Jack In The Box novel Chapter 39

Riley

“You have to get me out of here.” I said.

“Not now, Riley. I can’t.” Ezra said. “It’s safe for you to stay in the facility. There are guards outside. You’re safe there. The police are going after Ken. As soon as we have him in custody and get a confession out of him, you will remain locked up.”

“So you’re leaving me here?”

“We don’t have a choice. Jack’s awake and I have enough pressure from the chief of bureau to find the killer, wrap up this case and get on with it. I can’t have you running around trying to help me only to get yourself in more trouble.” I had never heard Ezra more pissed in his life. “Besides, you’re Ken’s sister and that makes you a suspect too.”

“It’s funny how my roles keep changing. I turn from an innocent victim to a lunatic murder having blackouts to a suspect who supported his brother in the killings. That’s very nice. I guess the FBI can learn to keep some consistency.”

Ezra heard the jibe loud and clear. “I’m doing my job.”

“Look, Ezra—”

He hung up on the call before I could utter another word.

I was completely alone now, in the literal sense. Even James was involved in this now, because I was foolish enough to send him up to my apartment. If something happened to James, I didn’t think I could forgive myself.

After dinner that day before I could go to bed, I picked up the chair lying in the corner of the room and put it against the window. I climbed it and tried to pry open the lock on the bars. It wasn’t easy. All those things they showed in the crime tv shows was all a bunch of bull. I only ended up panting and feeling drained. If it was Jack, I’m sure he would have found a way to walk out of the asylum without batting an eye.

“Need help getting out?” Jose, the Nurse asked.

I almost jumped out of my skin and the chair tumbled in the process. I had been so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn’t even heard him unlock the door and walk in.

“Will you help me?” I asked even though Jose was the last person I wanted help from.

Jose was known to be a womanizer, and there was the fact that he was popular with the ladies for all the wrong reasons. He was good looking with the shabby blond hair and blue eyes, not in the movie star gorgeous way, but just nice to look at. I’d heard rumors from fellow patients that he sometimes slipped into some patient’s room for a good screw. Recently, I’d seen him eyeball me more than on one occasion and it made my skin crawl.

He smirked, the kind that made me want to punch his face. “What do I get in return?”

“What do you want?” I asked.

He looked me up and down, “Let’s see. Getting you out of the asylum unnoticed would have a high price. If you could open your blouse and let me suck your tits, I’ll consider.”

“You’re joking.” I said. “I have some money; I can give you all of it.”

He wasn’t even listening. “Or you could let me fuck you and I’ll slip you out of here nice and easy.” His eyes looked at me greedily.

“Or how about you fuck off from my room?” I asked. “I think that would be even better.”

The color drained from his face, I think he was used to getting his way with the ladies here. He shut the door behind him muttering something.

Three days passed and I hadn’t heard from anyone. I wanted to see Jack more than anything. I was relieved to know that he was alright and that he was awake. If he had at least called me once. I just wanted to hear his voice. The doctors here were being nice, but I didn’t miss the way they looked at me, like there was something seriously wrong. She said patients who appeared normal were actually the most disturbed. I assured the doctor that I was completely normal and I was stuck here because of a misunderstanding. They didn’t believe me.

That evening I had a simple meal of egg salad sandwich, and then I watched some tv in the leisure room, hoping the nurses would inform me that I had a call from Jackson. I decided to have a bath before I went to bed, since most of the patients had had their baths before me, when I went to take the shower, the water was already running cold. I realized I ran out of luck a long time back.

I went to sleep thinking of Jack, and my brother. I wondered what Ken was doing. If he was running from the police or if they had caught him, I was hoping they had so all this would come to an end. I wished Ken didn’t kill those people, and it was all a misunderstanding. And then I could finally sleep in my comfy bed, maybe live a normal life with Jack.

How nice it would be to date him? I wondered. What kind of a boyfriend was Jack? Would he pull the chair out for me if we walked into a restaurant or do no such thing because he considered me his equal? Would he ask me what I preferred to eat or order something for the both of us?

I slipped into a dream where everything was alright. Then I woke up when I heard the lock turn. My eyes opened and I saw a tall form looming above, standing beside my bed.

“Hey Sugar.” He whispered in a sultry voice.

Jackson?

It took me a whole second to realize it was Jose. I sat upright; all the sleep had completely abandoned me. “What are you doing here, Jose?”

He kept staring at me for a creepily long time. The clock on the wall ticked to three thirty. I had a feeling like something bad was going to happen to me. The clock ticking was the only sound in the room.

He put a finger to his lips and brought his face really close to mine. “Shhhh…keep your voice down.” He slurred.

He was drunk and I could smell the alcohol on his breath. I pushed him away. “Get out of here!”