Do No Harm (Dr. Aubrey Drake #1)

by Avery Michaels

  He looked as though I’d slapped him. He feigned surprise quite well.

  “I…I’m so confused right now. Is this some kind of joke?”

  “Do I look like I’m joking?” I stood up, and he followed suit.

  “No, and it’s really freaking me out.”

  “Oh, well, I’m so sorry to freak you out. Imagine my surprise when I realized what we’d done. You knew how drunk I was. You knew I was in no shape to be making decisions,” I said loudly, shoving him. He didn’t budge.

  “What did we do?”

  “Are you serious right now?”

  “I am. I really don’t remember anything after dinner and then waking up the next morning with a raging hangover. You said you were feeling the same way when you walked me out.”

  I stared at him blankly. “I did?”

  “Yeah, you said you were going to lie back down for a bit, but that you had made a commitment to do some kind of volunteer work so you couldn’t sleep too late. Is none of this ringing a bell?”

  I shook my head.

  He pulled a penlight from his pocket, shining it in my eyes. I slapped it away. “Oh, stop it. I was just really hung over.”

  “No one is that hung over, Aubrey. Did you drink again yesterday? Because you look hung over now.”

  “I don’t think so,” I whispered.

  “You don’t remember yesterday?”

  “Stop deflecting, Ben. You took advantage of me! How could you do that? I thought you were different than Todd, but you’re both exactly the same.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he said, holding up a hand. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know what you think happened between us but—”

  “We slept together, you asshole!”

  “No, we didn’t. We didn’t even sleep in the same room.”

  I looked at him intently, trying to find any hint that he was lying. “Maybe you just don’t remember.”

  “I would remember that, Aubrey. Trust me.”

  I sank down onto the couch with my head in my hands. “What is happening?”

  Ben took a seat beside me, pulling me into him. “Why don’t you let me take a look at you? What do you remember?”

  I turned to face him as he checked my eyes and gave me a little check-up while I told him that I remembered only bits and pieces of the past three days. I told him how tired I’d been that night he had come over, but omitted the reason why. I didn’t want him to know about what I’d been doing. First of all, he wouldn’t approve. Secondly, I wasn’t ready to give up the search for the villain, even though I knew I should.

  “Why would you think we slept together?”

  I didn’t want to tell him about the soreness; that felt icky and way too private. “There was a condom in the toilet.”

  He jumped up before I even finished the sentence. “Come on. We’re going to run some tests, right now,” he demanded, grabbing my hand and pulling me up.

  Before I could protest, Mr. Fowler walked in. “Dr. Drake, Ben, what are you two doing in here? It’s a zoo out there! Even I’m working late.”

  “Not now, Fowler.”

  “Ben, I know you’re very good at your job, but I’ve warned you about that attitude.”

  Ben just kept walking, pulling me behind him. I was surprised at him, but I didn’t say anything because I had my own problems.

  Before I knew what was going on, Ben had me in a room and had Dr. Jackson, one of the other physicians there to examine me.

  “I think she’s been drugged and raped,” Ben told Dr. Jackson.

  “Wait, what?” I sat straight up on the stretcher. I hadn’t considered… I mean it couldn’t be… No.

  He sat down beside me on the stretcher, one leg hanging off the edge. He took my hand in his and kissed it softly, looking me in the eyes. “Aubrey, you look like you’ve been on a week-long bender. Your eyes are bloodshot, and your pupils look like those of an addict. Besides all of that, you barely remember three days. Then there’s the condom.”

  “But you and I probably just—and we don’t remember because—”

  “We didn’t. I wish that was the case,” he said softly.

  I let out a soft sob, and he pulled me into him as Dr. Jackson explained that he would need to do a rape kit if there was any possibility that I’d had sexual relations without my consent. He left the room to give Ben and me a moment.

  “I don’t understand how this could happen,” Ben said. “I shouldn’t have left you. Aubrey, I’m so sorry.”

  I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t his fault. That I’d trudged knee-deep into someone else’s shit storm, which had probably made me a target. The Village Rapist must’ve, somehow, come to know that I was looking for him. Maybe he’d followed me home. I didn’t know. Either way, I’d done this to myself, but I couldn’t tell Ben.

  “It’s not your fault, Ben,” I assured him.

  I sat there silently, trying to imagine how the whole thing had played out, even though I didn’t want to. The rapist had probably caught wind of my questioning Larissa, or it could’ve been the Higginbothams, but if that were the case, he would’ve had to work fast since Ben had been waiting for me even before I got home. He’d been in my apartment. That’s why the door was open when I got home that night. When Ben left, maybe he’d come back in, drugged and raped me. What I couldn’t figure out was why the drugs had lasted so long.

  “Do you still have the condom?” Ben asked hopefully. I shook my head regretfully. But that had been an oversight, and if he’d left that behind, who knows what other clues may have been left in my apartment?

  “I have to go,” I said.

  “No, you can’t go. You need hydrating. You need blood drawn, a rape kit done. The police will take a report and—”

  “No! No police. I agree. I will do the other stuff, but no cops.”

  “You’re being unreasonable, Aubrey.”

  “Ben, I need you to do something. Call this number,” I said, pulling a pen from my pocket and writing my dad’s cell phone number on his hand. “That’s my dad’s number. My parents are at my place. Get them out of there. Tell them that there’s a gas leak or something. I don’t care what you tell them. Just not the truth. Get them to a hotel.”

  “But then who will stay with you?”

  “Ben, please.”

  “Okay.” He nodded, kissing my hand again, but before he could get out the door, Detective Todd Morris walked in.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked harshly, feeling as though my privacy was being invaded. I’d specifically said, no cops.

  “I got a call,” he said simply. I knew it was protocol for the police to be notified. Dr. Jackson had no choice.

  I thought there would be some hostile words exchanged, but Ben actually looked relieved. “Todd, man, I have to take care of something. Take care of her, okay?”

  “Yeah, I’ve got her,” he said, slapping Ben on the shoulder in that reassuring way that guys do. The whole scene was very touching, or it would’ve been if I hadn’t been the “her” who needed to be looked after.

  “Hey there, little miss,” Todd said, sitting at the foot of the bed. I was supposed to be changing into a gown, but Todd wanted to talk first. “What happened?”

  “I don’t know,” I told him honestly. I had no interest in giving Todd any details. From what I’d gathered, he hadn’t even tried to catch The Village Rapist, at all. If that was who was behind my ordeal, what good would it do to tell Todd about it? If it was someone else, again, what good would it do to tell Todd about it? I was convinced that he had a one-track mind, and that track wasn’t police work. Besides, I’d much rather catch this asshole myself. It wasn’t as though I’d enjoyed what I’d done to that child killer, but justice had been served. I’d served it, and I intended to do it again.

  “Well, I’m going to need a few more details than that. I can’t really write that up.”

  “Exactly. Thanks for making the trip, Morris, but no thanks.”
>
  “What does that mean?”

  “It means that I don’t want to file a police report. There’s no evidence that a crime was committed. Just because Ben thinks something happened doesn’t make it so.”

  “Aubrey, listen, Dr. Jackson told me what was going on, and I think you should make a report. It does sound like something happened to you. I don’t know about the medical stuff, but a used condom in the toilet, that you don’t remember using, sounds pretty suspicious. Do you still have it?”

  “No.”

  “Well, I still think you should make a report, unless you had consensual sex with someone and you don’t want anyone to know, or maybe you just don’t want Ben to know? In that case, say the word and I will get out of your hair.”

  I thought on it for a minute. “Yeah. I had sex. Now, can I go?”

  He nodded once with a look on his face that I didn’t quite understand. I didn’t know him well enough to decipher his expressions, but it almost looked like satisfaction. Maybe he really was a sexist bastard, just like I’d pegged him for in the first place. Either that or he really hated Ben that much. No matter which, he was disgusting.

  I let the nurse take my blood after Todd had left the room. Even though I’d fooled Todd, and wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, I knew something wasn’t right. After the blood draw, I grabbed my keys and headed for the door.

  Mr. Fowler stopped me. “Dr. Drake, are you all right?” Gah, did everyone know? “I heard you were in some sort of altercation at your apartment.”

  That was okay. I had questions for him too. “I’m fine, Mr. Fowler; thank you.”

  “Well, you take the night off. I already got your shift covered.”

  “I appreciate that. Before I go, I was wondering, did your family go into the construction business?”

  “What?” I couldn’t tell if he was clueless or shocked.

  “I saw a sign that said Fowler Construction.”

  “Oh, my brother, yes. He did go into business for himself about a year ago, but it all fell apart.”

  “Why is that?”

  “He got the bid for new construction in The Village, so he put his entire inheritance into that project, but then the rapes started. The neighborhood association immediately halted the project when people started to put their houses on the market after the first rape. They didn’t want any empty houses in the neighborhood, much less a bunch of brand-new empty houses. Empty houses mean that all isn’t perfect, and they want the illusion of perfection.”

  “So there isn’t any new construction going on?”

  “No. They cleared some land, cut a path, and my brother paid to lay foundations, but then they stopped it. He lost everything he had. Even his wife left him.”

  “Wow, I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Thanks,” he said with a soft smile, and then he walked away, undoubtedly trying to get out of there. It was really late for him to be still working.

  So, the security guard’s accusations against the Fowlers were unfounded. But not those against the Higginbothams. I’d met those people, and they were surely looking to turn a buck on the misfortune of others.

  Chapter 12

  When I left work, I found myself driving around aimlessly, just thinking of it all. All, except what had happened at my apartment. I didn’t want to think about that.

  My cell phone rang. I’d been waiting on my parents’ call since I’d sent Ben to call them and get them to a hotel, but when I picked up, it wasn’t them. It was Dr. Jackson. He informed me that I had a very high level of Rohypnol in my system. He was surprised that I was functional. I stopped listening after that.

  Roofies? I’d been roofied? I had to pull over. I couldn’t believe it. It was true. Someone had drugged and raped me. I guess a part of me had known it was true, but I hadn’t wanted to believe it. Now, I didn’t have a choice.

  I leaned my head back and struggled to remember. A torso, a man’s torso was all I could come up with. And moaning. He moaned as he thrust. The more I thought, the more difficult it became to remember.

  I was still tired. I was so tired.

  I pulled up at my building, deciding to grab some things and go to a hotel, which reminded me that I should call Ben to find out where he’d taken my parents.

  I approached my door with trepidation. He could be in there right now, waiting for me. A jolt of fear ran through me, but it was quickly replaced by anger. I pulled the little handgun from my purse and dared him to be there when I swung the door open.

  I’d heard that expression, “I wish a motherfucker would,” but I didn’t think I’d understood it until that moment. I wished he would’ve been there. I would’ve shot him without hesitation, even though I didn’t even know his identity. If anyone had been in my apartment, they would’ve gotten shot. But no one was there.

  My phone rang again just as I had finished going through each room, gun in hand, to make sure I was alone.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, I just wanted to check on you.”

  “Ben,” I said, relieved to hear his voice and wishing he were by my side. “Where are my parents?”

  “They decided to go home.”

  “They did?”

  “Yeah. Where are you?”

  “I’m at my apartment. I’m going to get some things and go over to the Westin on Peachtree.”

  “Good. You should’ve waited for me. I don’t like you being there alone.”

  “I’m good,” I told him, slipping the gun back into my purse.

  “I’m coming over.”

  “Okay,” I said without hesitation. I hadn’t planned on being here long, and I knew Ben should be working, but I couldn’t help but want him by my side. He made me feel safe, which was a drastic change from what I’d felt for him earlier.

  “Todd said you didn’t file a report.”

  “So?”

  “Just think about doing it, okay? It’s important.”

  “Okay.” I nodded, even though I was alone.

  “See you soon,” he said and hung up.

  I went straight into the bathroom and shoved my hand into the toilet as far as it would go to see if I could get ahold of that condom, but no such luck. After I washed up, I began looking around. If he’d made that mistake, there could be others.

  After I packed an overnight bag, I walked through the living room into the kitchen and began throwing away all of the open containers of food and drinks. I was so angry. Before this, I was just looking for this guy, hoping to figure out who he was so I could see justice served. But now, now I was gunning for him…literally.

  A knock on the door tore me from the thoughts of all the ways I could serve that justice.

  “That was fast,” I said, opening the door, but it wasn’t Ben. “Todd, what are you doing here?” He slid by me, sort of nudging his way inside. “Sure, come on in,” I said, rolling my eyes. “What do you want?”

  “I just wanted to check on you,” he replied, but he wasn’t even looking at me. He was looking around. “I see you’re cleaning up.” He motioned toward the overflowing trashcan. “And packing?”

  “Yeah. Have to keep it clean.”

  “I couldn’t agree more. Could I use your bathroom?”

  “Todd, just go on and have a look around. That’s what you came here to do, isn’t it?”

  “Don’t mind if I do,” he said, walking into the bedroom. “Do you think this was The Village Rapist?” he shouted.

  “Rapist? Who said anything about rape?” I continued on with the charade.

  “Oh yeah, that’s right. I forgot. Well, does anything look out of place?” he asked, stepping back into the living room area.

  “No, not really.”

  “That blanket,” he said, pointing to the blanket on the couch. “It wasn’t there the night I was here.”

  “No, but it’s out because Ben spent the night on the couch that Monday night.”

  “Do you think that Ben could have—”

  I cut hi
m off. “No.”

  “All right. Well, I’m going to take it anyway and have it analyzed, just in case.”

  “You aren’t taking shit.”

  “Look, Aubrey, I get it. You don’t want to talk about what happened to you, but I know something did happen, and if it was The Village Rapist, then this is the first time he’s made a mistake by leaving that condom in the toilet. There could be other clues. You have to let me do my job. It could prevent this from happening to someone else. Even if it wasn’t him, we have to try to catch this guy,” he said, stepping closer to me. “Please, Aubrey.” He slid his hand around the back of my neck gently, looking at me intensely.

  I gave a reluctant nod.

  “Good girl.”

  “I’m not a Chihuahua, jerk-off. Gah, you’re such a sexist pig.”

  “I get that a lot,” he said with a sly grin.

  He pulled a wad of Ziploc baggies and a pair of gloves from his back pocket. He’d planned this all along.

  “Shouldn’t there be a team of people doing this?”

  “Why, so they can contaminate the scene? You watch too much television, sugar. So, have you ever heard the name Jamie Phillips?” he asked as he walked around, looking for something to put in his bags.

  “You think this was The Village Rapist, don’t you? Why would you think that? This isn’t his MO.” Even though I felt that it had been him, Todd didn’t know what I knew. He didn’t know I’d been playing detective in my spare time.

  “I’m just covering my bases. Do you know Jamie?”

  “No. Who is she?” I asked, trying to figure him out. He’d asked Larissa the same question, and I wanted to know why he was so interested in her.

  “No one. I was just curious.”

  “You’re lying. Who is she?”

  “Weren’t you just leaving?” he asked, glancing at my packed bag. When I didn’t say anything, he continued asking questions. “Why do you think you were targeted? Do you know anyone who would want to hurt you? Have any enemies?”

  “Besides you?” I laughed. He didn’t. “I’m kidding. Jeez, lighten up.”

  “I never wanted to be your enemy, Aubrey. I just wanted to—”

  A knock interrupted that sentence, and I was grateful. When I opened the door, Ben looked back and forth between Todd and me before asking if I was ready to go. I nodded.