The Doctor's Pet (9 page)

“Have you called the police?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I didn’t want to in case…”

“In case Tim has something to do with this,” Kirk finished her thought. “Let’s go see the damage.”

They went upstairs, where Kirk found her apartment not just broken into, but completely trashed. The neat, feminine space was destroyed. Garbage had been thrown everywhere, upholstery slashed, and the stuffing torn out of the couch. The coffee table had been overturned and each of her trinkets and ornaments had been either smashed or slammed so hard into the wall that they protruded from the drywall. Various slurs and curse words had been scrawled around them.

“I can’t look at it,” Tess cried into his chest. “Why?”

He didn’t know why. Why didn’t matter. She mattered. “First things first, you’re staying at my place. Your brother can fend for himself.”

“But…”

“No buts right now,” he said. “I’m taking you to my place. You deserve better than this, Tessa. And I’m going to make damn sure you get it.”

He scooped her up in his arms and took her down to the car, then back to his place. She was very quiet, very pale. Not at all her usual spunky self. He understood why. That little apartment was all she’d had. There wasn’t an inch of it she hadn’t put thought and care into. And it had been obliterated in a matter of hours by the vengeful fury of violent invaders.

Slow tears began to trickle down her cheeks as they drove. All he could do was reach over, squeeze her hand, and try to reassure her that it would all be okay. He pushed his own anger down in an attempt to be calm for her, but inside he was fuming.

“I want you to stay with me,” he said as they pulled into his garage. He got out of the car, walked around and scooped her out of the passenger seat, cradling her body against his. “I want to make sure you’re safe.”

“What if I’d been there when they came?” Tessa asked the question softly.

“You weren’t, and that’s what matters,” he said. He carried her to the bedroom and settled her on the bed, cuddling her close. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I should have had you move in with me the moment I found out about Tim.”

“You couldn’t have known,” Tessa sniffed, curling into his body. “I didn’t know. What if… what if they took Tim? What if that’s what they came for? Oh god, Kirk!” She burst into gales of tears that racked her tender frame and made Kirk’s heart break.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said. “I’ll find Tim.”

“How?”

“I just will,” Kirk said. “Trust me, okay? Promise me you’ll stay here. You’ve got my number if you need me.”

She nodded mutely, looking so small as she wrapped herself up in the blanket and lay there looking completely broken. He wanted more than anything to stay with her and comfort her, but he also knew she wouldn’t stop fretting until Tim was found.

He pressed a kiss to her mouth. “Stay, my pet,” he said. “That’s an order.”

All he got in response was a faint smile, which damn near made his heart break.

Kirk left his house, made his way into town, and went straight back to her apartment. It was the last place—the only place—he knew of Tim being. Only a complete fool would go back to the place that the people looking for him clearly knew about, but Tim struck Kirk as being something of a fool in action, if not intellect.

He let himself into the apartment, which wasn’t difficult as the lock had been punched out of the door, leaving the place about as secure as a public park. As he stepped through the front door, he was surprised yet again just how much of a mess it was. Broken glass and crockery were still strewn around, dangerous sharp edges everywhere. But the coffee table had been righted and cleared and a microwave meal was sitting on it, half-eaten.

Pushing the door shut behind him, Kirk lifted his voice. “Tim, you can come out.”

There was a scuffling sound and then a creaking of what was probably the closet door in Tessa’s room. Tim emerged wearing nothing but boxer shorts and sneakers, his hair an un-brushed blond mop atop his head. That did not stop him flashing one of his broad smiles at Kirk.

“Hey,” he said. “I was just, uh… looking after the place. Making sure whoever did this didn’t come back.”

“Who did do this, Tim?” Kirk asked the question in dangerously soft tones.

“Well, could have been anyone.” Tim scratched his cheek and shrugged. “Maybe Tessa has been hanging out with the wrong crowd.”

His attempted joke fell flat under Kirk’s iron-hard stare.

“What happened, Tim?”

“Okay,” Tim said, holding his hands up in premature surrender. “I guess it was probably these guys who have a problem with me.”

“Why do they have a problem with you?”

“They think I owe them money, or you know, stuff.” Tim dropped his hands. “Look, I know how fucked up this is, okay? Is Tess alright? I never thought this would happen here… they knew she was just my sister.”

“She’s at my place,” Kirk said. “But no, she’s not alright. She’s scared witless about you and about what happened here.”

“Fuck,” Tim swore succinctly. “Man, I’m sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I just… I guess I fucked up, you know?”

“You brought dangerous people to her door,” Kirk said. “That’s going to be hard to forgive.”

“I guess time heals all wounds,” Tim said. “I’ll lay low for a while. I’ll keep out of her hair. I’ll… hey!”

Kirk strode forward and took a firm hold of Tim by the shoulders. “If you ever gamble again,” Kirk muttered in soft but menacing tones. “If you so much as take a bet in office pool, I will make sure you regret it more than anything you’ve ever regretted before. Your sister is done cleaning up your messes, understand?”

“Yeah,” Tim said, trying to pull away, but failing. “Sure, whatever.”

“No,” Kirk insisted. “Not whatever.”

“Relax, man, it’s not that much of a problem.”

“It was over two thousand dollars’ worth of problem,” Kirk growled. “And now I’m your problem, understand?”

Tim grinned unrepentantly. “I’d love to take you seriously, man, but I’ve been threatened by bigger goons than you.”

“You think I’m threatening to beat you up?” Kirk shook his head and made a tutting sound.

“No? What are you going to do, then? Stage an intervention? Send me to rehab?”

He was a cocky little ass, and he was damn lucky that Tessa cared about him so much. But that was about where his luck had run out.

Kirk turned and more or less tossed Tim at the couch. There wasn’t much to the young man, he was slight of build, which made his decision to spend a lifetime getting into trouble all the more reckless. Tim caught the back of it and turned with a ‘what the fuck’ expression on his face.

“You’re going to beat me up? You think Tess is going to forgive you hitting her baby brother?”

What Tim did not realize was that Kirk had come prepared. He pulled a pair of metal cuffs out of his pocket, grabbed one of Tim’s forearms, and snapped one side over Tim’s wrist.

“What… fuck, man!?”

“Put your hands behind your back,” Kirk ordered.

“Oh, just let you fucking handcuff me? Why?”

“Because it will make this easier on both of us.”

Tim gave Kirk a panicked look. “What do you mean, easier on both of us, what the hell are you planning?”

“You got your sister’s apartment destroyed,” Kirk said. “But that’s not the beginning of your sins. You’ve mooched off her for years, made her need to work two jobs, barely have enough money to make ends meet.”

“She likes looking after me.”

“You’re old enough to look after yourself.” Kirk grabbed Tim’s other wrist, twisted his arm so that he was forced to turn his back and cuffed him securely. “And you’re more than old enough to deal with the consequences of what you’ve done. Look at this place, Tim. This is your life. This was your sister’s life.”

“So what? You’re going to… kill me? Dump me in the desert? Or just send me away and tell me to never, ever come back?”

Kirk let out a snort. “All wrong, boy.”

“What, then?”

Kirk ignored the question and left Tim where he was. He walked through to what had been Tessa’s bedroom and pulled the closet door open. The people who had broken in had tossed her room too, but they’d not taken any notice of the unassuming length of bamboo in the back of the closet, which Kirk had left there on a previous visit. He’d never actually had cause to use it on Tessa, but it looked like it was going to come in handy after all. Kirk took it out, and walked back out to the main room, where Tim was standing up, looking thoroughly panicked.

“Bend over the couch,” Kirk ordered crisply.

Tim looked at him, then at the cane. At first he just seemed confused, but Kirk watched as the pieces fell into place inside his head, and the realization that he was about to be punished came over him. There was complete silence as Tim looked at him with an expression halfway between concern and befuddlement.

“Over the back of the couch. Now.”

“Bro…”

“I am not your bro,” Kirk informed him. “I am the one who is going to put a stop to this. Bend over. Now.”

Tim didn’t bend over, of course. He stood there, his mouth opening and shutting like a fish out of water. Kirk ended up doing the hard work for him, crossing the room and pushing Tim back over into place. As luck would have it, he was wearing thin nylon boxer shorts, which wouldn’t do anything to protect him from the bite of the cane.

“Okay, I get it,” Tim said, starting to beg. “I’m sorry. I’ll make it right with Tess.”

“Yes, you will,” Kirk agreed, lifting his arm back over his head. He bought the cane down with a hard, loud crack that landed dead center of Tim’s rear. Tim stiffened and let out a cry, which Kirk could understand, but not allow.

“Quiet, or I’ll gag you,” he said. “I don’t want the neighbors calling the police, and neither do you, I suspect.”

“You’re a psycho,” Tim cried out. “You’re more psycho than the assholes I owe money to.”

Standing behind Tim, Kirk allowed himself a smile. He didn’t consider himself more psycho, but definitely more determined to make sure Tim stopped being a burden to his sister.

Without speaking a word, he lifted the cane and delivered another stroke, which landed like a pistol crack against Tim’s ass. Tim arched his back and swore furiously, but managed not to scream.

This would definitely leave marks, hopefully not just on Tim’s ass, but in his mind. Next time he thought about gambling, Kirk wanted him to remember what it felt like to have a cane searing his glutes and walk the other way.

He delivered six more strokes, for a total of eight. Tim groaned and grunted through all of them, but to his credit, managed to avoid crying out like a baby—just. By the time the final one landed, Tim had gone through the stages of resistance and was just barely keeping it together. Kirk grabbed a handful of the young man’s hair and lifted his head.

“If you put a foot wrong, if you so much as place a bet in an office pool, I will do this again, and worse,” he informed Tim. “Understand?”

Tim’s eyes were watery with tears and his entire face and chest were flushed red with embarrassment and the exertion of taking a caning.

“Do you understand me, Timothy?”

“Yes,” Tim whispered hoarsely. “I get it.”

“Good.” Kirk released his grip on Tim’s hair and gave him a pat on the head. “Let’s get those cuffs off. You’re coming with me.”

Chapter Eleven

Unable to sleep, Tessa sat curled in a blanket on Kirk’s couch, worrying about Tim. She didn’t know if he’d been there when the people had broken in, if he had been taken, or missed the trouble with the queer instinct he seemed to have, which meant he was never the one who bore the brunt of the consequences of his actions.

She was about to call Kirk and ask him how things were going when she heard the sound of his car in the garage. In short order the door opened and Kirk walked in, his hand on Tim’s shoulder. “Look who I found.”

“Tim!” To her relief, he seemed to be entirely unharmed. No broken bones or bruises. She got up from the couch and ran to her brother, hugging him tight.

“I’m so sorry, Tess,” Tim said. “I had no idea that would happen. I’m going to make it up to you, I promise, and I’m going to pay you all the money I owe you back. I’m sorry. Really, really, really sorry.”

She cocked her head and looked at him askance. Tim had never been contrite before. Usually he’d spend an hour blustering about how he was going to get whoever had done him wrong back for it and then proceed to forget all about the incident and repeat his mistake as soon as he was given the opportunity. She had never seen him like this before, actually sorry for what he’d done.

“Well, I can’t say it’s okay,” she said. “But you know I love you.”

“I’m going to make this up to you, Tessa,” Tim said. “I’m going to go back to the apartment, I’m going to get it all fixed up.”

“That’s too dangerous,” she said. “You can’t go back there. Those people will come for you again. For me again.”

“No, they won’t,” Tim said. “I’ve been holding something I shouldn’t have been holding. As soon as I saw what happened to your place, I went and gave it back. It’s done, Tessa. I’m done. With all that stuff. With everything.”

She wanted to believe him, she really did. Tim was so much trouble, such a lost soul. He wasn’t going to be able to avoid temptation on his own; he never had been able to.

“Once he gets your apartment tidied up, Tim has agreed to go to a facility for a few months. Get himself straightened up,” Kirk cut in.

“Like, rehab?”

“Yeah,” Tim nodded. “I don’t want to ever do this to you again.” His eyes flicked over toward Kirk. “I don’t want any of us to be put through this again.”

“I bought him up here so you could see he’s alright,” Kirk said. “I’m going to call a cab and have him dropped back down at your place to clean up his mess.”

“Okay.” Tessa gave Tim one last hug. “Be good.”

He smiled at her. “I will. Promise.”

* * *

The next few hours passed in something of a daze for Tessa. There was so much to take in. Her apartment was ruined, but Tim was safe and apparently willing to actually fix his life now. She couldn’t help but think Kirk had been involved in that decision somehow.