Morgan, Nicole - Sweet Redemption [Sweet Awakenings 1] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Неизвестный

  “Is she going to be okay?” Rex asked.

  Jack thought of how horrible she looked. Did his Tamara look just as bad, or worse?

  Dollaghan shrugged. “Physically, yes. Mentally, may be an obstacle. They will have to do a sexual assault kit at the hospital, but judging from the bruising on the insides of her thighs, I’d say she was brutally raped.”

  Jack glared at the Officer. “Shit! Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound cold. I think it’s the job, it makes me forget who I’m talking to sometimes.”

  “Go on with your story about the fingerprints,” Jack finally said. His face was slowly getting its color back, but he still felt like hell.

  “Well, that was about a month ago. There is an unsolved crime unit out of Phoenix that periodically goes through the AFIS and sees if there are any new hits involving any of their cold cases. This morning, my lieutenant got a phone call from a detective in Phoenix who said they had a partial print from an unsolved murder three years old. It was so partial it was a mere sliver, not enough to register in any system. It seemed to match Mr. Townsend’s right middle finger. However, with having such a small amount to compare, the detective asked my Lieutenant to fax a copy of the guy’s arrest file.” Dollaghan hesitated for a moment.

  “Are you gonna continue?” Jack was getting agitated again. These cops had dealt with Brent personally. What if he was really dangerous and they let him get away? The stress of the situation and wondering if Tamara was safe was weighing on him.

  “My Lieutenant faxed the file earlier this afternoon, and we just got a call about twenty minutes ago. This Brent Townsend looks like he could be the twin of a man by the name of Eric Baines who disappeared three years ago. Which, coincidentally, is the same time his girlfriend also disappeared, a woman by the name of…” Dollaghan checked his notes and then continued, “Ah, her name was Katherine Baines. Huh, that’s weird. Boyfriend and girlfriend with the same last name.”

  “Maybe they were married,” Rex added.

  “Maybe. Anyway, they found her body about a month after they disappeared. She had been dead for several weeks, and her body was badly decomposed. She had been stabbed, and there appeared to be evidence of constant abuse, you know, broken bones that never quite healed properly. Things of that nature. There wasn’t a lot of evidence left. Her body had been dumped in the Saguaro National Forest. The elements ate away any chance of an ideal crime scene, but they were able to pull that one partial off of her watch.”

  Rex was eyeing Jack. In all the years he had known him, he had never seen panic in Jack’s eyes, not even when they were left for dead in Columbia. He could see it now. “Okay, so we have to find her, and we will, Jack. We’ll find her, and she’s going to be fine.”

  Dollaghan continued, “I think you need to know everything. If I don’t tell you, I have a strong feeling I will live to regret it.”

  Jack nodded. “Go on.”

  “Everyone that knew Katherine, her coworkers and neighbors, claimed she was very friendly but would close off every time Mr. Townsend, I’m sorry, I mean Mr. Baines, was around. He apparently seemed to be very controlling, and the thought of anyone getting too close to Katherine made him, and I’m quoting here, ‘a raving lunatic.’ The detective in Arizona claimed that it seemed to be a classic case of abuse.” Dollaghan took a deep breath. “That’s it. That’s all I know.” He put up his hand to stop Jack. He already knew the question. “Yes, as soon as I know more, so will you. That’s a promise.”

  Another officer came running up behind Dollaghan. Jack recognized him as the partner who was with Dollaghan on New Year’s Eve, and chaos seemed to emerge behind them as well. Several officers were scrambling to their vehicles, speeding off with their lights and sirens on.

  “Dollaghan, we think we found him. A park ranger spotted his car turning onto an old frontage road about ten minutes ago.”

  Dollaghan looked at Jack. “I’ll probably get suspended for this, but come on.”

  Jack didn’t wait to hear it twice. With Rex running alongside him, they got to Dollaghan’s patrol car and got in the back. Realizing the mistake when the door was closed, Jack leaned forward and placed his fingers through the metal grate separating the front and back seats. “You will not keep me locked in here when we get there, so don’t even think about it. I swear I will hunt you down and kill you like a rabid dog.”

  Dollaghan eyed his partner. “I told you he was a charmer.” He turned back to Jack. “Don’t worry, I’ll let you out. Just freaking stop threatening me, and stop doing it in front of other people, damn it!”

  Jack turned to Rex, not even acknowledging what Dollaghan said. “What time is it?”

  “A quarter to eight.”

  “Over nine hours. I bet he was there when she got home. That’s why she didn’t answer the phone this morning. She’s been with him for over nine hours.” Jack’s eyes became wet. He turned to look out the window.

  Rex put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We’ll find her, man, I swear, and she’ll be fine.” As soon as Rex said it, he knew his mistake. The promise was eerily similar to a promise he had made to Jack in Columbia about Jenkins and Rollingsworth not dying. He closed his eyes and banged his head against the back of the seat. “Shit!”

  “You’re right. That’s in the past, and this is now. We will find her, and she will be fine.” Jack turned back away from his friend and looked out the window. Then he muttered under his breath. “She has to be.” It was 7:45. Hoping and believing that after nine hours she was still alive, he prayed she could hold on just a while longer. Please, baby. Hold on, I’m coming!

  Chapter 22

  Tamara stepped out of the shower. Her skin hurt so bad. The water had been scorching and left her skin visibly red. Brent motioned for her to turn around so he could wrap a towel around her. She faced the mirror and gasped. She stood there naked and was covered in bruises. Apparently, she had been correct on her earlier assumption. He had tried to choke her. Very distinctive bruises in the shapes of fingers were wrapped around her neck. She had bruises on her face, neck, chest, and stomach. She couldn’t see any more since it was a small mirror. She didn’t know if her legs looked just as bad. Did it matter? He would kill her soon anyway.

  Brent began to towel her off. He wasn’t being gentle. When he got to her butt, he began rubbing it in earnest. She knew he wasn’t drying it off anymore. He looked at her in the mirror and reached around her and started to pinch her nipples, he was doing it so hard it hurt. The towel dropped to the ground, and he began rubbing up against her bottom. There was no disguising his arousal. She could feel it through his pants. She wanted to throw up. She wanted to kill him. As abruptly as he started, he stopped.

  “Not yet. We have other things to discuss. I’m not as angry anymore. We will talk, and then you will please me. Do you know what I want you to do?” He tugged on her hair and pulled her head back to look into his eyes. “Do you?”

  “No, I don’t.” Her voice was coming out in small gasps.

  “I want you to take me in your mouth, and then I want you to beg me to stick it in your ass.”

  “No, Brent. Please, don’t do this, please!” She was begging him.

  He loved watching her beg him. “Oh, yes, I will do this. And I’m not going to be gentle either. I said I may not be as angry, but that doesn’t mean you still don’t have to be punished. It’s just like father always said…” His words trailed off. For a moment, it looked like he was lost somewhere else.

  “Come, let’s get you into something. I want you pretty. You’re not pretty all bruised up like that. It makes you look trashy.” He pulled her out of the small bathroom, down a narrow hall, and into a tiny bedroom in the back of the trailer. He all but threw her down on the bed and opened a closet that was full of women’s dresses.

  She looked over and noticed a picture of a very pretty woman standing in front of a giant cactus. “Brent, who is this?”

  He turned to her slowly with a white flor
al sundress in his hands. “That is my dearly departed Katherine.”

  He walked to her and raised her hands up over her head. He suddenly, at the mention of Katherine, became gentler. Could she use that? “Will you tell me about her?”

  Brent pondered her question as he slipped the dress over her body. The rage was gone from his eyes. He cocked his head to the side as if remembering something. Then he spoke. “She was wonderful, you know. She was two years older than me, but I still always felt like the protector.” He stopped. His face changed a little. “That’s the only reason I let it happen, you know. I never would have let that bastard touch me otherwise. Tell me you believe that. Tell me that you know that I’m not a faggot!”

  What was he talking about? She had to play along. He was somewhere else right now, remembering. If he was somewhere else, then he wasn’t here, and he wasn’t hurting her. “Of course I know that. I never doubted that. You just proved in that bathroom that you aren’t gay. It’s obvious.”

  “Oh, God.” He knelt down in front of her and put his head in her lap. He started to cry. “I waited so long to hear you say that. Why wouldn’t you ever say it? Every time we made love I asked you to tell me, and you wouldn’t. You always just stared at me, not saying anything.” Brent looked up at her and framed her face in his hands.

  “I’m sorry, I was confused. I should have told you.” Was she saying the right things?

  “None of that matters now. Just knowing that you know I’m a real man means so much. I never liked it. You must know that. But when I found out what he was doing to you in the middle of the night, I had to stop it. I offered myself instead. You were too special to be touched by him. I wanted you for myself.”

  Tamara thought she saw relief in his eyes. As if a huge burden had been lifted off of him. What should she say next? “I will never forget what you did for me.”

  His face turned hard again. “I’m sorry, Katherine. I didn’t know it was no good. I didn’t know he wasn’t going to stop. If I had known, I…I…”

  “What? What are you trying to say?”

  “I would have killed them sooner!” His words came out in a rush of anger.

  Them? “What do you mean? You killed him and who else?” Shit! She shouldn’t have asked that. She probably was already supposed to know the answer to that.

  “Oh, Katherine, honey. I always assumed you knew that was the reason I made us leave in the middle of the night. I killed them both, Mom and Dad. I knew she watched while he did it to me, but when I found out she watched with you, too, I lost it. They didn’t deserve to live. You know I did it for you, right?” Brent’s eyes were sad. He was scared that she, or this Katherine woman, wouldn’t understand.

  “I know.” She smiled at him. Better to not say too much.

  He laughed. “I can’t believe the cops were so stupid that they believed the story about us being out camping that night. They assumed the folks had over some of their unsavory friends and they had killed them.” He chuckled. “It was so bloody perfect.” He laughed some more. “Get it, bloody perfect.”

  She tried to laugh along with him. She was suddenly getting a whole new different look at Brent Townsend. “I get it. It’s funny!”

  Brent took a big sigh and smiled at her. “It’s been a while since we laughed together like this, Katherine.” He leaned in to kiss her but stopped just before his lips met hers. “You know that it didn’t matter what he did to us. When we made love for the first time, it was like we were virgins. I love you so much, Katherine. It was so perfect when we were finally together.”

  Tamara nodded. If she said too much, she was afraid it would trigger something.

  “I know you didn’t always understand. I know how hard it was for you. The people in the world made you feel guilty about our love. But God does not care about bloodlines. God does not care that we were born of the same seed. Our love is pure and just, and we must prove that. You do know what I mean, don’t you?”

  She was afraid that she did. He wanted them to make love. Technically, he wanted to make love with Katherine, who apparently was not only dead, but was also his sister. From what he said, it would also seem that their parents were real demented and they were both raped and abused on a regular basis. “I…maybe we should…” She couldn’t do it. It didn’t matter that she thought it might buy her time or even save her life, she didn’t believe she could give in to him. If it happened, it wouldn’t be without a fight.

  “You don’t understand. Still, you don’t understand. Do you think I enjoyed hurting you all those times? I never wanted to hurt you. You wouldn’t listen. You always tried to leave. You said our love was wrong and sinful. You claimed that we shouldn’t fornicate. Do you know how much it hurt me to hear you deny our love? I didn’t want to hurt you. I just wanted you to see.” He got up and paced. He was getting agitated again.

  Suddenly, his head snapped up, and he glared at her. “I knew about him, you know. I followed you to that restaurant. I knew you were seeing him behind my back when you were supposed to be working.” He continued to glare at her, eyeing her suspiciously. “You thought I was stupid then, and you think I’m stupid now, don’t you?”

  Tamara jumped up off the bed. “No, I don’t think you’re stupid. I swear, Brent, I don’t.”

  His eyes changed. He stared at her and cocked his head to first one side and then the other side, just like an animal sizing up its prey. “Why did you call me Brent? I never told you that name. You…wait…what’s going on…” Then a realization hit him.

  She just made a huge mistake. She didn’t know what it was, but she knew it was bad.

  “Why did you call me Brent? My name is Eric.” He continued to stare at her, he was still thinking. Suddenly, his words came hurling out at her in a rage of fury. “You’re not her! You’re not Katherine! Katherine is dead, you’re Tamara. You tried to trick me, didn’t you?”

  Tamara had only one chance, and she had to take it. She ran for the bedroom door. She closed it as she ran, knowing it would only slow him down for a moment. She got out to the hall and almost reached the front door when her whole body flung backwards from the force of him grabbing her hair. He threw her to the floor and ripped off her dress. He looked down at her. He was smiling. “You just remember you did this to yourself.”

  Tamara looked over and saw the clock above the couch. It was a quarter past eight. She might be dead by nine o’clock. As she thought that, she realized she would give anything to tell Jack just one more time that she loved him. She looked back up at Brent. “I know what has to happen. I won’t fight you anymore. I only ask one thing from you. Just one and you can do with me what you want, and I won’t fight you. Please, Brent. You owe me at least that.” She wasn’t crying. She was calm. She was ready to die.

  “Fuck, how long does it take to get to this place?” It felt like they had been driving forever, and Jack’s anxiety was causing his stomach to knot up.

  “I’m sorry. It’s secluded, and there’s no one out this far except for park rangers. He seems to have a thing for national parks,” Dollaghan said as an afterthought.

  “How long have we been on the road?” Jack’s voice was filled with desperation.

  “Almost a half hour. Just hang on. We’ll get to her,” Rex promised again.

  Jack’s phone rang. He looked at the number. The blue-lit display showed an unavailable number. He picked it up. “Peyton,” Jack quickly answered.

  As soon as she heard his voice, she began to weep. She suddenly couldn’t talk. A lump formed in her throat and made it almost impossible to breathe.

  “Tamara, honey, is that you?”

  Every set of eyes in the car turned to him.

  “Jack.” Tamara choked out the reply. “I don’t have much time. He’s only giving me a minute. I wanted to tell you something before…before he…I love you, Jack. Please know that I have tried to stay strong, I’ve fought so hard, but I have nothing left. I don’t want you to be sad for one minute, Jack. You have
given me joy and happiness like I’ve ever known, and I love you so much. Promise me you will always remember that.”

  “Tamara, honey, I love you, too, but it’s gonna be okay. I promise! Can you tell me where you are? I will come to you. I will protect you.”

  Rex could see the pain in Jack’s eyes, knew what it was costing him to remain calm.

  “Jack, please listen to me. I don’t know where I am, and there isn’t time. I only have about thirty more seconds, and he’s going to take the phone away. I wanted to hear your voice one more time. Promise me you’ll be happy, Jack. I want you to find someone and start a family. Promise me that you will move on and make a life for yourself. I couldn’t bear it if I died knowing you would live your life alone. You have too much to give, Jack. Please promise me.”

  “Tamara, stop. Listen to me, baby! You are not going to die. I love you, and I will find you. You promise me something, okay? You promise me you will hang on, fight to survive, do whatever you have to do until I can get to you. Promise me that, honey, and I swear to you that we will be together again. Just fight and…” Click. The line went dead.

  “Noooo!” Jack dropped his phone. His scream was frantic. He was kicking and punching every part of the vehicle he could make contact with. His knuckles were bloody from banging against the metal grate. “Tamaraaaa! Noooo!” He was sobbing now, barely breathing. The depths of his agony slicing through the air in the vehicle.

  Jack’s heartache reverberated in the vehicle. Rex watched him and felt a tear run down his face. He could actually feel the pain that Jack was feeling and knew there was nothing he could do to help him. He knew by listening to the conversation that right now Tamara was probably dying. And nothing Jack did now was going to bring her back. Rex never knew before now what it was like to have an ache in your heart because right now he ached, for his brother and his friend.