Catalyst: Book 2 in The Dark Paradise Chronicles Read online

  "Uh, what's going on?" Brody asked, glancing over at Reese, looking for help.

  She felt her heart clench this time and knew this was it. She had to tell him now or she might not muster up the courage to do so later on.

  "I'm going on a weekend camping trip," she said. She hated confrontation. Never knowing how to deal with uncomfortable situations, her body naturally employed a defense mechanism in order to assist her through difficult times. It was the worst thing, too, but she couldn't help it. Every time she was uncomfortable or had to give bad news, she grinned. Like some sadist. Like a fool. And that was exactly what she was doing now. "I'll be gone for the weekend, and Ollo will drop me off to school straight from there."

  "Ollo?" Brody furrowed his brow and took a step toward her. "What does Ollo have to do with this?"

  "Ollo is who I'm going with," Reese said. Her voice was shakier than she wanted it to be, but at least she got it out. "My boyfriend."

  "Why do you have that sick smile on your face?" Brody asked, his face exploding with a red hue. His eyes were like icebergs actively looking for a ship to sink. "You think this is funny, Reese? You're seventeen, and you're going away with an older guy for more than one night! You should be worried about your reputation. Do you want to be known as a whore?"

  "Brody!" their mother admonished, curving her recently manicured fingers around her narrow waist.

  "No, Mom, no," he continued. "She deserves it. Maybe this is the only way she'll understand, because it's true. How could you let her go? How could you? Dad, you can't possibly agree with this."

  "I don't," he said, his voice low but firm. "But I also trust Reese. She has a good head on her shoulders. She would never do anything she isn't comfortable with. And Ollo has never given me a reason to questions his intentions with her."

  "You know Mom and Dad can cut you off if you go through with this," he said. "You're an embarrassment to them, to me, to this family. You know that, right? You're seventeen, for Chrissake! You should act like a lady. There's no reason for you to be spending the night with some guy you've been dating for only a month and a half. You make me sick."

  "Brody." Her mother’s voice was demanding yet controlled. No wonder she commanded attention in every court room she had ever been in. No wonder she was known as the Black Widow. "She came here to tell you to your face what she's doing. She chose to be honest with you when she could have lied."

  "Maybe she should have." His eyes had never left Reese's, and she felt as though she couldn't move. When he spoke, he addressed her directly. "If you leave with him, our relationship is over. Maybe Mom and Dad are fine with this, but I'm not. If you walk out that door, we are done, Reese. Do you hear me? Done."

  "My relationship with Ollo and the decisions I make in regards to that have nothing to do with you, Brody. And if you want to throw our relationship away because of it, that's on you." She wasn't crying, not yet, because the adrenaline coursing through her body kept her standing as tall as her five-foot-two frame could.

  "You're the one walking out that door, Reese."

  It didn't hurt when she hugged her parents goodbye. It didn't hurt that Brody continued to stare daggers into her flesh as she grabbed her stuff and headed out the door. What hurt was that he didn't even look affected at the prospect of their relationship ending because she was honest. As her mother pulled her close, she tried to reassure Reese that in time, Brody would come around, that he just needed space to be angry. But as Ollo put her luggage in the trunk and she buckled her seatbelt, she got an inexplicable feeling that this would be the last time she would ever see any of them again.

  Andie

  Andie was awoken from her surprisingly fitful slumber by someone pounding on the door. Her heart leapt in her throat because she was alone, it was dark, and she was still having nightmares about Bill Bernal attacking her in his father's bank a month ago. She had no idea where the sheen of sweat occupying her bare skin came from, but she was drenched in it, feeling hot and sticky and just plain scared.

  "Ms. Shepherd?" a muffled voice called. "Ms. Andrea Shepherd? It's Commissioner Jarrett. Are you there? I'm afraid it's terribly important."

  Andie managed to catch her breath as Commissioner Jarrett's familiar voice wafted over her senses and slowed her rapidly beating heart. She furrowed her brow. What would he be doing here?

  She wished she was sophisticated enough to own one of those silky pink robes all the Victoria's Secret models wore to throw on over her pajamas, but she was stuck with an old Onyx Panthers football hoodie that she tossed over her polka dotted pajama top, but she had nothing within range to put on over the matching bottoms. Luckily, it was cold enough to believe that she would sleep in the outfit she was currently sporting. She knew her hair was a mess at best, and she hoped that her breath didn't reek badly enough that he could smell it when they talked about whatever it was he needed to talk about.

  After she stood on her toes in order to look through the peephole, ensuring that it was in fact Jarrett and that he was by himself, she unlocked the three locks on the door and opened it up.

  "I'm so sorry to wake you, Ms. Shepherd," the commissioner said, his face flushed. He was out of breath and his face was pinched, his soft blue eyes tense with worry. "May I come in?"

  "Um, yeah." She stepped aside to let him through and locked the door with all three locks behind them. "Is everything okay, Commissioner?"

  "Have you been approached, Ms. Shepherd?" he asked. "By anyone suspicious? Have you spoken with your sister? I thought she was going to Jack Phillip's New Year's party with you and your friends tonight."

  "She had to work," Andie said. Her brow automatically furrowed as she watched the calmest person she knew fly into a tizzy. "Is everything all right with you, Commissioner? You seem kind of intense."

  "I apologize for my behavior," he said as they entered the dining room. Andie turned on the light but kept her frame within the doorway, keeping her pale green eyes on the man before her. "Let's sit. I need to speak with you."

  Andie nodded her head, her mind running away with the many possibilities of why he was here, and they all had to do with one person: Keirah. There could be no other reason the commissioner of Onyx would pay her a personal visit unless something had happened to Keirah.

  "I don't want to worry you, Ms. Shepherd, but Noir has escaped." Though he suggested they sit, Jarrett couldn't seem to help pacing the length of the room, his eyes focused on the floor. "I went to check on your sister, and she's fine."

  Andie let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

  "We have a squad car stationed outside your mother's place on the off chance that he comes for Keirah," he continued. He still wouldn't stop pacing. He still wouldn't look at her. "She's fine. She didn't even realize he had escaped. We have all our available manpower scouring the city for him. Now, when are your friend and her parents returning from their trip?"

  "Late Sunday night," Andie replied. Noir had escaped? How was that even possible? She thought he was locked securely away in the asylum Keirah happened to work at, thanks to the man in front of her.

  Wait a minute. Keirah had to work tonight. Noir happened to escape tonight. It had to be a coincidence…right?

  "Is there anyone you can stay with?" Jarrett asked. He finally stopped in the middle of the floor and threw desperate eyes at her. "It's too dangerous to be alone right now, Ms. Shepherd."

  "What would he want with me?" Andie asked.

  "Probably nothing." He said it as firmly as he could, but Andie knew there was more to it. "But you understand that no one, not even the best psychologists in the country, understand the motives of this man. We can't predict his behavior. He could come after you, after Keirah, or completely ignore your presence. We don't know. So please, is there anyone you can stay with?"

  Andie took a moment to think. Carey and her family were gone. Miranda had absolutely nothing to do with Noir so there was no way she was going to involve her in this, in case Noir d
id come after Andie. Plus, Miranda lived alone, so the safety factor would probably be questionable. Reese was leaving on a camping trip with Ollo for the weekend, and Andie didn't know the family well enough to be comfortable asking them for hospitality.

  There was only one person she could ask, and it was the one person she knew she shouldn't be anywhere near: Jack Phillip. And she knew without a doubt he would say yes without any sort of hesitation. But she didn't want to have to ask him this, not when she'd promised him—not when she told him she wasn't going to need him anymore. It would be nothing less than a sucker punch to her pride.

  "Please, Ms. Shepherd." His tone was pleading, almost begging, but also firm. "Anyone. Your safety should be your biggest concern right now, nothing else."

  He said it like he knew. Maybe he did. But Andie didn't have a choice. She would have to put her pride aside and call him.

  As she walked back to her room to retrieve her cell phone, she idly wondered if Jack ever kept his cell phone on him like a religious person wore a cross around their neck, waiting for a call from her she had promised would never come. Until just a few hours ago. Until now.

  Under Jarrett's penetrating stare, Andie knew she couldn't find some way to get out of this. She took a seat at the dining table and her fingers twitched as she flipped open her phone. She really should get with the century and buy a smartphone, but as of yet, couldn't find a legitimate reason to spend all of that money. Her fingers twitched as she elongated them, and before she knew what she was doing, the tips of her fingers were dialing a number she knew by heart.

  She physically sucked in a breath and gripped her shoulder with her free hand while her other hand pressed the cell phone to her ear. She knew she was hoping for something, but whether that was for him to answer or not to answer, she couldn't say. Instead, she focused on the blaring ring of the cell phone, hoping, hoping, hoping …

  "Hello." The voice on the other end was decidedly female and Andie felt her heart clench painfully. She might have hung up without speaking if the voice hadn't continued. "This is Beverly Phillip. May I ask who's calling?"

  "Beverly?" Andie croaked, relief rushing through her bloodstream the same way oxygen and adrenaline did. "It's Andie. I'm so sorry to bother you so late, but is Jack there? It's important."

  "Oh, I'm sorry, dear, no," she replied, sincerity pervading her tone. "No. See, when Jack is handling his affairs, he leaves me to answer his phone." She paused before adding, "He started doing this after you left. Of course he has his assistants do it throughout the day, but he specifically asked me to answer at night in case you called."

  Andie felt tears accumulate in her eyes. They must have been blatantly noticeable because the commissioner asked in a voice just above a whisper if she was all right. She could only nod her head and attempt to blink them away.

  While Jack is handling his affairs….

  He was out. As Black Wing. Which must mean he was aware Noir had escaped. Her heart—her poor heart, which was taking a serious beating tonight—leapt in her throat at the prospect of anything happening to Jack while he was on-call, so to speak. She had so much she wanted to say to him, to do with him. Why did she walk away when he needed protecting just as much as anyone? And yes, Andie knew she wasn't as strong as he when it came to fighting and defending the people. She wasn't as graceful, as lithe, as intimidating, and she definitely couldn't fly—she had always wondered just where he got those wings, that he could actually fly with, since they looked so real—but she could be his rock, the person he came home to. She could do that that for him. Why shouldn't she? And as long as she wasn’t stupid about the choices she made, she wouldn't even be on anyone's radar. No one would know she could be used against Black Wing. It would all work out.

  "Is everything all right, Andrea?" Beverly was the only person who could get away with saying her full name and have it sound eloquent, like a melody. "Tell me, my dear."

  "I need a place to stay, and I'm so sorry to have to ask since I obviously left, but—"

  "Of course." Beverly's voice was firm as she interrupted her. "You shall stay with us. It's what Jack would want. It's what I want. Are you still at your friend's home? I'll be there. You shouldn't be alone right now."

  Beverly's voice was so commanding that Andie didn't even want to argue. A few grateful tears slipped past her defenses and eclipsed her cheeks.

  "I'm aware of what happened," she continued. "I'm also aware that you can't speak about the issue right now. Just know that I understand, and Jack and I are here for you, and will always be, unlike your mother."

  "I didn't call her," Andie explained, though she didn't know why she was defending her after she kicked her youngest daughter out of the house because she blamed Andie for everything that happened to Keirah.

  "That unto itself says everything," Beverly pointed out. A beat, then, "I apologize, Andrea. I have no right to criticize something that is clearly none of my business. I'll be there in fifteen minutes, all right? See you soon, my dear."

  Once Andie flipped her phone shut, she looked up at the watery silhouette of Commissioner Jarrett, who gazed down at her with clear concern in his eyes. She gave a nod as she tried to find her voice.

  "Yeah," she repeated. "She said yes. I can stay with Jack and Beverly Phillip. She'll be here in fifteen minutes."

  "Good." His smile was tired. "I'll wait with you until I know you're safe, packed in the car, and on the way to the Phillip home. We'll have a squad car circle his place every half hour as well, just to make sure nothing happens to you."

  "Thank you, Commissioner," she murmured as fatigue slowly began to pinch her muscles. "For everything."

  Beverly was there in exactly fifteen minutes, just as she promised. There were still remnants of makeup left on her face and her graying chestnut brown hair still looked starched and smelled of hairspray. She was wearing a green silk robe, which only brought out her forest green eyes, and matching pajama pants.

  "Andrea, my dear," she said after Commissioner Jarrett opened the front door. "Are you all right?"

  Andie nodded. "I'm fine," she murmured, holding her backpack awkwardly, her suitcase leaning against the wall behind her. She wasn't quite sure how she was feeling in that moment, but if she had to describe it, it felt like a pit of guilt, worry, and fatigue, sprinkled with fear, that were being meshed together into a ball by the hands of her stomach. She wished it didn't have to be this way. In all honesty, she wished for her mother—the mother before her father left, who would offer her warm hugs and show her the stars when everyone else was asleep. She wished for that faint scent of jasmine that assured her she was safe and could fall asleep, even after a horrendous nightmare. She wished she had a home. She wished her father hadn't moved out of state. She wished she had someone who she could go to no matter what. She didn't want to bother Jack with this. He had too much on his plate. She knew he would drop everything for her, but that wasn't exactly what she wanted. She missed her mom. She missed her dad. And she definitely missed Keirah.

  Keirah.

  It couldn't be a coincidence that Noir escaped the same night she went into work. Why anyone thought it was a good idea to finish her business internship at the same asylum where Noir was being held was a mystery to her, and if she wasn't feeling so melancholy, she might have told Jarrett that.

  But it was what it was, and it couldn't be changed.

  What Andie wanted to know was how involved Keirah had gotten with Noir before he was finally captured. The two sisters hadn't talked much. Before this whole mess, Andie had been her mother’s favorite, but now Judith seemed to be making up for her unequal parenting techniques by investing all of her attention in Keirah and kicking Andie out of the house. Andie couldn't blame Keirah for lapping up the attention she had craved and deserved, but that didn't mean that Andie had to be excluded from it. She could really use a mom—or even a big sister—right now.

  The thing was, Andie and Keirah had been close as sisters but not as friends. They
had their moments, just as all sisters did. They didn't go out of their way to share secrets, but they asked each other for advice and comforted each other when the occasion called for it. But once Keirah came back from her ordeal with Noir, she was more isolated. She hadn't told Andie anything about it, even when Andie asked general questions. But Andie knew Keirah kept tabs on Noir through the newspaper and any information she could get from the Internet, social media, and the news, but she seemed to have no idea he was at Underwood, which didn’t make sense.

  But no. There was no way Keirah had fallen in love with Noir. And even if Keirah thought she had feelings for the man, it was obviously because of Stockholm Syndrome, and she should have reverted back to normal by now. At least, that was what the Internet said. Maybe recovery was longer. Maybe it was more complicated than this. But at the very least, she had gone through a traumatic ordeal and now she was recovering.

  But if Keirah had absolutely nothing to do with Noir's mysterious escape, how did he get out?

  It didn't matter. That was none of her concern. The only thing she needed to worry about was making sure she was safe.

  The car ride to the mansion was uneventful at best. She was thankful Beverly didn't push her to talk. All Beverly said was she should feel free to roam around the mansion, the kitchen was open to her for anything at any hour, and she would be staying in the same room she’d had when she had stayed with Jack previously.

  When they reached the mansion, Beverly helped her place her things in her room and actually kissed her forehead before trailing down the hallway to her room. For a moment, all Andie could do was to stare down the hall. She wondered if Jack knew she would be staying here with him. She turned, ready to head into the room—her room, however temporary—but something prevented her from doing so. She couldn't move, frozen in that moment. Something gripped her body in place, waiting for her to make the right decision.