Shattered Edge (10 page)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Justin

This is going to be a long weekend of call. Terri’s at my place so I’ll try to sneak home as often as possible to spend some time with her, but she also needs her space too. When she was upset over her brother, my world toppled too. Seeing her like that put an edge on my soul that I didn’t like. I don’t want it to return.

I’m thinking about hiring a private detective for her. I’m worried that brother of hers will come back and hurt her. She’s scared too but won’t say much about it...she’s trying to put forth a brave face. I’m proud of her but I swear to God, if he lays a hand on her, he’s a dead man. I’ll see to it myself. He won’t have to worry about a fix anymore, because he’ll be permanently fixed...by me.

Work has been a ball buster all morning with one case after another. We’re getting closer to the holidays and I can sure tell with all the car wrecks. And Destiny...her flirting has gone from mild to outrageous. Even the other nurses are making comments to me about it. I’ve told her to stop, and if she doesn’t, I’m going to file a sexual harassment claim against her.  Just this morning, she came up to me and put her arms around me as I was scrubbing. Then she slipped a hand, or tried to anyway, down the front of my pants. I pulled away from her and made a point of telling her how inappropriate her actions were. She screwed up my scrubbing routine and I had to begin all over. I was extremely pissed off.

I stormed into the OR and the scrub nurse raised her brows at me. “Rough morning, Dr. Middleton?”

“Actually it was a great one until I had my scrubbing routine interrupted by a very unprofessional nurse.”

“You must be referring to Destiny. She has it bad for you. Talks about you nonstop.”

Cathy, the scrub nurse finished helping me with my gloves, gown and mask and I thanked her. Then I added, “Well, Destiny’s behavior is not only unprofessional, it’s harassing and annoying.” I stormed over to the patient and forced myself to calm down so the team could begin the procedure.

Every time I finished a case, I’d exit the OR and there Destiny would be waiting like a hawk, ready to swoop on her prey. I finally had enough and I ripped into her.

“I’ve had quite enough of this behavior of yours. First off it’s unprofessional. You can’t be touching me. Second, it’s harassment. Third, it’s annoying. STOP this now!” I was raging and continued to do so until I found myself at the door of the administrator’s office. Of course, he wasn’t there. There was an emergency number to call, but this wasn’t an emergency. So I headed back to the surgery floor. The red haze of anger had eased somewhat and I walked into the surgeon’s lounge.

Mike, a general surgeon I knew, was sitting at the table drinking some coffee and reading a text. He glanced up when I walked through the door. I’d opened it with such force, it slammed against the wall behind it.

“What’s eating you Middleton?”

“A pain in the ass nurse named Destiny.”

He laughed and answered, “Ah, I see.”

I swung my head in his direction. “No, you don’t. She’s harassing the hell out of me.”

“Seriously?”

“As an MI.”

“Hell, when you said that, I thought you were having issues with a love interest.”

“Hell no! The woman won’t leave me alone. She’s stalking me. Every time I turn around she’s in my face. I was scrubbing earlier and she tried to put her hand down my pants.”

Mike started laughing.

“This isn’t funny. I’m pissed as hell. She’s a
damn lunatic.”

That wiped the grin off her face.

“You are serious.”

“That’s what I told you. I told her to leave me alone and she won’t. I told her that her behavior is unprofessional and bordering on harassment. She just gives me this crazed look.”

“Have you told anyone?”

I grunted. “I went to admin but everything was closed up. The weekend you know.”

“You need to notify them first thing Monday morning.”

“Yeah, that’s my plan. What is it with these nut jobs? I’ve never given her any indication that I was interested in her. I even told her I was seeing someone.” I leaned back in the chair and rubbed my pounding head.

“Crazies. They’re everywhere. Just be careful Justin. You never know.”

My phone beeped. I looked down to see a text from Terri.

“Damn it,” I said out loud.

“Bad news?”

“Yeah. It seems I’m in the middle of a shit storm right now.”

I left the room and called her. Her house had been broken into. The window had been smashed. She was fine, but the police had notified her and her dad was on the way there to check things out. The police had recommended for her to stay away and I agreed. She was going to text me when she heard more.

Well, I thought, things couldn’t get much worse. I was wrong. They would go from bad to really bad right before the bottom fell out.

********

Later that evening when I made it home for a couple of hours, I found Terri in the den watching a movie.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were on your way here? I would’ve made you something to eat. You must be starved.”

“Hey, no worries. I’ll just grab whatever’s in the fridge. So did they get everything worked out at your house?”

She followed me into the kitchen and answered, “Yeah. My dad has a window guy coming in tomorrow. They boarded it up so it’s okay for now.”

“Good. I’m glad you weren’t there when it happened babe.” I gave her a tight hug.

She squeezed me back and said, “Yeah, me too. Thanks for letting me take over your place Justin. You’ve been the best.”

I leaned back and brushed her hair back. Her eyes had tiny crinkles around the edges and dark circles beneath them. I ran my thumbs along them in the hopes of easing her mind a bit. “Honey, everything will all work out just fine. Preston will leave town again and things will go back to normal before you know it.”

She shook her head, “I don’t know Justin. Something is so different this time. I’m just so worried, not about me, but about him. I can’t help but think back when we were kids. I always looked up to him. All my friends had crushes on him. And now...he’s nothing but an ex-con with a heroin habit. Just imagine if that would be Pearce.”

My heart sank into my gut when she said that. I hadn’t thought about it that way. If either of my brothers, the two people I loved the most, ever went that route, I would want to bleed right along with them. “Oh Terri. I can’t. I’m just so damn sorry you have to deal with this. Please promise me something.”

“What?”

“Look, I know how hard this must be, but please don’t do anything stupid. I don’t want anything to happen to you. Okay?”

“Okay,” she said nodding.

“If he calls you, don’t meet him or anything. He was way too aggressive towards you and I can’t bear the thought of him laying a hand on you.”

We stood in the kitchen as I waited for the microwave to ding. She was dressed in a sexy pair of low cut black yoga pants with a matching black tank top and a little jacket over it. Her hair hung down her back and she wasn’t wearing any make up at all. She smelled like lavender and all I wanted to do was tangle my body in hers and kiss her like crazy.  There went that little thing poking me on the inside of my chest again. My gut tightened right along with it as I watched her eyes go all soft on me. She lifted herself up on her tip toes and circled her arms around my neck. Now why’d she have to go and do that? My whole body responded with a jerk and I saw her eyes widen as she felt it too.

She pulled my head down and right when my mouth was on hers, she said, “I felt you Justin. Let me just say I’m glad I’m not the only one.”

“Babe, no worries about that,” I said back.

“Thanks for being here for me.”

The microwave started going BEEP BEEP BEEP. It was probably a good thing because we were both on fire for each other. I could see it in the rise and fall of her chest, in the way her heart was beating faster, in the flush of her skin.

“I’m glad to be here for you.”

BEEP BEEP BEEP

“You need to eat Justin.”

“Yeah.”

She finally released her hold on me, but I could tell she didn’t want to. I huffed as I pulled the plate out and set it on the counter. She moved to take the seat next to me, but I couldn’t allow that. I pulled her onto my lap instead and had her sit there while I ate. She even started feeding me after a while. It was with great sadness when I cleaned my plate. We laughed and I asked her if she could feed me dessert. She brought out some cookies I had in the cabinet.

“I noticed you’re a cookie guy.” She’d caught me. I fancied myself on eating fairly healthy, but blew it all in the cookie department.

She laughed and said, “Don’t look so damn guilty. You can have a cookie Justin. It’s okay.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She walked toward me and held out a chocolate chipper, and I started to laugh.

“Are you trying to tease me Ms. Mitchell?”

“Maybe.”

“Might I suggest an alternative method?”

“What would that be?”

“The removal of your clothing.”

She gasped. And then blushed. “Really?”

“In my most fervent dreams. Unfortunately, I have to get back to the hospital soon. But maybe when I get off call?”

“Oh yes!”

She was so willing. And then a thought struck me that I had meant to ask her the other day.

“Oh, I need to ask you something. Every year, each department in the hospital gets involved in the fundraiser ‘Sponsor a Child for Christmas.’ Next week, our department is having its party for that. Would you like to go with me?”

“Sure. It sounds really cool.”

“Yeah, it is. Every employee in each department has an opportunity to sponsor a child. You know, buy them toys, clothing, that type of thing. The entire hospital gets involved, but each department hosts their own party. Ours is next Saturday at Jackson’s house.”

“Oh, that would be awesome. I’d love to go with you. What’s the attire?”

“Cocktail.”

“Great. I assume it’s in the evening.”

“Yep.” My phone started buzzing with a text. “And here it goes.”

I took a look see and sure enough, I had to head out.

“Don’t wait up because in all likelihood, I won’t be in until after six a.m.” I kissed her sweet soft lips and headed out the door.

“Justin?” I heard her call from the porch.

“Yeah babe.”

“Be safe honey.”

I nodded and smiled.

After I hopped in the car and started driving, I realized I’d forgotten to tell her about crazy Destiny.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Terri

Justin’s house was perfect. Everything he had chosen had been selected with great taste and care. The paintings on the wall were exquisite and his furnishings were unreal. He had a taste for antiques. Who didn’t in Charleston? But he was able to mix the old with the new, and come up with the perfect blend of eclectic. I wondered whether his mom had helped him. Most likely he’d hired a decorator. I’d been to his parents’ home on Murray Boulevard. They lived in one of the finest homes in Charleston, overlooking the harbor on the battery. It was an old beautiful mansion that was extravagant yet welcoming. So maybe since he’d grown up with this, he’d known exactly what he’d wanted in his own home.

I remembered listening to Lexi after she stayed at Pearce’s the first time. She talked about this same thing. Understated elegance with a flair for comfort. After being around real estate all my life, I saw it all the time...how these fine homes could be so stiff and formal, you never wanted to sit down in them. Not so here. I was curled up on the sofa feeling perfectly right at home.

I’d decided to review my week ahead, just to make sure all my ducks were lined up. Hopefully, the new security system would be fully operational on Monday so I could go home. Even though I loved it here, I wanted to be in my own place. Feeling like a refugee didn’t sit well with me. It still was fairly early, but I decided to go to bed anyway. I figured I could watch some TV upstairs, or even read some. I wanted to get up early and get some shopping in. I had a new dress to buy for that party next weekend.

After checking all the locks and making sure the security system was armed, I headed up to bed. It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep but something woke me up in the middle of the night. I sat up in bed, trying to figure out what it was. My hands clenched the sheet as my heart pounded in my chest. I sat and tried to listen for any strange noises, but heard none. Maybe I’d had a bad dream is all, I figured.

My silly heart wouldn’t stop pounding. I finally pulled myself out of bed and walked to the window to look out. I saw a shadow move across the driveway and just like that it disappeared. Was my mind playing tricks on me?

My forehead had beads of perspiration on it and the palms of my hands were really sweaty. I rubbed them on my shirt, trying to dispel some of the moisture. I didn’t know what to do. Should I call the police or Justin? Maybe I was overreacting. I needed someone to talk to. I picked up the phone and called Justin. It went straight to his voicemail so I left him a message and then a text. I was sure I would be talking to him real soon.

When Justin did call back, it was to inform me that I was probably imagining things. He asked me if everything was locked up and if the security system was on. I said it was so he told me not to worry about anything.

I fell back to sleep, but only for a little bit. The alarm system had been tripped and I suddenly heard loud beeping and “Intruder Alert” over and over. Then the phones started ringing. First the security company called wanting to know if it was a false activation. No, it was the real deal I told them. Yes, they needed to call the police. I could barely breathe as I told them to call Justin as well. My hands were shaking so badly that I almost couldn’t hold onto the phone.

Then Justin was calling. The police had called him and so had the security company. He was on his way home. The police were on the way too. Justin told me not to leave the room. I was in a state of panic and didn’t have my pepper spray. I maniacally looked around the room in search of some sort of make shift weapon. The best I could do was the bedside lamp. I tore off the lamp shade and held the thing in my hands, much like a baseball bat. Hiding in the corner, I waited. I don’t know why I even bothered to hide at all because I was panting so loudly the intruder would undoubtedly be able to hear me from the floor below.

Fuck! Where are the goddamn police?

A few minutes later I heard the sirens. Then I heard Justin’s voice. I was glued to that freakin’ corner. Someone must’ve come in and poured super glue all over my body. My arms and legs would not obey my brain’s messages at all. Next thing I knew, Justin was prying that lamp out of my fingers and I was in his arms.

“You’re okay Terri. The police are here and they’re checking things out downstairs. Terri? Terri?”

I was frozen in time. I heard him but I couldn’t respond.

“Terri!” He was slapping my hands and then he was cupping my face. “Talk to me Terri. Damn it, talk to me or I’m gonna have to take you to the hospital. Don’t go into shock over this on me.”

I started crying and trying to talk all at the same time. It was the most bizarre feeling. My body felt like it wasn’t mine anymore. My skin tingled and my arms and legs felt nearly felt numb.

“Okay...you’re okay baby. Everything’s going to be fine.”

He hugged me to him and rubbed my back. My heart was getting ready to go “Pop” and I didn’t feel myself at all.

Then those soothing words starting flowing from his lips. “Deep breaths honey. Controlled deep breaths. Come on. You have to breathe.”

I took one long pull of air and held that precious commodity in my lungs. “Okay, release.” I blew it out, just like he asked. This was a trick Phil had taught me, but my mind wasn’t functioning properly for me to think of it on my own. “Again baby.” I just followed his orders and pretty soon my arms and legs began to feel like I owned them again.

“Whew,” I said as I blew out that last breath.

“Hell, Terri. You scared me.”

“Hell, Justin. I scared me.”

  He let out a sound that sounded like a cross between a laugh and a groan.

“Do you think you can make it down the stairs? The police want to ask you some questions.”

“Are they gonna be mean?”

“No. Why?”

“They were so mean to Lexi after she was abducted.”

“Oh yeah. They were, weren’t they? Well, I won’t let them be mean to you. Okay?”

“I won’t let them be mean to me either. I was just gonna prepare myself. I was gonna bring the lamp.”

“I see.”

I got the feeling he wanted to laugh now. It was a good thing he didn’t. He could laugh another time. I wasn’t quite ready for laughing.

The police wanted to know if I saw anything. I told them everything I could, which wasn’t much. It turned out someone had slashed my tires and then tried to break into the house. The alarm scared them off. It was a good thing. I’d had way too much excitement lately. I was seriously considering getting a gun after all this. I just didn’t feel safe anymore.

It was close to four in the morning when everyone left. Justin was leery about leaving me here alone. The alarm system was reset and he would be home in a couple of hours. I assured him I’d be fine. It was the biggest lie I ever told. I lay there with my eyes wide open, waiting for every tiny noise to worry me to death. I finally relaxed when he slipped into bed next to me and pulled me close. We both slept until noon.

********

On Monday, my own alarm system was up and running so I moved back home. My front window had also been repaired and Justin had taken care of getting my tires replaced. We had briefly argued over that, but his insistence won out. He had caged me against the counter and told me he’d wouldn’t let me leave unless I let him do that. Then he threatened to tie me up and do all sorts of unmentionable things to me if I let him take care of my tires. I was a panting, dripping, throbbing bundle of neurons by the time he stopped whispering in my ear, but when his tongue began that torturous descent down my neck, I went all animal on him. He got his wish and I got my tires...er, among other things.

When the weekend hit, I’d forgotten about getting a new cocktail dress, so I pulled something I had out of the closet. It was a short red one shouldered dress. I put it on and my heart sank. It had been a while since I’d worn this dress...well, since I had worn any short cocktail dress. My scarred up leg looked like a crap show in it. I couldn’t go out like this. I tore through my drawers in search of a pair of panty hose and didn’t have any.

Damn!

Okay, now what? Justin was going to be here in about twenty minutes. My hair and makeup were done. I’d twisted my hair into messy bun at the nape of my neck. My make up was my usual...light with very little eye liner.

Heading back to my closet, I went through my dresses again. There wasn’t anything that I could wear that would cover up my scars. My heart sank right to my toes and then it crashed all the way through to my crawl space. The doorbell rang and I heard the door open and him calling my name. I still had the red dress on. He walked into my room and stopped and stared.

His eyes got all sexy on me and he just said in that husky voice of his, “Wow! You look amazing.” He cocked his head to the side and kept staring. Then something shifted in his gaze and he said, “Something’s happened. What is it?”

I looked from his face to my leg. He followed my gaze. His thumb and forefinger pinched his lower lip for a second and then he walked up to me and grabbed me by my hips.”

“Move with me a minute babe.” He walked me to the mirror and stood behind me. Bending his head to the crook of my neck, his low-pitched voice whispered. “Now look at yourself and tell me what you see.” His hands never left my hips.

“I see a dark haired woman in a red dress.”

“Uh huh. What else?”

“There is a really sexy man standing behind her.”

“Not that Terri. Focus on you.  Stay with me please. I’m trying to point out the obvious here.”

“That’s all.”

“That’s all? Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, then we’re good.”

“Wait. What do you mean?”

“You never mentioned your scars.”

“Justin, I did that on purpose.”

“Okay, then start all over.”

I looked at myself and in the lighting here it really wasn’t the main focus on my body.

“Honey, I know what you’re thinking here. I know how you feel about this. But honestly, I don’t look at you and see it. I see you and who you are. I see a gorgeous dark haired beauty who looks quite spectacular in her red dress. That’s your color and I don’t know if you could look any better.”

I turned in his arms and hugged him. “You always seem to say the perfect things to me. Thank you.”

“Wear those scars with pride honey. I know what they stand for and most of the people that will be there tonight will understand it too. And if they don’t, fuck ‘em.”

I had to laugh at that.

He still countered. “I’m serious here. Think about how hard you’ve worked just to be standing and walking Terri. That’s why I’m telling you to wear those scars with pride. Don’t you ever be ashamed of them. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Now, how about a kiss before you put your lipstick on?”

Who could argue with that request?

********

Jackson and his wife Alice lived in the old village in Mount Pleasant. They had a lovely old home that sat right on the Charleston harbor. The back terrace went all the way down to a dock that was lit with torches and there were fire pits scattered everywhere to warm the guests. Inside music played and hor d’oeuvres were served along with a host of drinks. Justin introduced me to everyone and he was sure to escort me everywhere, never leaving my side.

“What a beautiful home you have,” I told Alice.

“Thanks Terri.”

Justin laughed and told Alice, “Terri has an eye for houses. She’s in real estate.”

“That’s right. I remember you mentioning that. By the way, how are your eyes?” Alice asked.

“Completely recovered, thanks to you. I’ll never be wearing that mascara again,” I laughed.

“Well, if you do, just be sure to get it off that same night.”

“Yeah, she looked like she was breeding chinchillas,” Justin added.

“Okay, that’s enough.”

Everyone was laughing.

“Why don’t we go inside and get a bite to eat?” Justin suggested.

“Sounds great.” We worked our way back inside and ate some of the scrumptious food. A little while later I excused myself to use the ladies’ room.

I was waiting in line when I heard a voice behind me snidely say, “So you’re Justin’s new date du jour.” It was a blond, blue eyed woman in her early thirties I would guess.

I chuckled to hide my discomfort at her statement. How rude to say something like that at a party. I decided to ignore it and held out my hand. “Hi, I’m Terri Mitchell.”

“So, how long do you imagine you can hold on to him?” she asked tauntingly. She smiled but it was plastic and never reached her icy eyes.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh come on. You look like an intelligent girl. You know he’s a player. He’ll tag you along for a while and then dump you like he did all the others. It’s his way you know.”

“Actually I don’t know that and quite frankly I don’t think what we do is any of your business. Now if you’ll excuse me.” I went to move past her but she grabbed my arm and clamped down on it...hard.