Renewing Lost Love (18 page)

When Keith walks into the emergency room at
the hospital in Cody, he approaches the information desk and asks
what room Jasmine Leblanc is in. The young girl behind the desk
smiles and says, “I’m sorry sir, but visiting hours are over and I
can’t give you that information.”

A dark rage flows through Pinky and just as
he is about to grab the young girl and shake the information from
her he hears, “Pinky? Come with me.”

He looks to see one of the nurses he knows
from Jesse’s PTSD program. He has met her several times during
parties at the ranch. He takes a deep calming breath and follows
the nurse down the hall. When they reach the far end of the hall
she says, “Miss Leblanc is in here. Jesse is with her.”

Pinky says, “Thank you,” and pushes open the
door to the room she indicated. The lights are dim and he can see
Jasmine asleep on the bed. She looks very pale with lines of worry
between her eyes. Jesse is sitting in a chair beside the bed
dozing. He walks over to the bed and whispers, “Jesse?”

Jesse nods and then whispers “Come with
me.”

She leads him a few doors down and into the
nurse’s lounge. When the door closes behind them she says, “Pinky,
she’s been sedated so she probably won’t wake for several hours
yet. I want to tell you what we know. Jasmine didn’t come down to
lunch today so Melanie went up to check on her. She found her in
her room crying hysterically. None of us could get her to calm down
or tell us what is upsetting her so we called the ambulance. She
was screaming about how sorry she is and how you will never forgive
her. Then after the ambulance left with her, Melanie found the
pregnancy test on the floor of the bathroom. We don’t know what to
make of it.”

Pinky shakes his head, “I don’t know either
Jesse. I’m not sure if she’s upset because she is pregnant or if
it’s something else. I don’t guess we will know until she talks to
me. I just hope she will talk to me. I know she’s been having some
blocked memories return, maybe it has something to do with one of
those although the ones she’s told me about haven’t ever upset
her.”

Jesse smiles and says, “I’m going to lie down
in the room next door and try to get some sleep. Call me if you
need me.” She turns and walks out the door and Pinky returns to
Jasmine’s room. He sits beside her bed praying once again that
whatever has upset her is not something that will take her away
from him a second time.

Just as dawn is breaking, Jasmine starts to
stir. Pinky rises from the chair and takes her hand in his,
bringing it to his lips and pressing a soft kiss in her palm. He
softly says, “Jasmine?”

Slowly opening her eyes, she sees him and
tears fill her eyes. She pleads, “I am so sorry Keith. I tried to
stop him. I didn’t want him to kill our baby! Please, please
forgive me!” She starts sobbing uncontrollably.

Stunned by her words, he sinks down on the
side of the bed and pulls her into his arms rocking her back and
forth and stroking his hand down her back. He takes a few minutes
to absorb what she said holding her while she cries, then speaking
very softly he says, “Sweet Jasmine, please, calm down and talk to
me. Tell me what you’re so upset about.”

She hiccups as she tries to control her sobs,
“Our baby, Keith, he killed our baby.” Then she begins sobbing
uncontrollably again.

Rage like Keith has never felt before flows
through his veins. He takes several calming breaths and then he
asks, “James Bixby killed our baby?”

“Yes, he killed him. He was so perfect Keith.
He had your eyes, and your nose, and my hair. Oh God, I couldn’t
stop him. I am so sorry!” sobs Jasmine.

“Jasmine, is this another memory that you had
blocked?” he asks.

Nodding she says, “Yes, I remembered when I
saw the results of the pregnancy test. I saw him holding our baby
by his feet and lowering him head first into the water bucket. He
had me by the throat and I was begging him not to hurt our baby. He
made me watch him hold our baby under the water for a long, long
time. Then he threw him on the bed and laughed. He said he wasn’t
about to raise your bastard. Then he stormed out of the cabin. Oh
Keith, our baby was so blue, so cold. He was dead. Our baby was
dead.” Sobs wrack her body again. He continues to rock her back and
forth gently stroking her while she cries.

Keith asks, “Jasmine, what happened to our
baby then?”

Jasmine says, “I don’t know. James came back
into the cabin and took him away. I don’t know where he took
him.”

“Oh Jasmine, Sweetheart, I am so sorry I
wasn’t here for you when you remembered. I know you didn’t want him
to kill our baby. I know you tried to stop him. This is not your
fault,” he whispers as tears stream down his face for their lost
child. “I promise you that James Bixby is going to pay for this. I
am going to make sure he pays.”

After they have both cried themselves out
grieving for their lost child, Jasmine asks, “Can you ever forgive
me?”

Squeezing her gently he says, “I have nothing
to forgive. I know you didn’t want him to hurt our baby. I know you
tried your best to stop him. Let’s be thankful we have been blessed
with Timmy and now we are going to have another baby too.” He
brushes his lips against hers and says, “I love you Jasmine.”

Smiling through her tears she says, “I love
you too, Keith.”

After explaining to her doctor the reasons
for the breakdown Jasmine is released from the hospital. The doctor
sends her home with a prescription for tranquilizers in case she
has any more distressing episodes.

When they arrive back at the ranch they are
faced with curious looks from everyone so Jasmine and Pinky tell
the story to Barry and Melanie and ask them to spread the word so
they don’t have to repeat the story over and over.

Later that afternoon while Jasmine is
napping, Pinky calls Scoot and asks him to go for a walk with him.
As they are strolling across the pasture to the river Scoot says,
“Barry told me about the baby. I’m really sorry, Pinky.”

Tears in his eyes, Pinky says, “That’s what I
wanted to talk to you about. I want to hire a search team to scour
the area around that compound in Idaho and see if they can find his
remains. I want to bring him here and give him a proper burial. Can
you recommend someone?”

Scoot says, “Yeah, there’s a group out of
Texas that does that type of work. They have a team of dogs trained
to sniff out human remains. I’ll contact them this afternoon and
get them started.”

Pinky says, “I really appreciate it. Thanks
man.” Then he heads back to the house to be with Jasmine.

******

The next afternoon Jasmine walks into the
kitchen to get Timmy some cookies for a snack. She finds Samantha
Wells sitting at the table drinking a glass of cold milk and eating
homemade chocolate chip cookies. Sam says, “Jasmine, I’m really
sorry about ...you know. I know that had to have been horribly
painful.”

At her words Jasmine freezes, turning toward
the window to cover the tears that spring to her eyes. She is
taking deep calming breaths and trying to think of an appropriate
response when she hears Samantha screaming, “What are you doing,
you brute? Take your hands off of me! Leave me alone! Put me
down!”

Jasmine spins around to see Stump walking out
of the kitchen with Samantha thrown over his shoulder like a sack
of potatoes. She is beating him on the back with her fists and
screaming at the top of her lungs.

When Stump gets Samantha to the great room,
he dumps her unceremoniously on the sofa and says, “Are you
frigging nuts, woman? Jasmine just got out of the hospital from
having a breakdown about “you know”. I swear, Sam, sometimes you
are the most insensitive idiot I have ever met! Don’t you ever
think before you open your mouth?” He turns on his heel and walks
out the front door.

Barry, watching from the door of the study
grins and walks back in the study leaving Samantha sitting
speechless on the sofa.

******

A week later, Scoot’s cell phone rings and he
answers, “Scoot.”

“Mr. Drake, this is Tom Dawson with Texas
Safe Search. We’re up here in Idaho and I wanted to let you know
that this place is a veritable cemetery. We have found four bodies
in the last six hours, all adults. We’ve called the FBI and they
are sending a team up here to try to identify them. I’m sure you’ll
be hearing from them soon.”

Scoot shakes his head and says, “Damn, thanks
for calling me Mr. Dawson. I wonder how many unsolved
disappearances we’re going to resolve here.”

“From what I’ve seen so far, it looks like
quite a few. Most of these appear to my untrained eye to be young
females. We haven’t found a baby yet. I’ll call you back in a few
days,” replies Mr. Dawson.

After he disconnects he hunts down Pinky and
relays the information to him. Pinky shudders and says, “Damn, how
did Jasmine and Melanie ever survive such a place?”

A few days later, early in the morning, as
Pinky steps out of the shower he hears Timmy screaming. He grabs a
towel and wraps it around his waist and runs into the boy’s room
where he finds him sitting in the middle of the bed sobbing. He
sits down on the bed and pulls the boy into his arms, “Hey big guy,
what’s wrong? Did you have a bad dream?”

Sobbing Timmy says, “Mommie, Miss Jasmine, is
hurt Mr. Pinky. A mean man hit her and she is laying on the ground
bleeding.”

A cold chill runs down Pinky’s spine as he
remembers how accurate Timmy’s dream about Samantha Wells turned
out to be. He looks up and sees Jasmine standing in the bedroom
doorway and breathes a sigh of relief. Then he says, “What else did
you dream Timmy? Where was Miss Jasmine when the bad man hit
her?”

Timmy thinks really hard and then says, “I
don’t know, she’s outside and I don’t recognize anything. He’s
being really mean to her. He kicked her and punched her. He asked
her where you are Mr. Pinky. He wants to find you.”

Pinky then asks, “Is there anyone else in
your dream Timmy? Are you there?”

Timmy shakes his head, “No, it’s just the
mean man and Miss Jasmine. Don’t let him get her Mr. Pinky, please?
I love Miss Jasmine and I don’t want her to get hurt.”

Pinky says, “I don’t want her to get hurt
either Timmy. I will do everything I can to make sure she is safe,
I promise. Are you ready for breakfast or do you want to sleep some
more?”

“I’m ready for oatmeal!” Timmy jumps out of
bed and grabs Pinky’s hand pulling him toward the stairs.

Pinky grins and says, “Hold on Sport! We need
to put on some clothes first.”

Jasmine is laughing as she watches the two
males in her life. Then she shudders. She is concerned about
Timmy’s dream. Keith told her how accurately Timmy described what
happened to Samantha Wells when she was kidnapped in Tennessee. She
hopes he is wrong this time, a one on one encounter with James
Bixby is the last thing she wants to face. She remembers how
frightened she was the day he ran her off the road. She’ll just
have to make sure she is not in a situation where he could grab her
again.

While Timmy is eating his oatmeal with
raisins, Pinky discusses his dream with Barry. Barry shakes his
head, “That’s definitely scary after how accurately he described
what happened to Samantha Wells. We need to remember his first
dream was after Samantha had already been kidnapped. This one
hasn’t happened yet and we should be able to prevent anything from
happening.”

Jasmine walks into the kitchen and overhears
the men. She says, “I have been thinking, maybe we should use this
as a way to draw Bixby out into the open again.”

Pinky adamantly says, “No! Absolutely not! I
will not put you at risk again. The man is crazy and there is no
telling what he might do.”

Jasmine walks over to the table and sits down
beside Pinky, lays her hand on his knee and says, “Please, listen
Keith, it may be our only chance. If he disappears again we may not
get a warning next time.”

Pinky says, “He might hurt you badly too. I
just can’t take that chance. If he’s around here we’ll find him.
Bear can track anything. He’ll be able to find him.”

Bear and Jesse walk into the kitchen just as
Pinky is making his last statement. Barry says, “Bear, this is a
surprise! What brings you over here so early this morning?”

Bear looks at Pinky and says, “Tell me what
you’re talking about first. Has something happened?”

Pinky says, “Timmy had a dream that Bixby got
Jasmine and hurt her. She wants to expose herself and see if we can
draw him out.”

Barry says, “What’s up Bear?”

Bear looks at them, “It may be too late. That
itchy feeling I get every time something is about to happen woke me
up about an hour ago. He’s around here. I can feel it.”

******

James Bixby is lying on his belly in the
woods just outside the gates of the Rock Springs Ranch. His heart
is pounding with excitement. Finally he is here and he is
determined to succeed this time. It may take him a few days to
figure out how to get inside but he is going to make those
mercenaries pay. He has to admit this place appears to be protected
better than Fort Knox. No problem, he’ll figure it out. No one
escapes James Bixby when he sets his mind to it. With all of these
reporters hanging around the main gate he’s going to have to make
sure to stay out of sight, he doesn’t want his picture appearing on
some newsstand.

He slinks back to his truck and drives up and
down the road looking for a possible entry point. When he sees the
gate to the Murray ranch he thinks it may be a possibility. It has
security cameras too, but no guards. Looking over the maps of the
area he picked up from a local gas station he sees an old logging
road that runs up the back side of both ranches. Bingo! He should
be able to get in from that direction.