I heard my phone and did my best to hurry over to it. I missed the call. It was a “blocked” number. Hmmm. The time showed 9:25 p.m.
A moment later I got a text: Guess who came to see me?
I was staring at the words trying to figure out who they could be from, when my phone beeped again. Message. I opened it.
It was a picture, a close up of Derek’s face. He wasn’t looking at the camera, and it was close enough that I couldn’t see the background to tell where it was taken. He was smiling and looking straight ahead, almost as if it were taken from the side of him, by someone close to him.
My first thought was Jodi. Rage filled me, and my heartbeat picked up. What should I do? Respond? Ignore. Call Derek. Let it go. Drive to the Cities, hunt her down and gut her like a fish? Hmm, so many choices. I think I’ll go with the fish!
My phone beeped. I quickly opened the message.
It was from Derek. Hey, done for the night, headed home early! I’ll come up tomorrow after my shift. I get off at 9, is that okay?
I responded: Are you at home already?
He replied: Heading there shortly.
Well, that didn’t tell me anything. Now I was annoyed. My evil side texted the blocked caller back. Who is this?
She replied: Jodi. Getting what I want. ;)
I started marching around looking for my keys, and then I remembered that I probably shouldn’t drive with the drugs in my system. It’s times like this I hated that Derek lived and worked so far away. I was so frustrated. I was pissed off! I wanted to break something! I screamed at the top of my lungs, “AAAAAAHHHH!”
I took a deep breath to recover, and then was startled by a knock on my door. My heart was pumping, and I was so freaking angry. I’d already dealt with the bitch enough! I marched to the door and swung it open hard, expecting Tannya to be there. But it was Rex! God, he looked hot! My evil side reached out and grabbed his shirt in my fist and pulled him through the doorway. He stumbled up against me, and I kissed him!
13
I was breathing hard. I wanted to suck on his lip. Then I realized my mouth was actually on him, and that this wasn’t a dream. As quick as our lips touched it was over. I pushed him off abruptly and stepped back.
“That DID NOT just happen!” I yelled at him with a pointed finger. He was frozen in shock. I wiped my mouth on the back of my hand and paced around the room, walking as quickly as I could and staring at the ground.
“Wha … wa … wao,” Rex stammered with wide eyes.
“No. You be quiet! No talking. I get to talk,” I told him with another finger point. I was shocked at my behavior and my own voice. It was like I was having an out-of-body experience. This must be what people mean when they say that. It was as if I was standing on the other side of the room, watching this unfold. It wasn’t me doing that, and I was not talking like that. That wasn’t me. Crap! Now what? I looked up at his face while I was still pacing, which was very hard on my ankle. I looked from him over to the door and noticed it was still open. I slammed it shut and stopped walking and sat on the couch. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my foot.
I took a couple deep breaths and unwillingly made eye contact with Rex. He was still in shock. He hadn’t moved a muscle since I shoved him back.
“I … ummm …” I squinted my eyes at him and wrinkled my nose. “I’m sorry!”
“What the hell? Are you drunk?”
“No. Well yes, well … not drunk. More like under the influence.” I hoped that I knew Rex well enough that I could tell him a couple things and wouldn’t get anyone into trouble.
“Are you high? What are you on?” he asked and sat down next to me on the couch.
“I’m on … I don’t know,” I started. “I’m not sure what I took. It helped my pain, though. I don’t hurt at all.”
“Pain from your stitches? Is it the pain killers?”
“No, gosh, I forgot about those!” I let out a bolt of laughter. And once again I couldn’t stop. I had the giggles again.
I was thinking I was going to tell Rex about the pills, but then I needed to tell him about spraining my ankle, and where I had gotten the shoes. Well, from the garage sale that I just robbed, that’s where! Why, you ask? Well, because I needed some treasure for my pirate captain, so that I could play pirates with the neighbors. Duh! And then I’d add that he’d caught me at a bad time. I was angry at my on-again boyfriend’s ex, or maybe at my boyfriend, or maybe there was nothing to be mad about and she was just toying with me. And then I saw Rex and he was looking so good and I’d been attracted to him since the day I first saw him. And that my evil side temporarily took control and kissed him …
My mind was spinning all this up and it was funny! I mean, come on, if I told him the truth he’d have me committed and labeled ‘crazy.’ It was too absurd! I couldn’t tell him. I wanted him to like me and think of me as normal … and smart, and sexy and capable, but lately that was not how I was coming off. Sheesh, what was I going to say?
This poor guy was going to wish he’d never met me. I finally got my laughing under control and took a deep breath. Dang, I was a case.
“Sara, what did you take?”
I just stared at his face and thought I totally ruined a first kiss with him, too! He would go home and think about it and how bad it was, and what a horrible experience it was to have Sara Martin’s lips on his face. And then I shoved him away and yelled at him on top of it.
“I have a sprained ankle, and a friend, who shall remain nameless, gave me a pill to help with the pain. I guess I’m having some really crazy side effects. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that was going to happen, and I stopped it as soon as I could. I was angry about a text, and I guess the meds made me crazy, and you got the worst of it. Please forget that it happened, and let it stay between the two of us,” I pleaded as I led the way into the living room. I flopped down on the couch.
Sitting down beside me, he showed me a half grin. “Forget about it? No, but it will stay between us,” he said with a wink.
“Oh, gosh. Puuulease forget it! It was awful. I wasn’t prepared. I was drugged and out of control of my body.”
He let out a quiet laugh. “Actually it reminded me of a surprise kiss I once got on the playground in second grade. But don’t worry, I won’t declare that you have cooties and run away screaming.”
“Aw, gee, thanks! I’m grateful. This town already thinks I’m weird. Cooties would make me another headliner.”
He playfully elbowed me in the ribs. “Let me see your head.”
I leaned forward towards him, and he carefully pushed my head down and moved some of my hair, just as the front door swung open.
“Whoa! So sorry!” Tannya said.
I quickly picked my head up. “Hey,” I said, sitting up straight.
“I’ll come back later,” Tannya offered.
“Stop it! I was just showing Rex my stitches,” I assured her.
“Oh, ha ha, of course, I knew that,” she said and came in.
She smiled at Rex and he just stood there. We all kind of looked at each other awkwardly until I broke the silence. “Tannya was just coming over to help me decide on some window treatments. I just couldn’t decide … . so she was going to help me,” I told him.
Rex looked at me with quizzical eyes. I knew he wasn’t falling for it. “Oh, of course. I just stopped by to see if you knew anything about the car on the road just down from your driveway.”
“Uh, no,” I told him. “I didn’t see anything when I came home.”
“I saw it, too.” Tannya said. “It looks like … .” She stopped herself and thought for a second. “It looks like that one lady’s car, that we met at the bar in the Cities, that one time. You remember, with Miss Kitty, that time. It looks like the car of that lady that we met there.”
Jodi.
My heartrate was going up again. I knew Tannya was covering because Rex was in the room, but I didn’t care if he knew about her, in fact I did want
him to know. I looked at Rex. “Run the plates!” I demanded.
He looked at me and widened his eyes in fear. And then his face relaxed and he smiled, “Are you having side effects again?”
I reached out and punched him hard in the arm. “Just do it!” He went to the kitchen and called dispatch.
“What the hell would she be doing here?” Tannya asked.
“I don’t know, but look what I got on my phone a minute ago,” I said and showed her the messages and the picture. Rex was peeking in from the kitchen and listening. Dispatch put him on hold and he walked over and looked over my shoulder at the picture.
“That bitch probably took that from a zoom-lensed camera and then sent it. She probably followed him. There’s no way he’s with her. She’s just messing with ya,” Tannya said.
“What’s the story here?” Rex asked with tight eyes.
“It’s Derek’s ex. We’re having issues with her. I gave her a pretty good warning to stay away from him, but she’s still bothering us,” I told him.
“So has Derek told her to leave him alone too?”
“Yes.”
“And she still bothers him? How long were they together?”
“For a while—”
“They lived together,” Tannya interrupted. “They were ring shopping!”
“Really? Wow. But he’s sure it’s over,” Rex asked with raised eyebrows.
“Yes! He’s sure. She’s behaving like a stalker and thinks she’s the shit and can win him back,” I said with my hand on my hip.
“How do you know she won’t?”
“Because I know Derek loves me. He hasn’t had feelings for her in a long time. She cheated on him!”
“Well, she kissed another guy,” Tannya said.
“She kissed another guy, and he dumped her?” Rex said with a look I didn’t like.
“Yes, but it was the guy across the hall, and she was half-dressed on top of him!”
“Oh, I see.” Rex nodded his head.
“Tramp!” Tannya said.
“Just run the plates and find out why she’s here, Officer!” I told him angrily.
“Sheesh! Okay,” he said and stepped back to the kitchen.
“What’s up with you?” Tannya asked me. “You’re acting bitchy at him. You never talked to him like that before.”
“I hate when people think I’m a better person than I am. Maybe I’m always an evil bitch and I’ve just been hiding it all this time, huh?”
“Ha, ha, haaaaaa … ahhhh. Oh, honey, you don’t have a clue. You’re so far from ‘bitch’ that a high school full of hormonal teenage girls would eat you breakfast.”
“Whatever!”
“What did Rex mean about side effects, anyway?” she asked me.
“Well, I guess I just turned into a bitch, because I cheated on Derek. Yup, I kissed Rex two minutes ago, and now I’m a tramp, too!”
Rex came from around the corner.
Tannya raised her brows, “WHAT?”
“Ladies!” Rex said with authority. He squinted his eyes at me like a warning and continued. “No one is a tramp, and no one cheated. It was an accident that won’t leave this room. Sara isn’t herself and is feeling some side effects from some pain killers she took. It wasn’t even a kiss. It was more of an attack … with a quick retreat. It was nothing, now both of you calm down.”
“Nothing? It was nothing?” The rage building inside of me was uncontrollable.
“Uh oh! I ain’t never seen that look in her eyes before!” Tannya said and stepped behind Rex.
“UGH!” I growled in frustration. Could this get any worse? I hobbled over to the couch and sat down.
“The plates are registered to a Jodi Vagerna.”
“Oh! Oh! Ha ha ha!” Tannya was laughing again. She was doubled over holding her belly, trying to catch her breath. “Did you say Vagina? Ha ha ha! Serves the bitch right!”
“Vag-errrr-na,” Rex corrected.
“That’s her,” I said with a grin. Then I giggled. When Tannya laughed it was contagious. I started laughing again and then realized how crazy I’d been acting and how strong my mood swings were. My head and foot were starting to hurt again. I looked up at Rex and the corner of his mouth curled but I guessed he didn’t find it as funny as we did.
“I’m going to go have a look around the property and check on the car again,” he said. “You two stay here, don’t kill anyone, and stay out of the pain killers!”
“Uh, no promises, my ankle and head are starting to hurt again,” I yelled after him as he went out the door.
I put my leg up on the coffee table and Tannya brought me some ice for it. I sat there and rested it for a bit while Tannya caught me up on what happened when she went to meet the pirates.
“We drove past Wayde’s lot and then circled around, and came back. They got out of the truck and told me to wait in my car. They walked along the trees near the driveway and disappeared into the night. They were only gone for about fifteen minutes, and then they came back. Flying Dutchman came over to my car while the other two climbed into the truck. He said they wanted to see the place and if anyone else was with them, and now they were going back to basecamp to plan the attack. Dutchman said he had my number and would be in touch. I told him I wanted to come with, but he said no, that they wouldn’t need my services until tomorrow. He said I could call him if I knew of any other information that might be important and that I should leave my cell phone on in case they had more questions for me. That was it. I drove over here after they turned off. Something is strange about these guys, though. They take this shit way too seriously.”
“Yeah, they do.”
We sat there a bit longer and talked about what kind of plan they would come up with.
“They don’t seem to have a ship. So what can they do without a ship?”
“Right? And what kind of attack? I don’t get this. Wayde has a real cannon. Do you think he will use it? I thought that LARPs were for fun, like a play, with fake swords and knifes and stuff. But his cannon is real!” I added.
“I know. I don’t get it either, but if your Aunt Val is over there we need to watch her back.”
“Yes, no matter what, we need to make sure that she’s happy and safe at all times. I wonder if she realizes this is going a bit far, or if this is in fact normal.”
My phone beeped. I looked at it. It was another message from Jodi. All that was in the message was a colon and a capital ‘P,’ which looked like a face with a tongue sticking out.
I showed Tannya. “What the hell?” she said.
“I wish I could reply, but it was a blocked number.” God, I hated her! She went through the trouble of getting on the internet to find my number, just to send a message to me through a blocked number? And she drove all the way to Nisswa to peep at me? She had serious issues.
There was a knock on the door, and we both looked up. Rex opened it and peeked in.
“Come on in,” I said.
He stayed in the entryway and looked serious. “I walked around outside here and didn’t see anything. And then I went out to the road and the car is gone now.”
“Really? Well, at least she’s gone. Good. I hope she crashes her car into a tree and dies,” I said. I was a bit surprised at my own voice again. Tannya and Rex both shot me a look of uncertainty. “Oops! Did I say that out loud?” I asked with a wink. I’d said it, and my evil twin inside was nodding and rubbing her hands together. I supposed I should feel guilty about wishing pain or death on another person … but I didn’t.
My phone buzzed and I looked at it again. Another message. This one was from Derek. My evil side wanted to yell at him. He’d caused all this this bullshit. I opened it and it was a picture. “It’s a picture from Derek …” I told Rex and Tannya, who were both staring at me with anticipation. I clicked on it and waited for a moment while it opened.
When it finally appeared on my screen, my mouth hung slack. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!
; 14
I’ll kill her! I will fucking KILL HER!” I screamed. I threw the ice pack off my foot, limped to the living room window and looked out. That did me absolutely no good. I knew she was gone.
“What’s going on?” Tannya asked.
I looked over at Rex, who had a very somber look on his face.
BEEP. Another message from Derek. I opened it: Enjoying your evening, are ya?
“FUUUUCK!” I screamed again. I looked at Tannya. “I should’ve killed her when I had the chance!”
“What? Tell me!” she demanded.
I showed the picture to Rex. He tucked his lips tightly inside his mouth, bit down, and nodded. Then he shook his head and made a call to dispatch on his shoulder CB. He asked dispatch to notify the county sheriff to keep an eye out for Jodi’s car. He said she was wanted for questioning on a possible trespassing and harassment charge.
Tannya came over to us in the entryway. “Let me see!”
I showed her. She gasped and covered her mouth. “Oh, girl, you got some explaining to do! I bet he’s pissed.”
“Thank you, Captain Obvious!” I shouted at her.
The picture was of Rex sitting on the couch and me with my head in his lap. It didn’t look good. It was innocent, but it still didn’t look good in the photo. And I had a spring flower centerpiece on the coffee table, so from where the picture was taken, which was from outside my living room window, the centerpiece blocked the view from my head down. Which was not helping my case any.
“I’m gonna bounce!” Tannya said with a grin. “You two have a nice night. I’ll be in touch in the morning, girl.” She hugged me and left.
“I’m right behind you. I’ve got a trespasser to catch,” Rex said and followed her out.
I shut the door behind them and went to the kitchen. My meds were totally worn off. The pain, on a scale of one to ten, was at an eight for my ankle and about a six for my stiches. I poured myself a glass of wine and went to the bedroom. I texted Derek back that I’d call him in a bit. He replied with another picture. This one was taken right after I kissed Rex. Our lips weren’t touching, but we were very close, and I had my hands on his chest. I was just pushing him away. It didn’t look good, either.
Destroyed and Detained Page 10
