My eyes flutter to take in my surroundings. I have to take short breaths, deep ones hurt too much right now. I attempt to take inventory of my new injuries Robert inflicted on me last night. I’m pretty sure a few ribs are broken, my shoulder is definitely dislocated, my left eye is swollen shut, and if my leg isn’t broken from the actual wreck, then it’s a major sprain.

Some of the bruising and cuts are from the wreck. Why anyone would want to chloroform someone while they are driving, I’ll never understand. I knew I was going to hit the tree. I don’t remember the actual wreck, by then I was passed out. I assume it’s why I didn’t have more injuries from it.

Since I woke up, Robert has visited me in this dingy hotel room twice. I’ve been tied to a chair the entire time, except for when he’s allowed one of his girls to come in and let me go to the bathroom. I’m thankful for that small ounce of humanity he’s showing. I would hate to be sitting here in multiple days’ worth of my own pee.

Both times Robert came to see me, it played out the same way. He would yell questions at me. “Where is Sally? Tell me where Sally is. Give her back to me!” Over and over again. I refused to tell him anything and everytime I refused, I was punished. I would rather be beaten than tell him where she is. He acts like she’s a piece of property I stole from him. I’ll die before I let Sally, or any of the other ladies, be hurt by men like Robert again.

The pain is becoming too much for me again, but just before I lose consciousness, I hear yelling from outside my room. I turn my head to look at the door. I learned the hard way not to attempt to call out for help. That was a painful lesson. The curtain on the window is pulled shut, but I can see light coming in from under the door. A shadow stops right outside, and I hear more talking and yelling. I can’t tell if it’s Robert, but I pray it isn’t. I don’t think I can go another round as his punching bag again so soon. A loud shout makes my bruised and battered body tense up. The door flies open and hits the wall with a bang causing me to flinch. I see a shadow approaching me, but I can’t move because I’m still tied to a chair.

“Get a medic!” a man shouts. “Alice, it’s me Detective Duff. I’m just going to cut these ropes off of you. Okay?”

I nod my head yes and sigh in relief. I feel the ropes falling from my wrists, and then my ankles. As soon as I’m free, I collapse into the detective’s arms. My whole body aches and my head is pounding. He gently lays me out on the floor, and I hear a man rush in and announce that he’s the medic as he begins gently checking my injuries. I feel a prick in my hand before I’m lifted up and onto a stretcher. I grunt out in pain and see Detective Duff lean over, telling me it will be over soon. They begin wheeling me to an ambulance when the detective starts asking me questions.

“Alice, I’m not sure how to ask this, but do you need a rape kit?”

I try to smile, but the pain in my face is too much. “No, detective. That’s the one thing that asshole didn’t do.”

He squeezes my hand. “I’ll come by the hospital later for your statement. In the meantime, I’ll contact your friends and let them know we found you.”

That’s the last thing I hear before the darkness takes over.

I wake up to the sound of beeping and pain radiating throughout my body. When I manage to finally get one eye open, the other one is clearly swollen shut, I look around to see I’m in a hospital room. Memories come flooding back to me, and I begin sobbing uncontrollably.

I feel a hand squeezing mine and Zoe says, “Oh, Al. I was so worried about you.”

I get my sobs under control. “How bad do I look, Zoe? Where’s my Dobey?”

“Well, you have a bunch of bruises, a swollen eye, a concussion, your shoulder is dislocated, a couple of broken ribs, your knee is swollen and your left ankle is broken. In other words, you look like hell, Al. Pure hell.”

I take a minute to let it all sink in. I’m just thankful right now to still be alive.

Zoe continues, “I knew something was wrong when you left Dobey at home. He made a mess, but he’s fine. He just misses his mama.” She runs her hand over my forehead, pushing my hair off of my face. “Ben took him to his house to watch until you get home.”

I’m relieved to know that my baby is being taken care of. The meds must be wearing off because I’m starting to feel the pain again. “Zoe, could you call in the nurse?”

“Of course.” She reaches over and pushes the button beside my head. “Do you need more pain medicine?” I nod my head and instantly regret that decision. Zoe talks to whoever it is that answers her page and assures us that someone is on their way.

A nurse walks in a few moments later and changes out my IV bag. “This will make you sleepy soon. Do you want the guys to come back later?”

I look to Zoe with confusion. “Oh, right. When I couldn’t find you, I drove to their house. They called Detective Duff and immediately began searching for you. They’ve been worried about you, Alice.”

My eyelids are getting heavy and I just want to sleep. “I’m too tired to deal with them right now, Zoe, and I don’t want them to see me like this. Can you send them home?”

“Sure thing, dollface,” she says, and then leaves the room.

When I wake again, I hear a loud sound coming from somewhere in the room. Looking down, I see Zoe’s head laying on my bed, her face towards me. The sound is her snoring. I reach my hand over and attempt to close her mouth. She jumps up, tossing her head around slinging the drool that’s running down from her mouth. I can’t control the giggles that escape.

“Alice? Are you okay? Do you need the nurse? Pain meds?”

“Calm down, Zoe. I just have a cramp in my leg and need to shift around some.”

“Here, let me fluff your pillows.” She jerks the ones currently behind my head and begins to swing them around.

“Zoe! What are you doing?”

The door to my room opens and a different nurse walks in. “Is everything alright? I heard you holler from down the hall.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m so sorry. She offered to fluff my pillows, but I don’t think Zoe quite understands the meaning behind fluff.”

The nurse looks over at my best friend who is currently flapping the pillows around like they are her wings. “Oh my. I see what you mean.” She walks over toward Zoe. “Do you mind if I help? I have years of practice doing this.”

Zoe begrudgingly passes the pillows over, then plops herself back down into the chair. The nurse finishes with them, then helps me lean forward so she can put the pillows behind my head. “There, that’s all better.” She takes my blood pressure and temperature, then checks over my IV. She pats my foot. “Everything looks good. The doctor will be in later this morning. Is there anything else you need?”

“No, thank you. I’m alright for now.”

“Okay, dear.” She heads for the door before stopping. “Oh dear, I almost forgot. There’s a waiting room with four handsome brothers waiting to see you. Would you like me to send them in, now that you’re awake?”

“Have they been here long?”

“They were here when I started my rounds last night.”

I can’t believe they stayed. After everything they said to me the other day, why would they want to see me now?

“Alice, they’ve been here since you were brought in yesterday. I told them to go home, but they refused to until at least one of them saw you. They’re some stubborn men.”

Do I want to see them right now? Yes, I do. “Thank you,” I say to the nurse. “Would you please tell them they can come see me?”

She smiles and nods, closing the door behind her.

I lay my head back and close my eyes for a second. The door opening startles me, and I look up to see four very tired looking Michaelson brothers. Cash came through first, his clothes wrinkled and dark circles under his eyes. He stops when he sees me, and I watch him begin to blink rapidly. He begins to walk over to me, reaching out a hand and runs it softly down my cheek. “I am so damn sorry, Alice.” Before he can speak again, he’s pushed aside by Oren, who looks equally wrinkled and exhausted. Oren leans over and places a sweet kiss on my forehead. “Forgive us, please.” Oren steps away and I see Ridge standing by the door. His nose is flared and both of his hands are fisted so tight I can see them turning white from here. I give him a watery smile that he returns before coming over to me. He gently picks up my hand, turning it over and placing a kiss on my palm. “Never again. We won’t let you go again, Alice. I promise you this.” My bed is now surrounded by three of the four brothers. Somehow I knew he wouldn’t come. I didn’t lie to them, but I didn’t tell them the truth either. I take a moment to look at each brother while I try to formulate the words I need to say to them in my head. A light knock on my door interrupts me. I watch North come in, looking rumpled, but still finding a way to seem together.

“Alice.”

“North.”

His eyes roam over my battered face before continuing down my body. My leg, that is currently in a boot from my broken ankle, is the only thing visible.

“You look like hell.”

I snort. “You still look like an ass.”

I swear I see his lips twitch. The jerk wants to smile but he’s refusing to show any emotion. Yet, he continues walking towards me; instead of coming to my bed, he pulls the chair from the corner and sits down. He looks like he’s about to ask me something when there is another knock on the door. Man this room is getting crowded.

Detective Duff pokes his head in. “Hello, Alice. Can I ask you some questions? We need to get your statement while everything is fresh.”

Zoe turns toward him, and gives him a look that says she’s about to rip his head off. I place my hand on her arm to stop her.

“Of course, Detective. Please come on in.”

He looks around the room. “Maybe privately?”

“Ask your questions, Detective. I have no secrets to keep.” I give North a pointed look. I hope he understands what I’m saying. I don’t want anymore secrets between us.

North stands, offering the Detective his seat. He pulls out a small tape recorder, they still have those things, and begins asking me questions.

“Let’s start with the day you disappeared. What happened after you left my office Monday?”

I close my eyes and think back. “I left your office and called Zoe while I was still in the parking lot. I told her about your idea to exhume my dad. I decided to take the long way home, to clear my head. I was about two miles from the turn off to head home when Robert made himself known. I had no idea he was in the backseat. I remember he said something, I can’t remember what, then put a cloth over my nose and mouth. I saw the tree and I knew we were going to wreck, so I headed for it. I didn’t want to risk hitting someone and I hoped it would stop us with the least amount of damage.”

“Do you remember anything immediately after the wreck?”

I shake my head. “No. I woke up later that night, in the room you found me in. I’ve been there, tied to a chair the whole time. Robert would send in one of his women to take me to the bathroom, but other than that, I wasn’t allowed to leave that chair.”

The doctor said some of your injures didn’t happen in the accident. Can you tell me how you got those, Alice?”

I look around the room. I knew sooner or later that I would have to tell them what happened. “There were two other men besides Robert. They took turns beating on me. Kicking, slapping, a few times they used their fist, and sometimes they would rip at my hair. Everything they did was to leave a mark. None of them touched me in any other way.”

I flinch when Ridge turns and slams his fist into the wall. A nurse opens the door, but Detective Duff waves her off. “Ridge,” I call out softly to him. “Ridge, please look at me.” I watch his shoulders move up and down and see his head drop. He finally turns, looking me in the eyes. I hold my hand out, silently asking him to come closer. North takes a step back, allowing him to get closer to me. Ridge grabs my hand. “If you don’t want to hear this, I understand. I don’t want you to stay in here and get upset.”

Ridge leans over, pressing his lips to mine. “I just needed a moment, Hot Lips. I’m okay now.” I smile at his use of my nickname.

“Alice, do you have any idea why Robert Andrews would want to kidnap you?”

“Yes, I do. Zoe and I ran into Sally, an old friend of mine about a month ago. Robert was her pimp and we paid him a thousand dollars so she could stay with us for the night. I couldn’t let her go back, and I just happened to have a warehouse that was in the middle of being converted into apartments. With her help, we turned it into a low-income housing for other women with kids that wanted to get out of prostitution.” Detective Duff is looking at me with a mixture of awe, and ‘this lady has lost her damn mind’. “Each woman agreed that in order to stay there, they would take random drug tests and either go to community college or trade school. I just wanted to help Sally and others like her.”

“Robert Andrews was this friend, Sally’s, pimp?”

“Ex-pimp, yes.”

“He took you because you took Sally,” he says, as a statement.

“Correct.”

“Did Robert ever say anything to you while you were being held?”

The memories of the beatings rush back to me and I shudder. “He would yell at me. First he would ask me where she is. I would refuse to tell him, so he would beat me. He’d yell that I stole her so he had to punish me. He was so angry that I wouldn’t tell him where she was now.” The tears are streaming down my face. “I couldn’t tell him. I refused to allow her, any of them, to be hurt ever again.”

I feel someone squeezing my good foot and when I look, I see it’s Cash. “You did the right thing, Alice. There’s no telling what he would have done if he knew where they all were. I’m furious that you were hurt. If we had known about the situation sooner,” his mouth flattens into a straight line, “we could have done more to protect you and them. Don’t keep something like this from us again.”

The tears that were falling, have now stopped. Did he really just tell me I should have told them everything? “I tried to tell you, Cash. When you called me to your office,” I spit the word out, “and told me it was over, I tried to tell you everything. You wouldn't listen. No one would. Don’t sit here and tell me that I should have told you anything. I did what I had to do to protect my company and those women. You can take your holier-than-thou attitude right out of here.”

I fall back on my bed, suddenly too exhausted to talk anymore. I think Detective Duff can see this, because he thanks me for the information. “Alice, I think I have all I need for now. You have my number if you need anything. Do you have any questions for me before I go?”

“Did you catch Robert? What about my dad? And Uncle Richie? Has he been picked up yet?”

“Yes, we caught Robert. He’s pleaded guilty so unless his attorney changes his mind, there won’t be a trial. You shouldn’t have to see him again. As far as your uncle goes, we exhumed your dad two days ago. We should have the autopsy report back tomorrow at the latest along with the PI’s report on his different accounts and embezzlement charges. As soon as that comes in, we’ll pick him up immediately. I promise to call before we do anything.”

“Thank you, Detective Duff. I appreciate everything you’re doing.”

He stands and reaches over to pat me on the arm as he says, “Anything you need, don’t hesitate to call.”

I watch the detective leave, then turn my gaze back on the four brothers. “I’m tired, emotionally and physically. I would like to be alone for a while.”

“Alice, please don’t shut us out.”

“I’m not shutting you out, Oren. I’m exhausted and I just need time. Please, give me time to think and try to figure out what's best for me.”

“Alice…”

“It’s okay, Oren. We understand, Alice.” Cash turns toward Zoe. “Call us if anything changes.” He then turns his eyes back to me. “We’ll be waiting for your call, Alice. Please, don’t make us wait too long.”

The Michaelson brothers file out of my room slowly, each one taking a moment to touch me in someway. Once they are gone, I glance at my best friend. “Go home, Zoe. Take a shower, get some real rest, and check on my dog, please. I’m not going anywhere today.”

“I don’t want to leave you alone, Al.”

“I’m fine. I’m going to turn on the TV and do something I never do, watch bad daytime soap operas. I promise, I’ll be fine. I really need to know how Dobey is.”

I give her my best puppy dog face. “Fine,” Zoe grumbles, but starts picking up her purse. “You call me after the doctor comes in. I want to know everything he says. In fact, you call me when he gets here and put it on speaker.”

I laugh. “Yes, mother.”

“Smartass. Seriously, call me.”

I nod and watch her leave, closing the door behind her. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, going back over everything that has happened this week. I push aside the kidnapping and Robert, Detective Duff has that handled. Uncle Richie, I can’t worry about him until the reports come back. The Michaelson brothers, well, that’s just not something I think I’m in the right frame of mind to think about right now. What I can concentrate on is my shop and what it’ll take to expand and open a second one. My eyelids grow heavy and I fall asleep with a plan in my head and a smile on my face. What none of them understand is that Alice Du-Kane is not to be taken lightly. I’m pulling up my big girl panties and taking back control.