Phantom Scars (11 page)

Chapter 22 – Green Mist

Agent Green was Dr. Greyson's FBI contact and apparently very insistent on talking with Emma himself. I didn't like this fellow, and the idea of someone else knowing of her existence was nerve-wracking. He just wouldn't let it go, though, and Dr. Greyson finally talked us into letting him come by with Agent Green.

When I heard the knock on the door, I left Emma hiding in the bedroom. I told her she didn't have to come out if she didn't feel safe. I opened the door, scowling and upset. This man knew I didn't want him here.

"I'm Agent Green," he said handing me his credentials. "I'm here to see Emmaline Declan."

"Her name is Clemens, we're married," I growled at him, and he looked at me with just as much contempt. "Don't you think she's been through enough? You have what you need. You don't need to be here," I snapped at him impatiently. Who was he to judge me for marrying her? Yes, she was young, but I did take care of her and kept her safe.

"Sir, is she here or not?"

"She's not comfortable around men," I snapped.

"But she's comfortable around
you
?" he said accusingly.

"Yes! I'm her husband!" I growled out. "What do you want?"

"I need to check to see if it's really her," he answered.

"It is! Do you want to see her identification? She has one with her maiden name on it," I offered contemptuously. I did not want to let him see my little wife.

"Sir, please, just let me see that she's alive and alright," he said sounding a bit more defeated.

I took a moment to calm myself. "As I said, men make her nervous. It took weeks before she could even talk to Dr. Greyson."

"I understand that, Sir, but my father and her father are good friends. I have a bit of a personal interest in making sure she's alright. I took this case because of her, and I’d just feel a whole lot better knowing it
is
really her and she’s safe," he said pleadingly.

I heard the door to our bedroom creak open. "Just a moment," I said and moved to it. I knew if she wanted to come out, she would need me.

She looked at me with worried eyes.

"You don't have to do this," I told her, but she just slipped her arms around me, breathing me in deeply. I looked up to the main room to see Agent Green watching us. I rubbed her back softly. "Did you hear what he said?" I asked, and she nodded yes. "Do you want to come out to see him?" I asked.

She peeked down the hall and saw Agent Green and Dr. Greyson smiling. She took a deep breath and nodded yes then whispered, "Please, hold me."

"I will, I promise, I'm not letting you go."

She smiled softly at me, and I lifted her into my arms and cradled her tightly to me. I sat down on the couch with her in my lap and motioned for Agent Green to take a seat in the chair across the way.

"Is she alright?" he asked, sounding truly concerned.

I kissed her forehead. "Yes, you're just a stranger."

"I'm sorry, Emma, I don't mean to stress you out," he said, and I noticed her perk up at the sound of her name.

"We've met before, but it was a long time ago. I think you were three or four the last summer you spent with your dad.  You shoved me into a cactus when I stole your sippy cup. That's why I remember you so well. You never forget having cactus spines removed from your backside."

I felt her wiggle a little and realized she was giggling. She peeked up at him through her hair. I felt her relaxing in my arms.

"Anyways, when I heard you were involved in this case and may still be alive, I insisted I be assigned to it. I wanted to see if it were true. I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up if it was a hoax," he said letting out a sigh. "So, if you really are Emmaline Declan, or Clemens," he corrected when I glared at him, "Could you tell me the name of your dad's best friend?"

She was quiet and closed her eyes for a moment. Then she looked at me and whispered in my ear, "Jimmy," with imploring eyes, asking for me to repeat it.

"She said Jimmy," I stated clearly.

"It's you, it's really you, and you're alive," Agent Green said, as he tried to pull himself together. "Oh, Emma, your dad’s going to be so happy to see you. He's been such a mess since the day he lost you."

She looked at him confused and shook her head at him, starting to cry. I knew why. I remembered she had seen her father killed.

"Agent Green, you're upsetting my wife. She watched her father die. He was shot and fell out of a window to his death."

"No!" he stood and shouted, making my girl jump and me to move her behind me protectively.

Dr. Greyson saw I was about to rip the idiot apart and stepped between us. "Let's all settle down now," he said calmly.

Agent Green sat back down in his chair. "He wasn't killed; shot, yes, fell out a second story window and broke his arm, yes, but he was fine. He was wearing his vest when they shot him, and he landed in a large shrub, which sort of broke his fall. He had some bad bruises and a broken arm, but he's definitely alive."

My girl perked up from behind me, peeking over my shoulder, trying to see if what Agent Green said was true. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her back into my lap. "But I saw," she whispered, but it was loud enough for Agent Green to hear.

"I know what you saw. I know what he saw, too," he frowned. "I'm sure if it wasn't for that rival gang coming and blowing the place to high heaven, much worse would’ve been done. He would’ve been found in the bushes and killed, but the attack was enough to cause chaos and grab the attention of the local authorities. They found your father, but they couldn't find you anywhere. We thought they’d fled with you," he said sadly. "When we started getting hits saying they were looking for you here, I took the case. We thought someone had stolen your identity, and I wanted to take care of it before your parents heard about it. I'm thrilled to find that's not the case, Emma. I'm so happy you're alive and well."

She nodded yes to him, acknowledging she was fine.

"I can take you home to your mom and dad. I know you don't know this, but Paige moved back in with your dad after she was warned they were coming for her. Clark’s place was her safe house. He's taken care of her and her him. They both are a bit of a mess, but he's doing a little better now that she's back. Oh, Emma, they're going to be so thrilled to finally have you back home." He continued his happy ranting about taking my wife away, and I found myself holding her tighter. I didn't want to let her go. I wanted to keep her. She was mine. She was my wife. I didn't want her to leave me, but it was a very real possibility, and I would be a selfish jerk to keep her from her family. I didn't know what to do. I just knew I didn't want to let her go.

Dr. Greyson must have seen the desperation on my face, because he quickly talked Agent Green into joining him down in the restaurant for some of my momma's cobbler, giving Emma and me a moment to talk, and giving her a chance to process everything. I only hoped she would not ask me to let her go.

She stayed in my lap with her face buried in my chest for a while, crying softly, and then she finally whispered, "Please, don't let him take me."

I squeezed her tighter. "Never, I’ll never let anyone take you from me, you don't have to go anywhere you don't want to," I said trying to comfort her, but she just seemed to sob harder.

"I want to go," she finally got out, and I looked at her confused. She’d just said she didn't want to go.

I frowned. "If you truly wish to leave with him…" I said getting ready to concede, but she violently shook her head no again.

"You don't want to go?" I asked confused, because she nodded yes, indicating she did wish to go home with Agent Green.

I sighed and rubbed my face. "Sweetheart, I don't understand. Do you want to go with Agent Green or not?"

"I want to go home," she whispered, and my chest ached a little. I wanted this to be her home, but she did not think of it that way. She considered her father's house her home, and that was where she wanted to be.

I set her aside and walked out of the room to the bathroom, so I could hide the overwhelming pain I was feeling at the moment. She wanted to leave me. As Agent Green made me realize, she was just a kid, and I should return her to her family.

A horrible noise filled the bathroom, and then I realized it was me. I was crying for the loss of my wife. I didn't ever remember feeling such pain, and I couldn't recall the last time I'd cried other than at my stepfather's funeral. But this pain felt much deeper, and I didn't understand why. I crumpled to the floor and fell back against the cabinets.

I didn't know how long I was sitting there crying, when I felt a cool hand on my hot face. I closed my eyes, too ashamed to face whoever it was. I was a man. I shouldn't be crying like a baby. I was so weak.

I felt warm lips on my forehead, and then her small body squeezed into my lap. She snuggled into my neck. "Not without you," she whispered in my ear. "I can't go without you."

I opened my eyes to see her pleading ones. She was begging me to take her home, to hand her over to her father myself, and I wasn't sure I could do that. I didn't think I could just hand her over to another man, even if it was her father. I squeezed her tightly in my arms, burying my face in her hair as I cried. "I don't want to lose you," I finally whispered, and I felt her arms grip me tighter.

"No, I'm yours to keep, and you're mine," she said softly.

I let out such a gasping sob of relief it shook us both. I held her tighter than I should have and kissed her head where my face was hiding in her hair. "Thank you," I said and held her closer. "I'll take you home if that's really what you want."

I leaned back and saw a look of pain on her face. She looked so torn, but she nodded yes. I kissed her forehead and sighed. I guess I would take her home and hope she would still wish to return with me in the end.

Chapter 23 – Voice of Reason

I realized I would have to speak with my momma about leaving for a couple of weeks. It turned out that Emma's parents lived in a little hick town called Kingman, Arizona, and her father was a police detective there. When he had heard of his daughter's disappearance, he had gone hog wild. He had tracked down and charged after the men who’d had her, causing them to panic and move her out of the states, where they had tried to hide her in Germany before her sale. That didn't stop Detective Declan. Apparently, his ex-wife had helped fund the trip for him to go and track down his daughter, only to have Emma snatched away from him at the last minute. I thought it ironic that the villains had actually funded their own hunt indirectly.

Emma snuggled into my side nervously, as we waited for my momma to come upstairs. She knocked lightly on the door, and I called for her to come in. She smiled, but she had tears in her eyes. I suspected Dr. Greyson and Agent Green had informed her of what was going on. She hurried over and hugged us both, squishing us together. She cupped Emma's face, smiling. "Oh, sugar, how does it feel to get your family back?"

Emma smiled weakly, and I think my momma understood her dilemma. "You know, baby girl, you'll always be my daughter as well, right?" she said smiling and pulled Emma into a hug. I heard Emma whimper and saw her grip tighten on my momma.

My momma smiled at me. "I'm guessing you both are taking a trip for a while, so she can get reacquainted with her family?"

I nodded, and my momma patted my cheek. "Good boy, you keep an eye on your girl. She needs you, Devin. Don't you forget that," she said sternly.

The FBI actually footed the bill for us to fly to Arizona, and Agent Green met us at the airport in Phoenix to drive us to Kingman a few hours away. We sat silently in the back seat, as Agent Green happily tapped on the steering wheel. He looked up at us in the rearview mirror. "You know, I told them I have a surprise. That I was bringing home someone special. Clark's been like a second dad to me. I'm sure he thinks I'm bringing home a girlfriend. Boy is he going to be surprised."

"You didn't tell them we were coming?" I snapped at him. He looked up at me shocked. "You didn't think their deceased daughter showing up on their doorstep would be a little hard to believe! If they give her any grief or trouble, I'll be reporting you and beating you to a pulp!" I growled.

That idiot didn't seem to take me seriously, he just shrugged at me. "They'll know it's her," he said dismissing my concerns.

We pulled up to a little tan stucco house, and I saw my girl's eyes start to water, and her breathing picked up. I wrapped my arms around her. "It's going to be alright. I promise. We can do this," I said, needing the encouragement just as much as she did.

Agent Green was out of the car and at the front door knocking, as I got out of the car first and coaxed my Little One out as well. She wrapped her arms around me tightly, pressing her face hard into my side, hiding under my arm. "It's okay, Little One, I've got you."

We heard someone coming out, and I heard someone say, "Clemens?" I looked up at the sound of my name to see a man glaring in my direction. "You just stay in the house!" he called back to someone and stormed in our direction.

Little Emma whimpered.

"Sir, could you please slow down, you're scaring her," I called to the man, and it just seemed to make him madder. I turned Emma away from him, trying to shield her from the anger that was radiating off of him.

"You give me back my daughter right now, you sick bastard! I'm going to kill you for laying a hand on her!" he shouted at me, and my Little One literally climbed up me and into my arms. I saw Agent Green running down the steps toward us. Detective Declan continued to yell at me, but I could only focus on Emma crying hysterically in my arms. I knew we needed to get away from him, and I cursed myself for not renting my own car, as I carefully sat my girl in the backseat.

I felt a rough hand grab my shoulder and yank me back. I was met with an immediate fist to the face and could hear screaming. Detective Declan was strong, but I was able to get him off of me, and Agent Green pulled him back from me.

There was a woman outside now, staring at us all, but when she looked to the backseat, tears burst from her eyes, as she ran for the car. She lunged into the backseat, where my girl was panicking and crying, scrambling to get away. I knew she was having another attack, as she tried to fight to get away from the woman trying to invade the backseat. I didn't know who she was, so I quickly grabbed the woman and pulled her away. "Let me calm her down first," I insisted moving past her and pulling Emma into my lap. "I've got you, you're safe, you're okay, Little One."

She buried her face in my shirt, crying and trembling, but she started to settle down. I grabbed her bag and pulled out her bottle of pills. I looked up at the woman who was standing there crying herself. "Could you please get her some water to take her pill?" I asked.

She nodded yes and ran faster than I had ever seen a woman move in my life into the house, and she was at my side again in seconds with a bottle of water. I pulled up my Little One's face and kissed her forehead. "Hey, honey, I think you should take a pill. I have it here with some water. Can you do that for me?" I asked.

She looked up at me sniffling and opened her mouth for me. I popped the pill in and gave her the water to drink. She sank back down in my arms, and I looked at the woman next to me. "Just give her a minute for the pill to kick in," I said.

The woman surprised me by nodding in agreement and leaning into my side. She reached a hand out, running it up Emma's arm. Emma peeked to see who was touching her, and then she quickly grabbed the woman's hand and pulled it closer to her, hugging it.

After a few minutes, Emma had shifted off my lap and was hugging the woman and crying happy tears, and I let out a relieved sigh. I looked at Detective Declan, who was now glaring at both Agent Green and I. I hoped he would control his temper, or he wouldn't be getting his daughter back. There was no way I was letting him upset my girl.

The women settled down a little, and she asked, "Mr. Clemens, how did you come upon our Emma?"

I wasn't sure how to address her. I was pretty sure she was Emma's momma, but I had no clue what her name was. "Ma'am, I'm not sure how to address you," I admitted.

She smiled at me. "Paige, just call me Paige."

"Thank you, Ma'am," I said smiling. At least there was one friendly face at this house. "I found Emma when she was hiding in my quarters. I was first mate on a ship that runs from the European coast to the textile mills in Georgetown, South Carolina."

"You found her?"

"Yes, Ma'am, I suspected the place was haunted, until I found her on the floor of my quarters one night, sicker than a poisoned frog."

Her momma smiled at me, and Emma snuggled into my side, hiding her face that was warm with a blush.

"She was so tiny and thin, she had me worried she wouldn't make it through the night, so I stayed up taking care of her. She snuck off, hiding in the ductwork when she thought I was sleeping, and so I started leaving notes for her and food, hoping she was alright. We became friends, sort of. She was still really skittish, but she figured out I’d never harm her," I said rubbing her back.

"So how did you two come to be married?" She looked at me worried and then to her husband and grimaced.

I let out a sigh. "She needed to have papers, so they didn't send her back to Germany. I knew something bad had happened to her, and when the captain found her in my quarters with me, as I was trying to think up a safe way to get her off the ship, he had a fit. I lied and said she was my girlfriend, so she wouldn't get in trouble for stowing away. The captain said she had to have papers, because customs was boarding soon and would find her. He married us on the ship, so she’d have a legal document saying she was an American citizen, and so they wouldn’t send her back."

When I mentioned sending her back, she flinched and held me tighter. Her momma rubbed her back. "Thank you, Mr. Clemens, for saving our daughter and taking care of her."

"It was nothing, really, Ma'am, she takes care of me more than I take care of her," I spoke truthfully.

"That's enough!" Detective Declan roared. "Get your hands off my daughter!" he shouted, causing Emma to quiver.

I looked to Paige with pleading eyes. "Can you please help us, he's really scaring her. She's been through so much. You can't yell or make loud or sudden movements. Even on the medication, she's still dealing with a lot."

Paige nodded at me with determination in her eyes and stomped up to Detective Declan. "You will settle down right now, your shouting is doing nothing but hurting our little girl."

"But he…" he started, but was cut off.

"No! You settle down and go in the house. If you want them to come in, you'd better shut your trap, Clark Declan. I'm not letting you scare our little girl anymore!" she snapped at him. He pouted at her in a way that was almost comical, and then he dragged his feet toward the house with his head hanging like a shamed puppy.

Agent Green had the nerve to walk up, smiling widely. "See, I said it’d work out alright."

I glared at him. "Boy, you're getting whooped once my girl is settled. This has been a mess. You should’ve called them and prepared them for what was coming. This whole panic attack and fight could’ve been avoided," I growled at him angrily, but I tried to keep my voice down, so I would not upset my girl.

He gave me a weak smile and a shrug. That idiot was going down first chance I got.