DEADLY HOPE a gripping detective mystery full of twists and turns

by Jack Parker

  "Go to the store room, honey. That old egg crate padding that you used to sleep on is still out there in the closet," she whispered softly.

  Too exhausted to argue or get angry at the pity in her brown eyes, I obeyed. I hadn't slept in the store room for years, but as the hum of the walk-in coolers and the popping of the gravel outside surrounded me, I pressed my stinging face into the cool, musty pillow and felt my consciousness slip into the darkness appreciatively.

  CHAPTER 6

  Tentative fingertips brushed across my shoulder, and slowly my eyes cracked open and then crossed in the light streaming through the screen door of the storeroom and slammed shut again. The fingertips left my shoulder, and I heard the scratching of someone sitting beside me on the cool concrete, waiting silently. I swallowed roughly and forced my eyes open again. Ashley sat cross-legged near the egg crate and picked at her shoe, eyes intentionally turned from my face.

  "Ash?" I croaked and swallowed again, trying to remember the last time I'd drank something. My neck throbbed atop the skin, and the inside felt as though I'd swallowed sandpaper. I supposed being choked nearly to death took a toll on a person's body.

  "Hey," she whispered gently and pulled herself onto her knees, not quite hovering over me. Her eyes shared a sadness despite her soft and hopeful tone, and tears stung my throat as I fought them back. She brushed my hair away from the cut on my forehead and soothingly traced her thumb around the wound. She always cleaned me up after I stumbled into work with a new injury from a bad night. The situation with my father had escalated after Lilly ran away five years ago, and at one point, I'd practically lived at Barb's.

  "Do y'all need help?" I scratched, realizing that my voice would be raw for a few days from being choked so tightly. I winced when I rubbed my cool fingers over my neck.

  "Jesus, Lauren," her words were so breathy and weak that I feared looking at myself in the mirror again, now that the shock had passed. "What the hell happened?"

  "Eh, rough night." I honestly remembered very little of what actually happened, so I brushed off her concern and eased my body into a sitting position. My vision darkened slightly, and I clamped my eyes shut against the dizziness and nausea of a slight concussion. The left side of my face and head pounded with the effort of moving and speaking. Ashley's hand on my shoulder steadied me, clearly not believing my stoicism.

  "Do y'all need help?" I repeated. "It's around lunch time, ain't it?" I hadn't meant to shut Ashley out, but I really couldn't handle her sympathetic gaze and comforting gestures, not after the awkward tension that had been building between us for the past few weeks. I'd brought this onto myself last night when I should have just shut my mouth until he'd finished his tirade. I didn't and I accepted the consequences and I certainly hadn't need her pity.

  "Sure is. Want to do some dishes?" She stood and offered me her hand, but I waved it off and pressed my fingers into my throbbing temples.

  "Want some coffee?" She asked, and I nodded slowly, not trusting the tears behind my eyes to stay hidden. I missed her calming presence when I felt her leave the room, but she returned moments later and squatted beside me. A steaming mug of coffee appeared in front of my face along with her other hand on my shoulder.

  "I put creamer and sugar in it for you," she offered quietly as I inhaled the familiar and comforting aroma.

  Barb bellowed Ashley's name from the kitchen, and I reached for the warm mug. Ashley squeezed my shoulder gently and stood. "Barb said that you're welcome to wash dishes if you want, but you ain't got to. I think you should just rest. That cut needs some stitches," she informed me before flitting towards the kitchen.

  I hissed when the hot liquid burned my injured throat more harshly than usual. I placed it gently on the cool concrete, turned my body towards the backdoor, and leaned against the clammy metal of the walk-in cooler behind me. I winced when I leaned my head into it, forgetting about the bump there. I ignored the new throbbing and reached for my coffee, hoping the second swallow easier than the first. It wasn't, so I returned the mug to the floor and willed myself to my feet determinedly.

  My body railed against the movement, and I mentally whispered for it to shut up and do as I commanded. Barb turned from the grill and opened her mouth to say something when I leaned against the dish tank, closed it, and smiled sadly before returning to the slabs of hamburger and chicken scattered across the silver grill. I closed my eyes thankfully and turned towards the dirty stack of dishes waiting to be cleaned. I scraped and sorted mindlessly, not even bothering to wish that Barb would invest in a dishwasher like any other time I got stuck with dish duty. The scalding water and the mindless movements soothed me until every sound of the diner slipped away, barricaded by my concentration on the simple task.

  Scrape. Dunk. Scrub. Rinse. My mind repeated the mantra until no room was left for any other thought. Time passed. I reached for another plate but found nothing on the small counter. Barb appeared from nowhere and pulled my shriveled hands from the dishwater. Reality crashed into me when I noticed that the diner had fallen quiet; the lunch rush had ended.

  "Go home, baby." Barb tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and I vowed not to cry. Not yet.

  "Okay." I knew exactly where I was going, and it certainly wasn't back to that pathetic dilapidated trailer that my father called home. Ashley hugged me before I left but said nothing. I thought for certain she knew as well but made no effort to stop me. It was for the best. The less she supported me, the easier it became to walk away from her.

  I lost track of how long it took me to walk the two miles to Carver, but I had determined the moment Barb told me to leave that I'd make the journey. Luci cared for me, and when she saw me in this condition, I'd finish reeling her into my net. She'd be mine. Sweat stung my forehead and neck by the time I reached the large wooden doors, and each labored breath painfully strained my neck and throat. I leaned against the doors for a moment and caught my breath and then tapped the knocker against the lion's mouth. As I waited, I tricked my conscience into believing that Luci had brought this upon herself, that I'd given her a chance to walk away and she pursued the friendship. When she figured me out, it'd be too late and it would be her fault.

  A maelstrom of emotions swirled through Luci's light blue eyes as they documented each bruise and scratch, and her jaw muscles clenched and released as she controlled each of them. She said nothing, offering her arm, and I leaned into her, breathing in subtle earth tones that clung to her clothes and hair. Her grip around my back and arm was both gentle and firm, and she refused to release me until I was comfortably settled into one of the chairs in her study. Her touch lingered only a moment after the chair fully supported my weight. I missed it immediately and closed my eyes against the desire. Sharp clicks and rustling fabric were the only indication that she'd remained in the room. The quiet unnerved me, more so due to the fact that I was normally so comfortable sitting in silence with Luci.

  "I'm sorry, Luci. I just need to feel safe for a little while. Just for a little while and then I'll be out of your hair, I promise." My voice scratched against my throat, and I swallowed, hoping to alleviate that pain. Surely she couldn't resist a damsel in distress. Her slow and controlled movements almost frightened me. She poured a cup of tea and sat it on the table and then adjusted her shirt. Why wasn't she speaking?

  "Drink your tea. I shall return momentarily." Her heels tapped sharply against the wood and then faded as she crossed the front hall.

  I slumped into the chair and closed my eyes. That certainly hadn't gone as planned. Didn't she feel anything when she saw me this way? I must have dozed in the chair. When my eyes opened again, Luci knelt in front of me with a warm hand on my knee. The storm brewing behind her eyes when she answered the door had dissipated, and for the first time since the day she had shown up at the diner, I felt uncertain of her feelings towards me.

  "Lauren, I'd like you to meet someone. This is David." She looked over my shoulder, and a huge man with brown hair in a long-slee
ved flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows lumbered into my vision. I glanced between them in confusion. His eyes were kind and compassionate, and Luci's were so calm and clear.

  "David serves as my handyman, but he used to be a paramedic. Would you allow him to examine you?" That gentle silky blue voice cut straight to the quick of me, and I nodded, afraid the unshed tears that had filled my eyes would tumble onto my cheeks if I spoke.

  I intended to come here to further my selfish plot by leaps and bounds, but I found that I actually felt safe in her presence. I had no need to create an illusion of it. Her warmth slipped from my knee, and I nearly cried out at the loss. How could something so small affect me so deeply? She settled into the chair across from me and leaned her elbows onto her knees as David filled the space she'd just vacated. I didn't want him to touch me, afraid to spoil the comfort Luci had brought with her innocent touch. I searched for her eyes over his shoulder, and she tried to smile, failed, and settled for nodding her head.

  "Hello, Miss Lauren." His deep rumbling voice vibrated through my chest. "Let's get that cut taken care of first, okay." The twang in his voice lightened my heart, though it was obviously western, maybe Texas, it was still familiar to me.

  "I don't have a suture kit, but I can put some butterfly stitches on it." He glanced over his shoulder, and Luci nodded.

  He opened his kit and continued speaking, but I barely heard anything he said over the thudding of my heart in my ears. Luci's eyes locked with mine, startled me. They weren't filled with pity or compassion as I expected but something deeper, darker, unidentifiable, a barely controlled conflagration that burned slowly and consumed everything. The anger wasn't directed toward me or David but at my injustice, and she refused to outwardly express it in front of me in my condition. She was sweet. I berated myself for the thought, knowing that I shouldn't become emotionally involved, not when my plan had fallen so perfectly in place.

  "The scratches on your neck are minor as is the bruising. Your voice should return to normal in a couple of days." David broke the odd connection between Luci and me, and I turned my eyes to his kind brown.

  "Scratches?" My throat protested the sudden question. I recollected very little after he'd begun choking me, but from David's calculating eyes, I ventured that my fight to live had been valiant. Why had I done that?

  "It's a common injury when a person claws at their neck to try and loosen whatever was around it. From the bruising, I'd guess you had hands around yours. I'll clean them for you and put some gauze over them, mostly to keep you from scratching once they start healing." His voice remained even and clinical, but pity and anger dueled in his eyes. I flinched involuntarily when he made a sudden move towards my neck. My fear was irrational. This man epitomized the term gentle giant and his tender brown eyes and gentle hands told me that I could trust him, but the thought of his fingers on my neck, even for medical purposes, pulled fearful adrenaline through my veins.

  "Thank you, David." Luci stood and patted his shoulder. "If you'll leave your kit, I shall finish. Lauren will be staying with us for a few days, at least, so you may leave it here for the time being." David glanced up at his boss, relief evident in his body language. He hadn't wanted to cause me more discomfort if it could be avoided.

  "Sure thing, Miss Luci." He handed the gauze to her as he stood, nodded at both of us and then thumped out of the study.

  "He's nice." I said.

  Luci hummed her response and pulled her chair closer. She stepped over my knees and sat down, her long legs pressing mine together. I started at the sudden contact, but she prepared the gauze pad ignorant of my body's response to hers. If I'd learned one thing about Luci in the past six weeks, once she'd set her mind to a task, nothing distracted or deterred her. She slowly pulled my hair away from my face, alternating her gaze between my eyes and the scratches on my neck. I inhaled sharply, exposed and vulnerable by the simple action, and she paused. She misunderstood the involuntary shudder and dropped my hair, pulled away completely.

  "No!" I blurted and then winced. "It's okay." I continued more softly to spare my injured throat. "I can't see them, and I'm not ready to look in the mirror just yet."

  "Are you certain?" Her icy eyes moved back and forth, searching mine for any hesitance.

  "Please." My voice was so soft, so foreign to my own ears. I craved her soft fingers to soothe the ache I'd felt for so long. Just this one moment, I promised. I allowed myself permission to feel the comfort of her touch just one time. When the moment ended, I'd resume my escape plan, but I needed her comfort, her warmth, her humanity to fill me and give me the strength I needed to keep going.

  She nodded and slipped her fingers beneath my hair again, and I held my breath, scared that I may not reclaim her touch a third time. Her hands were always so warm, and my eyes slipped shut when she tucked the hair behind my ear. Just this once. Her fingertips gently pushed against my jaw, and I allowed her to control the angle of my neck. Her hand rested on my collarbone as she held my head in place with her thumb on my jawbone. I hissed and opened my eyes when something cold and wet pressed against my neck.

  "Peroxide." Luci explained. "Does it burn?" She dabbed at the wounds gently. The fizzing of the peroxide cleansing the wounds felt strange against the sensitive skin.

  "It burns a little." I admitted, knowing it worsened when the scratches were completely clean. I hissed again when she rubbed the wet gauze over the wound and inhaled sharply a cooling stream of breath on the wounds followed. A shot of adrenaline tingled in my fingertips, and I fought the urge to pull away from her touch. Just this once, I reminded myself and relaxed into her touch and the gentle breeze of her breath. A hint of cinnamon teased my nostrils as she blew on my neck again. I closed my eyes, surrendering myself to the sensations such close proximity to this woman ignited.

  "I'm sorry. I wanted to spare you more pain, though I doubt the sting of Peroxide compares to the ordeal you've suffered. Would you care to talk about it?" She switched hands and turned my head in the opposite direction as she began cleansing the other side.

  "My dad finally found out about our friendship. It has nothing to do with you, just so you know. He beat me one time because the mashed potatoes were too runny. It's not the first time. It just hasn't happened in a while."

  Her jaw clenched and relaxed several times as she considered my words. Anger briefly manifested in her eyes, but her fingers never hesitated in their gentle ministrations at my neck. The ire faded to a dull glow, brought under control once more by Luci's will. Guilt pooled in my chest, seizing the muscles beneath my breasts. Luci should not be involved in this situation. Her kindness would be repaid by some unspeakable act committed by my father who would go unpunished due to lack of evidence.

  "No one has helped you overcome your situation?" She blew on my neck again, and I swallowed roughly, focusing on her question rather than her touch. It would end soon, and I would distance myself once more.

  "Ashley's dad let me move into one of his seasonal apartments a few years back. My dad poisoned his cows. And Barb gave me a job even though everyone told her that I would cause nothing but trouble for her. She's been good to me." I answered honestly. Tears filled my eyes at Barb's name, and I did not try and hide them. "I guess they were right."

  Luci gripped my chin and forced my eyes to hers. The gesture wasn't unkind, but there was hardness in it that surprised me, reminded me of the rage I'd witnessed behind her calm exterior when she'd first seen me like this. Now, however, her icy eyes glowed with something I couldn't identify, a conviction and excitement that confused me and a pity that enraged me.

  "Don't look at me like that. I don't want or need your pity," I barked, my voice sounding more broken than threatening. I pulled my chin free only to have it recaptured a moment later.

  "It's not pity," Luci quietly but firmly reassured me, and I believed her.

  "I want to help you, Lauren. Will you let me?" The sincerity behind her words and the quiet strength she o
ffered me through the tight grip of her fingers pushed tears to the rims of my eyes.

  "Why would you do that, Luci? I'm a hot mess, and you barely know me. I mean, thank you so much for today, but you don't owe me anything. I don't expect anything. I don't want to be a pity case." I tried to blink away my tears, but they tumbled onto my cheeks anyway. I gave up and closed my eyes. I had her. Why wasn't I jumping on the opportunity?

  Luci's fingers released my chin, and I assumed the matter had been dropped. My eyes fluttered when she brushed the wetness from my cheeks, which only caused more to spill out onto her fingers. No one had ever wiped my tears.

  "Lauren?" Her silky voice coaxed my eyes open. "What if I told you that you reminded me of myself when I was your age. Your anger and pain and mistrust, but also your quick wit and your determination all resemble what I imagine I might have looked like when I first began adulthood. In simpler terms, I see myself in you, and I hope in time, you might begin to see in me what you could become."

  I believed her. If she had told me that I was secretly an orphaned circus freak, I might have believed her if she'd said it in that quietly confident voice, fierce and soothing simultaneously. Her mouth quirked into her signature half-smile, and I felt something inside of me shift violently. I'd never wanted to care for this woman, but I did. And I knew I must train myself to hate her, to see her as a means to an end, in order to go through with my scheme of manipulation. My heart hardened, but I offered her one last chance to save herself.

  "It doesn't matter what I can become, Luci. I'm sorry, but I can't put you in the same position as Ashley's dad, especially not after this." I waved a hand at my face and sat up. Warm, tender hands thwarted my attempt to stand. Compassionate blue eyes confused my heart.

  "If your father's antics are the only thing preventing you from breaking free, you needn't worry. I will immediately place contingencies to ensure your safety, and I have no cows." A humorous glint crossed her features, and I laughed through my tears despite the horribly timed and delivered joke. Luci Pravitas was truly one of a kind, and she must be destroyed.