Beginnings (Brady Trilogy) (22 page)

              He found Isabel wandering around the large office examining the family portraits scattered on various walls. “Isabel,” he called out to her half expecting to receive the same reaction Drew had. When she turned around and smiled warmly for him, instant relief relaxed his nerves. He walked towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him. How much he had missed her during those few hours. He nuzzled her neck and then kissed her lips. “I missed you.” He confessed.

              Isabel’s heart melted. If only he knew how lonely she had felt without him there. What he meant to her and what his love and attention did to her heart. “I missed you too.” She kissed him lightly. “Meeting went well?”

              “Better than expected.” He grinned a boyish grin, making Isabel laugh. Luke always got excited when talking about new clients.

              “What are you doing in here? Not working I hope, I wanted you to relax on our last day.”

              Isabel smiled. Luke was always caring of her. She turned in his arms and grabbed a picture off his father’s desk. “I’ve been wandering around your house admiring its beauty and family portraits. This one in particular.” She nodded her head towards the picture she held. Luke looked over her shoulder to view the picture and saw the frame that had been resting on his father’s desk for the past few years. The picture was of him, Andrew, Emilia, Amanda and Jake when they were younger, many years ago. His mother had taken it during one of the summers they spent together. A few months after Andrew had rescued a very vulnerable Amanda who was being terrorized by her grade school bullies. They had welcomed her into their family and into their lives with open arms. Isabel admired the picture. They were all pressed tightly together. Amanda was pulled into Andrew’s lap as she shyly looked into the camera. Luke had one arm wrapped around Andrew’s shoulder and another holding Emilia to his side. Emilia had one of her arms linked into Jake’s as Jake stood, hands shoved into his pockets, with a grim hooded gaze watching the camera. They were all smiling except for Jake. His seriousness was evident even from a young age. Isabel admired the beautiful faces looking at her through the picture.

              “Jake seems so serious.”

              Luke sighed, “He didn’t have much to smile about back then. He kind of had a rough couple of years growing up.”

              “That makes me sad to hear.” Isabel said genuinely.

              “He’s ok. He’s Jake. He fights and survives.”

              “You all seem like you’ve been close forever.” Isabel continued to look at the picture. It’s as if it was telling her a story of Luke’s childhood.

              Luke smiled as he rested his chin on her shoulder and watched the picture as well. “Yeah we have. I love Jake and Amanda as much as I love Andrew and Emilia. They’re all a part of me.”

              “It must have been nice growing up closely with such great people. I didn’t have too many childhood friends since we traveled a lot and it became difficult to keep in touch. Both my parents had no extended family. No brothers or sisters. I imagine I must have some long distant cousin somewhere but who knows.” Isabel laughed weakly.

It pained Luke to hear her speak like this. The extent of her loneliness was so evident. Even when growing up she hadn’t had much companionship. Her father died at a young age and he all but imagined how difficult it must have been once it was just her and her mother. Her mother had her art to escape to, but what did Isabel have? Luke tightened his arms around her, embracing her into his body by pressing her back into his hard chest. She had him now and she’d never be alone again. She’d never feel unsafe or scared. Even if he had to make it his life’s mission to prove to her there was more out there for her. He loved this woman. And her pain had quickly become his.

              “Drew was really worried about you.” Luke whispered into her ear before he could stop himself from saying it. He felt Isabel tense inside his arms and slightly regretted bringing it up.  But he had to. It could no longer be ignored. They had to address the issues at hand. “He’s worried he hurt you. Or he screwed up in some way.”

              After a few agonizing moments of silence, Isabel slowly placed the picture frame back on the desk and released a heavy sigh. “He didn’t do anything wrong,” she whispered.  “I’m the one who should be apologizing to Andrew. He’s been nothing but kind and welcoming towards me and didn’t deserve the way I reacted towards him.” Isabel turned back around in Luke’s arms to face him. She smiled warmly at him when his eyes watched her full of concern. “I’m fine Luke. Embarrassed that I reacted like that, but fine.”

Luke searched her brown eyes for answers he was yet to find. There was too much he wanted to know and it was time Isabel began sharing. “Why did you quit law school?” he asked randomly.

“What?” Isabel was confused where the conversation had led.

“Law school.” Luke repeated. “Scotts said you dropped out before moving out of town. Why?”

Silence hung heavy in the air. Isabel quickly pushed her way out of Luke’s arms and he reluctantly let her. “Scotts?” Isabel’s voice cracked from alarm. She ran a shaking hand over her forehead realizing she was quivering from anxiety and fear. The name brought back too many unwanted memories. “When did you talk to Preston Scotts?”  Her voice
rose an octave while she tried to maintain a grip on her growing panic.

 
              “A few months ago when he called me. He was wondering why you had ran off.”

 
              “He called you? Why? Why would he call you? Does he know where I am now? Oh God. They know where I am. They know where I am.” Her entire body began to shake from fear. If Scotts knew where she was, then surely so did others. The vile feeling of vomit was threateningly rising in her throat. She was going to hurl if she continued this way. She wrapped her arms around her waist and rocked back and forth hoping to control herself.

 
              Luke was instantly in front of her firmly gripping her arms. He couldn’t watch her suffer like this. It was too painful to witness and it was ripping him apart. “Isabel look at me. Look at me damn it.” He harshly whispered demanding her until she looked baffled into his eyes. “You believe me when I say I will never let anything happen to you right? That I will never let anyone hurt you.”

 
              She slowly nodded her head.

             
“Say it.” Luke demanded with more sternness in his voice. “I need to hear you say that you believe me.”

             
“I believe you.” She confirmed with a soft weak whisper.

             
“Good,” he shook his head. “It’s killing me to see you like this do you understand? It’s ripping my heart. You can’t go through this alone anymore Isabel. It’s time you trusted me. Tell me what happened.” He murmured.

 
              “Okay.” She whispered surprising him that she finally agreed. She slowly sank to a seat when Luke nudged her to sit. He kneeled in front of her and tightly held her hands in his.

“I was researching on a case Scotts was working on. As I was working from home, I realized one of my files had been left at work. No one was at the office considering it was close to midnight. It didn’t matter to
me, I was always there during random hours. When I got there I figured I was already in the office so I might as well complete my research.” She paused to take a deep breath. Luke didn’t speak and silently held her hands.

“I realized the case I was working on was very similar to a popular litigation suit Scotts had won a decade ago. Everyone at the firm still talked about it so I was familiar with it. I went to our file room in the basement where we kept hard copies. Scotts is old fashioned and for some odd reason
he didn’t like certain files scanned into our computer systems. Anytime we needed to refer back to an old case, we dealt with the paper files in the filing room downstairs. No one really ever went to the basement. It was dark, dusty and the old building pipes always made cracking sounds. I never cared. Fear was never an obstacle in my life. I guess since I was so independent from such a young age, I’d grown numb to certain things that should scare me.” Isabel took another breath waiting for Luke to speak. When he remained silent she continued.

“When I got there I realized I wasn’t alone. I heard voices and naturally became curios more than frightened. But the moment I realized the sounds I was hearing was of a woman crying and struggling, instant fear paralyzed my body. My mind screamed at me to get the hell out of there but my feet walked me towards the noise.” Tears began slowly filling Isabel’s eyes. It was causing Luke unbearable pain to watch her suffer while telling the story. He knew she must be reliving every moment as each word left her lips. But he didn’t dare interrupt her.

“We had a college student named Marcy Brooks who was completing her internship at our firm. Petite, cute little blonde with a very bubbly personality. She had to be probably twenty years old. I found her naked, bleeding on the floor with her hands tied behind her back. A man was hovering over her from behind. I recognized him. It was Scotts’ son Dean. He was raping her.” She choked out the last sentence.

 
              Luke took a harsh intake of breath and began to physically shake.  He jumped to his feet and walked to the desk. He planted both hands firmly on the desk and leaned heavily for support. His breathing had become rigid and he stood there silently ordering himself to stay calm. “Then what happened.” He asked through clenched teeth without looking at her.

 
              “Luke I don’t think…”

“What. Happened?” He roared making her flinch.

Isabel swallowed the lump in her throat. “I started screaming.” She whispered. “Something along the lines of ‘leave her alone’ but when I saw the gun it’s when I ran.” She twisted her hands in her lap. Isabel couldn’t explain the amount of relief she felt for finally opening up to Luke about her past. But the look on his face placed more fear in her now. He looked possessed, breathing in and out like a wild animal.

“You ran?” he finally asked.

 “Yes.”

“Did he run after you?”

Silence. “Yes.” She whimpered.

“Did he catch you?” He continued to not look at her.

 More dreadful silence, then finally she spoke. “Yes” 

Luke’s blood was boiling. He didn’t trust himself to move. His judgment was clouded and he was fuming with rage. He attempted to compose himself but the severe anger shook him to his core.

“Did he hurt you?” he jaw tightened.

Isabel took a deep breath. Tears stung her eyes and pooled down her cheeks. “Not as much as he hurt Marcy.” She whispered.

               Luke slammed his fists to the table causing Isabel to jump. He picked up the first available object and launched it across the room. It crashed with a loud noise against the wall. He walked to the window overlooking the gardens trying to concentrate on a single spot until he could gain control of his breathing. He scrubbed his hands over his face as a low, cynical laugh escaped from his mouth. “I’ll kill him. With my bare hands.” He decided. “I’ll kill that fucking bastard.” Violent thoughts clouded his mind for the next few minutes as images of Isabel walking into a rape scene troubled his mind.

He finally turned to Isabel. “I want to know the rest.” He went back to her, surprisingly calmer, and kneeled in front of her taking both her shaking hands in his. He carefully kissed her knuckles looking into her swollen tearful eyes. He gently wiped the tears from her cheeks and cupped her chin forcing her to look at him. “I want to know everything Isabel. Don’t ask me to explain why but I need to know everything that happened with you,” he spoke softly and was surprised by his own gentleness. A minute ago he wanted to tear the entire room apart.

               “Please,” he pleaded with her.

 
              She nodded. “He slammed me against the wall and placed his hands firmly around my neck choking me. He said if I told anyone what I just saw he’d do worse to me than he did to Marcy.  He was so wild and demented and his grip around my throat kept tightening. He reeked of alcohol and his eyes were bloodshot. He would have done it then and there. As I felt my head spinning due to no oxygen reaching my brain and my chest cramping, I knew he was trying to choke me to death. He’d lost complete control. But he jerked off of me once we heard the evening security down the hall. So he quickly untied Marcy and helped place her clothes back on and left through the back staircase. I watched her trembling and choking with sobs while she pulled her clothes over her bruised, bloody body. It was evident he had beaten her before brutalizing her sexually.” Isabel choked out a sob as she remembered vividly.

“Before he left, he placed the gun to my head and said he meant every word. And I believed him. I rushed out of there before the security guard saw me. I don’t even remember how I made it home that night but I did and wallowed in my own pity for a week.
Didn’t eat. Didn’t sleep. My fear had knocked any sense I had left in my brain. The thought of calling the cops wasn’t even an option. I was weak and a damn coward. Just imagining him doing that to me sent me into wild panics until I would hyperventilate and pass out. I felt partially dead.” Isabel watched Luke’s face flare with pain and anger. She knew she was pushing him towards rage but she was finally opening up and didn’t want to stop talking.