Returning Injury (3 page)

Rebecca thought about the phone call from Victim Services. The woman had said that Roy would be released from prison in a month, a month that had been up a week and a half ago. Rebecca didn’t want to bother Jack or make him worry. And she didn’t like how he had reacted, so she decided to keep it to herself. It was her problem. The attack happened long before Jack came into her life. Even though she really didn’t think she had anything to worry about, she knew it would be in the back of her mind for a few months.

Right after Rebecca’s warning about Roy’s upcoming release from prison, she kept seeing him everywhere. She saw his eyes on the man who made her a vanilla latte at Starbucks. She saw his walk on a man
crossing the street in front of her car. She smelled his cologne, Polo, on somebody at the movie theater. She heard his voice from a telemarketer. Although much time had passed, the memory of him was crystal clear, not because she wanted to remember, but because she felt she had to remember. She was more afraid than she wanted to admit, even to herself.

Rebecca thought about her past with Roy and how it tied in with all of her clients. There was Melody, a public speaker who spoke out on domestic violence; Angie, a writer who covered all women’s issues and violence against women and children; and Angie’s friend, Christy, a photographer who was also moving in the direction of helping women. All of her clients had one thing in common: they were all about improving the lives of women and children. And Rebecca’s PR direction had come about because of what she went through with Roy.

Rebecca loved representing only women who wanted to make a difference or educate society, and she worked hard for her clients. Though she felt she was doing her part, she wished she could do more.

Because of her work and knowing how hard it was for some women, Rebecca sometimes felt guilty about her life. Jack helped her realize that as long as she was financially secure, she was able to do more for women and children: she could offer her services for a very reasonable fee and continue to limit her clients to only those who wanted to help and inspire women. “If Oprah lost it all or gave it away, how could she continue helping the way she does?” he asked her.

Success and money had bought Rebecca many things, but most importantly, security and safety. She thought about Jack’s offer of a bodyguard, which she could have because she could afford it. Money bought her a home with a security system. Money bought her new and reliable cars that didn’t break down on the highway. Money bought new tires when they were needed and a full tank of gas. Money was security. Money was safety.

Often it was said that women wanted money or men with money, but maybe deep down women just wanted to be safe.

Rebecca noticed a car coming up from behind approaching her very quickly. She slowed down, thinking it was a cop. The car tailed her. Because of the rain and overcast sky, she couldn’t tell if it was an unmarked police car. She checked her speedometer; she was going just two miles over the limit. She looked back to the road in front of her and noticed the straight, flat road ahead. There were no cars coming; clearly he could pass her. She continued driving, but kept glancing in the side and rearview mirrors. The car stayed on her tail. If she were to hit the brakes, he would hit her for sure. She slowed down a little more and pulled over to the side hoping he would pass her. He didn’t. “If you’re a cop, pull me over! If you’re not, pass me!”

Suddenly she felt frozen, paralyzed. “Oh, my God! Is it Roy?” she pushed on the gas and the turbo kicked in, the sudden acceleration pressing her body against the seat. She exceeded the speed limit rapidly, but she didn’t care. She wanted to get away from that car. She looked in the mirror again and she could see the headlights receding. In fact, the distance between them expanded so quickly
that it appeared he had come to a complete stop right on the highway. She watched the headlights fade.

When she approached her driveway, she looked for that car or anything out of the ordinary. With no cars in sight, she pulled onto her long driveway. A line of pine trees on the right guided her to her beautiful home. Once she was in the garage with the door closed, she started to laugh at her cowardice. “He is not coming after me; over seven years have passed since he attacked me. I’m sure he has better things to do… more important things on his mind.”

Rebecca saw her beautiful white Bentley Continental convertible sitting in the center of their almost empty six-car garage. Jack had surprised her with it on her last birthday. A Bentley had always been her dream car—the car she would dream about, but never own. The day Jack bought it for her was the day she realized they were rich. As Rebecca peeked inside the car to admire the tan interior, she still couldn’t believe that it was her car. She started giggling when she thought about the first time Jack drove her car.

Rebecca had been driving the Bentley for about a week and had all the controls set for herself: the seat position, the heat and air conditioning, even the XM radio was on her favorite station. They were going to take a trip into Denver.

“You should let me drive.”

“No, it’s my car,” she said.

“… because the traffic… I’ll have a headache if you drive.”

Rebecca started laughing. “Fine.”

They got inside and when Jack shut the driver’s door, the seat started to move forward. He yelled, “Stop it! Stop it!”

Rebecca laughed hysterically while watching the seat continue to move forward. He was getting closer and closer to the steering wheel.

“Help! Help me!” Jack acted like he was being attacked by the car. Rebecca kept laughing, offering no help. “You wanted to drive.”

Still laughing over the memory, Rebecca walked into the house and locked the door behind her, something she and Jack never did. Lily jumped up on her, wanting some loving. Rebecca happily squatted down and gave her some. Lily licked Rebecca’s cheek, danced around in circles and then ran out of the kitchen into the living room to get a toy. Rebecca turned back to the door and set the alarm, another thing she and Jack rarely did. But Rebecca did use the security system at night when Jack was out of town.

It was Sunday evening. She had the place to herself. She set her bag down on the counter, walked to the wine cellar and picked out a nice bottle of Chardonnay, then chose her favorite glass and set them both down on the counter. Next, she went downstairs to double check all the doors and windows, beginning in their gym. The doors were locked, with each door lock in the horizontal position. She checked the window locks as she walked the perimeter of the house, making sure they were in the lower, locked position.

Just after Rebecca and Jack returned from New York, Jack had hired a man to come over and check all of the door locks and windows. He tightened a few door knobs, checked all the windows
and said everything looked secure. Jack had tried to act like it was just routine maintenance, but Rebecca knew it was because of Roy. Though Jack always appeared to be confident that Roy would not come back for her, he did little things to ensure their safety. His actions only scared her more because she doubted his confidence.

Rebecca stepped into the bar area where the pool table, dart board and video games waited to be played and checked the door; it was locked. She walked into the family room, and she checked that door as well. As Rebecca checked each door and window, she wondered if Roy would be able to find her if he wanted to. She had moved three times, and she was now married. She also wondered if taking Jack’s last name would have made her safer.

Rebecca walked back upstairs to the main floor. With each step she took on the curved, dark oak stairway, her fear mounted. The open stairwell from the third floor all the way down to the first showed off the solid planks of wood hanging in the air. When they first got Lily, Rebecca was afraid that she would fall through the stairs. She still worried, but the stairway was beautiful.

When she and Jack first bought the house, they replaced all the carpeting with deeper, softer carpet. After the housekeeper would leave, Rebecca would run downstairs and make an angel on the freshly vacuumed floor. She’d move her arms and legs as if pushing snow to create the angel. Then she’d carefully get up and jump away from the angel to avoid making footprints in the carpet. She’d run upstairs to the third floor and look all the way down to the first floor where her angel lay. After she told her Dad how she made carpet angels, she received a Christmas card from him that read, “To the best little angel maker.” She kept the card.

When Rebecca reached the main floor, she checked the spare bedroom with its doors that led out to a large deck. She hurried into her office to check that door and the windows in the other spare bedrooms. All the doors and windows were locked. Next, she went through the kitchen to double check the garage door and the doors off the breakfast nook that led out to an even larger deck overlooking the mountains. Those, too, were locked.

She returned to her office and wrote a quick note to herself, “Alarm,” and taped it to the front door. That was the door she used to take Lily outside, and she didn’t want to forget and set off the alarm herself. There were only two alarm controls, one by the garage door and one in their master bedroom. She wondered why there wasn’t an alarm pad by the front door.

Finally, she checked upstairs: the master bedroom with its separate deck and double doors. Now she felt safe. She was locked in and everybody else was locked out. She changed into sweats and a tank top, then headed back downstairs. As Rebecca walked down the stairs she noticed a few things out of place, and she wanted everything neat and organized during this four days alone. She knew she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on work if the house wasn’t in perfect order. Starting in the kitchen, she quickly wiped down the counters after putting their morning coffee cups in the dishwasher. She also threw a load of towels into the washing machine. She skipped over the three spare bedrooms each with its own bathroom. Those doors remained closed so Lily wouldn’t go in and knock the pillows off the beds. Rebecca always told Lily that she got that trait from her father, because Jack didn’t like throw pillows either. Rebecca and Jack spent many nights laughing as Lily would walk up
and down the length of their large sectional in the living room knocking every loose pillow off the couch onto the floor.

Because Jack and Rebecca were tidy people and they had a housekeeper who came every Friday, there really wasn’t much for Rebecca to do. But walking through the house, making sure everything was in order, made her feel better. The only two messy rooms in the house were their offices, and she was fine with that because they always were. But Rebecca’s office wouldn’t be a mess for long.

Rebecca fed Lily, then took her outside to pee. She was so happy she had Lily in her life, but hated admitting that she got her from a pet store at the mall.

One day not long after her cat Buddy passed away, Rebecca was at the pet store in the mall looking at the cat toys and thinking about Buddy when she noticed a cute little pug behind the glass. She asked the store clerk if she could see the pug. Rebecca played with Lily for about twenty minutes, then handed her back to the clerk and left the store. The next day, Rebecca went back into town again to see if the pug was still there. She was, so Rebecca played with her again then left the store again. The following day and third time in the store, she realized she couldn’t bear the thought of anybody else owning her. She had to have that dog. So Rebecca filled out the paperwork, paid twelve hundred dollars and took Lily home with her.