Vicky threw her head back, moaning with each heated touch, yearning for Aidan’s fingers to kneed harder, deeper into her flesh.
Aidan turned Vicky around and kissed her hard even as she continued massaging her breasts. Vicky’s knees went weak, and Aidan grabbed her up and laid her on the bed. She quickly climbed out of the rest of her clothes, leaving them on the floor where they fell. Vicky lifted her hips off the bed, and Aidan was suddenly dry mouthed.
“I’m coming,” Vicky proclaimed.
“Oh, man, so am I, baby.”
The first day back at work after a vacation is always hard, and when you’re the CEO of a large, metropolitan health system, you’re exhausted the minute you walk in the door.
Yvonne, Dakota, and Tadd were standing at the door when Vicky walked in.
“Coffee first,” Vicky demanded, setting her briefcase on the counter in the kitchenette and grabbing her cup from the rack. Yvonne and Dakota Lewis, the hospital administrator, had stacks of folders in their hands, and Tadd Blanchard, Chief Financial Officer, just had a few financial reports in his hands.
Vicky led the parade into her office, and after setting her briefcase on her desk and grabbing a pen and pad, sat down at the round table in front of the windows. “Okay, Tadd, why don’t you go first since you seem to have less paperwork to throw at me.”
“Thanks. First, how was the honeymoon? Uh, I mean, uh, how was Ireland?” Tadd stuttered, not sure of the socially acceptable way to ask about a lesbian honeymoon.
Vicky, who was still tingling from her morning orgasm, augmented by her climax the night before, smiled as she remembered making love to her wife in a field where the sheep grazed under the Blarney Castle. Aidan made her so happy that sometimes she thought she would explode, and that thought made her tingle even more.
“Earth to Vicky,” Yvonne teased.
“What? Oh, yes, it was wonderful. I left a piece of myself back in Ireland,” Vicky said, laughing on the inside. “Okay, so, what have you got for me, Tadd?”
“Latest financials are exceptionally good, but there’s been some delays and extra expenses with the new facility.”
“That’s to be expected,” Vicky replied. “What’s causing the delays?”
“The same thing that’s causing the extra expenses,” Tadd said. “Our architect, Robert Hastings, wasn’t satisfied with the piping. Something about PEX pipes versus copper pipes. The contractor had ordered PEX, when the contract said to use copper. He’ll eat the cost for that of course, but the delays will cost us in the long run.”
“What is PEX?” Vicky asked.
“I asked him that,” Tadd replied. “It stands for polyethylene cross-linking and is cheaper, but Robert said copper lasts longer and is fire, corrosion, and bacteria resistant.”
“Well, if Robert thinks its best than I trust him to make the right decisions. But now that I’m back, let’s go back to daily email updates, okay?”
“No problem,” Tadd replied.
“Who’s next?” Vicky asked, then took a sip from her cup.
The rest of the morning was spent going over reports, and watching Yvonne fill her calendar up with more meetings. But Vicky found a few minutes to send out an email to a few people, inviting them to an informal party at her place on Friday night. She called it the souvenir party, and they could bring a guest.
Her cellphone rang, and although she didn’t recognized the number, something told her to answer anyway. It was the attorney who was prosecuting Harold next week. She requested time with Vicky and Aidan to get their deposition. After texting Aidan, they carved out some time to meet with the prosecutor tomorrow. Vicky leaned back in her chair wishing that they were still in Ireland and the trial went on without them. A fleeting moment of anxiety that was quickly dispelled when nature called her back to reality. Just as she stood up to go to the bathroom, Yvonne tapped on her opened office door and walked in.
“Jerry and I will be there with bells on. Is there anything I can bring?”
“No, but thank you,” Vicky replied. “It’s bad enough that I’ll make you sit through my slideshow, no need to compound it.”
Yvonne laughed. “I’m looking forward to it. Listen, there’s a man in the foyer asking to see you, but he doesn’t have an appointment and he won’t tell me what he needs. He did say that he doesn’t know you and has never been a patient here.”
“Oh,” Vicky hesitated. “Show him in, but join us for the first few minutes, all right?” She had developed a sort of self-preservation when it came to strangers being secretive.
“Of course,” Yvonne replied, and left the room.
A moment later, she escorted a gaunt looking man with graying hair in. Vicky introduced herself.
“I’m Victoria Montgomery-Cassidy,” she said, holding her hand out.
He shook her hand and introduced himself. “My name is Bob Wilkes, Ma’am, and I would like to speak with you privately about the upcoming trial, if I may?”
Vicky tried to hide the shock she was feeling. The last thing she wanted to talk about was Harold. “May I ask in what context?”
He looked from Vicky to Yvonne, but Yvonne didn’t move.
“I’m sorry, this is my assistant, Yvonne. You can trust her. Nothing said in here will go any further than the three of us.”
He nodded, and clasped his hands together as if to gain the courage to speak. “My precious daughter was raped by the same man who hurt you.” He lowered his head and rubbed his hand across his eyes to hide the tears.
“Oh, my God. I am so sorry,” Vicky said. “Please, come sit down.” She led him to the conference table, and Yvonne got him a bottle of water from the small office refrigerator.
“I’m so sorry,” Vicky repeated. “How can I help you?”
“I heard on the news that he goes on trial next week for kidnapping and attempting to rape you.”
Vicky nervously fluttered her eyelids, but she didn’t look away. “Yes, he kidnapped my parents. Your daughter… when was she, um, assaulted?”
“When she was a child, but I didn’t learn about it until after she committed suicide a few months ago,” he explained, tears welling up in his eyes again. “She was only twenty-nine.”
“Mr. Wilkes, where did you live when she was attacked?”
“In your hometown,” he replied.
Vicky gasped for air. Yvonne put her hand on Vicky’s shoulder, both realizing the significance of the similarities.
“The news is hyping it as the trial of the century,” he said.
“I’ve been on my honeymoon. I haven’t seen the news yet,” Vicky acknowledged.
“I haven’t had a chance to tell you, Vicky,” Yvonne said.
Vicky nodded at her. The moment she walked in the door Vicky had been slammed with requests and meetings and things that could have waited. She hadn’t even had time to go to the bathroom.
“I didn’t connect the dots until I heard that you were also from Beebe,” he said and reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a folded sheet of paper and handed it to Vicky. “This was in my daughter’s pocket when they found her.”
Vicky timidly unfolded it and read it out loud.
Daddy,
Please forgive me. You always knew something was wrong, but I didn’t have the courage to tell you that I was raped when I was twelve years old by Mr. Cassidy. I couldn’t tell you because he said if I did, he would kill you. When I saw him a few months ago while I was visiting a friend in the hospital, I was so afraid he would rape me again. I can’t go through that again, Daddy. I’m sorry.
“Oh, my God!” Vicky cried, standing up suddenly, dropping the paper on the table. It was like looking in a mirror and seeing Harold’s reflection looking back at her.
“Vicky, what is it?” Yvonne asked, wrapping her arm around Vicky’s shoulders.
“She must have seen Harold at the same time that I did, but she recognized who he was when I didn’t.”
“I apologize for upsetting you,
ma’am,” Wilkes said, picking up the note and putting it back in his pocket. “But what do you mean the same time that you did?”
Vicky took a deep breath and sat back down at the table. “I was also his victim when I was thirteen, Mr. Wilkes. And like your daughter, I didn’t tell anyone, not until just recently. I was too afraid. And I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but Harold was stalking me here at the hospital. I think that was probably the same time that your daughter saw him.”
Wilkes looked out the office window at the crepe myrtles beginning to bloom, lost in his torturous thoughts.
“Mr. Wilkes, do you know of anyone else he might have harmed?”
He looked back at Vicky and shook his head. “No, but I wouldn’t be surprised that there are more now that I know you were also his victim. Obviously he’s still at it. He has to be stopped.”
“We have a solid case against him for kidnapping and attempted rape. He’ll go to prison, I’m sure of it.”
“But for how long?” Wilkes pondered, more to himself than anyone else.
Vicky was asking herself the same question. How long will I be free of him?
“My lawyer told me that the statute of limitations had expired on my daughter’s rape. Is it the same for you?”
“Yes, unfortunately,” Vicky replied. “But I’m sure that it will come out in the trial what a monster he is.”
Wilkes cleared his throat and took a sip of water from the bottle. “My daughter was all I had in this world. She was my world, and he destroyed it.”
Vicky’s cellphone on her desk played an Irish tune, and Vicky knew it was Aidan calling. “Excuse me, I have to take that call,” she said, standing up.
“Of course, I should go. I’ve taken up too much of your time already,” Wilkes said, standing up.
“Mr. Wilkes, my door is always open for you,” Vicky pulled a business card from her blazer pocket. “If you ever need to talk, please don’t hesitate to come by or call me.”
“Thank you, ma’am. And good luck in court next week, if Harold makes it to court.”
“Wait, what?”
“I said good luck.” He extended his hand and Vicky shook it.
As she watched him leave, Vicky wondered if she’d ever see him again.
Yvonne escorted him out and shut the door behind her as Vicky sat down in her chair and put her phone to her ear. The door opened again and Aidan walked in, her cellphone in one hand and a large brown bag in the other.
Vicky jumped up. “Sweetheart, I thought you were calling me? Is everything all right?”
“What? Yeah, but what’s going on with you?” Aidan asked suspiciously. She could see the redness in her wife’s eyes, hear the tension in her voice.
“What’s in the bag?” Vicky asked, changing the subject.
“Lunch.”
“Lunch? Oh, I lost all track of time.”
Aidan smiled. “Yeah, I figured as much, kid. So, tell me what’s going on with you.” Aidan took her jacket off and hung it across the chair at the table.
“I will, just let me run to the bathroom real quick. I haven’t been all morning.”
“Uh, Vic. It’s after one, I’m surprised your bladder hasn’t exploded by now, what with all the coffee I’m sure you’ve been drinking. You’d better hurry up before you start leaking.”
Vicky giggled and hurried over to her private bathroom in her office.
As soon as the door shut, Aidan walked out to Yvonne’s desk. Seeing that Yvonne was alone, Aidan leaned on her desk and asked, “What is Vicky upset about, Yvonne?”
Yvonne was surprised at first, but then smiled. “She had a visitor just now that she, um, was not prepared for.”
“Was it the guy I passed as I came in from the hallway? What did he want? What did he say to her?”
Yvonne knew why Aidan was so upset. Like Vicky, Aidan was anxious about the trial, and her nerves were easily frayed. “Take a breath, Aidan, everything’s all right. Yes, it was that man you saw. But I’d better let Vicky tell you about their conversation.”
Aidan stood up and click her teeth in annoyance. She wasn’t angry with Yvonne. She was angry that she couldn’t be here, protecting Vicky. Especially now. She was too new at her job to ask for a leave of absence, and besides, she had only just come back from a two week vacation in Ireland. She hadn’t accrued any paid time off, not that it mattered. If she didn’t think she’d lose her job, she’d ask for more time anyway.
“There you are. Was I in there that long?” Vicky asked from her office doorway. “Come on, let’s eat. I’m starved. Yvonne, have you eaten yet?”
“No, but I’m meeting Jerry across the street for lunch. I’ll be back in a little while.”
“Give Jerry our love,” Vicky said, turning back to her office.
Aidan nodded at Yvonne and followed after Vicky. “Tell me what’s going on before I go crazy,” she said.
Vicky pulled out the Chinese takeout containers and as she opened them up, and they began to eat, she told Aidan all about her visitor.
“I don’t think I like him just unloading on you like that,” Aidan stated.
“It’s all right, honey. I’m glad he did. The poor man is in such pain, and he didn’t have anywhere else to turn. I gave him my number and told him to call me anytime. I hope he will.”
Aidan put her eggroll down on the plate and looked at her with concern. Concern and annoyance. How can I protect her if she invites total strangers to call her anytime they want to?
“Excuse me.” A young man in a wrinkled shirt and pair of slacks, tapped on the open door. “Can you tell me where to find a Ms. Aidan Cassidy?”
Aidan stood up. “I’m Aidan Cassidy.”
He saw the Sig P229 in Aidan’s holster harness tucked under her arm, and he was instantly intimidated. That and he had to look up at her.
“I was told to give this to you,” the man said nervously, handing Aidan a folded sheet of paper.
“Who told you?” Aidan asked as she unfolded the paper.
“He said to say Harold Cassidy’s lawyer. You’ve been served, Ms. Cassidy. Have a nice day,” he said quickly and hurried from the room.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Aidan exclaimed.
Chapter Four
“Thank you for coming so quickly, Margie,” Vicky said as she greeted the woman entering her office.
“No problem, I was just down the hallway consulting with your risk management officer.”
“I figured as much since it was Monday. I know you meet with him every Monday morning,” Vicky explained.
“You sounded upset on the phone, Victoria. How can I help?” Margie asked as Vicky showed her to the small conference table in her office.
Aidan came in carrying a diet soda, and a water for Vicky.
“Margie, this is my wife, Aidan Cassidy. Aidan, this is the health systems corporate lawyer, Margie Sandoval. I thought maybe she could advise us on your subpoena.”
“I told you not to worry about it, Vicky. He’s just trying to distract me with his damn mind games.”
“Would you mind if I take a look at the subpoena?” Margie asked.
Aidan picked it up off the table and handed it to her. “Knock yourself out.”
A moment later, she handed it back. “It’s a standard class D felony. He’s claiming aggravated assault.”
“I already fucking know that,” Aidan barked. “I beat the shit out of him when he threatened Vicky.”
“Margie, obviously my wife is upset about this—”
“Don’t talk for me like I’m not in the room, damn it,” Aidan demanded.
“Honey…” Vicky said quietly, undeterred by Aidan’s anger. She knew what was causing it.
Aidan jerked her head at Vicky, ready to snap at her again when Vicky’s soft blue eyes calmed her rage. “Damn. I’m sorry, kid. He’s just got me so rattled. Like walking through a mine field and not knowing where to step.”
Vicky took her hand and squeezed it. “I know,
sweetheart, and we’ll get through that mine field, I promise.”
Aidan smiled, and nodded, then turned back to Margie. “I apologize. I’m being a jerk.”
“No need to apologized. Vicky has told me a little about what’s going on and under the circumstances, I think you’re being remarkably calm,” Margie replied.
“Margie, is he trying to postpone his trial?” Vicky asked.
“No, this would have no bearing on his court date,” Margie answered. “As Aidan said, he’s doing it to rattle her.”
“And it fucking worked too damn easily,” Aidan groused. Why did I let it bother me so easily? Aidan ran her fingers through her short, auburn hair, a million thoughts running through her head, but the same thought kept nagging at her. “Listen, I’ve got to get back to work. I need to talk with my boss about this.”
“About the subpoena?” Vicky asked curiously.
“About taking time off from work until after the trial. Since we’ve gotten back, my gut has been telling me that I need to protect you. And now, with Harold’s latest demented torment, my gut is screaming at me. I need to be with you twenty-four seven to protect you, Vic, and I can’t do that and work too.”
“Honey, I trust you and your beautiful gut. Your instincts have never failed you.”
Aidan shook her head. “It will probably mean losing my job. I don’t have any time built up at Homeland, but I’m hoping Tom will take pity on me.”
“After flying over to Ireland and interrupting our honeymoon to catch a terrorist, I’d say he owes you.”
“I think he’d be okay with it, but his hands will be tied by agency regulations and I haven’t learned them all yet. Oh, and uh, it will mean postponing getting that house after the trial because without a job, I’ll be broke.”
I Won't Remember You (Aidan & Vicky Book 6) Page 4
