Dangerous Ground

by Smith, Stephanie Jean

  Leland concentrated on his driving; he knew the area well. During the summer, his son went camping at Hummel Park. There were a few houses in the woods, but they are miles apart from each other. Leland turned off his headlights and turned onto Hollow Rd. “This house is at the end of Hollow Rd. We’re going to have to ditch the car before we get to close to the house, or the kidnapper will see us coming.”

  Leland stopped his car, and Xavier was out of the car like a shot. He had his gun out of his holster as he made his way up to the cabin. The police and FBI were already there by the time Xavier and Leland reached the house. Two agents tried to keep Xavier away from the scene. “I think you better tell the agent in charge that Xavier Johnson is here.”

  Eric was establishing himself when one of his agents informed him that Xavier Johnson was on the scene. “Let him through.” Eric watched the two men approach him, and he couldn’t believe his eyes. Vincent and Xavier Johnson were identical twins. Constantine held out his hand for Xavier to shake. “Mr. Johnson it’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Agent Eric Constantine. I have it on good authority that we have you to thank for the big break in the case.”

  Xavier sized up Agent Constantine quickly. He was about an inch shorter than Xavier years ago he must have been fullback for some college team. Xavier shook his hand, but he didn’t have any time for allocates. “This is my partner Leland Greer. We need to know what’s going on, has there been any movement from the house?”

  Agent Constantine was afraid this might happen. “Look Mr. Johnson, the house has been under surveillance for ten minutes, and we’ve seen no sign of Marcus Dupree or Miss Brown. This is my investigation, and I’ll run it the way I see fit. If you get out of line, I’ll have you taken into custody.”

  Xavier’s anger reached its peak. “You do what you have to do Agent Constantine, but my woman is in that house and nothing will stop me from reaching her. Now you better get this show on the road, or you’ll find yourself following my lead.”

  Eric didn’t have time to deal with a nervous boyfriend, and he had no doubt that Xavier was serious. Eric had his men surround the house on his signal; the front door of the house was knocked down. Eric and his men went first, but Xavier and Leland were on their heels.

  There was a dim light shinning from the back of the house. From the flashlights the officers were moving around, Xavier was able to spot someone on the floor. He ran to the masculine figure on the floor and turned him around. By the looks of him Xavier assumed that the man on the floor was Marcus Dupree.

  “Hey Constantine, I found Marcus Dupree on the floor over here. Looks like someone bashed him in the head. I’m going to look for Loretta she couldn’t have gotten far with her injured leg.”

  Xavier took a flashlight from one of the officers and ran out of the house. Loretta must have hit Marcus with something pretty hard; she would have no way of knowing how long Dupree would be knocked out. The only logical thing for her to do was hide in the woods. If she thought there was a chance that Marcus would come after her, she wouldn’t take the road. Xavier started yelling her name he hoped that he could find Loretta before it got any colder.

  ***

  Loretta heard her named being called. It was Xavier coming to rescue her. She tried to stand up, but her body was worn out. “I’m over here,” Loretta yelled at the top of her lungs.

  Xavier heard Loretta shouting for him. She didn’t sound too far away. He kept yelling her name so that she would know that he heard her.

  Loretta heard the bushes rustling. “Xavier I’m over here.”

  Xavier thought he’d died and gone to heaven. Loretta was struggling to sit up when he found her. He ran to her and hugged her and kissed her. “Baby you don’t know how glad I am to see you.”

  “Xavier, I hear someone else is coming.” Loretta clutched Xavier’s arm for support.

  “It’s Leland.” Xavier turned around to find a light being focused on his face. He had a feeling that the man wasn’t Leland or one of the FBI agents. Xavier stood in front of Loretta to protect her. There was no way he could get to the gun in his holster.

  “Well, look at what we have here.” Blood was running down Marcus Dupree’s face as he raised his gun to shoot Xavier.

  Loretta let out an agonized scream. A shot went off; it didn’t come from Marcus’s gun. Marcus hit the ground hard. “Mr. Johnson, you and Miss Brown okay? Dupree got away before my men could cuff him.” Agent Constantine walked up to where Marcus Dupree laid, and checked to make sure he was dead.

  “Constantine we have to get Loretta to the hospital A.S.A.P.” Xavier turned to face Loretta. Her lips were trembling, and she was holding onto his arm with a death grip. Xavier saw the blood on the back of Loretta’s shirt as he took off his jacket and threw it around Loretta’s shoulder. What happened to you? There’s blood all over your shirt and pants leg. He could hear the ambulance coming up the road. Constantine must have radioed for help before Xavier set off looking for Loretta.

  “I knew you would find me.”

  Xavier picked Loretta up with little effort and carried her through the woods until they reached the emergency unit. Loretta had on Xavier’s jacket, but she couldn’t get warm. Right now all Loretta wanted to do was sleep. Her man had found her, and she felt safe.

  Xavier looked down at Loretta; she looked as if she gone to hell and back. He couldn’t see her face clearly, but he had a feeling she was trying to go to sleep. “Loretta wake up I think you’re in shock, you can’t go to sleep.”

  “Xavier I’m so cold, I just want to sleep.” Loretta mumbled as she tried to drift off to sleep.

  “Hang on baby we’ve got to get you to the hospital.” Xavier looked down at Loretta and realized that he was speaking to himself.

  ***

  Chapter 14

  The paramedics took Loretta to the nearest hospital, which just happened to be Immanuel Hospital. Xavier was in the waiting room going nuts. The doctors had Loretta in the emergency observation room for what seemed like hours. Xavier tried to call Vincent, but he never got a response.

  It was one o’clock in the morning, and Xavier was pacing back and forth in the waiting room. The first time Xavier saw Loretta’s face clearly was when the paramedics wheeled her into emergency. The left side of her face was puffy, scratched, and bruised. Her pant’s leg was soaked with blood, and there was blood on the back of her shirt.

  He had almost lost Loretta tonight. When she got out of the hospital they were going to make plans for their marriage. The events of the day probably took ten years off of his life. Xavier had tried to give Loretta time to come to grip with her feelings for him; she had to realize that her time was up.

  ***

  Vincent found Xavier in the hospital waiting room by himself. He felt so guilty if Loretta had died tonight it would have been his fault. Vincent hesitantly approached Xavier.

  “I’ve seen that look before. You have to believe that what happened tonight was not your fault,” Xavier said as he walked over to Vincent and hugged him. “Thanks to you, we found out about Marcus Dupree. I want to thank you little brother for saving my heart. If we didn’t find her when we did, she would have surely died.”

  Vincent was the first one to break contact. He always hated displays of affection, even from his brother. “How is Loretta holding up?” Vincent said as he sat down in the waiting room.

  “The doctors still have Loretta under observation, her body temperature is low and there trying to warm her up. They let me see her briefly, but she was talking out of her head. She was rambling on and on, I didn’t understand a word she was saying.” Except when Loretta told him over and over again how much she loved him. Xavier swore that she was going to tell him face to face. Not when he was five hundred miles away in some hotel or doped up on medication. He had to hear her say it to him. Xavier thought that was ironic especially when he told her not so long ago that he didn’t believe in love.

  “By the time I reached the house Loretta was held a
t, you were already gone. I feel like I let you down tonight by not being there. Did you find Loretta in the house?”

  “Loretta hit Dupree with a solid wedge that was used to prop her leg and got out of the house. I found her in the woods, she was cold and soaking wet. It’s a good thing that bastard is dead, or I’d kill him.”

  “Has anyone tried to notify Loretta’s friends?”

  “I don’t know how to reach them. I want to tell them that their friend was kidnapped before they hear about it on the morning news.”

  “Why don’t I notify them for you? I can’t stand hospitals, and it would give me something to do. I still have Loretta’s purse in my car with her bags. She might have their numbers in her cell phone.” Vincent would find a way to redeem himself in his brother’s eyes.

  Xavier watched his brother leave and knew without a doubt that Vincent was in a lot of pain. Vincent felt responsible for everything that went wrong tonight. Xavier had to find a way to reassure Vincent. For no matter what he thought, without his help Loretta would have died.

  ***

  When Loretta woke up, she realized that she was in the hospital. Loretta felt as if she had slept for a week. There were flowers and plants all over the room. You’d think someone had died or something. She turned her head slowly to the right only to discover Xavier sitting across from her with his head in his hands. When he looked up he saw her watching him. He looked so tired Loretta wondered if he’s had any sleep in the last couple of days.

  “The last twenty-four hours have been a nightmare.”

  “The next time you leave town, I’m going with you.”

  “Then you better hurry up and recuperate. I’m giving a party the first week in December to celebrate the opening of my branch in Chicago.”

  Loretta could tell by the strain in Xavier’s voice that this whole ordeal was hard on him. “I’m a survivor Xavier, I was determined that nothing would keep me away from you.” Loretta’s eyes filled with tears up. “What happened to Marcus Dupree?”

  Xavier gently took Loretta’s hands into his. “Marcus was shot and killed. He will never bother you again.”

  “He told me that he murdered Alan.”

  “Marcus killed him five years ago. He was sent to prison for ten years; he received probation in his fifth year. He tried to kill Alan’s mother, but she pulled through. Marcus came after you because, in his mind, you failed Alan as a wife.” Loretta got real quiet. Xavier could have kicked himself for laying all of this on her.

  “When will I be released from here?”

  Before Xavier could answer Loretta’s question, Dr. Marshall arrived to check Loretta over. “You’ve had quite a bit of excitement since the last time I seen you. We’re going to keep you for a couple of days for observation. Right now you need plenty of rest and no visitors.” Dr. Marshall nodded his head at Xavier before leaving Loretta’s room.

  Vincent came in after the doctor left. He kissed Loretta on the forehead. “It’s good to see you Loretta.”

  “I’m sorry that I’ve been so much trouble.”

  Xavier watched the by-play between Vincent and Loretta. He had never been jealous of his brother before. “Vincent you have to leave, Loretta’s doctor said that she couldn’t have any visitors.”

  Vincent wasn’t an idiot he could tell that Xavier wanted to be alone with Loretta. “Okay, okay, I know when I’m being kicked out.”

  “Vincent you don’t really have to leave, Xavier is just giving you a hard time.”

  Vincent smiled down at Loretta. “Someone in admissions must be a comedian; I couldn’t believe that they put you back in the same room you were discharged from. If there’s anything you need, give me a call.”

  After Vincent’s departure, Loretta directed her attention back to Xavier. “Mr. Johnson did you manage to get any sleep last night?”

  “How could I get any sleep until I knew you were OK? You scared me last night, and I don’t want to go through that again. When you get out of the hospital, you and I are going to have a serious talk about our relationship and where it’s leading.”

  “I love the masterful way you talk,” Loretta said as she raised herself for Xavier’s kiss.

  Cookie pushed the door open, and Xavier and Loretta eased out of their embrace. “Honey what in the hell has been going on. I get up this morning and look at the news, and the first thing I hear is that Loretta Brown was kidnapped. We came by earlier, but you were asleep.” Cookie had tears in her eyes as she hugged Loretta.

  Xavier wondered what upset Cookie the most. The fact that Loretta was kidnapped or that she didn’t hear about it first. He thought that Cookie was a lovely lady with a terrific personality, but she just talked too damn much for him. Xavier didn’t know how John could stand to be around his wife for more than ten minutes. John hugged Loretta and then he asked to speak with Xavier in the hall.

  John probably wanted to give the ladies a chance to talk alone. Xavier didn’t know John well enough to call him an acquaintance. He had always considered John that poor man who is married to Cookie. “They probably need to talk alone.”

  “Actually I wanted to speak to you alone Xavier. In case you didn’t know, I’ve been a friend of Vincent’s for about ten years.”

  Xavier was stunned, to say the least, for all of Vincent’s friends were either cops or agency men. He wondered which category John fell under. “Sure, why don’t we go get some coffee.” The two men went to the break room next to the cafeteria. As Xavier got their coffee John asked him general questions about Loretta’s injures and how soon would she be getting out of the hospital. If Xavier had to guess at John’s profession, he would bet that John was an agency man.

  “Xavier let’s go outside, I don’t want our conversation being overheard.”

  “Sure.”

  “I know you don’t know me well, but Loretta and my wife are as thick as thieves. They have been friends since grade school, and they see each other quite often.”

  “I don’t see that as being a problem. What did you want to talk to me about?”

  “Vincent came to me for information on Alan Jackson.”

  Xavier looked at John with new eyes. He was correct in his assumption that John was an agency man. “I have a lot to thank you for. Is there any news on Alan’s mother?”

  “From all accounts Marcus Dupree was mentally unstable just like his father. His wife Mercedes was a regular visitor at County Memorial Hospital’s emergency center. In a spanned of five years, she had a broken jaw, broken arm, and even a few broken ribs. She would never press charges, so nothing was ever done about it.”

  “I never understood why a woman would stick around and let some man beat on her, especially if she has children.”

  “Some women are too scared to make a move against their abuser. Anyway, Mercedes finally had enough, and she filed for divorce. Fearing for her life, Mercedes changed her name and moved to another state.”

  “Why did Dupree kill his son?”

  “Do you know that Alan actively searched for his father and found him before he married Loretta? After all the things Marcus did to Alan’s mother, Alan still blamed his mother for the divorce.”

  “So when things didn’t work out between him and Loretta, he ran to his Daddy looking for moral support.”

  “Well, Alan’s father wasn’t the supportive type. All he did was get killed for his trouble. Marcus Dupree didn’t have any tolerance for what he considered weak men.” John finished his coffee and threw his cup in the trash. He sat down on the bench by Xavier and looked across the parking lot. “If you and Loretta plan to be happy together, you’ll have to clear up some areas in Loretta’s past.”

  Xavier gave John a look that would have sent a lesser man into hiding. “You sure do seem overly concerned with Loretta’s love life.”

  John could tell that Xavier didn’t appreciate his commentary on Xavier and Loretta’s relationship. “Loretta’s like a sister to me and I care about her. Loretta came to my house for
help after Alan beat her. I went looking for Alan myself because I was going to take care of him if you know what I mean.”

  “That coward was long gone before you got to his house.”

  “He was nowhere in sight. There’s something else you should know. Loretta’s parents had some pretty strange ideas about how a marriage should work, and Loretta’s disastrous marriage reinforced those ideas.”

  “What did her parents do to her?”

  “It’s not what they did to her; it’s what they did to themselves that hurt Loretta. Loretta’s mother was a slave for love, and her father used that knowledge to meet his own ends. Loretta’s father had more women than Wilt Chamberlain ever had.”

  “Loretta told me about her parents’ marriage. I had the feeling she was trying to warn me off. I understand her motive she’s trying to protect herself from being hurt. Why are you helping me out John?”

  John studied Xavier a few seconds before answering him. Vincent and Xavier may be twins, but their personalities were nothing alike. “I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard you threatened Eric Constantine from the FBI.”

  “I was in a state of panic, and I didn’t have any time to waste”

  “Only a man in love would go through the steps you took to make sure the FBI located Loretta’s kidnapper; a man who has some powerful friends. Earlier this year, Cookie broke off all communication with me. Every time I tried to talk to her, she ignored me. Cookie even refused to sleep in the same bed with me. Loretta pulled me aside and told me that Cookie thought I had another woman.”

  “I can’t believe that Cookie didn’t try to nail your butt to the wall when she suspected that you were cheating on her.”

  “Under normal circumstances you’re probably right. At the time, Cookie just found out she was pregnant. Some women go through a lot of emotional changes when they’re pregnant. Cookie was going through a stage where she didn’t think she was attractive anymore. I was staying out later because I was working on some other projects.”