by K. M. Hodge
The hands were angry now. They wanted to hurt her back and they did. The bitter metallic taste of blood filled her mouth and made her gag. The hands grabbed fistfuls of her freshly cleaned hair, causing her head to rise.
The sound of her head hitting the floor was the last thing she heard before the darkness pulled her back under.
***
Highway 81, Just outside Washington National Forest
June 5, 2008
12:40 PM
~~~
Jason was lost in thought as he drove his beat-up truck to his grandfather’s cabin. He knew he would pass Katherine’s family’s cabin on the way and found himself anticipating it. It startled him, though, to see a dusty, road-worn, black SUV parked in the circular drive outside her cabin.
He threw the truck into reverse and backed up onto the circular drive in front of the property. Out of the corner of his eye he caught movement from inside the cabin.
What the hell?
He pulled out his rifle from the back of his truck, and charged into the cabin just as someone ran out the back door.
Red. All he saw was red. Blood was everywhere.
His gaze followed the trails of blood on the wood floor to its source, a naked body.
Katherine!
His stomach lurched and he dropped to his haunches and dry heaved. When he had finished, he rose to go after the man who had done this to her, but it was already too late; he was gone.
He heard a four-wheeler in the far distance in the timber behind the house. Katherine’s family had always kept one in the back. He would never catch him.
Katherine!
He returned through the blood and knelt down next to her, and discovered she had a faint pulse and her chest rose and fell with small shallow breaths.
She’s still alive!
He reached into his pants pocket, pulled out his cell phone and dialed.
“911, what is your emergency?”
Chapter 9
Yellow Hat Cabin
Just outside Richmond, Virginia
June 5, 2008
1:00 PM
~~~
As Jason waited for the ambulance, he took the Navajo blanket off the back of the sofa and covered Katherine’s naked body. They had used it countless times over the years to cover themselves when they sat out on the porch swing late at night drinking beers.
That seemed like a lifetime ago.
As much as he loved her, he couldn’t stay in that room with her, so he waited outside. The sound of the ambulance arrived long before he saw it, a sound that would forevermore be imprinted with his memory of Katherine.
The rig pulled up onto the drive beside his truck and the SUV. The EMTs jumped out and ran to him with great urgency. “Sir, where are you hurt?”
He looked at them, confused, until he realized he was covered in her blood. “Please help her. She’s inside,” he finally said, still in shock.
The police pulled up minutes later. They had questions he didn’t have answers to. All he could do was tell them what he saw, which didn’t amount to much. He knew that he was under suspicion, but he didn’t care.
“If I’d gotten here a few minutes earlier, maybe I could’ve stopped this from happening,” he told the detective in charge.
They wouldn’t find the man, he thought. No one existed, apparently. Men like him were free to roam the earth, harming anyone in their way without fear of impunity. Even if they did find the attacker, it would be his word against Katherine’s. Jason had after all never seen his face, and Katherine was blindfolded, so odds were she hadn’t seen him either. He considered all the rape cases he’d reported on where the man got off scot-free, and sighed.
The police began to collect evidence while the EMTs worked on Katherine. He heard snatches of their conversation.
“She’s lost a lot of blood.”
“Her pulse is threading.”
The neighbor, Amice, a friend of Jason’s grandfather, had heard all of the pandemonium from his house a half mile away and had walked over to see what was happening. Jason explained as best he could to Amice what had happened while the EMTs loaded Katherine onto their rig.
The police told him to stay behind until they could corroborate his telling of the events. After an hour of collecting evidence, they released him on the condition that he would make himself available for questioning.
Amice insisted on driving him to the hospital in Jason’s truck. They sat in the surgical waiting room, while Katherine had surgery for internal bleeding.
Amice rested his open palm on his knee. “I’ve known you your whole life, son, and I can tell you know a lot more than you’re letting on.”
Jason sighed with exhaustion. He didn’t want to think about what was going on, much less talk about it, even to Amice, who had always been kind to him.
“I’m worried about you and Katherine,” the old man said. “I can see that you’re mixed up in something dangerous. I don’t want you to repeat your father’s mistake.”
Despite his growing exhaustion, he opened his eyes and met Amice’s concerned face. “I’m worried too, Amice. I’m not sure how to get out of this, how to stop it. I feel like I’m on a runaway train.”
Amice’s eyes watered and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed hard.
Jason didn’t want to die like his father, fighting a formidable foe with a flashlight and a pen. It had been all about getting the story for his father.
Amice grimaced, looking unconvinced. “I worry that your feelings for her are going to get you killed. Whatever mess she’s in, it isn’t your battle.”
Jason shook his head. “You saw what happened to her. I can’t just leave her to fend for herself.”
He leaned over with his elbows on his knees and cupped his hands together over his nose and mouth. All he could think about was the red all over the cabin, and the smell of blood that still lingered in his nostrils.
Katherine’s blood!
Jason dropped his limp hands to his kneecaps. His body and mind were feeling the day: being drugged, finding out Sara was a spy, his apartment being bugged, and finding Katherine nearly dead. He sucked in a breath and looked away from Amice. He couldn’t let anyone see him like this.
“Can I have the keys to the truck? I can’t sit here.”
Amice handed over the keys. “You sure you’re okay to drive, son?”
Jason nodded as he tried to still his trembling hands.
“All right then. You go on and do what you have to do. I’ll have one of my VFW buddies take me back.”
“Thank you.” A brief feeling of guilt washed over him at abandoning the poor old man at the hospital, but he just had to get away.
As Jason stepped out into the muggy air, he looked up at the sky. The pain of the last couple of days overwhelmed him to the point that his legs gave out, causing him to drop to his knees in agony. At that moment a loud wailing sound permeated the heady afternoon air, a painful, almost inhuman sound.
It took him awhile to realize that the sound had come from him.
***
Renaissance Hotel
Detroit, Michigan
June 5, 2008
9:30 PM
~~~
Alex lay on top of the hotel bedspread, flipping channels, fighting sleep. A box of stale pizza lay next to him half eaten. The stress of the day had finally caught up with him. He had spent the greater part of his time putting together a serviceable profile for the Detroit Field Office and had just emailed it to the ASAC for the case.
Determined to turn in early tonight, he slipped out of bed, emptied his pockets, and swiped at his phone to turn it on only to get a blank black screen—dead. He plugged it in to charge overnight, and the smell of sweat and garlic wafted from his body. He wouldn’t have time in the morning, so he stripped out of his suit and jumped in the shower.
After he had finished, he turned down the bed and fell between the crisp white sheets, but just as his head hit the pillow, he
remembered that he hadn’t set the alarm for the morning. Cursing under his breath, he reached for his partially-charged phone and turned it on, and was surprised to see several notification icons demanding his attention: four missed calls, three voice mails and two text messages.
He pulled up the latest text from Richards first.
Why aren’t you answering your phone?!?! I’ve been trying to call you all evening and it keeps going straight to voicemail. CALL ME!
Alex swiped to the second message.
Pick up your damn phone!
A chill ran down his spine as he dialed into his voicemail.
“First message sent at 4:00 PM,” said the automated message.
“Alex, I need you to call me. Katherine was found and has been admitted to Holy Cross in Virginia. She’s in critical condition. I spoke with her doctors and they said she was raped and beaten.”
Alex dropped his phone and, gasped for air.
Oh God. His right hand rose to his mouth. Oh God.
His eyes stung and his hands shook as he snatched the half-empty pizza box and hurled it across the room, knocking down a lamp. He then slid down the side of the bed and buried his face in the palm of his hands.
***
Red Dawn Casino
Detroit, Michigan
June 6, 2008
1:00 AM
~~~
Charles had been standing outside the casino for hours waiting for him to come out. With unlimited funds and a lot of determination, one could find anyone. It hadn’t taken a whole lot to get Billy to give up the location of his rat cousin. The fucker wasn’t stupid and had gone underground right away.
It was all his fault. If he hadn’t involved these degenerates in the first place, it never would have happened. He wasn’t a perfect man, but he had never wanted this. By trying to save her from one psycho, he ended up leaving her at the mercy of another kind of monster.
He was done, but not before he made everyone involved pay for what happened to Katherine.
***
Indie Coffee
Outside Richmond, Virginia
June 6, 2008
3:00 AM
~~~
After driving around for hours, Jason had pulled into an all-hours cafe and ordered breakfast and coffee. Lost in thought, his forgotten pancakes now lay at room temperature in front of him.
The waitress came by to touch up his coffee. “Sweetie, I know the food ain’t the greatest, but you should at least try it before you pass judgment.”
He paid no attention to her sarcasm.
She sat down at the booth across from him.
Jason turned away from the window first to see her nametag read Nessie, and then to meet her curious eyes.
“Do ya wanna talk about what’s bothering you?”
“Don’t you have to work or something?” he asked, irritated by her meddling.
The woman smirked as she looked around the cafe. “You see people I don’t?”
He looked around the deserted cafe and chuckled. “I guess you don’t get too much business at this hour, huh?”
“Depends. Either way, I’ve got time, and you look like you could use company,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.
He sighed and wrapped his hands around the comforting mug of coffee. “I do, do I?”
“During this shift it’s not unusual to get customers with interesting stories to tell, especially the ones that brood in the corner and don’t touch their food.” She nodded down at his full plate.
He hadn’t touched the pancakes that had sounded so good when he had ordered them, but under her watchful eye, he took a bite.
The cute waitress smiled and pulled on one of the tight curls that splayed across her face. “Now that’s a start.” She winked, making his stomach flip-flop.
He couldn’t help but smile back at her. “Okay....” He looked down at her name tag again and read out loud, “Nessie, how’s about you guess?”
Her eyes rolled up and she gazed at the ceiling while contemplating the challenge. “It has to do with a woman.” She tugged at her curls again.
This distracted him. “Yea....”
Nessie smirked. “It’s always about a woman.”
While she talked, Jason took large bites of the cold pancakes and toast he had ordered an hour before.
“Since I haven’t seen you before, I would have to assume you aren’t from around here. Which means you’re running away from something.”
He looked up from his now half-empty plate. “Why’s that?” Am I that transparent?
She shifted on the bench and her long leg brushed his under the table. “I know everyone in this town, and I don’t know you. When life brings you to the middle of nowhere, it ain’t ever good.”
He couldn’t help but be distracted by her. She was devastatingly beautiful, with skin the color of his coffee and shoulder-length hair that haloed her face in a million tight curls. “What about you? Are you running from something, too?”
She shook her head, making her curls bounce, and bit the end of her finger—her mouth slightly parted. After a long pause, she released her index finger from between her dazzling white teeth and pointed at him. “You’re a reporter too, aren’t you?”
His eyebrows dropped in surprise, and grinned. “Okay, now I’m impressed. Am I that transparent?”
She smiled and rose from the booth. “Don’t feel bad, Sugar. Everyone is transparent as cellophane to me.”
Jason chuckled again.
The bell rang over the cafe door, and he was sad to see a young couple stumble in. He watched Nessie’s curvy form as she walked away, and let out a breath of laughter when she turned her head over her shoulder and winked at him. Dropping a handful of bills on the table to cover his tab, he took one last swig from his coffee cup and got up to leave.
Though he left more at peace than he’d been when he arrived, nothing anyone could say, not even a sweet waitress, could mitigate the impending doom making itself at home in his gut.
***
Joe Coffee
Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan
June 6, 2008
5:00 AM
~~~
Alex sat in his rental car and watched a man in his late sixties seated inside the restaurant. Alex was able to make a positive ID on the man; it was without a doubt Katherine’s dad. Local records confirmed what they already knew—finger prints didn’t lie. Now they would have to figure out how to bring him in and get him to testify against a group that forced him to fake his own death.
Katherine.
Try as he might, he couldn’t get her out of his head. He had finally gotten an update from Supervisor Magellan that they had trusted men guarding her, and that she was out of critical condition, but some of the damage done to her might be permanent. Magellan had also said that she was on suicide watch.
It took everything in him to keep his cover, to not rush to her bedside, to not run away with her far away from all of this.
He couldn’t see how this would end well for either of them. Was it all worth it to stop a group of men who were addicted to greed and power? He wasn’t so sure anymore.
***
FBI Headquarters: The Hoover Building
Washington, D.C.
June 6, 2008
10:00 AM
~~~
Alex caught the first flight out of Detroit and went straight into the office to meet up with Special Agent Richards. They decided to meet outside so that they could smoke and talk in private. He took a long drag of his cigarette while his boss filled him in on everything he knew, along with details from the paperwork the hospital and police had faxed over.
Alex’s chest tightened and he felt short of breath. It was worse than he had imagined. Everything was there in black and white.
Katherine.
Richards looked at him with deep concern. “Bailey, because of everything that has happened, I need you to talk to Dr. Forester in the EAP offices. It’s standard procedure. It shouldn�
��t take long, and it shouldn’t affect your field status unless she recommends it.”
Alex sighed in frustration and exhaustion. “Fine, when?”
“You have a scheduled appointment with her in two hours.”
Alex huffed in surprise. “I guess I don’t have a choice in the matter?”
His boss gave him a sad smile and shook his head. “Sorry, no you don’t. I have to talk to her too, since you two are my subordinates.” Richards smoked the last of his cigarette and put it out against the building.
Alex patted him on the arm. “I guess I’ll talk to you later then.” He kicked off the wall and walked back inside and up the stairs.
Before heading to the EAP office, he dropped the police report off at his desk and pocketed the detailed report from Katherine’s doctors. For two hours, he read the report over and over again until he could recite it verbatim. The notes said the doctors thought she might not be able to have children. This stuck in his mind. What else would those bastards take away from her? And for what?
***
FBI Headquarters: Hoover Building, EAP Services Department
Washington, D.C.
June 6, 2008
12:00 PM
~~~
As the time for his appointment drew closer, Alex began to pace back and forth in the waiting room, playing over and over again in his mind the information from the doctor’s report.
At 12:00 on the dot, Doc opened her door and ushered him into her office. “Come in, Agent Bailey.”
Alex chaffed with irritation. “Okay, Dr. Forester.”
He needed a punching bag, a safe place to be angry. In the back of his mind he knew Doc was all he had to help him get through this turn of events, but he would still fight her every step of the way.
She closed the door behind him and pointed over to the chairs in the center of the room. “Would you like to take a seat?”
He stalked towards her, but she didn’t flinch. “This is bullshit, Doc, I don’t have time for this.”
She walked past him and sat down, but her eyes never left him. The concern she felt for him emanated from her like a strong perfume, choking him.
“You seem very agitated and anxious. Would you like to talk about that?”
Alex barked at her. “Don’t pull that therapist bullshit with me, Doc. You know exactly what’s going on.” A part of him felt bad for unleashing all of his pent-up feelings onto her, but it had to come out.
