Renewing Lost Love (13 page)

Shaking his head, Pinky answers, “No, I don’t
want to do that. I don’t want to expose Jasmine to anymore danger.
She’s been through enough.”

I am standing in the door unnoticed by the
men, “Keith, I think that might be a good idea. James is arrogant
enough to think I will want go back with him and he might come out
of hiding.”

Pinky says, “No Jasmine, it’s too dangerous.
Bixby is as slippery as an eel. He has already escaped from the FBI
four times. I don’t want to take the chance that he might hurt
you.”

Richard Dean turns a bright red at Pinky’s
comment about the inability of the FBI to capture Bixby.

I look Pinky straight in the eye, “This is my
decision, Keith, not yours. I want James out of my life. I want him
gone forever and if that means I have to put myself in danger, so
be it. Mr. Dean, when do you want me to be in Louisiana?”

Richard Dean looks apologetically at Pinky,
“Well, it will take me a few days to get everything lined out so
that we can make very sure you are safe. I think it would be a good
idea for these guys to accompany you and be available to assist us.
How about if we plan on you arriving next Sunday? That will give me
almost a week to get everything set up.”

I look over at Pinky who is frowning but not
saying anything and then I answer, “Sunday is fine. I’ll let you
guys figure out the details. I need to talk to Skye.” I turn on my
heel and leave the study.

Richard Dean says, “I’m sorry Mr. Williams. I
didn’t mean to cause you any trouble.”

Pinky shakes his head and says, “No, it’s all
right. Obviously Jasmine has progressed in her treatment further
than I thought. If this is what she wants to do, then we will
support her.”

Barry offers, “I’ll call the guys so we can
make some definite plans.”

******

That night Pinky is sitting on the sofa with
me. He put Timmy to bed earlier and returned to the main house
specifically to speak to me. He places his arm across my shoulders,
pulls me close to his side and says, “Jasmine, Sweetheart, is it
possible for me to change your mind about going to Louisiana? I am
really afraid for you.”

I look him straight in the eyes and respond,
“No, you can’t change my mind. I have to do this Keith. Don’t you
see? James Bixby has controlled my life for fifteen years. I have
to confront this head on or I’ll never be free of him.”

“I understand your need to be free of him,
but I am so afraid he’s going to take you from me again, maybe
forever this time and I don’t think I’m strong enough to handle it.
It will destroy me this time, Jasmine.”

“Oh Keith, I’m so sorry to put you through
this. I promise to be very careful and to do everything you tell me
to do, but I have to do this. Skye thinks I’ll be far enough along
with my shooting to carry the pistol too. Please understand.”

Frustrated Keith says, “All right! If that’s
what you want then that’s what we’ll do.” He stands abruptly and
walks out the front door.

Tears slide down my cheeks as I watch Keith
leave. Slowly, I make my way back to my bedroom. Quietly I close
the door and sink to the bed and let my tears flow.

Pinky is angry as he strides across the yard
to the barn. Why is she being so stubborn? He takes a deep
cleansing breath. Then he stops, looks back toward the house and is
overcome with guilt. He walks back to the door. His hand on the
knob, he takes another cleansing breath, turns the knob and walks
back into the great room. Not seeing Jasmine he makes his way to
her room.

He listen from outside her door , hears her
sobbing and his heart clenches. He turns the knob and walks into
her bedroom without knocking. He sees her lying across the bed. He
sits down on the side of the bed and pulls her into his arms. He
says, “I’m sorry Jasmine. I know I’m being unreasonable. I am just
so frightened for you. Please forgive me. I love you.”

Sniffling I say, “I love you too Keith.” I
wrap my arms around his neck burying my face in his shoulder,
breathing in his spicy aftershave.

He places his fingers under my chin and lifts
my face to his brushing his lips against mine tasting the salt of
my tears. He nibbles around the edge of my lips and slides his
tongue inside my lower lip. He says, “Kiss me Jasmine.”

When I open my lips for his invasion he dives
into the moist warmth of my mouth tangling his tongue with mine and
pulls me closer. He devours my warmth. His heart is pounding and
his breathing is ragged. He moves his hand up to my breast and
gently squeezes. He feels my nipple beneath my lightweight sweater
straining toward his palm and he longs to take it in his mouth and
suckle. He lays me down on the bed, raises my sweater, and lowers
his head to my luscious peak flicking his tongue back and forth
across it through my lacy bra.

I reach my hands up and grasp his head
pulling it so that he is looking me in the eye. I ask, “What are
you doing Keith?”

He raises his head and asks, “What do you
want me to do Jasmine? Didn’t you like what I was doing? Tell
me.”

“Yes, I like it but I don’t know what I
want,” I moan.

“Would you like for me to kiss your nipple,
like this?” He gently lowers his head and sucks the puckered bud in
his mouth before raising his head.

I am shocked by the sensations rocketing
through my body. “Oh! Keith, please don’t stop!”

Smiling he unfastens the front clasp of my
bra and takes the luscious bud in his mouth and suckles, drawing it
firmly into his mouth. He says, “Oh, Jasmine, I have dreamed of
suckling at your breast! You’re so sweet.”

I am drowning in sensations. James never
cared about my breasts for anything except causing me pain. The
feelings Keith is creating in me are exquisite. I feel little bolts
of electrical energy shooting through my body straight to my core
and I am moving restlessly on the bed.

Keith moves to my other breast and then uses
his free hands to unfasten my jeans and push them down to my knees.
He slides his hand beneath my panties and parts my curls seeking my
warmth. He slides his finger over my sensitive bud and into my
warmth and I jerk uncontrollably.

“Oh! What are you doing now? Keith?”

He raises his head and says, “Don’t think,
just feel Jasmine.” Moving from my breast back to my mouth, he
plunges his tongue into my warmth as he gently massages my
sensitive nub while moving his fingers in and out of my warmth
mimicking the act of making love. When I crashes over into ecstasy
Keith smothers my cries with a deep kiss and holds me tenderly in
his arms as I float back to earth.

When I open my eyes and look up at him in
confusion, he says, “I love you Jasmine.” Then he rises from the
bed and walks out of my room returning to the barn where he stands
for long minutes under the icy spray of the shower.

I am not sure what just happened. I only
remembers feeling something similar once before, the night of
Keith’s Senior Prom. I lie for long minutes on the bed just
reliving the unbelievable experience. I think what I just felt must
be the female version of whatever it is that James felt when he
raped me. Now I kind of understand why he likes it so much. I would
certainly like to feel it again. I don’t think that it hurt Keith
the same way James always hurt me. He seemed to enjoy watching me.
Maybe I’ll ask him, I don’t want to hurt him that way, not like
James use to hurt me. After a while, I rise and dress for bed and
then relive the experience in my mind again.

When Keith climbs into bed next to Timmy he
thinks back over the last few minutes with Jasmine. Yes, he is
frustrated because she won’t change her mind about going to
Louisiana, but he will deal with that. He just prays that nothing
happens to take her away from him. He wouldn’t be able to bear it.
Watching her climax was one of the most fulfilling experiences he
has had in his adult life. She seems so innocent. It is almost like
she is still a virgin. She seemed so surprised by the feelings he
created in her. He wonders if it’s possible she never had a climax
with James Bixby.

******

The following Sunday, the five members of the
Drake Security team and I fly to New Orleans on Barry’s jet. We
left Timmy at the ranch in the care of Melanie and Barry.

I have been practicing with my semi-automatic
handgun every day and am now a pretty accurate shot though still
not as good as Skye. I am confident enough that I am carrying the
gun in my purse.

From the airport Pinky and I take a rental
car straight to my brother’s home. The other four scatter to their
assigned locations around the area. Bear and Stump are going to
check Bixby’s old cabin for signs of recent activity.

When Pinky and I arrive at Leaf Leblanc’s
home, I nervously take his arm as we walk up the front steps. Both
of us are wearing light weight Kevlar vests as a precaution. Keith
knocks lightly on the door. When Leaf opens the door a look of
sheer joy passes over his face and he grabs me in a warm hug with
tears streaming down his face.

He says, “Oh Jasmine, I could hardly believe
it when the FBI told me you are still alive. But here you are! I am
so happy to see you. Come in and let me introduce you to my
wife.”

Leaf introduces Keith and I to a very pretty
young woman named Sherrie. She and Leaf were married two years ago
and are expecting their first child. Leaf says, “Jasmine, tell me
what happened. I was absolutely certain that gator got you. How did
James Bixby manage to fool us?”

While I tell Leaf my story, Keith is walking
through the house checking out security weaknesses. The FBI told
them they have undercover agents living in the house next door.
Pinky notices the house across the street appears to be vacant and
he radios Scoot to check it out. He is also extremely concerned
about the remoteness of the location of the house. Other than the
vacant house across the street and one next door, no other homes
are located in the area. The yard is full of trees and is bordered
in the back by the swamp and Keith can see several gators relaxing
in the sun. The house doesn’t have any type of security system and
has a large number of windows to create a cross breeze on the hot
Louisiana nights.

Bear radios Scoot to let him know that it
appears someone has been to the cabin recently but it doesn’t
appear anyone is staying at the location so they are headed back to
the area around Leaf Leblanc’s house. Scoot tells them he and Goose
will be checking out a vacant house across the street from Leaf
Leblanc.

******

James Bixby’s heart is pounding with
excitement. He knew if he was patient Jasmine would show up at Leaf
Leblanc’s house and she did. He has been camped out in the vacant
house across the street for nearly a month. Living here, never
leaving, never turning on a light, has been trying but it is
finally paying off.

Jasmine just arrived with that idiot
boyfriend of hers, Keith Williams. How in the world did she hook up
with the bastard so quickly? It doesn’t matter, he won’t be a
problem. He should have taken him out fifteen years ago then
Jasmine wouldn’t have been pining for him all those years. Yeah,
she didn’t know he could tell she was pining for Keith Williams,
but he knew. He could see it in her eyes when she didn’t know he
was watching. He’s certain Keith Williams is the reason she left
him bleeding on the side of the road in Montana. Yep, he’s going to
enjoy killing the bastard then maybe Jasmine will behave when he
takes her back. Pausing he thinks, if I take her back. I may just
kill her and find me another woman, a younger woman that can bear
me a son.

******

Scoot and Goose are quietly moving around the
outside of the vacant house. They have already found recent
footprints so they know someone is hanging around but they don’t
know for sure who. Scoot picks the lock on the back door and they
quietly move inside, guns drawn. The odor of rotting garbage and
human feces is overpowering. Moving from room to room they can hear
someone talking in one of the front rooms. Then Scoot sees him,
James Bixby, talking out loud to himself as he stares out the front
window toward Leaf Leblanc’s house.

They hear Bixby say, “Keith Williams you are
as good as dead. How dare you take Jasmine away from me! You
bastard, I am going to enjoy watching you die! Yeah, I can’t wait
to see that look of terror on your face just like Fred Davis!”

Scoot points his gun at Bixby’s heart and
waits while Goose gets into position to shoot him if he heads for
the front door. Then Scoot yells, “Get your hands up Bixby!”

James Bixby glances over his shoulder but
doesn’t see anyone then he dives through the front window breaking
the glass, rolling on the ground. Scoot fires but misses when Bixby
bails out the window, his bullet striking the window frame sending
splinters of wood flying. Bixby jumps up from the grass and runs a
zig zag pattern through the trees across the road and disappears
into the swamp with Scoot and Goose following close behind firing
at him. At the edge of the swamp they stop and watch as Bixby
disappears from sight deep in the swamp splashing through the murky
water.

Scoot says, “Damn! I can’t believe the
bastard got away again!”

Goose says, “I think I hit him, but he didn’t
slow down so I don’t know for sure. I’m beginning to think it’s
going to take a bazooka to bring the guy down.”

Scoot and Goose meet Pinky and the two FBI
agents from next door on the front porch of Leaf Leblanc’s house
and tell them the discouraging news.

The FBI agent says, “You mean he’s been in
that house across the street all along. We checked it out several
weeks ago and didn’t find anything. We’ve been watching it but
never saw any indication of activity at that location.”

Scoot says, “It looks like he’s been in the
house for several weeks. Garbage and human feces are everywhere.
The smell is horrific.”