When I checked my dark web inbox the next morning, I nearly cried with what I found. Inside were dozens of responses to my ordeal yesterday.Somehow, the news of my being taken in for questioning had gotten out, and support had come flooding back in. Truly, it just went to show that the dark web wasn’t something evil but a place where the citizens of Packhaven and Southhaven had come together to show support for one another. And now that included me.Their response also brought up a new resolve. But before I could act on my idea, I needed to double-check with Charles because there was no way that I wanted to implement it without checking with him.
Charles and I were midway through dinner when the door to the apartment burst open, and five officers stormed in, weapons raised.“What’s the meaning of this?” Charles demanded.At the same time, both David and Theo jumped into action but were brushed aside by the officers. The one toward the back stepped forward, holstering his gun.“Elena Laurentia?” he asked.“Yes?” I answered, unable to feel my lips.
Time passed in an incoherent haze of misery. Since there were no windows in the room they’d locked me in, I had no idea how long it had been since they dragged me in there and started torturing me.Every so often, I would awaken back into the nightmare of my incarceration. My eyes were so swollen from the beatings that it was hard to see clearly. Not that it would have mattered. There was nothing inside the cement cell but me.Then, out of nowhere, the guard showed up one day and didn’t go straight to beating me. I knew it was him even though his image was blurred in my vision because I could smell his seaweedy, low-tide scent. It didn’t turn my
I watched the news on and off for the duration of my first day in the infirmary, shocked by all of the changes in Packhaven. Officials were being arrested and brought in, along with CEOs and other high-ranking individuals in various companies around the country.And it wasn’t just Packhaven—the round-up of corruption spread beyond to Lustrum and even Lupinton.All the while, I was being hailed as the hero who had enabled all of this to happen. I gasped when news reporters cited pieces of my articles from the dark web, hailing how I had compiled the evidence in the face of great personal danger.
Two days later, I was sitting in my bed playing cards with Theo when the door opened, and my nurse poked her head in. “Ms. Elena? There’s a Wendy Lowell here to see you.”I smiled. “Sure. Send her in.”Theo’s face went pale. Maybe I should head out or see if David can switch me for the rest of the day. He and Charles ought to be here to eat lunch with you soon.”I laughed. “You’ve been single for a while now. If she’s still that desperate, maybe you could get lucky before she leaves.”
The hospital discharged me four days after Wendy told me about my interview. I’d called Bruce Conroy and asked if he could switch the interview. Not that I’d tried too hard. When he said no, I simply accepted the answer and told Charles he’d denied the request.Charles left the hospital, furious, when I told him the arrangements were for Anthony to pick me up and do the interview, then take me home. He’d slammed the door on his way out, making all the nurses shriek.I knew Anthony had arrived when one of the nurses came in, flushed and fluttering her hand to fan herself. “Elena. He’s here. And you could fry bacon on him he&rsquo
My head pounded, and my stomach churned. These unpleasant sensations pushed a groan from my lips.“What on the goddess’ green earth had just happened?” I groaned.I felt like I’d been bashed in the head. That thought made me jerk upright so fast that my stomach rolled. I patted around the back of my head, running my fingers through my hair, looking for a place where maybe I had been hit over the head. I had enough enemies out there that an attack wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.A blurry room came into focus as I checked myself over. There was so
Theo wrinkled his nose. “I don’t think that’s the case,” he said slowly, taking his time over the words.“How can you be so sure?” I asked.“Because if it really is a plot to discredit you, then what good does it do to leave us in a room naked together where no one can see? Whatever walk of shame we have to take to get out of this building isn’t going to be public enough to have a large-scale impact.”“Yes, but if we’re seen coming out together, then people will assume the worst of us. And maybe even post pictures on