Scattered Thoughts (Betrayed by Love Book 1) (16 page)

A harsh tone filled my ears. “Who sent you flowers?”

I felt a sharp pain in my side. “No, please, stop,” I opened my mouth to speak but my voice failed me.

Symphonie Fantaqstique
blared all around. “Who!” he shouted. The pain came again, and again.

“No,” I tried to scream but I couldn’t. The pain in my ribs was too great and I struggled to breathe.

“Who makes you smile?” He was yelling at me now. I knew that voice. But who? That smell, that terrible smell. “Answer me!” The pain came again. I tried to answer but words failed me. Pain, there was so much pain. “Why do you insist on defying me, Bella?” he shouted, louder still. My head was groggy. His hand fisted in my hair, pulling my head back and exposing my neck. It was so hard to breathe.

“It’s just another dream,” I told myself. I wanted to wake up now. “Wake up,” I pleaded with myself. “Wake up damn it.” I twisted and turned, pulling on my restraints.
Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!

Tears fell down my face in a steady stream. “Please,” I finally managed to say.

“I like it when you beg, Bella. I’m gonna make you beg.” His voice was in my ear. My body tensed. He pulled my hair harder and when I cried out he claimed my mouth with his tongue. He tasted of whisky and cigarettes. I turned my head trying to resist him but it was no use.

The music blared around me, louder and louder still. “Who are you?” I asked.

“Don’t you know me, Bella? Can’t you taste me?” The pain came again making me cough this time. There was a sharp pain on the back of my neck. My head was foggy. My eyes were too heavy to hold open.

• • • • •

I jolted upright in bed. Tears were falling in a steady stream down my face. My heart was racing so fast I could barely breathe. I pulled my arms down, instantly relieved when they moved. “It was just a dream,” I said out loud. “Just another stupid nightmare.”

My body ached as I climbed out of bed. A sharp pain pierced my side when I tried to take a deep breath. It felt so real.
The pain is real
, my inner voice snapped. My body tensed as I considered the reality of it. My fractured ribs. This hot pink cast. But Frank was downstairs. It had to have been a dream.

After pulling on my robe I headed downstairs for a bottle of water. The house was dark, the only light coming from the foyer.  I’d almost gotten to the bottom of the stairs when a shadow in the doorway caught my eye. I stood still, frozen in my tracks, my whole body trembling.

The shadow moved and I knew it was real. Someone was here. “Frank?” I called out, but there was no answer. The shadowy figure moved again. I screamed and turned to run back upstairs but my foot got tangled in my robe sending me toppling head over heels down the stairs, onto the marble floor. My head was fuzzy but I could see someone standing next to me. Those eyes, I recognized those eyes.

“Mom! Wake up. Wake up mom.” I heard voices in the distance. Anna, Drew, lots of voices all around  me.

“Stay with us, Mrs. James.” His voice was unfamiliar. “We’re almost to the hospital, ma’am.” Did he say hospital? There were more voices, and lights, lights everywhere. I closed my eyes and shadows surrounded me. Those eyes. I remembered his eyes.

It was dark. My head was foggy. There was so much pain. “No,” I shouted, “no, no, no!”

“Mrs. James, are you okay?” a voice asked, a soft, sweet voice I didn’t recognize. “You’re in the hospital, Ms. James. You had an accident.” She shined a light in my eyes making me flinch. “Are you having any pain?” Pain, yes. There was pain.

“Yes,” I breathed, my voice barely a whisper.

“Okay, we can take care of that.” She left. No, don’t leave me. I didn’t want to be here alone. My eyes were too heavy and they closed.

When I opened my eyes again the woman was back. She injected something into the plastic tube coming out  of  my arm. “This will help with the pain,” she said softly. “It will help you sleep too
.” No. Please. I don’t want to sleep. Dreams. Nightmares.

• • • • •

My eyes flew open. My head felt funny. Tubes were coming out of both arms. My cast was gone. I reached up and touched my face only to find a tube coming out of my nose too. For a minute I wondered if I was still dreaming. I sat up and looked around. A faint light peeked under the oversized door providing the only light in the room. “Where am I?” I asked out loud but no one answered.

There were voices on the other side of the door and I strained to hear what they were saying. “She’s my wife. You can’t keep me from her.” Spencer? No. Those eyes. I didn’t want to see him. My body tensed and my heart began to race. A loud beeping noise sounded all around me. The door swung open and a team of people rushed in. Spencer followed.

“Do you know where you are, Mrs. James?” one of the women asked. I shook my head. “You’re in the hospital.” She checked the wires that were attached to me. “I’m Nina. I’m a nurse here.” Another nurse checked my blood pressure while a third one shined a light in my eyes.

“Blood pressure is normal.”

“Pupils are reactive.”

“Here’s the problem,” Nina said holding up a wire. “It’s just a loose wire.” She connected it to the round sticker on my ankle then pressed a button on the monitor.

“Thank you, Nina,” I said, relieved that awful noise had finally stopped.

“Welcome back, Mrs. James, how are you feeling?”

“Groggy,” I whispered. “Where am I?”

“You’re at the Ft. Walton Beach Medical Center. You had an accident and were unconscious when they brought you in last night.”

“I’m so thirsty.”

“I’ll get you some ice water. Do you want to try to eat something?” I shook my head. Food was the furthest thing from my mind right now. “Okay. I’ll be right back with that water.”

She turned toward Spencer. “You can visit now, Mr. James, but keep it short.”

Spencer moved closer to the bed. “Izzy, we were so worried.” His voice was raspy and sounded strained. He smelled of cigarettes and bourbon.

The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. “Why are you here? How did you even know?”

“Anna called me.” Spencer scrubbed his hands over his face. “Just because we’re divorced doesn’t mean I don’t still care about you, that I don’t still love you.”

“Stop, Spencer, just stop.”

“I’m so sorry, Izzy.” He dropped his head into his hands. “I’m sorry about the pictures. I’m sorry for lying to you.” He looked at me, tears rolling down his cheeks. “I do know the woman in those pictures.”

The blood rushed to my face. “Who are they?”

“It’s only one woman, and who she is isn’t important. It should’ve never happened. It was a mistake. I hurt you. I hurt us.” He sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands once more. “I tried to end it but then she sent you those pictures. I’m sorry, Izzy. I’m so sorry.”

He’d had months to tell me about the pictures and the woman he’d been sleeping around with, but he’d chosen this moment?  My heart beat faster. “Why are you telling me this? Why now?” The monitor sounded again sending Nina running back in.

“Your heart rate is dangerously high, Mrs. James.” I looked away to hide the tears that had started to fall. “Your wife needs to rest, Mr. James, you can visit her again later.”

“Okay,” Spencer agreed all too quickly. Part of me wanted an answer but I was happy to see him go. “I’ll check on you later, Izzy.” He left before I could tell him not to bother.

Nina handed me a glass of ice water then injected something into my IV before turning off the room light. “Try to get some sleep, Mrs. James. Dr. Leonard will be by to check on you later.” She walked out into the hall, the door closing behind her.

I laid my head against the pillow, tears falling in a steady stream now. “Why did he have to come here?” I cried. “Why did he need to tell me that now?” I was so drowsy. My eyes closed.

The sound of the door opening woke me and I opened my eyes in time to see two women wearing white coats come into the room. I recognized Dr. Leonard but I’d never seen the other woman before. “Welcome back,” Dr. Leonard said. “This is Dr. Jensen from toxicology. She’s here to talk to you about your lab results.”

Toxicology? I sat up in bed. “What about ‘em?”

Dr. Jensen moved closer. “To put it simply, Ms. James, you were drugged. We found evidence of more than one drug in your system so we’ll need to run a few more tests to determine exactly what combination was used.”
Drugged
. Did I hear her right? My head started spinning. My nightmares…My arm…My ribs… “Dreams don’t break bones, Isabella...” Suddenly I felt sick.

“You’ll need to stay in the hospital for a day or two. We’ll keep you on IV fluids to flush out of your system.”

“Okay,” I whispered; my voice barely audible. Drugged? I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“Have your nurse call me if you need anything, Izzy.” Dr. Leonard added before the two women left. Drugged? I buried my face in my hands, stunned by what I’d just been told.

It wasn’t long before the door opened again. Nina. And she was carrying a syringe. “Dr. Leonard wants you to sleep,” she said as she injected the medicine into the IV. I didn’t object this time. I wanted to sleep. This was too much to deal with. I closed my eyes and gladly drifted off.

My head still felt a little groggy when I woke from the medicine induced slumber but thankfully it had stopped throbbing. Light seeped through the edges of the blinds and I wondered what time it was, or what day it was for that matter. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, my whole body objecting as I sat up. My legs wobbled as I struggled to get to my feet, and I had to grab onto the IV pole to avoid falling. I pushed the pole into the bathroom to take care of a pressing need.

My reflection frightened me when I moved to the sink to wash up. Dark circles had formed under my eyes and a purple and blue bruise stretched across my face. My hair was matted to my forehead with blood but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.

The cool water from the dampened washcloth was invigorating and instantly improved my mood. Gently I ran the washcloth over the matted mess in my hair freeing the strands so I could rinse the blood out.

The unopened toothbrush and small tube of toothpaste next to the sink grabbed my attention. I opened them both and squeezed a small amount of the white paste onto the bristles. The minty flavor was refreshing and when I’d finished brushing I felt almost normal again.

When I pushed the bathroom door open I was immediately frozen in my tracks. “Alec,” I gasped, wondering what he was doing here, and how he even knew I was here. I opened my mouth to ask but words failed me. “What? How?” was all I could manage.

Alec closed the gap between us and pulled me gently into his arms. “Oh, Isabella, I’m so sorry. I came as soon as I heard.”

He held me at arms-length, his eyes scanning my body, before helping me back to bed. “I was so scared,” he whispered, pulling me gently into his arms, enveloping me in the safety of his grasp. I could feel the tension leaving his body as he held me close. “I’m sorry, baby. Sorry this happened, sorry I wasn’t there to protect you.” He kissed my forehead. “Sorry he got away.” There was no denying it anymore. Someone had done this. “Tell me what happened?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “All I remember is falling and then those eerie eyes glaring down at me.” I shook my head. “The doctor said I was drugged.”

“Drugged?”

Just then the door opened and a man I’d never seen before entered the room. And just like that the tension I’d felt earlier in Alec arms was back. “Hello, Mrs. James, I’m Detective Rux with the Ft. Walton Beach police department,” he said. He turned toward Alec and extended his hand. “Mr. James.”

Alec accepted his hand. “Detective Rux,” he said. “I’m Alec Payne.”

“My apologies, Mr. Payne.” The detective turned back toward me. “I’m investigating your attack and need to ask you a few questions.”

“Can’t this wait, Detective?”

“I only have a few questions. It won’t take long, sir.”

Every muscle in Alec’s face tightened. He opened his mouth to speak but I reached over and touched his hand. “It’s okay, Alec. I’ll just do it now.”

“Are you sure you’re up to it?” I nodded and forced a smile. I didn’t want to talk about last night at all but I figured it was inevitable given the circumstances and just wanted it over with. Alec sat back down next to me.

“I need to speak to Mrs. James alone, sir.”

No!
my inner voice screamed. That wasn’t part of my plan. I didn’t want to do this at all, much less alone. “Can’t he stay?”

“It’s important I speak to you alone, Ms. James. We won’t be long and Mr. Payne can wait right outside the door.” He moved closer to the bed and the look on his face said he wasn’t going to budge.

“Okay,” I sighed. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Alec squeezed my hand. “I’ll be right outside, Isabella.” And with that he was gone.

Detective Rux pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down. “What can you tell me about the attack?”

“Not much I’m afraid. I’ve been having nightmares, or at least I thought they were nightmares.” I looked over at the monitors. “But after this I don’t know what to think anymore.”

“How long have you been having these nightmares?”

“They started right after...” I closed my eyes and dropped my head in my hands, knowing if I told him about the package I’d have to tell him about the affair too and I didn’t want to go into any of that. Not like this anyway, and especially not with Alec right outside the door. “Right after I filed for divorce.”

He opened his small notebook and wrote something down. “Tell me what you can remember about them.”

“There’s not much to tell, I’m afraid, just a bunch of scattered thoughts.”

“Take your time, Ms. James, any detail you remember could be important.”

I closed my eyes, doing my best to focus. Images flashed through my mind. “Cigarettes,” I blurted out, “he smelled like cigarettes and alcohol. Whisky I think.” My heart started to race. I was wrong. I couldn’t do this now, or maybe I just didn’t want to. “My journal,” I sighed, relieved I’d remembered it. “It’s in my bedside table. It has everything I’ve managed to remember about the dreams.”

He wrote in his book again. “Were you home alone last night, Ms. James?”

“No. Frank was there. Sara could’ve been there too.”

“Sara who?”

“Sara Pike, she works for us.”

“Is it usual for Ms. Pike to stay over?”

“Yes. No. Well sometimes.”

His brow furrowed. “Which is it, Ms. James, yes, no, or sometimes?”

“She stays over from time to time, usually when Spencer and I are both traveling, but her husband is out of town so she’s been staying with us more often. I’m just not sure if she was there last night.”

He wrote in his notebook again. “How long has Mr. Reynolds worked for you?”

“Who?”

“Frank Reynolds, the man who called in the attack.” Perfect. I didn’t even know the last name of the man who’d slept in my house.

“Actually, he doesn’t work for me. He works for Mr.   Payne.”

Detective Rux tilted his head to side. “And what’s the nature of your relationship with Mr. Payne?”

My heart beat faster. “Relationship,” I thought to myself, the word rolling around like a lost marble in my mind. “He’s a client. We have a professional relationship,” I said finally. But my cheeks flushed as I considered how far past the boundaries of a typical professional relationship we’d gone.

“Are the two of you romantically involved?”

My jaw dropped. “Where are you going with this, Detective?”

Looking up from his notebook, he said, “The two of you seemed fairly, shall we say, intimate, when I got here.”

The detective wrote in his book once more. “Who all has keys to your house?”

Adrenalin coursed through my veins and I was beyond ready for this to be over. “All of us, Spencer, Drew, Anna, Sara, me. We all have keys.”

“Who knows the alarm code?”

“Why does that matter?” I snapped, my patience with his questions wearing dangerously thin.

“Well, Ms. James, there was no sign of forced entry and your alarm was turned off.” What was he saying? “Was the alarm active when you got home last night?”

I’d been so mad at Alec for taking my keys that activating the alarm never even crossed my mind. My head started to spin. “Ms. James, did you turn on the alarm last night or not?”

“No,” I whispered.

Again, he wrote in his book. “My team is searching for evidence. We’ll need fingerprints of everyone who has been in your house recently.”

“Fine. Are we almost done?”

He looked up from his notebook, his eyes finding mine once more. “Do you know who did this, Ms. James? Did Mr. James do this?”

Those  eyes
,  my  inner  voice  reminded  me, 
those  familiar eyes
. Tears rolled down my cheeks. My heart beat faster still. “It couldn’t be Spencer,” I cried, desperately wanting that to be true. The mere thought that he could do this was a pain too great to bear.

The door flew open as the alarm on the monitor started beeping again. Alec rushed into the room, Nina close behind him. “Your heart rate is very high, Ms. James,” Nina said as he injected something into my IV.

“We’re done here, Detective,” Alec snapped.

“There’s just one more thing, sir. We weren’t able to find Mrs. James’ car keys. Do either of you know where they are?”

“I have them,” Alec answered quickly.

Detective Rux opened his notebook once again. “And where were you Saturday night during the attack?”

Alec squeezed my hand. “New York. I’ll have my office send over my flight plan if you want confirmation.”

“Perfect.” The detective handed Alec a business card then stood to leave. “You can fax it to that number there,” Detective Rux said, pointing at the number he wanted Alec to use.

He handed me a card too. “Call me if you remember anything else, Ms. James, anything at all.” With that he showed himself out.

“You’ve had enough excitement for one day,” Nina said. “You need to get some rest.”

Alec sat on the bed beside me and pulled me close him. “You’re safe now, Isabella. You’re safe with me.” I closed my eyes and melted into his arms as the medicine Nina injected took effect.

When I opened my eyes again it was dark. I must’ve dozed off. The street lights were visible through the partially open blinds.  Alec was curled up in the room’s only cushioned chair and it made me wonder how long he’d been there. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and slowly stood. My legs wobbled under my own weight and I fell back onto the bed, gasping as a sharp pain radiated through my side.

Alec rushed to my side. “Here, let me help you,” he said lifting me to my feet. My knees buckled once more and he wrapped his arm around my waist pulling me into his hard body. “You’re weak, Isabella, you need to get back in bed.”

“Bathroom,” I muttered, my bladder urging me to hurry. Helping me to the in room bath, Alec opened the door and pushed the IV pole inside. I removed his hand from my waist. “I’ve got this now.”

“No, let me help you.”

“Alec, you’re not coming into the bathroom with me.”

“Fine, stay right there. I’ll get the nurse.”

“I don’t need a nurse. I need to pee. Now move.” I pushed my way past him, shutting the door behind me.

The bruise on my face was even bigger than it had been this morning. A shiver ran down my spine as I started to remember tiny details of the attack. I was walking down the stairs.  Something stopped me; those eyes. I turned to run. Oh, God, I’m falling. My heart started racing. “NO!” I screamed.

The door swung open. “Isabella, what’s wrong?” Alec grabbed my waist and turned me toward him. “Baby, are you okay?”

I fell into his chest, throwing my arms around him, my whole body shaking now. “His eyes,” I cried. “He was in the foyer. I saw him.”

“It’s okay, baby. You’re safe. He can’t hurt you now.” Tears rolled down my cheeks. Those eyes were so familiar. I wished I could remember more.

Alec scooped me up in his arms and I was too emotionally drained to object. Setting me gently on the bed, he sat down beside me. “The nurse said you haven’t eaten since you got here.” He slid the hospital tray table under the bed and I noticed a tray of food that hadn’t been there before. He lifted the plastic dome exposing a bowl of chicken noodle soup.

My stomach turned at the mere sight of food. “Alec, I’m not hungry.”

“You haven’t eaten in two days, Isabella. You’re weak. You need to eat.” He lifted the spoon to my mouth. Reluctantly I took a bite. “Good girl,” Alec said, his wicked grin making a brief appearance. It was enough to make me blush and I had to look away to hide my crimson cheeks. “All of it,” he said lifting the spoon to my mouth again.

I took another bite. “Control Freak,” I whispered.

Alec lifted my chin until my eyes met his. “That’s right. I am a control freak. And you’d be doing yourself a favor to remember that.” He leaned in and kissed me hard on the lips. When he pulled away I was left wanting yet again. “Now eat.”

“Okay, okay. Relax.” I slurped a noodle slowly off the spoon.

Alec shook his head. “Dangerous, dangerous game, Isabella.”

The door opened. “It’s good to see you eating,” Dr. Leonard said as she approached the bed. “How are you feeling?”

I put the spoon down. “Much better. I think I could manage at home.”

“You are not going home,” Alec snapped, every muscle in his face clenched tight. “Someone got into your house, drugged you, and attacked you. And this isn’t even the first time. You are not going back to that house.”

My mouth dropped open. “Locks can be changed, Alec. And I’m not staying in the hospital forever,” I snapped back. This was not his decision to make, even though he did have a point.

“You’ve got some time to figure it out. I want to keep you here tonight to monitor your vitals and we’ll talk about discharge tomorrow.” Dr. Leonard removed the stethoscope from around her neck and listened to my heart. “Get some rest, Izzy. I’ll be back in the morning and we’ll go from there.”

“You can’t go back to that house, Isabella,” Alec repeated as soon as she’d left.