Page 36 of CHASE: Captive to the Dark

And she did.

I grabbed one of my shirts from the dresser. This one a dark blue. The moment she slid it on, possessiveness swept through me. I never wanted her to wear another color. It made her eyes glow. They hypnotized me, twisting my gut and making me feel queasy. All the while, I was obsessed by her beauty. It was such an odd combination of emotions that it stopped me in my tracks. All I could do was stand there. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed between us, but somehow, I managed to break away. Only thing was, when I did, anger followed. Was I so weak for her that I could lose myself so easily? I wanted to train Kit. To make her bend to my every will. I wanted her fear and yet, I wanted to cuddle and stroke her as one would a pet. I wanted two different worlds that weren’t at all clear to me.

“First your pill. Then your treat.”

“They’re downstairs, in my purse. There’s an inside pocket, they’re zipped in there. Just because I take it doesn’t mean I’m going to…” she trailed off, turning away. Sure, I could have argued and stated what I knew, but I let it go.

I glanced at the cuffs, pointing. “One hand in for now. I’m trusting you to be in this exact position when I return.”

The threat was evident. She flung out her wrist closest to the restraint, but wouldn’t meet my eyes. My fingers encircled the tiny area and I brought her arm up, pressing my lips against the sensitive spot where the leather would go. Kit’s lids lowered the smallest amount before she blinked rapidly and shook her head more from reflex than to signify she wanted me to stop. In silence, she watched me strap the buckle. I knew I was chancing too much by not restraining her completely, but my curiosity was getting the best of me. Would Kit try to escape? I could only hope.

“I’ll be right back.”

She didn’t give a response. The wheels in her head were turning, I could see it in her expressions. But what were they telling her to do?

The door sounded quietly behind me and I took off down the hallway at a fast pace. Voices greeted me when I met the top of the stairs. I listened, hearing Palo taking charge in the conversation.

“They suspect something is going on. We’re here and that speaks volumes. As far as we know, they think Chase remembers. If you ask me, that’s trouble. Whoever tried to kill him will return to finish the job. It’s only a matter of time. I know we wanted more time to figure this out on our own, but what’s done is done. We keep our eyes open and our mouths shut. You all know the routine. We’re brothers. We watch out for each other and we have one another’s backs, no matter what.”

Agreements had me starting down the stairs. By the time I came into view, they were all staring up at me. I couldn’t shake their expectations. Was I supposed to say something? Not? Fuck, I didn’t really know these people. I saw them in my memories, but I didn’t feel as though we were connected as friends would be. Most of what I remembered revolved around my earlier years. Possibly a decade ago. Back then, I wasn’t anywhere close to a good person. I couldn’t even see why they’d want to associate with me. I was a drunk. A druggy. Yes, I knew I’d done cocaine on multiple occasions, but always with a man I assumed was this Abe who raised me. And it was always the same—a smoky room, guns on the table, drugs resting here and there.

“Father, how is she?”

“Kit’s better. I got her calmed down and she’s resting now.”

“Good,” he said, nodding. “How are you? You doing okay?”

“Yeah.” I tried to grin, but it wasn’t there. Wasn’t me.

The white and tan purse caught my attention and I walked over, picking it up. I turned to head back upstairs when I stopped. These men had been here all day and I’d yet to figure out what was going on. If it wasn’t one thing happening, it was another. I needed to figure out what they wanted and send them on their way. The cops had come and gone. Kit and I would be safe for a while. Besides, I knew where to hide her, or us, if the time ever came.

“Don’t you all have families? Wives who are expecting you back?”

There was confusion as they blinked past my words and gave each other strange looks.

“They understand,” Palo assured. “You’re our top priority. You’re everyone’s top priority, Father.”

My head shook in aggravation. “Why? I’m just a man. A priest, from what everyone keeps telling me.”

“You’re more than that.” Palo threw the men what looked to be a reassuring glance and came forward. “You’re going to step up and take care of this town. It’s what you were meant to do. It’s what Abe wanted.”

“I’m a priest,” I stressed. “And a pretty lousy one, at that. Tell me, how am I going to accomplish saving a town? I can’t even remember my duties. Duties that go against what I have a feeling everyone will be expecting. Prostitution? No, let me guess, drugs, like him. Is that the service you’re all looking for, because that’s what I see in my head. Is that what you all expect me to do? Buy and distribute drugs, to what, provide the people here with a paycheck? Security? Is that what I have to look forward to? Jail time, like Abe?”

Max, the oldest, pushed his hands in his pockets. “Abe may have not been straight with the law, but he took care of the people of Untold. He did what he had to and sacrificed himself for it.”

“And now it’s my turn? Is that it?” I looked at each of them, trying to understand through the anger. But I couldn’t see any of this ending well. Not taking control of this town, or my unclear plans with Kit. “I’m sorry, but maybe you all forgot the years I disappeared and became a priest. Maybe there was a reason for that. Looks to me like I was trying to get right with the sins of my past. Not return here to this corrupt ass town to pick up where I left off.”

“I see you’re not to where you were before. We’ve all had this conversation many times. If that’s the way you feel now, we can work with that,” Palo insisted. “I know you can do this. We’ll all sit down and talk again. We can figure out a plan.”

My head shook. “I’m not interested. Thank you for the chance. Thank you for looking out for me and having such hope where I’m concerned, but I want to be left alone. I want you all to leave.”

“I told you this was going to happen,” Ed burst out. “I told you before the amnesia and I’m telling you again, we’re wasting our time trying to convince him. Let’s do this on our own. We don’t need Chase.”

Weston gave the kid a hard push, but kept quiet.

“I’m with the youngen’. Ed’s right. You all can do this without me.”

“No,” Palo shouted. “It’s not what Abe wanted. It’s not what’s best. We stick together.”

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