"I like that. We will feel better and help someone else. We will look around and make two people have nice feelings."
They flew slowly over the city until they saw a couple get out of a car. Actually, they heard the car doors slam very loudly then saw the two people.
Angie and Edward Hamilton had money. Heavy money. The kind of money that is so big that they could lose ninety-nine percent of it and still be able to buy Cincinnati. They'd each had absentee parents who left for Cannes or St. Tropez or somewhere else on the Riviera to be with their friends.
Raised by housekeepers and hired help, both Angie and Edward grew up without love, especially without the loving touch that everyone needs.
They stormed into their mansion and separated immediately. They'd been in separate bedrooms for months.
Hope lives in the hearts of the terminally lonely. It's planted the few times a mom or dad held them as children. They felt the love during those few sparse moments and yearned for it to return.
At the party, Edward had behaved very badly, paying attention to a woman named Madison Wainwright for the entire evening. Madison dressed and acted like a slut. Edward wasn’t attracted to Madison. If he were being honest with himself, he’d have to admit he did it to irritate his wife.
Angie looked at her perfect bed with it’s perfect, sterile sheets and perfect pillows. She fell on it and cried bitterly.
Etienne turned to Veronique, "This little one has almost lost hope of ever being loved."
"She has. If we don't find the way to bring them together, they will be lost forever. That must not happen."
Etienne said, "We must intervene."
"What means this 'intervene'?"
"Interject ourselves in the situation. Muddle about, interfere, make their business our business."
"Oh, bon." He drifted off. Veronique said, "Where do you go?"
"You shall see." He faded away and within a second faded back in. Angie’s cell phone rang beside her bed. Angie wiped her eyes with her hands and picked it up. "Hello."
"Angie, it's your mother."
"Oh mother, now is not a good time. I'm not feeling well."
"Angela, this can’t wait. It must be now. I’ve been suffering for hours from a guilty conscience..."
Etienne said, "It was a few seconds. I made it feel like hours," and smiled at Veronique.
Angie's mother continued, "We treated you horribly when you were a child. Please, please, forgive me. I can't stand it any longer. I think of all of the nights you were home without us because we'd left to be with our friends. All the times I should have held you in my arms to help you get to sleep. I feel so mean… and guilty. Please, can you forgive me?"
Angie cried again, not out of anguish, but with hope of relief, "You love me? Is that what you're saying."
Angie heard a sob from the other end of the line. "Oh, what have I done? You don't know your own mother loves you? I've failed so badly at the only thing that ever mattered. Angela Hamilton, my darling child, Mommy loves you."
"Mom, it's alright. I love you too. Don't cry. We can start now to spend time together. We're still young."
"Thank you, sweetheart. That means more to me than you'll ever know."
"We'll get together tomorrow. We need to."
"Good. Thank you. Goodbye."
"Bye mom."
Etienne and Veronique looked at each other with satisfaction. Etienne said, "Halfway there."
"Yes, now the husband, this Edward who needs our help." They drifted through the walls over to another opulent bedroom.
When they arrived, Edward was punching holes in the wallboard, each punch driven by anger and frustration.
Veronique said, "My turn now. I can look into his mind. I will know the needs he has."
She faded out and back in. "This is not good, Etienne. He badly wants his papa to approve of him. His papa is dead. The pouvre enfant misses that which cannot be had any longers. What will we do?"
They watched Edward rip apart a pillow.
Etienne said, "I don't know."
CHAPTER 14
Julie regained consciousness in the back of a car with a strange man's hand inside her panties. She wanted to fight back, but the man held her against his chest with his arm immobilizing her hands. She kicked and twisted. It did no good.
The man said, "Hot damn, BB, guess what? This one's a virgin. Unpopped pussy."
BB tilted his head back and howled at the moon. He couldn’t believe his luck. "That’s another fifteen grand on top of the ten we get from Inez. Maybe more if we sell her to an Arab. They like blonde virgins. Good news."
Veronique said, "Let me prowl around his memories just a little." She closed her eyes for a few seconds then opened them wide. "There's someone else. He had a coach for the stupid game with the funny shaped ball and lots of hitting."
"Football?"
"Yes, but not the ordinary kind with the ball that is round and no hands. I will talk with the coach and see if something will be of value there."
She was back quickly. "Even better than I hoped."
Edward's phone rang. He picked it up and growled "What is it?"
An older masculine voice came from the phone, "Eddie? Is that you?"
"Yeah. Who's this?"
"Coach Mondello. Do you remember me?"
Edward calmed down immediately. "Yeah, coach. I remember you very well. It's nice to hear your voice."
"Eddie, I was going through the old year books just now and I realized I needed to tell you something. I should have done it before, but I got busy. I guess I thought he'd do it himself."
"Who'd do what himself?"
"Your dad. Did you know he came to every one of your games?"
"No… I didn't think he saw any of them."
"He told me he wouldn't miss them for the world. Flew in from wherever he was. Always sat in the same spot. I'd talk with him after the game. He was real proud of you. It surprised me he never told you himself. He's your old man after all."
"I'll be damned." Edward's mouth dropped open.
"For some reason, it just came to me that I never did make that call. I have one other thing to tell you. He didn't seem to be able to say the words, but I knew it just as if he'd shouted them from the rooftops. He loved you. I knew he wouldn't be able to tell you himself. I should have told you earlier."
"Thanks, Coach. You'll never know how much this means to me."
"I'm glad to help, son. Gotta go."
"Bye Coach."
BB carried a kicking, screaming Julie into the house in the middle of the factories. He yelled, "Everybody gather round." Five men who looked as brutal as BB walked into the room or stood up. BB said, "This broad still has her cherry. She's worth a lot of money to me. Anybody who breaks her cherry will get his balls cut off. Understand?"
All five men nodded. They knew BB actually meant it. He'd done it before.
Etienne and Veronique knew how hard it was for them, in ghostly forms, to move physical objects. But, they’d done it on a couple of occasions before. They agreed to try again this time. The pair worked very hard together and eventually managed to tip over a vase in the hallway between the two bedrooms. The noise was stunning.
Edward and Angie ran out of their bedrooms at the same time. They saw the vase and each other. Both were experiencing a highly emotional state.
The apologies started immediately. Edward said, "I was wrong. I shouldn't have spent all that time..."
Angie said, "No, it was my fault. If I were a better wife, we'd..."
They ran together at the same time and hugged.
Veronique said, "Now they need to touch and do it for long hours. Now they have to... to... Oh merde, what is the word for coming together, being one person. I can't remember it."
"Do nice ladies say 'merde', mon petit chou-chou?"
"Yes, they do. I am a lady, and I say it, so there. What is the word I want?"
"'Bond', my sweet. 'Bond'."
"Yes. Very good.
They must bond. And that requires skin touching skin. I will help." She whispered in Angie's ear and stroked her hair. Angie felt a slightly warm and loving feeling while Veronique did it. Angie said, "We need to be in the same bed tonight. And every night from now on." She rubbed the side of her head against his chin. "Please touch me. I need it so much. Please." She snuggled into Edward's arms, against his chest. She rested her forehead in the curve of his neck and shoulder. "I've been so mean to you. Hold me all night. Make me feel loved."
Edward scooped her up in his arms and headed for her bedroom. Angie said, "Wouldn't we be more comfortable in your bedroom?"
Edward stopped and cleared his throat. "My bedroom is a little disheveled right now, darling."
"Oh. Let's use mine then." After a few steps, she said, "Stop, put me down for a minute."
Edward set her down on her feet. She dropped the thin straps of her evening gown off her shoulders and let it slip to the floor. As she pushed her panties down her legs, she said, "You too. I want lots of your skin touching me."
Edward threw his clothes down the hall and lifted her into his arms again. "You feel so good against me. You were right. We're going to be in the same bed forever."
Angie kissed his neck and enjoyed his naked strength.
Etienne and Veronique looked at one another. Another job well done.
CHAPTER 15
BB threw Julie on top of a bare, filthy mattress. "No one's going to mess with you, bitch. At least, not for a while. The man who buys you will mess with you a lot.” He paused. “You’re not a bad looking broad. But, if nobody buys you, you won’t be a year from now. Being fucked a lot by different men does that. Too bad, but I need the money."
Veronique said, “Bon. This is good.” She paused. “However, I feel a disturbance in my bond with Julie. Something has happened. It isn’t good.” They flew to Julie’s apartment and saw that Julie wasn’t there.
Etienne said, “How can we find her?”
“I can feel her fear in this room. If I concentrate, I can follow it as the hound follows the scent of the rabbit.”
“Very good, my dear. Lead on. We will find Julie and the horror that frightened her.”
They swooped close to the street, flying low to the ground. In five minutes, they located the little house in the industrial section of the city. They drifted through the door and looked at the rough men lounging on the old sofa and overstuffed chair with ripped upholstery. They saw the locked door.
Inside the room, Julie lay on the bed and whimpered, alone and vulnerable.
Veronique floated close to her ear. “My child. We are here. Don’t fret.”
Etienne said, “We need to make the noise in the other side of the house. Let us see if we have the strength left to move something.”
They looked around the old kitchen. Filthy dishes and beer cans littered the counters and the floor. Etienne said, “If we could smell, I think we would smell the strong odor of alcohol. Which burns, very brightly. Come here with me.”
They gathered around a gas stove. It took four tries to blow out the pilot light and five more to turn the knob to one of the burners on the stove.
Etienne said, “We don’t want to blow up the house. We can’t let the gas run for too many minutes. Watch what I do.” He floated into the room with the men inside. They watched ‘Rocky and Bullwinkle’ cartoons and laughed. One set his cigarette on an ash tray. With significant effort, Etienne finally lifted the cigarette and carried it into the kitchen. He couldn’t quite make it the whole way, and a foot of so shy of the kitchen door, the cigarette fell to the ground. It was only seconds later, though, that the gas/air mixture exploded. He braced himself as the flames went through his body. In a moment, the entire room was ablaze. They drifted out of the burning kitchen just as burly men ran in. The men saw the flames, turned around and stormed out of the house. BB unlocked the bedroom where Julie screamed and huddled against the wall. He dragged her out.
The men watched their clubhouse burn. BB kept tight hold of Julie’s wrist.
Veronique said, “Bon. This is good. She is outside now.” She pulled Etienne’s sleeve. “I felt it. When the fire rushed through my body, I felt the warmth. It was nice.”
“I’m glad, mon cher. A feeling after all these years.”
“Yes. I loved it.” Her expression lost any joy she’d felt. “We must rescue the wonderful Julie.”
“What can we do? The physical object manipulation that they had achieved that evening had sapped them of much of their strength. “We’re dead and weak. We can’t so much as lift a piece of paper.”
“We can distract the burly fellow and make him let go of Julie.”
“Yes, that we can do. Whisper in his ear, my sweet.
“Good. I can do that.” Veronique positioned herself horizontally five feet off the ground. It looked like her head rested on BB’s shoulder. She hummed very hard in his ear.
The first and second attempt didn’t do anything but make him twitch. Veronique’s third, fourth and fifth attempt made him rub his ear.
Etienne said, “Do the other ear.”
Veronique nodded and switched to BB’s other ear. She hummed as hard as she could and BB let go of Julie’s hand to rub it. She was so weak from fear and anger that she fell to the ground.
Veronique said, “What can we do now? He will just grab her again. We’ll be back to the place we began.”
“Let us work together and cloud his mind so that he cannot see her.”
Veronique and Etienne stood in front of BB very close to his eyes. They concentrated very hard.
BB moved his head around. His eyes looked everywhere except directly at Julie. He shouted, “Where’d the bitch go?”
Veronique shouted in Julie’s ear, “Hide behind the big pipe.” Julie looked around with glazed eyes. She had to look three times at the yard-wide metal pipe six feet away before it registered. Veronique said it again and Julie crawled behind it.”
BB called his men back. “She’s running away right now. Let’s get on our bikes and ride the roads inside the area. She couldn’t have gotten far.”
BB and his men fired up seven huge motorcycles. “Move it. Find the bitch or it’s your ass.”
Veronique said, “Julie, stay right here. Don’t move.”
She didn’t. Ten minutes later, four fire engines and two police cars roared up to the burning building. Etienne told Julie, “Now. Stand up and talk with the policemen. They will help you.”
Two hours later, two cops dropped Julie off at Jim’s condo. She had told them to take her to her own apartment, but one of the officers was a close friend of Jim. He recognized Julie from a barbecue they had both attended at Jim’s parent’s house several years prior. He was pretty sure Jim would have his head if he left a friend of his at her apartment with a broken door and terrifying memories.
CHAPTER 16
Jim answered the doorbell rubbing his eyes and hair and looking sleepy. Cody had been vague on the phone and simply said that he was on his way over, and would be there in five minutes. He gave no other explanation, but the situation sounded serious. Jim had put on pants but nothing else. As soon as he opened the door, Julie saw his broad, manly chest and knew it would give her the safety she needed. She launched herself into Jim’s arms. Her knees gave way, and she crumpled. Jim picked her up in his arms, cradling her, and she snuggled into his chest. Even frightened beyond anything she’d ever felt, Julie caught Jim’s scent; a combination of basic male and Ivory soap. She mumbled, “Please help.” She was trembling.
“What happened?”
She started to speak, but found her voice was frozen in her throat. She just stared at him with a look of anguish as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Jim looked up at the police officers, his expression a mixture of pain and anger. Since Jim refused to put Julie down or leave her alone for even a second, Cody quickly and briefly related the story to him. He didn’t want to say too much and cause her to re-live the events of
the evening.
A half-hour later, the other officers had gone and Jim and Julie were seated on his couch. Jim still held Julie cradled in his lap. She burrowed into his body. “Jim. I know we only just moved our relationship to a new stage, but I don’t have any family around, and I’m ready to lose it. Could I stay here with you tonight? I don’t want to be alone.” She looked up at him and his heart was ready to explode in his chest, “You can make love to me, if you want…?”
“I am not going to make love to you. Not tonight, anyway. And there is no way in hell I’m leaving your side tonight, either.” She looked almost rejected, so he quickly added, “Besides, there are rules about making love to a woman in a state of vulnerability, sweetheart.”
“Do you think you could just keep holding me, then? Don’t let go yet?”
“I will be right here holding you all night.” The truth is, he couldn’t be pried away from her with a crowbar. He felt guilty for leaving her earlier that evening. How was he to know she wouldn’t be safe? But, still, if he had asked to come in, she probably would have said yes, and he could have prevented her nightmare. He thought he’d been doing the honorable thing by saying goodnight at the door. Well, he wasn’t going to leave her again. If he had his way, he wasn’t going to ever leave her again. Without releasing her, Jim swung his legs up on the couch and rolled on his side positioning Julie in front of him so he could snuggle her into his body spooning her. He held her tightly around the waist with one arm and stroked her hair gently with the other. She snugged with her bottom against his groin and her back against his chest. After a few minutes, he pulled the blanket from the back of the couch and covered them both with it.
“I feel safe now,” Julie said, her voice thick with fatigue. She didn’t say any more. Three minutes later, she was sound asleep.
After an hour, Jim woke up. In her sleep, Julie had moved his hand from her waist under the blanket to her left breast. He felt her softness under his palm and her hand pressing him against her. She muttered, “Jim. Thank you.”
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