SWNOVELS Chapter 58: Who has two psychos?
“Hey feisty pants, how are you?” Damon asked as soon as he saw her.
“I’m ok” she replied as she crawled into Kane’s office chair and curled up.
“I tried to convince her to stay upstairs, but you see how well that worked for me. And yes I know, some crazy pants is after you, I would want to know too.” She opened her mouth to argue with him but closed it and smiled. Johnny had to bite back a laugh, he found it quite funny that Kane couldn’t make Dax do anything. Truthfully she didn’t want to be in the room without him. She knew she was safe at the pack house, nothing was going to happen to her and no one could get to her, but she felt safer when he was close by, when they were all close by.
“And apparently Lacey is busy all day.” Kane added, he didn’t miss the confused look on Johnny’s face when he said that.
“What’s with the look?” Kane asked through the link.
“Lacey’s not busy today, I asked what her plans were. She said nothing.” Johnny replied,
“Then why would she tell Dax she’s busy?”
“I don’t know!” Johnny was confused, he thought Lacey and Dax had patched things up and were friends.
“Do you need help with anything?” Dax asked, she didn’t want to just sit there, she could help as well.
“Photos!” Kenneth stated as he handed her the stack she pulled off the wall. “We can’t figure them out, something in them or about them caught your attention” with her focus on the photos Kenneth handed her Damon stashed the book he was reading behind one of the cushions on the couch. Johnny placed the other photos she found on the desk as well including the one in the first locked box, maybe she would recognize something.
She picked up the photo and looked at it. Three smiling faces, two stoic holding the same expression and a blanketed bundle. They stood in front of a table full of food and a congratulations banner hung in the background. ’Our newest addition scrawled on the back in women’s writing. She flipped it back over and looked at the picture one more time. The man in the picture held a detached cold expression and he had his arm around the shoulders of the smiling woman holding the blanketed bundle and his hand on the boy’s shoulder with a stoic face. The other boy had a big smile and the woman standing behind him had both her hands on his shoulders exhibiting the same smile.
“I think that’s me,” she said, pointing to the bundle. “I think this is the day they adopted me. So this must be Carl, that’s Maria and that boy must be Magnus” she added pointing to the four standing to one side of the picnic table.
“Who are they then?” Johnny asked, pointing to the other woman and child, she only shrugged; she had no clue who they were. She looked at some of the other photos, but nothing stood out in them.
“I don’t….nothing stands out. I don’t recognize any of it,” she said, shaking her. Damon picked up one of the photos of her as a baby.
“You were a pretty cute baby, your ears were a little big though” She scowled at him,
“At least I grew into mine, when are you gonna grow into yours?” She fired back,
“Ouch! I don’t have big ears.” He walked away from her and touched his ears, causing Johnny to laugh.
“You’re right you don’t, you just have a small head.” This time it was Damon’s turn to scowl at her.
“Are you sure you fed her enough? Someone still seems a little cranky.” Damon remarked.
“I fed her enough, she’s just tired” Kane said, as he and Johnny went over the list of medications Magnus was given over the years.
“If he was taking his medication, he would be a catatonic drooling idiot in the corner.” Johnny stated,
“The fact that he isn’t means he isn’t taking them and probably hasn’t been for awhile.” Kane replied,
“Which means what?” Kenneth asked,
“I talked to the psychiatrist, they don’t recognize Obsessive Love Disorder as an actual condition, but one that stems from other mental health disorders, like borderline personality disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder. I asked him what happens if they don’t take their medication. He said they could have a psychotic break. The need to control his fictional relationship with Dax will become overpowering and he’ll either come after her to turn his fantasy into reality or if he feels she has disobeyed him or betrayed him….” Johnny let it drop there.
“He’ll kill me.” She finished for him.
“Because he hasn’t done either of those yet he clearly doesn’t feel that way. He could also try and get you out of the way, he could view you as an obstacle, a threat to him, he could view all of us as obstacles and try to take us out.” Johnny added, looking at Kane.
“I’d like to see him try!” Damon put in, as a low growl released from him.
“The shrink says he might. He’s unstable enough, and you destroyed his home and took away all his treasures.” Johnny warned. “Dax is the object of his obsession and the more we play keep away the more unstable he’ll become.”
“Well yay for me!” She cheered slumping back in the office chair.
“He won’t touch you” Kane tried to assure her, but she had a knot forming in her stomach.
“How do you know? You can’t anticipate the moves of a crazy person, they’re too unpredictable.” He crossed the room and crouched down in front of her.
“Listen little mouse as long as you are on pack grounds you are protected, nothing can get you here. And If you leave the grounds you won’t be leaving alone, someone will be with you at all times.” The others in the room just nodded.
“But that puts you all in danger, that’s not fair. Johnny and Marco both have babies on the way and Damon and Kenneth just found their mates. None of you asked for this.” He gathered her into his arms and held her close to him.
“Neither did you!” He whispered to her kissing the top of her head, she never stopped amazing him. All this shit happens to her and she’s more concerned with the safety of others.
“We got your back feisty pants, what’s he gonna do to us? We’ll rip him to pieces first” Damon added in, then he paused. “With that being said, I have to go, I’ll be right back”
“What the fuck Damon?” Johnny asked,
“Lydia accidentally shot Carter with the tranq gun” he explained, laughing as he walked out of the room. Kane looked at Johnny waiting for an explanation.
When Damon walked back into the room, all eyes turned to him.
“How’s Carter?” Johnny asked,
“That boys as high as a fucking kite and feeling no pain. Dropped him off at the medical ward so they could keep him under observation.” Damon replied. “Never seen him so relaxed in my life. He’s a pretty chatty guy, he was yapping the doctor’s face off about something when I left. Apparently you scare the fuck out of him, have since we were kids.” Damon added, pointing at Kane.
“Really?” Kane furrowed his eyebrows.
“Yup, mentioned it a few times, then again you scared a lot of people” Damon grinned,
“What happened?” Kenneth was trying not to laugh, but he was failing.
“He startled Lydia when he woke up and she didn’t realize how sensitive the trigger on the tranq gun was. Before he could say he was fine and sorry for scaring her she had already shot him. He’s not mad at her though and completely forgives her.” Damon was laughing,
“Poor Carter! Is he gonna be ok?” Dax asked,
“He’ll be ok, has a whole medical ward of people to talk to.” Damon replied to her. “How long has he been doing that?” Damon asked, pointing at Marco, who was rubbing his ears.
“I don’t know why?” Kane asked,
“He just started a few minutes ago,” Dax replied,
“Marco?” Marco looked at Kenneth, “Are you all right?”
“Le mie orecchie mi danno fastidio. My ears….they….hurt….me,” He replied, rubbing them.
“Thank Goddess he can hear. Are they ringing?” Johnny asked. Marco shook his head, seeing if maybe that would clear it up, then he went back to rubbing them.
“Suona come una fottuta campana di chiesa che suona nella mia testa? (Does it sound like a fucking church bell going off in my head?) Sì, sì they….bing!” Marco rubbed his ears even more. The more his ears rang the more irritated he became. He would rub them and hiss, but try to go back to what he was doing only to rub them and hiss again. When his hisses turned into growls, they became more concerned. Kane moved across the room and stood in front of Dax, he wasn’t certain what Marco was going to do. Alejandro would surface for a few seconds and disappear with the agitation Marco was feeling. Unable to remain seated, Marco stood up and started pacing covering his ears. Kenneth looked at Damon who pulled the tranq gun from the waistband of his jeans behind his back. When Marco turned towards him he didn’t hesitate to put one in his chest. Marco stood there staring at him wide eyed.
“Mi hai sparato….shoot….me!” He was shocked, looking down at the dart.
“Yes I did!” Damon nodded. “You might want to sit down now”
“Sì!” Marco nodded his head, dropping down onto the couch, still looking down at the dart in his chest.
“Marco?” Kenneth spoke, Marco looked up at him “Are you ok?” He looked back down at the dart in his chest then back at Kenneth.
“Mi ha sparato….shoot….me!” He said,
“Are you ok?” Kenneth repeated,
“He….mi hai lasciato sparare! You.…let….him!” Marco looked at him, the same wide eyed expression on his face.
“I didn’t let him shoot you,” Kenneth stated,
“No, mi ha appena sparato! Shoot….me!” Marco shook his head then looked back at Kenneth then Damon.
“Just let him process what happened,” Damon said, keeping the gun fixed on him.
“Ow!” He finally said as he pulled the dart from his chest.
“Sorry buddy! But we all saw Carter go through it, didn’t think a repeat performance would be good” Damon finally lowered the gun.
“Va bene! (I understand!)” Marco nodded his head.
“You feeling ok? How’s your ears?” Damon asked, looking at him. Marco’s eyes were glazed over.
“Yeah! Perfetto! Good” he replied, with thumbs up
“Good, good, do you think you can finish with your magic boopy boops and get in the computer now?” Damon asked, pointing at the computers. Marco looked at them and then back at Damon.
“Sì, sì! Sì, I….fix!” Marco readily agreed and sat back in front of the computers and started typing away. When Damon looked up everyone was staring at him.
“Carter was pretty agreeable as well. Hell he happily went to the doctor and usually Brandon has to drag his ass there” before he could say anymore his phone rang.
“Yeah!” He answered,
“Uh huh!” He listened,
“Oh!” He looked at Marco,
“Well shit!” He scratched the back of his head.
“I’ll be right there” He hung up the phone.
“So apparently we need to watch what we tell them to do, they will take it literally. I told Carter to stay with the doctor and he hasn’t left his side, now I need to go get him. You also need to watch what you ask or say because they will tell you the truth.” Damon said, nodding his head.
“You need to get him?” Kane asked, tilting his head.
“The doctor strongly advised it.” Damon answered, heading out the door.
“Sono dentro….I….fix!” Marco exclaimed. As he moved the laptop they found at Magnus’s in front of him. “Want….to do?”
“Look for all the photos he has,” Kane said,
“Sì” Marco started searching the computer. “Fanculo! Fottuto stronzo e mi sta facendo incazzare! (Fuck you! Fucking asshole and is really pissing me off) he encrypt everything” Marco moved back to his computer to remove the encryption.
“Why would he do that?” Johnny asked,
“Probably to stop someone from seeing what he’s been up to,” Kenneth replied. While they were doing that Kane moved over to the other locked box. He could see where they tried to pry it open. There was nothing to grab onto so ripping it open wasn’t going to work either.
“We tried to smash it open too. And Kenneth damn near lost an eye when we tried to pry it open” Johnny said,
“What about popping the lock?” Kane asked,
“We tried that as well, the only thing that accomplished was breaking the screwdriver.” Kenneth replied. Kane picked it up and shook it. Something big and metal banged around inside. While they did that Dax was looking at the photos she pulled off the wall. Maybe it’s a puzzle! I hate puzzles! Why are there black lines on some? I don’t know! Maybe put them together! Well staring at them isn’t working for me! She separated the pictures into two piles, one that had the black marks and one that didn’t. She started putting the black lines together seeing if anything matched up. Maybe it spells something! I think you might be right! She needed more space to work so she moved to the floor.
“But Damon, you said stay with the doctor, so I did.” Carter was saying as they walked back into the office.
“Yup buddy, you did!” Damon was trying to control his laughter.
“Why is he mad at me? I did what I was told?” Carter looked rather confused as to why he had to leave.
“Maybe because you hit him” Damon hazard a guess.
“He told me to! If he didn’t want me to hit him then he shouldn’t have told me to” Carter threw his hands up.
“You hit the doctor?” Kane asked with his eyebrow raised. Carter’s face paled and his body stiffened, he looked at his Alpha then back to Damon
“Why the fuck did you bring me here? You know he scares the fuck outta me” Damon was losing his battle for control over himself. Kenneth turned away to hide his grin, while Kane heard Johnny snickering behind him.
“Oh he didn’t just hit the doctor, he fucking laid him out” Damon said as his shoulders started to shake.
“He told me to! He said put me outta my misery, so I did” Kane looked from Damon to Carter. Carter shrank back under his gaze, swallowing hard and slowly tried backing out of the room. Damon grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back in.
“Relax, nothings going to happen. Shit just keeps going from bad to worse for you, it’s not your fault he understands that.” Damon was trying to reassure him.
“He doesn’t look like he understands that. What if I say something and make him mad? He’s terrifying when he’s mad” Carter kept looking behind Damon at Kane. Johnny’s snickers kept getting louder and louder.
“Simple, don’t say anything. Just keep your mouth shut” Damon suggested,
“I can do that,” Carter agreed.
“Hi Carter!” Dax said from the floor, she had her lips pressed together to stop from laughing.
“Luna!” A big grin hit his face when he saw her.
“Why don’t you come help me?” She offered,
“Yeah! Go help feisty pants” Damon smacked him on the back pushing him in that direction.
“Yeah! I can help, what are we doing?” Carter said getting down on the floor with her.
“Putting together a puzzle I think,” She said, handing him some of the pictures.
“What’s the picture?” Carter asked,
“We don’t know! We think maybe someone’s face.” She replied, putting together another piece.
“It’s probably yours!” Carter exclaimed. Her head snapped up and she looked at him. “If you got these from his warehouse it makes sense the guys a fucking psychotic nut job who’s obsessed with you. I’m surprised it wasn’t already put together.” Carter said as he put together another piece. When he looked up everyone was looking at him. He glanced at Kane, only to duck behind the desk again.
“Why is he mad?” Carter asked her,
“He’s not mad, he’s just….slightly upset.” She said peeking over the desk at him. It was hard to hide the humour they all found in the situation.
“No, he’s big fucking mad, I said something wrong and he’s gonna snap my neck.” Carter stared at her, she could see the fear on his face. She placed her hand on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“He’s not going to snap your neck.” She said, trying to be reassuring.
“Yes he wi-” She covered his mouth and put her finger to her lips.
“No. He. Won’t! Will you?” She looked at Kane over top of the desk.
“I won’t snap his neck,” Kane agreed. She got his focus back on putting the picture together.
“I really do scare the fuck out of him” Kane said to Johnny.
“Spaventi a morte anche me! Me….too!” Marco piped up looking at Kane. “Quel sopracciglio alto che fa….sì that one (The high eyebrow he makes)” He added as Kane turned to look at him.
“Right!” Carter agreed,
“Carter shhh! Let’s just focus on the puzzle” She said, pulling him back down behind the desk. Unable to contain themselves any longer Johnny and Damon erupted into laughter. Kenneth sat in one of the chairs covering his face, his shoulders shook as he tried to conceal his laughter.
“Good now!” Marco said once again, pulling the other laptop back in front of him. He started looking for the photos, but ended up finding way more than that.
“Lui salva la posta elettronica qui (He saves emails on here)” Marco said as he opened one of the files. “Tra lui e Carl e lui e…..stiamo cercando anche quel ragazzo giusto? (Between him and Carl and him and… ..we are looking for that guy too, right?)” Marco said, pointing to one of the other files. Sure enough in big capital letters was the name WHITE.
“Why would he be talking to White?” Kenneth asked,
“How does he know White?” Damon asked, looking over Marco’s shoulder.
“We know he’s been talking to Carl since he was 14, and Carl was talking to White, maybe that’s how they know each other, Carl introduced them.” Johnny guessed,
“Print those off Marco” Damon said,
“Quale?” Marco asked looking at him,
“All of them!” Kane replied.
Marco nodded his head, connected the laptop to the printer and started printing all the emails between Magnus and Carl. Damon looked over the emails between White and Magnus.
“If they knew each other they hated each other. They were fighting over her. Look here, from Magnus to White, ‘She belongs to me, yours can’t have her’ from White to Magnus ‘You’re too stupid to know what to do with her, she belongs to mine’” Damon looked confused.
“Yours mine?” Kenneth looked back at Damon.
“Spelling mistakes maybe?” Johnny asked,
“No, Magnus refers to yours several times. ‘Yours can’t have her’ ‘She’s not meant for yours’ ‘Yours will never have her’” Damon said looking at different emails.
“So White wants her for someone else?” Kenneth asked, they all looked over at Dax as she was peeking over the desk at them.
“Who has two psychos? I do, I do. I’m excited, how bout you?” She said, heaving a big sigh.
“Hey that rhymes! You’re not really excited are you?” Carter asked her from behind the desk.
“No Carter!” She looked down at him shaking her head.
“It’s ok Luna, I’ll protect you.” Carter said as she sat back down behind the desk with him. No one else said a word in the office as they listened to Carter talk to her behind the desk.
“I pledge my life to you Luna, where you go I go. No one will touch you, I’ll take their heads off then beat them to death with their arms.” He stated very matter of factly.
“Thanks Carter!” She said, as she placed two more pieces together. What he said might have been backwards but she got the idea of what he meant. Kane gave a little smile as he was reading some of the emails that had printed off between Magnus and Carl.
“Can’t argue with that logic” Johnny whispered as he passed Kane reading some emails as well.
“No, you can’t!” Kane agreed.
“They seemed to be corresponding twice a month for years. Magnus would ask about her and Carl would reply that she was fine, healthy and doing well.” Kenneth said as he too was going over the emails.
“The 8th year it seemed to go downhill. He started off excited, said their time was coming and she would be his soon, then it takes a turn a few months in. The emails become more frequent and angry.” Johnny said, showing one to Kenneth.
“‘You lied to me, you promised me! She wasn’t fine, healthy and doing well. I saw her today. Her body was beaten, broken and bandaged.’ Is that saying he saw her when she was in the hospital?” Kenneth asked as he read the email.
“I think so! Carl replied, ‘Easy son, I had to break her to make her a more obedient servant for you.’ Here’s another one. ‘You broke what was mine, she was perfect and you made her flawed, now I have to fix her.’ Carl replied to this one as well. ‘You should thank me for what I did, I tried to make her better for you, everything I did was for you.’ Magnus didn’t seem to like that or believe it, he replied back. ‘You did what you did for your own sick amusement, she was perfect before you touched her, your words are meaningless poison spewed forth by a venomous pit viper with no fangs and you will pay for what you did.’” Johnny said. “They just go on more and more like this. Magnus wanted Carl dead for what he did.” Johnny added.
“This one came three days after the fire in the gallery. ‘Call off your dog, or I’ll put it down. It almost killed what was mine’ Carl’s response was ‘You both failed to deal with her. If you want the dog called off, do it yourself, as long as my problem is taken care of I don’t care what happens to the mongrel.’ Then he gave him White’s email address.” Kane read.
“Wait, I don’t understand, I thought he was trying to kill her in the fire, why does he sound upset that someone tried to help him?” Kenneth asked.
“Because he wasn’t trying to kill her, he just wanted to scare her, but when she couldn’t get out the back door, he saw his fantasy go up in flames. He burnt his arm trying to save her.” Damon said.
“’White;
You almost ruined everything, you’re lucky the fire department got to her in time or you and I would be having a different conversation face to face. My plan was perfect, back off before I put you down.’” Damon read “Sent a few days after the one he sent to Carl. White’s reply ‘You poor poor simpleton, your plan was flawed from conception you’re just too stupid to realize that. We should team up and share her’ To which he replied ‘I don’t share my things with others, she’s mine only!’ White’s reply ‘Finders keepers, whoever finds her first gets to keep her’”
Carter and Dax sat on the other side of the desk listening to them read the emails. Each one sounded worse and worse than the one before it. One down, two to go! Her subconscious tried to be supportive. What did I do that was so bad? Nothing! Then why am I being punished? You are not being punished, some people are just really fucked in the head! Someone is going to get hurt, and it will be my fault! You are not responsible for the actions of monsters! Her hands shook as she tried to piece together the rest of the face. Carter took her hands in his.
“It’s ok Luna, I promise no one will hurt you” he whispered, she felt a tear slide down her cheek.
“Thanks Carter, but I don’t think you can make that promise, I don’t think anyone can.” She whispered back, they sat there for a bit with him holding her hands.
“We need tape, clear tape” She held back a sniffle while she wiped her eyes.
“I’ll go get some” Carter stood up and walked out of the office.
Sitting alone behind the desk she felt small, exposed and vulnerable. She crawled under the desk and hugged her knees to her chest, feeling slightly better in the small space. The room didn’t feel so big and imposing under the desk.
“Hey baby!” When she looked up she saw Kane crouched down in front of her.
“Hey” she offered him a small smile, but it quickly disappeared from her face.
“Do you feel safer under here?” He asked, looking at her.
“I just need a minute. It’s a little much right now” she said, her voice was small and he could hear the tears in it.
“Yeah, it is!” Kane nodded agreeing with her. “You felt safer in the room with all of us, that’s why you didn’t want to stay upstairs isn’t it?” She bit her lip, but nodded her head.
“Take your minute, why don’t you put your earbuds in until Carter comes back with the tape.” She nodded again, he gave her a quick kiss and left her to feel safe under the desk. He didn’t utter a word until he saw her put her earbuds in and turn on some music.
“This is gonna get bad brother, real fucking bad” Damon said. Kane could only nod in agreement, he had a knot forming in the pit of his stomach.
“She’s hiding under the desk?” Johnny asked,
“She feels safe under there, it’s a bit much for her at the moment” Kane replied,
“È un po’ troppo per me. Il modo in lei cui gestisce tutto questo è assolutamente scioccante. Quella ragazza ha più noci nella sua vita di un barattolo di noccioline. (It’s a bit much for me. How she’s managing to handle all this is utterly shocking. That kid has more nuts in her life than a jar of peanuts.)” Marco blurted out looking at them.
“Thank you Marco!” Kane glared at him. What did he say? Something about nuts! He needs subtitles! Yes he does!
“Prego! (You’re welcome!)” He shrank back a bit when he saw the look on Kane’s face and realized he wasn’t really thanking him.
“Isn’t there something you’re supposed to be doing?” Kane inquired, Marco turned back to the computer. Johnny was biting back his laughter and Kenneth just turned his head away shaking it.
They had printed all the emails between Carl and Magnus and Magnus and White. He was now looking for all the photos on the laptop.
’It’s not his fault, next time I’ll shoot him twice” Damon offered, drawing Kane’s attention away from Marco.
“Three, three times might be safer,” Kane suggested. Carter walked back into the office with a roll of tape and looked a little perplexed when he didn’t see her sitting there anymore.
“Where’d she go? She’s small but how do you lose a whole person?” He scratched the back of his head as he looked around for her.
“Under the desk” Kane informed him. He crouched down behind the desk and looked under it.
Dax pulled her headphones out when she saw the relieved look on his face.
“It’s ok Carter, I just needed a minute,” she said,
“So you hid under the desk?” He asked, tilting his head to the side.
“The worlds not so big and scary under here” she admitted, she knew it sounded stupid, but being in a small space really did make her feel better when the world felt too big too handle.
“I get that, you have better control over what’s going on around you when the space is smaller,” she smiled and nodded.
“I got the tape” he added, holding up the roll for her to see, she nodded again and crawled out from under the desk. They set about the task of taping the picture together.
After they got it taped together, they stood there and looked at it.
“Yup that’s my face” she breathed out a big sigh.
“Why is SHE’S MINE written on it? And why is your ear X’d out?” Carter asked, looking at it. This caught the attention of the others, Kenneth came over to help Carter lift the picture so she could tape it to one of the bookcases.
“That’s a big head!” Damon stated when he looked at it. She furrowed her brows at him.
“That’s not what I meant,” he added quickly when he saw the look on her face.
“Did White send that to him?” Johnny asked. The longer Kane stared at it the more he recognized something, then Damon handed him one of the emails. He didn’t want to say anything out loud, she’s already heard enough to upset her for one day.
“Baby, put your headphones in and get back under the desk.” The tone in Kane’s voice told her this was not a request she should deny. Something about that photo and what Damon just showed him made him upset.
“Ok” she disappeared behind the desk again, not waiting another minute. If he’s upset, it must be bad! Yup! Dax quickly put her earbuds back in and hit play on her phone.
“Carter, get under the desk with her,” Kane ordered,
“I don’t think I’ll fit,” Carter stated,
“Get under the fucking desk Carter, and make sure she doesn’t hear anything.” Kane barked, his voice raised and his eyes flashing blue. Carter moved towards the desk and hit the floor with speed. There was a bit of movement as Carter crawled under the desk. THUMP! Then the movement stopped.
“I think that was his head,” Damon said with a grimace.
“What’s going on?” Johnny asked worriedly. Kane showed Johnny the email, he didn’t understand at first glance but the more he looked at the picture in the email the more he put it together.
“Oh fuck!” Johnny looked at Kane, his top lip curling back, a deep low growl ripped through the room. Ky was not happy at what he was seeing on the wall. Damon moved away from Kane, this was not good. Kenneth looked at the three men waiting for some sort of explanation as to what was going on.
“Magnus sent this picture to White. ‘You’re losing and you underestimate me, I could have taken her 6 times by now’ White replied ‘Then why haven’t you? What are you waiting for?’ To which Magnus wrote ‘I am trying to be fair to the less fortunate and give you a fighting chance, you seem to need all the help you can get, you are the dog of that backstabbing bastard after all.’ White sent him back a photo, ‘What about her dog?’” Damon showed the photo of her and Kane on the sidewalk.
“What did Magnus say about that?” Kenneth asked.
“‘He is of no concern to me at this moment, when the time comes I’ll put him down, until then he is doing me a favour by keeping her safe while I hunt a bigger target’” Damon read the email.
Johnny looked at Kane who seemed to have control over Ky for the moment.
“Tell them!” Johnny said. Damon and Kenneth both looked at Kane, waiting for him to say something.
“I was there the night that photo was taken. I showed up drunk and passed out in her bed, she slept on the couch. I woke up and something seemed off, there was a smell that didn’t belong there. I couldn’t find anything in the loft or the building and I shrugged it off.” Kane ran his hands through his hair as he looked one more time at the photo of her sleeping on the couch.
“Don’t beat yourself up too bad over it, you didn’t know how bad it really was, and that’s clearly not the first time he was in there.” Damon said, trying to be supportive.
“You’re right, he’s been there before, at least five other times in fact.” Kane mused. He crossed the room and crouched behind the desk.
Carter was jammed against the back of the desk, with Dax sitting in front of him hugging her knees, his hands covering her ears. They both stared at him when they saw him, Carter removed his hands from her ears and she took out her earbuds.
“How’s it going?” He asked her,
“It’s a little cramped under here,” Carter replied. Kane tried to hide his grin.
“Baby, I need to ask you some questions, ok?” She nodded her head,
“Have you ever noticed anything moved in the loft? Have you ever thought or felt like someone was in there?” She thought about it for a moment, then shook her head.
“Would you know if something was out of place or if something was moved?” He asked,
“Yeah, there’s not much in there” she replied,
“What about if something was taken?” He asked, she thought about that for a minute.
“I had to replace my hat a few months back, I had a camouflage one, like the black one, actually I don’t know where the black one is either, I haven’t seen it since that day you showed up to check up on me.” She looked up at him. He nodded his head.
“What about in the warehouse, would you know if something was moved or taken in the warehouse?” He asked,
“About the same time my hat went missing I thought I lost one of my sketchbooks. A customer wanted a painting done, but I couldn’t find the book. I found it a few weeks later at the back of the warehouse, I don’t remember putting it back there but I might have.” Again he just nodded.
“Do you keep track of all the sales you make and who you make them for?” She nodded,
“Ok baby, put your music back on.” He went to move away but she grabbed his hand.
“I don’t want to know, do I? Why you’re asking me these questions? It’s bad isn’t it?” She looked up at him, he could see the fear swirling in her eyes, threatening to consume her. He looked from her to Carter then back to her. Tell her she doesn’t want to know! Ky said in his head. She wants you to tell her she doesn’t want to know! He didn’t like seeing her scared and if she knew this monster was in her loft with her while she slept, he doubted she would ever sleep again.
“You don’t want to know baby, just put your music back in” he looked at Carter, who just nodded.
“Ok” she put her music back in and Carter covered her ears again.
“He stole her hats?” Damon asked,
“He wants anything and everything that has to do with her. Her hats help fulfill his fantasy, it wouldn’t shock me if he wears them to feel close to her. And if they were in his warehouse then they went up in flames with the rest of his collection.” Kenneth replied,
“With any luck White will get the blame for it. Magnus could think it’s retaliation for taunting him” Johnny added, with a shrug as he watched Kane pace the room.
“Except when we were there, she didn’t find anything that belonged to her. Unless it was in the locked room and we didn’t let her go in there” Kane commented as he continued to pace.
THUMP!
“Ow!” Carter’s voice came from under the desk.
“You ok buddy?” Damon called,
“That was my fucking head” Carter called back. They heard rustling on the other side of the desk, then it quieted down. When Damon peeked over the desk, he saw Carter’s back, but she was still under the desk.
“Does Alpha Thomas have the security cameras up yet?” Kane spoke.
“I’m on it” Johnny had his phone out and made the call.
“What are you thinking?” Damon asked,
“His collection burnt down, he’ll be looking to replace it” Kane replied,
“They went up on Sunday,” Johnny said, hanging up the phone, “He’s also increasing patrols in the area.”
“Call him back, tell him his patrols are only to observe, not engage and report anything they see. That psychotic cockroach belongs to me! Also have him check the feed. She hasn’t been back to the warehouse in a week, but I wonder if he has” Kane said, Johnny nodded and placed the call.
“Ugh! Did you have to say cockroach?” Damon, made a disgusted face shuddering at the memory of the cockroach in her pancakes.
“At least you didn’t almost eat it,” Kenneth laughed,
“He said he will let us know if he finds something and what are you laughing at? You were about ready to haul ass outta the art gallery because of a fucking rat” Johnny said once again hanging up the phone.
“Un tocco lui, perde la sua merda….touch him. He lose his shit, la cosa più divertente del cazzo che tu abbia mai visto (Funniest fucking thing you ever seen.)” Marco added,
“Thank you Marco! That you get out in English” Kenneth snapped,
“Benvenuto!” He went back to the computer, he had most of the photos tracked down, but he was still finding more.
“When is he going to be better?” Kenneth hissed at Damon.
“Tomorrow, maybe!” Damon really couldn’t be certain. “The doctor wasn’t really interested in answering questions, he just wanted me to get Carter the hell away from him”
“He told me to hit him!” Carter said, defending himself from the other side of the desk.
“And you sure listened buddy” Damon replied, laughing,
“At least these two are good for comedic relief” Johnny said, grinning.
Sensing the tension releasing from the room, Dax peeked over the desk. Kane smiled when he saw her eyes peeking at them. He moved the locked box to his desk, her curiosity would figure out a way to get into it. She looked at him then looked at the box. She felt around the top for the edge the door made, no wonder they couldn’t pry it open. There’s not much of an edge there to begin with, it seemed to be a pretty tight seal. She looked at the bottom of it, then back at the top. She opened Kane’s tablet and pulled up YouTube.
“What is she doing?” Kenneth asked,
“Outsmarting all of us” Kane replied, with a smile,
“You’re gonna pick the lock?” Carter asked, looking at the videos she was searching.
“I’m gonna try” she reached into his desk drawer and pulled out two paper clips, and bent them the way she was shown in the video.
Watching the video over and over again, until she got it. It took several attempts and almost a dozen paper clips, but she got it unlocked.
“Hey, you did it, that’s fucking awesome.” The pride they heard in Carter’s voice when he spoke to her had them holding back their laughter.
“Thank you Carter!” Dax couldn’t help but smile, feeling a little proud of herself. She glanced at Kane, he smiled and gave her a wink before he turned back to the emails.
“I should learn how to do that, Brandon locks us out of the house a lot, we go through a shit ton of doors.” She looked over at him, pressing her lips together to keep the smile hidden.
“I don’t get mad though, I just break the door down, but put the guy through one fucking coffee table, one fucking time and you get branded for life. Branded by Brandon, it’s not like I used him to break the doors down…..no wait, I did that once, but that was for a completely different reason….” She cut him off right there.
“Stop right there, that’s probably not something you want to share.” he looked down at her then around the room at the amused faces of the others then back to her.
“Yeah you’re probably right, Brandon would get mad at me” He nodded.
“Are you going to remember any of this tomorrow?” She asked,
“I don’t know! The doctor didn’t want to answer any questions after I hit him. Not even Damon and everybody answers Damon’s questions.” She was losing her battle at hiding her smile.
“Maybe he shouldn’t have told you to hit him” She said,
“Right! That’s what I keep saying. If he hadn’t told me to, then I wouldn’t have done it, it’s not like I walk around hitting people, I have better control than that.” She could hear Johnny struggling to hold back his laughter.
“You’re just good at following orders, not your fault” she looked up and saw Damon’s shoulders shaking, Kenneth was hiding behind the email he was holding but she could see it shaking, even Kane was trying not to crack.
“I really am good at following orders. Maybe Alpha Kane should have gone, the doctor would have answered him. He’s fucking terrifying, every bodies scared of him.” The room erupted into laughter.
“For your sake brother, I really hope you don’t remember any of this tomorrow” Damon choked out. Carter looked up and saw everybody laughing, looking at her perplexed
“Did I say something?” He scratched the back of his head.
“You said a lot!” She replied, with a big smile on her face.
They opened the box, and peered inside. She pulled out a leather bound journal, a few more pictures and another metal box with a lock.
“Why did he lock up another locked box?” Carter asked,
“He likes his secrets,” she replied with a shrug.
“Maybe they’re super secrets,” Carter said,
“Maybe!” She replied, she picked up the box and shook it, hearing something roll around inside, piquing their curiosity about what was in the little metal box. She flipped through the journal, while Carter tried to get into the box. It was written by the same woman who wrote on the back of the picture.
“I think this is Maria’s journal.” She said as she skimmed over a few entries. “She was afraid for him!”
“’Magnus broke D’s fingers today, because he touched Baby. Told him it wasn’t right to touch what didn’t belong to him. Carl said D can’t come to the house anymore, he’s interfering too much in what he has planned for Magnus. I have to get Magnus out of this house and away from that monster. That is his only hope at having a normal childhood. Monsters shouldn’t raise monsters.’” She read an entry from the journal.
“Who D?” Marco asked, “Non dirmi che c’è un’altra noce nel barattolo, non riesco a tenerle traccia tutte. (Don’t tell me there’s another nut in the jar, I can’t keep track of them all.) Mi fa male la testa! My head….mad!” She picked up the family photo she looked at before, placing her finger above the smiling boy’s face.
“Maybe this is D! There are several photos of him and Magnus together.” She said looking at some of the other photos.
“Maybe they were friends!” Carter added,
“She later became afraid of him”
’“I’m afraid I may be too late to save him. His father has been filling his head full of terrifying notions. I overheard him tell Baby that she belonged to him and if she ever left him he would hunt her down and kill her. To save her Magnus needs to get out of this house, it may prove to be her only chance to keep her innocence. My sweet Baby Girl, I can only hope this is the solution for you.’”
“I think you’ll have to pick this one too,” Carter put the metal box on the desk beside her. She put the journal down to look at the box. Examining the lock she tried using the same paper clips she used to open the first box, when that didn’t work she searched for another video to help her.
“Forse dovresti darle un set di grimaldelli? Lockpicks!” Marco commented as they watched her make another attempt at the box after watching a video. The second and the third attempt failing she was starting to get frustrated at the box. The fourth attempt had her letting loose a string of curses at the box, for being too stubborn to open. With the fifth attempt she tried to throw it only for Carter to grab it and put it back on the desk.
“Carter, why don’t you take Luna to get some fresh air?” Even though Kane said it as a suggestion, it was more of an order. She was getting tired and needed a break.
“Ok!” Carter looked at her like she was just supposed to go.
“I don’t need air, I need the stupid box to open” Dax huffed, hitting it. Johnny and Damon both had to look away to stop from laughing.
“Take a break get some air and you can try later” Kane suggested,
“I don’t want to take a break, I want the box to open” she replied back, he was trying not to lose his patience, but she was being stubborn. He crossed the room and all but dragged her out of the office. She could hear Damon and Johnny howling with laughter as he closed the door behind him.
“What is going on, little mouse?” He asked her, keeping his voice low.
“I don’t want to leave the room. I want to help. I can help to” she rubbed her right eye. Dax was getting more and more tired but didn’t want to be alone in their room. He would have to approach telling her she’s tired very carefully or the next thing hit would be him.
“Trying to throw the box is helping?” He asked,
“It won’t open!” She looked up at him,
“And throwing it would have opened it?” He restated his question.
“Maybe, it would have made me feel better!” She replied.
“You’re tired baby, take a little break, it smells like Margie is making brownies, and there’s ice cream in the freezer. Then you can come back and make another attempt at the box and if it doesn’t open you can throw it to your heart’s content.” Her face lit up as soon as he said brownies and ice cream.
“Can I come back?” She wanted to make sure, he said she could.
“Yes!” He agreed.
“Ok, I wonder if she made cookies!” She said, bless the creator of brownies and ice cream. He pulled her into his arms, chuckling. Kane called Carter through the link and told him to take her to the kitchen for brownies and ice cream. He kissed her on the head and watched them walk off down the hall before he entered the office again.
“Brownies and ice cream?” Damon asked, causing Johnny to laugh. They all seemed to know about his bribe for her.
“It works for us!” Kane replied.