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Ryzen stalled every time I asked him for one, since mine had apparently been ruined in the crash. And he wouldn’t let me use his, not even to check the weather. “Nova, you’ve lost three years of your memory. Looking at news or anything else might be too jarring for you. The doctor said you needed to recover first.”
Sounded like a pile of horseshit to me. For whatever reason, he didn’t want me talking to anyone else. Was it a control thing? Possessiveness and jealousy? Or was it something much worse? I mean, I couldn’t even use a laptop. There were none to be found in the whole house, except for the one in Ryzen’s office. When I asked Valik if I could use his phone, he said Ryzen had confiscated them all from the guards. That he was worried about being tracked by the media, who were like bloodhounds. They all communicated with walkie-talkies only.
Another thing I found strange was there wasn’t a single knife anywhere. No sharp objects. I knew, because I had looked all over after I realized I wasn’t allowed to cut my own food. I searched every drawer and cupboard in the kitchen. No knives. I even went as far as searching the living rooms and bathrooms in case they had them stashed away somewhere. Nothing. Not one damn knife. Now tell me why that was. Was I a danger to myself? Or to someone else? None of this was making sense, and the clearer my head became, the more I realized that Stepford Wife Nova had fucked up somewhere.
It was late in the afternoon when Valik and I were walking around the property. I had been getting little snippets of memories back, random things that didn’t make any sense, like Juliet and I hugging a blond-haired man in an office or petting a cow in the rain, and a man with scars on his face. He was… helping me with something. My body hummed with excitement when the flashes happened, as if they were happy memories, and things that had happened recently. But that made no sense.
Some banging noises drew my attention to a small structure behind the tree line. Valik halted, putting his finger against his lips. I nodded and wrapped my arms around myself. After another thirty seconds, we heard the noises again. He pulled out his gun, and my eyes widened. I knew he was a bodyguard, but hadn’t realized he was actually carrying a weapon. It seemed almost silly, considering there were only a handful of us actually on the island: Ryzen, three or four security guards, and the housekeeper.
Valik walked over to the shack, his gun pointed at the door. The shuffling noises started again, and he pushed the door open slowly, yelling when a little black cat came running out.
“Holy fucking hell,” he bellowed.
I grabbed my stomach, laughter rolling through me as the small cat ran right over to me and started rubbing on my legs.
“Aww, look at this cutie. He’s probably hungry.” I picked him up and he snuggled right into my arms. “Oh, my God, he’s so adorable. Let’s take him back and get him some food.”
“Nova, I don’t think Ryzen is going to like that.”
“Well, Ryzen isn’t here, I’m here. And I say we take him.” I put one hand on my hip and quirked an eyebrow at him.
“Whatever you say, boss lady.” He chuckled and searched inside the shack for any other stragglers. “All clear.”
I rolled my eyes and laughed. We started our walk back to the house, and when we got closer, I saw Ryzen speeding off in one of his fancy cars.
“Where’s he going?” I looked at Valik. The island was isolated, with only a handful of shops and locals, according to Ryzen.
“Maybe to blow off steam.” Valik shrugged. “Sometimes he does that.”
“Interesting,” I whispered and walked up the steps into the house. If Ryzen was gone, then that meant I had a shot at going through his office. I glanced at Valik out of the corner of my eye, my mind racing.
We went into the kitchen, and I pulled out some leftover meat from the night before, shredding it with my fingers for the cat to eat. “We should call him Dracula. Look at those tiny little fangs.” I chuckled as I petted him.
“I guess he is kind of cute.” Valik petted him while he was eating, which Dracula seemed to enjoy. When he was done eating, he shot down the hall and then back to the kitchen, looking at us with wide eyes.
“He’s happy, see?” We both awed at the little black ball of fur as Dracula ran around wild, practically falling over himself when he rounded the corner and went straight for the open door leading into the basement. “Valik, go get him before he gets lost.” I hoped he hadn’t heard the eagerness in my voice.
“Great, now I’m babysitting a cat.” Valik shook his head and walked down the stairs, and when he got to the bottom, I shut the door quietly and locked it.
This might be my only chance. I raced down the hall, and not more than thirty seconds later, I heard Valik calling my name. I’d have to be quick before he got out. A man his size could break down that door with a snap of his fingers if he really wanted to. I hesitated when I got to Ryzen’s office door. What if he came back and found me here?No, no. Just be quick and see if you can find a cell phone.
I rushed in and shut the door behind me. My heart was beating so fast, I could hear it in my ears.
Quick, Nova.
There were pictures of us all over his office, similar to the ones he had shown me before. But now wasn’t the time to look at those. I opened the top drawer first, moving the papers and folders around, but didn’t find a phone.
Come on. He has to have a phone or laptop in here somewhere.
I yanked open the side drawer to the desk and stared at the bottles there. Pain medication. And lots of it. But none of the bottles had my name on it.Houston, we have a problem.Fentanyl. Codeine. Vicodin. Xanax. Holy shit, it was like a damn narcotics lab in the drawer. Something rolled to the back, and I reached in and pulled out a vial of liquid. It was the same bottle Ryzen had shown Riddick. My hand trembled as I read the label.
Alprazolam Clobinax—Benzodiazepines.
What the fuck was this?
“Nova?” Valik yelled out.
Oh, fuck, he’d gotten out already. I slammed the desk drawer shut and ran over to the bookshelf, pulling off the first book I could grab just as Valik walked into the office.
