Only Witness, The (14 page)

              “That's really what you're thinking about with everything that's going on?”

              “Well, yeah, things are going to hell but I'm still a fucking guy. Like you aren't thinking about Vera.”

              “She's most of what I've been thinking about,” Deacon admitted. “I don't really know what to do here, Brother. Not with her or any of it.”

              “You'll figure it out, Deke. The club shit will be easy. Vera, well that will likely be harder. Women always are, especially when they're worth something.”

              “Thanks, I think.” Deacon patted Houdini on the shoulder. “I'm going to head up. I'll see you in the morning.

              Vera was still sleeping when he walked into the room. Deacon shut the door and toed off his boots. For a moment he just stood there, watching her, wondering if she was going to wake up and what would happen when she did. What would happen with The Grievers? How would the town survive? Adelaide and Josiah. There were too many thoughts in his head. He couldn't see past them.

Chapter ELEVEN

              Vera was warm, really warm, and she didn't know why. It took a few moments for her sleep muddled mind to realize she was warm because she wasn't alone. There was an arm around her waist and a body, definitely a male body, pressed against her back. She allowed herself to consider the fact that she was still asleep; that had to be the answer. This was all a dream. Everything had been a dream. She'd wake up and it would be the morning. She'd laugh and laugh when she thought back on the nightmare. The comfort of that thought was almost enough to lull her back to sleep. If the perfect silence of the room hadn't been broken by a loud snore, she would have been able to believe her fantasy. No fantasy in the world included snoring.

              Fear uncurled like a snake inside of her stomach as the grip on her waist tightened. She felt something hard against her back as she was drawn closer. The person shifted even closer, hand slipping under her shirt and that seemed to give her back the ability to scream. The sound cut through the stillness of the room and the arm released from around her waist. Vera got off the bed so fast that she fell, blind in the darkness she scrambled forward until she reached the wall. “No. Please. No.”

              “No one is going to hurt you here, Vera.” Deacon's voice was thick with sleep, the sound of it as much a shock as waking to being held. The light flipped on and he stood on the far side of the bed wearing only a pair of sweatpants.

              Relief flooded through her body, but she forced herself to blink several times and pinched the tender skin inside her elbow until her eyes teared up. Her eyes remained on Deacon as he crossed the room and crouched down next to her. “I thought...”

              I know,” he sighed and reached out to stroke the side of her face, “but it was just me. I'm not going to hurt you.”

              “I know that,” Vera couldn't seem to make her body cooperate to get off of the floor. “I didn't when I woke up, I thought... I thought that it wasn't over.”

              It's over,” he said firmly.

              “He was... it was... it was in my bedroom when I got home. I was... I was already scared because of the wolf I saw in the parking lot. What the fuck was a wolf doing in my parking lot? And then I went upstairs to lock myself in the apartment but it was already in there.”             

“Why do you keep saying it?” Deacon asked, his voice was soft. She wondered if he was already thinking she was crazy. If he wasn't, she was damn sure that he would be soon.

              “It was... I had to have started seeing things. I mean the mind can do that right? When you're really scared or something you see what you fear and not what's really there. I mean it couldn't have been what I saw. It just isn't possible.”

              “Baby, tell me what you saw.” There was an edge to Deacon's voice, it sent worry through Vera even as she realized that he'd called her baby. “Vera, come on.” He reached out, stroked the side of her face. “I get you're scared but tell me what you saw.”

              “You'll think I'm crazy and you definitely won't be calling me baby anymore. Let's just... let's just not, okay?

              “I promise that I won't think you're crazy.”

              Vera let out a sigh. He could say that he wouldn't think she was crazy but who wouldn't think she was crazy with what she was going to say? “You're going to think I'm crazy. I think that I'm crazy.” And promising not to think someone was crazy is what you say to a crazy person.

              “Just tell me, please.” Vera didn't want to, she really didn't want to, but he obviously was not going to let it drop. Fuck. He wasn't going to be looking at her the way he was now once she told him. “Vera?”

              Vera sighed. “Fine, it was... it was a wolf man like those old black and white movies where it was a half man, half beast thing.” She shut her eyes before continuing, there was no way she was saying this while looking at Deacon.  “It was horrible, all claws instead of hands and fur everywhere. And it touched me, it was terrible. So terrible. I thought that I was going to die, that it was going to kill me but instead... it kept telling me how I shouldn't fight him and that it was a shame because he'd have liked to keep me, like a pet. That's the last thing I remember besides the feeling of his breath on me.”

              “I'm going to make sure that you're safe, Vera. Can you tell me about the wolf you saw outside?”

              “Tell you about it? Like what?” Vera frowned. After everything she'd just told him, why would he focus on the wolf outside? Was he trying to pretend he'd never heard what she said? If he was, she really couldn't blame him. Sadness bloomed inside of her, spread from her toes up, because there was no way he was going to want anything to do with her crazy ass.

              “How did it look?”

              “It was big,” Vera could still see it in her mind so clearly, it was almost like she was still standing on the porch. “Gorgeous, really gorgeous with a black, white and gray coat.” She frowned as she suddenly felt a wave of anger roll off of the man crouched down in front of her. “Deke?”

              “No one is going to hurt you,” his voice was low, his hands and jaw were clenched.

              Comfort washed over her. Vera didn't know why; she'd never seen Deacon look more menacing, but somehow she knew that he wouldn't hurt her, he'd protect her. “You don't think I'm crazy?”

              “No,” he said shortly.

              Vera was still comforted by his presence but there was no denying that something had changed. He'd moved a little bit back from her but that wasn't it. It was something else, a weight that she suddenly felt all over. “Are you okay?”

              He let out a snort of laughter. “Look at you worrying about me when you're the one who's been unconscious for hours. I'm okay, Vera.” Deacon rose to his feet and held out his hand to her. “You should get back in bed. I'll get Susan to come take a look at you, make sure that you're okay.”

              Vera took his hand and he helped her to her feet. Susan? Her Susan? Center City wasn't exactly a big town despite what the name implied, and she couldn't think of any other Susan he'd want to have look at her. “Susan Scarpone? The doctor?”

              “Yes, she's a friend of mine too.”

              “I didn't know that.”

              “It's not like we've done a lot of talking,” he pointed out, no smile on his lips.

              “Are you sure that you're okay Deke?” Vera asked even though she knew the answer. He wasn't okay, not by a long shot.

              “Yes, Vera, I'm fine.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead.

              Vera let him help her into bed and let him have his lie. She didn't know what was going on or why he wouldn't tell her; it bothered her, but she'd let it go for now. Fragments of the night before kept running through her mind. She tried to push the fragments away as Deacon  fixed the covers over her. “Deke?”

              “Yeah?” He sounded distracted; she wasn't the only one thinking big thoughts.

              “Thank you,” Vera said after a moment. “I don't know what happened once I was out, but you obviously came for me.”

              “You're safe here, Vera. I'm going to get Susan, I'll be right back.”

              Vera watched him go, felt confusion and anger swirling through her. She preferred being confused or angry to being scared, which was the next emotion that swept over her. She was alone, in a strange place, and without Deke in the room there was this ominous feeling in the air that she couldn't place her finger on.

              It seemed to be an eternity until Susan came through the door, although it was likely only a few minutes. “Hey, welcome back.”

              “I'm so glad to see you. Surprised to see you but glad,” Vera sat up in bed. “I'll love you forever if you help me to the bathroom and say I can have a shower.”

              “I will do both,” her friend replied. “But if you can hold it, I'd like to examine you first. How's your head?”

              “There's only one little man with a hammer banging around inside, there were like twelve when I first got up.”

              “You had some sort of blow to the head?”

              “It smashed my head into the floor,” Vera relived the moment just by mentioning it. “Guess I got off easy compared to what I thought was going to happen.”

              “It definitely could be worse.” Susan told her. Vera remained still while she did the exam, breathed in and out, although she didn't understand exactly why she needed her lungs listened to. It was her head that was the problem. “I think that you'll be fine in a few days. You need as much rest as possible. Nothing strenuous, which includes wild sex with Deke. Sorry.”

              “Thanks,” Vera scrubbed her hands over her face. She'd thought of something after Deacon had left the room. It was something she didn't want to think about, but it needed to be addressed immediately. “Don't take off those gloves, I need you to check and see if anything was done to me.”

              “Done to you?” Susan's eyes widened. “Vera, do you think that you were sexually assaulted?”

              That was the million dollar question. “I'm not sure. I'd like to be sure.”

              “Okay, I can do that exam. No problem. I'll also get you a round of antibiotics to be on the safe side. I'm going to need you to lie back and...” Susan stopped speaking, cocked her head to the side. “Did you hear that?”

              “I didn't hear anything.” Vera listened now, listened as hard as she could. “Wait, I did hear something.”

              “Stay there,” Susan pulled off the gloves and walked over to the window. “Or on second thought, get your ass over here now.”

              Vera got out of bed, walked over to the window. The floor was bare wood, cold against her feet; she reached the window and looked out. The last thing that she expected to see was Deacon and Houdini brawling in the back yard.

              “Jesus Christ,” Susan exhaled the words, her face nearly pressed against the window. “That shouldn't be hot but somehow it is.”

              “Oh God, we've got to stop them.” They were friends, they shouldn't be fighting. Why were they fighting? Was this a result of how angry Deacon had been when he left the room? Was this why he hadn't come back? There were too many questions, too few answers.

              “No,” Susan reached out and took her arm. “Your man has been through it today. He found you unconscious and laid out on your bed like you were in a coffin. Let him have this, let him release some of the steam inside of him.”

              “He's not my man,” Vera protested but the second that she spoke the words she knew that they were a lie. For better or worse she was head over heels in love with Deacon Hawke, even though it didn't make an ounce of sense. Perhaps she really was losing her mind.

              “Yeah and bears don't shit in the woods.” Susan let out a laugh. “Just enjoy the show. If they don't find a natural stopping point soon we'll go down and help them out.”

              “They're going to tear each other to pieces,” Vera spoke in a small voice. Violence had never been her thing, unless it was fake. Give her a good bloody movie or a video game where she could shoot things into tiny pieces and she was a happy woman. But this? Watching two men who she knew and liked going at one another gave her an uncomfortable feeling.

              The more thought she gave the feeling, the more that she realized it wasn't disgust. No, it was the polar opposite of disgust. The fight was arousing her even as irrational anger sparked inside of her. Vera stepped back from the window, needing to look away to try and calm the sudden assault on her senses.

              “Vera? What's wrong? Is it your head?”

              “I don't know,” Vera admitted. “I'm...” she stuttered and blushed not knowing how to explain what she was feeling inside. “We need to put a stop to this, now.” Maybe stopping the fight was the answer. Maybe just being around Deacon was the answer. She didn't know but she did know that she couldn't just stand there. In fact, it was a little hard to stand at the moment.

              “I think that...”

              “I'm fine,” Vera cut off whatever concern her friend was about to express. “I just need to get down there and stop Deke. I just want it to stop.” She was no longer sure if she was talking about the fight or the feelings that she couldn't get a hold on. Either way, it didn't matter. She just wanted Deacon. “None of this makes sense.”

              “What doesn't make sense?” Now Susan looked confused as well.

              Vera had no way to explain it even if she tried, she couldn't try. “Anything! Everything! I just.. I want Deke.”

              “Alright, let's go and get him.”

              Vera didn't know the way out of the house but it sure seemed like she did, in fact she beat Susan to the stairs and was down them in a flash without regard to her bare feet or the fact that she was only wearing a tee shirt she assumed belonged to Deacon.