Renewing Lost Love (3 page)

Pinky nods and says, “Jasmine’s grandmother
was into alternative medicine. They believed in all the herb and
plant stuff. Maybe it paid off for her after all. Melanie, do you
know where they were going when they left Idaho?” A flicker of hope
sparks to life inside Pinky’s heart. Is it possible Jasmine might
still be alive? Is it possible she might still love him? He has to
find her!

“No, I don’t, I’m sorry. I only remember
Bixby had a huge argument with Darren about merging with a group
from Montana. Darren threatened to kill him if he ever saw him
again, so he took Jasmine and left. We didn’t even get to say
goodbye to each other.”

Eric interrupts, “It was Flathead Lake Mom. I
remember because I thought it was a stupid name. They were arguing
about a group in Montana on Flathead Lake.”

Bear has been sitting in the corner of the
office listening to the exchange. He only recently joined Drake
Security after his son, Stump, located him living near Kalispell,
Montana and convinced him to seek treatment for the Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder he suffered after serving in Vietnam. He says,
“Flathead Lake is near Kalispell. I heard talk about a militia
group forming around that area a few years ago.”

Pinky looks over at Bear, “Do you still have
contacts up in that area? Can you find out where their compound is
located?”

“What are you planning to do Pinky?”
interrupts Barry.

“I am going to find Jasmine, get her out of
there or die trying,” answers Pinky without hesitation.

Smiling at Pinky, Barry says, “I take it this
Jasmine means a lot to you.” Everyone is stunned at the emotion in
Pinky’s voice. They have never seen any emotion in him much less
about a woman.

Tears in his eyes, Pinky says, “Yeah, I have
loved Jasmine since we were in grade school together. It nearly
destroyed me when her brother told me she was dead. She was only
fifteen at the time. I joined the Marines to kill myself after her
death, and I would have too if I hadn’t met you guys. You guys gave
me the will to go on.”

I moan quietly, the pain in my ribs so severe
I can barely breathe. I roll to my side and slowly push myself up
into a sitting position on the edge of the bed. I am shaking from
the freezing cold and I need to add wood to the stove.

As I try to stand on wobbly legs, the pain
shooting through my middle causes me to double over and grab my
sides. My ribs must be broken this time, I can’t ever remember
hurting this much before. I can tell my left eye is nearly swollen
shut because I can’t see out of it and my jaw hurts every time I
try to move it.

I have got to get up and brew my special tea.
James raped me again last night after he finished hitting me and I
don’t want to get pregnant. Bringing a child into this situation is
unthinkable. It is better James continues to think I am barren.

I slide off the bed, my legs crumble beneath
me and I fall to my knees painfully jarring her ribs. I cry out in
agony and slowly pick myself up off the floor. I can’t keep doing
this! I have got to do something, but what? As I put water on to
boil on the wood stove and add wood to the fire I try to think of
something, anything.

I remember hearing that Melanie managed to
escape with Eric from the compound in Idaho. I am extremely happy
for her and I pray she is somewhere safe. I remember too that
Darren Calloway was killed by a group of mercenaries that helped
the FBI and ATF break up the group at the compound in Idaho. As far
as I am concerned, Darren Calloway deserved everything that
happened to him. He was an animal, just like James Bixby.
Calloway’s death made James furious though. He had wanted to be the
one to kill him. Calloway embarrassed James in front of the other
members at the compound in Idaho and he intended to have his
revenge. He has been talking about it ever since Calloway forced
them to leave. Now that he’s dead, James is determined to exact his
revenge from that group of mercenaries. I shake my head in disgust.
Men can be so stupid at times.

I could always poison James. Heaven knows
I’ve thought of it often over the last fifteen years. It would be
easy after all. I know exactly what herbs to sprinkle on his food,
but I am sure that would mean certain death. These men have no
respect for human life, especially a woman’s life and they wouldn’t
hesitate for a minute to kill me, after they raped me and beat me
for days on end of course. Keeping James around at least saves me
that horror.

I have seen the same scenario several times
over the last fifteen years. A man dies for some reason or another
and the other men in the compound descend on the woman like
vultures, raping her, beating her until she dies. Only one time
that I remember has a woman in that situation lived and one of the
men took pity on her and took her away from the compound. I wonder
if she is still alive today or if he killed her after they
left.

I add the appropriate amount of wild herbs to
the boiling water and once again send a prayer of thanks to my
grandmother for teaching me about wild plants and herbs when I was
a young girl. The knowledge has saved my life more than once since
James Bixby kidnapped me from the bayous of Louisiana. The brews
have kept me from getting pregnant. They have dulled the pain from
the beatings, and even allowed me to intentionally throw up to keep
James at bay when I couldn’t take anymore of his abuse for a
while.

I sit down at the rickety table in the corner
of the cabin that has been my home for the past six months while I
sip the bitter brew and let my mind wander back to my childhood. My
grandmother raised me and my little brother, Leaf, after our
parents died when they ran their car into the bayou. I was a very
small child at the time and Leaf was only a baby. Granny’s bitter
brews kept me and my little brother healthy and saved us from most
of the childhood diseases kids usually contract. A small smile
crosses my face when I think about when my best friend, Keith
Williams, got the chickenpox. He was miserable and looked so
ridiculous for days and his father could never understand why I
didn’t come down with the chickenpox too. I played with Keith every
day but never got sick.

Keith Williams, I don’t usually let myself
think about him, it just hurts too much. I have loved him forever
and my heart still aches for that lost love. We met in grade school
and immediately struck up a friendship. We were constantly together
all through grade school and junior high. Then in high school I
knew I would marry Keith one day.

I still love him with all my heart. He is so
tall and so good looking with his auburn hair and green eyes almost
the same color as mine. I wonder where he is today and what he is
doing. I hope he is happy with the houseful of kids he always
wanted.

I wipe a tear from my eyes and think back to
the last time I saw him. It is one of my happiest memories, the
night we went to his Senior Prom. I was only in tenth grade then
but I felt so beautiful, so mature that night in the pretty green
dress that matched my eyes. I gave him my virginity and my heart
that night, our one and only night together. James Bixby kidnapped
me the next day.

I had gone down to the swamp that fateful day
to gather herbs for my grandmother. He knocked me unconscious, and
dragged me back to his cabin where he tied me to the bed and raped
me. Then he cut off my shoulder length auburn hair, wrapped it
around a big hunk of smelly meat and left the cabin.

When he returned to the cabin he loaded me
into the camper on the back of his pickup and we left driving
straight to the compound in Idaho. We slept in the camper and ate
peanut butter sandwiches. The only time we stopped was for gas.
When I had to go to the bathroom he made me go on the side of the
road. Any time we were around people he would tie my hands and feet
and stuff a dirty rag into my mouth to keep me from calling out or
signaling to anyone. He did the same at night. He tied me to the
frame of his truck inside the camper, stuffed the dirty rag in my
mouth and raped me night after night. He told me over and over
during those first few days that I belong to him now, his woman.
What he didn’t know then and still doesn’t know is that I had
willingly given my heart and my body to Keith Williams and I will
never belong to anyone else.

I feel a little better after drinking the
special tea that will keep me from getting pregnant and will dull
the pain from the beating. I walk over to the cracked mirror to see
what damage James did to my face this time. Of course, nothing can
be as bad as the time in Idaho when he sliced my face open with
that big ugly knife. James was drunk that night and was threatening
me with the knife like he had so many times. Only that time he
stumbled and that razor sharp knife sliced through my skin. I
jumped away and fled the cabin, but the damage was done. Melanie
sewed my cheek back to together but then I developed an infection
and it burst open. Now I have a horrific scar that covers nearly
the whole left side of my face. My left eye looks droopy and that
side of my face has no feeling and won’t move.

I examine my black eye and shake my head.
Well, I guess it will heal just like it does every time. I again
shake my head in defeat and set about straightening up the cabin.
Every time James gets in one of his moods he wrecks everything.

Keith Williams, Pinky, to his buddies is
extremely knowledgeable about computers and has served as Drake
Security’s resident hacker since the group was formed. Using his
knowledge he scans all of the militia websites looking for any
information that might hint at where Bixby and Jasmine are living
now. He hacks into their confidential communications and reads
every email he can find. Not finding any obvious information about
James Bixby he decides to talk with Melanie, to see if she can
remember anything she hasn’t already told him.

He walks across the ranch yard to the main
house and knocks on the front door. Melanie answers and says,
“Hello Pinky, what brings you over this way?”

Blushing Pinky asks, “Melanie, can I talk to
you please?”

Smiling warmly, Melanie says, “Sure, come
in.” She leads him into the great room and sits on the sofa. “Now,
what do you want to talk about?”

Pinky asks, “Will you tell me about Jasmine?
How does Bixby treat her? Can you remember anything else that might
give me a hint as to where they might be living?”

She looks down at her hands then back up at
Pinky concern plainly visible in her eyes, “Pinky, Jasmine is not
the innocent young girl you fell in love with fifteen years ago.
She has had a very hard life. Are you absolutely certain you want
to know the details?”

Staring out the window across the pasture for
a long moment then turning his gaze back to Melanie, determination
glowing from his eyes, his heart pounding with dread, he answers,
“Yes, I have to know what I am facing. How can I possibly help her
if I don’t know?”

Melanie takes a deep breath, “All right, I
guess the first thing I need to tell you ... well, that you need to
know is ... well, several years ago, Bixby got drunk and in his
drunken rage sliced open her face with a knife from just below her
left eye all the way around her cheek bone and down to the corner
of her mouth.” She uses her finger to trace the path of the scar on
her own face. “I sewed it back together for her but she developed a
bad infection and it burst open. It took weeks to heal and I
thought for a long time she might die. Now she has a really bad
scar that covers most of that side of her face making her eye droop
and she has lost all feeling and movement on that side of her face.
She is really embarrassed by it.”

Pausing she looks into his eyes and sees
tears gathering in his lashes.

He says, “What else?”

She takes another deep breath and continues,
“Pinky, James Bixby is an animal, just like Darren was. He beats
her regularly, usually a couple times per week. I have seen her
with black eyes and numerous bruises on her face, arms, and legs. A
few times she acted like she was having trouble breathing so she’s
probably had broken ribs too.”

Taking another deep breath, looking down at
her hands and then gazing out the window, she continues, “He forces
sexual intimacy on her nearly every night. She told me he likes it
rough and he makes her do things, disgusting things a normal man
wouldn’t ever even think about. I heard from some of the other
women at the compound that James likes to have orgies and I know of
several times three or four men would go into their cabin and stay
for hours. I use to hear her screaming sometimes but she never
would talk to me about it.”

Tears in her voice now, she continues, “He
also mentally abuses her. I know he is constantly telling her
things similar to what Darren told me.”

Pinky interrupts, “What kind of things?”

“Oh, you know, like no one will ever want her
when he is through with her. She is an ugly whore unworthy of
anyone’s love or respect. No one can stand to look at her because
of her ugly scar. She belongs to him and he will kill her if she
ever lets another man touch her without his permission. Also like
me, she was very young when she was kidnapped so I am sure she has
just as many subconscious hang ups as I did, if not more. It will
take a lot of patience and maybe years of counseling for her to
recover fully and that is if, and this is a big if, she is even
still alive. If Bixby tires of her, he won’t think twice about
killing her.”

When she stops talking and looks back at
Pinky she sees the tears streaming down his face. He shakes his
head and says, “How can anyone ever recover from something like
that? How can anyone even survive something like that? It’s been
fifteen years Melanie, fifteen! I feel so damn guilty for not
searching for her when she first disappeared, but I really believed
she was dead! I thought the damn curse had struck again.”