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He turned quickly, his hand up to fight, but then they came down, fists were released. “That’s Tony. He helped me get to you…”
I tried to yell to Frank, the guy was not a friend. He was hit from the back side, and I called out, but it was too late. It knocked him out and I warily looked to the man coming toward me. They were all big, purposeful and every single one of the guys I’d met lately were ones that were far too much for me.
“You and I have some talking to do. You may have convinced Frank that you are sweet and innocent, but I don’t buy it for a second. Look at you, up to no good.”
He came toward me, and I knew then that I wasn’t saved, not by a long shot. My savior was on the ground, and I was now all by myself.
* * *
Tony wasthe commander of the unit that Frank and many of the dead guys were on. I could see how he was upset, he’d lost a lot of his crew, but that had nothing to do with me, which was annoying that I was dragged into the middle of this. It wasn’t my fault that any of this had happened, but Tony was convinced that I had pulled them out of hiding with my siren’s call. It wasn’t true, of course, but I had been used to find out who they were.
I tried to tell Tony that I had been played like he was, but he didn’t want to hear it. He was convinced that this was all some plan that I had to pull them out of hiding for Jeff to kill them. He was obviously not thinking clearly, it didn’t seem like any of them were. I didn’t know how to talk him out of taking me and then I was being dragged away. He was going to get answers and I didn’t want to think about how he was going to get them. I had a good guess, but that didn’t mean that I wanted to believe it to be true.
When we got to another house, I just went with it. I was to the point where I didn’t know what to think anymore. I worried about Frank and what would happen when he came to. He hadn’t been dead, but he might have really hurt himself. Me, well, Tony was off his rocker a bit, but I kept thinking that the truth would win out. If he wanted answers, I’d give them to him and eventually he would see that I was telling the truth.
A lot happened with Tony that I figured would. I just gave in to what was happening to me and around me. I had no choice but to go with it. I was done trying to fight it. A peace came over me, because I knew that everything would somehow be okay. I didn’t know why I felt that way, I had no proof of it, but I had hope.
Just like I knew would happen, I was eventually let go. I was worse for wear, and it was close to a week later, but everything worked itself out. Tony finally believed me that I had nothing to do with it, and I was just as played as they were. He’d lost a lot and I had more sympathy for him than anything else. I felt bad with how everything had worked out. He had failed his unit and hadn’t really done anything to deserve it. Tony got my sympathy; I couldn’t hate him.
Frank was the first thing on my mind when I finally got free of Tony. I was home, my mind was churning with everything that had happened, but I wanted to see Frank. He was all I could think of and as soon as I was safe and had taken a shower, I was on the phone with him.
He didn’t want to talk long, insisting that he come over. I didn’t know what he thought he was going to find or why he was acting the way he was, but I agreed that he should come. I wanted nothing more than to be in his arms. I was shaking inside, trembling with need and anticipation, as well as nerves. It had been a long ten days, and I was ready to be on the other side of it. He wanted to talk about everything in depth and I wasn’t ready for that.
Frank kissed me when he finally got there, and I was in heaven for a moment. That moment didn’t last very long. After the short kiss, it was onto the questions, and I could tell that Frank wasn’t taking it well. He blamed himself, even if I didn’t. How could I convince him that I was okay? How could I pull him back from an edge that I didn’t understand? I was the one that had gone through hell. I wanted to forget about it and get on with my life. That’s what I wanted to happen, not harping on it all. I was ready to move on with Frank, but he really didn’t want to.
22
Frank
When Amber contacted me, I didn’t know what to say. Her voice on the phone was obviously a relief to hear, but that wasn’t the only emotion I felt about it. There was much more. She had been taken right out from underneath me, by the guy that I had driven with me there.
I knew that Tony was going to try something or at least I knew that he wanted to. I guess I didn’t believe that he would do something like he did. I thought that I would be able to talk some sense into him, but that hadn’t happened. Instead, he had hit me and taken her away. It had been over a week since she’d been gone. I’d spent all that time looking for her and I swear there was nothing I could do about it. I tried to find her, but it was the call that finally brought her back into my life.
She was in my arms, clinging to me and I could barely look at her. I knew that Amber was hurt, I could see the marks on her face, and I knew what Tony had done to get his answers. He was the sort that liked torture and had always volunteered when one of our missions needed us to extract information. He hadn’t cared if it was a male or a female and by the look of her face, the state of her from just what I could see, he still didn’t care. Tony hadn’t cared that Amber was the woman that I loved. He would have killed her if she had anything to do with it, so I knew for a fact that she hadn’t. I knew that already, but now he knew. He had let her go. Had she promised to not say anything? Was I supposed to let it go?
There were too many questions that I had going through my head. When I pulled away, Amber’s face was smiling, but her eyes were pained. I could see that she had aged while she was with Tony. I didn’t like what she had to go through. I could only imagine. Whatever it was had changed her and it was all my fault. How could I look at her, knowing what I had done and what had happened because of me?
“It’s okay, Frank.”
“I think you now know my name is Baron.”
Amber nodded and said that she had been told that. “I wasn’t sure if it was true or not. I like that name. Baron. Is that what you want to be called now?” she asked with a big smile and glimmer on her lips.
I said that it would be fine, whatever she wanted to call me. “Frank is my middle name. It’s been in my family for many generations, so it was something that I was called a lot when I was younger.” I could hear my voice, trailing off. What was I supposed to say to her, when I felt so bad about everything?
“I’m so sorry, Amber…” I started. She waved me off and said that she didn’t want to hear it.
“It’s not like it’s your fault, so let’s not even go down that route. It happened and I just want to move on.”
I didn’t believe her about moving on. She needed to talk about it, get her feelings out. She needed revenge. I wanted it for her, and I started to assure her that I was going to find Tony and make him pay.
Amber didn’t want to hear that either. “You should leave him alone, Baron. He has nothing.”
“You feel sorry for him, after everything he did to you?” I asked incredulously. How could she forgive him like that?
“I do. He really thought that I had something to do with it, and he had to get his revenge for them. Why would I want to do the same thing?”
“Because after everything he did to you, he deserves something bad to happen to him.” Why was I the only one that seemed to understand that?
