House of Steel (30 page)

“Tell me about it. One second we’re chugging
down beers after you leave and the next, nothing. I’ve got nothing
on the night. I woke up here, on your couch. I have no idea how I
got here, but my rental car is here. I can’t imagine I drove,” he
said, shaking his head.

“Is Mark here?” she asked, even though she
wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“Not that I saw.”

“You don’t remember anything, James?” She
looked up into his bloodshot eyes. He looked like hell.
Like he
was drugged by one of Holston Parker’s henchman.

“No. I can’t tell you the last time that’s
happened. Maybe, back in college,” his words trailed off as he
looked down at the floor. The blonde sorority girl clad in her
underwear popped into Delaney’s head. It seemed so irrelevant
now.

“When’s the last time you saw Mark?”

“We were at the bar, drinking. Gorilla kept
feeding us drinks. We both were knocking them down. We were having
a good time. Then nothing,” he said.

“Well, you look like hell.”

“I feel like hell. Like I got run over by a
truck, but somehow, unfortunately, survived,” he groaned as his
head fell into his hands. “And there is nothing in your kitchen. No
food, no leftovers. Nothing. Do you even live here?” he joked,
knocking her foot with his hand.

“OW.” She flinched, pulling her feet
away.

“Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” she said, smiling back at
James.

“What’s wrong with your feet?” he asked as
he looked back at her feet underneath the covers.

“Those shoes killed them. Being a woman is a
hazard, James,” she lied, looking back at the pills.

“You’re eyeing up those pills pretty hard
core. Do you need some more?” He crawled across the bed, reaching
for the pills.

“I’m good, thanks.”

“They’re pretty much gone, anyway.” The few
pills rattled as he shook the container. “Some prescription. Did
you go to the hospital?”

“Yeah, Evie must have brought me, but I told
you, I don’t remember much. Just bits and pieces,” she lied again,
this time with her eyes closed. She opened them to see James’s face
only a few feet from hers. He was sitting on the bed in the same
spot Theron had laid.
And now Theron is, lying in a hospital bed
somewhere. Safe.

“Well, I’m here now.” His eyes studied her
head before he reached up slowly, brushing the hair from her
face.

“Good.” She exhaled. She needed this. She
needed the comfort of someone familiar. Someone she knew from her
previous life. A life before Holston Parker had come storming in. A
life that seemed so much simpler, uncomplicated, and safe.

“You just tell me what you need,
Delaney.”

“Well, for starters, I need my phone so I
can call Mark and make sure he’s okay,” she started, staring back
into his face as she felt the pit of her stomach growl. “Then some
food. Before all that, though, can you hold me? Weird, I know,” she
said. Despite the fact that she wanted to tell James to leave, to
get away from her, she was desperate to feel the warmth of someone
she could trust.

“I thought you would never ask.” James snuck
under the covers and cradled her body into his, wrapping his arms
around her. Her body sunk into his warmth. She had forgotten what
he felt like. What it felt like to be safe again.

“Have you heard from your dad? Did they make
it to Chicago okay?” His voice tickled her ear as the soothing
sound absorbed in her head.

“I haven’t heard yet, but that’s the second
phone call I’ll make.” A feeling of guilt washed over her as she
thought of her small mother, cradled in her father’s arms. She had
been so consumed with her own night with Evie.
Evie. What
happened to Evie?
The loose ends piled in her head. She
remembered Evie sprinting down the alley into the dark night with a
trailing Ethan. She had run the opposite way, but she hadn’t gotten
far before she slipped on the ice. She reached up to touch the
bandages on her head.

“She’s one tough woman. If there was anyone
to make it through something like this, it would be her. You know
that, right?” he asked before adding, “Not unlike someone else I
know.”

“Yeah, she is,” Delaney said. Her voice
cracked as her mother’s smiling face filled her mind, her brown
waves blowing in the wind. It was the day they both left Amberg,
leaving her father behind.
What was Ann running from? Was she
running from him?
Her mind sought answers as her body melted
further into his arms.

“I never wanted you to leave, you know that
right?” he whispered in her ear.

“I had no choice, James.” The words carved a
hole in her stomach as she thought of Holston Parker. His steely
eyes pierced hers as he talked about her mother.
How could he
have known my mother?

“I know I made a mistake with the blonde,
you don’t need to remind me, but Delaney, you were the one who said
we would never work. You told
me
to move on. Then you showed
up at my door, without calling,” he said, his voice rising at the
end.

“It had been one week, James. One week gave
you enough time for the blonde and how many more?” She turned
toward him, the pent up frustration with James talking about their
past had finally bubbled over. It seemed so far from her in this
moment. All she needed was someone on her side, to feel safe.

“That’s not fair, Delaney, and you know it,”
he shot back.

“We never talked about this. I never got a
chance to tell you how that felt. How it felt standing on that
doorstep. To see you with someone else.” Her voice was strained as
her cheeks flushed a deep pink.

“You never gave me a chance. Never returned
my calls. My emails. I tried, Delaney. How long was I supposed to
try for?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she said, her voice creeping
back inside her.

“How did it feel, Delaney? To be crushed?”
His voice welled, full of resentment. “I loved you since the day I
met you, yet, you pushed me away. Time and time again. You dated
other guys and I had to listen to that. I just couldn’t do it
anymore.” She shifted her body away from him, leaving his hands
empty.

“Delaney, don’t go,” he pleaded,
backpedaling. “It doesn’t matter anymore. It was so long ago. All
that matters is now. How we feel now.” He scrambled underneath the
sheets, flipping them over to uncover the red and pink stains. He
stopped, looking down at the blotches on the sheets between his
fingers.

“What is this? Is this blood? Delaney, are
you okay?” He rushed toward her, examining her head.

“It’s just paint,” she said, pushing his
body away.

“Delaney, don’t do this again. Don’t push me
away.” He jumped back and hopped off the bed.

“James, don’t,” she started as she began to
pull her body out of the covers, but stopped as she felt the
heaviness on her feet.
How do I explain this?

“Don’t what, Delaney? I’m not going to be a
part of your game again. I came here to say I’m sorry, but I’m not
going to be your punching bag.” He moved toward the door. She
exhaled, letting her head fall back down into her pillow.

She wanted to tell James everything. About
Theron. Evie. Holston. The hatchet. Her body shuddered as the sound
of the blade suctioning to his head echoed through her mind, but
she couldn’t. Holston Parker had made sure of that.
I need to
find Mark and Mom. Did she make it to Chicago? Did he have her
now?

“I know you’re going through a lot,
Delaney,” he started.

“You have no idea,” she said, staring at the
white ceiling cracked in several places.
I never should have
bought this place
.
Never should have come here.

“I want to be here for you. I really do, but
you have some stuff - you stuff - to figure out before that
happens,” he said before adding, “I need to stop in Milwaukee
before heading back to San Diego. My flight leaves tonight. I
should get going.”

“Yeah,” she said. The one person she trusted
was leaving her when she needed him, but she couldn’t let him stay.
Not with Holston breathing down her neck.

“Do what you do best, Delaney. Push me
away,” he said before walking through the door. “But just remember,
I won’t always be here.”
DON’T LEAVE ME,
her head screamed
as she thrust her fist into the bed. She heard him slide something
down the hallway before the front door slammed shut. The sound of
an engine revving muffled through the house before complete silence
enveloped her room again.

Delaney sat up and swung her legs from
underneath the covers to reveal her wrapped feet, covered in thick
socks. She carefully peeled the layers back, moving her toes with
less restriction. She glanced back at the prescription on the
counter. The pain was tolerable, thanks to the painkillers. As she
peeled off the last layer, she closed one eye, afraid to see what
was underneath.

“OW.” The sound filled the empty room as she
touched the skin on her toes, blackened at the tips. Cuts ran all
along the bottoms of her feet.
The stones. The ice.
She
rubbed her finger against her toenail where the pink polish had
been removed.
No more pink mask.
She could deal with that.
But she didn’t know if she could deal with everything else.
Exhaling, she wrapped her feet back up, slipping the wool socks
back over the layers.
Theron is safe, but
I need to find
Mark.

Delaney carefully set her wrapped feet onto
the floor, easing her weight onto her feet. The heaviness rushed
down, followed by sharp blades that stabbed her toes. She fell back
down onto the bed.
I need a phone.
She studied the room,
looking at the desk again to see the mahogany box. If her mother
had the strength to endure after all these years, after all the
hospital visits, after all the chemo treatments, she had to get up.
The sound of the skidding object down the hallway jogged her head.
Her phone
.

She placed her feet back onto the floor,
supporting her weight along the bed with her hands until she neared
the edge. She let go, hobbling until she grabbed the door to see
her phone in the middle of the hallway.
Thank you, James.
As
she hung onto the door, she crept down to her hands and knees to
release the weight off her feet. Pain shot to her knees and a
stinging sensation burned her hands.

“This isn’t much better,” she said as she
crawled down the hall to her phone. The steel eyes glared at her
from the screen, his face solemn underneath his fedora. The image
burned in her mind before she let the phone fall through her
fingers and crash to the floor.
A reminder.
She closed her
eyes, letting out a groan before she picked up the phone again and
found Mark’s number.

“Pick up. Pick up the phone, Mark,” she
repeated as the other end continued to ring.

“Delaney,” a man’s voice answered. It wasn’t
Mark. She paused, not answering back. “We thought you might be
calling. How’s your head?” His voice became clearer in her mind as
she placed it.
Ethan. We?

“Mark better be alive,” she yelled into the
phone, her hand shaking as she fought to hold it up to her ear.

“I’m sure he is. Holston needs him alive,”
he answered back.

“This is a sick game,” her voice cracked
into the phone.

“I know it is, Delaney. That’s why I’m out.
I left,” he responded quietly.

“What are you talking about?”

“Delaney, I left. I was waiting for your
call before I destroy Mark’s phone,” he responded. “She thought I
already did, but I knew you would call. I knew you would want to
know if she was okay.”

“She? What the hell is going on?” Delaney
whispered into the phone.

“After I brought you to Holston, I went
looking for Evie. I found her a couple hours later, passed out in
your bathroom. She had Mark’s phone. She must have gone back to the
pub and got it.” His voice lowered even more, “We left Appleton.
Holston. For good.”

“Evie. Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she should be now anyway. I found a
hospital out of town, but we’re leaving soon. We can’t stay long,
otherwise he’ll find us.”

“And Mark?”

“The last time I saw him, he was passed out
at the pub. He should be fine. He’s probably back at his apartment.
Check there,” he rushed.

“Where are you going? What am I supposed to
do?”

“Do what he tells you to do for now, but be
careful, Delaney. He’s powerful. And…” his voice strained before he
finished, “toxic.”

Silence.

“Ethan?” she whispered into the phone before
pulling it back from her ear. The call had ended.

36

DAY 5: Monday, December 22 – 11:45 a.m.

“Are you ready?” Ethan asked. Evie’s head
turned on the pillow toward his voice before she felt his hand grip
hers. The tape on her hand held the tube in its place. She felt the
long metal of the needle inserted into her hand move as he rubbed
her hand. It was a tube just like she had inserted into Theron’s
hand. She looked at the sunlight pouring through the glass of the
hospital window hoping that Ethan’s words were true about Theron,
wondering if he had made it out alive.

“Ready as I’ll ever be. Are you?” she
responded, looking up at Ethan’s restless eyes staring back at her.
“Did you sleep at all last night?”

“What do you think?” he asked, sitting on
the side of her hospital bed.

“Are you going to be able to drive? I might
be able to. One handed.” She tried lifting her arm off of the
sheets, moving it only a few inches before she laid it back down
with a low moan.

“I’m driving. Don’t even think about it.
I’ll be able to stay awake long enough until we get there.” He
raised a large plastic cup in the air.

“Do I want to know what’s in there?” she
asked, shaking her head.