Tarnished Soul: A Nine Minutes Spin-Off Novel

by Beth Flynn

  “What is this, Jonas? What’s going on? These are my things from my home, aren’t they?” She didn’t give him a chance to reply as she walked in circles and turned her thoughts into words as fast as they came at her. “But they can’t be my things. How and when and who could’ve gotten them way out here since last night?” She stopped and looked at the dolls. “Sam and Sally look like mine though. But like I already deduced, they can’t be mine. Which means they’re real Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls.” There was a quick pause before she added, “Or someone took the time to duplicate mine.” She squinted her eyes at Jonas. “Which makes that creepier than if they are my dolls.”

  Jonas hadn’t moved. He stood there like a stone, his fists clenched at his sides. “They’re your dolls. Everything that you think is yours was taken from your house and brought here while you were with the cop.”

  She peered up at him. “But how, and why? I don’t understand.”

  The cabin was feeling a lot hotter than when they’d first arrived, but he noticed Lucy was shaking. He walked toward her and reached out to pull her to him. She backed away. “You promised you would give me the chance to explain without jumping to conclusions,” he reminded her.

  She wrapped her arms tightly around herself and shook her head. “The only explanation is that this is an abduction. For what reason, I don’t have a clue.” She dropped her hands then and mustered up the bravado to confront him. Pointing her finger up toward his face, she told him, “And don’t you dare think you can get away with telling me something else.”

  He slowly nodded.

  “So I’m right!” she yelled as she skirted around him and charged toward the front door. He let her go. She wouldn’t get far.

  She got out to the front porch and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw what had been hidden from her view upon their arrival. Her light blue car was parked behind the stand of trees that they’d had to skirt around before pulling up to the front of the cabin. If she’d just looked over her shoulder when she’d gotten out of Jonas’ truck, she would’ve seen it. Her two suitcases were visible through the glass of the hatchback. She walked to her car on shaky legs and hauled open the driver’s side door. She peeked her head in. No key. She turned around and saw Jonas behind her. He held up the key. She walked toward him, firmly insisting that he give it to her. She’d just about reached him when he swung his arm back like he was winding up for a pitch. Before she knew it, his body lunged forward as she watched the key sail over her head. She thought it had disappeared until she heard a faint and distant plop. Her key, her safest chance for leaving on her own, was lying in a murky swamp.

  “You’ll be staying with me for a while, Lucy. Come back inside. I’ll explain.”

  “You have no right!” she said, again shaking her finger at him.

  “True. I have no right. But I do hold all the cards. You. Me. Here. For thirty days. Whether you like it or not.” He hadn’t intended to be so harsh and knew he sounded like a total asshole. But just the thought of her not staying with him, rejecting him, left a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach.

  She stood with her hands on her hips. “Well, I don’t like it!” she spat.

  “You don’t have to like it. You just have to listen.”

  Chapter 23

  Lucy didn’t reply as she walked past him, up the porch steps, and into the cabin. He found her moments later, sitting primly on the old couch. Her hands were neatly folded in her lap as she gazed up at him.

  Jonas held up a hand. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

  She didn’t say a word but watched him disappear behind the makeshift curtain that separated the front living space of the cabin from the back area. He was so big he had to squeeze sideways through the opening.

  In the less than twenty seconds it took for him to return, Lucy was startled to realize that she was calm. Her heart was no longer racing. She wasn’t unconsciously rattling off the numbers from her memory game that would help her cope with the anxiety and stress that accompanied these strange circumstances. She wasn’t angry anymore. And she definitely wasn’t frightened. She knew what Jonas was. A self-admitted murderer and now, kidnapper. She wasn’t feeling any of the things someone should be feeling if they’d found themselves in her predicament. If anything, she was feeling curious. She was totally and completely perplexed. The whole situation was puzzling. And Lucy liked puzzles. Especially challenging ones. She just couldn’t fathom whether or not she would like this one.

  He came back into the room, the two books she’d seen on the nightstand clutched tightly in his left hand. He held them up. She recognized the one on top as her library book, The Awakening. She didn’t comment as he slid the bottom book out from beneath it and laid it on top of her current read. She couldn’t see the title of the second book from her seated position. She watched him use the fingers of his right hand as he appeared to be counting something on the second book’s cover.

  Jonas looked at her. “Six. This book has six words on it so that’s how I know it’s the one I want to show you.”

  Her brows creased as she tried to decipher the meaning of what he’d just shared. She shook her head slightly. “I don’t understand.”

  He showed her the book.

  Lucy’s eyes widened as she gazed upon the novel she hadn’t read in years. The book whose title had been uttered by the local librarian less than twenty-four hours earlier. A book that a woman had checked out for a month to take on a cruise.

  “That woman we saw at the restaurant,” Lucy began. “Shasta. She checked out the book and did all this?”

  “Yes, but you’re not seeing what I’m trying to show you.” He scratched at his jaw. “You don’t remember, do you, Lucy?”

  She was completely intrigued now. “Remember what, Jonas?” she asked with a slight tilt to her head.

  “Me. You don’t remember me. We met six years ago.”

  Lucy sat up straighter and placed her hand across her chest. Yes, she told herself. Something is familiar. But what? Dig, Lucy. This feels important. What is it?

  The memory slammed into her with the force of a tidal wave. She shot straight out of her seat. “You counted the words in the title because you can’t read. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. That’s the only way you know it’s the right book. You told Shasta to make sure she brought it here, but you didn’t count on her bringing my other book. You’re him. You’re the man from the emergency room all those years ago. You couldn’t read, and I helped you fill out the admitting paperwork. The nurse was a horrid woman and I called her Nurse Ratched. And I told you it was from a book I’d read. And you remembered this? You remembered me?”

  Jonas’ body visibly relaxed. “Remembered you, Lucy? How could I ever forget you? I’ve been looking for you for years.” He looked away before admitting, “Except when I was sitting in jail for one thing or another. I didn’t have a clue you were right under my nose the whole time.”

  She didn’t know whether to hug him or slap him across the face for going to such extremes. She settled for neither. Shaking her head, she said, “It’s really you? That guy was tall like you, but he was practically emaciated. And he was totally bald with some pretty scary tattoos on his head.”

  Jonas tossed the books. They landed on the couch with a dull thud. He then bent over slightly and used both hands to separate his hair. Lucy stood on her toes and raised a hand to her mouth as she recognized the dark ink where there should’ve been pale scalp in the seams of his long brown hair.

  “You don’t even resemble that man,” she whispered to the top of his head. “I just can’t believe you’re the same person. I even mentioned meeting him…uh, you, when we were talking about your teardrop tattoos in front of Walgreens.” She shook her head in disbelief. “There wasn’t even a spark of recognition.”

  He slowly straightened up and looked down at her, his eyes asking a question she wasn’t sure she could answer. So she didn’t. Instead, she wrapped her arms tightly around herself
and started pacing. The ping of a lone insect hitting the screen was the only sound. She stopped and waved her hand around the room. “Why all this, Jonas? Why not just tell me who you were back at the restaurant? Why go to so much trouble to trigger my memory?” She gazed at him expectantly.

  He appeared indifferent. “I really can’t answer that.” He too waved his arm around the room. “This wasn’t my original intention. I actually had someone watching for you at the bait shop, and when Marty fucked that up, it pissed me off. Then you told me you were leaving for a cruise for a whole month. I used that to my advantage. Kind of like you set the table for me, and I invited myself to dinner.”

  “I think you did a little more than invite yourself to dinner, Jonas.” She adjusted her glasses while avoiding an eye roll. “When you’re interested in seeing someone, you take them out for a nice dinner or maybe even a movie or a concert.”

  He put a hand up to stop her. “Seriously? Do I look like a dinner and movie kind of guy to you? Would you believe me if I told you I never once in my almost twenty-six years asked a woman on a date? I don’t date or court or whatever you call it, Lucy.”

  She tried not to stomp her foot. “No, you don’t! You kidnap and manipulate. You bully! Did you ever think to ask me to go for a ride on your motorcycle?”

  “Yeah, I actually did. And then I wondered what I’d do if you said no. I don’t handle the word ‘no’ very well. I wanted us to have a chance to get to know each other. But let’s face it, the odds of someone like you agreeing to see someone like me were not in my favor. You’re right. I did what I always do. The only thing I know how to do. I manipulated and bullied my way into your life.”

  She crossed her arms. “So here we are.”

  He crossed his arms. “So here we are.”

  “And you threw away the only key to my car.”

  “I would’ve ended up throwing it away anyway. That car is a piece-of-shit death trap. I can’t let you drive it.”

  “That’s not your decision.”

  “Apparently it is, and I already made it.”

  Lucy blew out a breath, pushed her glasses up her nose, and looked at him sideways. “What is your intention here, Jonas?”

  “To stay here with you for the next month.”

  “And do what with me?”

  The question appeared to surprise him. “Just spend time with you, Lucy. I just want to get to know you better.”

  “Forced imprisonment, the new dating trend,” she mumbled under her breath.

  Jonas either didn’t hear her or let the comment go. He knew he was at an impasse. He knew he was dealing with a highly intelligent and beautiful woman who wouldn’t normally give him the time of day. A woman who’d been residing in his subconscious for six long years. He wasn’t stupid. He knew this wasn’t the best move he could’ve made with her, but he was being honest when he told her he wouldn’t have handled any form of rejection in a positive manner. He couldn’t risk losing her all over again. And a simple “no” from her would’ve done that.

  It was as if she read his mind. “So, we’re at an impasse.” She slapped her hand against her thigh. “I think we need to call a truce and come up with a plan.”

  His only response was a curt nod.

  “Don’t get any ideas in your head, Jonas. I’m not going to sleep with you, so you need to take that off the table right now. I’m not one of your club ladies.” She raised her chin a tad as the result of her accusation crawled up her neck and parked in her cheeks.

  Jonas tried not to smile as he witnessed yet another of her deep blushes. Like he’d thought more than once, she was utterly adorable. “It’s never been my intention to get you in bed, Lucy.” He had to really let himself think about his last comment. Did he want Lucy in that way? Yes, of course he did. But that wasn’t the driving force behind this entire scenario. He couldn’t articulate his feelings, so he tucked them away where he wouldn’t have to address them.

  “Oh, okay then,” came her soft reply. He couldn’t be certain, but was disappointment replacing the flush of color in her cheeks? It wouldn’t be the first time he’d thought he recognized it on her face.

  There was a slight lift of her shoulders as she gazed around the room, not willing to meet his eyes. “So, me and you in this cabin for thirty days. Just friends hanging out.” She absentmindedly patted her tight bun. “How do you propose we spend this time together?”

  Jonas took a long time to answer. So much time that he began to feel the heat of her stare. Swallowing his pride, he gave her the simplest and most truthful answer he could think of. “Maybe you could teach me how to read.”

  Chapter 24

  Jonas spent the next hour familiarizing Lucy with the old cabin and the surrounding property. She hadn’t been thrilled to see an outhouse. He tried to apologize by explaining that even though it wasn’t modern, it hadn’t been used. He’d spent most of yesterday morning digging a new spot for it. He also told her that she didn’t need to use it. She could take care of her personal needs inside the cabin with an old chamber pot.

  “I don’t need to use a chamber pot,” she stiffly informed him. “I’m not such a delicate flower that I can’t use your outhouse. I’m just glad I’m a sound sleeper.”

  It was obvious he didn’t understand her comment by the look he gave her.

  “I don’t get up in the middle of the night to pee,” she explained. “If I did, I’d have to take you up on the chamber pot offer because there’d be no way in the world I would be wandering out here at night by myself.”

  Jonas reached for her hand. It felt like Bigfoot’s paw trying to cradle a butterfly. He became very serious when he told her, “I don’t want you anywhere out here by yourself, Lucy.” He looked around. “It seems very peaceful right now. And it can be. But there are dangers lurking everywhere. We stay together at all times when outside of the cabin. That’s not me being a bully. That’s me looking out for you.”

  Without letting go of her hand, he walked her to the small shed she’d seen from the kitchen window. It had been stocked with several jugs of kerosene. A rusty generator sat in the corner along with two floor fans still in their factory boxes. “I got the generator fired up yesterday to make sure it works. It’ll provide enough power to get some fans going if it gets too hot. Which it will. It’ll even run the fridge. No hot water though.”

  As they walked, Jonas described how his grandfather had bought the land and built the cabin back in the 1920s. “He couldn’t have picked a better spot,” he said with pride. “This cabin sits right next to two freshwater springs. I don’t recommend drinking the water that’s pumped into the house without boiling it, but it’s definitely safe for bathing. Probably cleaner than what’s in the faucet at your house.”

  The mention of her house sparked a tirade of questions about the people and timing involved in what she finally referred to as his “carefully calculated kidnapping.”

  He was relieved she didn’t appear angry and was discussing what he’d done as if she was watching it play out on an episode of Starsky and Hutch. Jonas batted away a dragonfly as they continued their rounds of the property. “I thought you would’ve immediately figured it out the second you saw your flowers and wind chime. And if not then, then most definitely when you saw your cookie jar.”

  “For me, it’s all about the odds. Statistically speaking, they were against those being my items. They could be bought at any store. I wouldn’t have assumed I’m the only one in South Florida who owns that particular wind chime, and the Pillsbury Doughboy has become super popular right now. Plus, flowers are flowers. Heck, I even convinced myself that the dolls and bedspreads were replicas.” She gave a mild shake of her head. “So ridiculously stupid of me. Anyway, it was because I couldn’t fathom how my things got here in such a short span of time. But, in retrospect, I was at the police station for much longer than it seemed. I had to be there at least three hours, but because I was engaged in conversation about my father, time flew by. Then, y
ou took me to breakfast. So, yeah, I think your friend Shasta not only made good time but had plenty of time left over.” She stopped walking and looked up at him. “Why though, Jonas? Why go to so much trouble to involve someone else and bring my things here?”

  He swung around to face her and delicately tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. He almost knocked her glasses off but immediately righted them. He settled his hands on her shoulders. “Because I didn’t want you to be afraid, Lucy. I wanted you to be surrounded by things that made you feel safe.”

  “How in the world did you get a cop to go along with this?” she asked, her thick glasses exacerbating her widened eyes. “Blackmail?”

  He removed his hands from her shoulders and gave a sarcastic laugh. “I could’ve blackmailed him. He’s been stepping out on his wife for years, and I have proof of that and other clandestine dealings that would ruin not only his marriage, but his career as well. But, this was important, so I didn’t want to antagonize him.”

  “So?”

  He gave a nonchalant shrug. “So, I paid his favorite hooker to spend some time with him.”

  Lucy’s face drooped. “A man who is supposed to be upholding the law gave me up to a criminal biker for some time with a hooker?”

  “I have no love of the law, Lucy. But rest easy knowing Bruce isn’t the norm. Don’t be discouraged by one shitbag cop. I hate to admit it, but there are a lot more good ones out there than bad.”

  He told her how his plan had started formulating when she’d spilled her purse at the pharmacy. How he’d swiped her housekey when she’d turned her back to him, had a copy made, and returned it to her after they met for lunch at the Waffle House. “I had Shasta running errands for me while her sister got started here. They both worked their asses off to get this place in shape. When they were finished, they left their work van here and I drove them both home in my truck. Bruce picked up Shasta and brought her to your house. He’d already taken your car key and left it for Shasta to find. She was hiding outside until Bruce left with you. Then she used the housekey I gave her and quickly gathered your cruise luggage and what she thought were some of your favorite things and drove them out to the cabin in your car. Then she drove her sister’s van back to the Waffle House which was my signal that I could take you to the cabin. She was supposed to leave your car key out here but apparently forgot. That’s why she gave me that quick hug goodbye right before we left the restaurant. She shoved the key with a note in my pocket.”