Damaged Amazon

by Kim Pritekel

  Rachel’s grin was instantly infectious. “Our sleeping beauty woke up.”

  LJ stared at her, eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open. “What? Are you serious?”

  She nodded. “As a heart attack. Her doctor is in with her as well as a neurologist to see where things stand upstairs.”

  “Holy cow,” he said, his grin slow but large. “But, I thought she was in a medically induced coma.” He knitted his brows.

  “She was. Her doctors have slowly been pulling back to get an idea of where her brain is, the healing that’s taken place.”

  “I’ll be…Excuse me for a minute.” He grabbed his cell phone and quickly typed out a text message to Nora, Jill, and their father, telling them the incredible news. Putting the phone back down on the table, he grinned at her. “I can’t believe she’s awake. Is she okay?”

  Rachel shook her head slowly side to side as she chewed the bite she’d taken of her dinner. Swallowing, she said, “Not sure, yet.”

  He nodded, understanding. Chewing on his bottom lip, he decided to change the subject to ease his nerves. “How long have you been a nurse?”

  “Twelve years. I went back after my youngest was born,” she said, sipping her drink.

  “How old is your youngest?”

  “Aiden just turned fourteen. Zack is twenty, though I have no friggin’ idea how that happened.” She laughed. “He’s a mechanic and he and his fiancée, Jenny, recently opened their own business. Super proud of him. I’m telling you,” she said, pointing the fork she was using for her fruit, “that kid can fix anything. Always could. Early on we knew college wasn’t for him, so in high school, he started a program with the community college to get his certificate in mechanics.”

  “That’s great,” LJ said with an approving smile. “My daughter, Kristie, graduates this year. Quite honestly, other than being a pretty damn cool kid, I have no idea what she’ll end up doing.”

  Rachel laughed and nodded. “That’s Aiden. He’s good at everything and nothing. But,” she added with a shrug, “things have been tough on him these past five years.”

  “Why’s that?” LJ asked, taking a sip of his coffee then grimacing at the cold liquid and setting the cup aside.

  “Well, unfortunately Aiden’s dad, Mason, didn’t take his deployments too well. You see,” she said, meeting his gaze, “after the nine-eleven attacks, he joined the Marine Corps, determined to give to his country. He was always a patriotic guy. Anyway, he was deployed three different times, and the last one was simply too much.”

  A bad feeling in his gut, LJ rested an elbow on the table, his slightly scruffy chin in his palm. “Oh man, what happened?”

  “I came home one night,” she said, her voice matter-of-fact. “I found him.”

  “Aw man, Rachel. God, I don’t have words. I’m just…Damn.” LJ was truly bothered by the situation. “That must have been horrible.”

  “It was,” she said with a nod as she squeezed two packets of ketchup onto her French fries. “So, I kept my nose to the grindstone and focused on my boys. It’s a lot easier with Zack out on his own. It’s been hard on him, too, though.”

  “Understandable. Mason was his dad.”

  “Not exactly,” she said with a soft chuckle.

  “Uh-oh.”

  “Yeah. His dad was a mistake. He’s never met him. Honestly, being nineteen and stupid, you think you have it all figured out.” She shrugged, giving him a grin. “It all worked out.”

  “Damn, you’re strong. I was married and barely made it happen.” LJ chuckled.

  “Was?”

  “Uh,” he hedged, noticing she was looking at his left hand and the gold wedding band that still glimmered on his finger. “Still am technically.” He met her gaze and let out a heavy sigh. “I guess you can say we’re separated, well in the process. She’s taking a job in Denver and, to be honest, there’s too much water under a very long bridge.”

  She grimaced. “I’m sorry. That’s rough. How long have you been married?”

  LJ brought up his hands, playfully counting on his fingers. He smiled when she laughed. “No, just kidding. Twenty-four years.”

  “Oh, ouch. Jeez, LJ, I’m sorry. That’s a long time before a split.”

  “It is, I won’t lie. But, honestly, it’s been coming for a while, I think.” He smiled ruefully, unsure why he was telling all this to a stranger, but it felt good to get it out and connect with someone, if even for a few minutes. “I refused to admit it to myself.”

  “How’s your daughter handling it?”

  “She’s not thrilled obviously, but she’s a good kid, a smart kid.” He laughed as he reached out and played with the abandoned coffee cup. “I think she saw it before I did.”

  “Don’t you hate it when that happens?” Rachel said, shaking her head. “Damn, I hate having to be an adult. It sucks.”

  He was about to respond when his phone went off with seemingly unending texts. He grabbed it and began to read, amused. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. My sisters are blowing up my phone.” He laughed. “They’re on their way.”

  “Thanks for the chat, LJ,” Rachel said, reaching her hands across the table. “Makes my dinner break more interesting.”

  He smiled and took her hand, noting how soft her skin was. “Hey, glad I could be of service. See you upstairs.”

  ****

  Nora glanced over at Jill as they headed toward the ICU waiting room, expecting to find LJ there. “Military school, honestly? What does Tyler think about it?”

  “He doesn’t know yet,” Jill said with a nervous smile. The two women turned the corner only to find the room empty. “Where’s LJ?”

  “I don’t know. I figured he would have been here, too.” She walked over to the bank of chairs and sat down. Jill joined her.

  It had been a good day. Jill had shocked Nora by calling her up and asking if she’d wanted to go to lunch. Their relationship had been bumpy for so many years, it felt good to let all that tension go for a little while. Something was different about her older sister and she couldn’t figure out what it was. Finally at lunch, Jill had filled her in a bit.

  To say she’d been shocked to hear about her and Andrew was an understatement. After all, they seemed as though they were the perfect family: wealthy with all the finest clothing, toys, cars, and house. They had a perfect daughter with perfect grades. And, sure, their son may have a few little scrapes here and there, but what did it matter? He was a Lacey and as gorgeous as the rest of them.

  For Nora to find out—more importantly for Jill to admit—that it was all a ruse, was utterly shocking. The truth of the matter was, a year ago, even three months ago, Nora would have felt that it was the bite of karma. The second truth was, Nora had also been changed. Being trusted to care for Bella over the past weeks had humbled her. She hadn’t been there much for her family and had dropped the ball with Shannon. She still wasn’t entirely sure why Shannon would put her down as an emergency contact when both LJ and Jill were both already parents and settled.

  Whatever Shannon’s thinking was, she was grateful. That pint-sized girl had taught her so much and made her look at her life and her family differently.

  “Hello?”

  Nora looked at Jill, startled out of her reverie. “Sorry,” she said with a grin. “Got lost in thought.”

  “Jesus, did you two friggin’ fly here?”

  They both turned to see LJ hurry into the room.

  Nora laughed. “Hey. No, we were having lunch.”

  LJ’s eyebrows rose as he looked from one to the other. “Wait, you were having lunch? As in, together?”

  “Zip it,” Nora said playfully. “So, how did she wake up? I thought she was medically induced?”

  “Yeah, I said the same thing. Rachel told me they’d slowly been easing her off the medications.”

  Nora’s eyebrows drew together. “When did you see Rachel?”

  “Who’s Rachel?” Jill asked.

  “One of Shannon’s nu
rses,” LJ said, returning his gaze to Nora. “We were talking over dinner.”

  “Over dinner?”

  “Well, she was eating I was listening.” He paused. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

  A slow grin spread across Nora’s lips.

  “Oh, knock it off.” He chuckled. “I was waiting to get in to see Shannon, and she was on her dinner break, nothing more.”

  “Is she pretty?” Jill asked, leaning forward in her chair as LJ had come over to sit with the sisters.

  “Yeah, she’s cute as hell,” Nora said.

  “Would you two stop?” LJ exclaimed, holding up his left hand with spread fingers. “I’m still a married man, for crying out loud.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “Look, pal, yeah, I got your damn card,” Larry, Sr. boomed into his cell phone as he entered the room. “No, I got nothing to say, knew nothing about that, move on…No, Monday is not good for me…Listen, Detective Whatever-the-hell-you-said-your-name-is, I ain’t got nothing to say. Barkin’ up the wrong tree.” With that, he punched the screen of his phone with a thick finger and shoved the phone into the pocket of his track pants. “Fuckers,” he said, walking over to his kids.

  “What the hell was all that about?” Nora asked.

  “Nothing. Some stupid cop has it in his thick head that he needs to talk to me.” Larry, Sr. flopped down into the seat next to Jill.

  “About what?”

  “I said nothing!” He glared at her, with a look that let her know not to ask another question. She’d seen it many times in her life. “So,” he said, sitting back and resting an ankle over his knee, his arm reaching out to stretch along the back of Jill’s chair. “Why the hell am I here?”

  LJ stiffened beside Nora. She reached over and squeezed his knee. “To see your daughter,” she said, barely squashing the temptation to strangle him. “The doctors pulled back on her medications and she woke up.”

  “Medications? What are you talking about?”

  “Well, maybe if you’d actually bothered to show up you’d know what was going on,” LJ growled.

  Nora’s grip on his knee became so tight he groaned slightly and tried to pull away from her.

  “What was the goddamn point?” Larry, Sr. barked. “She’s been in a coma! How the hell would she even know if goddamn Elvis Presley were sitting in that room with her.”

  “Daddy,” Jill said, nearly using superhuman speed to move between the two men, their father still seated and LJ jumping to his feet. “They can only let in two at a time, so let’s go take a walk and I’ll fill you in, and LJ and Nora can go see her first. Okay?”

  Their father pushed to his feet, meeting LJ’s glare over the top of Jill’s head before she led him out of the room.

  “That arrogant asshole,” LJ growled. He stepped away from Nora and ran a hand through his hair as he tossed his baseball cap on the chair.

  “I know.” Nora nodded, walking over to him. “He’s not worth it, LJ.” She looked up into his angry face until he met her gaze. “He’s just not.” She gave him a quick but tight hug. “Let it go,” she said softly. “We’re here for Shannon.”

  He hugged her back and let out a heavy sigh. “It was good to see you and Jill not trying to kill each other,” he said, making Nora laugh.

  ****

  Murmuring. The sound of soft murmuring and a sniffle. Do I know that voice? She heard her name as though whispered on a breeze drifting to her ears.

  Wake up.

  We love you.

  Wake up.

  With all her might, she tried to force her eyes to open, willing the blackness to go away.

  That’s it…

  Feeling as though her eyelids weighed two tons, she focused until at last, she felt some give. They seemed heavy and as though they’d been painted with glue. She slowly blinked, light suddenly so bright it nearly blinded her. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on reopening them.

  She blinked. Before her was an extremely blurry figure, not much more than a silhouette.

  “There you go, baby girl,” was murmured by the figure. “Come back to us.”

  She tried, she tried desperately to see this person clearly, this person whose voice she knew. A woman’s voice. All of a sudden, a wave of comfort and relief washed over her. The tiniest ghost of a smile touched her lips.

  “Nora,” she whispered. “You’re here…”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Before entering Interview Room 3 in the Colorado Springs Police Department, Sarah took a moment. She’d received a call the night before letting her know that Ellis White, Ronnie Garcia’s best friend, had been arrested on a domestic violence offense and they wanted her to come up and interrogate him regarding the Shannon Schaeffer case. Sarah was known as one of the best interrogators in her precinct, and Ellis White hated women and had not one ounce of respect for them. This would require some finesse and good acting on her part.

  Understanding her role, Sarah placed the evidence box on the floor near her high heels and pulled her hair up into a messy bun, forging an image. Taking a final breath, she picked up the box and headed into the small room, which was set up much like they were in Pueblo’s department: square table, one chair on one side, two on the other, and a two-way mirror with detectives watching on the other side.

  Sitting inside in the single chair was a Hispanic man with shifty gray eyes. Handcuffs removed earlier at Sarah’s request, he sat with his legs spread wide and a wrist dangling off the back of his chair. He was dressed in baggy jeans and an oversized white T-shirt.

  “Hello,” Sarah said cheerily, walking to the opposite side of the table and setting her box down at the end of it by the wall. “How are you?”

  “Who the fuck are you?”

  “Well,” Sarah said, flopping down in the chair across from him, looking far more like Sandra Bullock’s character in the early scenes of Miss Congeniality than the seasoned, brilliant detective many had claimed her to be. “My name is Detective Sanchez.” She lifted the lid off the evidence box and pulled out a folder. “And you are…” She rummaged through some pages inside. “Mr. Sanders?” She glanced up at him. “Right? Elias Sanders?”

  “Sheesh, stupid bitch. Get the fuck out and bring back that dude that was in here.”

  “Oh, sorry. Wrong guy.” She laughed, tossing the page she held in her hand to the floor—it was nothing more than an old lunch order from her precinct. “Here we go. Ellis White.” She looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Right?”

  He smirked. “If you don’t know, why the fuck should I?”

  “Well, that’s okay. I know who you are,” she said sweetly. “So, I’m going to ask you a few questions regarding a case I’m working on, all right?”

  “Look, bitch, I already told the dude before you that I ain’t no wife beater. Move on.”

  “Oh.” She waved away his words. “I don’t know anything about that, so indeed, let’s move on. But before we do, can I get you anything? Water? Soda?”

  He smirked. “Nah. Ain’t be in here long enough to bother.”

  “Alrighty then. Do you know Shannon Schaeffer?” she asked, watching his reaction carefully. This guy had a record and was a kid of the streets. He wouldn’t be fooled easily.

  “Nope,” he said with an irritated sigh. “Who the fuck is she?”

  “You have a potty mouth, you know that?” she said with a grin. “She happens to be the young woman who is part of my missing person’s case.”

  He shrugged, readjusting his body in the chair. “So? What’s that got to do with me?”

  “Now, I know you know Ronnie Garcia. Best friend, compadre. Your amigo.”

  “Yeah, so what?”

  Sarah reached back into the folder and pulled out a picture. It was one of the many that Nora had provided her with. It was a smiling snapshot of Shannon, healthy and happy at Bella’s third birthday party. She flipped the photo around so Ellis could see it.

  “Yeah, I seen her before. What
about it?”

  “Well,” Sarah said, tucking the picture lovingly back into her well-prepared folder. “That’s Shannon Schaeffer.” She eyed him. “Still going to tell me you don’t know her?”

  He eyed her right back, his grin maddening. He sat back in the chair, tucking his hands behind his head. “Yeah, I seen her. Neighbor bitch or something.”

  “Do you know where she’s at?” Sarah asked conversationally.

  “How the hell should I know? Why should I care?”

  “There’s a five-year-old little girl out there missing her mommy.”

  He barked out in laughter. “Why the fuck should I give two shits? Ain’t my kid.”

  Sarah rested her elbows on the table, her dark eyes boring into his. He was attempting to play visual chicken with her and she had to laugh internally. To her, he was small potatoes. “Did you ever have sex with her?”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “You deaf? No.”

  “And, what if I told you I had it on pretty good word that you had, hmm?” Score one for Sarah, she thought as his eyes flickered away for a nanosecond.

  Quickly his shaken persona was shrugged away and his swagger returned. “Yeah, maybe we did. She was the slut of the whole building. I mean, shit, who wouldn’t? I didn’t remember, though. I got lotsa women I get a piece of. Can’t say I didn’t get a piece of that, too.”

  Swallowing her anger, Sarah pushed on. “You like rough sex, Ellis?” she asked casually, thinking of the DNA that had been found in Shannon’s rape kit.

  “Yeah, sometimes,” he said, cocking his head to the side in challenge. “You offering?”

  “Hmm. We’ll get back to sex talk later. Do you like horror movies, Ellis?” she asked, again her folder in her lap.

  “Wait, what?”

  “Horror movies. You know, the bad guy kills everyone, crazed lunatic on the loose…”

  “Yeah, especially the ones where the stupid bitch cop bites it.”

  Sarah grinned, genuinely amused as she brought out the picture she was looking for. “Glad you like them so I know I won’t send you to bed with nightmares tonight. Wouldn’t want that, would we?” she asked quietly, setting the eight-by-ten glossy on the table in front of him. It was important to watch his reactions to this one in particular, no matter how subtle he tried to keep them.