Part 94 (1/2)
He snapped back, startled. ”What?”
”I need to call my sister.”
She swung her legs off the bed, and yelped when her heel touched the floor and she yelped and pulled her foot back up.
”You need to stay off that for a day or so.”
Jennifer shook her head, and pushed her hair away from her face, causing the bandage to pull on the skin. ”I don't know what's going on here. I can't think.”
”Take a minute to breathe and clear your head. I'll get you something to eat.”
He was gone before she could protest. She gingerly tried to stand up, but the sharp pain from her ankle made clearly stated she wouldn't walk for days. Now both her ankles would trouble her. Hopefully this one was just a simple sprain.
The scent of something sweet cooking wafted through the room from downstairs. Jacob came back with a silver tray a few minutes later. Jennifer snorted at the extravagance until he set the tray with pancakes and orange juice on her lap.
He sat at the foot of the bed as she picked up a fork in her trembling hands and began tearing her food into bits.
Jacob threw a handful of pills in his mouth and downed a gla.s.s of milk, wiping his upper lip on the back of his wrist. Jennifer felt a strange chill spread through her.
”How did you know I like pancakes?”
He looked genuinely confused. ”Everyone likes pancakes.”
It had to be the drug he gave her. She shook her head. ”Jacob, don't lie to me.”
”I'm not-”
”You're not a math teacher. Okay, dealing with a punchy eighteen year old is one thing, but you beat down Grayson like he was a child. I've never seen anyone move like that in my entire life.”
”I study tae kwon do as a hobby. I started when-”
”I said don't lie to me,” she snapped. ”I want the truth.”
He looked at the floor. ”It was just a hobby. Started when I was sixteen. I did two years of TKD before I joined the Army. I was already good. I got better.”
”You were in the Army?”
He nodded. ”I joined up and was deployed to Iraq. My uncle spent my college fund and I didn't have anywhere to go. I wanted to be part of something. I was in the s.h.i.+t for about two months when we ran over a bomb. Flipped the Humvee over and set it on fire. There were two survivors. Then they started shooting at us.”
”They who?”
”Local group that ran the town where we were on patrol. They took me prisoner. I don't know what happened to...” he trailed off. ”I was taken. I was pretty banged up. It got worse from there. They patched me up so they could torture me.”
Jennifer swallowed.
”Tortured you how?”
”They cut me. My cellmate was a doctor, or I'd be dead. He patched me up. I think they did it in purpose. He had information they wanted and it was too valuable to risk killing him for it. He talked to me while he worked on me. Told me things.”
”What kinds of things?”
He sighed. ”The doc worked for the Ba'ath party. He came into possession of account numbers and access codes. Anyway, I was there for about nine months. They were going to start in on my face. That's where this came from,” he drew his finger down his cheek.
”Oh my G.o.d.” Jennifer could almost feel the knife.
”I lucked out there. They bombed the compound. The Air Force, I mean. It was a British unit that actually found me. I was in the hospital for another two months before I was sent home. They did their best to patch me up, but...”
”But what?”
”Can I show you?”
Jennifer nodded.
Jacob stood up, took a deep breath, and pulled off his s.h.i.+rt by the collar. The shocking sight almost caused her to dump the plate of food on the floor.
His entire body was covered in scars. There was a smooth, tight scar across his entire stomach, probably a burn, but there were others. Dozens criss-crossed each other in silvery ridges on his chest and back, and he touched a crater that puckered his right shoulder.
”I took a bullet after the explosion. It went right through. If it hit the bone they'd probably have cut off my arm.”
She swallowed. ”Do those hurt?”
”Every day.”
He pulled the s.h.i.+rt back on and tucked the hem around his waist.
She had an overwhelming urge to reach out to him, but kept her hands still.
He looked away. ”Not pretty, I know.”
”When I ran off, it wasn't that. I have problems with people touching me. I got scared.”
”I didn't mean to scare you.”
”You didn't,” she said, shaking her head. ”I know it's not rational, but I can't make it go away. I'm trying. I like you.”
She just blurted it out.
”Christ,” she muttered. ”I sound like a twelve year old. I didn't run off because I felt your scars. I went too fast. I shouldn't have kissed you like that.”
”I'd say you should have.” He was looking at the floor, but she could see his smirk until he drew in a breath and let out a deep sigh.
”I didn't plan on any of this. I thought you'd have moved away by now.”
”Why did you come back here? I want the real reason, not something about giving back or some nonsense like that.”
Jacobs s.h.i.+fted on the bed and rubbed his hands together. ”After I was discharged I went to the Caymans. The money was still there. I opened my own accounts and transferred it over. From there I went to Switzerland and then on to a dozen other tax havens. All numbered accounts. The total was... the total was impressive. Enough for me to do whatever I wanted. I wanted to know what happened to my family.”
”We all already know that.”
”Do we?” he said.