Survival Games (21 page)

The next morning
when Marian opened the door to bring in the food, Jessica was standing near the
opening. Marian jumped in surprise and pulled out the gun she usually hid
behind the tray.

The men were still
asleep.

“Back off bitch,”
Marian said, leveling the gun at Jessica.

Jessica stepped
back. “Um, I need something,” she whispered.

Marian stared at
her as she set the tray down.

Jessica tilted her
head and widened her eyes. “Period?”

Marian’s face
slowly registered understanding and she nodded.

“Could I also have
a couple more outfits for us too?” Jessica pushed.

Marian nodded and
closed the door. A few minutes later, she came back with what Jessica asked
for. Jessica said “Thank you” as she picked up the box and clothing that Marian
put on the floor for her.

She took the items
and went into the bathroom, showered and dressed in the shorts and tee shirt
Marian brought. When she came out both Ty and Tom were awake. Tom had taken his
half of the breakfast and left hers. Ty hadn’t touched anything. Jessica walked
over, took the apple off the plate, and handed Ty the rest.

He closed his
eyes. “Jess, you need more than just an apple.” He handed back the plate.

“Not today,” she
said. “I’m not feeling that great.” She had killer cramps and didn’t want to
eat. “I need to move.” She began her restless pacing.

“Will you stop
that?” Ty snapped at Jessica.

“This is your
fault so just shut up,” Jessica snapped back.

“How is your not
being able to sit still for five minutes my fault?” Ty inquired as he dug into
the food, repeating the conversation from the day before.

She shot a glare
in his direction.

Ty finished off
the breakfast sandwich and got up, putting the empty plate back on the tray by
the door. He stretched and turned, watching her pace. “Stop.” He grabbed her
arm as she passed him again.

Tom shot to his
feet.

Jessica looked at
the hand on her arm and back up at Ty. “Let go.”

“Stop pacing,” he
warned.

“Or what?” Jessica
ripped her arm from his grasp and continued to pace.

* *
* *

Ty looked at the
ceiling silently asking for patience. He glanced over at Tom who looked like he
was ready to pounce if he made the wrong move. “Cool your jets scout,” he shot
at Tom. “I’m not going to touch her.”

“You’d better
not.” Tom warned and sat back keeping his gaze on the brewing storm.

Ty looked at the
mirrored wall and then around the room for anything. When his eyes landed on
the tray, he glanced back at the mirror. He leaned down and picked up the tray,
dumping the empty plates on the ground wondering if what he was thinking would
work. He crossed the room and walked along the mirror counting out his steps. When
he was three quarters of the way down the wall, he stepped back and pitched the
tray with everything he had. The tray bounced off the mirror and hit him in the
shin. “Shit!” he swore, hopping away and limping off the sting in his shin.

Jessica stopped
pacing and just stared at him.

Ty picked up the
tray again and this time swung it like a baseball bat at the mirror. The impact
echoed through the room and Ty felt it reverb all the way up his arms. “Goddamnit,”
he swore, looking at the undamaged glass. He turned and pitched the tray at the
door, the anger and frustration getting the best of him. “Marian, let me the
fuck out of this room,” he bellowed at the camera.

“Not on your life,”
the response boomed through the speakers.

“Fucking bitch!” Ty
glared and then disappeared into the bathroom.

Ty leaned over the
sink with his head down and when he caught movement out of the corner of his
eye, he turned his head, meeting Jessica’s concerned gaze.

“What?” he
snapped.

Jessica put her
hands up. “Just wanted to make sure you’re all right.”

Ty looked down
again. “Well I’m not. I’m about as far from all right as you are,” he answered
as his eyes found hers.
And it’s my fucking fault, if I hadn’t said anything
we wouldn’t be here right now.
The muscles in his jaw tightened and his
teeth ground together in frustration. He stood up.

“You don’t know
that,” Jessica said.

“The hell I don’t.
I would have gotten you out, Jess,” he stated.

Jessica’s mouth
dropped.

“I was going to
get you out of here,” he said again, his anger ebbing away at the look on her
face.

“Ty,” she said,
her eyes filling with tears.

Ty walked to her
and looked down into her strange eyes. “Happy birthday,” he said. “I’m sorry
this isn’t the gift I planned for you.” He leaned down, kissed her cheek, and
then retreated into the main room, leaving her standing with her mouth hanging
open in the entrance to the bathroom.

* *
* *

Jessica wandered
to the sink and splashed cold water on her face. She looked at her reflection
and back at the doorway. “If you were going to get me out of here,” she began
as she walked out of the bathroom. “Why the hell did you yank him out of his
life?” She pointed at Tom.

“I needed a
diversion.”

“Do you honestly
think I would have let you sacrifice an innocent man to get me out of here?” she
balked.

He sighed. “You
wouldn’t have ever known he was here.”

Jessica’s jaw
tightened and she looked over at Tom. She glanced back at the man who destroyed
her life. “You son of a bitch,” she swore and launched herself at him.

Ty grabbed her
swinging arm and swiveled her around, taking hold of her opposite arm as she
struggled, screaming in his grip with her back to him. All of the frustration,
fear, and anger that had built up over the past six months blew out in a
snarling wail. Jessica thrashed in his grasp until her throat was raw and her
snarl turned into a sob.

* *
* *

He sent a warning
glance in Tom’s stopping him from coming any closer. A strange blend of remorse
and sorrow gripped him and he watched her struggle furiously in his arms,
growling and spouting swears.

Jesus, I did
this to you.

Jessica stared to
sob and Ty let go of her arms. She surprised him, spinning around and burying
her head in his chest. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around her, closing his
eyes and kissing the top of her head. He swallowed the lump that formed in his
throat. “I’m sorry.” He combed his fingers through her hair and glanced at Tom.

Jessica pushed
away, wiping the tears from her face. “This is unforgivable.” She turned and
began her restless pacing again.

Tom sat back down
in the corner, watching the two of them. “You killed my wife as a diversion?” he
asked, openly glaring at Ty.

“Yes,” Ty answered
and dropped his gaze. “I would have never gotten the chance to get her out
without some kind of diversion.”
And I would do anything for her.
He
looked back at Jessica.

Jessica stopped
and turned back toward Ty.

“Anything,” Ty
whispered as his eyes met hers.

* *
* *

Jessica paced
until her breath evened out and the pounding in her head subsided. With each
step, her anger diminished and she focused on what they would need to survive.
Sitting on their asses waiting for the inevitable wasn’t doing any of them any
good. She stopped at the far side of the room and leveled a glare at the two
men.

“Get your ass up,”
she barked at Tom. “And both of you get over here.” She pointed at the floor in
front of her.

Surprise
registered on both their faces and neither one moved.

“If you want to
walk out of this place, you’ll get your ass over here now,” she barked the
command and waited while they slowly approach her. “When I’m through with you,
you’re gonna wish you never met me,” she said to Ty.

Ty half smiled and
stood before her, looking down at her angry features.

She glanced at the
two of them. “We can sit on our asses and wait to die or we can build our
resistance and possibly survive this place.” She looked between them again. “Tae
Bo or Hip Hop?” she asked.

Ty laughed.

“Do I look like
I’m laughing?” Jessica shot at him, shutting him up.

* *
* *

Her bark of
authority surprised him. This was a different side of Jessica Connor, one that
he never would have guessed. It reminded him of his old karate instructor and
he couldn’t help but smirk. “How about calisthenics?”

“No, we need
aerobic exercise along with strength training and stretching. Calisthenics only
increases muscle mass it won’t help with endurance,” she answered, shocking
him. “I taught dance on the side before my son was born.”

“I gotta see
this.” He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow in a silent dare. Jessica
clenched her jaw, suppressing the words that leapt to mind but she might as
well have said ‘Fuck You’ because it was written in her glare.

She looked at Tom.

Tom shrugged. “Whatever.”

Jessica nodded and
waved them back a few steps. She pounded out a complicated hip-hop routine.

Ty dropped his
arms along with his jaw. She was channeling again and he shook his head to
clear the sound of London Bridge repeating over and over in his mind. The song
that she was perfectly in sync with.

Jessica finished
and looked at the two of them.

“Maybe Tae Bo
would be better,” Tom commented bringing a smile to her lips.

Ty glanced at Tom
and then returned his gaze to Jessica. “I can do that.”

“Prove it.” She stepped
back, crossing her arms.

Ty closed his eyes
and let the song flow back into his memory and then he repeated the moves
Jessica had just done, finishing with his arms crossed staring down at her. “Good
enough?”

“You screwed up a
few times.”

“Bullshit.”

The tension
between the two of them teetered on ignition and Tom cleared his throat,
reminding them that he was in the room. “I can’t do that.”

“Sure you can,”
Jessica answered but before she started the slow process of step-by-step
instruction with Tom she glared at Ty. “Keep doing it,” she commanded.

Ty pointed at his
chest.

“Yes, you,”
Jessica snapped. “Until
I
say you can stop.” She gave him a mean grin,
turning the tables on him. She turned her attention back to Tom as Ty began to
repeat the routine. Patiently, she walked him through all the steps. A couple
of hours went by before he finally was able to repeat the steps she instructed.

“Can I stop yet?” Ty
asked out of breath. He had stopped to watch the last repetition of the steps
with Tom.

“Keep moving,” Jessica
ordered.

“Only if you do it
with me.”

Jessica nodded.

* *
* *

Tom stepped back
willingly. Dancing did not come easy to him and his thighs were burning. Muscles
he didn’t know he had hurt and he sat down on the cool concrete to watch. Her
skin was lined with sweat as she pounded out the routine with Ty and he
inhaled. Even though the routine was hip-hop, she still exuded a grace that
stirred him, a grace that made the concrete prison disappear. And Ty, he
mimicked the moves just as flawlessly as she did, in time with a beat he
couldn’t hear. Flawless, as if they were connected in some bizarre manner, like
their movements were two halves of the same person, like they were destined to
be together. Tom broke out in goose bumps and blinked the train of thought
away. He didn’t believe in destiny and as long as he still had a breath in him,
he wasn’t going to let that happen. He wasn’t going to let the bastard win.

“Go again,”
Jessica said to Ty when they finished.

Ty looked at her
with wide eyes that said are you kidding? Sweat covered his body, making his
shirt cling to his muscular form and he shook his head. “I didn’t think someone
your age could do that,” he said and leaned over with his hands on his knees,
out of breath.

“Fuck you,” she
responded and walked into the bathroom to clean up.

“Gladly,” he said
as she disappeared around the corner. Ty grabbed one of the bottles of water
and downed it. “Goddamn. I don’t think I’m gonna be able to move for days.” He
was still breathing heavily.

Tom didn’t say
anything at first and then he looked at Ty. “How old is she?”

“Forty-two today.”

Tom’s eyebrows
shot up and his mouth dropped open.
No way! I thought she was my age or
maybe a couple years older at best.

Ty laughed. “I was
kind of surprised too. She is one hot ticket.” He looked at the bathroom where
the shower was running and took a step toward the sound.

“Don’t even think
about it,” Tom said and he stood, wincing as his muscles screamed at him.

Ty closed his eyes
then looked at Tom. “C’mon, man, I am in love with the woman.”

Tom shook his
head. “I don’t give a damn. You hurt her enough and I’m not letting you near
her.” He positioned himself between Ty and the bathroom again.

Ty glared at him,
his chest still rising and falling heavily from the workout. “You have no idea
how much…” He began and stopped, frustrated.

Tom raised his
eyebrows. “How much what? How much you want her?” He snapped. “I do know and I
don’t care. She doesn’t want you and you are not touching her.”

“She does want me.
She’s just pissed off because I brought you into this mess.”

Tom thought about
that for a minute. “She may want you,” he conceded. “But she doesn’t love you.”

“You’re both wrong,”
Jessica said, making them jump. She went back into the bathroom with no further
explanation and came out a few minutes later in jeans and one of their
button-up shirts.

Ty sighed, raking
her with his eyes and then he headed to clean up.