Resurrected Read online

  She sat silent, listening to the voices. “If she didn’t come here last night she won’t show today.” One of them had said. She didn’t recognize the voice, only that it was a woman.

  “True. By now she would realize that would be a grave mistake.”

  She did recognize that voice. It was the voice of the man who had only hours ago tried to justify killing her. She heard the closet door open. A box fell to the floor, she could hear the loud thud and it startled her, but she refused to move. One movement would give her hiding place away so she sat as still as she could.

  She knew this hiding place was well secure. She had found Brent hiding there during one of his hide and seek games. “Oh, mommy how did you know?” He stared at her. His baby blue eyes broke the panic she had felt when she hadn’t been able to find him.

  “Don’t you ever hide in there again young man,” she had said as she pulled him from the crawl space. Two days later he was there again. If it hadn’t been for the slight bit of movement he had made she would have never found him. Right now, she didn’t want to be found so she sat still, and kept her breathing as quiet as she could.

  Lisa feared Dr. Colino would hear her heart pounding. When she heard the closet door pull shut she knew he hadn’t. She waited for what seemed like an eternity before trying to get out of her hiding place. She pushed on the panel, but it wouldn’t budge. “Great. Just great.”

  John stopped short of the bedroom door when he saw the duffle bag sitting bedside. “Lisa!” She had promised not to leave. “Lisa!” He ran through the house. He hadn’t exactly given her much of a reason to stay, but he never thought she would sneak away.

  “John,” she called back the moment he neared Brent’s room. “I’m in here. I can’t get out.”

  John pushed the toy chest aside, quickly removing the panel and pulling Lisa out.

  “That so was not made for an adult,” she massaged her legs.

  “You were going to leave.”

  “I was going to leave a note.” She unsteadily walked back to their bedroom.

  “A note!”

  “Look, I know it’s not the best way to do things, but I knew they would come back and I was right. If they find me here they’ll kill both of you. I was doing what’s best for you and Brent.”

  “No, you’re just some damn clone doing what you think is best for you.”

  Lisa looked at him and he could see the shock registering in her eyes. He could also see her anger, that look of unadulterated anger that he had only seen once before during their time together.

  “For you this is easy!”

  “You think this is easy!” He waved his hand dismissingly. How the hell could she say this was easy for him?

  “Yes I do. Because for you, you let go of Lisa, of me. For me, I went to sleep in that hospital and I woke up in some strange sterile room. For me it hasn’t been six months, or seven, or even eight,” she screamed. “I wasn’t given clothes because I wasn’t considered to be worthy of humane treatment. And I come here and you, my husband, the man I remember being so passionate with me, you look at me as if I’m some sick lab experiment.” Tears flooded her eyes, spilling down her cheeks.

  “Let you go! Like hell I had. I miss you every night, every morning, every second. But I found a way to keep it together and then you show up. I don’t look at you like an experiment. I’m pushing you away because I don’t know how to love you without feeling like I’m betraying her memory.” For the first time John let honesty prevail and for the first time he let Lisa see his true emotion.

  “Why can’t you just love me as Lisa? Let this be a miracle that brought me back to you and not a mistake that causes you pain.”

  He took her in his arms, kissing her fiercely, ravaging her mouth as if it were his last chance for pleasure. “Stay with me,” he pressed the palm of his hand to her breast. “Stay with me,” he repeated as he caressed her gently.

  “How?” She whispered breathlessly.

  “We’ll find a way; just stay with me, Lisa. Please stay with me?” His tone begged her to listen, to stay, and to never leave him again.

  “I’ll stay with you, but only as your wife, John. I can’t be less to you. Please don’t make me be less.”

  “I won’t,” he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed. “God help me, but I can’t let you go again,” he plunged his tongue into her mouth. He remembered her taste, her smell, the softness of her body.

  “Oh, God, John!” She pulled at his shirt, ripping the buttons free. “I want you,” she moaned as his hands slipped beneath her shirt to caress her warm, caramel skin.

  “It’s been too long since I’ve held you, love.” He whispered as he let his hands explore her body. So many nights he dreamed of the passion they had shared. He missed her. He had prayed to whatever god was listening to ease his pain, and now his prayers had been answered. She had come back to him and he wouldn’t lose her again.

  John pushed away the last hint of fabric separating their bodies. “I missed you so much, Lisa. You just don’t know how much I wished it were me in that car…”

  “Don’t,” she pressed her finger gently to his lips. “I’m glad it wasn’t you. And as much as I hate being grown in a lab, I’m glad they brought me back. Fate always has a way, John.”

  He had his Lisa back. She was his, and if anybody tried to take her from him again he would kill them without hesitation. He kissed her softly, tasting her mouth once more as he lifted her legs and she wrapped them around his waist. He slid into her, slowly and completely. He listened to every moan she made as he pulled out and pushed back inside of her. She was so hot and moist. He loved the feel of her, needed the feel of her, and so he took her the way a man should take his wife—completely, with unbridled passion until his seed erupted inside of her and she called out his name, milking every last drop from his hardened penis.

  “It’s almost time for you to go pick up Brent from school.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I don’t want to move from this spot, but you’re right; it’s almost time.”

  She giggled. “You are such a horny man.”

  “I haven’t had sex since you died…um…since she died…how does this work?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. In my mind I’m the same woman that was in that accident. I have all of my memories up until that day. But I…she…died, and it’s hard for me to think of the Lisa in that grave as anybody other than myself. I’m trying, but I don’t know how.” She couldn’t talk about herself as if she weren’t Lisa forever. In her mind she hadn’t died, but in their world she had. Plus, technically speaking, she wasn’t Lisa; she was Lisa’s clone. “I guess the real question is how do we make this work? I don’t think I can hide here forever.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that.”

  “Between the first orgasm and the fifth?”

  He laughed heartedly. “While I was taking Brent to school. After I told him he had to act the same way he normally did in school, taking the blanket and all…” He shook his head before continuing. “He’s so happy you’re back and while I was musing aloud, he made a comment that we should run away.”

  “Your life is here, John.” She wouldn’t ask him to give that up.

  “You’re my life. And I’ll leave everything behind to be with you. So I was thinking about that sanctuary your mother runs on Lados Island.”

  She laughed. “My mother, the life saver. She has an amazing talent for that stuff.” And since she had married a billionaire who shared her passion they had started the sanctuary on his private island ten years ago and they had saved so many endangered animals and relocated them once it was safe. “You want me to go there?”

  “I want us to go there.”

  “You can’t leave or they’ll know you’ve seen me. They’ll know I came to you,” she said softly. She didn’t want to risk him being killed, or Brent. She had no doubt they would kill them both if they felt it was the only thing to do to save themselves.

&n
bsp; “I have that part worked out. In fact, Brent is helping me.”

  “Our son is helping you?”

  He laughed. “Sure is. He should be throwing his fit right about…” he shifted to look at the clock. “Now actually.”

  “Our son does not throw fits.”

  “After the other Lisa died,” he winked at her; “he did start acting out in class, mostly when the teachers tried to take his blanket. They said he was too old to be acting like a child. I assured them he is a child. After a while the school counselor told them it would be best to let him hold on to it. But a few weeks here and there he would find his way into a corner and cry. He’s been a little better about the public fits, but not about that blanket. So, I asked him to give it his best go today. They’ll call me. I’ll make an excuse to keep him out of school. Maybe I’ll casually suggest that he go stay with his grandmother for a while, and that part of the equation is set. Then I just have to ask your mother to send the plane for us. We can load in the hanger.” He stroked his fingers up and down her arm. “Maybe we can get you to hide out in his toy chest until you’re on board.”

  “Ha,” she laughed. “I’ll be so squished up…that won’t work.”

  He chuckled. “Trust me, the chest I have in mind you’ll fit in. I’ll make sure there are some air holes in there for you. And I’ll have to put a few of his clothes in there with you.”

  “And what about your clothes?”

  “I’ll put some of mine in his backpack along with some of your clothes. Everything else we’ll have to leave behind. The island is protected, even if they figure it out they wouldn’t dare try to come on there. That’s the great thing about your stepfather’s military connections…the island was made a no-fly zone about a month after you…she…died. The Navy has a base on the next island over and they make sure no ships or planes get too close to the island.”

  She smiled. “This just might work. We just might make it.”

  “We will make it,” he assured her just as the phone started to ring. “That should be the school.” She started giggling and then she placed her hand over her mouth to muffle the sound until she could stop. Her guys were devilish little creatures, but she loved them both and she wouldn’t change them for anything in the world. They were going to go away and be a family again. They just had to make it. They just had to clear Seattle and get in the sky and then they would be okay. She would breathe easier when they were in route to the island. Right now she was still afraid that the doctor and his minions would come back when John went to pick up Brent. She should hide again just in case. She had no idea how they were going to get out of there without somebody seeing them. Or more like, without somebody seeing her. She was sure somebody was watching the house, just waiting. Doctor Colino was sure she would go back there; he knew it and that’s why he was still waiting for it to happen. He was right. She wouldn’t have waited forever to reconnect with her family. She would have wanted to be with them again. Her heart and mind wanted her family, her body wanted her husband and there was no denying those feelings no matter how much she tried.

  “When I woke up in that room,” she sighed. “I asked for you. I wanted to know where you were. And that’s when the doctor told me that you had buried me and moved on. He explained what they’d done. Then he jabbed me with some needles and probes to explore his creation more in-depth than before.”

  John growled. “I didn’t move on. I never moved on.”

  “I know that now,” she smiled. “I would want you to be happy again, John, but when I woke up in that room I just wanted you to be with me, and nobody else. I wanted our life back.” She felt the tears falling from her eyes.

  “And we’ll have it. Maybe in a different location. Maybe without all the creature comforts of our home here, but we’ll have life together and that’s all that matters.”

  She smiled at him as he brushed away a tear from her cheek. “Yes, we will. I love you so much, John.”

  “I love you to, Lisa. With everything that I am I love you and I won’t ever let you go.”

  She wrapped her arms around him and snuggled closer to him. “I know you have to leave, but just a few more seconds, okay?”

  “Okay,” he draped his arm over her, his hand resting on her behind. “But we’ll have to continue this part of our reconnecting after we get our son in bed.”

  She pulled back and looked in his eyes. “Go get him,” she smiled. “Before he rips that classroom apart.”

  He laughed. “He’s done it before you know; he turned over desk, nearly hit the teacher with the chair he threw at her, and he bit the school principle for trying to take his blanket. Trust me; they’re probably all feeling petrified right now.” He got out of bed, pulled on his clothes and straightened them the best he could. “I’ll be back soon. Stay safe, my love.” He placed a sweet kiss on her lips before leaving.

  The Brent she had helped raise would have never done anything like that. Her death had hit him hard and she could see that. He had regressed inwardly and was unable to control his rage. Having her back must have seemed like a blessing for him, but if the doctor had his way, and she died again, it would probably destroy Brent—John too. She couldn’t let that happen.

  Chapter Three

  By the time John had returned they only had a short amount of time. He made the phone call to her mother, not telling her that she would see Lisa again because he was afraid somebody might be listening in. Her mother had suggested she come out for a week and he had refused. “He needs to get away from here,” he said. “I think this house is going to be a constant reminder. Maybe I should sell it,” he added because if somebody was listening in he had said he wanted them to get an earful. Her mother had agreed to have the plane ready for the two of them, not knowing there would be three of them.

  John had put a few clothes in the bottom of the trunk, and made sure there were some air holes so that she would be able to breathe for the short time that she would be in there.

  “We’ll pack a few of your toys too,” he told Brent.

  “No, Daddy. I’d rather have mommy. Leave the toys.”

  She smiled. Her son had priorities and they were good ones. “We have to take a least a couple so they don’t get suspicious. Which ones do you want?”

  He took his trading cards. He loved those cards. He wanted to take his baseball mitt that he got signed at a game they all went to, and the ball that his father had caught for him. He wanted to take his blanket too, but he insisted on carrying that one himself.

  “Okay, in you go my love,” John helped her into the trunk before covering her with more clothes and then closing the trunk. They were ready now.

  She could hear everything that went on outside of her safe haven. She could feel John carrying her. She wondered just how heavy the trunk was with the clothes and her inside, but he seemed to be doing fine.

  “Mr. McBride.”

  “You again,” he said with a friendly tone. “I still haven’t seen your patient if that’s what you’re back about. I don’t think she’s coming here. And right now I have bigger problems with my son.”

  “Well we think she might. She seemed to become obsessed with the story of your dead wife.”

  “I don’t like you!” Brent kicked the larger man in the leg.

  “Brent, you apologize right now.” From the tone in John’s voice Lisa knew he wasn’t serious and she was sure Brent knew it too.

  “No!”

  She heard the patter of feet running and then a car door open and slam shut. “You have to excuse my son. He’s still acting out. I thought he was getting better, but I guess I was wrong.”

  “He lost his mother,” a female voice stated. She knew that voice. It belonged to a woman who was pure evil. She was the woman who poked and prodded her whenever she darn well felt like it, and she gave no care of concern to whether or not she was causing Lisa pain.

  “I think this house reminds him too much of when we were all together; before…before his moth
er died. I’m taking him to his grandmother for a while. The school has kicked him out.”

  “I see. I’m sorry.”

  “I think I’ll sell this place when I get back. Maybe bring him home to a new environment…maybe it will help him heal.”

  “It would.” Lisa heard Dr. Colino say. “We are sorry to bother you, but if, at any time, this woman shows up will you call us?”

  “Of course. But I’ll be gone for about a week, so I really don’t think I’ll see this lady. She’s probably long gone Doc. Seriously if she escaped I couldn’t imagine her sticking around to get caught.”