Chains (6 page)

“Sounds like it wasn’t a good divorce,” Logan noted.

“The divorce was better than the marriage.” She winced. “Sorry. I shouldn’t talk about that.”

“Was he abusive?” Toby asked.

“Let’s just say the man who coaxed me into marriage isn’t the man I ended up marrying.”

“Yowch,” Toby said. “That bad, huh?”

“Yep.”

“What’s his name?” Logan asked.

“If you know him and are friends with him, that’s going to make the rest of this evening really awkward for everyone involved,” she said. “You realize that, right?”

“Seriously,” Toby said. “We’d like to know.”

Thinking this was probably a bad idea, she said it. “Sam Edsel.”

Logan frowned and turned to Toby. “Isn’t that the name of that douchenozzle who Tilly said—”

“Yes,” Toby said, looking angry. “And the one who Loren told us—”

“Right,” Logan said, also now looking angry.

“What?”

“Your ex has a quiet but negative rep,” Toby said. “I know of at least two instances where the women didn’t want a big deal made over it, but he violated consent after he collared them, and they left him. Then he’d harass them until they disappeared from the local community.”

Her blood chilled. “Disappeared?”

“Well, left,” Toby clarified. “Not as in I think he killed them or anything. As in they dropped out of the lifestyle and quit coming around to local events so they wouldn’t cross paths with him.”

“Oh.”

“We don’t run into him very often,” Logan said. “Well, especially not lately. We had our own run-in with a predator. Ours was a woman, though.”

They told her the short version of their story about Julie, who stole their hearts, their trust, and their money.

When they finished, she felt as angry as both men had looked moments earlier. “Well, then, since we’re sharing, here’s my version of events. He sweet-talked me, consent this, boundaries that…until the night of our honeymoon when he tied me down, gagged me, and used a cane on my ass. This was after we’d gotten married at the courthouse because he said we couldn’t afford a wedding. I didn’t even get a decent damn wedding out of it. Then he told me that since I signed a slave contract, I was his property to do with as he pleased.”

The men looked horrified. “You didn’t leave then?” Logan asked.

“He immediately followed it with a forced orgasm scene, so it kind of cancelled it out. Later, I chewed him out over it and he looked all sorry and innocent, said he was just playing, that he thought I wanted something like that. The truth is, he was pushing the boundary to see how I’d react. I didn’t realize it until later. He was back to his sweet self for a couple of months. Then I realized he was slowly taking all control away from me. Stuff I never agreed to in the beginning, mind you. Not consensually taking control. A little thing here, a comment there, until a year in, I realized that he pretty much ruled my whole life without me realizing it. When I tried to sit him down then and talk about it, he once again trotted out the slave contract, but this time Mr. Nice Guy didn’t come back.

“It took me the better part of a year to work out my escape plan and figure out how to access the bank funds. During that time I had to endure ‘play’ that was really abuse. He got off on me begging him to stop, and he took plenty of pictures of me while I was restrained. He only bruised me on my ass, and said that the slave contract was my consent. He said if I tried to report him to the police, he’d wave that and they’d say I was a freak and not do a damn thing.”

She almost felt ill retelling it, but in a way it felt good to finally get it all out to someone besides Eliza and Rusty. “And he took pictures of me, naked and bound, during forced orgasm play, that kind of bullshit. Threatened to send them to my parents if I left. He took away my ATM cards and checkbook and gave me cash for stuff. He paid all the bills. One day, he left his computer up when he went to work, and he hadn’t logged out of the banking website. So I made a wire transfer to Eliza and Rusty and got the hell out before he got home. He’s lucky I left him half of what was in the account, because I made twice as much as he did. I was supporting us.”

“Bet that pissed him off,” Toby said.

“It did. But since I was a co-owner on the account, he couldn’t do shit about it. And believe me, he tried.”

“You’re lucky you got out of there,” Logan said.

“I know. I feel badly for anyone else he’s suckered in.”

“How long did the divorce take?” Toby asked.

“Too damn long. But worse, he harassed me. Stalked me. I had to change my cell number, finally ended up leaving Sarasota because he just wouldn’t give up. Even after the divorce was final. I didn’t want him going after my friends, too, so I left town.”

“Wow,” Logan quietly said.

“What pisses me off even more,” she added, “is that for all these years I gave up my friends, stuff I liked to do, my hometown, because of him.”

“You haven’t played with anyone since then?”

“No. And that sucks, too, because, believe me, I enjoyed it.”

“We’d play with you,” Toby gently suggested. “I mean, if you ever wanted to.”

Logan nodded.

“Watch out, I might take you both up on that with the stress I’m under.”

“Sorry,” Toby said. “Guess that’s kind of a douchey thing for us to say right now.”

“No, no apologies, please. It’s nice having real men pay me a compliment like that, instead of made-up stuff Chewi says.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Gawd, that makes me sound really fucking pitiful, doesn’t it?”

“No,” Toby said. “It makes you sound human.”

When Eliza and Rusty arrived for dinner, Rusty pulled Rebecca aside. “Apologies,” he muttered in her ear. “She’s on a mission and is convinced you three need each other.”

“Message received, loud and clear.” She loved Eliza to death, but also knew her friend’s attempts to shove the three of them together weren’t necessarily what any of them needed.

“I’ll warn the guys,” Rusty said.

“Can’t you rein her in?”

He snorted. “You’ve known us
how
long?”

“Sorry. Forgot who I was talking about.”

“Uh, yah, I guess ya did.”

Dinner was roasted chicken and vegetables and, aside from Eliza’s pushy matchmaking, it was a wonderful evening.

“If you ever need to park your RV down here,” Logan said, “you’re welcomed to use our shower and bathroom. Or even park here in our yard. We have room.”

“Thanks. I might have to take you up on that until we get the house cleared out. I can park over there but not sure what shape the RV hookup is in. And I can’t use the house bathrooms right now.”

“That’s perfect,” Eliza said. “They’re right next door and everything.”

When Rebecca tried to shoot her stink-eye, Eliza just smiled at her. “Hey, I have a grown daughter with whom I survived her teenage years. You have
nothing
on her, lady. Just keep making those faces at me.”

Toby and Logan smiled. Well, that was something, at least. In this macabre situation, she could make someone find humor in it.

By the time they were ready to leave, Rebecca had relaxed a lot around the two men. She even hugged them. “Thank you for dinner. And everything. You’ve been very kind.”

“We mean it,” Logan said. “Anything you need, any help, let us know.”

“Thanks.”

As they drove home, Rebecca shot death glares into the back of Eliza’s head where she rode shotgun.

“Still not quitting,” Eliza said. “And again, I had a teenager. You’re an amateur.”

* * * *

Rebecca drove over Wednesday morning to meet the work crew at the house. Josh and his brother, Mark, were there to lead the charge. The two large construction Dumpsters had already been delivered. Rebecca moved her uncle’s truck out of the way so the crews could place the storage units there when they arrived.

Mark went over things with her while Josh took control of the work crew. If they were sharing a woman, and there was one more of them, that woman was very lucky indeed. They were good-looking men in their own ways, although she found herself more drawn toward Toby and Logan.

By lunchtime, the crew had already cleared out the living and dining rooms and had started on one of the bedrooms. They brought out the desk and other paperwork and set them in the shade under a tree so she could go through it. One of the two storage units was half-full, and one of the Dumpsters was almost completely full. It wasn’t that there was a lot of junk, but between the furniture that couldn’t be salvaged because it had fabric that had been permeated by the stench of decomposition, the bugs, or both, a lot of stuff couldn’t be saved.

At least the kitchen hadn’t been gross. The floor was clean, and there wasn’t any overly spoiled food in the fridge, just some that had recently expired. But the fridge itself was clean, and there were only two dirty, but rinsed, dishes in the sink. Even the cabinets in there were in good shape.

They opted not to worry about anything except getting rid of the food, both in the fridge and the nonperishables, for now. The men would bring boxes tomorrow so the dishes, pots, and pans could be gathered together and put in the storage units.

By the end of the first day, she felt tired, sad, and lonely. Her uncle had traveled around to various swap meets, according to paperwork and receipts she found, but didn’t seem to have much in the way of friends.

How ironic.

Did she really want to be him when she got to be his age?

Not really.

Once the crew left for the day, she was able to stand in the back doorway and stare into the dining room. It still reeked, but was now bearable. And most of the flies had left with everything standing open all day and the carpet removed.

It wasn’t a bad house. Even the Collins brothers noted that it didn’t appear to need anything worse than cleaning and cosmetics to get the house into a livable condition.

Maybe I could rent it out.

She didn’t want to just sell it. It didn’t feel right. That the last of what was left of her uncle would just disappear with a signature on a purchase contract.

“Hey.”

She turned to see Toby and Logan heading her way, her heart speeding up.

Hmm.

They joined her at the back door. “Wow,” Toby said.

“Yeah.”

“Any idea how long they’ll take?”

“They’re working a couple of other jobs along with this one. They’ll work tomorrow and Friday, but I won’t be here Friday. Eliza will be running things. Then next week they’ll be back on Tuesday, when I’m here.”

“That’s a heck of a commute,” Logan said. “To South Carolina.”

“I know, but it’s easier to leave the RV up there rather than drive it down here. I’ve already paid in advance for the spot at the RV park. The Toad gets far better mileage. And I’ve got this weekend and the next up there.”

“Wish we could help you with that,” Toby said.

“It’s okay. I’m used to driving. Kind of what I do.”

“How about we pick you up at Eliza’s later and take you out to dinner tonight?” Logan asked.

“Did Eliza put you up to it again?”

“She didn’t have to,” Toby said. “We want to. But when we ran the plan by her, she wholeheartedly concurred.”

“Of course she did.”

She closed the back door and locked it. The front door was already locked, and the Collins brothers had a spare key. She’d get the locks changed once the work was done.

“Is that a yes?” Logan asked.

“Yes, because if I say no, Eliza will likely hound me, or lock me out or something, until she wears me down and I say yes.” She turned to look at them. “Hope this isn’t creeping you guys out.”

“No,” Toby said. “It’s not. She obviously cares about you.”

“She does. That’s why I’m putting up with her.”

* * * *

Eliza met Rebecca at the front door with Chewi in her arms. Speaking in a low, rumbling voice, Eliza said, “Mom, you need to go out tonight with Toby and Logan because I need a date night alone with Booger.”

“I already told them yes,” Rebecca said as she headed toward her bedroom. “So you can quit pushing.”

“Oh, I wasn’t pushing,” Eliza said in her normal voice, following in Rebecca’s wake, Boo following her. “That was Chewi.”

“Uh-huh.” She set her things on the guest bed. “Message received. If I promise not to push them away, will you please stop pushing me on them?”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Eliza looked down into Chewi’s face. “What do you think, world dominayshun dog?”

He tipped his nose up a little to sniff at her before licking her chin.

“He approves,” Eliza declared. Then she grew serious. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m just…sad. I know we weren’t close, but apparently I was the closest person to him. I’m drawing some seriously disturbing parallels. And I don’t want my life to be like that.”

“Then don’t let it.” She handed Chewi over to her. “When are they picking you up?”

“Shortly. I need to get a shower.”

“Then I’ll leave you alone.” She hugged Rebecca before heading out.

Rebecca stared down into Chewi’s face. He raptly stared back at her. Boo let out a snort before lowering her pudgy butt to the floor at Rebecca’s feet. Then, the bulldog reached out and slimed Rebecca’s leg with a long-tongued lick.

“Ugh. Chewi, your girlfriend needs a bib.”

He stared back at her.
Not my problem, woman. And I like her the way she is.

Oh, yes. She was
definitely
in desperate need of a
real
life.

* * * *

They took her to a seafood restaurant on Tamiami Trail. For a little while, she was able to forget about what was going on in the rest of her life, the sad work ahead of her dealing with her uncle’s estate. She had several orders she’d have to fill and prepare to ship before she could go to bed, and e-mail to answer.

And now…this.

Toby and Logan were a nice respite from real life. In that vein, she broached the subject.