Code 3: Finding Safety (5 page)

Fifteen

James wakes in the middle of the night with Leanna lying against his chest.  A smile forms as he lets this scene etch into his memory.  Never, not once in his life, has he ever felt this much for one person.  Even his marriage to Rebecca had never produced this much love.  He gently begins stroking her hair as he prays for a future with Leanna.

A commotion downstairs pulls him from his prayers and back into reality.  Leanna stirs as he gently places her to the side of him on the bed.  “Mmm, what’s going on?”  She questions as she curls herself into a ball and rubs sleep from her eyes. 

James doesn’t want to worry her.  “I just heard a noise downstairs,” he kisses the top of her head.  “I’m going to go check it out.”  He reaches over and retrieves his off-duty weapon from the nightstand drawer.

As he gets up from the bed, Leanna crawls under the duvet.  She pulls the material to her chin.  “Do you always take a gun when you hear a sound?” 

James can tell that Leanna is worried.  He doesn’t want to leave her up here alone and he doesn’t want to worry her over something that is probably nothing but his training tells him that he needs to check out the noise.  “Actually, yes I do and even more so now that I have a gorgeous woman that I need to keep safe,” he wiggles his eyebrows before turning toward the door.  He glances at her one more time before he opens the door, locks the knob and closes the door behind him.

He creeps down the stairs as quietly as he can.  The noise came from the kitchen.  With his gun drawn and pointed in front of him, he begins to stalk his way toward the room as he sweeps the area.  He scopes out the kitchen and his blood runs cold when he eyes land on the one person he’d hoped to never see again.

“Rebecca?  What the hell are you doing here?”  He brings his gun down to his side and stares at his ex-wife in disbelief. 

“Well, I rang the bell and you didn’t answer so I used the hide-a-key,” she looks up at him over the spoiled food in the container that she holds.  She turns her nose up in disgust at the pungent smell.

“Just because someone doesn’t answer the door doesn’t give you the right to just let yourself in.  Now, you need to leave,” he rips the container from her hands and tosses it in the sink. 

“Now Jamesy-poo why’re you so angry?  I just wanted to see you,” she looks down at her feet with her hands held in front of her.  “I miss you.  I made a mistake.  I want to try to make this work.  Please,” she rubs her hands on his chest while looking up at him through long, dark lashes.

James grabs her hands and pushes them off of him.  After everything she’d done to him, feeling her touch makes him ill.  “Don’t call me that and, you may want to make it work but I…” he takes a deep breath and gets his anger and hurt in check.  “…I don’t want you back and I sure as hell don’t want to make it work.  The only good thing that came of our marriage was the fact that we weren’t able to have children.  Because we don’t have kids means, with the divorce, I’m home free.  I don’t have to see you or tolerate you anymore.”

Rebecca’s evil grin spreads across her face as she looks around James to see Leanna standing in the entryway with nothing but James’ shirt on.  “Well, well, well; who do we have here?”

James turns quickly to see Leanna’s face.  The woman that he had just made love to and shared his bed with has now met the one woman in town that he hoped she’d never cross paths with.  “Leanna,” he makes his way toward her.  “Baby, go back upstairs please.”

Leanna turns and does what she is asked to do.  No words or angry eyes, just obedience.  James hates that she’s timid but knows that she is who she is because of the man she is married to.  He makes a mental note to help her break out of that shell and become his equal—someone with a voice. 

“Well, you seem to have found yourself a good little woman right there,” Rebecca snarls.  “She does as you say without giving you any kind of lip service.  I totally see now why you don’t want me back.” 

An evil smiles creeps along Rebecca’s face.  She’s always been a bit of a bitch and a woman that was never afraid to speak her mind.  If he were being honest, that was one of the things that attracted him to her.  However, that was a different time.  Now, he wants an equal partner; one that will be his other half and who has her own voice but not the mindset of ‘it’s my way or the highway.’

Reeling in his anger, he looks Rebecca square in her hazel eyes and takes a deep breath.  “You need to leave now and never come back.  If I catch you anywhere near my property again, I’ll slap you with a restraining order so fast it’ll make your head spin.” 

She stares at him with wide eyes and an open mouth.  James had never spoken to her in such a manner and she’s thrown off her kilter.  She’s unable to handle rejection in this manner.  Before her brain can fully absorb all the words that he’d just said, the room is filled with a roar of anger.  “Get the fuck out!”

As quickly as she can, she rushes toward the back door.  She unlocks it and makes her way out.  James follows her out and watches her climb in her car.  She quickly reverses out of the driveway before flying down the dirt road, stirring up dust in her wake.  He shakes his head and slams the door shut and locks it while making a mental note to have the locks changed. 

After making sure the house was locked up tight and the hide-a-key was removed, he gives Patches a pat on his head before going back up the stairs.  All he wants to do is lie next to the woman he loves and feel her heart beating next to his body.  His heart races at the anticipation as he opens his door.

His excitement to see her has been replaced with dread.  She’s nowhere to be found in his room.  His bed is ruffled from the two of them but is cold.  Her beautiful face isn’t there, smiling back at him. 
Why isn’t she here?

He makes his way down the hall to see that the bathroom door is ajar.  He thought maybe she’d had to use the bathroom but he was wrong.  There’s only one place she could be…her bedroom.

He creeps toward the closed door and presses his ear to it.  The room is dead silent except for a small whimper. 
Is she crying?  Did I make her cry?
  James’ heart beats with concern.  He never wanted to do anything to hurt Leanna.  He takes a deep breath before rapping, gently, upon her door.

Silence; no response from her.  All he can hear is a slight ruffling of the blankets on the other side of the door and crickets singing outside the house.  After a beat, he taps on the door again.  “Leanna, may I come in?”

After no response, he cracks the door open slightly and peers into the dark room.  The moonlight is the only light that appears.  The white glow lands on the bed.  Leanna is there, blanket pulled up to her chin and back facing the door.  A light sniffle fills the silent room before James begins to tread in.

“Leanna, talk to me,” he pleads before he sits next to her, hand on her shoulder.  “Look at me please.”

Leanna, with a little hesitation, rolls toward James and looks at him with puffy red eyes.  James’ heart skips a beat when he looks at her face.  An overwhelming need to protect her and take her pain away settles in his soul.  “What’s wrong?”  His words catch in his throat. 

“I-I don’t know.  I just…I don’t know what’s wrong.  I have all these feelings and they don’t make sense to me and I…” she sobs a loud, soul wrenching sob and James does the only thing he can do; he wraps her in his embrace hoping that she knows how much she’s wanted and how safe she is with him by her side.

“If you need to cry, let it out,” he whispers in her ear.  Knowing there’s nothing more he can do, he just holds her in his arms waiting for her to talk to him.

“I miss Maryanne.  I left her behind when I moved out here.  Since coming here, I don’t have anyone to talk to,” she rumbles out in rapid fire.  “And then, then seeing you with your ex made all my insecurities come full circle and I don’t have my best friend to talk to.”

James’ heart sinks.  As a man, he doesn’t have the urge to talk about his feelings and he’s never experienced jealousy at the site of another man.  He’s completely out of his league here.  “Why don’t you call Maryanne?  You can call her anytime you need to.  As for Rebecca, you have nothing to worry about.  She’s in my past.  We didn’t make a good couple.”

Leanna sniffles before rolling her body deeper in his side.  “What happened?”

Confused, James asks, “What do you mean?”

“Between you and Rebecca; what happened?”

“Oh,” he takes a deep breath and lets it out.  “I don’t exactly know the moment when everything went wrong, but it ended the night I came home from work and caught her in bed with another man.”

Silence fills the room.  Leanna’s breathing deepens before returning back to normal and James sighs.  “I’m sorry,” Leanna finally says.  “That’s wrong what she did to you.”

“Yeah, but it’s in the past.  Now I have you and all is right in the world.”  He kisses her head and draws her in as close as he can get her.  He never wants her to leave his side and he hopes one day, he can heal her broken heart as she is healing his.

Sixteen

Leanna wakes in the morning as the sunlight begins to shine through the bedroom window.  She’s lying on James’ chest, her head rising and falling with every breath he takes.  She relishes in this moment; the moment that she found a man who supports her and respects her. 

If her parents were alive to see her now, they would be accepting of James.  He father had tried to instill in her not to settle for second best.  He made sure to tell her the type of man she deserved but after his death, she hit rock bottom.  She married the first man to come along and that…that was her downfall.  Mark was a brute of a man with no respect for anyone or anything; especially her.  He was controlling and manipulative and she knew, the moment he struck her for the first time, that he would kill anyone that stood in the way of what he wanted.

Leanna rises from the bed, careful not to disturb James from his deep sleep.  She stands in the doorway staring at him for just a moment, taking in the sight before her.  James lying on his back with his chest muscles exposed for the world to see.  Every muscle is perfectly defined and screaming to be touched.  His perfectly chiseled face is relaxed and peaceful with a hint of a five o’clock shadow. 

She gently closes the door as she exits the room and makes her way to the kitchen.  Patches greets her as she reaches the landing of the stairs.  She scratches the top of his head and gives him a quick kiss on his snout.  “You gotta go outside, boy?”  He follows her at the sound of ‘outside.’  She lets him out the back door before making her way to the fridge to make breakfast.  If there’s any way she can think of to thank James for a perfect night, this is it.

She begins to make the batter for her homemade banana nut pancakes while she dwells on the events of last night.  James made sweet love to her.  She’d never had an orgasm before and last night, she saw fireworks.  The orgasm began deep inside her loins and traveled through every nerve ending in her body until it exited from the top of her head.  She’d never experienced something that good before.  And the cuddling…oh the cuddling was effing perfect.  Mark never liked cuddling.  Hell, he never made love either.  ‘Hit it and quit it’ was always his motto and he damn sure lived by it. 

Everything was perfect last night up until he ex-wife had shown up, in the middle of the night.  Seeing her standing there before the man she’d just given herself to physically was almost too much for her to handle.  She knew that James had been married before but she’d never seen his ex-wife.  Rebecca is gorgeous.  She’s everything that Leanna isn’t.  She is tall and slender with a perfect complexion.  Seeing Rebecca last night forced her to realize that she’s nothing more than a Plain Jane.  Leanna is no more than average height and she has more than a few extra pounds on her.  Mark would never go a day without pointing out that she had more fat on her body that he liked. 

Seeing that gorgeous woman with James made Leanna want to run.  She knows that she doesn’t deserve him.  James is out of her league.  He deserves someone gorgeous like Rebecca.  Someone that will complement him when out on the town; someone that doesn’t have as many skeletons in their closet. 

She feels a gentle kiss on her shoulder as a tear threatens to escape.  “Good morning, beautiful,” James whispers in her ear as he wraps his arms around her waist.

Leanna blushes at his words.  “Morning.  Did you sleep well?”  She asks staring at the almost-done-pancake. 

“I sure did.  I think I slept better than I ever have in my entire life.”  He turns her around to face him as soon as she removes the pancake from the skillet. “And I have you to thank for that,” he kisses her lips before lifting her by her round ass and planting her on the counter next to the stove.  With a swift movement, he shuts the fire off under the pan without ever taking his lips from hers.

He wraps his hands in her long, chestnut hair and gently tilts her head back; exposing her long, gorgeous neck.  He brings his lips down on her throat and a sigh escapes her mouth.  Leanna closes her eyes and relishes in James’ touch against her body.  She feels the heat coming off every inch of him. 

A moan escapes her when his hands run up her thigh and over the material of her panties.  Each circular motion of his hands makes her core damper with pleasure. She’s never felt this much sexual gratification and pleasure in all her life.  She’d always figured that sex was pleasurable for a man and tolerable for a woman.  Oh, was she ever wrong.  With the right partner—loving and attentive, sex could be fulfilling for a woman too.

James moves her panties to the side and begins to rub her clit; harder and with more speed.  Leanna spreads here legs wider while moving closer to the edge of the counter.  She’s never been a sexual person but James brings something out in her—and she loves it.  She feels like a sexual prowess; a tiger if you will.  Her body responds to his simple touch. 

She reaches forward with her right hand and begins to stroke his hardening cock.  Her core clenches with anticipation.  She rubs, up and down, at the same speed as James until a groan hisses under his breath.  She smiles at the slight feat.  Aside from prehistoric grunting that Mark made during their romps, she’s never heard a man groan with pleasure from just her touch.

As Leanna’s hips raise so James can remove her panties, his cell phone rings.  “Son-of-a-bitch,” he curses.  “Of all the fucking times in the world for my phone to ring…” he babbles as he gently slides Leanna back on the counter and reaches toward the ringing phone.  “Yeah?”  He snaps, clearly unable to hide his frustration.

Leanna begins to wiggle down from the counter but James holds his hand flat against her belly.  He flashes her a seductive grin while giving the person on the other line only a small percentage of his attention.  “Ok, I’ll be in in about thirty….no, I can’t make it any sooner.  I’m a bit busy right now,” his eyebrows wiggle at Leanna making her chuckle.

He ends the call and tosses the phone back on the counter.  “Now, where were we?”  He brings Leanna down further on the countertop and begins to pleasure her—a bit more rushed than Leanna had anticipated but pleasurable none-the-less.

After their morning rendezvous, James heads into work to finish a report that the district attorney needs as-soon-as-possible and Leanna begins to clean up the breakfast mess. 

All the chores in the house are done and she sits on the couch to read a book but she can’t concentrate.  She’s been thinking about Maryanne since last night.  The fear of calling her is being overrun by the utter need to talk to her best friend—her only friend.

She tosses the book on the seat next to her and grabs the phone.  Only a second passes before she’s dialing the all-too-familiar number.  Maryanne answers on the third ring.  “Hello?”

“Maryanne?  Oh my gosh, it’s so good to hear your voice,” tears begin to slide down Leanna’s cheeks.

“Leanna?  Leanna, is that you?  Oh honey, I’ve been so worried about you.”

A laugh rumbles from Leanna’s chest.  “I’m fine.  I’m doing well.  I mean, it was rough at first and I ended up in a bit of a pickle but…but I’m doing great now.”

“That’s fantastic,” Maryanne says.  “But listen,” her voices becomes serious.  “Mark left town just hours after you left.  You need to be careful.”

Leanna’s heart races and she begins to develop tunnel vision.
 
She didn’t leave any trail as to where she was going.  There’s no way that he could’ve found her, right?  “Has he come back yet?”

There’s a long pause on the other end before a deep sigh.  “No.  No one’s seen him since the day you left.  Last piece of information I got was that he went to the bus depot.  I don’t know if the clerk gave out information or not but he left not too long after and hasn’t been seen since.”

Leanna’s stomach lurches.  Fear is overwhelming her senses.  Moving away from Georgia was supposed to be a good thing but now…now it seems like anything but good.  “Thanks Maryanne.  Look, you can reach me at the number on your caller ID any time.  I’m in a safe place and I don’t fear any retaliation from Mark.  So, don’t hesitate calling me,” she lies.  She’s still afraid of Mark and the control and abuse that he brings.  Even though she’s surrounded by police officers 24/7, Mark invokes the fear of God straight into her soul.

“What army do you have protecting you that you’re so sure you’re safe from Mark?”  Maryanne’s question comes like daggers to the heart.  Everyone in Danville knows how dangerous Mark and the entire Dickson family are.  They are the most feared family in the county but Mark’s father, Earl, is the most feared of the bunch.

“I’m living with an Austin police officer and I work as a dispatcher for the department.  I have a lot of brothers and sisters in blue out here that won’t let anything happen to me.  This town is different than Danville, Maryanne.  They actually abide to the laws and enforce them when someone decides to break them.”

Leanna tries to sound like she’s not worried, but deep down she is.  She knows that the Austin Police Department won’t allow any harm to come to her, but Mark is one badass son-of-a-bitch and he doesn’t give two shits about laws.

“Oh my…you landed yourself a police officer?  Tell me all about him.  Is he good to you?  Is he gorgeous?  Have you had sex with him yet?”

Leanna’s turning beat red at all the questioning.  “He’s fantastic to me.  Scooped me up after I was mugged and let me live with him and helped me get a job.  He’s gorgeous, Maryanne.  He’s tall, dark and handsome.”  Leanna opts to leave out the fact that she is on the run from her husband.

“Girl, that isn’t a good description of him.  I need stats, colors and build,” Maryanne sounds excited over the phone.

“He’s over six feet tall, brown hair, hazel eyes and very, very defined muscles.  Oh, Maryanne, he is heavenly and he’s so kind,” Leanna squeals.

“But you didn’t tell me anything about your sex life,” she pushes forward with the twenty and one questions.

“Maryanne,” she yells into the phone.  “That’s none of your business. But…I never realized that sex can be pleasurable for me,” she hints, her face turning a hundred shades of red.

They finish their conversation an hour later and Leanna’s soul feels lighter.  Maryanne is the only woman she’s ever felt drawn to and living without her and hearing her voice was pure torture.  She’s vowed to never go that long without talking to Maryanne again.

The phone rings just as she’s about to go start something for dinner.  “Hello?”  She sings into the receiver.  Caller ID has already confirmed that call was from the police department.

“Hey gorgeous, forget dinner tonight.  We’re going out instead,” James tells her.

She smiles.  “Ok, where are we going?”

“We’re just going to a bar and grill on the outskirts of town.  Nothing fancy but it’ll be a great night.”

Leanna hangs up the phone and detours upstairs to get ready for an evening out.