* * *
"We go back to the apartment you pack your shit up and leave! When you're choking on dick when your homeless maybe you'll remember how I took you in when you had nowhere else to go. You fucking ungrateful...
* * *
Clunk!
* * *
Anna rolls over the hood of the car. The back draft wind made Camryn's sun dress wrap around her ankles. One of Anna's flip flops hit Camryn in the face.
* * *
The smell of rubber hangs in the air.
The sound of the car accelerating away.
Anna hits the ground. A few people run towards Anna.
* * *
"Are you okay?" A man asks Camryn. She doesn't respond.
* * *
Anna looks into the next world. A man pulls Camryn away from Anna. He places her on a bench.
* * *
"I'm a paramedic." He said.
* * *
"She hasn't said a word." Jessica said.
* * *
Camryn stares at Anna's body. She couldn't believe what happened. The ambulance arrives within minutes of the accident. Camryn sees Anna standing near her body looking surprised as the paramedics attempt to revive her. She is dead.
* * *
A shabby man stands a few feet away from Camryn. Everything but him appears to move in slow motion.
"Don't let anyone place labels on you. People tell me I'm homeless. I never signed nothing homeless man. I have a name. I am not a label. You have a greater destiny than any label people try to apply to you. Who would you be if someone had not assign a label to you? Who would you be without accepting the label? Be more than what other people say you are!" He demanded.
* * *
Camryn gasps for air. She grips her chest.
* * *
"She's having a heart attack!" A woman yells.
* * *
Camryn couldn’t stop the darkness consuming her as she gasps for air.
"We cannot allow ourselves to obsess and build a shrine to the pains in our lives." Pastor Samuel Cohn stated. "When we study and meditate on things that hurt us. We are placing our energy in the wrong direction. People misunderstand forgiveness. To forgive someone doesn't mean you're saying it was okay for them to hurt you. We are left with feelings that make us doubt ourselves. We doubt our ability to recognize evil. Doubt our ability to perceive danger. It seeps its ugly little head into all areas of our lives if we allow it. We forgive to allow ourselves to heal." Samuel stated.
Alison sits on a bench. She sits a few rows behind Kathy and Lance.
Kathy stares at nothing.
Lance appears tease.
Alison is delighted.
A woman squeezes Alison's shoulder. A squeal of delight slips out of Alison's mouth and many people in the service including the pastor look her direction. Alison embraces the woman and the two giggle and remove themselves from the auditorium.
* * *
"I thought you were not getting out until Monday!" Alison squeals with delight.
* * *
"I promised the judge to be a good girl and check in with my parole officer like I'm supposed to." Claudia said.
* * *
Alison and Claudia embrace. "I have so much to tell you. First let me show you my new place. Yes Claudia dear since you've been in jail I moved up in the world." Alison smiles.
* * *
They climb downstairs and onto Broadway Street.
* * *
"I don't really understand why guys are so hung up on eating pussy." Alison stated.
* * *
"I was the one in jail but you were the one out doing gay stuff with your freedom?" Claudia said.
* * *
"I'll show you the video. I wanted to freak out the princess." Alison said.
* * *
"It's so good to be free!" Claudia shouted.
* * *
"It gets better. My place is a few blocks off Central Park West." Alison stated.
* * *
"What? How? Did you kill someone and assume the residence?" Claudia asked.
* * *
"That does sound like something I would do. No my dear some creepy chick is after my sister and gave me the place in exchange for helping her." Alison said.
* * *
Claudia stops walking and stares at Alison. "Are you fucking kidding me?" She said.
* * *
"Come on. See for yourself." Alison smiled.
Beverly observes Richard and Katrina standing with their arms around each other. She's worked for the Sandoval's for four years now. Their close relationship is borderline incestuous. They had sex partners but when things start getting serious the same story would play out. One Sandoval would become jealous and competitive and the end result was always the same... the girlfriend or boyfriend would disappear. Richard and Katrina would go back into their private bubble where no one else is allowed.
* * *
"Hi, were all here and ready." Beverly said.
* * *
Richard's eyes sweeps over Beverly. "Thank you we'll be in there in a moment." He said.
* * *
Beverly thinks Richard looks like sex on a stick. The Sandoval's paid well so she dismisses the fantasy. "Okay" she smiles and leaves the room.
* * *
"You ever had sex with her?" Katrina asked.
* * *
"No." Richard stated. "Beverly is pretty. I like looking at pretty women. "He said.
* * *
"Well as long as she continues to do her job. No problem." Katrina stated.
“Let’s get to this meeting. Camryn has no ties to Albuquerque so we need to figure out her next move.” Richard said.
Camryn had a panic attack.
She wasn't sure when she got Anna's messenger bag. She found a notepad, Anna's phone, lip balm, condoms, three flash drives, parking garage ticket, pens and her tablet. She tried two passwords on the tablet. She thought for a moment about Anna. She typed in the word bitch and the password accepted.
* * *
She found Anna's email and read. JPeters name kept coming up - a Joshua ... he and Anna were having a business disagreement. Joshua was telling Anna she had to stop participating at the events. She’s costing them a lot of money. Anna's response telling him to pull down his skirt and suck it up. It's the price of business. She tells him those customers will have bigger concerns.
* * *
Camryn paused and re-read the sentence. She finds a lot of photos of and videos of people having sex. Camryn startled when Paul a nurse pulls back the curtain.
* * *
"You're all set. You need to go and check out. The doctor given you a prescription for your inhaler and one for a sleep aide." He said.
* * *
"Thank you." She said.
Alison chews on a pretzel. Kathy keeps looking around the park. She pulls away from Lance when he attempts to hold her hand. Alison smiles. Now she begins part two. She thinks. Everyone in the group (but Alison) prays Kathy would be given strength through her trying time. Kathy starts crying.
* * *
"Come on, honey. Let's go." Lance said.
* * *
"Your place!" Kathy said.
* * *
"Of course." Lance said. "Good night everyone." He forces a smile on his face as they leave.
Alison is happy at Kathy's misery. He'll console her for a few days, weeks even but eventually he'll end it. She can always count on a man's dick being his highest priority. She thinks.
* * *
"Everyone, Kathy was raped about a week ago. So please be as supportive as possible." Deborah said.
* * *
"That wasn't for you to tell us Deborah." Alison said.
* * *
"I want to pray for her." Deborah said.
* * *
"I do to. She's already been attacked now you're taking away her right to privacy." Alison said.
* * *
"I
'm sorry. That wasn't my intention." Deborah said.
* * *
"The cats out of the bag now so let's do what we can for her." Alison said. The other members agreed, it made for an odd meeting which ended early.
* * *
The train rolls along as Alison reviews the meeting. Kathy falling apart, upside. She witnessed Lance falling all over himself to help Kathy, downside. She got to embarrass Deborah, upside it was a good meeting, she smiled.
Camryn is dropped off by the restaurant. She needed to get Anna’s car from the parking garage.
Camryn found an email address with her name but it clearly something Anna set up. She found an email from Becker, Heath, Grainger and Becker letting her know the trustee paperwork is ready. The paperwork is date is two years old. Since she is the official trustee she has the legal right to go through Anna's life.
To her surprise Anna has a lot of money. Anna was organized. Camryn found an address for a private vault company in Centennial Colorado. She located a copy of a mortgage for a condo in Denver and a townhouse it's owned by Anna and Joshua Peters. She found paperwork for a Jaguar SUV! Camryn never knew Jag made an SUV! It had the Denver address listed. The car Anna drove in Albuquerque a Honda Pilot.
She's looking at proof of Anna's double life. She's the trustee so now it's up to her to shift through all the bullshit and figure out what's going on. She needed to make a trip to the private vault company.
* * *
Camryn stood a moment looking at the intersection where Anna died. Camryn could hear Anna's body bouncing on the hood of the car. She saw Anna's body landing on the pavement and recalled the surprised expression on her face. Anna was a rotten bitch but she's dead.
* * *
Camryn wasn't sure if she was crying because Anna was dead, because she witnessed her death, or the potential for a life easier. She sits quietly for a moment in the car. She unlocked her cell phone and searches the internet for a hotel. She's getting good at hotel living. She needed to go back to the apartment and gather her belongings. Death in the family or not there are ads to run for her online business.
"You haven't eaten anything in days. How about some soup?" Lance asked.
* * *
Kathy nods, "That would be good." She attempts to smile. Lance kisses both her hands.
* * *
"I love you. “He said. He didn't want to do anything that made Kathy uncomfortable. He wanted to hug her but wasn't sure if she would let him touch her. "May I hug you?" He said. Kathy allowed Lance to hug her. They sat. Embracing each other for at least an hour before her stomach made a gurgling noise and they both laugh.
* * *
"Sounds like you're ready for soup." He said. He smiled.
* * *
Lance went to warm up beef noodle soup. Comfort food is what Kathy needed he thought. Kathy had been raped by a woman. A woman! He thought things like that only happened in prison. Kathy had music blasting in her ears so she never heard a word from the woman assaulting her. Lance didn't want to alarm Kathy more from what he understood about the crime of sexual assault its likely Kathy knows her assailant. No one wants to believe they know anyone whom would intentionally hurt someone but the uncomfortable truth we all do.
* * *
He flipped through the mail and found a manila envelope. He opened it and found a flash drive and a typed letter. The note - look what I did. Lance realized this is a taunt from the rapist. He hid the items in his book bag. He is focusing on Kathy. He gathered crackers and seltzer water for her and took her the soup. He got his tablet and sat next to her while she ate. Lance and Kathy watched her favorite movies. Kathy became too tired to continue viewing. She walked around Lance's flat while he showed her the doors were locked and the windows were secure. He showed her the alarm system's active.
* * *
"Lance, will you sleep next to me please?" Kathy asked.
* * *
"Of course." He smiled. Lance made the decision the asshole that attacked his woman wasn't going to win. They will make it through this crisis. For the first time since the attack Kathy slept.
Camryn had been looking for batteries for the remote control when she found the $500 thousand dollar life insurance policy listing her as the beneficiary and the driver's license with her information but Anna’s photo with her new hairdo. The Life policy was almost two years old and the number of times she woke up to find Anna standing over her...she knew it didn't add up to the best conclusions.
* * *
Camryn went to Anna's bedroom. Camryn checked pockets and removed items out of the closet and drawers. She found cash 20's, 50's and even 100's. She pulled down shoe boxes and found everything but shoes. One box three passports one with her name but Anna's photo on it. Eight flash drives in a sandwich bag. A bundle of cash, Camryn removed the rubber bands she found the bundle all 100's.
* * *
Camryn shook out a pair of boots and a small bag fell out. Camryn wonders how someone only 5'2 could have size 10 feet. 'That was mean God.' She thought. Camryn opens the bag and found diamonds necklaces, earrings and a huge diamond ring.
* * *
Camryn steps out of the closet. "What the fuck Anna?" She said. Camryn figures someone will come looking for the money and diamonds. Cake sitting...men are so fucking weird!
* * *
She searches drawers and removes shelves she realizes she probably find no answers. She found an address for a private vault company and keys frozen in ice.
* * *
Camryn made sure the apartment looked like nothing's been touched.
* * *
Camryn leaves.
Lance found an empty office for Kathy to work. She needed to finish closed captioning for some client projects. He closed his office door. He is nervous when he inserts the flash drive. He first scans for viruses. He plugs in his headphones.
The person dressed in black head to toe sexually assaulting Kathy. This woman using a sex toy anywhere one would fit in Kathy. He saw this woman holding a knife to Kathy while she made her perform oral sex on her. This person performed oral sex on Kathy and use a dildo on her. He heard something. He clicks ten seconds back on the video ...a giggle from the rapist. He made a copy of the video. He marked the time of the giggle.
* * *
He wanted to get Kathy into therapy but he knew he had to wait until she was ready. He found information online and called the Rape Crisis Hotline and spoke to a few people on how to support her.
* * *
"I hate to admit this but in a way I'm relieved it was a woman." He told the counselor.
* * *
"Relieved?" She asked.
* * *
"Well, there's no concern about pregnancy and there's no way she could get HIV from this." Lance said.
* * *
"Pregnancy no, there's still a chance of HIV, low percentage. Did your fiancée seek medical attention?" She asked.
* * *
"Yes." Lance said.
* * *
"Good. It's important she takes care of herself. Make sure she gets rest. You said she went to work and that's a positive step she's taking. Everyone goes through this process differently. It's important she limits or removes herself from people blaming her. Acknowledge she may feel like it's her fault but place focus it's not her fault. Let me give you some resources to support yourself as well as resources to support her." Counselor said.
* * *
Kathy twists her replacement engagement ring around her finger. The ...person...Kathy took a deep breath. She needs to finish closed captioning the training and promotional videos for the insurance company. She wonders if Lance would consider leaving New York. He was a well-paid insurance underwriting and she works doing closed captioning for a nationwide company. Would Lance leave her? Their work is portable. Would she have sex with Lance or any other guy again? Would she want to have sex with women ...now she's had a lesbian experience? Was she being stupid for asking herself these questio
ns? Was she being punished for not being a better Christian?
* * *
Kathy calls her sister Liz.
* * *
"Hey Liz, how's the tornado business going?" Kathy asks.
* * *
IF: Nowhere To Run (Camryn Morgan Series Book 1) Page 6