Bourbon Blaze

by Deanna L Rowley

  “What are you drinking?”

  “Bourbon.” Sophia smacked her lips. “I call this ‘my Jimmy.’ See, I’m relaxing after a hard day’s work with ‘my Jimmy.’”

  “Jimmy?”

  “Jim Beam.” Sophia smirked when Susan giggled. After several minutes of comfortable silence, Susan looked over at her cousin.

  “When did you start drinking it? What’s your story?”

  “It reminds me of my Dad.” Sophia stared into the amber liquid in her glass. Susan settled in to listen. “Mom died when I was little, I was six. She worked third shift for a retail store. She was sick with the flu and tried to call in. Her boss told her if she didn’t come in, she was fired. So she went to work.” Sophia paused to take a sip from her glass. She had to gather her thoughts before she continued. “A few days later she was coming home when she fell asleep behind the wheel. She didn’t survive the accident. Thank goodness she didn’t take anyone else out with her. It was hard at first. It took a couple of years to get into the swing of things. By the age of eight, I was the take-out ordering queen.” She looked at Susan. “Hence, my inability to cook. Dad didn’t know how, and he never learned. Without Mom or grandparents, I didn’t learn either.

  “Every night, after dad put me to bed, he went back downstairs, poured about an inch of amber liquid in a glass. He sipped it for the rest of the night before he went to bed. As I grew older, I realized it was Jim Beam. Not once did I ever see him drunk. He never poured more than an inch of Jim in his glass. Never more than one glass. After he passed, I was sitting in the house, remembering him. It was the first time I ever tried bourbon. One finger of bourbon in the glass. I wasn’t supposed to drink, I was only nineteen. I drank at home. Rather the dorm, I’d lost the house, so I stayed on campus.”

  “Lost the house?”

  Sophia took a sip of her drink. “Mom died with nothing. No life insurance, no will. Dad absorbed her debt. The money from the lawsuit kept his head above water. See, because Mom had been working so much overtime for inventory, Dad blamed her employers for her death. They threatened to fire her if she didn’t come in, even though she had the flu. Twelve others agreed with him because he was awarded a settlement. I didn’t find out until a few years ago, it was only enough to pay for her headstone and put a down payment on a house for the two of us. Pay off other debts. Dad kept some in a special account, which he paid yearly premiums on health insurance for both of us. When I was seventeen, he was diagnosed with cancer. Two years later, he was gone. The life insurance was enough to pay off his medical bills and bury him. When it came to health, Dad was a fanatic about making sure the two of us had coverage. Materialistic things, cars, or houses, not so much. I lost the house because Dad hadn’t paid the mortgage the last year he was alive.”

  “Damn, did you know about it.”

  “No. The life insurance paid off his medical debts. Not the mortgage on the house. Hell, I couldn’t even sell it to use the money, the bank took it back. Thank god I had already received a full scholarship to college. I lived in the dorm. I worked for the college to pay for my meals. I didn’t have any other way to eat.”

  “Hence, not learning to cook.”

  “Correct, I met Tomas two months before I graduated from college. It was intense, right from the beginning. Because I had no family, no home to go to, I moved in with him. In hindsight, we used each other.”

  “Did Tomas drink whiskey?”

  “It’s not whiskey per se.” Sophia sighed, “It’s bourbon. No, Tomas was mean if he ever drank bourbon. He always drank beer. One day we got into a huge fight. I found him dumping my bourbon down the drain. I shoved him, and screamed at him because he wasn’t man enough to handle it. He didn’t have to waste it. It was the first time he had Dawg attack me. I didn’t give a damn anymore. I made sure I poured my nightly drink in front of him. I think the last year together we might have said fifty words to each other. Except when he was calling me a worthless whore while beating me. The sex had stopped long before. I knew I should have moved out sooner, hell, I’d already moved out of the bedroom. He agreed to my staying there if I continued paying for half of everything. He even had a new girlfriend.”

  “So, you became roommates?”

  “Yeah.” Sophia stared into her empty glass. With a deep sigh, she finished her drink, calling it an early night.

  Sean Kilduff grabbed his hat, rolled the window in the back of the SUV down all the way before exiting. He looked in at Kilo, “Come get me if something happens.” he started toward the car he had pulled over for weaving back and forth across the center line, then the outside white line. Sean suspected alcohol might be involved. Approaching, he made sure his flashlight shone into the side mirror, reflecting in the car.

  “License and registration please.” Sean called out, he stayed back in case they had a gun. It was always scary pulling someone over late at night with no back-up.

  “Officer, I need help. Please help me.” Sean started forward but paused. He whistled. With Kilo next to him and on guard, Sean approached the open window. His hand on his weapon.

  “Sir? How can I help you?” Sean looked in and swore. “Don’t move!” Sean yelled, grabbed the radio attached to his shoulder. He called into his dispatcher, requesting back-up and an ambulance. Sean opened the driver’s door, reached in to unbuckle the man. Easing him to the ground outside the door. Sean had to hold the man’s bloody hands away from his face and neck.

  “Sir, an ambulance is on the way, tell me what happened.” Sean leaned down, inspecting the knife stuck out of the man’s neck. There was another one in his chest. He had Kilo stand guard while he ran back to his SUV and grabbed the First-Aid duffle. He returned to the man, slapped on a pair of gloves and pulled several other items from the bag. The first thing he did was rip open a package of gauze and force a whole in the middle. He placed it down over the knife in the man’s chest to hold the knife stable. He did the same with the one on the man’s neck.

  “Sir, what’s your name?”

  “Mike, Michael Jason Benson.”

  “Keep your hands down, sir, they’re stabilized, help is on the way.”

  “I was heading to the hospital, thank god you pulled me over. Never thought I’d be grateful to be pulled over.”

  “Can you tell me what happened?”

  “Got out of work early, nine instead of eleven. I went home, found the wife in bed with another man. I ripped him off my wife, punched him, and tossed him out the window. I turned, my wife stabbed me in the neck and chest. I ran outside to my car to go to the hospital. I’ve taken enough safety courses at work to know not to pull anything out.”

  “What happened to the guy you through out the window?”

  “No clue, don’t care.”

  Sean smirked, “Was it a first floor or second-floor window?”

  “First.”

  “Good to know, can you tell me your address?” Sean wrote it down, sighed in relief as he heard sirens coming closer. The first person to arrive was Deputy Neil Saunders.

  “What the fuck, Kilduff?” Neil asked. He ran up and saw the man lying on the ground, rearing back, “What the hell?”

  “Beneath the gauze are knives.” Sean said. He handed Neil his notebook. Neil read Sean’s notes, his eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. He transferred the information to his own notebook. The ambulance arrived. Sean told the EMTs what happened. Neil left to go investigate the man’s home address. Sean stayed until a tow truck came to tow the man’s car back to the police station. He went to the man’s address.

  With Kilo at his side, Sean made his way to the front of the house. He had seen Neil’s SUV, a cop car, and another ambulance. Neil met him out on the sidewalk.

  “I arrived, approached the door, heard screaming, things breaking, the door was open.” Neil drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he rubbed his forehead. “I knocked and called out. Upon entering, I found a woman throwing glass vases and other things at a male. She was dressed in a
bathrobe; he had a pair of pants on.” Neil drew in another breath, looked at his notebook and continued. “Neighbors called 9-1-1, Olsen called for an ambulance. He’s in there now, trying to get their statements. Both are calling us liars. Said both lived there. In bed for the night. Someone broke in. Tried to rape her. Rob him. She stabbed the alleged rapist in self-defense.” When he finished his statement, Neil let out a sigh. He looked at Sean, waiting for direction.

  Sean exhaled as he pulled a sealed plastic bag from his shirt pocket. He passed it to Neil. “That’s the man I pulled over. The one who gave me the information his wife was in bed with someone else. Let’s go see if we can see any pictures on the walls. Who’s in them? This guy, or the guy in there.”

  Neil snickered. “I like the way you think.” He walked beside Sean. They both entered the house. Sheriff Phil Olsen stood in the middle of the living room, pointing to the man. “Sit down and shut up!” He growled. “If I have to tell you again, I’m going to slap the cuffs on you and take you to the station.” The man continued to stare at him, Phil glared. The woman jumped to her feet. Neil stopped her.

  “Same goes for you, lady, sit down until we figure this out.”

  “There is nothing to figure out.” The woman was defiant when she talked to them. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared. “A man broke into my house and tried to rape me.” She pointed to the other man in the room. “He beat up my husband and had the nerve to toss him out the window. I ran to the kitchen and grabbed some knives. I stabbed him to get him away from us.”

  “Fine.” Neil wrote in his notebook. “My partner has a few questions for you.” He nodded at Sean in the hallway looking at a group of pictures hanging on the wall. Sean took one down, walked forward. He held it out.

  “So, Mrs. Benson, your husband came home from work, saw you cheating on him with another man, in his own bed. He threw the man screwing his wife out the window. You stabbed him.”

  “No, that’s my husband.” The woman pointed to the man next to Phil.

  “I see.” Sean sighed as he looked at the framed photo and license in his hand. He held up the plastic bag to show them what he had been staring at. Both people paled.

  “I’m assuming this is your wedding photo?” He held up the frame he’d removed from the wall. Everyone could see the driver’s license and the wedding photo. It was a few year's difference from the photo to the license, but the people in the picture were the same. Sean had been keeping a close eye on Mrs. Benson. When he saw her pale and glance at the other man with shock in her expression, Sean put the photo down, pocketed the driver’s license.

  In his best cop voice, he started forward. “I’m putting you under arrest for assault. We’ll go down to the station to get this straightened out.”

  “Can I at least get dressed first?” Mrs. Benson demanded.

  “No.” Phil answered. “Since we don’t have a female officer, we can’t go with you. We don’t want you accusing us of doing anything to you. We can give you something to wear down at the station.” He nodded once. Neil slapped the cuffs on the other man, together Sean and Neil walked out to the vehicles. Because of Kilo, Neil took the man to his car, while Phil had Sean put Mrs. Benson in his. In his own SUV with Kilo, Sean shook his head. He had to go back to the station to try to sort this mess out. He glanced at the clock. It was already going on midnight.

  9

  Sophia stood in the back yard of Curt’s home, staring in awe. She turned in a circle several times. Curt and a woman walked up to her. She looked at him in amazement. “I’m sorry.”

  “For?” Curt asked.

  “When your brother asked if I had someplace to go. I said I had a second cousin who lived in east bum-fuck, nowhere, Iowa. At the time I said it, all I could picture were miles of cornfields.” Sophia spread out her arm, turning in a circle again. “It’s beautiful.”

  “Thank you,” Curt said. The woman laughed, and Curt chuckled. “Sophia, my wife, Dana.”

  “Hello.” Dana kept hold of Sophia’s hand. “I agree with what you said about east bum-fuck, Iowa. When Eric, my first husband, and I moved here, I thought the same thing. It took some adjusting, we made it happen. Curt helped me achieve Eric’s dream of having a small farm. It’s a long story. I’m sure you have one too. When Curt said you had arrived, he’d told me how Chris had sent you here for Curt to keep safe.”

  “I thank god for that every day.” Sophia sighed. “When I get to know you better, I’ll tell you my story.”

  “Good,” Dana said. “The guests are arriving. In a few minutes we’ll be closing off the barn with the animals in it. Feel free to go check it out. Otherwise, once the doors are shut, the barn will be off-limits. We don’t need the chickens to stop laying eggs, or the goats stop producing milk if they’re scared.”

  “Oh.” Sophia was sullen as she looked in the direction of the barn.

  “Go.” Curt encouraged her. Sophia didn’t need any more prompting, she turned and walked toward the barn her hosts had indicated.

  Curt and Dana turned back toward the house. Greeting their guests as they arrived. Dana directed where to put the food everyone brought. Curt shook everyone’s hands, welcoming them to the first annual Bannerman haunted house. If it went well, it would be a yearly event. Curt spotted Sean Kilduff. Sean got right to the point, asking about Kilo.

  “It’s okay that I brought Kilo, right?”

  “Sure, I don’t have a problem with that.”

  “I didn’t think so.”

  Curt went to greet the next group of people who had arrived. Twenty minutes later, Sean stood talking to a group of friends. Kilo jumped up and ran toward the barn.

  Sean looked up in confusion. Curt asked, “What’s up with Kilo?”

  “No clue,” Sean said while he, Curt, and several others, started to follow the dog. Curt swore and looked at Sean.

  “Sophia’s in the barn.” Curt gasped.

  “Shit.” Sean took off at a dead run, followed by Curt. In the kitchen, Connor saw movement out the window. He turned to his mother and his best friend’s mother.

  “Where’s Curt going in such a hurry?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He and Sean Kilduff are running toward the barn.”

  “Oh, shit,” Dana said. “Sophia went to the barn.”

  Susan looked around. “Where’s Butch and Sundance?”

  “Last I knew, they were locked in their room here in the house.” The three stared at each other in shock, running for the back door. Dana had been told what had happened to Sophia regarding dogs in the past.

  Dana didn’t think her family’s dogs, Butch and Sundance, would harm a hair on anyone’s head. They were just two goofy, lumbering, bodies too big for their feet, bull mastiff’s, who loved everyone. Dana swore their youngest child, eighteen month old Erica, had more grace and agility walking than those two loving dogs. Sophia couldn’t know they wouldn’t hurt a hair on her head.

  Sean and Curt rounded the corner of the barn and stopped dead in their tracks. Sophia stood still as a statue. Her eyes were the size of dinner plates and her fists were clenched. Sean could see her shaking like a leaf. Kilo stood several feet in front of her, pacing back and forth. He wasn’t looking at her, he was acted as a barrier between Sophia and two dogs.

  “Wow,” Susan said. Dana stood beside Curt, Susan stood off to one side, with Connor and another man.

  “What the hell?” The other man demanded. “What’s Kilo doing, Sean?”

  “Sophia’s afraid of dogs.” Susan leaned in toward the man, whispering. “She was traumatized by a German Shepherd in the past. I don’t know what’s happening now. From what I see, Butch and Sundance are trying to get to Sophia. Kilo won’t let them.”

  “But Kilo’s not a Shepherd, and mastiffs aren't aggressive.”

  “They’re not,” Curt said. “Hell, the only aggression they show is tripping over their own two feet.”

  “They won’t hurt me?” Came a small voice f
rom Sophia. “What about the other one? The black and tan one?”

  Sean stepped up beside Sophia. Taking a chance, he put his arm around her. Bringing her close to his side. Because Kilo wasn't aggressive, he gave the command to stand down. The Malinois sat on his haunches. The other two huge dogs rushed forward. One tripped, landing face first in the dirt in front of Kilo. Kilo looked over his shoulder at his master, rolling his eyes, causing the others to laugh. Tension eased from Sophia. She sighed. She leaned into Sean’s side, and he hugged her tighter. Keeping his arm securely around her, he ran his hand up and down her arm.

  Susan stepped up to Sophia’s other side. Rubbing her back. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes.” Sophia exhaled. Still snuggled up to Sean, feeling safe, she stayed where she was.

  “Can you tell us what happened?” Sean asked.

  “I watched the goats, they’re cute.” Sophia looked up at him. Sean sucked in his admired her beauty. “I reached out to touch one.” Sophia giggled. “I thought I heard someone behind me, so I turned. Those two huge dogs stood there with their teeth showing. I saw they were drooling and I froze. Before I could do anything, let alone get a breath to scream, there was another dog.” Sophia pointed to Kilo. “I panicked. I couldn’t move.” Sophia shuddered again, she turned to bury her head in Sean’s chest.

  “Kilo tried to protect you.” Sean sighed. “I don’t know if you saw what he did, but he stood between you and the other dogs. Pacing back and forth. Setting boundaries. Kilo had his back to you, he made sure Butch and Sundance didn’t get near you.”

  “Oh.” Sophia looked up, seeing Connor with a boy she’d had never seen before entering the barn. The boy held the most adorable little girl Sophia had ever seen. Before anyone said anything, the boy set the little girl down. She weaved her way, on unsteady legs, over to the two big dogs, who laid down and allowed the little girl to pet them.