“He didn’t want to give you his phone number before he left because he knew you wouldn’t take it.But he knew something like this might happen before we could take care of it, and he left me and Roberts instructions.Part of that was to send you to Nashville with his number and some cash.”
I didn’t know what to say.Didn’t know how to feel.I was certainly terrified, but I knew in my gut Johnson was giving me sound advice.I had just thought to myself how I didn’t know who I could trust.Well, that was a lie.I knew I could trust Dr.Raven.Pain.And he said to trust Roberts and Johnson, so that’s what I was going to do.“All right.I’ll do what you tell me to do.”
Chapter Five
Nadine
The fluorescent lights flickered overhead as I hurried through the dingy corridors, my shoes squeaking softly against the scuffed linoleum.Grayson’s threats echoed in my mind, his leering face burned into my memory.My heart pounded and my palms were slick with sweat.
I hurried through the security checkpoint for employees leaving the building and out the doors into the muggy Indiana night, sucking in a gulp of fresh air.Hands shaking, I fumbled for my keys as I approached my beat-up Ford Fiesta in the parking lot.I left early, so even though there were several cars in the area, the grounds were pretty empty.“Come on, come on,” I muttered, nearly dropping the keys before finally jamming them into the lock.I slid behind the wheel, making sure to hit the lock.Paranoid didn’t begin to describe how I felt.
I started the vehicle and sped off, needing to get my shit together and out of town as quickly as I could.I might not know Roberts on a personal level, but Pain trusted him.I’d seen how those two and Johnson had interacted in the past, and knew they had a relationship of mutual respect, even if the mitigating factor was money.I wasn’t naive enough to believe Roberts and Johnson weren’t getting a kickback.I also knew the only reason either of them was helping me now was because Pain told them to.
Ten minutes later, I hurried up the stairs to the front porch of the little house I rented, looking over my shoulder the whole way.I’d never been so relieved to see that faded green door.I let myself in and locked the door and engaged the deadbolt, slumping back against the door.Slowly, I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding and the sound broke into a sob.Then another.
I bent at the waist, bracing my hands on my knees.I wasn’t going to make a sound.I could swallow this fear and get a grip on myself, use my head, and get the fuck out of here as quickly as possible.
Packing didn’t take long.I basically tossed what little I owned into one suitcase, snagged my backpack, and headed down the stairs to my car.The house had come furnished with everything, having been a bed and breakfast before the owner rented it to me.I kept the place neat so I was out of there in twenty minutes, tops.I’d never needed much to make me happy, preferring to save as much money as I could so I could buy a place on my own.I was glad I’d decided to live so frugally now.
As I hurried through the house to the door leading to the carport, the sound of heavy footsteps nearing me sent a jolt of fear through my body.My heart pounded wildly as I realized with sickening certainty I wasn’t alone.
A baseball bat was propped in the corner of the living room.Had been since I started renting the place.I snagged it now, curling my fingers tightly around the handle.How many times had I thought about donating that thing to one of the local sports parks?How ironic was it that procrastination was what might give me a fighting chance against whatever was stalking me?
The footsteps grew louder, closer, until they stopped just outside my door.For a moment, everything was eerily silent.I held my breath, straining to hear over the frantic pounding of my own heart.
Then, with a sudden, violent crash, the door flew open.The force of it sent me stumbling back, the bat raised defensively in front of me.
There, framed in the splintered doorway, was the hulking figure of Guard Grayson.His eyes were wild, his face twisted into a grotesque sneer.
“Well, well, well,” he drawled, his voice dripping with malice.“Look what we have here.A pretty little nurse, all alone.”
I tightened my grip on the bat, trying to keep my voice steady.“Get out of my home.Now.”
Grayson laughed, a cold, cruel sound that sent shivers down my spine.He took a step forward, his bulk filling the doorway.“I don’t think so, sweetheart.You and I have some unfinished business.”
He lunged for me, his meaty hands grasping at my arms.I swung the bat wildly, feeling a surge of satisfaction as it connected with his shoulder.He grunted in pain but didn’t loosen his grip.
I screamed as we struggled, my smaller frame no match for his brute strength.Finally, he wrapped one arm around my waist and wrenched the bat from my hand with the other, tossing it aside with a mocking, evil smile.The bat clattered across the hardwood floor before handing hard against the baseboard.
“Let go of me!”I screamed, kicking and thrashing in his grasp.But I felt like a butterfly trying to fight off a bull.He slammed me up against the wall, his face inches from mine.I could smell stale coffee on his breath, see the crazed glint in his eye reflecting back all the pain he intended to cause me.
“You should have kept your mouth shut, Nadine,” he hissed.“Now you’re going to pay for sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
Terror clawed at my throat, threatening to choke me.I absolutely did not want to die, but if I was going to, I didn’t want this man’s hate-filled face to be the last thing I saw.I found I had a flicker of defiance still left in me, though.Mainly because I didn’t want to give this fucking bastard the satisfaction of seeing me cower or hearing me beg for my life.
With a burst of adrenaline-fueled strength, I brought my knee up hard between Grayson’s legs.He howled in pain, his grip loosening just enough for me to wrench free.I dove for the bat, my fingers scrabbling against the smooth wood.
But before I could reach it, Grayson was on me again, his weight crushing me to the floor.I clawed at his face, feeling a savage thrill as my nails left bloody furrows on his cheek.
Grayson howled, snarling like a rabid wolf as his hand shot out to close around my throat.Black spots danced in my vision as I struggled weakly beneath him.My lungs burned for air as his hold grew tighter, squeezing the life out of me in a very literal sense.
There was a vicious, animalistic roar from the doorway.Through my darkening vision, I saw a blurry figure charge into the room.
“Get the fuck off her, you piece of shit!”Was that… Dr.Raven?
No.No way.I had to be hallucinating.Wishful thinking.
The voice was a guttural roar.His eyes blazed with a protective rage I’ve never seen before.And, yeah.He was Dr.Raven.Or, rather, it was Pain.This was the difference.Even though he’d shown me a glimpse of a man I didn’t recognize when he’d given me the warning in the infirmary that day, I could fully realize and appreciate the complete transformation Dr.Raven had taken in his life.Anyone who knew the man before he became Pain would never believe this was the same person.But I saw him.I saw both sides and recognized them as two halves of the whole.
