“If she thought Russian Roulette was fun, would you let her play that too? Well?” he demanded when Jim didn’t answer. Jimmy shook his head.
Jim, Riley was becoming more and more aware, was young and reckless, apparently something he shared in common with Jessica. Riley shook his head. It was like having a couple of kids! Despite himself, Riley liked the fact that Jessica had been so excited by something so dangerous. So long as it hadn’t been part of her plot to escape, it actually impressed him.
“Finish up out here. I’m going to check up on Jessica and Angus, and get dinner started. Jesus Jim!” he exclaimed and headed for the house.
When Riley entered the house, he was expecting to find Jessica trembling on the sofa and Angus stalking around her. Or, even worse, hearing Angus beating her in his room. So he was taken aback, yet pleasantly surprised to find Jessica in Angus’ embrace on the sofa.
Angus, with his head leaning against the back of the sofa, rolled it to the side and looked at him with an expression that Riley couldn’t read. Riley took a deep breath. In his heart of hearts, Riley knew Jessica had been up to something. She always was. He had an overwhelming desire to get a confession out of her no matter what it took, but she had asked Jimmy’s permission, which was definitely a deviation from her standard modus operandi. Plus, she hadn’t had that angry attitude which almost always accompanied Jessica’s escape attempts. He remembered that smile, it had seemed sincere. On top of that, he had to try and save his interrogations for her real misbehaviors. Angus would take any queue to come down on Jessica, so Riley had to be particularly careful about how he dealt with Jessica. He just didn’t know if he had the restraint necessary in him.
“Is she okay?”
“Oh yeah, fine.” Angus replied. Riley crossed the living room floor to get a dining room chair. He set it down in front of Jessica, and straddled it.
“Jessica,” he said, “sit up and …” he hadn’t even finished his instructions when Jessica sat up, Angus’ arm still around her, and looked at Riley. She waited, and Riley was at a loss for words. He looked at Jessica, studied her eyes, trying to figure out what her plan was. Jessica withstood Riley’s examination for a moment or two, and then her eyes slid down to her hands. It was the same stare healways gave her just before he punished her for something. Not quite as intense, but the same stare. Did he know that Jimmy had lied? Was she going to be in trouble after all?
“Jessica, look at me,” Riley tilted her chin up with his hand, “I need you to look at me. You know that. If you have nothing to hide from me Jessica, “ Riley continued, a hint of suspicion entering in his tone, “you should be able to look me in the eye.”
Jessica tried harder to comply. His voice was unusually gentle. She wanted to keep it that way, and she wanted to be allowed to ride Ebony again. She knew there was only one way that would happen. When she looked at him, she didn’t see any anger, but she expected it to surface at any moment.
“What you did was stupid,” he began. “You could have been seriously hurt. Don’t do it again, understand?” Jessica nodded. A shadow crossed over Riley’s face. Jessica sat straighter
“I … I understand,” she said quickly. She was catching on. Well, he could live with that.
For a moment Jessica looked like she’d say more, but then she closed her mouth and lowered her head. This was something new …
“Did you care to add something to that?” he asked. Jessica nodded, almost imperceptibly. What was this? Were he and Jessica actually having an exchange? Some kind of two way conversation? He looked at Angus and he looked as stunned as Riley felt. “Well I suggest that you say something then …” Riley said.
Jessica’s lips moved, but nothing came out.
“There are two things wrong with this,” Riley said wanting to grab and shake her. “First off, I need you to look at me, and secondly, I need to hear you. One more time Jessica, if you don’t get it right this time, this ‘conversation’ is over.”
Jessica looked up at Riley. “Can I still help Scott with the horses?”
Riley paused. Jessica had asked him a question that was unrelated to when she’d be allowed to go home. He couldn’t recall a time when she’d done that in the past, ever.
“I don’t see why not,” Riley replied, not sure what to make of the change in her behavior. The eye contact, kisses, speaking loudly and clearly, even the eating were things that had been constant points of contention with Jessica. They’d been working on them for months.
Asking a question, while nice if done with no hidden agenda, was never required of her, and therefore a complete surprise. He truly didn’t know how to react. “No saddle training though. Maybe, and I do mean maybe, if you improve your behavior significantly, we’ll let you go for a horseback ride.”
Jessica’s breath caught and she sat straight up, her hands clamped over her mouth. She seemed barely able to contain her excitement. She looked at Riley with an expression he wished he could permanently etch onto her face.
“I’ll be good!” she stated in a voice filled with excitement, “I will,” she added turning to look at Angus and then back at Riley, “Can I ride Chestnut? I’d really like to ride Chestnut!”
Riley looked at Angus, but all he saw in Angus’ expression was discomfort. He knew what Angus was thinking. It crossed his mind too. She was a fast study. What if she’d decided that the safest way to get away from them was to lull them into a false sense of security by acting and doing what they wanted?
“First you have to earn the privilege for riding, then we can discuss which horse you can ride. I need to see a consistent improvement for at least a month before we get to that point. You know what we expect from you, right?” Riley asked. Jessica was nodding,
“Eye contact, kisses, verbal responses.” She answered. This was too weird. Riley began to wonder if he was dreaming.
“And what else?” he prompted.
“Eating,” Jessica added after thinking for a moment.
“Right,” Riley said, and looked back at Angus. This was by far the longest and most civil conversation he had ever had with Jessica. Angus looked like he was going to explode. His face had turned so red that it was difficult to see where his face stopped and his hair began.
“This is bullshit Riley!” he stammered. When Jessica looked at Angus, the optimism on her face fell, and she lowered her head. Angus resembled a tomato again, and that was never a good thing for Jessica.
“She’s got something figured out. She’s trying to trick us into trusting her. Once we’re not expecting it, she’ll stab us in our sleep or something. If she gets on a horse, she’ll take off. I guarantee you, this is not for real, nothing she says is for real!”
Riley considered what Angus said. It was all very possibly true. But if they were careful, very careful, maybe they could get what they wanted from her, and stymie any escape plans she may have had. If they made her good behavior pay off for her, and came down extra hard on her bad behavior, sooner or later she’d have to realize how much easier it was to behave and not do anything to cause a reappraisal from them.