Stepbrother Bear - Complete (14 page)

CHAPTER SIX

As soon as I’d said yes, it became
clear Ryan had an entire setup already in place. My consent, my willingness to
go through with it, was the key to the ignition to get the whole thing started.
The limousine was ten seconds away from Ryan’s phone call. From it I’d be taken
to a hotel where I’d be given a new dress and matching shoes to wear, for the
party I was about to attend. I’d be taken there at some point, and once inside
this gathering, my task would be to locate Aiden inside.

From there I
had to lure him into a car parked across the road.

Then my job
would be done. I could stop thinking about him, and worry about the family
walking into my open arms.

Did I trust
Ryan to keep his word? No way.

Did I trust
what Lara had said to me? Absolutely not.

But this was
the only way for me. The only way I was going to get closer to the rest of
them. Perhaps when I was close enough, the path would become clear.

“I have every
bit of confidence in you,” Ryan said as the limousine pulled up in front of my
house. “I know you can do this. You won’t let us down.”

“Let me put
my shoes on,” I muttered, and climbed back through the bedroom window.

Maneuvering
my way around the broken glass, I couldn’t but be aware of the level of
malevolence here. He didn’t come to the door with Lara and ask me nicely to
cooperate. He smashed right through the window and tried to scare me. She was
only brought out when scaring me didn’t work. I knew I was being tricked.
Manipulated. Used. And yet I had to keep going.

Till when, I
wasn’t sure.

Once I had
some shoes and a coat on, I rejoined Ryan in the garden as he waved me goodbye.

“How will I
get in touch in with you again?” I murmured. “If something goes wrong.”

“There will
be an ear piece for you waiting in the hotel room,” Ryan said. “Put it on, and
I’ll hear everything that’s going on. If things don’t work, then at least we’ll
know you tried.”

I looked away
from him. “I just hope that doesn’t make things even more difficult.”

“You’ll be
fine, Bianca,” he assured me. “As long as you keep smiling and play the part
right, Aiden won’t suspect a thing.”

“Any thoughts
on what I’m supposed to say to him? How I came to be at the party and –”

“You’ll be
made aware of your cover story shortly before you arrive. Don’t worry. Have
faith.”

He stepped
forward to the limo and opened the door for me.

I walked
towards it.

And even
though I knew I had to get in, it still didn’t feel right.

“No…” I
whispered. “I can’t do this.”

Ryan’s face
morphed into a wicked snarl. “Yes. You are.”

“I don’t have
any guarantees. I’m helpless. This is – this is just stupid!”

“Is there a
problem?” the driver sang out, winding down his window.

Ryan
approached him. “No problem. No problem at all.”

He turned
around.

His eyes were
glowing with green light.

“If you don’t
do this, the General will have you for breakfast,” he said. “I’ll take care of
it right here! Is that what you want?”

I backed away
from him. “You have to do better than that.”

“What do you
want?” Ryan demanded. “Tell me what you want!”

I stopped.

The clouds in
my mind were suddenly clear.

“I want to
meet her,” I said.

“Meet her?
Meet who?”

“I want to
meet The General.”

CHAPTER
SEVEN

Ryan wasn’t going to come with me,
but my last request had changed the course of direction for everyone. He’d
gotten into the limo with me and signaled for us to start driving. There were
two empty seats between us as he sat huddled in the corner, making his phone
call.

A few minutes
later it was done, and he picked up the limo phone to give the driver the
address.

“I take it
she agreed then,” I murmured.

Ryan glanced
at me. “She agreed.”

There was something
off about his tone.

“Was she not
happy with you?”

Ryan opened
his mouth, but no words came out. Eventually his eyes shifted back to me.

“She agreed.”

I’m guessing
that meant she wasn’t happy.

Didn’t
matter, I wasn’t afraid of her. I was looking forward to it. I wanted to stare
into eyes of the person who had taken my family out of this world. I wanted to
see what was there. If she was just a born and bred animal – a stone-cold
psychopath who knew nothing of the feelings of others.

Or maybe, she
would have those feelings after all.

Maybe she’d
be normal.

I think
that’s what I was hoping for. Because that way at least, I’d be sure she
wouldn’t forget me.

The car came
to a stop about twenty minutes later. I’d anticipated a longer journey. When I
stepped outside the limo, I thought we must have been in the wrong place. We
weren’t parked in the confines of a mansion estate, nor had we passed the
borders of a military base.

It was just
an ordinary suburban street.

“Come on
then,” Ryan said.

I followed him
across the front lawn of a small single-storey house where the curtains were
drawn. Ryan pushed the buzzer and we waited underneath the porch light for
someone to answer the door.

“Is this her
house?” I asked.

Ryan turned
back to me. “Yes. Hers and her family’s.”

The front
door opened and a balding man in his pajamas greeted us. “Come in, come in,
Mel’s put the kettle on.”

The house was
warm.

Ryan and I
took our shoes off at the door and the man took our coats and put them in the
cupboard. He walked us through to the kitchen where a small woman in her late
thirties was nursing a baby on one shoulder, and preparing cups of tea at the
same time.

“Hi guys,”
she beamed.

“Oh I’m
sorry,” the man said. “I forgot to ask. Do you want tea, coffee…?”

“I’ll have a
tea,” Ryan said pulling up a stool to the counter.

“What about
you, dear?” the woman asked me.

“I’m okay,” I
replied.

“I’ll make
you one anyway,” the woman said. “You don’t have to have it if you don’t want
it.”

Ryan glanced
back at me. “Are you going to sit down?”

I hesitantly
took the stool next to him.

The man
opened the cupboard behind them. He brought out a jar of biscuits and set it in
front of us. Ryan opened it and took one.

I couldn’t
help but frown.

“Go on dear,
have a biscuit,” the woman said handing me my cup of tea.

“Thank you,”
I murmured.

“I’ll take
him,” the man said reaching out for the baby on the woman’s shoulder. “You guys
have some talking to do.”

The woman
kissed the child’s forehead as she handed him over.

The man
walked passed us, singing the child to sleep.

The woman’s
gaze followed them, as she smiled. Stirring the tea in front of her.

“Are you the
General then?” I asked.

“Yes,” the
woman said, sounding far away. “But you can call me Mel.”

CHAPTER
EIGHT

She doesn’t give me much of a chance
to think. Before I’ve made up my mind on what I’m going to do or say next, her
eyes are burning into mine and she asks, “Have you ever thought about having
children, Bianca?”

Ryan adjusts
his stool as if he’s interested in my answer.

“What’s that got
to with anything?” I blurted out.

“A son, or a
daughter,” the General continued. “There really is no slice of happiness like a
newborn cradled in your arms.”

She sipped
her tea.

“We have
stuff to talk about,” I said in a low voice. “So why don’t you cut the shit?”

She set her
cup down. “Small talk aside then. You asked to see me. And now you’ve seen me.
Is there something you wanted to say to me in person?”

I nodded.
“Yes.”

“Then speak
freely.”

“How the fuck
could you do this? How the fuck can a person hold innocent people in captivity?
You – You –”

“My dear. I
don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“My family.
Our friends. The whole wedding party! You know where they are! Have you not
been holding them?”

“Holding
them?” the General repeated. “That’s an interesting term. How about, feeding
them? Clothing them? Giving them a meaning and purpose in this world? Making
them useful? Helping them to serve our country?”

“Thank you,”
I said.

The General
blinked. “Pardon me?”

“I said thank
you.”

Her fingers
spread out across the bench. “Thank you for what?”

“For telling
me who you are. Now I know.”

She lifted
one hand and picked up the cup to put to her lips. “Who is that?”

“You’re
insane. Batshit, crazy insane.”

“I can assure
you –”

In a blind
instant, I swiped the cup out of the General’s hands, and it bounced off the
counter, smashing on the floor. I jumped from the stool until I was on top of
her, swinging my arms wildly. She went back a couple of paces before crashing
to the ground with me thrashing my fists at her, screaming.

Before I knew
it, Ryan had pulled me off.

“You fucking
bitch!” I squealed. “You crazy fucking bitch!”

The General
sat up, stunned, and pulled a tea towel off the rack above her. She nursed her
bleeding wounds.

The General’s
husband appeared through the hallway.

“What the
hell is going on here?” he demanded.

“Don’t
worry,” Ryan said. “I’ve got her.”

“Shut her
up,” the husband replied. “I don’t care how, just shut her up.”

Ryan’s hands
covered my mouth. I struggled with him but it was useless.

He was far
too strong.

The General
put the tea towel down and began to crawl towards me. Her wretched expression
revealed the monster lurking within her.

She grabbed
my ankles and held them in place.

“Should I
call for help?” the husband asked.

She waved her
hand at him. “No. Don’t do that.”

She began to
pull herself off the ground using my body as support.

Soon we were
face to face.

“If you can’t
be calm about this, Bianca,” she said, “then I’m afraid I can no longer help
you. What’s it going to be?”

Ryan released
his hands from my mouth.

“I’ll be
calm,” I whispered.

“Good,” the
General said. “So will I.”

CHAPTER NINE

The three of us – Ryan, the General
and myself – were now seated in the living room, each on separate pieces of
furniture. The General’s husband had presumably gone back to bed.

“I don’t
think it’s wise for us to argue anymore,” the General stated. “You obviously
disagree with what’s happened to your family, even though you know nothing of
our practices.”

“I thought
you said you didn’t want to argue,” I said between my teeth.

“The truth is
we’re running out of time,” the General continued. “We need to get you dressed
and made up for the party so you can speak to Aiden.”

“And then you
want me to lure him right into your hands?”

“In exchange
for your family.”

“How will it
work? How will I know you will set them free?”

“We’ll have
them transported to a drop point,” the General answered. “You bring Aiden and
we’ll bring the rest of your family.”

I shook my
head. “Your men will just overpower us and take everyone.”

“What do you
suggest then?” the General asked. “I assume you have a better idea?”

“I’m
thinking,” I said. “I really am thinking.”

The General
and Ryan looked at each other.

“I’ll do it,”
he said.

“Do what?”
she replied.

“I’ll bring her
family down for the exchange. I’ll be by myself. No one else.”

“He’ll just
take off,” the General argued. “You won’t be able to get a hold of him.”

“Of course I
will,” Ryan replied. “I’m much faster than he is.”

“And then
what happens? You can’t seriously think you could beat Aiden in a fight.”

“I’ll bring a
tranq-gun,” Ryan said. “And that will be that.”

I played the
scenario out in my mind. Ryan just might have something.

“It has to be
in an open space,” I said. “You’ll need to get there first as well. I need to
be sure there’s no one else that’s going to be there.”

“There’s an
oval nearby the party’s location. Just down the road I think,” the General
said. “So are you ready to get changed, Bianca?”

I shifted
uncomfortably. “Let’s get this over with.”