Page 32 of No Turning Back
“Don’t leave. Stay the night.”
“I need to take care of the condom.”
“Okay.” She sighs, and I pull away and head for the bathroom.
I find a washcloth after I tie off the condom and toss it. After wetting the cloth with warm water, I walk back into the bedroom and take her in. She’s sprawled on the bed. I check out her scars and the tattoo on her left arm of an elephant and a rhino. I finally asked her about it a week ago. She told me she got it after her first trek following them in the bush. She said she knew then that her life would always involve them.
I move across the room and grip her ankle. She comes up off the bed so fast, her eyes panicked. Her body locked and ready for battle.
“Whoa, baby, it’s just me.” She still has a haunted look in her eyes, but she lies back down.
I slide the washcloth up her thigh until I reach her core, where I clean her up, taking a moment for her to calm down. I toss the cloth toward the bathroom and lie down with her.
I fall asleep with her in my arms until I hear Mari make a noise from her crib. I slip from the bed, pull on my boxers, and head toward her room, where I rock her back to sleep. I stand and move to put her in her bed when a bloodcurdling scream comes from the other side of the house. I’m in motion after putting Mari down. I’m ready to battle whoever is after my woman.
Sydney is thrashing on the bed as she screams and begs that Bahati guy not to shoot her. The thought of her pleading for her life like this makes my stomach curdle.
As I move toward the bed, I say her nickname. She calms and opens her eyes, then looks at me. Terror and pain fill her beautiful eyes. They are bright, the pupils large. I pull her into my body, and she settles down as she falls back asleep.
Chapter Ten
Sydney
My week off was uneventful. My attorneys got the zoo to pay me partial wages by explaining a bit of my case to them. I still haven’t told them the entire story, but I know I’m going to have to soon. My attorneys, my mom, and I have a meeting with the zoo board in a couple of weeks to go over everything. To explain my past and the issues.
Today is the anniversary of the attack. I’ve been grumpy with everyone. I’ve only found a bit of comfort working with Umi and the elephants. The memories are right there, wanting to come out. The pain of everything I went through and saw wants to bury me in a wave of despair.
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Lydia corners me as I’m heading out to my car.
“I can’t right now. I’m not ready. But let’s just say that my last trek didn’t end in the best way.” I can’t go over it all. I’ve been talking to my counselor, but it still hasn’t come out completely.
“You know I’m always here for you.”
“I know, but you’re going through a lot right now.” I point out her issues, trying to deflect from mine.
Her soon-to-be ex has stayed in Dallas and is avoiding her and the kids, but she found out he was trying to sell their family home without her permission. She had to have the attorney stop it. He didn’t care that his kids still had their stuff there. He said he needed the money to purchase his new home in Dallas. He reminds me so much of my own father. Ready to start a new family and forget his old one.
“Actually, it’s not so bad. Colton agreed to wait to sell the house. He’s even coming back in the next couple of weeks and wants to see the kids. His boss called him back last month for some emergency meetings, but now he can come back here, he said.”
“Really? He hasn’t wanted anything to do with Micah and Michelle.”
I’m confused because when he was at my house, he was yelling about how he wanted his children, and then he didn’t want them except for small bits of time.
“He left me a message stating that he wants to spend some time with them now. He doesn’t even call them, and Micah has started acting up. He just craves time with a man.”
“That’s pretty messed up. Maybe Tucker will spend some time with him. I can ask if you want me to.”
“Hey, Syd.”
We both turn at the voice as it shifts from a deep tone back to a youthful one. Jace is running up to us. After I had lunch with him a few weeks ago, he finds me every chance he can to talk to me. I like the kid, and I found out his dad works a lot away from home, so his grandfather moved here to be with him. His mother has been flacking out on her responsibilities. I know he craves a mother’s attention.
“Hello, Jace. Are you waiting for your ride?”
It’s spring break, so he’s not in classes at school and has been pulling longer shifts to get his community service done. He says he loves working at the zoo and is thinking about applying for a position.
We are standing by Lydia’s car, and I look over to mine. Something doesn’t look right.
“What the heck?” I move closer to my car and notice all four of my tires are flat.
