The Ninth Floor (27 page)

“I think you should’ve left
Briggs years ago,” Aiden said, and I stopped peering out the window to look at
him in surprise. His eyes glinted. “You were entirely too easy on him—and you
never meshed well with the doctor either. I liked Vivian, though; she brought
out the old you. Blair seems like a good kid.” Aiden moved to lean against the
wall in front of me. “And as I was saying in the car, I protect you because it’s
my job, but the part you didn’t let me say is that I also care about what
happens to you. More than I should.”

“Caring about
me is a risky proposition these days.”

He smiled
faintly. “In my case, it’s always been a risky proposition.” He broke eye
contact. “We aren’t supposed to be emotionally involved with our clients. If my
bosses found out, they’d transfer me to someone else.”

I didn’t know
what to say. I definitely felt a connection to him, but now seemed like the
wrong time to say so. Briggs was dead, my life was out of control, and neither
of us could really be certain what any of this was about. I didn’t want to rush
into anything like I had with Jack. The last thing I needed was to hurt another
man—or get him killed. “I can’t do this.”

He
straightened back up. “I understand.” His voice was brisk and he started past
me.

I got up to
follow him. “Wait. I don’t think you do.”

Aiden stopped
but didn’t turn around. I didn’t have the words in me to give. We stood in
awkward silence until he finally faced me. “You don’t have to spare my
feelings.”

“Shh.” I
pressed my fingertip to his lips. I took a hesitant step forward, stood on my
tiptoes, and grazed my lips over his. His arms inched their way around my waist
and he deepened our second kiss until I was out of breath when we finally
parted. I laid my head against his hard chest and his thumb ran up and down my
spine. Stillness and security blanketed me. I squeezed him tighter.

His phone
rang, shattering the moment. I went back to the window but listened. His end of
the conversation was cryptic at best. It seemed to be a less than endearing
trait of his. When he hung up, he said, “Blair’s brake line was cut.”

I smothered a
sigh, still staring into the night. “Is it possible you aren’t the only one who’s
bugged my house?”

“No. I’ve done
sweeps. Why do you ask?”

I shrugged,
still formulating my thoughts. “Before I came home no one bothered my family. I
mean, they still got the letters for me, but no one was ever hurt. So why now?
What changed?” I paced and could feel Aiden’s eyes following me. “The only
thing I can think of is me. I came home, I let them back into my life, and now
someone is taking them away.
Why did I let them take me away—
that’s what
the letter said. Who was I taken away from by my family?”

“Who would
know who you’re closest to? Your aunt was pretty obvious—you came home for her
and spent every day with her, but the others you’ve hardly been around.”

“Blair came to
the hospital quite a bit too, but Vivian didn’t.”

“Vivian could’ve
been a mistake. He could’ve come to your apartment for you and she was home.
That might be why we haven’t found a body.”

I plopped back
down in the chair. “Comforting.” I pushed away the new wave of sadness bubbling
up. “So someone who works at the hospital?”

“It would
explain the use of the ninth floor. It’s the only suggestion that makes sense.
Who do you think they’ll go after next?”

“I have no
idea.”

“Have you
talked to the doctor recently?”

“Not since Bee
died.”

“You should
check in.”

A new knot of
worry formed in my chest. I retrieved my phone and was shocked by all the
missed calls. I forgotten I’d put it on silent. I smiled a little when I saw
Jack’s name on the list. He was still okay. I dialed his number.

“I’ve been
trying to get in touch with you all day. Are you okay? I’m so sorry about
Blair. Is there anything I can do?”

“It’s okay.” I
pressed my lips together.

“I want to see
you, Ryan. We have things I think we should discuss.”

“Not tonight.
I just need to be alone for a while. It’s been a really bad day. I’ll call you
tomorrow, okay?”

“Ryan—”

“Take care of
yourself, Jack.” I hung up and looked over at Aiden. “He’s fine.” I called my
father and Ashley back as well. Dad said that he and Mom were staying in
Springfield with Blair, who’d been moved was doing all right, but was still in
serious condition. I told him what happened to Briggs.

Dad was quiet
for a long time before he spoke. “Ryan, I think you should leave again.”

I shook my
head, though he couldn’t see me. “This can’t go on forever. Aiden is with me
and the local police are involved. Don’t worry about me. Just make sure Ashley
and Blair are safe. I’m going to keep my distance from everyone for now. I’ll
be okay.”

“I’m sorry we
kept all of this from you.”

“Have a good
night. Tell Blair I’m thinking about him.” I hung up and put my phone back in
my purse. “We need to go to my parents’ house and get the dogs. Dad pawned them
off on the housekeeper. We can stay at Bee’s house.”

Aiden didn’t
complain. The dogs were sitting in one of the windows when we pulled up. It was
so good to see them. I checked them over for injuries, but they were fine. Why
would the person trash my apartment, take Vivian, but leave the dogs unharmed
on the deck? How did they even get the dogs to go out there? Sid and Nancy
weren’t fighters, but they’d protect their territory. I said as much to Aiden,
and he suggested maybe Vivian put them on the deck before anything happened,
which was possible. We walked to Bee’s house. It was sad being there, knowing
she’d never come back. Aiden went through the house before letting me in. I
offered him a guest room, but he chose the couch by the front door. The dogs and
I headed up for bed.

I closed my
eyes and petted the big dogs curled up against me. Before long, sleep carried
me away from all of my problems.

The phone
ringing jolted me awake. It took a moment to figure out where I was, and then
that sinking feeling that comes with late night phone calls set in. “Hello?”

There was
silence on the other end. I glanced at the caller ID, but the number was
blocked.

“Hello?” I
said again.

“Ryan? Ryan?
Help me!” Vivian screamed from the background.

“Vivian? Where
are you? Who has you?” I yelled. The call disconnected. I scrambled out of bed,
the dogs hot on my heels, and ran for the stairs. “Aiden, Aiden! She called.
Viv
called
.” I didn’t slow when I saw a dark silhouette at the bottom of
the stairs, assuming it was Aiden. “She’s still alive.”

The dogs cut
me off, snarling. I stopped as the figure lifted a gun. “Take care of the dogs,
Ryan, or I will.”

The voice was
too low to recognize. I grabbed their collars. Where was Aiden? “Who are you?”

“The dogs.”

“Sid. Nancy. Upstairs.” Sid whined while Nancy ignored me and continued snarling and gnashing her
teeth. I backed them up the stairs, talking soothingly to them, hoping Aiden
would show up. When he hadn’t by the time I shut them in a bedroom, I assumed
the worse. Slow, heavy steps pounded up the stairs. I thought about running,
but I was worried if I got away he’d kill Vivian. I had only one choice, fight.

The footsteps
were closer. I continued talking to Sid and Nancy without knowing what I was
saying as I scrambled for something—anything—in my reach. My fingers curled
around a thin, metal lamp. I waited until I felt him close to me. Then I swung
the lamp as hard as I could. He blocked the attack, used my momentum to turn me
until my back was to him, and curled his arm around my neck. I stomped on his
feet and clawed at his arm.

“Ryan, Ryan,
Ryan. Why are you fighting me?”

I knew that
voice, but it was too soft to place. There was a pinch on my neck before what
felt like cold liquid shot into me. Everything went black.

*

Thrump. Thrump. Thrump.

My head felt
like it was going to split in half. I groaned and tried to move but couldn’t. I
forced one eye open and then the other. I was lying on the ground, my hands
tied together behind my back, my feet bound, a cotton gag over my mouth.

More
footsteps—pattering, light, running. “Are you okay? What happened?”

I tilted my
head to see my rescuer. He untied the gag. “Jack? What are you doing here?”

“I got a call.
What the hell happened?” He knelt down and fumbled with my constraints as I
scanned the dark, abandoned hallway.

“Hurry. He’ll
be back soon.”

“Who will?” He
sounded strange. I looked over my shoulder. He was covering his mouth with his
hand. Before I could ask what was wrong, his laughter filled my ears. Confusion
swirled with fear. What was wrong with him?

“Jack?”

He laughed
harder, falling back on his butt, wiping tears from his eyes with the back of
his hand. “You should see your face. You honestly thought I was going to let
you go. Priceless.” He grabbed my face with both of his hands and kissed me
uncomfortably hard. “I just got you back, Kailyn. I’m never letting you go.”

I couldn’t
speak. I shook my head, my mind fighting against a lingering fog and a
throbbing headache.

“Why would I
go to all of this trouble? Why would I bring you here, just to let you go? You’re
so fucking dumb. It’s hard to imagine we’re related.” He smacked my forehead. “Well,
I guess you’re only my half-sister.”

“What are you
talking about?” I couldn’t follow his train of thought. “Jack, you need to
listen to me—”

“No, I’m done
listening to you. I am so happy this charade is finally over. I don’t know how
much longer I could have kept it up. Do you have any idea how hard it was to
pretend to be smitten with you? At first I thought it would be easy. I mean you’re
hot, but blah, blah, blah all the time.” Jack flapped his hand together in
front of my face to mimic talking. He jerked his head up and to the right. “I’m
going to tell her. I will. Stop nagging me. I got her here, didn’t I?”

I swallowed my
fear. He had completely lost his mind. Who was Kailyn?

“I had to
practically hold your hand every step of the way. Seriously, could you be any
more thick? Those schools they sent you to didn’t do you any favors, sis—”

“Jack, you
aren’t well. It’s this hospital. It’s this floor. I promise you I’m not your
sis—” Jack slapped me so hard my eyes rolled into my head.

“No more
talking,” he shouted inches from my face, hate and rage filling his eyes. “Do
you know how long I’ve been planning this? How much time and energy and
patience it took to bring you back here? The voices always telling me to get
you, to bring you to them, but they never said how.”

He stood up
and paced away from me, rolling his shoulders. When he turned back, he was
calmer. I was even more afraid. “You still don’t understand. Samantha Cobb was
my mother too. She worked for your father and they had an affair. Do you know
what it was like to be an unmarried, single mother—pregnant again—in Goodson
Hollow, unable to tell who the father was? Do you know what it was like for her
son? The names they called her. The names they called me.” Jack’s face was red
with rage.

“Then she had
you and they told her you died, but she knew. She knew he stole you, so she
took you back, and then they killed her. She never came back to me. The
Sterlings stole you from her, and she couldn’t handle it. I wasn’t enough. You
killed her, Kailyn. Had you never been born, she wouldn’t have left. I would
have had a mother.” He ran his hand gently down my cheek that was still burning
from his strike.

“I was going
to keep you, and we were going to have a family again, the way Mother wanted,
but it turns out, I don’t really like you very much. So I’m going to set things
right.” He winked and pointed his gun at my head. “Can you guess how?”

I couldn’t
believe this was happening. He was always so nice. I prayed I would wake up. “Jack,
please.”

“You’re right.
It isn’t fair to make you guess when you don’t know everything.” He let his gun
hand fall back to his side and sat cross-legged in front of me.

“Bringing you
back wasn’t as easy as you might think. In some ways I began planning it the
day she died. I had my father’s name, and no one knew I was her child, so I was
adopted by the first family who fostered me. Everything I did was to get back
into this hospital. I had to go back to the beginning to see where everything
went wrong. I needed a position of power, of trust, so I became a doctor. Years
of medical school, Kailyn, and all I did was think about you. I even wrote to
you, but you were never here. You forgot about us. Your new family hid you
well, like the dirty little secret you were. I thought about killing you so
many times after you came back, but it wouldn’t have been right. There was a
plan. It had to be here. They said it had to be here. I needed you to know that
if it were up to me, I’d keep you.”

“You’re
insane.”

“No. Not
insane. Would an insane person wait twenty-six years and develop the perfect
plan? I studied your family’s medical history. They didn’t talk about you and
all anyone here knew were useless rumors. Then I met Bee. She was a wealth of
information about you. I studied you. Learned where you were weakest and I
manipulated that. I made sure Bee got sick because it would bring you home. I
even made you reconcile with the rest of your family so they’d feel your loss
just as I felt my mother’s. Your death will tear them apart. Neil and little
Blair will blame dear ol’ Mom. Ashley won’t know what to think and he’ll try to
mediate until he hates both sides. I’ll tear them down brick by brick.” He
smiled.