Connection, page 15
Julie couldn’t make out any features. She wished she could; she wanted to see the face of her savior, but it wasn’t to be. Looking past Remmy, Julie’s gaze fell upon a figure moving through the trees just beyond the field. She could hear raucous barking, two tiny figures running after the larger one. Her heart began to beat loudly within her breast; her breath caught.
Bursting through the trees was a little boy, no older than eight, grinning as he ran, looking back behind him at the two barking dogs that chased him. Two small dogs that looked nearly identical to one another.
****
Remmy watched Julie closely, seeing the recognition in the green eyes, the face curling into a loving smile. She gasped, running to the boy who called out for her. She looked on, unable to hide her own smile. She was glad she’d been able to bring some friends with her this time.
****
Julie gathered the boy in her arms and swung him around, the two dogs barking at her feet, pawing at her as they begged for attention.
****
“Excuse me? What’s my total?”
Nearly gasping as she was pulled back into herself, Remmy blinked several times, looking blankly into the face of the man who stood at the counter.
****
Julie felt the warmth of the sun leave her body, the coldness of the cement and damp cellar engulfing her again. She blinked in confusion as she took in the familiar surroundings. When she realized where she was, that Skylar, Bonnie, and Clyde were gone, hot, bitter tears stung her eyes.
It was only a dream. Only a fucking dream!
****
Remmy felt her chest tighten as she looked into the dark eyes that stared at her from a handsome, familiar face. He was the first in a line of three people who waited patiently for her to get to them. She looked down at her hands, shocked to find that she had already scanned the few items that he’d set on the counter—a chocolate milk, a pack of gum, and a bag of diapers.
“Forgot to grab these at the grocery store,” he said with a charming smile, indicating the diapers. “What’s my total?” he asked again.
Remmy looked from the diapers to his eyes again, and suddenly the air was sucked from her lungs, her skin went cold and prickly. She brought a hand up to her throat, fingers caressing the soft skin there...
Can’t breathe! Tight. So very tight. Tightening. Soft skin, cool flesh. Lie still for me. Such beauty...
Dark room, naked light bulb. The deadly teeth of a saw cut through the meat easily. The motion stopped. Something hard, something difficult to cut through...
Carpeting, stained...gray with red. Stained...
Open can of something, stirring, stirring. Heat, smells, dog barking...
Brown hair, brown eyes, dark brown, almost black pubic hair, blonde arm hair, brows darker blonde. Amazing. Beautiful...
Can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!
Remmy gasped, falling back against the other counter, her hands clutching at her throat, eyes unable to leave him, unable to see the concern in his eyes, the flicker of fear, the flicker of uncertainty and curiosity.
“Get away from me,” she whispered, voice barely audible. She reached behind her, desperately scrambling to get out of the bullpen, hand blindly tugging at her open polo shirt bearing the store logo and name. Distantly she heard the sound of ripping material. Even more distant, she felt a hand on her back, words spoken that she couldn’t understand. “Get away from me!” she screamed, his dark eyes burning a hole into her very soul. “Get away!”
****
Quiet murmurs filled the space around Remmy. Slowly she began to discern the individual voices—Grace Cowan, and a stranger. Blue eyes slowly blinked open, then closed at the sight of the intense light placed right over her. Squeezing her eyebrows together, she tried to figure out what she was feeling. She had the worst headache of her life, centralized in a quarter-sized area dead center of her forehead. With a soft groan, she brought a hand up, surprised when she didn’t feel some sort of injury.
“Take it easy, Remmy.”
Remmy opened her eyes. Grace entered the ring of light above her. She could see the concern on the woman’s face. “Where am I, and why am I here?”
“You’re in the Emergency Room at Saint Mercy’s,” Grace said, a warm hand resting on Remmy’s shoulder. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
“I was at work,” Remmy said, concentrating on trying to remember, trying to bring back her day. “I turned on the pumps. Some guy paid outside, with his card...” She knew there was more after that, but just couldn’t bring it up. It was almost as though there was a haze or a fog in her brain, sitting right on top of the events that followed. “Shit. I don’t know, Grace.” Remmy squeezed her eyes shut, bringing her hand up to her forehead. “My head hurts too bad to think straight.” She groaned. “Why the hell am I in the ER? Isn’t that a little drastic?”
Grace smiled. “You scared the hell out of your customers. They thought you were having a seizure or something. Someone called the paramedics.”
“Shit,” Remmy said. “Joan is going to have my ass.”
“Joan is right outside.” Grace left out some of the choice, colorful comments Joan had made as they waited to see Remmy. Joan told Grace that she was about at the end of her rope. Yes, she understood Remmy had “special issues”, as she’d put it, but also stated that it was a business, and anything could have happened while Remmy had her episode, and that they were lucky they hadn’t been robbed blind before Joan could get there and get someone to cover.
“Send her in,” Remmy said with a long sigh. She dreaded this, especially after the conversation they’d had the other day. “Shit,” she said after Grace left her alone in her little cubicle. How the hell was she supposed to explain to Joan what happened when she had no idea herself? The only thing she did know was that she felt exhausted—mentally, emotionally, and physically. “Ugh.”
There was a knock on the wall outside of Remmy’s curtained-off cubicle. “Remmy?”
“Come on in, Joan.”
The curtain was pushed aside and Joan stepped around it. Her face showed concern, affection, and irritation. “How are you?” she asked softly, standing next to the narrow bed. She looked Remmy over, taking in her still body and very pale face. Dark circles underneath Remmy’s eyes were stark against the pallor.
“I guess I’m okay. Got quite the migraine right now, but other than that, just peachy keen.”
Joan sighed, arms crossing over her chest. “This isn’t the time, but we need to talk about the situation, Remmy. Figure something out.”
Remmy nodded, turning away. She knew she had disappointed Joan, but couldn’t help feeling slightly angry. She had never felt so out of control in all her life, and for someone who had always been self-reliant, never leaning on anyone or anything, this was one of the most difficult things to swallow. She very much felt she was a prisoner alongside Julie. “I know,” she said, her voice resigned. “I didn’t mean for this to happen, Joan.”
“I know that, Remmy.” Joan took one of the fluttering hands in both of hers. The skin was cool to the touch, so she chafed it. “Get some rest. We’ll talk later.”
Remmy nodded, trying to keep her tears at bay. She chewed on her bottom lip to keep it from trembling like a child’s. Once she was alone, she took a deep breath, a single, bitter tear blazing a track down her cheek and into her ear, making her shiver.
Grace stood outside of the ER, waiting for Joan. She saw her step back into the waiting room and Grace stood to get her attention. They met halfway across the large space.
“What happened?” Joan asked. She thought the detective looked as haggard as Remmy did.
“I’m not sure. Remmy’s not sure, either.”
“I’m worried about her. I think she needs to be taken off this case. You guys have put so much damn pressure on her.”
Knowing that Joan really didn’t know what she was talking about, Grace pushed her anger down, though she couldn’t completely keep it out of her voice.
“Mrs. Watson, Remmy came to us with her abilities. We’ve got three women right now who need her. I don’t think I could make Remmy walk away from this any more than she could make herself. She can’t control this ability she has. You have to understand that.”
“I do understand that, but you have to understand that I have a business that needs to be run. I can’t have her freaking out every couple of days, or waltzing in whenever the hell she wants to because she’s had some vision!”
Grace crossed her arms over her chest, listening to the rant. She understood it, and racked her brain, trying to think of some way to compromise. They desperately needed Remmy on the case, but she also couldn’t allow Remmy to destroy her life while helping them.
“Remmy is a wonderful person and an amazing worker, but I can’t have her in the store by herself if she’s not going to be reliable. It seems this is getting worse for her.” She met dark eyes. “Is it?”
Grace nodded. “I believe it is, yes.”
“I don’t know what to do. I’m not a heartless bitch, Detective. I’m not going to just fire her. But...”
“Remmy rents a room from you, right?” At Joan’s nod, she continued. “I guess she still has to have a place to stay, even if she has no job. What does she pay in rent every month?”
Joan was baffled. “Three hundred. Why?”
Grace reached into the inside pocket of her wrinkled blazer and pulled out her checkbook. She flipped it open to a blank check. Clicking her pen into action, she quickly scrawled out a check for six hundred dollars. Holding it out, she met Joan’s gaze, daring her not to take it. “I need her.”
Joan took the check, unsure what to think. “You want me to fire her?”
“Do whatever you need to do. Give her some time off, a leave of absence, whatever. It may actually help us speed things up if I’ve got her full time, with no other distractions.”
Joan stared at the check. Was this fair to Remmy? With a sigh, she nodded. “Alright.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Julie opened her eyes, blinking away the headache she always woke up with after being brought upstairs. She had no idea what the hell he used, but ugh! She could feel she wasn’t alone. Shocking.
Turning her head at the sound of footsteps, Julie saw him stepping out of the bathroom, rubbing his freshly washed hair with a clean, white towel. He smiled when he saw she was awake.
“Good morning, Julie,” he said, walking over to the bed, dressed in jeans and bare-chested. He leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek. “I need you to get showered, and quickly. I’ve got a treat for you.”
His wide smile made Julie flinch. Now what?
He unbound her wrists and she immediately drew her arms down to rub some circulation back into them. With a groan, she pulled herself into a sitting position. Her head felt fuzzy and thick, her mouth as dry as the Sahara. She watched as he opened and closed drawers in the tall dresser for a moment, pulling a t-shirt from one, socks from another. Finally she mustered the strength to stand, though she was wobbly. He hurried over to her, catching her around the waist.
“Easy,” he said, making sure she was steady before releasing her.
Julie slowly made her way to the bathroom, where steam from his recent shower filled her lungs, making it difficult to breathe for a moment. She went to the toilet, lifted the lid, and sat. Resting her elbows on her thighs, she cradled her head in her hands for a moment, trying to force her fuzzy thoughts into some order. When she glanced up at the bathroom window, she noted with bitter amusement that bars had been applied to the outside.
“Bastard,” she murmured.
The warm water felt wonderful on her skin. She was so thirsty, she opened her mouth and welcomed a mouthful inside. Smoothing her greasy hair back from her face, she turned her back to the spray, lowering her head so the water pounded her upper back, which hurt constantly from her arms being always raised over her head. She rolled her head around, moaning softly at the relief.
“Quick. Make it quick,” Sergio said from the bathroom doorway before leaving her alone again.
Julie used every bit of willpower she had to not tell him to go fuck himself. Instead, she scrubbed her body, washing away not only the grime, but also his touch. She wondered if she would ever feel clean again, even if she took seven showers a day.
****
The doctor insisted that Remmy rest, and he had kept her for longer than two hours. Now she was rested out; she just wanted to go home. She made her way through the ER, relieved that the nurses and doctors were too busy to notice. Slipping out into the waiting room, she was equally glad to see that those who had brought her in had left. She thought she remembered Grace coming in while she dozed, and telling her she would be back for her later. No matter. Remmy didn’t want to wait, nor did she want to hear a lecture about leaving before she was discharged.
She walked over to the front desk and asked the nurse if she could use the phone. Use granted, she dialed Roman’s cell number.
“Hey,” she said when he answered. “Can I get a lift from you real quick?” Smiling into the receiver, she thanked him and hung up the phone.
****
Julie stepped out of the shower, glad to be clean again, however temporarily. She used the brush she found on the counter and brushed the shaggy strands into some kind of order. She needed a haircut, hair in her eyes and tickling her nose. She wished so badly she could put some clothes on, something, anything. She was surprised that he wasn’t waiting for her, but she didn’t hear any sound at all coming from the bedroom.
Stepping around the corner, Julie’s stomach seized when she realized the bedroom was empty; the door leading to the rest of the house was open. She knew it was too much to hope that he’d had a heart attack and died. Her quick gaze around the room showed a ring of keys casually tossed atop the dresser. She didn’t have time to contemplate them, as he was suddenly standing in the doorway, watching her.
Not waiting to be told to lie down so he could cuff her, Julie walked toward the bed. She was surprised when he caught her wrist, which made her flinch, the skin was so raw.
“Come with me,” he said.
Sergio was nervous as he led Julie through the bedroom doorway, down the hall and toward the kitchen. She had asked nicely, so he would be nice in return.
Julie watched, wide-eyed as they passed through to new parts of the house. In the living room, she noticed the deadbolt lock on the inside of the front door, no doubt locked, as well as iron bars on the large picture window. Everything was meticulously kept, though she was surprised to see batches of things lined neatly on shelves.
“You have quite the collections,” she said quietly as she was forced to sit in a kitchen chair. She noted the shelves filled with old newspapers, beer cans, and spotlessly clean bottles of many types. She was intrigued by the rows of quarters that were glued to one wall. What the hell is that about?
Sergio said nothing. He preferred to think of his things as just that—his things. He placed a sizzling steak onto a plate for himself and half of a steak on a second plate, along with mashed potatoes, peas, and a roll, for her. Setting the plate in front of Julie, he was pleased to see her reaction: her eyes widened and her nostrils flared, as though taking in the wonderful aromas.
Julie couldn’t take her eyes off the feast before her. It looked like so much food! Her mouth began to water, which made her angry at herself, almost as if she was betraying herself by wanting anything he offered. He sat across from her at the table made for two and scooted his chair closer. She wasn’t bound, and wasn’t sure what to make of that fact. She had no idea what to do or say. Would she say something that would anger him, make him tie her up? Rape her again, or even kill her? A thin layer of cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
“Eat,” Sergio said, nodding at the place setting that was laid out on a folded napkin next to the plate. He watched with satisfaction as Julie obeyed. He loved to watch her, and allowing her this pleasure was very generous and very out of character for him. But, any means of escape was securely locked up, so she wouldn’t be able to wander outside of his protective sights.
****
Roman pulled up in front of the main entrance to the ER in record time, his car skidding slightly as he came to a stop. Remmy climbed in, exhausted and mentally drained.
“Where to?” Roman asked as she buckled herself in.
“I guess home,” she said, head resting back against the seat. She sighed heavily, glad to be in familiar territory again. She really hated hospitals. As the car began to move, the gentle rocking lulled her to sleep.
****
Julie took her time with the steak, though not necessarily to savor its rich flavor, which she had to admit, tasted like a little bit of heaven. She was trying to forestall the after-dinner activities. She had no desire to have that monster touch her; the thought made her skin crawl.
He watched as Julie took each bite slowly, chewing the succulent meat and swallowing, enchanted by every move. “Are you enjoying yourself?” Sergio asked, resting his cheek in the palm of his hand, his dinner long since finished.
Julie nearly choked on her bite of food. “Very good,” she said.
“Good. I figure, we’ll relax for a while when you finish, then later we’ll have dessert.” Sergio’s heavy brows drew together. “You do like chocolate, don’t you?”
Julie took a sip of water before answering. “Did you get enough for us all?” she asked quietly, trying her best to not look away or let her true feelings show. For a moment she regretted her words; a darkness seemed to fall over his already dark eyes, but then it passed, followed by a smile.
“That would be a nice treat, wouldn’t it? I’m sure they’d enjoy it.”
