Heart of Light (20 page)

She looked closely at Jolene’s face under the bright lights. “Yeah. It’ll do for now. Go put on a long-sleeved shirt and some longer shorts. Let’s get you out of here before Cam becomes suspicious. If he asks what took so long, just say you slept in and we got into a bit of an argument when I barged in on you, okay?”

Jolene nodded and walked toward her dresser, following her friend’s instructions.

Once her bruises were sufficiently covered, she headed downstairs where Elsie was waiting. Meeting her eyes once more, she asked, “Why are you doing this for me?”

Elsie exhaled loudly. “Because I like Cam. And I like you. And I hate to admit it, but I really like you two together. I know that something incredibly fucked up happened to you last night, but I also know that you care for Cam so I’m not going to pry…yet. Regardless of what you’re trying to keep secret from all of us, he won’t judge you…as long as you’re open and honest with him.” She gave her a knowing look. “If you do that, it will all work out, whatever it is.” She headed toward the front door, leaving Jolene by the stairs to consider her words.

“But what if I can’t say anything?” she commented under her breath.

“Then don’t, but he’ll figure it out eventually!” Elsie shouted.

“Damn. Do you have, like, super hearing or something?” She made her way through the living room toward the front door.

“Casualty of bartending.” She shrugged. “You’ll get it, too. Now, go see your boyfriend.”

Jolene rolled her eyes. “He is not my boyfriend. We went on one date.”

“Whatever, Tomorrow.”

Taking a deep breath, Jolene opened the front door, her heart skipping a beat when she saw Cam scurry off the lounge chair, standing to greet her.

“Hey,” he said nervously, running his hand through his hair. “You weren’t out here and I was worried. But I didn’t want to barge in on you after I promised I wouldn’t do that anymore,” he rambled. “I’m sorry.” He took a few steps toward her, his body mere inches away. “Are you okay?” he asked, raising his hand to her face.

She flinched and took a step back, her eyes growing wide in panic as the previous night replayed in her mind.

“I’m not going to touch you. I promise.” He searched her eyes, trying to make her see the sincerity behind his words. “Do you trust me?”

A tear fell down her face. She was trying to remain so strong when all she wanted to do was break down and scream. She wanted to tell him everything, that a creepy scumbag senator had propositioned her and was now blackmailing her, trading sex for maintaining secrecy. She opened her mouth, but David Murphy’s voice rang through her memory.
If you tell anyone about this little arrangement, you’ll be back with Mr. Falconi before you can utter the word ‘princess’, understand?

“What is it, Jolene?”

“Nothing.” She plastered a fake smile on her face, just as she had done nearly every night for the past decade of her life. She had no choice but to remain silent. “I had trouble sleeping last night.”

Cam closed the gap between them once more. “I had trouble sleeping, too,” he admitted, gazing down at the beautiful woman in front of him. “Jolene,” he said breathlessly. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you all night. I tossed and turned, thinking how incredible that almost kiss was.”

Each syllable uttered out of Cam’s mouth felt like another knife through her heart.

He noticed her lackluster reaction. “I know that I made a promise to you and to myself to be patient and let you work through everything at your own pace. I just need you to know that I will never hurt you. I will always be here, looking out for you.”

He raised his hand once more. This time, she didn’t flinch. Those silver eyes were kind and she knew his words were true. Her peace was in those eyes. All she had to do was stare into them and she knew everything would be okay, even if for just a fleeting moment.

She leaned in closer to him, her cheek only a breath from his hand. The heat coming off his body sent sparks from her heart to her toes.

“I’ll never hurt you. I know I say this every day, and I will continue saying it each and every time I see you until you realize that the words coming out of my mouth are true, Jolene. I’m one of the good guys.”

Her chin quivered as she listened to Cam’s words. She tore her gaze from him when she heard the crunching of sand on the dirt road, her vision settling on a black government car driving past her house. Her breath caught and she saw David’s degrading eyes staring at her.

“Please, Cam,” she whispered. “I can’t do this right now.” She quickly retreated back into her beach house, the hurt she was feeling for betraying him threatening to tear her apart.

Cam watched in concern, wondering why she immediately turned cold. He heard someone clear their throat and spun around to see Elsie leaning against his Jeep on the side of the road.

“I think she just needs to be alone for a minute, Casanova!” she shouted as she walked across the road and up the steps to the deck. “You have a tendency to be a little intense. Give her time. She’ll come around.”

Cam exhaled, slumping his shoulders forward in defeat. “Can you at least go check on her and make sure she’s alright?”

“You got it, Charming.” She waited for him to walk down the steps before slowly opening Jolene’s front door.

“Tomorrow. It’s just me,” she whispered, spotting her curled up on the couch. “I sent Cam away.”

Jolene rolled over and opened her eyes, meeting Elsie’s concerned look.

“I think we need to have a bit of a chat, don’t you? What is it you’re not telling me? I saw that creepy guy eyeing you at the bar this week. I knew he looked familiar. He’s a U.S. Senator. Any reason a senator from Illinois was hanging out at my dumpy little beach bar, and then drove past your house just a few minutes ago?”

Jolene sat up quickly, her eyes growing wide. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s all… It’s just a coincidence.”

“You’re an awful liar. Word of advice, Tomorrow,” she said, walking over to the one-cup brewer. “Don’t lie to Cam. He’ll know. Avoid answering, but never lie.” She finished making a few cups of coffee before searching the pantry for some whiskey. Finding some Jameson, she poured a bit in each mug. She returned to the living room and sat on the couch next to Jolene, handing her one.

Jolene brought it to her lips, needing the burn of the whiskey to get through that conversation.

“Listen,” Elsie said, her voice full of concern. “I may not know a lot, but I know something’s going on. Is there anything you want to tell me?”

Jolene lowered her eyes, the memory of the previous night fresh in her mind once more. “No. There’s nothing. I just freaked a little.” She sent Elsie a pleading look, willing her to believe the lies coming out of her mouth. She
needed
her to believe them. She had only been free for a week, but she refused to give up so easily. As much as it pained her, she remained mute. It was part of their bargain.

“Are you sure, Jolene? You can tell me.”

She shook her head. “There’s nothing to tell. Some things trigger memories. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. Like I said…” She raised herself off the couch, placing her mug on the coffee table. “It was just a coincidence.” She met Elsie’s eyes and gave her an icy stare. “Now, if you’ll please excuse me, I’m going to run myself a hot bath and try to relax.” She hurried up the stairs and hid herself in her room, breathing a sigh of relief several excruciating minutes later when she heard the front door close.

Heading toward the en-suite bathroom, she ran the water in the tub, wanting to scorch the previous day off her body. Once the tub filled, she lowered herself into it, relaxing against the cool ceramic. As she stared through the windows at the ocean, noticing the surfers bobbing up and down in the distance, she knew what she had to do. Elsie had become suspicious immediately, and that could not happen again.

She would turn it off. All of it. Go back to the smart-mouthed Jolene that she had been the past week, and do not let anyone see what lay beyond the wall.

She had been stupid. She let Cam under her skin and into her heart and, with each meeting, he had slowly begun to chip at the brick wall she had built up. It was time to resurrect her cold stone exterior and keep Cam away. It wasn’t what she wanted, but it was necessary. She would rather die than go back to
him
.

~~~~~~~~~~

“C
HICAGO
P.D.,”
A
ROTUND
detective said sternly, knocking on the glass of a ticket window at a bus depot outside of the city. Flashing his badge, he was certain he finally had the clerk’s attention.

“Sorry,” she said quietly. “What can I help you with, officer?”

“Technically, it’s detective.”

The young girl nodded her head nervously. “I apologize, detective. Is something wrong?”

“I’m hoping you can help me. Last Saturday night, this girl got on a bus from this station.” He held up a picture of Jolene.

The clerk scanned the photo. “I’m sorry, detective. She doesn’t look familiar to me. Why? Did she do something?”

“No. Just a missing person case that we’re trying to get to the bottom of. Now, my sources indicate that she, most likely, arrived here at around one in the morning and supposedly got on a bus for California. Is there a bus schedule?”

“Yeah, but I’ll make it easy on you. The only bus for the west coast leaves in the afternoon so she wouldn’t have been on that one. The last bus out of here leaves at one-thirty each night and its final destination is Miami.”

A sly smile crossed the detective’s face. “Do you happen to know who the driver was last Saturday night? I believe you. I just want to confirm that the girl was, in fact, on the bus before dispatching my team to Florida. I hope you understand.”

“Of course, detective.” She turned her attention to the computer in front of her and, after typing for several minutes, smiled. “It’s your lucky day. The drivers on that route were Terry and Mitch.” She nodded toward two men in bus driver’s uniforms hanging out by the vending machine. “That’s them over there.”

“Perfect.”

“E
VERYTHING
OKAY
, T
OMORROW
?” E
LSIE
asked the following Saturday night while they were slinging drinks behind the bar.

“Of course. Everything’s great. Why do you ask?” She tried to dodge her inquisitive eyes.

“I don’t know. Maybe because you’ve been avoiding Cam all night. Do you think he comes here just to hang out and have some drinks?” She gestured toward where he stood with his friends. “He is not a fan of bars. He’s here to see you, so stop ignoring him.”

Jolene finished pouring a beer and handed it to a customer, giving him an appreciative nod when he left her a big tip.

“I’m not ignoring him. It’s just…” She trailed off, glancing across the bar at Cam. Just past him stood David. She fought back her tears as she thought of their arrangement. That week, he had shown up at her front door after midnight every night. She had no choice but to let him in.

“It’s just what?”

Jolene stared into Cam’s kind silver eyes, the perfect juxtaposition to the malicious dark eyes standing beyond him, looking at her like she was a piece of property and nothing more. And that’s exactly how she felt. She wasn’t a person. She was simply a thing for David to use as he saw fit, and the thought made her sick.

“I need to use the ladies’ room,” she said abruptly, rushing out from behind the bar and running down the narrow hallway toward the staff room. Locking herself in the private bathroom, she tried to calm her nerves. All it took was one word and Cam would know everything that was going on. But she couldn’t do that because David would out her to
him
. She wanted to scream in rage and frustration.

Taking several deep breaths, she attempted to calm her nerves, inhaling and exhaling while she fought to shut off everything.
Show nothing and they won’t know that they’re getting to you.

Once her emotions were under control, she opened the door of the restroom and headed down the hallway toward the loud bar. Suddenly, an imposing figure in business attire turned the corner, walking briskly toward her. She lowered her eyes, struggling to hide the fear that was in them.

She attempted to continue past him but he grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop and face him. “Where do you think you’re going?” David seethed.

“I need to get back to work. Please.” She raised her eyes to meet his, biting her lower lip to keep her chin from quivering.

“Fine. But first…” He licked his lips and pressed his body against hers. “There’s something I need to discuss with you about our little arrangement.” He leaned in, running his tongue across her neck, making her skin burn. Bile formed in her throat and she swallowed hard. “I want the key to your house.”

Her eyes grew wide. “What? Why? I don’t understand.”

“I can’t very well be seen standing on your front deck, waiting for you to let me in. I expect you to leave me a spare key underneath the doormat out front. Tonight. And I’ll be holding on to it. This arrangement will only work if you’re available when I need you to be. And I’ll need you to be home every night, unless I know that you’re here.”

“People will get suspicious…”

“Do
not
talk back to me, Jolene. You forget that my secrecy depends on you playing along. It could all fall apart for you at any minute so don’t test my patience. Understand?”

“Yes,” Jolene whimpered.

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, sir.”
 

A sly smile crossed his face. “That’s a good girl. Now go back out there and act normal. Your life depends on it.” He released his grasp on her and she headed down the long hallway back to the bar, trying to put on a smile for Cam, keeping the secret that was breaking her heart.

“You know I can see right through you, don’t you, Tomorrow?” Elsie remarked when she made her way behind the bar. “What’s really going on with you?”

Jolene fixed her expression into the smile that she had learned to plaster on her face over the years. “Nothing, Else. I’m just a little tired. That’s all.”