Red Noon (7 page)

He softly bathed her, making sure each touch was soft as not to hurt her too much. Even though he tried to be gentle he could still here her whimpers so he knew even gentle was hurting her which told him lying in bed was hurting her more than she led him to believe. He would have to see what the doctor could do about that. Maybe she could sit more or something.

He was contemplating getting her a chair brought in that would allow her to put her feet up if she needed to without putting too much pressure on her back until he eased the sheets up from the bottom to her behind and saw her legs.

“God I’m so sorry,” he felt the anger striking him like a bolt of lightning. “I’m   so sorry we didn’t get to you sooner.”

She started to cry as her hands fisted the pillows.

“I’m so sorry.” And on those words he felt a tear escape his own eyes. This woman had been nearly mutilated with that belt. What kind of sadistic bastard could do something like this to anybody, let alone a woman. God did he wish he had managed to get a moment alone with the guy before the squad pulled the trigger on him because he would have loved to beat him into oblivion. He wasn’t some martial arts expert, but he knew how to fight. He knew how to defend himself, and he knew how to take down the enemy with lethal force—by hand or otherwise.

He put the soft lotion the nurses left the previous night on the skin he had washed except the backs of her arms. He could do her arms later. The lotion smelled much like the soap. They had said the natural essential oils would help take care of fading the bruises while giving her a stroke of comfort to her olfactory system.

He covered her when he was done putting the lotion on her. She turned, painfully so, and looked at him before pulling one of the smaller towels from the pile and taking it under the covers. She maneuvered around a bit before pulling the sheet back some.

“Girly bits covered,” she said so innocently he thought he might just break and shatter this time. Instead he put the same care into the front of her as he had the back. But God if he didn’t get angrier seeing the same welted marks running from stomach to breastbone. It wasn’t tears coming to his eyes now. Right now it was rage coming to his heart and coursing through his body like a train speeding brakeless downhill.

“I still don’t know your name, but it’s not your fault. You got to me as soon as you could. If it weren’t you and your team I know he would have killed me. The only thing that stopped him was that his boss wanted something else out of me.”

“Something else?” Was this something more than two men just grabbing a woman and taking her hostage? Did she have something of theirs?

“He wanted my body I think. The guy who beat me told me he was told not to mess up my face because boss man wouldn’t want to have to look at it while he…you know.”

Oh hell his mind had gone out in left field and he had been wrong. But he still had to ask. “Did you know them?”

“No. Never seen them before. I didn’t even see the other guy—the skinny one. He didn’t come down while I was awake. But the bigger guy I’ve never seen anywhere. I don’t know why they did this to me,” she started to tear up again. “I don’t know why.”

“Sometimes you can’t know the why of evil, Shelia. Sometimes you’ll never know, and you’ll just have to realize that some evil can’t be fixed while it’s breathing.”

Her eyes told him she knew what he meant. Some evils had to be eradicated the lethal way. While he wasn’t a trigger happy cop this incident was making him think of how great it would be if they could put more of these dogs to sleep and protect the citizens from them as much as possible.

“So the other guy, you never heard his voice either?”

“No. I don’t think so. When I was fighting them, before they took me, I don’t think he spoke at all. And then he hit me from behind.” Her palm went towards her head but her fingers didn’t touch it at all before returning to her side. “It hurt.”

“He hit you with his gun to knock you out.”

“I wish he had just killed me instead. Death would have been welcomed to what the other guy did to me.”

“Don’t say that. Don’t think like that. Every day above ground is a good day.” He put the lotions on her softly trying to sooth her and keep her calm; maybe he was trying to help keep himself calm too.

“Yesterday wasn’t a good day.”

“We found you yesterday so that was a good thing.”

She inhaled softly and exhaled just the same.

“My name is Takahiro, by the way. Takahiro Nakamura.”

“Takahiro,” her lips almost curved upward but didn’t quite make it. “I like that.” She nodded slowly before her somber look took completely over her face and eyes.

“He hit me a lot. He left to take the garbage out. He left for breakfast but every time that door opened and I heard the thud of his shoes against the stairs I knew it was going to start again. He mostly hit me with the belt. But sometimes he got close to me and he would breathe in my face and his breath was so rancid. God it was rotten and it made me sick, but he never let me turn away from him. He punched me in the stomach a couple times. I um…they wouldn’t untie me and I urinated on myself.” Her lips quivered and he could see the embarrassment in her eyes.

“It happens. It could happen to anybody under those circumstances.”

She nodded before swiping a tear away from her cheek. “Then I broke. I broke and I begged him to stop hitting me. He laughed at me and he hit me harder. And when I threw up his face was there and it got on him,” her voice shook as she spoke softly. “He got so angry that he punched me and then he went back to beating me, but harder than he already was. I thought my skin was going to burn off my back. It felt like I was on fire,” she cried. “It felt like I was on fire.”

He couldn’t resist placing a kiss on her forehead and leaving his forehead pressed against hers afterward. She was so fragile it was killing him. There was nothing he could do to take this away from her. There was nothing he could do to make the pain go away.

She placed her palm over her mouth and he lifted his head enough to look in her eyes. “I won’t do to you what he did to me. I haven’t brushed my teeth since I left my house.”

He winked. “No worries. I have a toothbrush and paste for you in the bathroom.”

She nodded. “I should put on some clothes.”

“Yeah,” he walked over to the bag they had dropped off last night and pulled a few things out. The dress seemed the safest because the fabric felt soft to him so maybe it would feel okay against her body. He didn’t go for a pair of the pants because he thought that much fabric on the damage to her body that he had just seen might hurt her more. He got a pair of panties for her and then pulled out a bra and held it up to see if she wanted that one.

She shook her head no. “A bra would hurt too much right now. Good thing I’m only an A-cup. I don’t think anybody will really notice if I don’t have on one.”

He put the black lace bra back and handed her the panties he had picked out—something soft in fabric that he hoped wouldn’t hurt her too much. “Need help?”

“I think I can get it.” She took the panties from him and maneuvered under the covers again. He heard the strained sounds of her anguish as she pulled the panties up. She was completely naked under those covers because the nurses had wanted to let the injury have a breather from as much fabric as they could.

She took the dress from him next. She sat up and made sure her back was to him before removing the sheets. The damage was still glaring at him like a wolf daring him to attack. Find the bastard and kill him is what he heard, but the saner side of his mind told him to follow the law. That was his job, was it not? Protect, serve, obey the laws not break them.

Sheila was doing okay but she had difficulty with the dress so he helped get it over her head and arms. There was no way he couldn’t get a look at those “girly parts” while doing it but fortunately he was a man who could think with the northern head and not let the southern one take over. She didn’t need a lover. She needed a protector.  He helped her stand and watched her go to the bathroom where she closed the door but not before asking him not to leave her alone. He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked up to the ceiling. “Mission accepted,” he said to God. “I am not going to let the bastard get to her again. I hope you won’t hold it against me if I break some laws in the process.” He would be her protector by whatever means necessary.

Chapter Five

S
helia sat on the bed with her legs cushioned on top of pillows. She made sure the black and gold dress they had brought from her home was still covering at least some of the bruises but she couldn’t cover all of them. The just below knee length flaring skirt and the scoop neck top of the bodice to the dress showed off some of the wounds.

Both detectives were from the Scottsdale location so she now knew the extent of how many cities were cooperating with each other on this case. She had to say that was pretty amazing seeing as though she hadn’t thought anybody was coming for her at all. She was thankful for all their hard work. She still didn’t know how they found her. She and Takahiro hadn’t really talked about all that because she was still coming down from a rush of fear while trying to deal with all of the physical and mental tormenting that had been done to her.

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as one of the detectives sat at the chair beside her bed while the other stood next to him. That was Takahiro’s chair and since one of them took it she knew he wouldn’t be beside her. No, he sat too far away on the couch across the room. It wasn’t miles away, but it felt like it.

“Can you tell us why you were parked in the driveway?”

“When I got home my garage door remote wouldn’t work. Since the door doesn’t have a handle to lift from the outside I went into the house. I planned to go back out and run to the store. I changed my mind and planned to just go move the car inside. I didn’t want to leave it out with the local problems with nighttime car vandalism.” She nodded. She saw the look on Takahiro’s face and she couldn’t miss that knowing message, like it was adding up to him now.

“You think he sabotaged my garage door don’t you?” She looked at him and the other detectives in the room turned to look at him too.

“I do.” He said without any hint of doubt in his conclusion “I think he’s a hunter. Hunters hunt their prey.”

“And I was his prey.”

He nodded his confirmation. “Hunt them, and find ways to trap them. If it wasn’t at your place then he would have found someplace else to grab you. He set up the perfect bait.”

“And I took it.”

“You couldn’t avoid it. It’s not like you knew somebody was hunting for you because if you did the garage door opener would have seemed less like a technology fluke and more like trouble waiting to happen.”

The other detectives just took notes. They didn’t tell him he was overstepping his boundaries. They didn’t get upset at the detour from their ownership of the conversation. Either this man was a commander, or these men were just grateful for whatever help they could get.

“Add to that the lights that were out on the street and that is trouble.” Sanchez mumbled.

“Yeah, I heard about that.” Takahiro looked at Sanchez.

“Just a couple loose wires in the box…” Sanchez looked at his partner like a light had just gone off in his head. “Oh man. Call the Captain and get him to get somebody over there to dust for prints on that box.”

The other guy nodded and left the room while she sat there thinking about everything both men had said Hunters hunt; that’s what they did, and it’s what they were skilled at doing.

“A couple weeks ago it felt like somebody was watching me when I left the gym. I mean it just felt off, but I looked around and didn’t see anybody so I just shook the feeling off.”

“What gym is that?” The one who said his name was Detective Sanchez had asked her.

She rattled off the name and address to the men as they took notes. “Was this the first time you had that feeling?”

“I think so.” She tried to think a bit but she didn’t know for sure. “I think so,” she nodded. “But I guess I should tell you all, in case my bosses didn’t mention it, that there was some trouble a couple weeks back too.”

Takahiro stood up and came toward the bed and stood at the footboard.

“What kind of trouble?” Sanchez scribbled some more notes.

“No…it can’t be related.” She shook her head nearly chastising herself for being so paranoid post the attack. Not everything was trouble waiting to happen and if she allowed herself to believe it was she would barricade herself in the home and become a severe agoraphobic.

“Don’t discount anything, Shelia.” Takahiro nearly glared at her letting her know he was on official duty and would act like the man of the law he was.

She told them about the information that Eddie got about the picture of her and the article. “Thing is,” she said, “that picture was taken of me outside work. They figured somebody at the office had to have done it. They hired a lawyer and got mostly all of the pictures taken down as hate speech, but things that couldn’t be lumped under that are still up with the whole free speech thing. And of course once something is online…”

“It stays online,” Sanchez nearly snarled. “Were they able to find out who took the picture?”

“No. It was after work hours, we think anyway. I didn’t stay past six that day. I know what day it was because I was wearing my blue and yellow lace croquis.”

“Cro…what?”

“It’s a dress I designed and made. At any rate, the picture looked later in the afternoon so it’s not real easy to figure out who took it now. I don’t think it’s related to this. Why would it be?”

“It could be,” both men said at nearly the same time.

Sanchez gave her a soft smile. “I’ll do some research and talk with your bosses to get their input on it too. Now, has anybody at the office been bothering you?”

“Yeah…but it’s like typical office drama.”

“Jealous of your position?”

“No. Let’s just say I get picked on about clothes and my weight. At first they did it where I could hear them but when they saw I didn’t care they just started giving me weird looks during the day or when I entered a room.”

“Your weight?” Sanchez’s eyes roved up then down her body.

“Yeah. They say I’m too skinny. I think I’m normal. But you know people who are unhappy with themselves will always try to uplift themselves by tearing somebody else apart and knocking them down. Thick, thin or anything in between doesn’t matter…everybody catches it one way or another. But I really think they were following Rebecca Sharp because that girl hated me.”

“Hated, explain.” Sanchez scribbled some more.

“Not that I think she had anything to do with this mind you, but the job I got is apparently the job she wanted. She was there long before they hired me.”

“So the bosses…do you have something with one of them.”

“No! They are both married by the way. Justin told me they both think of me like a daughter. But I think I got the spot and my promotion because they liked my style, my ability to stand up for myself and not sway the way of the wind. Working with Justin and Eddie means you have to be strong. You have to sometimes stand up to them when they’re wrong, but you also have to be able to call the shots they want you to call to get the magazine out right. I get the feeling they’re training me for something, but I don’t know what yet. Maybe an expansion…a new magazine….I don’t know. But while the rumors went out that maybe there was something, there isn’t anything maliciously sexual or otherwise between us.”

Sanchez nodded. “Sounds like a cat fight.”

“Well it is a fashion magazine. How could you not have fashionable drama queens with something like that?” She shrugged her shoulders as if to say she didn’t care because she didn’t need those people to like her at all.

They talked about that day, that night, and everything that came after in more detail. She had gone through so many boxes of Puffs, thanks to the nurse bringing more and more in, that she was starting to think she should have bought stock in the company.

“Anyway,” she wiped her nose with the tissue. “When do I get to go home?”

“You don’t.” Sanchez said as if that was the final answer.

“I can’t stay here forever.”

“We’re looking for someplace to put you.” She was about to say something when he held up his hand to stop her. “Your bosses are leaving you out with pay and they’re not bringing you back in the office for at least a month.”

“I’ll fix that.”

“Look I...”

“I  need to work. If I don’t work I’m going to go crazy. I’ll fix it.”

“Yeah I don’t think so,” Takahiro finally opened his mouth again. “I’m assigned as your protection detail…”

“You’re SWAT.”

“Direct orders.”

“Well fine, put a cop with me while you work. You and I both know what you do takes skill; missing a month sitting on me could get you killed.”

She saw the fight leave out of his eyes because she knew that he knew she was right. “I’ll sit where you guys put me until I can cover some of these bruises and sit without feeling like I’m torturing myself, but I won’t do it any longer than that. I won’t let this guy take everything away from me; he’s already taken more than enough.” As scared as she still was she couldn’t give them this. They had already taken the important things from her—safety being the most important. She wouldn’t feel safe anywhere now, but she wouldn’t let them take away all of her sanity. She had lived; now she needed to learn how to survive and she couldn’t do that hiding.

Both detectives looked at her with almost pity in their eyes, but she knew it was more than that. They saw the unthinkable in her and for that she was sorry for them. What they saw would never leave their mind just like what happened to her would never leave hers.

“Are you really ready for this?” Takahiro came to sit beside her on the bed.

“No. But I have to do this. When the plane crashed and I survived but both my parents died I swore I wouldn’t fly again. I was too afraid to even think of getting on a plane. And I haven’t done it since. And I won’t do it. But with this, if I don’t get back out there soon I fear that I’ll lock myself in my house and never leave it. I know Justin and Eddie would let me work from home. I know they love me enough to make sure somebody did my grocery shopping for me because they told me they think of me like family. And they did this for me,” she waved her hand out toward the room as she got to her feet. The bed was really starting to hurt her more now. “But those guys who took me have already taken so much from me—my safety, my dignity…I can’t let them take my sanity and my measured freedom. If I don’t find a way to get back out there soon I know I never will.”

He came to her, taking her into his arms gently, being careful not to squeeze her or touch her back. He just used his hand to hold her head against his chest. It hurt to have her chest and stomach pressed against him, but it felt comforting too.

“You still have your dignity, Shelia. They don’t have any, but trust me when I say there isn’t a man in my squad or on the force that doesn’t respect and admire you greatly. This thing went worldwide and people were sending out prayers for you.”

She lifted her head so their eyes could meet. “Really?”

“Really,” he nodded again. “This is a lot bigger than you know. A lot of people’s hearts broke for you and a lot of people are happy we found you alive. You’ll survive this, but I think you need to speak to a counselor.”

She shook her head no. “I just need to work through it in my mind without having to tell the story over and over again. Besides, I like talking to you.”

“You can’t…you can’t think of me as your safety blanket.”

“I know. It’s not that at all. I can’t explain it right now because I don’t understand it myself, but when I can sort it all out I’ll know how to articulate it so you’ll understand.”

He stroked his fingers through her hair. “Then I’ll operate on your time, and I’ll wait for you for however long it takes.”

“Thanks,” she shifted out of his hold. “As much as I love being in your arms my chest and stomach feel kind of raw in places too.”

“I’m sorry. I should have thought of that.”

“Don’t even apologize. Trust me; I needed that touch of goodness. When I can tolerate a real hug, I’m holding you to a really strong one”

He winked at her. “Now that I can do.”

Their conversation was cut short when the doctor came in to check on her injuries and do all the usual blood pressure, heart rate, and typical medical checks. She had to go in the bathroom to get back in the dress gown and for that she really did need help so she called on Takahiro to help. He had already seen her in various shades of nudity anyway so why not have somebody she was comfortable with help her get undressed this time?

He was careful not to be too swift or too rough getting the dress up over her head. What she wished she had done was been facing away from the mirror because having a full on gaze at her body just verified what she thought in the first place. She turned and then looked back to see her back. The red welted flesh made tears come to her eyes again.

She sniffled. “I had hoped it wasn’t as bad as it felt.”

“It will heal.”

“Yeah,” she took the gown and put it on, leaving her panties on so she could cover that portion of her body before trying to get them off. The doctor would need to look at the welts on her behind too. But the moment she bent to try to do it she realized she couldn’t. Takahiro dropped to one knee, looked up into her eyes reassuringly and then reached under her robe. His fingers were so gentle as they found their way to the waistband of the panties, took hold and slowly pulled them down. In any other situation this would feel like a lover undressing his woman, but this wasn’t any other situation.