Hindrances

Chapter 17

"Son of bitch! Son of a God damned bitch!"
"Mr Lancaster, I-"
"No! We have to leave Chicago right now. Our window was unlocked? He was right here just last night!"
"Yes, but think of this: he could have killed us, be he didn't-"
"Because there is not enough suffering in a simple murder! Miss Hemmings, he did not kill us last night because he has other plans for us."
Mr Lancaster had been shouting/ranting for a good 20 minutes now, and there was no sign of slowing down.
He was actually still asleep by the time I got back. I was able to sneak in, deposit the laudenum on a night stand near the bed, and then I went to lock the window. It was old, so it stuck a bit. I tugged at it pretty hard until it made a loud crash, ultimately waking Mr Lancaster up.
And that inevitably lead me to show him my latest letter since I had to explain why I had to lock the window in the first place.
Which is where we left off: so now Mr Lancaster is hurridly getting dressed and packing, insisting we leave immediately.
"I need to make one deal up here. Then we can leave," I tried reasoning.
"No! You do not know how dangerous this man is!"
"You're right, so why don't you tell me his name?" I pointedly raised an eyebrow at him.
"It would cost me more than it would benefit me. We gain nothing from you knowing, but it makes you an easier target. It is lose-lose for use. Keeping his name a secret puts us on equal footing."
There was no equal footing here. This friend of Mr Lancaster's has been several steps ahead of us for too long now.
"Mr Lancaster. Stop and look at me."
I saw anger and frustration flash through his steely eyes... And perhaps a tinge of fear.
Did Mr Lancaster fear this man?
What man could inspire fear in Mr Lancaster?
"What. Do. You. Want. Miss Hemmings."
"First, drop that tone-"
Mr Lancaster went to speak, but I waved my hand, cutting him off.
"Second. We will leave tonight. After I make the deal."
He stiffened. I knew he hated bargining, but he hated compromises even more.
"Alright. Finish packing and I will take you to the Cromwell office."
"Thank you, sir."
I said that more out of polietness than anything. A few moments of silence passed, only abbreviated with the occasional box closing or the rustle of clothes getting packed up.
"And, uh, Miss Hemmings...?"
I gave him a confused look.
"Yes, sir?"
"I guess that I, uh, wanted to say, um, thank you for the... Medicine."
"It was no big deal, sir, I promise."
Either way, I hid my reddening face.
We stopped what we were doing and just looked at each other. It felt almost surreal... I've been learning about Mr Lancaster at an exponential pace.
"Could I ask why you need the medicine to sleep?" I said mostly to break the silence.
Mr Lancaster, who still had the letter in his hand, read it all over again.
"There are multiple reasons, I suppose, but all of them involve him. One of the reasons is... was my sister."
"That's understandable-"
"Miss Hemmings, you have no idea exactly how 'understandable' that is. You did not see her body... I did."
Mr Lancaster's shoulders sagged slightly, like talking about it exhausted him.
"Hey..." I muttered soothingly to him. I approached Mr Lancaster and laid my hand on his shoulder. He didn't acknowledge the gesture. I went behind him and lightly held both of his shoulders, starting to lightly massage them.
"What are you doing?" Mr Lancaster sounded like he felt threatened, causing him to tense up even more.
"Use that head of yours, sir. What do you think I'm doing?"
"You are touching me, Miss Hemmings. And I do not believe it is the most appropriate gesture..."
"But does it feel good?"
"I mean..." I pressed his shoulders harder, eliciting a groan from him. "Yes. It feels nice."
A rush of... something passed over me. There was something about hearing Mr Lancaster groan because of me that just excited me.
I nudged him to the bed, so he sat on the edge. I ended up sitting behind him and continuing to force the tension out of him. Mr Lancaster let his body rock along with the movement of my hands like he was a puppet, and I was controlling him.
Another trembling breath, another groan.
I leaned in slightly, just until my lips barely touched his ear.
"Are you feeling better, sir?"
Mr Lancaster didn't respond.
"Well?" I prompted him further.
"Mmhmm."
That was probably the best answer I'd get from him. I pressed one kiss behind his ear, and he went all tense again.
"Sir, you're ruining all of my hard work-"
"You have not kissed me in a while."
"Oh..."
Well, he wasn't wrong. The last time I kissed him, we were still at the Wynn Mansion, and it was the night that I...