Chapter Four: Steele

Steele watched Tremaine closely as he took the  woman by her shoulders and gazed into her wide  eyes. Steele could feel her fear and it put his body  on high alert. He suddenly felt wildly protective of  her.  

“There’s my T. girl,” Tremaine purred as he  ran his hands up her neck and his thumbs pressed  against the tender skin of her neck. “Where have  you been? Why haven’t you taken my calls?” he  continued as he stood over her with his hands  around her throat.  

Steele could see her attempt to swallow before  she spoke in a tiny voice, “Who are you?”  This answer surprised everyone and Steele  wondered what dangerous game she was playing.  His eyes narrowed as he took in the scene before  him.  

Tremaine threw his head back and laughed  loudly.  

 “You are a riot. If I wasn’t so crazy about you,  I’d kill you right now,” Tremaine said and then  leaned down to look deeply into her eyes. “Where  have you been, Tabitha? Answer me!” He spoke  more forcefully now and the humor was gone from  his voice.  

Tears began to well in her eyes again but she  spoke with a much stronger voice this time, “I don’t know you. I’ve never seen you before in my  life. What do you want from me?”  

Tremaine let go of her and turned to look at  Steele. He could see the fury in Tremaine’s eyes  and it bubbled just beneath the surface. He ran a  hand through his own hair in a frustrated gesture.  

“What is she talking about, Steele? Is she toying  with me?”  

Steele looked at the woman and something  about her just didn’t seem right. He wondered if  the knock-out drugs he’d injected her with had  somehow temporarily altered her memory. He  couldn’t be sure what effect they would have on an  individual. It could be that or there could be  something else going on here. He just had a bad  feeling about this. Something was so different  about this woman from the one he’d seen hanging  around Tremaine recently. She looked the same,  but she just felt different. He couldn’t describe the  feeling, but he trusted his gut. It never let him  down.  

He motioned for Tremaine to step aside with  him.  

Tremaine looked back at Tabby, but then  stepped over to Steele and turned his back to her.  Steele leaned down and spoke quietly to  Tremaine. “There is something odd going on with  this woman. I’m wondering if she’s having some  sort of temporary amnesia from the sedative I gave  her.” 

Tremaine pursed his lips and then exhaled.  “Find out what is going on with her. If she’s playing  some sort of game, you tell her to snap out of it.  I’m not playing any more games. Tell her that I’m  serious.”  

Steele nodded.  

Tremaine walked back over to Tabitha and put  his face less than an inch from hers. He grasped her  by the shoulders and held tightly. Steele could see  his forearms flexing and knew that he was  squeezing her roughly. He felt a moment of anger  towards his boss, but he held his reaction in check.  

“You take a moment to get yourself together and  then I want two things from you, little girl,”  Tremaine snarled at Tabby.  

She seemed frozen in time. She didn’t even  appear to be breathing. Steele could see that  Tremaine terrified her. She wasn’t the first.  

“I want you to tell me where my money is  located. Then I want you naked in my bed.”  She let out a small gasp and began to struggle  against her restraints. As if enjoying her terror, he  reached down and slipped his hand between her  thighs. She squeezed her legs together as if to stop  his hand.  

She let out a small scream and Steele took a  step forward. Tremaine had his back to Steele but  Tabby looked up and saw him make the move  towards her. Steele slowly shook his head in a “no”  motion and Tabby stifled her scream. 

Tremaine snorted and then turned and left the  room as abruptly as he’d entered. The two oafish  body guards left with him, and she was alone with  Steele once again.