Chapter Text
Unknown Building
Earlier
Ben took a chair in the living room. “He’s not stupid you know.”
Sara scoffed, looking up from her phone. “All I needed was to buy us some time for phase two. You weren’t getting answers.”
“He’ll know it’s not her body!”
“No, no… he’ll suspect it. What’s he gonna do? Run it for DNA?”
“He might. You didn’t see him when I stabbed her. He begged me to save her. Then he lost it. I’m lucky I survived.”
“Sam will get over her. But we have her as a back-up just in case he needs more motivation. You could’ve just killed her and Nathan Drake at the same time.”
Ben shook his head. “No, it was too dangerous to take on them both. I figured I’d start with her. She’s easier to contain. Unless she’s cornered. That’s when she’s dangerous.”
“You know I don’t give a flying fuck, right?”
Ben shrugged toward the blonde. “Meh. I only want the documents. And for Sam to suffer of course.”
“You’ll get them soon enough. Sam will come to his senses soon.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
Sara narrowed her eyes. “He will. Or I kill the kid.”
He froze. “The kid? You mean the baby?”
She shrugged. “We can have other kids. He doesn’t need her spawn.”
“Sara, he’s not even a year old!”
“See? Can’t even be that attached to it!”
He sighed. “How are we on money?”
“Got about three grand left. Stupid bitch didn’t cancel her cards. It’s so easy being Mrs. Samuel Drake,” she said with a grin. “Can’t believe it’s taken me this long. It’ll be worth it in the end. So, so worth it… which reminds me, I better get going if I’m going to make our date.”
Later
The handcuff had rubbed the skin on her right wrist raw in addition to twisting her arm in an awkward pose over her head to link her to the bed frame. Trina Drake knew it was useless to complain. She was lucky to be alive still. She still wasn’t sure why they kept her alive. Especially not if Sam thought she was dead.
And considering how Sara looked ready to kill her. Which, she kinda deserved. She had killed Rafe, after all. It still seemed like a bad soap opera. What were the odds that her dead husband’s half-sister would be obsessed with the love of her life? How small was the world really?
Her abdomen protested as she tried to shift in the narrow bed. She hissed in pain, feeling the stitches pulling at her healing skin.
“Oh, look who’s awake,” a male voice called from the doorway.
Trina looked up and into the face of the man who’d stabbed her.
“No. No, no, no…”
She pulled at the cuff, trying to yank free, even as the metal dug in deeper, cutting her skin. She had to get away from him, before he finished the job.
“Wow, I guess you remember me, then?”
“We don’t have it! Please… if I knew, I’d tell you…I’d tell you…”
He nodded, approaching the bed. “Oh, I know you would. And so would your husband. I mean, my little experiment showed that nicely. I thought it was a nice dramatic touch.”
He went to brush her hair away from her eyes and she slapped at him with her left hand. “Don’t fucking touch me!”
He snorted. “Oh, honey, I could do so much worse to you. Luckily I’m a reasonable man.”
He patted her thigh and she jumped reflexively as her heart raced. No, no… not again. Never again. Never.
“Don’t worry, you’re not my type,” he said with a grin. “Now, let’s get down to brass tacks. Your husband stole from me. Samuel will have to return the folio, find the journal, and bring me the Jewel or this time… this time, you die for real.”
“We’re a team, Sam and I. We can find it—“
“No, no. I’m not falling for that. He’s got friends. You’d just try to run. No, you stay with me as leverage. He’ll do whatever it takes for you to live, won’t he?”
Mouth dry, she nodded.
“Good. We have an understanding then. Time to get Samuel on the same page.”
He held up a cell phone. As soon as she saw the lockscreen, with the picture of Sam asleep with Henry on his chest on it, she knew. It was her phone. Her stolen phone.
Sam and Trina’s
Sam ducked under the police tape and unlocked the front door. Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside his house. Their house.
There was fingerprint powder and tape marks and other signs of crime scene techs, minus the little yellow numbered markers. Those were all gone.
He paused to glance in the dining room. The shattered chair he’d escaped from lay in pieces, zipties hanging limply from the shards. A similarly broken chair indicated where Nathan had been. The third one was mostly intact on the floor.
It rested against a pool of dried blood. A few squares were cut out of the rug, exposing the bare wood floor underneath. Her blood soaked into what remained. So much blood. It looked worse than he remembered.
He closed his eyes. He could still feel her hand on his as she slipped away.
“Trina! Katrina! Stay with me!”
He pressed his hand against her side as he freed her hands. She put her left hand on top of his. So weak as her blood spilled out.
He shook his head, trying not to think about her final moments.
A storm. Waves crashing as boats raced toward the island.
Another boat crashed into them and they all three slipped on the wet deck.
Just out of reach, she slid away from him. “Trina!”
He tried to grab her arm and missed.
“Sam!”
Another hit and she went over the edge and into the raging water, her arm still outstretched for his hand.
He went upstairs, trying to shake the memories loose. He paused outside the nursery. He could picture her right there, in the chair, softly talking to Henry as she rocked them.
“And tomorrow, after Mr. Grumpypants wakes up, we’ll get dressed and go to the park. I know you want to play in the sandbox. Then we’ll have lunch and you’ll get a nap, and maybe Mama and Daddy can have a few minutes of peace. Not that we don’t love our little man, because we do. Oh so much.”
“Damnit, Trin… it should’ve been me…”
Around the corner, in their bedroom, her new cell was still on the charger. Their bed was unmade and he could almost see her there, invading his side of the bed like she always did. The sheets were cold to his touch though.
He glanced toward the bathroom, the light still on. Sam stepped in to hit the switch, pausing to look at the cluttered double sink.
Her bracelet shone. “Sic Parvis Magna” was engraved on the outside. She’d got it around the time they ordered their wedding rings. He picked it up, so delicate and strong at the same time, just like her. He tucked it inside the front pocket of his jeans. She loved that bracelet.
“Sam…”
“Hmm?”
“I love you.”
He clicked off the light and walked back toward their bed. This whole house was heavy with her presence. He hated the stillness and silence. No noise from Henry’s toys. No Trina talking or calling his name or banging about the kitchen.
“I’m right here. Sam…” She touched his cheek.
“You almost weren’t.”
“But I’m here. I’m right here. And I’m not going anywhere without a fight. I promise. It’s you and me, Drake. Always.”
Sam climbed into the empty bed and grabbed her pillow. A soft floral scent—her scent—drifted from the pillow.
“If it was up to me… we’d never leave bed,” she said, her hair tickling his bare chest as she lay in his arms.
“Yeah? I think the little guy might be opposed to that.”
“Oh, I’d never ignore Little Sam.”
“Hey—hey! No, no we talked about this.”
She smirked at him with a knowing look. “C’mon, you always fall for that one.”
He sighed deeply. “I hate you.”
“No, no, Mr. Drake… you love me...”
He groaned as she shifted on the bed, that sly and seductive look crossing her face. He knew that look well.
“Do I?”
“Uh, huh,” she said, kissing him deeply as she straddled him, her naked body pressed against his.
“Baby, I’m so sorry… I never… if I could do it again—I’d take your place. Henry needs you. I need you. It’s not supposed to be like this.”
His phone buzzed in his pocket.
“Nathan, for fuck’s sake…”
He pulled it out, a choice reply on the tip of his fingers as he read the screen.
Her name. Her phone. Her phone was calling.
Sam rubbed his eyes and glanced at the nightstand. Her new phone was still there. So who was using her number? He accepted the video call all the same.
“Nathan, you better not be on this line, I swear—“
“Hello, Samuel.”
Ben White came into view on the screen with a cheeky grin.
“You! You fucker, I’m gonna find you and I’m gonna kill you for what you did!”
“Easy, tiger. Oof, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, didn’t he, sweetheart?”
The video focus changed. He blinked as it came into focus.
“Sam…”
It was his wife. His Trina. Alive.