Page 19 of Edging Sanity

Rowan froze. The phone call. She should’ve realized that’s what it was.

“Nothing bad happened,” Adele assured her, leaving the unspoken this time to linger between them. “Though, I am told that several patients reported seeing her on floor two before some of your other officers were able to get her back into her room. She wasn’t unsupervised, the two men that had been assigned to her over the weekend were with her.

“We don’t think anything happened. Like I said, the officers claimed that they were under the impression taking her out was more humane than leaving her in a cage all weekend.” She sucked her teeth in irritation. “They’ve already been terminated, so you’ll have some paperwork to deal with and we’ll need to find replacements as soon as possible. The local PD has offered a couple more rotating shifts for weekend pick up until the spots are filled.”

“Why am I just now hearing about this?” Rowan asked, trying not to sound accusatory. She was the head of security. She should have been notified the second Delilah was spotted outside of her room.

Adele shook her head. Her whole body sagged as she took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. “I was only just told. It happened around 0500 this morning. The night shift officers got it handled, then with the transition to them clocking out and the day shift taking over… There’s been a frustrating amount of communication. I expect you to deal with it.”

“I’ll call a meeting,” Rowan growled, turning to leave the room so she could take her newfound anger out on someone other than her boss.

“Rowan, before you do that,” Adele called out, stopping her. “Delilah needs to be searched… Again.”

“Why?”

Adele leveled Rowan with a look as if asking if she was suddenly incompetent. “Because the guards let her out of her room.” Rowan pursed her lips, feeling a bit petulant for that being the only reason, even though it technically was enough to warrant a search. Adele sighed. “And she claims she’s acquired a weapon.”

“What?” That sure as hell caught Rowan’s attention. “Why wasn’t she already searched?”

“Well, you are supposed to be the only one she interacts with aside from Eliza. We tried to send someone else, but the officers claim she won’t cooperate with anyone and is requesting you specifically. We’d like to make this as low-risk as possible, and since she’s dangerous and potentially armed…”

Rowan huffed. “Fine.”

This was her punishment then. The punishment she’d been wondering about all night. Another search, a proclaimed weapon. She was irritated—at least, she told herself she was. The actual feeling of irritation wasn’t hitting. It was more of an anticipatory amusement. A curiosity to see what Delilah would do next. And a thrill that it was all to get Rowan’s attention.

It didn’t take long at all for her to make her way down the sterile, vacated hallway to Delilah’s room. She didn’t acknowledge the two new guards posted up outside before she slammed the slot on the door open with enough force that the shorter officer beside her jumped.

“Hands on the wall, Delilah,” she snapped, watching with sick satisfaction as Delilah’s eyes narrowed at the sound of her voice. When she was in position, Rowan ripped the door open, slamming it shut after slipping inside. “If you so much as twitch, I’ll tase the shit out of you.”

“God, I love it when you talk dirty to me,” Delilah moaned, letting Rowan roughly cuff her and attach the cuffs to the wall as she’d done every time thus far.

“Alright, where’s your weapon?” Rowan asked, stepping over to her desk and maneuvering stacks of paper out of the way. “And how the hell did you get it?”

“An admirer,” Delilah purred, twisting to watch Rowan as she moved onto the bed, feeling under the mattress. “They felt bad you left me, wanted to cheer me up.” Rowan rolled her eyes, yanking the sheets off Delilah’s bed and noting the muscle twitch in her jaw.

“You won’t find it there,” Delilah said, her tone pure sex as she leaned against the wall, her eyes roving over Rowan’s body. “You’ll have to search a little… closer.”

Rowan glared at her, eyes narrowing as she scanned Delilah’s body, looking for any abnormalities in her outfit.

“You’re definitely not gonna find it by staring,” Delilah said, biting her lip and suppressing a smile. She was enjoying this too much.

“At least tell me what I’m looking for,” Rowan growled, stalking over to her until they were just a foot apart.

“That’s not the game,” Delilah whispered.

Rowan slammed her hand against the wall next to Delilah’s head, bringing them even closer together. Delilah didn’t so much as flinch. The heat coursing between them was powerful but Rowan was determined not to let it distract her.

“We’re not playing a game, Delilah. Tell me what I’m looking for.”

Delilah let out a small moan that absolutely did not shoot straight to Rowan’s core. “A knife,” Delilah breathed, pushing out her chest and leaning forward, a wicked smile playing on her full lips. “About the size of two fingers.”

Rowan held her gaze. She didn’t ask for permission when she started running her hands down Delilah’s sides, underneath and in between her breasts, over her back. When she got to the elastic band on Delilah’s scrubs, she stopped, hesitating as Delilah’s lips quirked up and her head tipped back.

“You’re getting closer,” she sighed, watching Rowan with expectant eyes.

“You aren’t serious,” Rowan grumbled, more to herself than anything, though what else did she expect when Delilah described the size like that? What else did she think would happen knowing that Delilah wanted her to suffer?

“Is there somewhere more private we can go for this?” Delilah asked, looking pointedly at the camera.