Voice (17 page)

“Good morning,” he said, his voice rough with sleep. “Been up long?” He walked to the kitchen, still within easy speaking distance.

“About an hour. I couldn’t stay asleep.” She heard him rummaging through the pantry, coffee pouring into a cup, and then he joined her, sitting in a nearby chair.

“Too much sleep during the day, or did you have nightmares?”

“A little of both. I wanted to plan the day, too. They’ve got a system in place for us to get ID again, so it’d be nice to get that over with, and cell phones would be good to have again, too.”

“They would, yes.” Jack sipped his coffee, watching her. “That’s not all you wanted to do, is it?” His lips pulled up to one side when she shook her head.

“I wanted to check in at the library, now that we’re back. I can’t start work yet, not with my arm or my eyes, and not while things are still unsettled. We don’t know yet whether we’ll be involved in legal proceedings or anything, even.” She breathed. “But we’re here, and we’ll be out anyway, and I’d like to check in.” She looked down at herself, then back at Jack. “Maybe after stopping at my house for some clothes.”

He nodded. “All of that sounds completely reasonable. Is there anything else?”

Jemma hesitated. “My dreams seem too real. I know part of it might be the medication, but I still feel unsettled. Getting everything sorted today might help, but…” She swallowed. “In my dreams, Josh keeps telling me I’m not alone. I’m not safe. I thought maybe we could stop by Ken and Marcia’s, see whether they’re home yet, whether they feel like we’re safe now and I’m just being paranoid.”

“I don’t think you’re just being paranoid.” He was silent for a few seconds. “I mean, obviously we don’t think we’re in immediate danger or we wouldn’t have come home, right? But something isn’t quite right yet. I agree.”

Jemma drained the last of her coffee and brought her cup to the kitchen. “We’ll see whether they’re home, then?”

“I think you’ve planned the day perfectly.”

***

Walking inside her house to gather some clothes and a few personal hygiene items had felt odd. She hadn’t seen the place in weeks, hadn’t really missed it aside from the solitude it offered.

Walking into the library, though, felt like returning home, like she was finally really, truly breathing for the first time in much too long.

She ran her fingertips along the featured books at the entryway, taking a breath to fight back tears, and she felt Jack’s hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay,” he sent. When she nodded, he dropped his hand and they continued forward, Jemma smoothing down her blouse one more time, and Jack maintaining a respectable distance, breaking off to browse the fiction section while she walked to the circulation desk.

Cecily noticed her just before she reached the desk, her eyes widening as she looked up from the computer. “Jemma.”

The library was relatively empty that morning, and she kept her voice low to avoid drawing attention. “Cecily.” She reached to rub her arm, winced, and stopped, placing her hands on the counter instead and ignoring the other woman’s glance at her bandage. “I’m not sure where to start. Thank you for getting the notes to our families, and for taking care of the library.”

“Of course, on both accounts, though it was more than a little unorthodox.” Cecily hesitated, scanning the room before returning her attention to Jemma. “I’ve been worried.”

Jemma nodded. “I’m sorry about that. You’ve heard the news, the people kidnapped?” Cecily nodded, and Jemma continued. “Jack and I were among those.”

“I had guessed as much after the senator’s speech. You wouldn’t have left the way you did without excellent reason.” Her eyes flickered to Jemma’s bandage again. “Are you okay to return to work if your position is still available?”

“Not yet.” Jemma didn’t try to hide the regret in her voice. “I have some physical limitations for a little while, and I’m still waiting to hear what they need from us in terms of prosecuting Tricorp BioD. I’m not sure whether they know yet. As soon as everything is stable and I’m a reliable employee again, I’ll be back here in a heartbeat.” She swallowed. “As long as I’m still welcome.”

“It’s not my call, officially,” responded Cecily, “but your position is still available, and I’ll do whatever I can to get you back in here when you’re ready.”

There were tears in her eyes again when she nodded, but she refused to let them fall. “Thank you, Cecily.”

***

After the trip to the library, getting their licenses and phones replaced was easy. Errands done, parents updated, they parked near Marcia and Kendall’s house. The lights were on inside.

“That’s promising,” said Jack before getting out of the car and opening Jemma’s door. They walked to the door of the house, and Jack knocked. He’d raised his hand to knock again when the door opened.

Marcia looked out at them, caution and relief warring with greeting on her face before she stepped back, holding the door out of the way. “Come in.”

She shut the door behind them and led them to the living room, gesturing for them to sit and then disappearing toward the bedrooms. She reemerged a minute later with Kendall, who looked decidedly more cautious. The couple sat across from Jack and Jemma on the mismatched furniture, Kendall leaning into Marcia, whose hand curved around her waist.

“I know you wouldn’t’ve come unless you had a reason to.” Marcia’s voice was as vibrant as Jemma remembered from their brief exchanges at the facility. “So what’s up?”

Jack looked at Jemma. “I’m letting you lead this one,” he sent.

She looked between the two women. “At least according to the news, we’re safe now, which I’m sure you know or you wouldn’t be back here.” Marcia nodded, and Jemma continued. “But I keep having these dreams, nightmares, and I just don’t feel like we’re really done with Tricorp. I don’t think we’re safe yet, not really, not like they’re saying.”

Ken frowned and looked down at the floor, and Jemma saw Marcia’s fingers press more tightly into her side. “I think you’re right,” Ken mumbled. “Marcia keeps telling me I’ll start feeling better and it’s only been a few days. But I can’t even sleep. I’m sure they’re still out there.”

Marcia met Jemma’s eyes. “I’m not sure what I think. I can’t relax when Ken’s this worried. The hospital tried to just give her sleeping pills and tell her to ignore it, but why should she ignore it when something doesn’t feel right?”

Something doesn’t feel right. They were all agreed. Maybe it was just the minor brain damage, Jemma considered for a moment, or maybe post-traumatic stress, but if all four of them were sure that something wasn’t right, that had to count for something.

She took a breath. “I have an idea, but I don’t really like it. I did some research this morning and found out that except for the high-level employees, the people they arrested are still being held near where they were located. That means that Josh is still here.” She felt Jack tense next to her. “He always liked bragging, sharing whatever information he knew. If there’s something for us to worry about, more of the company out there watching for us, I think he’ll tell me, if I visit.”

“Jemma…” Jack kept his hesitation silent, taking her hand and expressing it non-verbally: worry, trust, concern.

“You willing to do that?” asked Marcia. “I saw how he treated you.”

She took another breath, slower this time. “It’ll be in a prison. I’ll be safe. He won’t be able to do anything to hurt me, and it might do some good, might be able to let us all relax. It could be worth it.”

“Why didn’t you mention this earlier?” Jack asked aloud.

“If it was just us feeling uneasy, I wasn’t sure whether I was willing to do it. At least four of us? That’s not a coincidence.”

He nodded, sending amazement, respect, and worry. “Okay. We should probably get home to my dad, unless there’s anything else.”

“I had something I wanted to ask, while you’re here,” Marcia said. “Can you two still Talk?” Before Jemma could decide how to reply or ask Jack his opinion, Marcia continued. “We can’t. I mean, there’s a hint of it when we’re touching and emotions are particularly strong. You know when I mean.” She winked, and Ken finally looked up, smiling at Marcia, looking a little less broken.

Jemma felt her cheeks heat, but she took the opportunity to change the subject. “We haven’t actually done that yet.”

“Yet?” Jack sent, along with a wave of humor and interest, and she felt herself flush further.

As they left, she realized with some amazement that the subject had actually managed to thoroughly distract her, for several minutes, from the visit she would need to try to set up for the next day.

CHAPTER NINETEEN:

Jailed

Jemma was able to find his visitation schedule online, right next to his name and photograph. She was surprised but relieved to see that their county didn’t seem to offer in-person visits, instead using a video visitation system. The restrictions were still fairly heavy, though, considering she wouldn’t be anywhere near the inmates; she would need to leave behind any personal items, and the list of regulations for her clothing was longer than the list of items that were allowed in the video visitation center.

“I can schedule a visit for tomorrow morning,” she sent Jack. Don was sleeping on the couch, and she didn’t want to wake him. She’d brought her laptop from home, and she and Jack were both on their computers at the dining room table.

“Okay,” he answered. “I can make sure Dad’s nurse can come in.” He looked up at her, took in her expression, and frowned. “You want to see him alone, don’t you?”

She looked at Josh’s photo on the screen. Even in the unsmiling, unflattering mugshot, he seemed ready to taunt her. “I think he’s more likely to give us the information that way, yes. He likes taking any chance he can to try to impress when he’s around me, and I think you’d be a distraction. I’m not even sure he’d agree to see us together, because he knows I’m harder to get to when you’re around.” As she continued, some of the manipulation that she’d initially dismissed as lack of awareness on Josh’s part clicked into place. “The flirting? That was always worse when you were there, or when we’d been together, because he was more focused on you. When he was focused on me instead, he gave me information because he knew it was what would get my attention. And that’s what we need. Information.”

She looked up at Jack, letting out a frustrated breath. “I don’t
want
to see him alone. I don’t want to see him at all. But all that time with him, all that time I spent subject to his whims? I understand him, Jack, better than I understand most people, and if this is going to happen, then I
need
to see him alone.”

Jack watched her, the silence stretching out until he reached across the table to cover her hand. When he let his emotions show through, Jemma expected to feel them mixed, conflicted, unsure. Instead, what she felt was support and affection.

She closed her eyes, gathering her strength. She sent a wave of gratitude, then focused back on the details. “The visits are remote, done by video, so I won’t be anywhere near him, and that helps a lot. I can schedule the visit ahead of time and will need to show up fifteen minutes early.” She clicked through a few screens. “I can take one of the time slots that gives me a pretty clear mind. I know I can’t drive yet, but your dad does fine for short periods of time, right? So you can drop me off, and then pick me up an hour later. We’ll bring him home whatever he wants for lunch.”

Jack nodded. “That’s what we’ll do, then.”

***

After checking in early as instructed, clearing security, and waiting for her scheduled time, Jemma was shown to a monitor with a phone. She saw holes and an outline of where it looked as if a keyboard had been removed from the surface below the monitor. It was just another indicator of the voices that had been removed and returned. She shifted uncomfortably at the thought that the person who’d taken away people’s voices would be talking to the person who’d returned them, and they’d be using this terminal, one for which they both held the responsibility, in their ways, for the marks marring its surface.

Her eyes flicked up to the screen when Josh’s face appeared. He wore a dark green jumpsuit that only served to bring out the green in his own eyes, and she frowned, wishing that he’d at least been forced to wear the bright orange that was so typical in movies.

He also wore a smile that she could only describe as self-satisfied.

He held the phone to his ear and raised an eyebrow while waiting for her to do the same. Finally, with a deep breath, she lifted the receiver.

“Hello, Jemma.” His voice was the same as she remembered, the same as had been haunting her dreams, and her jaw clenched. “I would say this was a pleasant surprise, but I knew you’d come talk to me sooner or later.”

She swallowed. “What made you think that?”

He smirked. “I was right, wasn’t I? Dr. Harris didn’t believe me, of course. I wish he was still here so I could show him I was right, but they shipped him off someplace else, as if he was the one who had actually done anything.” He watched her, and Jemma resisted the urge to pull at the neck of her sweatshirt. “He knows that I’m smarter than he is. I think that’s why he watched me so closely in the lab.”