Page 41 of Crucified By the Dark
“Very good. I’m Morry and Jeremy here, or I will be your living nightmare until…well until you’re ready to leave with a fresh start in life or in a body bag. There is no in-between. Mess is that way. Get back to work.”
“Sir, yes, sir.”
“Dismissed.”
She waited until Stephen was halfway down the hallway before calling his name. “Oh, and Stephen?”
He spun around like she’d physically pulled on an invisible line.
“If you’re ever caught where you’re not supposed to be again, oxy will be the least of your concerns. I want to make sure I’m very clear about this with you. If need be, you’ll never see outside of this compound again.”
She could see his Adam’s apple work as he swallowed, and the fear in his eyes was real. Good, he better be scared. If he was afraid to die, there was hope for him.
“Get out of my sight.”
Stephen turned and marched away so quickly he might as well have jogged. Putting her hands on her hips, she took a deep breath. One of the things she hadn’t wanted to do today was out of the way—time to take on the others. Jeremy had wandered over and casually leaned against the wall, staring at Stephen’s receding back.
“Was I that transparent and pathetic when I arrived?”
“Worse.” She snorted and smiled. It really did seem like forever ago now.
He slowly turned his head, the corner of his mouth pulling up. “Ouch, but fair. I did spend my first week here in solitary, screaming about aliens.”
“Oh, the aliens were real,” she said, and they chuckled.
His face grew serious. “I’m not sure I’ve ever really thanked you for what you did for me, but….”
“No need to thank me. It’s why this place is here. Besides, it’s Dean you should be thanking.”
“Trust me, I have. Speaking of Dean….” Jeremy stopped as her phone rang, and she pulled it out of her pocket to see her lawyer’s name.
“I have to take this, but we will talk later.” She took a couple of strides toward her office and looked over her shoulder. “Keep an eye on him. I have a feeling he’s going to be trouble. Call it a hunch.” Giving Jeremy a wink, she hit answer.
“Carson?”
“Hello, Morry,” her lawyer said.
She wasn’t sure what it was about lawyers, but they all had the same tone. It wasn’t quite as bad as accountants, where you were sure some sort of soul-sucking creature had come along and stolen all of their personality, but it was pretty damn close.
“I’m assuming if you’re calling, you have good news?”
“I’m afraid not. The fight is not lost, but we had a surprise that didn’t help our cause.” Carson sighed, and she knew that whatever was coming wouldn’t be anything she liked.
“Is it true that you stayed at the Wellness Springs when you got back from overseas for six months?”
Morry swallowed hard and slowly sat down. Mentally she hadn’t been in a good place when she arrived home. Morry wasn’t proud of her actions, but it was years ago, and she wasn’t the same person who’d tried to take her own life. There was a reason why Morry connected so easily with the demons that lived inside those who came here. She’d suffered her demons and fought them every day when the faces of those she loved and lost would toy with her mind.
“No one was supposed to ever find out about that. I didn’t even tell Andrew,” she said, and she could almost feel the glare through the phone.
“Well, it would’ve been nice to be prepared, Morry. We looked like idiots in front of the judge today.”
“Where did the information come from?” She couldn’t stop staring at the picture of Kyle on her desk. He was dressed in a T-ball uniform and was smiling for the camera with a tooth missing.
“The defense says that it came from an anonymous source, but they did their research and found out that you stayed there for attempted suicide and PTSD episodes that caused violent hallucinations. As I’m sure you can imagine, they didn’t paint you in the best light. They now have that you are a dishonorably discharged vet who is the leader of a motorcycle club on the FBI’s watch list for gun trafficking, and now this. You are not helping me win your case, Morry. I need something positive. I need things to combat these allegations.” There was the sound of feet and more sighing, and she could picture the older man perfectly. He sounded just like her father did when he was disappointed in her.
“Like what? I can’t say what happened overseas, or I’ll be up on charges with the Army because we were all sworn to secrecy. I run a motorcycle club, and I won’t tell you what we do for plausible deniability, but it’s not to give candy to those who shouldn’t have it.”
“Candy? Really?”
