by T. K. Leigh
Jolene stilled a little, feeling two arms lift her. But she knew those arms. They weren’t the arms of a monster or a shadow. They were loving arms. She inhaled deeply, the smell that of hundreds of happy memories.
“This reminds me of the night you had to drive me home after Elsie got me drunk,” she said sleepily. “You carried me to bed that night, too. You were so nervous about what to do. I remember you pacing back and forth in front of the car before lifting me in your arms.”
“You were awake? You let me touch you? But…”
“I knew you wouldn’t hurt me. I could tell you were a good guy.”
He kissed her neck, placing her down on the bed. “That was the first time I noticed that you smelled like peaches.”
She opened her eyes, staring at the man above her, the pain on his face nearly breaking her heart. “Do I still smell like peaches?”
A sob escaped as Cam pulled the sheet over her, covering up her bruised body. “Of course.” He brushed his lips against her swollen mouth. “I’m so sorry, Jolene,” he said through his tears. “I should never have left you. This is all my fault.”
She leaned into his hand and he caressed her cheek. “You know what, Casanova? For someone who brings out the best in people, you really tend to assume the worst.”
“You think I bring out the best in people?”
She shrugged, grabbing his wrist with her hand. “You bring out the best in me,” she admitted, her chin trembling.
He lowered his head to hers once more. “Then that’s all that matters.” He hovered over her mouth, a breath away from her lips.
“Tell me,” Jolene whispered, tears streaming down her face as her body quivered. “I need to know…”
“I love you,” he interrupted, kissing away a tear. “I love you.” He kissed her again. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”
Jolene couldn’t remember ever feeling as free and at peace as she was at that moment, regardless of what she had just endured. And she knew that her relationship with Cam was so much more than anything she had ever experienced before.
“I love you, too.”
Cam pulled back, his eyes intense. “Even though…?”
“It’s not your fault. I could have easily told you.”
“No. I know why you couldn’t. You didn’t want anyone to find you.”
She shook her head. “That’s not it. I didn’t care about that anymore.”
“Then what was it?”
“I had to, or he was going to make sure that you could never practice anywhere again. I just couldn’t let that happen to you.”
“Please tell me you didn’t put yourself through this because of me.”
“Not because of you. I did it for you, Cam.”
“I ignored all the signs. His words poisoned my ability to reason. I promised that I would always stand by your side and I failed you. That will never happen again. I swear on my life, Jolene. I’ll never abandon you.”
“That’s all I want, Cam.” Her voice grew weak and she closed her eyes. “I just want you by my side. You’re my light. The shadow can’t get me when there’s light.” She trailed off and her breathing evened out.
“Sleep, Jolene,” Cam whispered. “I’ll keep the darkness out. Always.” He clutched on to her hand, needing to feel her skin against his as he watched over her.
CHAPTER THIRTY
HOME
“WHAT ARE WE GOING to do?” Elsie asked when Cam finally emerged in the kitchen.
“We need to move her to my place. I put a call in to some of my physician friends, and they’re going to examine her over there.” He stalked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water, his mind still processing everything. “I never want her to have to step foot inside this wretched house again. It’s killing me to even be in here now that I know what she had to endure every night.”
“How do you know?” Elsie inquired.
“You should see it, Else,” Benny interjected. “There’s blood everywhere. That guy is one sick fuck.”
She stormed across the room and grabbed her purse, searching for her phone. “I’m turning him in.”
“Whoa. Wait a minute, Elsie,” Cam said, rushing to grab the phone out of her hands. “I want the fucker to pay for what he’s done, but I also want this to be her decision. I don’t want her to think that we went over her head and made it for her. Over the past decade, she’s had every decision made for her. Imagine how you would feel not being able to choose what to have for breakfast, what to wear, who gets to touch you…” He trailed off. “Please. At least wait until she’s more awake and we’ll talk her into making a statement. Then we need to make sure that the statement gets heard by the right people and not someone that this slime ball politician will grease. For now, I don’t want her to think that any of us are trying to decide what’s best for her. She doesn’t need that. What she does need is to get out of this house. I don’t want her surrounded by the darkness that permeates this place. I want her bathed in light.”
Elsie was taken aback by Cam’s words. She never looked at it that way before. She had never truly understood why Jolene acted the way she did, but now that Cam had put things into perspective, it all made sense.
“Fine. But once she’s awake, if she refuses, I will turn him in. I have video evidence.”
“Good. Hold on to that. We may need it.”
~~~~~~~~~~
“JOLENE, BABY…” CAM SAID softly, waking her from a dream.
A smile crept across her face when she saw his gentle eyes looking down at her, her vision still blurry. “Where am I?”
“You’re at my house. I wasn’t going to let you stay at your place anymore. You’ll never have to go back there again.”
She exhaled, her shoulders visibly relaxing. “Good. I didn’t like sleeping in that bed of lies.”
“Don’t even think about that anymore.” He reached for her hand and caressed her knuckles, thankful when she didn’t flinch. “I called a few friends to come and examine you. I’ve worked with them before. They’re all doctors and they’re not going to hurt you, okay? They just want to check you over and make sure there’s no damage that is life-threatening.”
She closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. “Can we do it in one of the guest bedrooms, please? I don’t want to have that memory in this room. I only want happy memories in the room of our first baby steps.”
Nodding, Cam wrapped his arms around her frail body, lifting her off the bed and cradling her against his chest. “Hold on tight.”
“I’ll never let go.”
He planted a kiss on her bruised forehead and carried her down the hallway into a guest bedroom, making sure she was comfortable. “I’ll send them in.”
“Wait, Cam. Will you stay?”
“Of course,” he assured her. Inwardly, he had no desire to see his associates examine Jolene’s badly beaten body, but he needed to stay strong for her. She had endured so much over the past week, the least he could do was remain by her side, just like he promised he always would.
He kissed her once more and walked toward the door.
“Hey, Cam?” he heard just as he opened it.
“Yes?” he spun around to see Jolene lying there with her eyes trained on him.
“I love you.”
A warmth spread through his body, knowing that he would never tire of hearing those three words come out of her mouth.
“I love you, too, peaches.”
Over the course of the afternoon, Cam stayed by Jolene’s side while she was poked, prodded, and put through the ringer by the doctors he had called.
“Dr. Bowen,” his friend said several hours later, getting his attention while he held Jolene’s hand, never wanting to leave her side again. He brought his head up to look at the stout woman that he had met while doing his psychiatric residency. She had just begun her own residency in obstetrics and, after constantly running into each other in the coffee line, they became close friends.
/> “Yes?”
“I need a word with you, please.”
He bowed his head, knowing what she was going to say. Turning to Jolene, he caught her gaze. “I’ll be right down the hall, okay? I’ll just be a minute.”
She squeezed his hand. “I’ll be fine.”
He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek and followed the doctor out of the room, leading her down the hallway into his private study.
“You need to report this,” she quickly said once the door was closed, looking into Cam’s eyes. “I know she’s scared, but something needs to be done here. I’m sticking my neck out on the line if anyone finds out that I helped you. You know I’d do anything for you, but you need to get her to make a statement.”
“I know, but I can’t do that. I can’t force her to do something she’s not ready for. I want this decision to be hers. As much as I may disagree with it, I can’t take that away from her.”
“Cam, listen to me. How would you feel if whoever is responsible for that girl’s pain and suffering does it to someone else? Three cracked ribs, a broken foot, a sprained ankle, severe vaginal tearing… This guy is a monster and he needs to be held accountable for what he’s done. Hell, he made it so she wouldn’t even be conscious when he beat and assaulted her. The amount of drugs found in her system would tranquilize a man four times her size.”
He sighed. “I know, Lucy. It’s killing me not being able to make this guy pay. But, for now, I can’t think about that. I just have to make sure she’s going to be okay.” He looked down and met her eyes. “She is going to be okay, right?”
She gave him a reassuring smile. “Her physical wounds will heal. There’s no telling what kind of emotional scars she’ll have to carry with her, though.”
“Let me worry about that.”
“You’re a good man,” she said compassionately, placing her hand on his arm. “Do right by her.”
“I will.”
~~~~~~~~~~
TRUE TO HIS WORD, Cam stayed by Jolene’s side over the next week, slowly nursing her back to health. Every time he looked at her swollen face, he grew angrier and angrier. He hated the idea that he was just standing by and letting the bastard get off with no repercussions for his actions. He had to keep reminding himself that he would pay eventually.
As he was in the kitchen cooking dinner for Jolene one evening, Elsie shouted from the living room. “Cam! Get in here!”
His eyes grew wide at the tone of her voice. “What is it?”
“That fucking prick!”
“What?!” He ran down the hallway and his eyes landed on the television screen.
“Un-fucking-believable,” she hissed, staring wide-eyed and listening to the newscast.
“Senator Murphy has just made a statement, coming forward about some questionable activities that he has been engaged in recently,” a heavily made-up anchor said.
Cam’s heart sank as they switched to a previously recorded video of the man that beat Jolene within an inch of her life.
“I am here today to beg for your forgiveness. I let my weakness get the better of me over the past several months. I have betrayed your trust. In the coming weeks, you may hear stories come forth from a woman of questionable morality. Several years ago, I paid this woman in exchange for sex and I have regretted my decision since that day when I let temptation lead me astray. I have asked God for absolution and I pray that He forgives me for my indiscretions.
“In June of this year, my past caught up with me. She found me in Amelia Island, Florida, where I had just purchased a summer home. She was desperate and began to blackmail me. I had no choice but to agree to her demands. At first, she just wanted my money. I have little care for material things. My only desires in life are to serve God and this great country. Then she started to demand more than just money. She made me engage in sexual intercourse with her nearly every night. Last week, I knew that I needed to break it off. I knew that I could no longer continue on this path of deceit, lies, and blackmail. I made the decision to cut her off and deal with the consequences of her threats.
“When I confronted her, she grew wild with anger. She assaulted me. I tried to maintain my composure, but I am only human. After being hit, punched, and scratched enough, I gave in and hit her back. My fury got the best of me, and I fear that she ended up with a broken bone or two. I only hope that God will forgive me for laying a hand on a woman.
“Over the next few days, you may find various versions of this video. I have the real one. Another one may try to show a different side, but this video here has been authenticated by forensic experts.”
Cam held his breath as a scratchy black-and-white video appeared on his TV. It was the same exact one that Elsie had shown him earlier.
He wanted to scream when the audio came on. Someone had manipulated it so that a voice similar to Jolene’s was heard where David was speaking on the original video. The quality was poor so it was indistinguishable whose mouth was moving.
“This arrangement will only work if you’re available when I need you to be. And I’ll need you to come to my house every night…”
“Fuck!” Cam bellowed, punching a hole in the wall of his living room, his face flaming red in outrage. “How did he get that?!”
Elsie hushed him, listening to the conclusion of the press conference.
“I don’t need to show you the rest of this video, but you see what I was up against. I beg you, the American people, for forgiveness in this troubling time. I will not name any names at this point, as I hope that this woman will see the error of her ways. And I hope that God can find it in his heart to forgive her and lead her back into His loving arms. I’m praying for you.”
The video froze on a scratchy close-up of Jolene, the name of the bar on her work shirt visible for all to see.
“How the fuck did he get that?!” Cam screamed once more, pacing the living room, his mind racing, wondering if Jolene was at risk of being found. Senator Murphy had laid out more than enough clues for anyone to find her if they were paying attention.
“All the footage is backed up to an off-site server. I had to request it from our company. I’m beginning to think he knew about that camera and there was no missing DJ equipment. He probably had someone hack into the computer in the back room, hoping that I’d save this little video if I ran across it.”
Cam stopped abruptly in front of Elsie. “What should I do? I’ve got to get her far away from here.”
“She can’t travel anywhere. You heard what the doctors said. Bed rest for at least the next week.”
“Can we stay at your place? You’re always over at Benny’s anyway.”
“Why? I don’t get it.”
“Just in case someone can tie her to me. Apparently, this guy’s got it out for me, too. Jolene said he threatened her with getting my license to practice revoked. She said she didn’t care about anyone finding her anymore. She did what she did for me.”
Elsie’s eyes grew wide. “What a cold-hearted prick.”
“Yeah. So I need to get her out of this house, at least until this all blows over.” He pulled back the curtains, scanning the street for any suspicious activity.
“But they could just as easily tie her to me, too. Hell, that video was from the bar I run. The sick prick zoomed in on her t-shirt that broadcasted where she worked for everyone to see!”
“True. But your building still has all that security, right?” he asked, his expression hopeful.
“We like to call it our concierge department,” Elsie replied sarcastically.
“Good. I’ll take all the added protection I can get. In the meantime, you need to hold on to that video and do not let it out of your sight.” He grabbed a piece of paper and jotted down an e-mail address. “When I tell you to, send it here. It’s an encrypted, secure e-mail. He has people who aren’t sucking the government’s tit that will be able to authenticate it.”
Elsie read his scribbling, making out a rather complex e-mail address. “Hold
on. Is this who I think it is?” she asked excitedly.
He rolled his eyes. “Yes. Don’t go all fan-girl crazy right now, though. I’ll call him in a little while and tell him what’s going on. I have a feeling I may need his help. I have no idea whose pockets this guy’s been greasing with all of this bullshit. Any police officer worth his pension would know that the audio on that video was a fake and his story didn’t add up. He didn’t have a fucking mark on him. That leads me to believe that he’s got police on his side here. I want someone who knows how to work around the system.”
“I’d work him around the system,” Elsie remarked.
Cam laughed, happy to have her there to lighten the mood.
He knew it was rash, but he wanted to try to hide Jolene away, worried that someone would be able to track her to his house. And he had no intention of telling her about the statement that prick just made. She didn’t need to live in fear of being found.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
BATTLE WOUNDS
GREG WAS SITTING ON the couch in his one-level ranch house, watching the evening news with Laney. They had just enjoyed a rather delicious dinner. She sure knew how to cook.
As he took a sip of his club soda, debating whether it was time to finally take the next step with her, he saw a black-and-white surveillance video appear on the newscast, the subtitles indicating something about a scumbag politician who had paid a woman for sex and was now seeking forgiveness. Raising himself off the couch to refill his beverage, he stopped abruptly in front of his flat screen television, dropping the glass to the floor, pieces shattering everywhere.
Laney ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him. “Talk to me, Greg,” she begged, seeing that he was completely frozen in place. “What is it?”
His eyes remained fixed. “That’s Jolene,” he quivered.