Page 19 of Mine, Forever

“What for?”

“Boosting cars and shoplifting from what I could read, the rest has been redacted.”

He tossed the file to me, and I opened the folder to a photo of a very disheveled Ebony in a mugshot. She looked young, but those black eyes were just as penetrating from that damn photo as they were in life.

Her mother reported her. No wonder there’s hatred there. That was good. I could use that to break her.

“Jesus, this list goes on for days. When did she start?”

“About the time her dad was sentenced to prison for life.”

Interesting.She did tell me he was a killer, but to be imprisoned for life and not death, that’s strange. I don’t know why, but I needed to find out what had happened to her.

“How long was she in prison?”

“She went back a few times. The last stint was for a year, though.”

“She said she didn’t have a lot to do with Giordy. So why would he be so worried about what she knows?”

“Last pages.”

I flipped to the back of the file for a summarized report on her. After I had read through it, I realized just how fucked up her life was. I looked down at the officer-in-charge of her report and saw the connection.

Jenkins.

Commissioner was protecting Giordy because of a fuck up when he was a cop. This was just too perfect.

I laughed, putting the file on the seat next to me. “York, take me home. I’ve got a lot of planning to do.”

EBONY

Screaming didn’t do anything but give the orderlies permission to be rougher with me, so I stopped. That didn’t mean a stray foot didn’t try and knock them about every now and then. The Matron, Maria—I had learned that was her name—had tried to be welcoming and accepting of my ‘psychosis,’ but now she was a hard-ass bitch thanks to my unhelpful attitude. She’d pushed a needle into my neck as the orderlies had tried to undress me and put me in a gown.

The drugs had begun to kick in, and slowly I lost the ability to kick or struggle. The orderlies had stopped trying to roughly restrain me . I could only watch as they removed my pants and shirt replacing them with a white gown, unable to stop them.

“I am not crazy! Please help me.”

It came out slurred, but Maria understood me. She brushed my hair out of my face in a motherly way and smiled down at me. “We’ve heard that before. We want to help you, love, and so does Mr. Black. He just wants you to get better.”

“He’s lying.”

“He’s a fine man,” she spat back. “You’re lucky he’s looking after you so well.”

It was only then I realized she must be on his payroll. They wouldn’t be able to admit me, or even give me medication without my consent, unless the hospital sent me here. Jett had too much sway here, and she seemed to be completely enamored with him. I could understand that as he was powerful and sexy as hell.

Jett knew a lot of people, but to imprison me in an asylum and force me to undergo treatment? How could this happen? Someone would report me missing, surely.

The only question was who? I’d burned my bridges with Giordy, and my mother wouldn’t care if I disappeared. My sisters didn’t even know where I lived, let alone what I did with my life so they wouldn’t care either.

I had no one to report me missing—no one would even know if I died.

As tears ran down my cheeks, I noticed the lights above me were passing by. It was hard to stay awake as I felt my eyes closing. Unable to open them again, I let sleep claim me as they wheeled me to my doom.

???

I heard voices near me, voices I didn’t recognize. Actually, one I did—Jett. Opening my eyes which felt as if they’d been caked together with glue, I caught a glimpse of him standing in the doorway talking to a man in a doctor’s coat. He was as impressive as ever with his tall, broad frame in a suit tailored just for him. He had one hand in his pocket and another running over the back of his neck. The doctor was telling him something important judging by the way he was nodding and focusing.

Suddenly, they both looked over at me. The doctor excused himself, and Jett came to sit next to me.

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