Tori walked around the corner laughing. Her husband looked mortified and so did the detective. That was good enough for her. “Would you like some coffee?” she asked, as she handed a mug to her husband.
Vivian nodded. “Please, that would be wonderful.”
Tori motioned to her with the intent to give the men some time to talk. Julian would want to begin the interrogation as soon as possible, especially now that he found out that it did have something to do with the woman.
“Justin, let’s go into the bedroom. I need to get some pants.”
His brother followed him, but his eyes never left Vivian as she walked away. He was praying Tori would take it easy on her.
Inside the other room, his brother stared at him. “Okay, spill it.”
“Something has come up with the case, and you needed to hear it immediately.”
“Okay, tell me.”
He paused before continuing, “You need to let Vivian tell you. This is her story to tell, not mine.”
Julian stared at him and was a little surprised. Normally, his brother would share everything with him. “Okay, let’s go then.”
Justin grabbed his arm. “Wait, I need to know something first.”
He waited.
“When you first met Tori, did you know she was the one?”
Uh oh. Julian could tell by the look on his brother’s face that this was more than just a shack up with a pretty woman kind of deal. “Well, yes and no.”
“Huh?”
“I was drawn to her. She seemed so vibrant and full of life to me. After getting my heart broken by my ex, I swore I was going to live more like you. I had no intention of marrying anyone and carrying their baggage and mine too.”
“Yet you did,” he stated. “Why?”
“After the first time that I had sex with her, I just knew. She made me laugh and feel things that were missing from my life. Then she walked away from me, and that made me want to be with her even more. Tori became the only mission in my life that I wanted to complete. I guess you can say that I became a man on fire.”
“So, would you have married her immediately?”
Julian thought about it. “Now that I look back at it, yes, but while I was living it, I didn't think it was love. I knew that it was special and different, but then I didn't believe in love at first sight. I really thought it was this need to protect her and keep her safe. Now that I caught her, I see that she called to me on some soul to soul level.”
He nodded. Everything that his brother just said to him was exactly what he was feeling. “Okay.”
“Are you, in a roundabout way, telling me that you’re in love with the detective?” he asked, lowering his voice even more.
Justin stared into the mirror image of his own face, and trusted that the man who was his best friend in the entire world wouldn’t laugh at him.
“I think I am. I slept with her, and it was like nothing in the world. I feel,” he paused, trying to find the words to finish his thoughts. “For the first time in a long time, I don’t feel hollow and empty, Jules. When I’m with her, I don’t feel damaged and wounded inside. I know that it’s completely insane to think this way, but what if she’s the one?”
Julian didn't want his brother making himself crazy over all of this. The man had enough battle scars across his heart as it was. “Justin, mom and dad met and were married a week later. Connor met his wife in kindergarten and swore that he was going to marry her when he was older. She was his girlfriend for thirteen years. Look at how happy they are still. I think you need to stop thinking about it and just go with it.”
“Really?” he was surprised, since Julian was the more reserved of the two.
“If you feel like there’s something there, then yes. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“She could laugh at me, break my heart, and leave me a soulless shell of a human being.”
That made him laugh, despite trying not to. “Yeah, you’re over thinking this, big time.”
“Maybe you’re right.” He was glad that he had this talk with Julian before he found out about Vivian’s dreams. When he heard what she had to say, he wasn’t quite sure his brother would be so ‘pro-follow your heart’.
“Come on. Let’s go talk this one out.”
“Thanks for being my brother,” Justin said, as he dropped his arm over Julian’s shoulders.
Justin needed to pray that it all worked out the way he hoped.
For now, this would all come down to Vivian, and if she could convince his family that they both weren’t insane.
Tori poured Vivian a mug of coffee and didn't offer any conversation. She was too busy studying the woman before her.
“I’m sorry that I’m barging in on you tonight,” Vivian said, sipping her coffee.
“I don’t mind. I used to be in the Army and did night patrols. I need very little sleep to make it through the day. If anything, Julian will be the cranky one tomorrow. God help the entire team.”
Both men entered the room together, and when they stood side by side, Vivian couldn’t help but stare. They were definitely identical. The only thing that gave them away were the different haircuts, tattoos, and the eyes.
Tori noticed her stares. “Once you spend more time around them both, you can tell them apart despite the obvious,” she added. “Julian is the quiet one, and Justin is the one that likes to be a smartass.”
“Hey!” he objected.
Julian didn't miss a beat. “She’s actually right.”
Vivian’s eyes never left Justin’s face. “I don’t mind a smartass. It makes life interesting.”
Julian glanced back and forth between his brother and the detective, and he had to admit that he could see the attraction. They were both staring at each other, like the distance between them was physically painful. “Why don’t you tell us why we’re up at this time of the night?”
As if on cue, Justin crossed to her side and stood behind her. He reassuringly placed his hands on her shoulders.
It spoke volumes to Tori and Julian. Justin was making a stand with the woman, as if he was expecting some kind of backlash from what was coming.
Yeah, this wasn’t going to be good.
Vivian leaned back until her body was in contact with his, and she took a deep breath before beginning. She started at the beginning, and told them about the dreams as a child. Vivian told them about the death of her father and college roommate, and then she told them about the woman in the cage.
“She was standing outside of her car, and she looked terrified. Sometimes I see color or hear things in the dreams, so each one is different. I rarely see more than one person. I don’t know whose perspective I’m seeing it from, until I figure it out. I watched her speaking to someone, and then she was falling. Before I knew it, she was somewhere dark. It woke me out of a dead sleep.”
As she waited for them to rebuke and humiliate her, she could feel Justin running his thumbs reassuringly up and down the back of her neck.
“When I went back to sleep, I saw her again, but this time I’m in her place. I was locked in a cage. It’s like ones you would find in a kennel, but only bigger. I was chained up inside to keep me from escaping. When I looked around, the room was filled with more cages like he was planning on more abductions.”
“Okay,” stated Julian as he waited for her to continue.
“The next day, Mayor Lagerfeld came in and filed his missing person’s report. I knew that I had to find a way to help her. As I told Justin, the reason that I slipped him the photos is that I can’t let this cat out of the bag. If I tell anyone that I’m having dreams, I’ll be shipped off for mental evaluation by the precinct shrink, or they’ll fire me.”
Justin kissed her on the temple. “It’s okay, Viv. Tell them about tonight.”
She took a shaky breath and stared at the two people in front of her. “I had another dream, and this time, I was seeing it from the woman’s perspective. She was walking up this driveway, and it w
as shadowy. I could see her looking down at her keys. The remote had a VW on it, and when she glanced up, I could see the house. It was a white house with blue shutters.”
“Who is she?”
Vivian shook her head in frustration. “I don’t know. I saw trees and there was an umbrella stand outside her door.” She closed her eyes. “Wait, there were numbers on the house. It was two hundred and twenty two.”
“What else?” Tori asked.
Vivian shook her head. “Other than that, all that I can tell you is what I was feeling. He was very angry, and I could feel it in the dream. Where in the first one, there was this feeling of success, in this one, there was rage. Then, I couldn’t breathe. It felt like hands were wrapping around my throat. I really thought I was going to die, and then I woke up.”
Julian closed his eyes. He knew this was a very slippery slope. “You realize that this whole thing is pretty hard to believe.”
Justin interjected, “Julian, I trust her.” He told them about the pizza and the finger prick.
Vivian didn't want the brothers to fight or argue. This seemed to be a very bad idea. “Maybe I should go,” she stated as she moved away from Justin. It was hard enough to feel like a freak, but having people stare at her, like she was one, made it painful. “I’m not making it up, and I know how crazy it sounds,” then she paused and corrected herself, “How crazy I sound.”
Justin’s heart ached for the pain in her words. If he ever needed his brother to trust him, it was now.
Julian simply stared at her, as he weighed her words and his options.
Tori felt for her. She knew the power of dreams, and she also understood her husband’s hesitation. “When I was in the Middle East, we had a soldier in our unit who was a walking bomb detector.”
Both men looked over at her. Tori didn't often talk about her military service. She kept it close to the vest, since the demons sometimes still haunted her. To her, what happened over there was buried and left behind.
Vivian stared at her with no emotion.
“He went out with us every night on patrol. Our whole team became superstitious. No one wanted to go out unless he was there. Whenever we asked him how he knew, he just told us he got this vibe.”
Julian took his wife’s hand. He knew how hard this was for her. The war broke so many things in her life, and she was still patching them up.
“One night, we had to leave him at base camp. He had been stung by a scorpion that crawled into his boot. Not one hour into the mission, the front two scouts hit an IED. It exploded and killed six men,” Tori paused before continuing, “We all have gifts. This may just be yours, Vivian. You can’t run from it, so it’s best to embrace it, and go with it.”
The detective stared into Tori’s eyes. “Thank you for that. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”
She nodded.
Julian’s mind was made up. “We’ll cover for you and take the heat if it gets out. Can you help us find Melissa using your gift?”
Vivian immediately felt a sense of relief. She had picked the right people to trust.
Justin wanted to hug his brother for what he had just done. He knew how hard it was for him to do it, and Justin was sure it was partially done because of him, and his budding feelings. They could have made Vivian’s life difficult and asked her a million questions that she couldn’t answer, but instead he just let it go.
“I didn't go back to sleep yet,” she offered. “Once I do, I usually have a second dream.”
Julian knew what they needed to do. “Then, it’s time for you to take a nap, Detective. We need to get into your head.”
* * *
He was scared.
Never before in all his life had he lost his temper and control like he just had. One minute, he was sitting in his car watching her and the next he was stealing her life.
His body shook at what had just happened.
Now what was he supposed to do? He wanted her for his collection and here she was dead.
Okay, deep breath.
He counted to twenty, as he stood over her body. When he opened his eyes, he knew what needed to be done.
It was time to get rid of the evidence and bury his trail.
Looking around, he grabbed her by the ankles and began dragging her through the woods. Stopping at the top of a hill, he shoved her off with his foot. She rolled wildly out of control until she landed in a stream.
He watched her bob, and then sink below the murky depths.
Okay, so much for that. Any evidence on her clothing would be washed away easily. Now, he only needed to backtrack and cover his footprints, and then get the hell out of there fast.
After he had brushed dead leaves over the trail, he found himself running all the way towards his vehicle. Gratefully, no one saw him leave it there. Once inside, he gunned the engine and sped home. With his nerves this jittery, it was best to make it home and go under for the rest of the night.
Hopefully, when the police realized that the woman was missing, no one would relate it to Melissa Lagerfeld. If they did, he only hoped it would come across a dead end.
No one would ever find her body. Not now, not ever. By now, she was floating somewhere down stream.
Glancing down, he patted the purse beside him. Maybe if he was lucky, someone would think it had been a robbery gone wrong.
This night was a total fiasco.
As he arrived at his home, he glanced around to make sure no one had followed him. When he found it to be safe, he headed to the front door.
Unlocking it, he went inside and hit all three deadbolts to secure it, and then locked the padlock. When he had finished, he headed towards his destination.
He found his mother sitting in the living room. “Wow, you’re up late,” he said, heading to the basement door. “I’ll be downstairs. You should get to bed, Mom, you look dead tired.”
Walking away, he headed to the secured door. Taking the key from the chain around his neck, he unlocked it and headed down. Flicking on the lights, he stared at the woman in the cage.
“You don’t have company tonight,” he stated. “She made me angry and won’t be joining us, Melissa.”
She stared at him.
“But don’t worry. I have someone else to join you soon. The most important thing to always remember is to always have a backup plan.”
Melissa kicked the cage, and he jumped.
“Don’t make me angry or else!” he hissed.
“Or else what, asshole?”
He opened the cage and put his hand around her throat and began to squeeze. “Or else I’ll kill you, just like I killed Tawny.”
Melissa tried to breathe as the room swam.
As she struggled for air, the gray over took her. Before long, there was nothing but darkness.
Chapter Eight
They dimmed the lights in the room.
Justin took a seat on the one end of the couch and stroked Vivian’s head, as it rested in his lap. The gentle ministrations were achieving exactly what he had hoped that they would. Slowly, her body was relaxing, and she was slipping into sleep.
For now, her breathing was easy, and she was peaceful. He didn't know how long it was going to take her to fall deep enough into sleep to start to dream, but they were waiting and ready.
Tori was curled against Julian on one of the couches as his body offered her a warm place to rest. Much like his brother, he too was offering her comfort as he ran his fingertips up and down her back.
As both women slept, the men stared at each other. They knew what the other was thinking, since they were brothers and twins.
The expression on Julian’s face clearly asked if his brother was really ready to saddle himself with a woman with this much baggage. There would be endless nightmares and long nights where you had to decipher what was coming. It might be a burden too big to carry. After all, Justin was damaged himself.
‘Are you sure about this and trust her?’ he mouthed.
Just
in expected nothing less. As brothers, they looked out for each other. If Julian wasn’t on guard, that would be the aberration. Having him doubt what was bouncing around in his brain was nothing new. One of them flew by the seat of their pants, and the other lived by staunch rules.
‘Never more in all my life,’ he replied, soundlessly.
Julian would respect that. He closed his fist and placed it over his heart, as a Native symbol of solidarity and standing with his brother. If this was the path that he was choosing, so be it. There was no way that he was going to diminish his choice, or try to stand in Justin’s way.
Brothers always had each other’s backs.
Justin was touched. He mimicked the same motion as his eyes filled with the feelings that were rushing through him. There was no doubt in his mind that he was lucky to have his family.
Suddenly, her body shifted and the change was very noticeable. Justin knew she wouldn’t hear him, since Vivian was already falling into the dream.
“It’s beginning…”
* * *
Vivian was in the middle of the woods, except something was definitely wrong. She couldn’t quite tell what it was, but her brain was telling her to beware.
As she walked down the dirt path, the wind blew the leaves at her feet, and then she figured it out.
The colors were all wrong.
All the leaves at her feet were morphing from their brown and gold hues to red.
They were now more than just red. They were blood red.
As the wind picked up, she didn't understand how she could see so clearly in the middle of the night. It was like the space around her was being illuminated by some sort of light. Staring back down, she saw her bare feet traversing the soft dirt. As she glanced up, the leaves swirled around her like a little mini tornado. Then, as quickly as it began, it stopped.
Staring up, the trees too were covered in the red leaves and as if a sign, the path in front of her began to clear. It was as if the leaves scattered away with every single footfall to the earth.
Blood Red Rage (LIttlemoon Investigations Book 1) Page 13
