The Dirty Dozen: Damsel Edition

by Kay Maree

  “I don’t want to go home.” She shook her head from side to side. She had come here confused and ready to end it all. Telling her story had given her clarity.

  “You don’t have to go back there,” he reassured her. “I’ll talk to the police, explain the situation. Get you some help.”

  Her muscles felt stiff, and Lucan held out his hand, helping her to her feet. She had taken Karl’s car that morning, he had probably reported it stolen. That was more likely than reporting her missing. With any luck, the police might lock her up.

  Lucan, the man who had been a stranger only hours earlier, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against himself and shielding her from the cold. “Are you all right?”

  She felt safe, but was she all right? She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt all right, but she nodded her head anyway.

  “There’s just one last thing I want to do,” she confessed as they reached the end of the path. Slipping the gold band she had once cherished from her finger, she drew back and flung it as hard as she could towards the dark, tumultuous water below. It seemed fitting, symbolic of the life she was throwing away.

  When they reached the top of the bridge, Karl ran towards her. “Oh, Kiera, I have been worried sick about you.” He reached out to her, but Lucan’s arm tightened protectively over her shoulders. “Who are you?”

  “I am the one who saved your wife’s life today.”

  A mixture of confusion and anger passed over Karl’s face. “Well, I’m here now. I’m going to take you home.” He reached for the arm furthest from Lucan.

  Fear mixed with courage, and she stood resolute. “I . . . I . . . I’m not going with you.”

  A policeman approached. “Are you Kiera Kingsley?”

  “Yes, she is,” Karl answered for her. “She’ll be coming home with me now. Thanks for all your help.”

  The older man’s eyes flashed between them all, and he cleared his throat. “Not so fast, as a welfare check was requested, we need to speak with all parties concerned.”

  “I don’t think that necessary,” Karl began. “I have my wife back, and I am eternally grateful for your assistance, officer, and that of this,” he eyed Lucan up and down, “gentleman.” Even though his words were soft, his stance betrayed him. Kiera had known him long enough to know he was furious with the situation.

  “Even so, Mr. Kingsley, I am sure you understand we are duty-bound. You reported your concerns for Mrs. Kingsley, and we are legally required to follow it up.”

  “Can’t you see my wife has been through enough today already?” Karl grasped her forearm and attempted to tug her toward him.

  Kiera stood firm.

  “We would like to speak with Mrs. Kingsley and, if necessary, have her assessed by a medical team. Now, please, Mr. Kingsley.”

  Karl sighed and gave her a hard stare before reluctantly turning his back and making his way to the police car.

  When she felt a hand on her arm, she turned to see a female police officer at her side. A sad smile tainted her otherwise pretty face. “I will need to speak with you, Kiera. Take a statement.”

  Lucan’s arm slackened, and she felt the loss.

  “Can I just have a minute?”

  “Sure.” The woman bowed her head and looked away.

  Turning back to Lucan, she watched as the red and blue lights highlighted different aspects of his handsome face. “I don’t know what to say,” she admitted. “You saved my life today. Thank you for being there. For listening to me. For helping me.”

  Lucan’s hands grasped her biceps, and he bent his head slightly to hers. “I’m glad I was there. Please, promise me you won’t go back to him? Talk to the police. They will help you. You deserve a better life, Kiera. You deserve someone who will love you properly.”

  “Do I?” she asked, unsure of his words.

  “I have spent one day with you, and I can see what an amazing woman you are. Get the help you need. Let these people help you, and when the time is right, you are going to find someone special. Someone who will love the shit out of you.”

  Leaning forward, he placed a soft kiss on her forehead, offered a reassuring smile, and squeezed her arm before letting go and walking away.

  Part 2

  Chapter 19

  Lucan

  “Earth to Lucan. Is there anyone in there?” An annoying hand swiped in front of his face, and he swatted at it. “Oh, there you are. I thought you had gone AWOL on me.” His gaze found Grace’s as she stood towering over him. “I asked how your date went?”

  “Date?” he repeated, the events of the night before the furthest thing from his mind.

  “Y’know, the girl you went out with last night?”

  “Yeah, that,” he nodded. “A waste of time.”

  “Really?” Grace sighed, taking a seat beside him. “What was wrong with this one?”

  “I don’t know sis; she just went on and on about herself and her kid. Then she asked me a heap of questions. It was just tiresome, to be honest.”

  “Duh! It’s called getting to know someone. When are you going to give someone a chance?”

  “I don’t know. If I find the right one, I reckon I’ll know.”

  “You’re not still all bent out of shape about that girl, are you?”

  “No!” he snapped in response.

  “Okay,” his sister sighed. “I’m only trying to help. I want to see you happy again.”

  The truth he dared not even admit to himself was he couldn’t get that girl out of his head. Since that day on the bridge, when he had set out for a walk to get some fresh air and clear his head, something had changed inside of him. He replayed it day after day on-loop. He didn’t know how she hadn’t heard him coming. She must have been too lost inside her own head, but when he saw Kiera about to jump, he had moved faster than he ever had before, scooping her into his arms and pulling her back over the railing.

  They had spent the entire day together under the bridge. He had text his boss he had a migraine and couldn’t come into the office. He hated lying, but he had known from the start there was something about this tiny woman with the mousey blonde hair. She was broken and needed someone. He had wanted to be that person. He had rescued her physically, but damn if she didn’t need someone emotionally too. He had fallen in love with her that day. Wanted to take her home with him to show her how a real man would treat someone like her, not the useless piece of shit she had married. Alas, he knew she wasn’t in the right space to accept his love or to love him back. He knew she needed a lot more help than he could give her.

  That hadn’t stopped him from thinking about her every day or from looking for her. He’d returned to the bridge several times a week, just in case she was there. It was kind of stalkerish, but he drove past the only house in town listed for Kingsley. It appeared abandoned. Probably a good thing, since it wasn’t like he could knock on her door.

  She had worked for someone called Graeme, but hadn’t mentioned the name of the company. There was no way of finding her, and it was probably for the best. For her anyway. He just hoped she hadn’t returned to her abuser, and with every ounce of his being, he hoped she hadn’t returned to finish what he’d saved her from on the bridge that day.

  “I am happy,” he finally admitted to Grace. “I think I’m just better off staying single. Besides, I have my beautiful nieces to keep me busy. What more could I need?”

  Grace laughed. “You spoil those kids too much.”

  “It’s my job.”

  He loved his nieces, and they were growing up too fast. Grace’s ex-husband had asked her to leave one day, out of nowhere. She had been devastated and called him, crying. Her two little girls were only three and five. Ebony had only just started school, and Grace had to pull her from her class to move them across the state. They had lived with him and Kelly until they found their feet and moved out on their own.

  These days they were both well enmeshed
in their primary school studies; at ten and twelve, they were social butterflies, played sports, and attended parties, but they still maintained a close relationship with their Uncle Lucan.

  “I think you need to get out more,” Grace persisted. “There’s a girl at my work—“

  “Grace . . . enough already. Geez!”

  “Okay, sorry.” She raised her hands in the air in surrender. “I won’t mention it again.”

  Lucan could only wish that were true. Of course, she would, probably before the week was over.

  Chapter 20

  Lifting the weight into place, Lucan reached for his towel and wiped the sweat from his brow. Working out was all he could do to keep his mind from wandering these days. He worked, he worked out, and he walked that damn bridge. Perhaps Grace had been right; he had allowed Kiera to become somewhat of an obsession.

  He didn’t train with the others, he kept to himself. They would pass the time, talk about the equipment, but he wouldn’t call them friends. He had friends at work that he would catch up with from time to time.

  After Kelly died, most of his friends kind of fell away. That was kind of the way things worked. People didn’t know what to say, they were scared of saying the wrong thing, something that might remind him of her, so they didn’t say anything. Others tried to cheer him up by hooking him up with other girls, perhaps hoping he would forget what he had lost, but he hadn’t been ready. No one could fill the emptiness his wife had left.

  That was, he thought, until he met her.

  Nodding his acknowledgement to the gym manager, he made his way to the shower room. He would dress in his shirt and slacks and head to the office, where he’d spend the remainder of the day trying to sort out other people’s lives. All the while, his own was in total shambles.

  * * * *

  Numbers whirred across the screen in a series of tables as spreadsheet after spreadsheet transformed people’s business decisions into something more sustainable. He hadn’t set out to be a financial advisor, it had just kind of fell into his lap. Partway through his double degree in accountancy and economics, he had met Kelly. Things progressed as they naturally do, and she introduced him to her father who worked in financial planning, and the rest followed from there.

  “Hey, Luc’.” One of the younger accountants slapped him on the shoulder, dragging him from his thoughts. “A bunch of us are heading out for dinner tonight if you want to come.”

  “No, thanks.” The words fell from his lips before he had even processed the invitation and changed his mind. “Actually, yeah, I might come. Where are we going?” He needed to stop making excuses. Pining after a girl who he didn’t even know, even if he felt he did. Like ships that pass in the night, Kelly would have said. Chances were, he’d never see her again.

  With the address in hand, he pulled into a parking lot near the restaurant. He wouldn’t stay long, but it would be good to have a few beers with the men from work. It seemed every time he went out lately was on another useless date. At least tonight he could relax, he had no one to impress or expect to be impressed by.

  It wasn’t difficult to find his party, in an upmarket restaurant, they were the rowdiest bunch. If anyone thought a group of nerdy-bean-counters didn’t know how to let their hair down, they’d be sadly mistaken. His firm employed five young men, him at thirty-five being the grand-daddy of them all. These guys knew how to put the pints away and were not quiet in doing so.

  Lucan’s boss, his now ex-father-in-law, had always held the philosophy that as long as his workers did their work during work hours, they deserved to have a bit of fun in their own time, with the stipulation that they didn’t bring the company into ill-repute. He rarely joined them on their “dinners,” and his presence was met with a round of cheers as he reached their table. Garnering sideways glances from fellow patrons.

  “Looks like you’re here just in time to buy the next round,” one of the men called.

  Lucan obliged, but he had no intention of staying for the entire circuit. He had an uncle/niece date planned for the morning.

  Sipping his beer, he listened as the men told their stories of past sporting exploits, although Lucan imagined most of them were not the sporting kind. Having long given up their bat and ball in pursuit of sport of a different kind, chasing girls. Two of the men he knew had serious girlfriends, and another was engaged; this had settled them some. He recalled those days, thinking he had his whole life ahead of him, that he would settle down and live with the woman he loved forever. Nowadays, he found himself alone and single, not how he had expected life to pan out at all.

  At a nearby table, something caught his eye, and he turned to see a woman sitting with her back to him. Her mousy, blonde hair cascaded down her back, and the shoulders of her tiny frame rose and fell in a way that made him stare. He must be going crazy. For the longest time, he had looked for her in the crowd, every woman with similar coloured hair, or similar features. He shook the thoughts away and reached for his beer.

  “Have you seen the new Lexus yet?” The man beside him dragged him from his reverie. “I believe it has new features the last one didn’t.”

  Lucan listened and smiled along as his work colleague continued talking. He had very little interest in cars and only cared that they took him from point A to point B, but this was what going out with the boys was all about. Testosterone talk, Grace would call it.

  Three beers later and a belly full of food, he decided it was high time he excused himself and made his way home. If he stayed any longer, he’d need a cab, and that would be a pain.

  “All right, have a good night old man,” one of the boys called and was met with another round of laughter as he made for the door.

  Turning back to wave a final goodbye, someone came to an abrupt halt, bumping straight into his back.

  “Oops, I’m so sorry,” came a sweet voice, causing him to spin on his heel. “L . . . L . . . Lucan?”

  Looking down, he came face to face with the eyes that had haunted his dreams for months. He had replayed this moment over and over in his mind, the words he would say if he had the opportunity. Now faced with the woman of his dreams, his mouth went dry, and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.

  “Graeme,” she tugged at the sleeve of the man at her side. “This is Lucan. Remember? I told you about him.”

  She was with someone? he thought. She had told him about him?

  “Ah, hi,” he managed out, wondering why his own voice sounded so high-pitched.

  “Wow, you are him?” the man asked. “We owe you so much. Kiera has told me all about how you saved her life. You’re a hero.”

  His words flew over Lucan’s head. He had no time for heroism. “I was in the right place at the right time, that’s all.”

  “You’re a hero to me,” Kiera said her eyes wide as she drank him in.

  “How’s everything? You look well. I’ve thought about you, wondered if you were okay.” His words tumbled out over the top of each other.

  Kiera stifled a giggle with the palm of her hand.

  “I’m doing great. Life is good. I’m working.”

  Her gaze travelled back to Graeme. This was the Graeme she had been working for. Were they together now?

  “Karl?” he asked. He couldn’t help himself. He had thought about Kiera’s story every day and how much of a mongrel Karl had been.

  That night on the bridge, the police had asked him for a statement too. They had asked what he knew of Kiera’s history with Karl. He had begged the police to charge Karl with something to get him away from Kiera. Unfortunately, Karl hadn’t broken any laws, if anything, Kiera had since she had taken his car, driven without a licence. Probably figured it hadn’t mattered as she was planning on killing herself that day, she wouldn’t have anticipated answering to the law.

  Kiera’s face dropped at the mention of her husband’s name. “We are getting a divorce. Graeme is helping me with the proceedings.” Beside her
, Graeme cleared his throat, and her eyes shot to the other man before returning to him. “I better go, but hey, it was nice to see you.”

  “You too,” he replied, then watched as she turned her back. He wanted to call after her, offer his phone number, invite her out, something, anything. But he didn’t. He just watched as she walked away, again. Ships that had passed in the night.

  Chapter 21

  “What did she say?” Grace pestered him the next morning, as they shared a coffee.

  “That’s it. She and Karl are getting divorced, and Graeme is helping her with the proceedings.”

  “Did you get her number? Organise to catch up?” He shook his head, still kicking himself for not doing the obvious. “You’re an idiot, big brother,” Grace laughed.

  “You don’t need to remind me.”

  “Well, I guess that’s it then.”

  “That’s what?”

  “You are just going to have to pull your head out of your ass and get over this girl.”

  He raised his head slowly, taking his sister in. Perhaps she was right; if things were meant to be, they would be.

  “Uncle Luc,” Mindy called as she ran into the room. “When are we going out?”

  “I’m just having a cuppa with your mum first,” he laughed, pulling his youngest niece in for a hug.

  “Why?” she whined into his chest.

  “Because she’s my sister.”

  “I don’t wanna have a coffee with my sister.”

  “That’s because you’re a terror.” He dug his fingers into her side, tickling the girl’s ribs, causing her to double over and explode in fits of giggles. He loved playing with his nieces. He had always thought he would have children of his own, then Kelly got sick. He had resigned himself to never being a father now. He would always have Ebony and Mindy.

  “You’re so juvenile,” Ebony sniffed, entering the room.

  Her pre-teen attitude had them all scratching their heads. It was as if someone had taken the sweet, fun-loving girl and replaced her with this ball of angst.