaying slightly. She tried to squirm away again, but still had no luck. “He wanted to kill Evie.”
“No, he didn’t!” Taking a cleansing breath, Taylor calmed a minuscule amount. “Toby likes to play, so I let him play whenever we make new friends, but really, with Evie, he was taking her for me.”
“Why you?”
“It’s complicated.” Taylor’s lips wobbled. “I wanted to be an actress.”
Jamison knew her limits, and Taylor’s confession pushed her solidly past them. Even with her life hanging in the balance, she couldn’t stop herself from snickering. “An actress? You wanted to be an actress?”
Taylor’s mouth dropped open as if no one had ever questioned her career choice. “Yes, I wanted to be an actress! I’m great at it! I taught Toby how to behave around your family so no one would figure out who he was, and then look at how many years I’ve fooled you. I fooled you all!”
She truly had. Taylor had woven herself so deeply into their lives that they hadn’t even stopped to entertain the possibility that she could be part of Toby’s insane group.
Ever since she was hired as a secondary assistant for Samuel, they had trusted her.
For years, they had trusted her to keep their secrets and lives safe.
Shaking her head, Jamison told herself not to focus on the betrayal and try to gain more information. “How does that lead to Toby taking Evie?”
“Ambition makes you do tough things.”
“What the hell does that even mean?”
At their feet, Carter tried to push himself up, but the man on his back held him down until he went limp again. Craning her neck, Jamison watched for the measured rise and fall of Carter’s breathing, hoping to God he wasn’t dead.
“Daddy had my tubes tied when I was younger,” Taylor continued. “Those extra organs take up space in your bits and make you fat. Fat women can’t act.”
Jamison’s attention snapped back to Taylor. “Your bits?”
“The tube parts. It’s wasted space, anyway.
Daddy said they were easily removed to make you thinner, so he had them do the surgery when I was seventeen,” Taylor explained with an air of annoyance.
“But I reversed the whole thing when Toby and I were ready for a family. If we had babies, I wouldn’t mind getting chubby. ”
“That’s not how it works. Having your tubes tied… Taylor, that’s not how it works!” Jamison’s eye twitched, her frustration over what she was hearing causing her to lose her mind. “You cannot be this stupid and have pulled all this off.”
“I’m not stupid.” Taylor tilted her head to the side. “ Stupid women don’t—”
“We need to go.”
The attacker on Carter stood, and Jamison recognized him immediately. “Bruce.”
“Good to see you again, Ms. Fairweather.” Removing his mask and hood, Bruce grinned. “Mike’s going to love that dress.”
At the mention of Michael, terror replaced her irritation. Jamison’s head whipped around, scanning the hallway. Was Michael here? Were they planning to blow up the hospital?
Taylor stomped her foot, the heel of her shoe cracking against the vinyl flooring in outrage over being interrupted. “Bruce, I was in the middle of my monologue.”
“You’ll have to finish in the car.” Bruce took the syringe from Taylor, his smile turning apologetic. “Hold still, Ms. Fairweather, or you know how much this will hurt.”
Parker’s grip on her tightened, with one arm wrapped around her chest and the other around her head. Yanking hard, he exposed her neck to Bruce, who jabbed the needle into her flesh.
Jamison squeezed her eyes shut as if she could make it all go away. “Michael likes his women responsive,” she blabbered. “Don’t give me too much.”
“Oh, sweet girl, Michael’s not here. It’s just you and me this time,” Bruce said, pushing the drug into her veins, igniting a familiar burn she thought she would never feel again. “I don’t need you responsive.”
Every muscle in her body—every nerve—every ounce of her being right down to the bone trembled.
As Bruce gripped her face, he squeezed hard, and the rush of fear struck anew.
The literal light at the end of the tunnel shone ahead, the glow of fluorescents coming through the paned window on the double doors.
Her family was on the other side. Her dad.
Liam.
The drugs hit, but not like before. There was no slow flow through her system, allowing her to remain upright yet woozy. This time, it hit within seconds, giving almost immediate results.
She would have struck the floor if not for Parker.
“This will leave you pretty much paralyzed for around three hours,” Bruce explained, taking her limp body from Parker so he could be the one to carry her out. “If we aren’t at our destination by then, you’ll get another dose. Understand?”
Nodding was impossible, and he knew it .
“Wait, so she’ll be awake, and I can keep talking?” Taylor asked, retrieving the used syringe from Carter’s body. “I’ve got a lot to say to this bitch and might not have another chance.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Bruce headed toward the stairwell door. “Talk her head off, but she can’t respond. She can only listen.”
Taylor giggled in absolute delight. “Oh, Bruce, you’re so my new favorite henchman.”