by Carmen Faye
“It’s Dani. No one but my mom calls me Danielle.”
She’s back to her sassy side. That has to be a good sign. She really hasn’t said much since I got here, though with that neck brace on and being strapped to a hospital bed, I wouldn’t be in much of a talking mood either. Instead of trying to make conversation or ask her what is going on, I have just sat silently beside her, stroking her blood-stained hand.
“Sorry about that. I’ll make a note.” He doesn’t write anything down, just continues to look at the metal clipboard with that obnoxiously fake smile. He then glances my way, a judgmental scowl crossing him as he sees my bandages and tattoos. If I weren’t still dressed in these hospital civilian clothes, I’m sure he would have called the cops right then and there. “Do you want to step out, sir? I need to go over some personal medical information with Dani.”
I look back towards Dani. With her head stuck staring straight up at the ceiling, she can’t exactly turn towards me. But I can see her struggling to spot me. I stand up next to her as I say, “I can go. I’ll go grab some coffee or something, make a few calls to the boys and check in on the news.”
“No!” she shouts suddenly, “Don’t leave me. I don’t want you to leave me. He can stay, doctor. I don’t mind. I give my permission.”
I sit back down, grabbing her hand in mine and squeeze it even more tighter. Deep inside of me, something warm swells.
He sighs and clicks his tongue slightly annoyed as he continues, “Well, we got the results back from your MRI scan, and the good news is that I don’t see any reason why you should have to suffer with that neck brace for any longer. Besides probably feeling like hell, that seatbelt saved your life.”
Dani closes her eyes at the news, a small tear rolling down the corner of her face. She chokes back as she says, “Can you take it off now before you give me the bad news?”
The doctor walks past me, not even acknowledging my existence. He forces me to break off my contact with her as he scoots along the side of the bed. “Okay. Hold still. You’ll feel stiff and bruised after I take this off. And it will probably last a few days after.” He grabs at the velcro holding the brace together and peels it slowly away.
Dani releases an audible sigh of relief as she finally gets free.
The doctor continues to examine her, his hands touching gently along the sides of her pink and red neck. “Move your head to the left. Good. Good. That doesn’t hurt does it? Okay. Perfect. Now move to the right.” Dani’s eyes catch mine, her strong gaze maintaining perfect focus on my face as he pokes and prods at her. When he is done, she lays her head back down on the pillow and places her hands on her chest. “It looks great, Dani. I don’t think you’ll need to stick around here for your neck…”
“But? What are you trying to tell me?” She sounds completely exhausted, as if she is waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Well, because you lost consciousness on the ride to the hospital, I think it’s safe to say you almost certainly have a concussion. I want to keep you here for at least a few more hours just to monitor it. After we see that you’re safe to go, no vomiting or falling asleep, we’ll send you home with some strong painkillers as long as there will be someone there with you. You’ll want to take it easy for at least a week. No workouts or...”
I watch absolutely enraged as his eyes float down to what Dani is wearing. When I last saw her, she was in that little black dress. But now she is in a pair of those workout shorts that barely cover her little ass and a cut-off shirt without a bra. The tank top has already inched its way up her flat stomach so anyone at the foot of her bed can see the full undersides of her milky white breasts. My mind spins thinking of him degrading her like this. I know her better. If she’s wearing that outfit, it was not of her choice. It was that fucker Remmy and his twisted little mind.
I practically shout back at the doctor as I can’t take him anymore. Dani, too, is shifting uncomfortably in her place. “She’ll go home with me. I’ll take care of her. Is there anything else you need from her or is that it?”
The doctor picks his clipboard back up and heads toward the door. My message was obviously perfectly clear. Dani was mine and mine alone. No one, not even a prick doctor, can hurt her or demean her like that. He lowers his voice as he adds, “No. That’s it for me, but I do have to send in the police detectives to talk to Danielle about the accident. Danielle, they are aware that you are suffering from a concussion, so if you don’t feel as if you can easily remember details of what happened, do not push yourself. It’s important for your mind and, um, body to rest.”
He walks out the door without another word leaving the two of us in an uncomfortable silence. I’m not sure what to say to her. There’s just too much to process, too much to ask of her. But she reads my mind and hesitations, “Don’t worry, Ash. I’m not going to give you away to the police.”
I stand up and plant a small kiss on her forehead as I whisper, “Dani, I am not going to tell you what to do or say. You know how I feel about this already. This is club business and it can be handled better by the club. I can get the revenge you need.”
“I don’t need your type of revenge, Ash. I already got one guy killed.”
“What did he do to you? Did he hurt you? Did he touch you?” I know I am just making matters worse, but I can’t stop. I want to know exactly what that traitor did to my girl. I want my anger to build and build so I can inflict just the right amount of pain and vengeance on his partner. Remmy will burn in hell, I know this for sure. But while I’m alive, I will be sure that Spark suffers every moment of his short life for ordering the kidnapping.
She doesn’t answer me, instead stares at the door as the shadows of the police officers convene. They are in some kind of powwow, but we can’t hear them through the glass panels. Frantically, she says, “I’m going to say that you’re Ed Powell. You’re my boyfriend. You got those bandages from a pot of boiling water. Do not mention Oregon Rose or the fires or anything like that. Do you understand me?”
I am in complete amazement. Dani has taken over for me in an area I really can’t get around. “Do you want me to leave? That might help you…”
“No! I told you I don’t want you to leave me. You’re staying right here or I am not talking to anyone else. Just don’t say a word no matter what. I can handle this.”
I don’t have time to argue to her about her brain injury or the doctor’s orders. I can’t tell her I have aliases already that could work, along with a fake ID back at home. I don’t even get out how I probably know at least one of those officers. We have half of the force on our payroll for situations like this. But the police knock on the door cutting me off from all of my protests I have practiced a million times with cops like these.
“Danielle Stansville?” A female detective dressed in flowy black slacks and a tight silver blouse walks in first followed by an older man with a handlebar mustache.
I instantly recognize him. He was there at Oregon Rose when I was brought in. And luckily for me, he is one of our guys. There’s a moment of recognition and acknowledgment as he passes by me. Maybe we have a chance here.
“It’s Dani. Please, please call me Dani.” She sounds more tired and frustrated, but I can’t tell if it’s an act or her actually coming around to how traumatic her accident really was.
“Dani. Got it. I am Detective Lane with the Sterling police force. This is my partner, Detective Diamond. We’re working on your case, just making sure we’re getting all the pieces together. Do you mind if we ask you a few questions about what happened before you hit the fire truck?”
“Yeah. As long as I can remember it. The doctor says I have a concussion and I shouldn’t be using my brain too much.” It’s an act. I can see her calculating all her answers before they are even asked. She goes through the preliminary questions with little effort -- her name, her age, her address (and why she was staying at the hotel), her profession. When she tells them she is a firefighter, they stare at her completely
stunned. Both of them glance at each other while Detective Diamond scribbles down notes on his pad.
“Can you tell us why you were at Oregon Rose this afternoon?”
“I went to visit a friend in the burn ward.”
Lane looks over my way. She’s already noticed the bandages along my arms and has been connecting the pieces. “Are you the person in the ward?”
“No, that was our friend Anthony. I got this from a stupid pot of water falling on my arms.”
“Ouch. That must have been rough.” The detective manages to look the least amount of caring as possible. “Did you go to Oregon Rose at any point?”
“No. I had Dani bandage my arms at home. It helps to have a firefighter for stuff like this.”
“It certainly does…” She peers at me with eyes like a camera taking in my tattoos and scars.
I’m sure her first trip back at the station will be searching the database. Good luck to her on that. I am sure my name, besides my past arrest history, is scrubbed on the regular.
“Well, Dani. Walk me through what happened to you after you walked out of the hospital. Our cameras saw you getting into the car. Was the man with you the whole time?”
“No. I got into the car and started to change into my workout clothes since I had my fire department exam and I was running out of time. I had a call from a friend who wanted me to pick him up to go to the same test, but I was alone.”
“When did you notice him?”
“While I was changing, I was reaching in my backseat for my gym bag and he was there. He held me up against the seat and placed the gun to my head.”
“Did he tell you his name or why he was there?”
Dani closes her eyes and puffs out her chest trying to compose herself. Unlike all the other answers, the emotions she is putting on are absolutely real. I can feel it in how she squeezed my hand. “No. He didn’t tell me anything except that he ‘wanted a taste of me.’ He made me strip for him, but while I was changing, I accidentally hit the car horn and he got scared.”
“I’m sorry, but I have to ask you this. Did he touch you?”
“He grabbed my breasts and felt around my waist and crotch. But he didn’t do anything else besides that.”
Every bit of me wants to scream out, punch a wall, go find Remmy’s body and burn it myself. No one is allowed to do those things to her -- not even me.
“I am so sorry to hear that. I can get you in touch with a victim’s advocate or a good counselor, if you feel you need it.”
“Thank you. I would appreciate that. But I am all right for right now. After I hit the horn, he made me get dressed and drive. He didn’t tell me where we were going, but he got lost at one point. He made me get on the highway and then turn around back towards town.”
“How long do you think you were driving for before the accident?”
“Probably an hour and a half, maybe two. I don’t know really. I was too scared to look down at my car’s clock. I just drove.”
“We have reports that your car was driving erratically along the main streets of town. Can you tell me what was happening then?”
“It’s a little bit foggy. But I remember thinking I was going to die one way or another. I thought that if I at least drove crazy, maybe a police officer would notice me. But then he started threatening me and I swerved the car so he would let go of the gun or at least not be able to focus. And then I saw the fire truck and thought that if I could swing it around towards the passenger side and hit the back end of the truck where no one sits, it would stop him for good.”
There’s a moment of silence as all three of us take in how strong Dani actually is. I have no idea if this is the real story or just bits and pieces she is telling, but the fact that she survived like that shows how much of a warrior she really is. When I first met her, I knew she was tough or at least had grit, but she is truly stronger than I could have imagined.
“Wow.” Detective Diamond steps forward. “I am glad to see you’re not injured or worse. That was some good thinking on your part. I want to ask you again if you knew who this guy was or do you have a guess why he would target you?”
“No idea. Maybe because I parked so far away in the parking lot? I only did that so I could change clothes. It was stupid.”
I pipe in, breaking Dani’s rule, “You’re not stupid. It’s not your fault.” Her green doe eyes look up at me with tears forming at the rims.
“Do you think this may have something to do with the fire at your apartment or the other fires you’ve been on the scene for? We talked to the Chief who mentioned that you’ve been on-duty for a lot of the arsons.”
“I have no idea. I don’t think so. I don’t know who burned down the apartment or the other buildings. I’m not a fire department detective or arson specialist.” Dani was doing her best to bite her tongue and take out the obvious sarcasm.
“Okay. We get that. But if you can think of anyone who may have a grudge against you -- an old boyfriend maybe... “ Detective Lane looks over at me, clearly suspecting the tattooed giant of a man standing guard over her victim. “Just give me a call. We may need to speak to you later, but I know you’re eager to get home. Where can we reach you in case we need you?”
“I -- I --” Dani stumbles on this. Going back to the Piedmont was completely out of question. Spark knows she’s there and that she may be heading back. If he knows that Remmy is dead, we can’t afford to let her be in harm’s way.
“She’ll be with me at a friend’s house until she recovers.” I say, resoundly. Detective Diamond eyes me, trying to figure out my motives before I can tell him directly through our back channels. “It’s 1800 North Henry.”
The two detectives leave satisfied, wishing Dani well as they go.
Another hour passes before Dani’s ready to talk again asking me to change the channel from an annoyingly loud game show. Soon after, the nurse brings along her discharge papers and a pack of painkillers for her to use as needed. Within minutes, we’re walking out of the hospital and towards the small parking garage. She grabs hold of my hand as we near the car, and I can tell that her memories of what happened to her will never completely fade. Some scars like this just don’t go away. I pull her into me as I open her door for her and buckle the seatbelt around her waist.
I drive us to a safehouse we don’t usually use anymore. It’s an older, beachside home. If you passed it by in your car, you’d never notice it behind the large bushes and the overgrown ivy. It’s just a one bedroom with a small galley kitchen and a living room with a wood-burning fire oven.
As Dani stands in the doorway, I can tell she’s had just about enough for the day. I can’t bear to see her so weak, so tired. I scoop her tiny body into my arms, carrying her in a cradle towards the bedroom. The floorboards creak under our weights as I give her the short tour. She nods silently as she drapes her arms around my neck, just barely hanging on.
I place her down on the clean quilt I told one of the boys to bring by earlier while we were still in the hospital. I can smell the fresh fabric softener as I pull the sheets and covers around her. She leans back on the pillows, curling her body up in a small ball. I lean down and kiss her softly, our lips just barely touching and our eyes open and holding onto the other.
Outside, I hear the sound of a motorcycle or two pull into the driveway. Dani doesn’t seem to notice, but she does whisper something to me as I walk out the door towards the living room. “Ash, please stay with me.”
My heart swells as I close bedroom door to the outside. “I’m here for as long as you want me.” What’s outside can wait a little while longer. Tonight, Dani needs me, and I won’t break my promise to leave her again.
Chapter 25
I don’t know exactly how long I’ve been asleep for -- maybe a couple hours now, but I awake with a complete jolt as if my body is flying towards that fire truck once again.
I roll over in a panic to where Ash was lying next to me last. His warm body had rocked me to slee
p while I tried my hardest not to cry. With him next to me, I at least feel safe. I feel far away from what had happened to me in that car and to what I had done to that man.
Still, in my dreams, I wrestled with the thought of being a murderer. I wanted Remmy dead. I wanted him gone, and I had made an actual plan on how to do it. It wasn’t unintentional or even an accident. Slamming my car into the fire truck showed that there is something in me so dark, so evil that I could let a person with a family and a soul die on my hands. It was in my dreams I could see that white sheet covering his face, red soaking through.
I want Ash to tell me everything is going to be okay, and trust that he will keep these demons from following me. After all, he had been fighting that darkness back, as well. He seems to come to terms with it, but I can feel that there is a little bit of him that hasn’t exactly forgiven himself -- at least for his brother and sister-in-law.