Quicksilver Dreams(195)

                My heels clicked against the shiny marble floor. I was pushed through a high-tech entertainment room, a state-of-the-art kitchen and a dining room. Our final destination was just beyond there, through an archway into a sunroom. A luxurious seating area faced the backyard, which was visible through two sets of double glass doors that ran the length of the wall. The juxtaposition was odd—my heart-pounding fright against the calm infinity pool shimmering in the background, like a macabre vacation scene or the setting for a horror movie.

                “We’ve brought you a friend,” Frank, who was leading the way, called into the last room we entered. His voice tinkled lightly across the air, as though he were saying something humorous.

                That’s when I saw him.

                “Taylor?”

                “Paul!” I couldn’t help the horrified tone of my voice. Someone had gone to town on his face. He did not look well. His flesh was swollen and purple to the point of being unrecognizable, blood smeared on the floor around his feet. Tied to a straight-backed wooden chair, his arms looked pulled to the straining point and likely numb in that position.

                “Why the hell is she here?” Paul demanded, his words slurred as they passed through his misshapen lips. “She doesn’t know anything!”

                “But you do.” Frank smiled his cold, reptilian smile and motioned to have me placed beside Paul. With a rough shove, I was shown the floor, where I barely caught myself on my knees, gasping with the pain of landing on my kneecaps. I slipped on the blood and was horrified that so much had pooled under his chair.

                “Are you all right?” Paul tried to lean toward me, but the ropes held tight. “You’re bleeding,” he noted, which was totally a surreal and absurd moment, considering he looked like a piece of pulp. Blood had dried in a thick, dry crust over his face, with splatter on his T-shirt. It was sickening. My stomach churned, and I had to take a deep breath.

                “What happened to you? Who did this?” My voice sounded small.

                “I have associates.” Frank quirked his lips, answering for Paul. “They’ll be back soon, wanting a completion to our business as quickly as possible. We were just waiting for you.”

                “I’m so sorry. So sorry...” Paul murmured with a heartfelt sadness. He let his head fall back on the top of the chair, like he couldn’t hold it up anymore.

                “Isn’t that sweet.” Frank grabbed the one spare wooden dining chair that had been pulled into the room and placed it before Paul. Taking his time, he sat in a genteel fashion and gave Paul a saccharine smile. “You care for her? That should make this even easier.”

                “Bastard,” Paul muttered.

                Had I just become leverage? I shivered, feeling so cold suddenly. I reached out to search Frank’s mind for any hint at what he was planning to do with us but encountered blankness. Not even a smidgeon of feeling was coming through. He was a master of constructing a mental fortress.

                Footsteps sounded from one of the other rooms. We listened silently for a moment as the steps grew louder amid angry-sounding voices.

                “Back off, Rosser! I’m not in charge,” I heard Jory say sharply. She rounded the archway in her cloglike sandals.

                “Why have you taken him? What the hell is happening here?” The older male voice sputtered angrily from somewhere behind her.

                “Not my business,” she hissed over her shoulder as she appeared in the archway. She seemed upset, which was strange. There was nothing being done to her. No one was threatening her life. Damn bitch.