Blood of the Rainbow

by Shelia Chapman

  “You got that right!” Joel retorted.

  ------------

  Jared and Sara left the bookstore and started back to Dave’s office. Sara was so shocked she was trembling. Not because Jared came close to losing his temper with Joel, but because of how Jared had introduced her to his cousin. Her stomach felt like a washing machine agitator.

  Jared turned to her, touching her face. “Are you all right? You look a little pale.”

  Sara pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. “I need to sit down.”

  Jared whipped out his cell, unlocking it with a swift sweep, his eyes going wide, and his voice terse. “Dave, it’s me…. I’ve got something I need to take care of so we’ll be a little late…. You will, great, thanks man. See you then.” Jared shoved his cell back in his pocket, helping Sara to a nearby bench. “Are you sick to your stomach? Do I need to chase you up another bottle of ginger ale?”

  Sara smiled weakly. “No, I think I can get by without it. I just need to calm my nerves a little.” Sara bent over, resting her head in her hands, taking some slow, deep breaths.

  Jared leaned over, tilting his head, gently stroking the back of Sara’s head. “Are you sure?” Sara nodded. “I’m sorry I scared you like that.”

  “There for a minute, I thought you were going to smash his face in, and give yourself away.”

  Jared chuckled. “I was.”

  Minutes passed. They sat in silence while Jared played with a lock of Sara’s hair, twisting it around his index finger, impatiently waiting for her to say something. “Feeling better?”

  Sara sat up, leaning against his arm. “A little.”

  Jared pushed some loose hairs behind Sara’s ear. “So, are you going to give me an answer?”

  Sara furrowed her brow, studying his eyes. “Answer to what?”

  “You mean you didn’t hear? I proposed to you Sara.”

  Sara gasped. “What? You were being serious? That was a real proposal?”

  Jared laughed anxiously. “Well, it was supposed to be, but I’m starting to wonder if maybe I.…”

  “Oh my!” Sara responded breathlessly, tears streaming down her face, her heart pounding, feeling as though she was going to hyperventilate.

  “Sara? Breathe, Honey! Sara?” Jared cupped his hands over her mouth and nose. “Breathe! Take deep, normal breaths. That’s it – in and out.”

  Her ears stopped ringing, and her head stopped spinning. Sara moved Jared’s hands, lovingly holding them between hers. “I think I can breathe now.”

  “Can we talk about this, or would you rather….”

  “No….”

  Jared’s eyes widened. “No, we can’t talk about it?”

  “No – yes - oh I’m botching this up. Yes.”

  “Yes, we can talk about it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ok, so what’s your answer?”

  Sara played ignorant. She wanted to hear Jared’s proposal again, under more pleasant circumstances. “I’m sorry, what was the question?”

  Jared raised an eyebrow, softly chuckling. He wasn’t buying it. Cautiously, he cupped his hands as though he thought she might hyperventilate again. “I asked you to marry me. Will you be my wife?”

  Sara smiled. “You’re serious?”

  Jared laughed anxiously again. “Well… I was, but you’re starting to scare me.”

  Sara started crying. She tried to use the back of her hands to clear away her tears, but she was fighting a pointless battle. Fresh floods were replacing the ones she’d brushed away. She was so chocked up she couldn’t even speak. Finally, she gave up and nodded her head.

  “Yes?”

  Sara nodded again. “Yes,” she whispered, staring into his eyes. Jared stared back, quietly reading her. A wide grin spread across his face. He kissed Sara with so much passion it made her dizzy. She honestly thought she might lose her breath again. Who would have believed it possible? Certainly not Sara but it was true. It was happening.

  Jared stood, swinging Sara around in a circle several times before setting her feet on the ground. Sara swayed and he kissed her again, taking her hand. “For a while, I was afraid I might have proposed too soon.”

  “You did scare me, but not because I’m afraid, or have any doubts about marrying you. I’m a little concerned. Mother will assume I’m pregnant.”

  Jared laughed. “Can’t have that, can we?”

  They started walking toward the park exit. Sara scoffed, assuming the question was rhetorical. “I’m not sure how my Dad will take it. I’m not even sure how Lucy is going to react.”

  Jared took Sara’s hand. “Well, what’s done is done. No matter what they thing, I’m not taking my proposal back, especially, since you said yes. Let’s get back to Dave’s office, so we can get this over with and decide on our next move.”

  ------------

  Jared and Sara walked into Dave’s office. Mandy, Dave’s receptionist told them to go on back. Dave was waiting for them. Jared tapped on the door, and a familiar voice called out from inside. They went in and sat down.

  “Well, what’s the news?”

  Dave drew in a sigh, sliding a manila folder across the desk to Jared. “You were right, of course….”

  Jared glanced at Dave, and quickly scanned through the test results. His eyes hardened. He closed the folder, resting it on his knee. Agitated, he tapped his thumb against the side of the armrest, fixing his gaze on Dave. “So, how do you think it got into her system?”

  Dave leaned forward, resting on his elbows. “Best I can tell, the normal way, orally, but it was a fairly strong dose, more than it should have been.”

  Jared turned to Sara and smiled. “Everything else looks ok. We just need to figure out where you got it, and who gave it to you.”

  Sara shrugged. “Jared, I have no idea….”

  “Try Sara. I want to make them pay for hurting you! Especially if it’s Joel!”

  Dave nervously glanced from Jared to Sara. “Jared’s right, Sara. If you can remember anything about that day.”

  Sara looked from Jared to Dave, hesitant, insecure, wondering if she should trust him. As if reading her mind, Jared spoke. “Sara, whatever you say here goes no further. We can trust Dave.”

  Dave swallowed hard and forced a smile. “Yep. Anything you say in this office stays here.”

  Sara sighed. “I’m not sure it’s going to make a difference. I can’t remember anything that happened before we went shopping.”

  Jared held her hand. “Honey, please try,” he prompted. “Try to think of anything unusual that might have happened, while you were at the bookstore. Anything out of the ordinary that Joel might have said or done, big or small.”

  Sara’s breath caught. “Jared, you’re scaring me. Is something going to happen to me because of this drug?”

  “Probably not, Sara,” Dave sighed. Jared studied Dave’s eyes as he was talking to Sara, intrigued. Dave continued. “There are a few cases where people have had flashbacks. Unexpected, the flashbacks can be a little frightening, and….”

  “Please!” Jared interjected trying to control his irritation. He wanted facts, not an itinerary. “If we don’t figure out who did this, they may try to do it again, or worse.”

  “All right! Let me think!” Sara furrowed her brow, nervously drumming her nails against the armrest.

  “Tell me exactly what happened, what was said, everything!” Jared prompted.

  Dave held up his hand. “Don’t push her, Jared. Sara, just close your eyes, and tell us anything you can remember.”

  Sara closed her eyes, trying to recall what happened after she and Myra got to the bookstore. “Ok, let me think… We went inside the bookstore. Myra started pulling books off the shelf, telling me the pros and cons of each one. She ah, we talked a little about the Quileute. Then she mentioned something about another book that was out of print. Myra went to the restroom. Then I noticed a man, standing at the end of the aisle, he’d been eavesdropping on our conversati
on. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I was curious. I asked him if he knew where I could get a book that told of the true Navajo legends. He told me about a book he had, and how much it would cost.”

  “Sara, I need to know what he did, could you just get on with it?”

  Sara’s eyes flew open. “All right Jared! All right, geez!” she closed her eyes again and went back into her reverie. “Um, I ah, I didn’t want to look conspicuous, so I grabbed the first two books Myra had given me, and took them to the checkout. I paid Joel cash for the book, and used your credit card to pay for the others. He ran your card through the machine, and it didn’t do anything. It was rejected. He scanned it through a couple more times, and still it didn’t work.”

  Jared narrowed his eyes. “That’s interesting. I’ve never had any trouble with my credit card.”

  “Yeah, well, anyway. He held your card up to the light and said there was something over the strip, so he cleaned it off with some kind of cleaner. He keyed in the information manually and handed the card back to me. Wait a minute! I remember now, the card was still wet when he handed it to me. I complained that he could at least….”

  Dave held out his hand, “Hang on Sara. Jared, can I see your credit card?” Jared placed his credit card in Dave’s hand. He held the card under his desk lamp. One end of the card had some kind of residue on it that sparkled, but not over the magnetic strip. Dave glanced at Jared and sneered.

  Jared grinned wryly. “Gotcha, you bastard! Sara, wait here!” Jared kissed Sara’s cheek. Before she could respond, he and Dave were gone.

  ------------

  After five or ten minutes of wandering around the office, Sara decided to lie down on the brown leather couch, and soon drifted off to sleep. Immediately, she started dreaming about wolves again. This time, as her dream started out, there were only two wolves. One with dark charcoal fur, and a bigger one with black fur standing at least two heads higher than the charcoal wolf. By his size and actions Sara decided the black wolf must be the Alpha.

  The charcoal wolf circled around the Alpha, snarling and baring his teeth. The hair on his back stood on end, challenging the Alpha. The Alpha stamped his feet and stood his ground, snarling with his head towering over the charcoal wolf, saliva dripping from his sharp teeth.

  The charcoal wolf lay on his back baring his belly in submission. The Alpha stood over him, his paws resting on his chest. At first it seemed the fight was over, but the charcoal wolf grabbed a purplish flower between his teeth, and shook it at the Alpha, blinding him with pollen. But the pollen wasn’t normal – it was white, and sparkled in the sunlight.

  The Alpha shook his head from side to side to try and clear his eyes. The charcoal wolf took advantage and grabbed the Alpha by the throat. Sara could hear the skin tearing and the bones cracking. She watched in horror as the charcoal wolf bit off the Alpha’s head, swallowing it whole. He glowered down at the lifeless body of the Alpha, and started licking the Alpha’s blood from the ground. Once he’d licked the blood away, he slowly started changing to a man. Then the beheaded Alpha started changing to a man. Sara screamed. The Alpha was Tom, Jared’s father. The strange man had killed Tom.

  Out of nowhere, a pure white wolf with glowing crimson eyes appeared and ran to Tom’s side. The white wolf started changing to a human, it was Jared. He was upset over his father. Jared knelt down, cradling his father’s body, crying, groaning and lamenting. The strange man changed back to a wolf, and stealthily walked up behind Jared. Jared didn’t pay him any attention. The wolf reared up and lunged for Jared.

  Sara started screaming and crying. “No! Jared! Behind you!” But Jared couldn’t hear her. The wolf grabbed Jared by the back of the neck. Sara sat up screaming at the top of her voice.

  Within a few seconds, Jared was there with her, holding her. A few seconds after that, Dave came through the door and stood behind Jared. “Sara, what’s wrong?”

  “Jared! You’re alive! You’re not hurt.”

  “No, Honey, I’m fine.”

  “Oh God! Your father – he’s dead. The strange man killed him.”

  Jared held Sara close. “Sara, Dad is fine. It was just a dream. It’s all right. No one is hurt.”

  “But it was real Jared. The wolf and you and your father,” Sara cried on his shoulder. This wasn’t like Sara. She’d had dreams before, and she’d never had any trouble filtering out what was real and what wasn’t. Why was this happening to her now?

  “It was probably a flashback, Jared,” Dave offered.

  Sara turned to Dave. “What did you find out about the credit card?” Earlier, when Jared was confronting Joel at the bookstore, Sara was afraid for him, now she wanted Jared to rip Joel’s head off. She wanted to rip his head off!

  “It was the same substance that was in your bloodstream.”

  Sara glanced from Jared to Dave. “So what now? Can we go to the police and file charges against Joel?”

  Jared sighed. “It’s not quite that simple Sara. Although we can prove that someone put the drug on my credit card, without more evidence, we can’t pin point it to one person. While I feel confident, Joel is guilty; his won’t be the only fingerprints on my card. The police may even try to say I put it on there. I’m the one that gave it to you.”

  Sara started to cry again. “No, Jared, you didn’t do it.”

  Jared put his arm around Sara, pulling her against his body. “No Sweetheart, I would never do that, never, but from the law’s point of view, I would have to be investigated like everyone else whose prints are on my card.”

  Dave did the math in his head. “Considering your weight, your state of mind, and the strength of the drug, I would say that it would take about twenty minutes for the drug to take effect. You said you put the card in your pocket. Unless you rubbed your eyes, put your fingers in your mouth or had some kind of cut on your hand, where you handled the card, you would have started to feel odd about twenty to twenty-five minutes later. Can you remember if you rubbed your eyes or anything like that?”

  Sara sighed, exasperated. “Not that I can remember.”

  “Did you wash your hands before you had lunch?”

  “No.”

  “How about afterwards?” Jared suggested.

  “No!”

  “Ok, so this is how I see it,” Jared said. “Joel sprays the card, making sure he only gets the drug on one end of it. He hands it to you, making sure not to expose himself. Unaware that anything shifty is going on, you take no precautions and are exposed. You get it on your fingers. It starts to soak in the upper layer of skin and, chances are, it wouldn’t have affected you for a long time if at all, but it didn’t stop there. Each time you used the credit card, you were re-exposed again. Then when you had lunch, you would have ingested it through your food.”

  “That would explain why there was so much still in your bloodstream. I thought she was only exposed the one time,” Dave sighed.

  “No!” Jared commented. “She was continually exposed. What I don’t understand, is why I wasn’t affected when she gave the card back to me?”

  “Could have been blind luck Jared. She may have handed you the end that didn’t have the drug on it.”

  “I suppose,” Jared responded, scratching his chin in thought. But what about the other people that handled the card? Every time she used the card to buy something, that person should have been exposed too. What is going on here? Dave, what are you up to? “What do you think, Dave, have we got enough to have him picked up?”

  Dave sighed. “Probably, but if Joel did this, isn’t it logical to assume he will have tried to dispose of any evidence already?”

  “I’m not just going to let this go Dave!” Jared growled.

  “I don’t expect you to. I don’t blame you. Your girlfriend has been assaulted; of course, I would expect you to do something about it. I’m just pointing out, it’s not going to be easy to prove it, especially if he got rid of the evidence, which I would have expected him to.”

 
Jared glanced at Sara. “Ah, Dave,” he smiled. “Sara’s not my girlfriend anymore.”

  Dave studied Jared’s eyes. “Oh – she’s not?”

  “No Dave. I asked Sara to marry me – she’s my fiancée now.”

  “Really? Wow! That’s great. I’m happy for you. Now about Joel….”

  “Oh sorry Dave,” Jared said and turned to Sara. “Angel, it’s your call. If we do this, you’ll have to file charges. His attorney will do everything he can to either pin it on me or prove you did this to yourself. It would have been easier to prove if you’d only used the credit card the one time.”

  “But that’s not the case, Jared,” Sara replied. “What do you suggest?”

  “Sara, I don’t want to seem like the villain here, but I have to play devil’s advocate,” Dave said. Sara and Jared turned. “Have you ever used any kind of recreational drugs before? By recreational, I mean taking anything that would make you high.”

  “I was always the one who said no,” Sara replied.”

  “In that case,” Jared said. “What I suggest is we talk to the DA. Tell him your story and see if he thinks we have enough to go on. But, again, that’s your choice. I can’t make the decision for you.”

  “Better still,” Dave suggested. “I know somebody who works for the police. You could at least talk to him and tell him your story. Maybe he would be able to tell you if you have any chance at a conviction.”

  Jared turned to Dave. “Do you trust this person?”

  “Yeah, I’ve helped him with other cases before. He’s good, and he’s open-minded.”

  “Sara?” Jared made her name a question.

  Sara shrugged her shoulders. “Sure. I want whoever did this to pay as much as you do.”

  Dave smiled. “All right then. I’ll contact him, and see if I can set up a meeting for you. I’ll ring you on your cell, and let you know the details. I assume you’ll be going to the funeral tomorrow?”

  “I don’t know. It depends on Sara.”

  Sara rolled her eyes. “Jared! That’s your grandfather. You’ll need to be there for your family.”

  Dave leaned forward in his chair. “Do you think Joel is likely to attend the funeral?”