by Susan Stoker
“Actually, since you brought it up, there’re rumors going around that Senator Greenwood might be making a bid for the Presidency. He wants to get the nomination and backing of the Republican Party.”
“Wow, really? That’s Missy Greenwood’s dad…right?” Julie asked incredulously. “Are you okay with that Dad?”
“Of course. What? Did you think I wanted to be President? No way.”
Julie breathed out an exaggerated sigh of relief. “Okay, then. Good.”
They both laughed.
The door chimed as a group of women entered the store. “Hey, Daddy, I gotta go. Customers.”
“Okay, Princess. Stay safe out there and don’t forget to call your old man once in a while.”
It was a running joke between the two of them. “I will. Love you, Daddy.”
“Love you too, baby. Talk to you soon.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
Julie turned to the women, ready to give her welcome-to-the-store speech, and recognized three of them from the other day. “Oh, hi! It’s good to see you guys again.”
“Hi, Julie. Told you we’d be back! When Fiona and the others heard about this place, they had to see it for themselves!”
“Well, take your time, look around, do your worst!”
The women all laughed and dispersed around the store, checking out what had come in since the last time they were there and seeing what deals they could find.
Julie kept one eye on the group of women, making sure they didn’t need any assistance with anything, as she thought about her date the next night with Patrick. She’d honestly been surprised he’d asked her out. She’d thought him extremely handsome from the second she’d laid eyes on him, but never in a million years thought he’d ask her on a date. She still thought it had something to do with the fact he felt sorry for her. But she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’d sounded sincere enough when he’d told her he wanted to get to know her better.
“Excuse me, I have a question.”
Julie’s thoughts were interrupted by the words spoken nearby. She immediately turned her attention to the woman standing in front of her. “Of course, what can I—”
Julie’s words cut off abruptly when she looked up and saw who was standing at the counter.
“Oh my God,” the woman said in a low shocked voice. “It’s you.”
Julie wasn’t sure what to say, but didn’t get a chance to say anything. Caroline had come up behind her friend. “What’s wrong, Fiona?”
Fiona. Julie hadn’t remembered the other woman’s name until Caroline said it and she looked into the eyes of the woman she’d spent some of the worst days of her life with. Fiona looked a hell of a lot better than the last time she’d seen her. Healthy. She looked healthy and happy now. Julie looked down, not able to meet Fiona’s eyes, and saw a wedding band and huge diamond ring on her finger. She’d gotten married. Then she remembered what Caroline had told her when she was in the store the previous week. They were all with SEALs.
Could it…? Oh lord.
“Julie, right?” Fiona asked.
Julie couldn’t read her tone, but nodded and spoke quickly, wanting to get this done before Fiona stormed out and took all her friends with her. “I’m sorry…” She trailed off uncomfortably. Could this situation be any worse?
“You know each other?” Caroline asked in confusion, looking between Fiona and Julie.
“Yes, I—” Fiona said.
“No, not really,” Julie mumbled at the same time as Fiona.
Julie wanted to sink into a hole and never reappear again.
“So is it yes or no?”
The other women had converged on the counter and Julie felt decidedly ganged up on, even if that wasn’t their intent.
“Julie was the woman in Mexico with me,” Fiona explained softly.
The store got so quiet, the only sound was the music playing through the speakers and the occasional car passing outside.
“Oh.”
Julie thought the one word out of the blonde woman, who she remembered as Summer, summed it up concisely. The disgust and scorn for the woman Julie had been back in that hot jungle came through loud and clear.
“What are you doing here?” A woman with black hair asked brusquely. “You own this store? I thought you lived out in DC?”
Julie nodded. “Yeah, I just opened last month. I moved out here. I needed a change.”
“Hmm, well, I forgot I have a meeting. Sorry, we have to get going.”
That time it was the brunette who’d been in with Summer and Caroline who’d spoken. The other women agreed and they all shuffled toward the door, putting the clothes they’d picked up down on a table near the cash register.
“I’m sorry!” Julie blurted again before they could leave the store, never to return. “I’m so sorry. I was a bitch. I was scared and took it out on you. There’s no excuse for the things I said to you or the things I did. I was horrible and you didn’t deserve any of it. I hope you’re…okay…and if I live to be a hundred I’ll never forgive myself for what I did out there.”
Fiona didn’t say anything, but her friend did. Alabama put her hands on her hips and faced Julie. “Fiona told us some of what happened while you guys were on the run in the jungle, but I’m guessing she didn’t tell us everything, if your trite little apology is anything to go by.” Her arms dropped and she took a step toward Julie. Caroline grabbed her arm before she could get any closer.
“Easy, Alabama.”
Alabama leaned toward Julie and hissed, “You were going to leave her there. Who does that?”
When Julie didn’t respond, Alabama turned on her heel and hooked Fiona’s arm in hers. “Come on, Fee, let’s get out of here.”
Julie watched as the women filed out of the store. The perky bell tinkled as the door closed behind them, leaving an eerie silence only broken by the music playing. Julie bent her head and rested her hands on the counter in front of her, not caring that her tears splashed onto the paperwork she’d been working on before the women had entered not five minutes earlier.
“That was a disaster,” Julie said to nobody. “This whole thing is a disaster. What am I doing?” She lifted her head, walked to the door, locked it, turned the sign to closed, and woodenly walked to the back of the store, away from the windows, away from the world.
She sat in one of the armchairs and curled into a ball, hugging her knees. And she sobbed.
Chapter Six
“I can’t believe she had the nerve to move here,” Alabama groused. “I mean seriously.”
“I know, and to open a store, here, where Fiona lives. I mean she treated Fiona like crap down in Mexico, why would she want to start a business here when her dad lives out in DC?”
“And she used her daddy’s money to open it too. She’s so spoiled.”
The nasty comments continued around the table as the six women regrouped after having their world rocked that afternoon. Caroline was silent as the others continued haranguing Julie and her existence in their little corner of California. She noticed that Fiona was also quiet.
“You all right?” Caroline asked Fiona during a lull in the conversation. “That couldn’t have been fun.”
“I’m okay,” Fiona told her friend. “I just…”
“What?” Caroline urged. She was concerned and didn’t want her to have any kind of flashback, just as she’d had before. She thought Fiona was past that, but seeing Julie again could easily make her regress in her healing.
“Did she sound sincere to you?” Fiona looked Caroline in the eyes as she asked.
“Sincere? I’m not sure—”
Caroline cut Alabama off. “Yes, she did.” She looked at Alabama. “I know you’re protecting Fiona and that you’re just as upset about this as the rest of us are, but think about things for a second. Okay?”
Alabama bit her lip and waited for Caroline to keep talking.
“We liked Julie when we were there
last week, right?” When Summer and Alabama nodded, she continued. “She was funny, gracious, and super open. If asked after we left the store if we thought she was a bitch, would any of you have agreed?”
“No. I liked her. That’s why we all went back today. We wanted to support her. It seemed like she was doing such a good thing with the store,” Summer said softly.
“Exactly,” Caroline agreed. “If what she told us is true, she’s trying to help out the community. Jess, she’s giving some of the dresses in there to teenagers who can’t afford a prom dress.” Caroline knew her words would strike a chord with Jessyka because of her work with at-risk teens.
“And you all know, because we talked about it before we went over there today, that she’s also donating clothes to women’s shelters to provide them with appropriate clothes to wear to interviews. I just can’t reconcile that woman with the one who was in the jungle with Fiona.” Caroline took a deep breath. “What do you think, Fiona?”
“I have no idea. It doesn’t make sense. I was there, I heard what she said and saw what she did. She looks the same, but…not. She never met my eyes when we were in the jungle. She always looked above my head or at the ground when she spoke. She kept a tight grip on Hunter’s shirt the entire time we were fleeing.”
“But she wanted to leave you there, Fiona,” Cheyenne said softly, having heard the entire story from Caroline one night.
“Did she?” Fiona asked, almost rhetorically.
“What do you mean?” Summer asked.
“I’m trying to remember exactly what she said when she and Hunter were about to leave and something made him turn back around one last time.” Fiona paused and bit her lip, obviously trying to remember what was said back when she was being held captive.
“She was scared, like I was. She’d just been brought in, and recently had been …uh…you know.” Fiona closed her eyes as if that would help her recall Julie’s exact words. “‘We have to go. I want to go’.”
“See? She wanted to leave you there and get out.”
Fiona shook her head slowly and raised wide eyes to her friends. “No, I don’t think so. Now that I think about it, I felt like she did in that hut at one point too. I would’ve done anything to get as far away from there as possible. But I’d become resigned. She wasn’t yet. She was scared and wanted out. If I had to guess, I’d say she was only thinking about getting away from the men who’d hurt her.”
“You don’t think she meant to leave you, per se, but instead was focused on escaping?” Caroline tried to clarify.
“Yeah,” Fiona whispered.
“But what about the rest of it?” Alabama demanded, not harshly. “You’ve told us how she hated the food, complained about you suffering from the effects of the drugs, and even how she didn’t care if Hunter got hurt or not.”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t in her head, so I just don’t know what she was thinking. But why do I suddenly feel horrible about that entire scene back there?”
“She was crying,” Caroline mentioned in a soft voice. “We were all walking out of her store and I looked back. She was standing at the register, looking off into space, and tears were running down her face.”
After a moment of silence, when none of the women said anything, struggling with their own thoughts about how they now felt a little sorry for Julie, but still were pissed off for Fiona about all that had happened to her down in Mexico, Caroline stood up from her chair and went behind Fiona. She wrapped her arms around her friend’s chest and put her chin on her shoulder as she hugged her. “You gonna be okay? Do we need to call Dr. Hancock so you can talk this through?”
Fiona hugged Caroline back as well as she could in their awkward embrace. “No, I’m okay. It just makes me appreciate Hunter more for his eerie sixth sense he seems to have at times, and thank my lucky stars I got out as relatively normal as I did. Yes, I still have some flashbacks, but I have all of you guys, and Hunter, and everyone else on the team. Who does Julie have?”
Everyone was silent as Fiona’s words sunk in.
Chapter Seven
Patrick looked down at his watch for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. Seven o’clock. It looked as though he’d been stood up. Stupidly, he hadn’t given his cell phone number to Julie, so she couldn’t call and let him know if she was running late. Hopefully she had an emergency or something had come up, rather than her truly standing him up. After telling the hostess it looked as if he wouldn’t be eating dinner after all, he got in his car and drove to Mission Valley.
He knew Julie’s store was there, it was amazing the information Tex could come up with on short notice. Her store, My Sister’s Closet, was nestled between a small bookstore and a kids’ boutique that sold baby and toddler toys and clothes. The lights in the store were off, except for the security lighting, which gave off just enough light to deter any wannabe burglars.
Patrick had Julie’s home address, but knew if he showed up there, he’d be a total creeper. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, trying to decide if he should call her or not, he’d gotten her number from Tex, finally deciding to give her some space. If Julie was having second thoughts about going on a date with him, he wouldn’t push.
He didn’t want to bring up any bad memories or trigger any kind of flashback. Patrick knew Fiona suffered with them and the last thing he wanted to do was make Julie more uncomfortable. He blew out a breath and murmured, “Fuck, this sucks.” He pulled out onto the road and headed home. Maybe he’d get lucky and she’d call him on Monday and let him know what was going on.
* * *
Julie huddled on her bed, concentrating on her breathing. She’d had a hell of a nightmare, one she hadn’t had in a long time. She’d halfway expected it though, maybe that’s why she dreamed it tonight.
She was walking away from the hut she’d been held captive in and she’d looked behind her as she followed the SEAL into the jungle. In her dream, he hadn’t turned around. He hadn’t noticed Fiona on the other side of the room. He’d left with Julie in tow and they’d abandoned Fiona back in the hut. As they fled she looked back and Julie saw Fiona sitting in the room, and there was a spotlight above her, shining down. The other woman was kneeling in a small circle of light. The chain was around her neck and she was completely naked.
Julie could see bruises all over the other woman’s body and she was bleeding from several large cuts on her face, head and chest. Her hand was outstretched toward Julie and she kept saying, “Why, Why did you leave me here? You knew what would happen to me.”
Julie had jerked awake, sweating and shaking. Even though she knew it wasn’t what had happened, she knew it very well could have happened. If the SEAL hadn’t been as good at his job as he was, it would have. And that ate at Julie’s conscience. It was as if she had to have the dreams every now and then to remind herself who she really was. A woman who’d leave another to live a horrible existence and to most likely die a slow, painful death.
Tonight was supposed to have been her date with Patrick, but Julie knew there was no way she could show up. After seeing Fiona and her friends at the store, it was obvious she’d never be forgiven, because what she’d done was unforgiveable. The SEALs agreeing to listen to her was a pipedream. She’d been a job to them. Nothing more, nothing less. They’d moved on; she had to as well.
So she’d stood up Patrick. He’d understand.
But Julie still felt bad. How long had he waited for her? Had he sat at the table looking at his watch, wondering if she was all right? Then when he’d finally decided she wasn’t coming, was he mad? Julie bet he didn’t get stood up very often. He was so good-looking. No one in their right mind would stand him up.
And that was the thing—she was obviously not in her right mind. She’d been insane to think anything she’d done to change herself and her lifestyle would balance out the horrible person she’d been.
Julie dug the palms of her hands into her eyes and rubbed, trying to get the horrific image of
Fiona in the hut, blaming Julie for leaving her there, out of her mind. Finally she shook her head and reached for her cell. Even though it was the middle of the night, she’d call and leave a message for Patrick. It was the polite thing to do. She hadn’t grown up the daughter of a politician for nothing. As a politician, her dad might be able to be a jerk and demanding, but as his daughter if she was rude, she opened herself up to ridicule and censure by the press, and she didn’t want that to blow back on her dad. Julie had to let Patrick off the hook.
She dialed the number Tex had given her, knowing Patrick wouldn’t be at work and she could leave a message and could take the cowardly way out and not speak with him personally. Julie waited impatiently for the message to finish so she could talk. Finally, after the beep, she spoke quickly.
“Hi Patrick, it’s Julie. Sorry I didn’t show up tonight…something came up. And I’ve thought about it more and I won’t need your help with what we talked about. It was a dumb idea anyway and selfish on my part…as usual. Thank you for your service to our country. Bye.”
As far as blow-off messages went, it was pretty lame, but at least it was done.
Julie threw the phone back on the nightstand and curled up on her side, hugging her pillow. Tomorrow was a new day. She’d be fine. It was a big city. She’d never see either Patrick or Fiona and her friends again. No problem.
* * *
Patrick sat with three of the SEALs under his command: Cookie, Wolf, and Dude. They’d been discussing the upcoming training they’d be taking part in during the next week.
“How’re things at home with Caroline, Wolf?”
“Good, although you’ll never guess what happened this past weekend.”
Patrick raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.
“The girls ran into Julie. You know, Julie from the rescue we did down in Mexico, where Cookie found his Fee?”