Chapter 5-

Pain swirled through every ounce of her body. Slowly she opened her eyes, but still everything remained black. Gasping she reached up and touched her face. More pain was released as her fingers connected with the swollen bruises Brad’s beating had left. She moaned and struggled to get upright. It was a fight, but somehow she moved into a sitting position. The wall was cool against her back as she leaned against it. Gradually her eyes were adjusting to the inky blackness of the room. It appeared that she was sitting on a cot of sorts. Directly across the room she could make out the outline of a door. She shifted her legs and carefully swung them over the side of the bed. A wave of dizziness and nausea confronted her. Gripping the edges of the bed, she fought against the horrible pain. Finally it abated enough that she was able to push herself into a standing position. Once again she had to pause before struggling to move forward. Despite the short distance from the bed to the door, it seemed to take forever to cross it. Once there though she realized the obvious, the door was locked. Groping along the wall she searched for a light switch and felt extreme relief when her fingers stumbled upon one. The sudden light flickered and afflicted a new pain on her eyes. The welcome change from absolute darkness to even the dim light was abrupt. Feeling entirely spent she slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor next to the door. Closing her eyes she let her exhaustion take over.

She was awakened from her slumber by the sound of a key turning and the door swinging open. Bright light flooded into the small room, but was quickly obscured as Brad came through the doorway. Blinking away the last fingers of sleep, she tilted her head back to look up at him. His eyes widened a bit as he looked her over. Then a slow, vicious smile spread across his face. “Where am I?” she whispered hoarsely. Her mouth was as dry as cotton.

Brad crossed the room to lean against the bed. “Somewhere you’ll stay hidden until I decided how to deal with the mess you’ve created.”

Frowning, Lola struggled to stand, using the wall for support. “Where’s Jaden?”

“You will stay within this building with no exceptions,” Brad dictated, completely ignoring her question. “You can move freely about the building, but one foot outside and perhaps I’ll have to lose my temper again.” Stepping forward he gently ran his fingers over the bruise above her left eye.

Flinching she tried to move away, but stumbled. Somehow she managed to catch herself before falling completely. “I’ve done everything you wanted, Brad. I want to see Jaden.”

Brad strode back through the doorway, leaving it open, and speaking as he went. “Selena will keep an eye on you within the building, but if you try to leave there are others outside who will stop you.”

Before he could change his mind and lock her back into the room, she slowly followed him out and up the set of stairs that immediately rose up in front of her. When she reached the top Brad was already gone. Sighing, she glanced around. The room was dusty and large windows made up the front. Unfortunately they’d been painted black; you could only see out in small spots where the paint had worn thin. There were two empty tables in the otherwise barren room. The sound of something falling drew her attention to the doorway behind her. Hesitantly she limped to it and gently pushed the door open. Abandoned bits and pieces of furniture and the like were piled up and falling apart. In the midst of the mess stood a petite woman carrying what looked to be a take-out bag.

“Hello,” Lola said with a brief, hesitant smile.

Dark hair swirled as the other woman turned to face Lola. Her eyes widened with sympathy as she took in Lola’s battered appearance. “I brought you some food?” she replied quietly holding the bag out.

“Thank you,” taking the bag carefully, Lola’s mouth watered at the lovely smells accosting her nostrils. “I’m Lola.”

“Yes, I know.” A small smile lightened the younger woman’s countenance. “My name is Selena.”

Giving up on finding a suitable place to eat she set the bag on the floor and lowered herself beside it. Opening it she pulled out a white, carryout box. She lifted the lid and glanced inside. It contained a delicious looking taco salad.

“There’s a fork in the bottom of the bag,” Selena offered softly. “I wasn’t sure what you would like, so I hope that’s all right.”

Smiling, Lola found the fork and began to dig into the salad. “It’s wonderful, thank you so much.” The food was like Heaven to her hungry stomach. As she ate she studied Selena. She appeared to be about the same age, but they were opposites in everything else. Where Lola was blonde-haired and blue-eyed, Selena’s hair was a rich, natural black and here eyes were a glowing brown. Selena barely appeared to reach five-foot and looked exceedingly small compared to Lola’s five-foot, eight-inch height. “Do you work for Brad?” she asked out of curiosity.

A flicker of sadness crossed Selena’s face. “I am Brad’s.”

…………………….

Bruce had arrived before Lucas and was already seated with a cup of coffee when he finally came in. “I ordered you a coffee,” he said without looking up.

Sliding into the booth across the table, Lucas grinned. “Thanks, I’m going to need it. What has you so interested?”

Glancing up Bruce smiled. “I found these papers hidden in the book.”

Lucas’s eyebrows rose. “The one dropped by your mystery lady?”

The waitress appeared with Lucas’s coffee and they gave her their orders. Once she’d taken them down and walked away, they resumed their conversation.

“She is not my ‘mystery lady’,” Bruce argued with a frown.

Lucas smiled and stirred several spoonfuls of sugar into his coffee. “So what is so intriguing about these papers that you would give up looking at my handsome face?”

Bruce pushed them across the table for Lucas’s perusal. Taking a sip of his coffee Bruce studied Lucas’s face as he read. “What do you think?” he asked.

Leaning back in his seat, Lucas ran a hand through his hair. “Wow,” he replied. “That’s a heavy story.”

Bruce nodded. “But do you think it’s fact or fiction, Luc?”

“I could see it swinging either way, but I definitely think you should look into it,” Lucas answered carefully.

“I drove by the area on my way here, and I didn’t realize we were so close to your dad’s law office,” Bruce mused aloud.

“You know he retired last year, Bruce,” Lucas said with a laugh. “Don’t you remember the party with the confetti and Andrew getting hit on by the drunk receptionist?”

Bruce rolled his eyes. “Yes, Luc, but I remember him working there since before you were out of diapers. It’s hard to adjust.”

Their food arrived and they ate while discussing the renovations of the airport. Until Lucas had to leave for his flight and Bruce decided to begin a bit of investigating.

Well this is definitely not my best chapter, but it'll do for now. Sorry for any mistakes I've been typing this with an awful headache, so I plead the fifth.

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