Into The Storm

by Melanie Moreland

  I pretended to think. “Hmmm … hard choice, apple or blueberry … apple or blueberry ... or maybe … one of each?” I looked at her, wide-eyed and grinning, hoping to keep her distracted and smiling.

  “Done.”

  “Then you have the night off.” I handed her a glass of wine, and turned on the indoor grill to heat up. I kept talking, telling her some amusing stories of Bear and his antics while she was gone. I desperately wanted to give her a little normalcy after her breakdown. There was so much we still had left to talk about, more painful memories she had left to share, but for tonight it was enough. I relented and let her stir-fry some vegetables to have with the steak and soon we were sitting down to eat. I purposely put only a small piece of steak on her plate but was pleased to see her eat it, although it happened very slowly. She barely touched her wine. Baby steps, I reminded myself. I had to let her get comfortable again.

  After dinner, we sat on the sofa, hands clasped. I drew in a deep breath. “So Cecilia and Trevor are going to be here tomorrow. Probably just before lunch.”

  “Okay.”

  “They’re bringing someone else with them,” I added, unsure if she was ready for this.

  She looked at me. “Oh? Frank?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, Frank will be with them as well. But also an associate of Trevor’s.”

  “An associate?”

  “His name is Adam Green. He’s a lawyer and a friend of Trevor’s.” I paused. “He practices family law, Rabbit. And, he specializes in cases that involve abuse.”

  I watched her intently for a reaction. At first, there was nothing and then her eyes flew to mine in panic. Her hand gripped mine tightly and I felt the instant trembling in her body.

  I set down my wine glass and pulled her onto my lap. “Hey, hush. Stop, Rabbit. It’s okay. He’s just coming as a favor. To talk. Just to talk about your options. Please, baby, stay calm.” I ran my hands over her back before encasing her in my arms, frightened that the trembles had turned into shudders.

  “What’s going to happen next, Joshua? What if he comes after me?” She drew back, her eyes wide and frightened. “What if he comes after you?” She sounded almost hysterical.

  I gripped her shoulders. “Listen to me, Rabbit. No one is going to touch you. And no one, least of all Brian James, is coming after me. He’s a fucking bully. But he’s lost all his power, Rabbit. Can’t you see that?”

  She shook her head, still lost in her panic.

  I tempered my voice. “Rabbit. He kept you isolated and alone. He abused you. But he didn’t count on how incredibly strong and smart you were.”

  She looked at me puzzled. “Smart?”

  “You kept evidence of the abuse, Rabbit. You got away. We have proof against him. And, we have the photos I took. He is all about image and what he sees as his rightful place in society. He won’t want the photos to be seen.”

  I could feel her relaxing. The shudders had stopped, although she was still shaking.

  “I’m sure he realizes your memory must have returned, Rabbit. He may not know how you got away but he knows why.”

  She tensed again, the tremors once again picking up.

  “You’re safe here, Rabbit. The tables have turned now.”

  “How?” she whispered.

  “You were alone before. You’re not anymore. You have people who will protect you. Stand up for you. Speak for you, if needed.”

  “You?”

  “Yes. Me. Cecilia. Trevor. Daniel. Frank. And Adam, if you’ll let him. We’re not going to let him get to you. Ever again. We all know what he did, Rabbit. His secret isn’t secret anymore.”

  “What do you have planned?” she asked, her voice trembling.

  “I just want you to meet with Adam. Talk to him. Let him talk to you.”

  “Does he … know?”

  “Yes, he knows, Rabbit. He hasn’t seen the pictures but he knows we have them. Trevor told him the story. He is in agreement. He thinks if he gathers everything together he can go to Brian and his lawyer, and then present the facts and your demands.”

  Her brow furrowed. “My demands?”

  “I assume you want a divorce, Rabbit?”

  She nodded.

  “Well, whatever else you want. A settlement, perhaps. That’s for you to decide.”

  “I want my books and the boxes of my parent’s things in my closet.”

  “I’m sure we can arrange that, Rabbit. And?”

  She looked at me. “Nothing. I don’t want his money. I just want my life back. I’ll get a job and support myself.”

  I felt a quiet sense of pride at her words. Of course she didn’t want his money. She didn’t want anything associated with him.

  “Adam will talk to you about your options. He knows the right path for you to follow for that.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about that right now.” Her voice was trembling.

  “Okay,” I assured her soothingly. “You can discuss all this with Adam tomorrow, Rabbit. If you don’t like him, we’ll find you someone you do like.”

  “Will you stay with me? While I talk to him?”

  “Of course. Whatever you need to be comfortable.” I drew in a deep breath. “I also asked Daniel to come see you tomorrow, Rabbit. I would feel better if he checked you over.”

  “My headaches are better, Joshua. Once I got my memory back, the other ones I had I knew were from tension. I know my appetite is off and I’m tired. It’s just all from stress. Really, I’m fine.”

  “Please, Rabbit?” I squeezed her hands. “For me. Let me be overprotective and do this for me.”

  She sighed in resignation. “If it makes you feel better, then fine, Joshua, but the doctor I saw there didn’t seem too concerned with anything.”

  I snorted. “I know you saw someone, Rabbit. I don’t think you had a proper examination and I doubt he had your best interests at heart. He needs to be brought up on charges as well.”

  Her voice became so quiet that I had to strain to hear her. “Brian took me to the same doctor he always took me to when he got … angry. His name is Dr. Hammond; I didn’t like him, but that didn’t matter, of course. He never really talked to me, just Brian. He looked me over and gave me a tetanus shot. That was all he did the last time I saw him.”

  I was confused. “A tetanus shot?”

  She nodded. “I wasn’t sure why. He muttered something about in case I had cut myself on something.” She looked at me warily. “I wasn’t really allowed to ask many questions. He gave me the shot before I even knew it was happening.” Her hand went to the back of her neck. “It itched for days.”

  I kept my voice even. “Let me see, please.”

  She turned and pulled down the neck of the shirt. Leaning forward, I could see an indent where a needle had been inserted into her skin just below the base of her neck. I rubbed it gently, frowning at its thickness. I wasn’t a doctor, but I knew that wasn’t the spot for a tetanus shot. Not wanting to scare her any further, I leaned forward and nuzzled the mark with my lips.

  “Sloppy job.” I shrugged, after pulling the shirt back up and turning her around. My mind was racing and I knew I had to ask Daniel what they could have injected her with. Was that what was making her unwell? “Maybe Daniel can give you something for the itch. He’ll check you over and he has the name for a local woman doctor at the hospital you can see from now on. But he knew I was concerned so he agreed to come see you tomorrow.”

  She sighed wearily. “Okay.”

  I looked at her. “Okay? Okay to Daniel? Okay to Adam?”

  She nodded. “Okay to all of it, Joshua. It all makes me nervous, but I know it needs to happen.”

  “I’ll be right there with you, Rabbit. If something bothers you, we stop it. Right away.” I tilted her chin, looking into her tired eyes. “I promise. I know it seems fast, Rabbit, but I want to be ready.”

  “You think he’ll come after me?”

  I hesitated then nodded. “I am sure he’ll s
earch for you. Quietly this time. If possible, I would rather send our people to him so he never knows where you are.”

  Another tremor went through her body.

  “He won’t get to you, Rabbit. Ever. He will never touch you again. Trust me when I say that.”

  She looked at me and nodded. “I do trust you.”

  I gathered her closely. “Do you want to go to bed?”

  She shook her head. “Can we sit in the hot tub first? I’m cold.”

  Inwardly, I grimaced. This was another sign of her exhaustion. I would feel so much better after Daniel saw her. I stood up, taking her with me. “You can have anything you want, Rabbit. Hot tub it is.”

  Rabbit slept burrowed into me, her hands gripping my shirt. She whimpered a lot in her sleep but would calm when I pulled her tighter. Unable to relax, I found my fingers tracing the thickened spot on her neck repeatedly. What had the fucker done to her? I knew this wasn’t a tetanus shot. A small niggling thought kept rolling through my head, but I needed Daniel’s help to confirm it. If I was right, time was even more against us. Between my worry over the mysterious injection and the endless loop in my head of the memories Rabbit shared with me, I was tense and anxious.

  When dawn broke and Rabbit seemed to finally slip into a more restful sleep, I slid out of bed and went downstairs to work out some of my tension. Before I left the room, I left a note telling her where I was in case she woke in a panic needing me. I left the bedroom door open, as well as the basement door, so I could hear her if she cried out. I threw myself into my workout needing to release some of the tension I was holding in. I knew today would be another rough one, especially for Rabbit, and I needed to be as calm as possible for her.

  Just as I was finishing and getting into the pool, I heard her moving around. I finished up, wrapped a towel around my waist and went upstairs, heading straight to the kitchen, ignoring my dripping legs. I smiled at the sight before me. There in the kitchen was Rabbit, in my shirt, rolling out pastry at the counter. Bear was lying on the floor not far from her and I could smell the aroma of coffee brewing.

  “Hey, pretty girl.”

  She looked up from her task and smiled indulgently at me. I could see she was still exhausted. “Making your pies,” she offered sweetly, indicating the pastry.

  I moved forward and kissed her. “Thank you. I’ll go grab a shower. Can I scramble some eggs for breakfast? I’d hate to interrupt the pie making.”

  She laughed quietly and nodded. I turned around to go to the bedroom and stopped at the table. I picked up a couple of small Ziploc bags and held them up. “What’s this?”

  The rhythmic sound of the rolling pin stopped. I looked over at her. “Rabbit?”

  She walked over and took one bag from my hand. “These are the pills he was making me take that I told you about. I thought we could have them tested? Find out what they are?”

  I nodded. We would definitely be having them tested. I held up the other bag. “And this?”

  She leaned forward and took the bag from my hand. She gazed down at it for a moment quietly. When she spoke, her voice was shaking. “It’s the remains of the blouse I was wearing the day I ran away. I found it. I don’t remember why, but I had stuffed it, or at least part of it, in between the mattresses. When I saw it all the memories started coming back. I thought … I thought it may be something Adam could use.”

  “How did you get it here?”

  “I had it in my pocket. There wasn’t a lot of it left but I brought it with me anyway, just in case.”

  I took it from her, opened the package and held it up. It had been torn badly but I could see what it was. I also realized I was looking at Rabbit’s dried blood on it and my stomach clenched at the thought. I quickly folded it and put it back in the bag. I pulled her to me. “That was good thinking, Rabbit. I told you how smart you are.”

  “He … he was so angry, Joshua. He was screaming and swearing. He actually spit on me, he was so out of control. I’m sure some of that is on the blouse …” her voice trailed off.

  I looked down at her. Tangible proof. DNA. She was smarter than she realized. People had seen her wearing that blouse just hours before she was ‘taken’. And, it was evidence of her blood and probably his saliva, not a fictional stranger’s.

  I kissed her head. “You did it, Rabbit. You’ve nailed him.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Joshua

  I pulled Lizzy into my side a little tighter. I was trying so hard to refer to her by her real name, especially when other people were around. Although she would always be Rabbit in private and in my head, the name now felt very intimate to me and I wanted to keep it just between us as much as possible.

  We were sitting around the table, introductions having been made and coffee poured. When Rabbit had first seen Adam get out of the car, she had backed away in instant panic. I had pulled her close, whispering comforting words into her ear as I felt her shake. Even I did a double take when I saw him. Easily seven inches taller than my six foot three inches, he towered above me and I was sure he looked like a giant to Rabbit. His shoulders were huge and powerful and his stride was confident and sure as he came towards us. But when he spoke and extended his hand to Lizzy and I, his voice was gentle and his demeanor one of kindness. He shook my hand first and then tentatively offered his hand to Lizzy. “I don’t bite, Lizzy. You can ask my wife. She’ll vouch for me.” He smiled kindly at her and then winked. “I don’t suggest you listen to my kids though, they exaggerate. Really, those are just little love nips on their feet.” I felt Lizzy relax and watched as his huge hand engulfed her tiny one in a brief shake. She smiled shyly up at him and asked how many children he had and their ages. The next thing I knew she was beside him, walking ahead of me into the house, his wallet out showing pictures of his five children and telling her amusing stories. I looked over at Trevor, who shrugged. “Charmer,” he mouthed. Cecilia shook her head, smiling, obviously used to Adam’s ways.

  “Where’s Frank?” Lizzy asked quietly from her chair beside me at the table.

  “He’s coming in a separate car with Daniel,” Cecilia smiled. “This one was not … large enough … for everyone.”

  Adam laughed. “You are being too polite, Cecilia.” He turned to Lizzy. “My legs took up the entire back seat sitting sideways. Happens a lot.”

  We all chuckled. Trevor looked over to the counter and stood up. “Are those pies? Real homemade pies?”

  I groaned. I knew I should have hidden them. “Back off. They’re mine,” I growled.

  Rabbit sighed and shook her head, laying a hand on my arm “Yes, Trevor, and you can have some once they cool down. Joshua is only too pleased to share with his guests, aren’t you?”

  I opened my mouth to disagree but thought better of it when I saw the look on Rabbit’s face. “Yeah, absolutely,” I said grudgingly.

  “Awesome. Do you have ice cream? Gotta have ice cream with pie,” Trevor enthused, not at all put off by my tone.

  I shook my head. “Nope. Guess you won’t want any then.”

  Trevor laughed and reached for his phone. “Frank had to hang around and wait for Daniel. I’ll get him to pick up some.”

  Damn it, apparently I was sharing, no matter what.

  Rabbit leaned forward and kissed my cheek warmly. “I already hid one, Joshua. And, I’ll make you more.”

  I beamed down at her and squeezed her gently at the waist.

  Adam chuckled from across the table. Then he addressed Lizzy. “I was hoping I could speak with you privately, Lizzy, about your … situation. Trevor has filled me in somewhat, but I have other personal questions I would like to ask you, if that’s all right with you. I’m sure you have questions for me. Then maybe I can advise you on your options.”

  Rabbit nodded. “I want Joshua to stay, please.”

  Adam nodded, not seemingly surprised by her request. “Whatever you want, Lizzy.”

  It surprised me when Rabbit spoke up again. “I don’t min
d if Trevor and Cecilia are here either. They know most of the story. And, without their help I wouldn’t be here now.”

  Again, Adam nodded.

  Trevor and Cecilia stood up. “We’ll go take Bear for a walk. When we come back, we’ll just be here if you want us, okay?”

  I was grateful knowing they were trying to make Rabbit feel safe and give her some privacy.

  I nodded at them, smiling in quiet gratitude. “Bear will love the walk. We’ll see when you get back, Cecilia.”

  Adam sat back, looking at Rabbit with both sadness and admiration in his expression. For the past hour and a half he had asked questions, listened to her answers, made notes, looked at the photos, her journal and, finally, the torn blouse and the bag of pills. Trevor and Cecilia had returned and joined us about thirty minutes ago and sat quietly sipping coffee, hearing for the first time about Lizzy’s flight into the storm and what happened after she returned to Brian.

  “You’re incredibly strong, Lizzy. You’ve survived so much. I’d like to take you through your options and how to move forward. Legally. You have a tremendous amount of evidence here. We can have charges filed against Brian immediately, have a restraining order issued, as well as begin divorce proceedings.”

  We all looked at Lizzy, who was very quiet beside me. I was shocked when she shook her head.

  “No charges, Adam.”

  I gaped at her. “Rabbit!” came out loudly before I could stop my reaction.

  “No.”

  Adam held up his hand, effectively silencing me. “What do you want, Lizzy? You want a divorce?”

  “Yes. And, the restraining order. I don’t want him to be able to come near me. Or anyone else here.”

  He regarded her silently. “I have to ask again. Are you certain you don’t want to press charges? You are absolutely certain about this? What do you want me to do with your evidence?”

  Lizzy shook her head. “No. I want a divorce. I want him out of my life. I never want to see him again.” She drew in a deep breath. “Use the evidence to get the divorce on my terms.”

  “Rabbit,” I began, wanting to change her mind. I was still shocked at her announcement of not wanting to press any charges against him. Why was she doing this? I didn’t understand.