The Trouble With Bodyguards: Part 3 Read Online Free Page A

correct doses of poison to get the job done where her mother was only an amateur.
    “ So , ” she said, pushing her plate away and pulling her feet up on the side of her chair ,“ wha t’ d you do ? ”
    “ What do you mean ? ” Jacob asked, sipping at his punch.
    “ To end up here , ” she continued, gesturing around the dining room .“ Wha t’ d you do ? ”
    “ I , ” he hesitated ,“ I stopped taking my medications . ”
    “ Ok , ” she said, her tone implying that she did n’ t believe him, not for a second.
    “ I suffered a manic break after not taking my medications for several months , ” he said, clarifying to satisfy her curiosity.
    “ Did you do something crazy ? ” she said, leaning in, her interest piqued .“ Did you try and kill yourself ? ”
    “ No , ” he said .“ I did n’ t try suicide . ”
    “ Come on then , ” she said .“ Out with it. You do n’ t get locked in a cage just for forgetting to take your pills for awhile. What did you do ? ”
    “ I hurt my brother , ” he said, frustrated ,“ and his wife . ” Why would n’ t she just drop it? Leave him alone and let him choke down his dinner in peace and quiet? Why did she have to prod him so?
    “ Are they dead ?” she asked, her voice hushed, as if the doctor could n’ t hear her from the three feet across the table if she just whispered.
    “ No , ” he said .“ They are not dead . ”
    “ Well , ” she replied ,“ at least ther e’ s that. At least I’ m not sharing this lovely dining room with a murderer . ”
    “ You sure about that ?” he said, looking around the room.
    Her eyes followed his, taking in each patient, some drugged and drooling as they stared vacantly at their plate, some twitching, their eyes darting from person to person as they cut their food into tiny pieces before shoving the whole meal into their mouths at once.
    “ Tha t’ s enough Jacob , ” said Dr. Jacobson, looking sternly at Jake.
    Well, shit, he thought. Now sh e’ s done it. He had this doctor thoroughly convinced that he was as placid and normal a human being as any who walked the streets, and now she had gotten him to say something stupid right in front of the man. She is going to pay for that , he thought. He did n’ t know how, but he would find her weakness, and he would use it.

Chapter 3
     
    The darkness of the room comforted him. Like clockwork, the nurses did the rounds each night, tucking the crazies into their beds and making sure that all the lights in the hospital were shut off by ten o’ clock. Jacob reveled in this time, his time, where he did n’ t need to suppress his feelings anymore anddid n’ t need to pretend. He peeked out the door into the hallway, noting with satisfaction that the orderly was sitting at his desk at the end of the hall, his feet up, his attention glued to whatever sitcom was on the small television in front of him. He was n’ t paying attention to anything that the patients did. Once they had had their after-dinner dose of tranquilizers, they were down for the count, as far as this guy was concerned. He had a cake job, minimum wage to sit in the dark and watch TV all night. Could n’ t get any better.
                  Satisfied that he would be left alone, he pulled the door to his room closed, irritated at the click that the mechanism made as it settled in place. No matter how soft it was, he was afraid it would draw attention to the fact that he was still awake. He scurried to his bed, kneeling down beside it and reaching as far beneath it as his arms would allow. He stored his things here, his treasures, deep in the darkness below his bed where no one would think to look. He slid the empty tissue box toward him, sitting cross legged on the floor and settling the box between his feet. He kept his back to the closed door, ready to shove his treasures back into their hiding place should he be found out of his bed. He was n’ t going to let them take his things, not