Mind Games (Games Thriller Series) by J.E. Taylor Page B

the redemption he was looking for.” He glanced in Tom’s direction. “He had every intention of getting her out of there when he returned with you.” Eric stopped talking for a minute and shifted on the couch. He flicked his nail a couple of times. “When Ty left, that son of a bitch hurt her really bad.” He looked up at Tom, waiting for some admonishment for swearing. When there wasn’t any, he continued. “I don’t know exactly what happened, all I know is she shut me out. I couldn’t reach her at all and I panicked. Kind of like Ty did today. So I did the next best thing. I found him and made him promise to protect her.”
    “He saved both our lives, that’s why I care and I think when I fixed him I changed him more than Mom did.” Eric looked down at his hands.
    “He put her in harm’s way Eric.”
    Eric nodded. “I know. I understand more now than I did then.” He took a deep breath. “But he still saved her and then let her go.” He looked up at Tom. “He let you both go.”
    “Is this the first time you’ve talked about this?”
    Eric nodded and Tom put his arm around the boy and gave him a little squeeze.
    “Your mom loves you and your sister very much.”
    “I know,” Eric said. “We miss her.”
    Tom leaned back and rubbed his face. “I’m sorry.”
    Eric shrugged. “It’s ok ay. You made her feel safe.”
     

Chapter 19
     
    Tom pulled out of the driveway and Jessica leaned over, planting a kiss on his cheek.
    “Thank you,” she said.
    “You can thank me when we get home.”
    She smiled and curled up in the seat, putting her head on his lap and he gently ran his fingers through her silky hair thinking of the conversation with Eric.
    Safe. Eric said I made her feel safe. I’m not doing so hot in that department these days.
    He glanced down at her, her chest rising and falling in the pattern of sleep and he sighed, concentrating on the highway in front of him.
    * * * *
    Tom carried her into the house and laid her on the bed, gently taking off her clothes and tucking her under the sheets. Undressing, he dumped his clothes into the hamper and headed to the bathroom without swinging the closet door closed.
    When he stepped out of the bathroom, he froze in his tracks. The sheet lay crumpled at the foot of the bed and Jessica’s wrists were crossed, her arms stretched over her head and his gaze shot to the closet. More specifically, the mirror on the back of the door that now faced the bed.
    Frank grinned back at him.
    “Jessica!” He yelled and tried to run toward the mirror but was slammed into the seat waiting for him where his arms were bound with invisible rope, tightening painfully against his skin.
    “I’m going to have a little fun with your wife, hope you don’t mind.” The ghost in the mirror laughed.
    Tom turned in the direction of the bed, seeing Jessica’s wide wild eyes.
    “No,” she whimpered and her skin broke out in bumps, her breath frosting the air in quick bursts of fear.
    Red handprints appeared on her skin and fury filled every pore as he watched the downward progression. Burning rage shook through him, setting his heart on overdrive and he struggled against the invisible bonds holding him to the chair. Flashbacks of the brutal rape he witnessed in the complex gripped him and panic settled in his bones. “Leave her alone!”
    Tears blurred his vision and frustration joined the already dangerous cocktail mix in his blood. He threw his head back, letting a guttural roar leap from his throat.
    “You’re not going to call Ty like you did this morning?” Frank sneered and pushed her legs wide.
    She struggled, crying against the invisible tape now covering her mouth and turned her head in Tom’s direction.
    He saw the plea in her eyes and almost heard the words Call Him! from under the binds holding her voice in her throat. Tears slid down the side of her cheeks and she arched, her muffled scream of pain snapping his eyes from hers and turning them to the