Page 75 of Shattered Dreams

“Good morning, Miss Maddox. You’re looking well.”

Tears fill my eyes.

“What is it?” he asks, and I could swear there’s real concern in his voice.

“Last night I told her the news. Stella Mayfair is dead. She didn’t handle it well,” Jerricka says.

Dr. Pederson frowns. “I thought we discussed that wasn’t necessary now.”

“We took advantage of an opportunity presented to us. Ashton Black knew if we got rid of her things would be easier. He just didn’t have the balls to do it.”

Dr. Pederson hugs me, and I flinch. He’s thin, and his sweater is scratchy against my cheek. Stiffening, I wait for something dirty to surface in his touch. No man except Gage has touched me without malicious intent. Zane, but he’s my brother and doesn’t count. Max, I suppose, but even if it was to show me he loved me, he tried at a time when I wasn’t ready and my fear and his impatience tarnishes what he felt for me.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” he says, rubbing my back. “When we started this, I truly didn’t think so many lives would need to be sacrificed. Stella was special to you, and you’ll miss her.”

“Not for long.” Jerricka sets a platter of pancakes in the center of the table. “She took a doubled dose last night, and I’ll give her another this morning. We need to speed things along. We have a buyer.”

Dr. Pederson releases me and sits at the table. He leans aside to give her room to pour coffee. “We’ve always had a buyer, and we’ll have several more once the drug is perfected. It’s a disappointment we’ve had to wait so long.”

I stand in the middle of the kitchen and before I can stop myself, the question pops out of my mouth. “Wait for what?”

Jerricka nudges my shoulder, and I sit across from Dr. Pederson.

“If Ashton Black had gotten rid of Stella when he should have, none of this would have happened. Quiet Meadows would still be operational and you would still be a patient there. When your brother discharged you and prompted an investigation into the facility, we had to stop testing and go underground.” Dr. Pederson bites into a piece of bacon and pours syrup over his pancakes. “Then the other test subjects started regaining their memories and we had to dispose of them before they could talk to anyone who might believe what they said. The day Stella escaped Black Enterprises turned this whole thing into a big mess.”

“The deaths of those women Gage was looking into.”

“Yes. It was fortunate they were all so mentally unstable no one thought their deaths were anything but what we made them look to be.”

“You kept me alive,” I say.

Jerricka drops a plate of pancakes in front of me. “Eat. You’ll skew the results if you’re not well.”

I ignore her and listen to Dr. Pederson say, “Partly because once your brother brought you home, he didn’t let you out of his sight, and it would have been terribly difficult to arrange your death without it looking like a homicide. Partly because you’re so receptive to the drug, and partly because, well, someone has a fondness for you and he’s waited a very long time to have you again.”

“Ash.”

“Ashton Black will rot in prison, and so will his father. What was promised to them in return for their participation is no longer on the table, and they’ll realize that soon. For now, Miss Maddox, it’s enough to say you are a precious commodity.Very valuable to many people in this endeavor. You should be flattered.”

Staring at the stack of pancakes, I say, “I’m not anything.”

Hetsks. “That’s not true at all. You’re going to make me very rich.”

“Money isn’t life.”

“Says the woman who has anything she wants at her disposal. You take your family’s wealth for granted,” Jerricka snaps.

“I would give it all up to have my parents back. Stella.” A wave of grief washes over me. Stella’s gone. I’ll never see her again.

She clutches my chin in her hand, forces my mouth open, and shoves a large pill into the back of my throat. “All this talk wastes time.”

I gag, dry swallowing the tablet. I would have taken it without the violence if she’d asked, but she likes mistreating me and I don’t have the will to fight against her.

“Jerricka, is that necessary?” Dr. Pederson admonishes. “She’s cooperating. Let her be.”

“Why should I? I’ve had to listen to her whine for months, all so we could observe her and monitor the drug’s lingering effectiveness. She wasn’t your patient. You didn’t have to listen to all of her sexual hangups, her delicate self-esteem issues. She’s so weak, and it nauseates me.”

“Her participation is imperative. Keep your personal feelings out of this. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were jealous.”

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