Mr. Cunningham is pushing himself off the table, somewhat groggily, holding a single action revolver. I look to his left and my blood runs cold. Jo is unconscious, lying on a soiled mattress. Her arms are spread wide above her head, handcuffed to a big heavy cabinet. And Mr. Cunningham faces her, gun pointing to her silent body.
I shoot out and break into a run. My need to protect Jo gave me the speed and the strength I need. Within seconds, I slam my body against his at the same moment I hear another loud crack breaking through the sound barrier. He had just fired his gun. We both fall to the ground, and he yelps. Meanwhile, I dislodge the gun from his fingers, and now I’m on top of him. “You fucker! What the hell did you do to her?”
My knuckles hit him straight in the nose and he screams, but he locks his hands around my neck to choke me. His grip feels weak, allowing me to remove them. I have another chance to give him a round of punches to the face. His blood stains my knuckles, but I don’t stop as it satisfies my need to avenge. “This is for Alexa and this is for my girl!”
But he regains his strength and locks his legs around me. He spins me and straddles me. His hands land on my neck again, but this time he’s able to tighten it around my throat. I gasp for air.
He smiles, revealing bloody teeth and lips. “Heroes don’t always have happy endings, Julian. It was a good try, though.”
I take my hand and it lands on his chin. I loosen his fingers, so I can breathe, but it’s brief as he regains control. I fight for air and pry his fingers off me, but he’s locked in like a pit bull.
Suddenly, Mr. Cunningham screams and his eyes roll back. He lands next to me, groaning. I gasp when he releases my throat as air rushes into my lungs. As I cough, I look up. Brandon is holding the gun. He had hit him in the head with it. Then, he lunges for him, kicking him in the stomach with fury in his eyes.
“Police! What the—”
As I get up slowly from the ground, the troops rush in and they remove Brandon. Then, I remember the gun that was fired moments ago.
“Shit! Jo!” I run towards her and kneel next to her mattress. I gather her in my arms. “Please don’t be dead.” A sob escapes from me. I study her body, and I don’t see a gunshot wound, making me sigh with relief. I see a hole in the cabinet above her, though, which makes me wince at the thought that she had just narrowly escaped the bullet.
I tap her face and press my finger on her neck for a pulse. “Get the fucking paramedics here now!” I yell at the police officers in the room. “And cut these handcuffs off her.”
There’s a flurry of action around me while I hear Mr. Cunningham moan as they handcuff him. Meanwhile, I feel a pulse and I sigh with relief. “Jo, wake up.”
Footsteps stop behind me and I glance up, only to see my father taking out his universal key. I return my attention to Jo. “You’re gonna be out of these cuffs soon.” I place my cheek just above her lips. I feel air coming out of her nose and suddenly, she moans. Hope fills my heart. “Jo, are you ok?”
Her eyes flutter but she can barely open them. “Y-you f-found m-me…”
The rush of energy from the happiness and relief of finding her alive has me pulling her against my body in a tight hug. “Always, baby.”
Her body drops as my dad frees both her wrists from the cuffs. I catch her and hold on to her so she doesn’t fall with a thud onto the mattress. I study her and see her hair matted with blood. “What did he do to you? Did he hit your head?”
“W-with his gun…” Her eyes close again.
My blood boils at the brutality she had to endure during these last few hours. I examine the rest of her body, and I clench my fist at the purple marks on her ankles and her unbuttoned jeans. Dread fills my veins as a thought enters my head. I close my eyes and through gritted teeth, I ask, “Jo, did he rape you?”
She shakes her head, and she winces. “Almost..b-but I d-did triangle choke hold.” She closes her eyes again. “Sleep-p-y…r-roofie in my d-drink.”
I turn my head violently towards Mr. Cunningham who is now off the floor and apprehended. Then I return my attention. “He gave you Rohypnol?”
She nods.
“Shit, Jo. I’m so sorry.” I caress her cheek. But my head fixates on one thing. Turning my head at my teacher who’s bruised and battered, I smile. “So, you MMA’d the shit out of Mr. Cunningham, so he couldn’t touch you?”
She nods.
“Did you choke him all the way to submission?”
She shakes her head and winces again. “T-to knockout. H-he went to sleep.”
“Huh. That explains why he was so groggy when I first assaulted him.” I laugh. Then, I give her a hard kiss on the lips. “Jo, did I ever tell you you’re a badass?”
“I-I puked. B-bad breath. S-sorry,” she responds, missing the point.
I chuckle and give her another smooch. “I don’t care if your breath smells like puke, shit or anchovies. You’re my Godzilla breath, and I won’t have you any other way.”
She smiles feebly. Then, she knocks out completely in my arms.
***
Jo is back at Wakefield Hospital after they whisked her away in an ambulance an hour after they found her in that dirty basement. They examined her, and she suffered a closed head injury from that blow inflicted by Mr. Cunningham’s revolver but it’s mild and she’s expected to have a good recovery. At the request of her mom, they performed a sexual assault forensic exam, and, thankfully, there was no DNA evidence found to suggest he raped her. Aside from the bruises, she’s medically stable, except for being emotionally traumatized from being abducted and almost being whisked away beyond state lines. Thank god we got to her on time.
Mr. Cunningham is in custody. He has not confessed to anything and will not talk until he meets with his lawyers. He has all the money and the connections to drag this out in court, so we shall see where this will lead. As I look at Jo’s sleeping form with that wound dressing on her head, it makes me entertain thoughts of vigilante justice. He has the right to due process, but he took away the life of a young woman and the right of another to consent. As I place Jo’s hand on my lips, I seethe at why his legal rights are respected when he did not pay the same respect to these girls. I rub her hand between my palms to warm it up. With a sigh, I decide that for today, I’ll resign to being satisfied that she’s alive and the rest of the population is safe while he’s behind bars—at least, until his bail hearing when they’ll release him on bail.
One day at a time.
“Julian, it’s late, honey.” Jo’s mom tiptoes into the room and places a hand on my shoulder. “Why don’t you go home and rest for now?”
But I don’t want to leave her as I’ve lost my trust in this hospital to protect her. Though I heard they beefed up their security system, and they employed a personal security detail to guard her overnight. Thanks to her mother’s threats to take legal action against them. She discovered through surveillance tapes that a masked Mr. Cunningham had been visiting every night while Jo was in the ICU.
“You care about her a lot, do you?”
I nod. “More than you’ll ever know.”
“Oh, I think I know just how much.”
I brush a strand of hair off Jo’s face. “She’s been through a lot. I wish her life could be better.”
“I will do my best to give her the life she deserves. But thank you for loving her like you do.”
I sigh. “I want to take care of her.”
She smiles. “If it were up to me, I’d like that. But you have to ask her if she’s willing to accept the help. She’s capable of taking care of herself.”
We both laugh. She really does. The girl knocked out her assailant single handedly. When the physicians revived her, she explained to the police what happened. How she could do that while handcuffed was nothing short of amazing. I’d like to congratulate her MMA instructor for that badass skill.
“Now go home, honey,” she says. “It’s my turn. Come back tomorrow.”
My dad enters the room, and I sigh. Now
, I really have no choice. “Let’s go, son. Let her rest without you fussing over her.”
I stand and say goodbye and follow my father. Once we’re in the car, I check my watch. It’s already 11 o’clock. I lean my head back on the headrest and feel my energy flow out of me. Finally, I feel exhausted.
“Son, explain to me everything that happened out there today.”
I turn to him, eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
He checks behind him as he backs out of the parking lot. “How did you know a cabin exists in that forest, and how were you so confident that she was in there?”
I stare at the full moon outside my window. I don’t know how to explain, so I say nothing.
“If you’re involved in something shady, tell me now. What’s going on?”
I face him. “Really, Dad?”
He shrugs. “Well, I don’t know. You tell me.”
I bite my lip. I can’t betray Jo’s trust but my dad will not relent until he gets the information he needs. “What does it matter? You will never believe me.”
“Try me.”
I furrow my brows. “Only if you promise me, you will protect this information, and you will protect Jo.”
He frowns. “Ok, what’s going on?”
I exhale. “Promise me, Dad.”
He shakes his head. “Boy, I better not regret this but fine. I promise.”
“Jo is a medium.” There, I said it. “She can see ghosts and they can communicate with her. Alexa came to her, giving her clues about where to find her body. Well, two weeks ago, she and I trekked Mission Forest. That was how I knew there was a cabin there. I was the one who called the anonymous tip line.”
His jaw clenches but says nothing. I continue. “Do you believe me or do you think I’m bullshitting?”
He doesn’t answer my question. He asks me another instead. “Do you have psychic ability, too? How did you know she was down there?”
I sigh and rub my neck with uncertainty. Then, I speak. “We have this weird, unexplainable connection. She rubs off on me somehow so that every time I’m close to her, I feel the spirits communicating with her, too. It’s only with her. I felt something paranormal minutes before I followed you out and that was the clue that she was nearby.”
I look at him. He keeps his eyes focused on the road and says nothing. Finally, he speaks. “She reported Brian confessed to killing Athena O’ Connor.”
My eyes widen in surprise. “Oh, yeah?”
He nods. “He was writing her letters identical to Alexa’s. Anyway, we found Athena’s body through an anonymous tip line, too. Was that you guys’ work as well?”
“Yeah.”
He nods again. I can’t read his expression and he says nothing. Finally, as he turns to our street, he talks. “The police force has used mediums before, so what you’re telling me is not far-fetched. But this is a lot to process.”
“I know.” I bite my nails as I stare at Jo’s house looming ahead. It’s gloomy. I wonder if Ella and Richard are home.
My dad breaks into my thoughts. “But I’m glad it’s that and that you’re not involved in some illegal dealings.”
I chuckle. “Aren’t you lucky?”
“For what it’s worth, son, solid work out there. And her as well for all the investigative work she’s done.”
“Maybe you guys can hire us to be a part of the team.”
He huffs. “We’ll see about that.”
As we near the house, I see a familiar Audi. I scrunch my forehead as Bianca’s blonde head appears in the driver’s seat.
“Son, what’s your ex doing here? It’s a little late.”
“I don’t know, either, but I just can’t shoo her out.”
He presses the remote to open the garage door, but he lets me hop out before he drives the truck inside. “Don’t stay out too late.”
“I won’t.” I slam my hands in the pockets of my jacket and brace myself from the biting cold. I walk over to her car while she gets out to meet me. “I hope this is quick, Bianca, because it’s thirty degrees out.”
“You want to talk inside then?” She nudges her head to her vehicle.
I look at her luxurious car and I remember those amazing leather seats with the warmers. I cave in. It’s just too damn chilly out here. “Fine, but no funny business.”
She rolls her eyes as she walks to her side. “Please.”
“Right.” I huff. “Wrong guy.”
“Alright, I deserve that.”
I open the door and quickly slide inside her car. My ass melts into the soft leather, and I almost cooed when the seat warms. I won’t miss Bianca, but I’ll definitely miss this. “Ok, what’s up? I’m exhausted so can we hurry this?”
She bites her lip and stares into the road. “Listen, I never really got to apologize for the way I treated you.”
I press my head against the headrest. “Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to Jo.”
She nods her head. “She’ll get her apology. Don’t worry. But I figured I’ll start with you.”
I say nothing. I’m not really sure what this is about. Why, suddenly, she’s making nice.
“Ian, I know what people say about me and to be honest, I don’t blame them. I haven’t really done anything to disprove them otherwise. I’ve done a lot of things to people that I’m not proud of just to get my way. But lately, losing Lexie put things in perspective. She meant more to me than my family. My parents are never around and when they are, they’re only physically there. I spent more time in her house than I ever did in my own. She was the sister I wanted.”
I rub my neck and stare out the window. “So, why did you betray her?”
She pauses and looks at her hands on her lap. “With all my thirst for competition, I never competed with Lexie until Brandon came along.”
She repositions herself and wipes her palms on her thighs. “Lexie and I both fell for him the minute he walked in Mrs. Sander’s class. He had an aura that I gravitated towards, and for the first time, I welcomed the idea of competing with my best friend. I wanted him to pick me, but in the end, he chose Lexie. I never could get over it. The way he looked at her like she’s the only girl alive.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Great. So, where’s the part here where you apologize? Because you haven’t told me anything except that he’s hot and that you’re rationalizing why you cheated on me with him.”
She sighs. “It’s getting there. I’m just giving you context to the story.”
“Well, could you hurry, please, because I’m ready to knock out.”
“Ok, ok,” she says. “Then you came along our freshman year. I want you to know, Ian, that I cared for you and the first two years of our relationship, you made me forget my feelings for Brandon. I was happy, and I thought to myself that I’ve finally found someone comparable and even better.”
I bite my lip as memories of our relationship floods my brain. “So, what happened?”
She faces me. “I’m not justifying my actions, ok? What I did was wrong. But you changed during our junior year. You became distant… detached. Like there was something missing in your life and no matter what, you could never be happy. I couldn’t make you happy.”
A lightbulb flashes in my head, and suddenly, I couldn’t completely fault her. I have been out of it, and people have noticed it, too.
The Night Orchid Page 45
