Torched (3 page)

“Ma’am, is everything okay?” a man’s voice piped up behind me.

I clenched my fingers around the small bottle of foundation I’d snagged from my purse, turned around and came face-to-face with Nanny Cop, who was stirring what looked like a fresh cup of coffee.

Shit. Here went nothing.

“Yes, officer,” I said in the softest and sweetest tone I could muster. “I just need to stretch my legs and clear my head a little. Thought I’d take a stroll around the floor.”

He raised a brow and looked me up and down. “You’re in no shape to walk, Miss.”

I smiled through the pain. “Oh, I’m tougher than I look. I made it out of bed, right? And what better place to take a walk when you’re hurt than a hospital with doctors all over? I’ll be fine.”

He didn’t look too convinced, but gave in. “Alright, let me just tell the nurse and I’ll come with you.”

“No, that’s okay. Like I said, I need to clear my head. Can’t really do that with someone hovering, you know? I’ll be fine, my legs aren’t injured.” I gave him my best puppy eyes but the right one was swollen shut, so I probably just looked like a one-eyed idiot.

“I insist, ma’am.”

“Officer, am I under arrest?” I asked politely, my fuse about to blow.

“Not at all, I’m just here to keep out uninvited guests,” he insisted.

“Great, keep them out while I go take a walk. Alone.”

“Ma’am—”

No. I was all out of patience and fucks to give.
“Sir
, I’m trying really hard not to be a bitch here. I know you’re just doing your job, but unless you’re gonna arrest me, I’m pretty sure stalking me against my will constitutes harassment. I don’t know where you think I’ll run off to in nothing but a hospital gown, but all I want to do is take a walk. So get out of my fucking way.”

For a brief moment, he stared me down and I worried that I’d made him suspicious. It really didn’t matter though, after surviving the Hounds of Hell, I wasn’t about to back down from this lazy-eyed moron.

The cop finally took a step back and chuckled, like he didn’t believe I had it in me to do that. Oh, I did. I was well-read, but talking like a wasted sailor was just another byproduct of the world I’d been immersed in and the crude men in it.

To my surprise, he nodded and sat down in the chair next to my door. “Doesn’t take a Special Agent to figure out your mouth got you in this mess,” he retorted.

I held back the urge to tell him to shut the fuck up. “Thank you.”

He motioned down the hallway. “Go on then. But only ten minutes or I’m coming to find you.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice.

“Fucking women,” he snickered behind me, just loud enough that I could hear.

Fucking women? Fucking cops. Dick.

At the end of the hall, I rounded a corner and discovered a stairwell just feet away. After making sure no one at the nearby nurse’s station was looking in my direction, I ducked in, pulled the IV out of my arm, and quickly hobbled down a flight. I listened at the door for a few seconds, making sure the coast was clear, before carefully opening it a crack to get a better look.

A sign on the wall indicated that I’d wandered onto the Oncology wing. Not so great for its temporary residents, but fantastic news for me. Cancer patients tended to be in the hospital for extended stays. I was willing to bet I’d stumbled on the quietest and most desolate area of the building, one where there probably weren’t any overnight visitors and the closets were stocked with comforts from home.

In no mood to tempt fate, I slipped into the first darkened room I saw. I slowly guided the door closed behind me. My eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness with the help of a full moon shining in. There was no one else in the room aside from whoever was snoring in bed.

With no time to dawdle, I ignored my curiosity and sought out a closet, which happened to be right off the bathroom to my left. In it, I found small assortment of clothing—khakis, pajamas, a stack of cotton shirts, and a peacoat. A pair of slippers and two ugly pairs of old people shoes rounded out the ensemble choices.

Thankfully, being fashionable was the least of my concerns at the moment. All I needed was an outfit that wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb when I walked out.

Judging by the styles and sizes, the patient was a woman. Slightly shorter, but our waists seemed close enough. I pulled out a pair of khakis, a black long-sleeved shirt, peacoat, and shoes, and changed in the bathroom. The pants were a little saggy in the ass, but other than that, I didn’t think anyone would look twice. My face, on the other hand, was a disaster, which was exactly why I’d taken the makeup from my purse. I couldn’t see much in the mirror with the lights off, but it looked worse than just a few hours earlier, if that was even possible.

No time. Hurry up.

Shit, I was probably about halfway through my ten minute window before my babysitter started trolling around.

I hurriedly slathered the foundation all over my face and neck. It probably looked streaky and ridiculous, but I didn’t exactly have time to contour and blend. I crumpled the gown and stuffed it in my pocket, before tip-toeing back into the room. While I’d been getting dressed, the old lady moved and was now laying on her side facing me. She had to be suffering to end up here, but in her sleep she looked as peaceful as one can. Honestly, I envied it a little.

I walked closer. Eyeing a hospital phone on her nightstand, I noticed a cell phone right next to it. I picked it up and clicked down to the messaging menu, hoping there was something in there to indicate she had a texting plan. There was only one—an outgoing message—to someone named Sarah, that simply said, “
I love you”
. No reply.

I tapped in Lexi’s number, and a message asking her to pick me up at a diner two blocks away, then deleted the text and put the phone back down. But as I turned to walk away, a frail and bony hand grabbed my wrist. Startled, I twisted back around, instantly regretting the swift move. Fire ripped through my chest and left me gasping in pain.

“Sarah, sweetheart, you came,” she crowed, her voice strained.

I stood still in one of those moments of panic where you don’t know which way to go or what you’re missing. Part of me was hoping she was just talking in her sleep and would turn back over. Her droopy lids made it appear that she was about there.

She tugged at my hand. “Sit down, baby, let me look at you.”

I had no idea whether she was hallucinating or if I actually bore some kind of resemblance to this Sarah chick, but there really wasn’t any other option but to play along. With one press of a call button, she could blow this whole thing for me. So I sat down next to her and squeezed her hand.

She smiled up at me with crinkled—but beaming—blue eyes, a single tear rolling down her cheek. “My beautiful daughter…” she whimpered. Her pain completely ripped my heart in half.

I’d definitely noticed an unusual lack of flowers in the room, but now the picture was becoming clearer. And sadder. She was a woman who was dying alone, wanting nothing more than to see her little girl. But, judging by fact that Sarah hadn’t responded to her mother’s text, I realized that she wouldn’t get her wish.

I didn’t have much to offer anyone at the moment, but I could at least try to give her that. “Hi, mom,” I said, brushing a wisp of gray hair away from her forehead. “I’m here.”

“Oh!” she squealed. “Honey, I’m so glad. Will you forgive me? I know I’ve been a terrible mother, but please… Forgive me.”

Absolution, that was all the old woman wanted.

Whatever she’d done had completely alienated her kid. Did she hit her? Run off? Who knew. It didn’t really matter, she obviously felt wretched about it. It wasn’t my place to judge or forgive, but I couldn’t find it in me to just leave her hanging. She was clearly on death’s door and already hurting enough.

“I forgive you, mom,” I assured her with a smile and another squeeze of the hand. “Get some rest okay?”

“Okay,” she whispered, struggling to keep her eyes open. “I love you, Sarah.”

I leaned over and kissed the side of her head. “I love you too.” With that, she closed her eyes. I looked at the clock—two minutes left—and hustled to my feet.

As I opened the door, I heard the heart monitor flatlining.

: 2 :

I didn’t have any problems casually strolling out of the hospital. There were only two people and a security guard in the lobby, all of them too preoccupied to notice me.

Lexi and Neil pulled up to the diner just as I was about to walk around to the alley to hide. Neil—being smart enough to know that it had to be a serious situation for me to ask for their help—had taken the plates off his car in case anyone pulled surveillance video. At my request, we stopped at a drugstore and Lexi ran in to buy some hair dye.

She held it together while I gave them a vague explanation about what happened on the ride, but as soon as we got to their house, Lexi started crying. She hugged me so tight, the beautiful bitch might’ve broken a couple more ribs.

I didn’t want to force them into lying for me, so I explained that I was faking amnesia with the Feds, because WitSec wasn’t a viable option unless I stuck around to testify. Being involved in some shady shit himself, Neil didn’t need to hear more than that, he knew exactly where I was coming from and how useless the law would be in helping me.

He owned the strip club that Lexi danced at, and was no stranger to Philly’s degenerate underworld. He had a particular disdain for the Henslow brothers, but business was business, and those two and their shithead friends had kept plenty of money rolling in over the years. I had a feeling that Mitch wouldn’t be welcome at Neil’s fine establishment once he got out though.

“Fuck me,” Neil moaned. “We should have gotten you out years ago. I knew those fuckers were trouble, but this shit?”

Lexi had a guilty look on her face too, but was lost in thought.

“Neil, no. You couldn’t have done anything before,” I assured him truthfully. “It’s not like I told you what was going on.”

“Bullshit,” he mumbled. “I should’ve done something. I’m so sorry, Chlo.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” I assured him. “Seriously. Stop beating yourself up. It’s over, he’s stewing in jail.”

“Until he makes bail,” Neil pointed out. “We need to get you out of town fast.”

Lexi came over and sat beside me on the couch, stroking my hair as she looked over at Neil. “Baby, don’t you know a guy in Ohio who can get her some papers?” she asked him.

Neil rubbed the stubble on his face. “Yeah. Let me go make a call.”

“Cool, we’ll be in the bathroom,” she told him, then stood up and extended her hand out to me. “Come on, hot mess. Time for a makeover.”

Lexi guided me to the bathroom, where she had a box of black and red hair dye on the counter. She sat me down on the toilet, pulled a pair of scissors from a drawer, and cut my borrowed shirt down the front so I didn’t have to go through more pain to get it off.

Mitch and Vince both had a thing for blondes, so they’d been making me bleach my naturally black hair for years. I didn’t have the slightest idea what the real me actually looked like anymore, but I couldn’t wait to find out. Dyeing it back would be about more than just changing my appearance. I saw it as a ritual, one that would cleanse me of the past and leave me free start over.

“Why do we need the red dye?” I asked.

“Because when you bleach hair, it strips all the red out. If I just put the black in, it’ll turn green. And not a fun green either, more like a gross shade of baby shit.”

I smiled. “Yeah, that’s not really the look I’m going for. Carry on.”

A few minutes later, Neil came in and leaned on the door frame. “Ok, here’s the deal, Chlo… I know you’re tired and feel like shit, but we need to get you out of the city tonight before Mitch gets a message to somebody on the outside. Harrisburg’s about a hundred miles away. I’ll follow you out there and get you a room under my name. You can sleep all day tomorrow. After dark, you’ll head out again. My guy, Snoopy, is less than five hours from there in Ohio, a few miles outside of Cambridge. He owns a roadhouse, like a restaurant and motel in one. I’ll write down his info and—”

“I don’t have a car,” I interrupted, starting to feel extremely guilty for making them jump through all these hoops for me.

“You’ll take Lexi’s Civic. I was gonna get her a new ride for her birthday anyway.”

“Baby, seriously?” she squealed and grinned.

Neil leaned over and kissed her. “Yeah, seriously. I think you deserve something nice. You’ve been working hard.”

Whoever said strippers couldn’t find their happily ever after had never met these two. If I wasn’t half asleep, I would have gagged.

“I can’t let you just
give
me a car,” I protested.

“You can and you will. It’s paid off. You wanna send me some payments when you get your shit figured out, that’s up to you, but I’m not expecting it. It’s insured, but don’t get pulled over or you’re fucked without a license.”

I couldn’t even look up at him, the shame wouldn’t let me. This was
my
mess, one that they didn’t even know the full truth of. How the hell was I going to repay these people for putting themselves on the line like this?