Ransom's Redemption

by Rhavensfyre

  Samuel wants to know what I want to do. I honestly don’t know. Am I going up there to be what he wants? The counselor in need that has a chance to help someone in pain. Or, am I the foolish woman who needs to know if she’s that forgettable?

  ***

  Is this where she slept last night?

  The pillow still carries her imprint, the covers disheveled, hastily thrown into a partial semblance of being made. Being inside her bedroom was so exhilarating. It is almost too much, but it has to be done.

  Tsk, tsk…so messy. I wonder what she dreamed to toss and turn so. Was she having nightmares of me?

  The high pitched sound of a car horn soured the sweet taste of forbidden desire with metallic fear and ruined my perfect moment. Assholes. The vulgarity sounded foreign on my tongue, as alien as the fear that leaped into my throat. I need to be beyond fear. It is beneath me, a base metal spoon meant to feed the masses, not me.

  Still, I’ve been gone too long. Just do what I’m here to do and go, before someone notices I’m not where I’m supposed to be.

  It had taken hours to make it just perfect, each thorn painstakingly painted blood red. It belongs here where Victoria rests her head each night.

  This time she won’t miss it. She needs to see my presents to appreciate them.

  Chapter Six

  “Holy cow, Samuel. I thought you said you grew up on a farm. This?” She gestured at the huge colonial dominating the rolling hills around them. “This is a freaking estate.”

  “Yeah, well. I…” Samuel was saved from explaining about just how extensive the family “farm” was when Ransom popped out of the barn and headed straight for them.

  Victoria stilled. The house, the buildings, even Samuel was forgotten while she watched Ransom approach. What is it about her I can’t forget? Three years was a long time. Maybe she was asking too much of Ransom. Why would she expect her to remember their weekend together just because she did? Every thought she had was suspect, every assumption she made, all because she wanted Ransom to acknowledge her. Why? Because she felt like a fool.

  She had sent letters to Ransom, addressed to her unit…trying to keep the connection alive that they had shared for what? One weekend. Ransom had never replied, not once. After a while she stopped writing, but it had never stopped bothering her.

  Oh, hell. In retrospect she wondered what Ransom actually thought of her. Perhaps the offer to write was just a way to end an awkward moment, and she never expected Victoria to follow through.

  “Are you okay?”

  Victoria nodded and smiled pleasantly before answering. Her doubts were her own, she wasn’t about to share them with the woman responsible for them. “Yes, I’m sorry. I’m just a little overwhelmed by all this. I really had images of a rustic cabin hidden deep in the backwoods.”

  “Sounds creepy.” Ransom’s clear green eyes surveyed her with mild interest. The sun seemed to seek out the golden strands of her hair; dust motes dancing in the air around her created a halo effect that almost made her seem angelic looking. The effect was ruined by the woman’s stance; she stood in a deceptively relaxed posture that promised the ability to casually move into instant violence. Those eyes never stopped moving, taking in the surrounding landscape before sliding past Victoria again. Ransom made eye contact with her only fleetingly before she scanned their surroundings again.

  “I need to do a few things before coming in. It’s your place Samuel, would you like to do the honors and show our guest around while I take care of them?” Ransom needed to have one last moment of solace before Victoria invaded her sanctuary completely.

  “Actually, I need to head out as soon as possible. With her stalker still at large I need to get the rental car back before nightfall.” Samuel smiled not so innocently at the two women before walking back to the car. “Oh, and Victoria? I cancelled your mail already and opened up a P.O. Box. I’ll forward your mail to Ransom.”

  If he didn’t leave now and let them work things out, she would figure out a way to delay him. It was better to just cut and run, so to speak, and let them have at it.

  Victoria’s presence was exactly what Ransom needed to push her back into the land of the living. I hope. No one should live with ghosts like that day in and day out, reminding you that you survived when others didn’t.

  He opened the car door and ducked in before either of them could find something to prevent him from going. “Ladies, stay safe. I will call later.”

  Samuel turned the rental car around and waved on his way out, leaving the two women, one light and one dark, standing there with identical looks on their faces. He had to chuckle, it was the first time either of them had been left speechless in front of him.

  “The bastard,” Ransom growled. “Okay, do you want to go into the house or come with me?”

  “Can I help with anything?” Victoria asked, trying to be polite.

  “I doubt it,” Ransom muttered.

  “I was just trying to be polite, Ms. Greathouse I didn’t ask for this anymore than you did.”

  “Don’t call me that,” Ransom snapped.

  “So what am I supposed to call you? Lynn? Isn’t that what Samuel said you preferred to go by when you’re working?” Victoria regretted her snarky response immediately. “Jesus, I’m sorry, that was uncalled for.”

  “No, you’re right, you didn’t ask for this. We will have to make the best of this. Just call me Ransom. I’m not big on formalities and you aren’t a regular assignment.”

  She was used to being called Ransom, or Petty Officer Greathouse, or even just Greathouse to her buddies, but she really preferred being just Ransom. It was simple and unassuming; two things she was trying to keep her life right now.

  There was something about her voice, a certain unexpressed sadness that held Victoria’s next question. Why wasn’t she a regular assignment?

  “Ransom it is then.” Almost on a whim, Victoria held out her hand as if greeting her for the first time. “I think we got off to a bad start. Should we try this again?”

  “Yes, a fresh start sounds awesome.” A genuine smile flashed across Ransom’s face, chasing away the shadows and transforming her into something eminently desirable.

  That brilliant smile couldn’t be denied, or ignored. Somewhere, buried beneath all that bravado and self-enforced isolation was the carefree and spirited Ransom that Victoria remembered.

  “Let’s get your stuff up to the house, I’ll do my rounds after you get settled in,” Ransom said, changing the subject abruptly. She stooped down and picked up Victoria’s bags and headed for the house.

  “Ransom?” Victoria called out. Her feet felt glued to the driveway. Her heart pounded, but still it dared her to ask.

  Ransom stopped walking. “Yes?”

  The cool, proficient protector was back, Victoria could see it in her eyes. As quick as the moment happened it passed, leaving nothing behind to even indicate it had transpired at all. Victoria took a deep breath and exhaled her impatience. What was she going to do, ask the woman straight on…hey, do you remember that night at the bar?

  “Um, nothing. It’s not important.”

  Ransom took Victoria’s bags up to the second-floor bedroom that would be hers for the duration of her stay while Victoria stayed below to snoop around in the kitchen. She had been too nervous to eat lunch and now she was starving. She wasn’t a big breakfast person, so the last real meal she had eaten was dinner the night before.

  “Ransom, you don’t have anything to eat.” She was appalled at the state of Ransom’s kitchen; the empty refrigerator was a vacant wasteland of bright white light illuminating a sad collection of questionable condiments and a jar of jelly. The cabinets weren’t any better, a few shelves of canned soup and some peanut butter.

  “Yes, I do.” Victoria didn’t know what was worse that Ransom believed what she just said, or that she was completely unaware of how little she had in the way of food.

  “I absolutely refuse to live on peanut butter and je
lly sandwiches. We are just going to have to go grocery shopping.”

  “I’m sorry, what?” Ransom’s face slipped into a look of horror as she realized what Victoria was asking her to do.

  “You heard me just fine,” Victoria said, glancing at the time. “I am quite sure that this small town has a grocery store but I doubt it has any reason to stay open very late. I’d suggest we go now before it gets dark outside.”

  Taking in the stubborn set of Ransom’s jaw, Victoria realized she wasn’t going to get what she wanted, not without an argument. That did not sound fun…or productive, not when they were going to be stuck living together for God knew how long. Victoria narrowed her eyes and contemplated her options. Living on canned soup and sandwiches was one option, one she didn’t feel like entertaining. Unless there was another way to convince Ransom to leave her refuge.

  “Unless you want to take me out for dinner?” she asked the one thing she was sure would encourage Ransom to give in to her demand. She asked it sweetly, abandoning her argumentative tone for something less aggressive and much more evocative. Basically tying up her suggestion in a knot she knew Ransom had no intention of unraveling.

  Thank you, Samuel, she thought, developing a newfound appreciation for good intelligence. Too bad the only other person that could appreciate that talent was the one she was using it on.

  “Fine, we’ll go. I suggest you make a list…enough to last a week at least or we will be eating soup and sandwiches,” Ransom said, pissed that her guest had outmaneuvered her so easily. She would rather brave the grocery store than put up with the sideways glances and attempts at overly friendly and well-meaning conversation she would have to endure at Two Sisters, the only restaurant the town had.

  “I’ll go get the Jeep.”

  ***

  Where is she? How can I keep screwing with her if she isn’t here?

  Chapter Seven

  Ransom met the delivery driver at the front gate.

  “This is an awful lot of stuff, Ms. Greathouse,” the driver said, handing the stack of boxes off to her. “You having problems with poachers again?”

  Ransom made a noncommittal noise in her throat, tucked the boxes onto the back of the ATV and strapped them down, expecting the man to leave. No such luck. He was too curious and being rude wasn’t going to keep what she was doing unnoticed. Dammit, she thought. Small talk was not on her list of things to do today. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, then turned and smiled at the nosy delivery man.

  “No. Not yet, at least,” Ransom said, patting the overly obvious boxes. “These are for the conservation area. I’m trying to get shots of the herd; get a better idea of how many are up there.”

  “Oh, okay. Well, be safe. I know some folks weren’t too happy when y’all made half the mountain a no-hunting zone.”

  Ransom nodded and kept strapping down her delivery, hoping he would get the hint and leave. Doesn’t he have other deliveries to get to?

  “I don’t care much for poachers,” she growled. At that point she didn’t care if he thought she was being rude. She didn’t give a single damn that some of the locals were pissed, hell, she grew up with most of them…so they should know better. It was high summer. There was no excuse to hunt now, not with all the young fawns on the ground. It was also illegal as hell, and she had no sympathy for greedy folk who thought they were above the law. She climbed onto the ATV and let the engine noise do her work for her. She waved goodbye and headed back up the hill, stopping just past the first curve to check behind her. The box van was gone.

  Ransom pursed her lips and concentrated on breathing through her nose. Long, slow inhalations that stretched out her lungs as far as they could go, expanding her chest until she was forced to exhale.

  As much as she hated these little interactions, the idea of driving to the nearest city for supplies was worse. The guy wasn’t trying to be annoying. They probably knew each other from high school or something like that and he was just trying to be friendly. If she tried hard enough, she was sure she could pinpoint where and when.

  That was in another life. Another time. Opening one door would open the next, and she didn’t want to visit the old ghosts living inside those walls. They belonged in the past, and in the past they would stay, no matter how hard they tried to get her attention…and no matter how hard Samuel tried to convince her she would be better off talking about them.

  The ATV flushed a small flock of birds away from a shallow ravine just ahead of her and she pulled over. Crows, about a half-dozen of them, bitched at her with their rough voices…upset that she had disturbed their meal.

  “Shoo!” She waved her arms at them, sending a few of them up into the trees. A couple of the bolder ones eyeballed her with those bright obsidian eyes. Heavy and awkward on the ground, they hopped from foot to foot and tipped their heads, watching her with open curiosity.

  “Don’t worry, I don’t want to steal your meal,” Ransom said, crouching down to get a better look. Just a rabbit, nothing more. She had been worried it was one of her deer. Ransom stood up and brushed off her jeans. “Have at it, boys. It’s all yours.”

  The biggest crow bobbed its head at her, then called to its brethren. Before she even made it back to the ATV, they were back to doing what they did best.

  A murder of crows, she thought, amused at the reverse anthropomorphism. There was nothing malicious or deadly over what they were doing, unlike their human counterparts, who were often malicious and deadly.

  Victoria’s stalker came to mind. The natural response to such strange behavior was to assign some mental problem to the person involved. Who else but a crazy person would stalk someone so ravenously? Who else, indeed, she thought, making a mental note to talk to Victoria about past lovers.

  “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.” The poet’s quote made her smile, she did love her poetry.

  Half way back to the ATV she stopped in her tracks, her mind working furiously. Why would she assume Victoria was involved with a woman? Statistically, it was more likely her stalker was a male. Methodical and cruel, their campaign to terrorize included some dangerously escalating features that went beyond an awkward attempt at romance. The threat behind those photos was very real and revealed a mind overly fascinated with Victoria’s life, as if they were trying to imbed themselves inside it.

  As much as she hated having her sanctuary invaded, she had to admit that Samuel was right to send Victoria away. The stalker was working their way up to something bold. In fact, she was certain that Victoria might have already met the person…a chance meeting perhaps or a seemingly innocuous interaction she wouldn’t even remember.

  The minute she hit the top of the hill, her phone started beeping at her. “Shit.” She’d missed a call from Samuel. No message, of course so she had to call him back.

  “What’s up, Sam?” The connection was horrible. Samuel’s voice kept breaking up and unless she stayed right next to the ATV she could barely hear him at all. Damn, that’s going to make things more difficult.

  “Hold on, Samuel. I can’t hear you.” She was starting to get frustrated. When he didn’t answer she looked at her phone. The red slash and circle flashed at her. No service. What the hell was wrong with the phone? She always got bars here, and now the damn thing was dropping calls.

  Holding the phone in one hand and driving slowly with the other, she had to travel several hundred feet before the phone clicked back into service, and that was only by switching to roam. A call blew through the instant it beeped back alive and she answered it only to be barraged by a frantic and overreacting Samuel. “I’m fine, Sam. She’s fine. I’m having trouble getting reception this morning.”

  She tucked her cell phone against her shoulder and started unstrapping one of the boxes. The brightly colored box, replete with glossy camouflage and a raccoon with freaky reflector eyes watching her from behind the packing label. This was the reason the delivery man was so dam
n noisy. Rather than use the requisite plain brown box, the company she ordered from had to use their original packaging. Last time you get my money, she vowed. No one needed to know what she was ordering, from whom, or why for that matter.

  “You sound grumpy,” Samuel noted, his voice carried a hollow, tinny quality to it that made Ransom’s ears want to bleed. She flipped him to speaker phone and spun the box around to face her and whipped out her pocket knife. Her knife blade flashed in the sunlight, appearing in a fraction of a second with the merest flick of her left wrist, a magician’s flourish she had perfected over the years. Only the crisp snick of the blade locking into place gave away the trick.

  “Mm. You think? Your counselor friend has been trying my patience, but don’t worry. I haven’t locked her in her room yet,” Ransom said, “other than that, I’m just bumping up the security here. Is this just a check in call or do you have something new to report?”

  Ransom stopped unpacking and started listening. “Holy shit, Samuel.”

  “That’s what I said. I have a PI willing to stay there, but now I’m not so sure. Maybe I should cancel.”

  “Female?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Hmm. That’s your call, Samuel.” Ransom thought for a minute before speaking again. “Look, I know this seems bad, but not necessarily.”

  “They were in her home, Ransom, how can that not be bad?”

  “Because they’re getting desperate, that means they’re more likely to get sloppy and make a mistake. Sloppy gets you caught. What did the cops say?”

  “Nothing. There’s no sign of forced entry, so they took a report and left it at that. I’m not sure if they believed me or not.”

  Ransom squeezed her eyes shut and counted to ten, slowly. Stupid, stupid woman. Once she got her shit back together she very quietly and calmly gave Samuel a list of things to do, including looking for a key somewhere in the yard. “Look for a rock that doesn’t look like a rock, that’s the most likely place. Jeez, I can’t believe people still buy those things, like it’s not super obvious to everyone in the neighborhood what you’re doing.”