The Good Sister (3 page)

“I know. I’ll come soon.” Lindsey didn’t know if that were true; but for a few moments, on today, of all days, she needed to believe it.

Ellensburg, Washington

Noah Clark looked up
from the iPad he was rapidly scrolling through when his very pregnant assistant slammed down his reception phone and grimaced as she muttered, “Asswipe.”

He raised his eyebrows and tilted his head, waiting for Jessie to explain. She was often swearing at any customer who pissed her off, only so long as it was just the two of them and no one else could hear her. She was unfailingly polite otherwise.

“My brother-in-law. He is such a scum bag. I don’t know how Lindsey can stand him.”

“Lindsey is a kind, gentle, well spoken woman who manages to stand him by not calling him things like ‘
asswipe.’”

She made a face and stuck out her tongue at him. He smiled in return. She knew he didn’t actually want her to be soft-spoken and gentle. “I know, I know. She’s all sugar and spice and everything nice.”

“No, she just has different tastes in men than you. But what did the esteemed asswipe do this time?”

“He won’t allow Lindsey to come stay with me.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You know that for sure?”

Jessie glared and pursed her lips before she finally shrugged. “No, not yet. But he will say no. Just because she has to ask him. He treats her like a five-year-old who needs his permission to do anything. I’ll bet she has to raise her hand and ask before she can take a piss.”

“Jessie…”

She sighed. “I know, no foul language at the office. But he just infuriates me.”

“Do you think Lindsey notices? She never says anything, does she?”

“No, but Lindsey wouldn’t. She never says anything about anyone or anything. She… well, she’s always been the indisputable queen of denial. My father trained her well at holding in secrets, and denying what is literally right before her nose. It’s her coping mechanism. It’s something that so tore us apart when we were younger. And now? Now, I fear, she uses it to rationalize what her controlling, dominating husband does to her.”

Noah frowned and pushed his glasses up his nose. “Does to her? What do you think he ‘does’ to her?”

Jessie fiddled with the appointment book in front of her. “I guess, nothing. I just could never warm up to him, or him to me. I know he disapproves of me. Then again, so do a lot of other people. But he seems to disapprove of Will, too. I mean, who could disapprove of Will? No one. Ever. But Elliot does. He masks it behind his cool, calm, too nice, and too generic mask. I see the annoyance and anger bubbling behind his eyes. But Lindsey probably doesn’t. She spent so many years being so good, and blindly obedient to my father, that I fear she has traded one domineering asshole in for another.”

“Thus, your persistence in getting her to come here?”

“Yes, I’d like to see her. I’d like to gauge for myself how she really is. I can’t tell over the phone. But the photos I see online of them making the D.C. social rounds, always make her look like she might blow away. She’s always been thin, but now she looks as if she’d fall over. That strikes me as… worrisome.”

He nodded in sympathy. “You’re a good sister.”

Jessie raised her eyebrows and paused, before she shook her head and laughed strangely. “No one’s ever accused me of that before.”

Noah met her gaze and a slow smile spread over his face. No, probably no one had ever accused Jessie of that. Since he met Jessie, he considered her a nice, lovely, quiet, young girl who lived in an apartment over a barn, belonging to one of his clients. They ran a ranch a few miles out of Ellensburg and Noah saw to their horses and other livestock veterinary needs. They once asked him to take on Jessie as an intern. She had no training, but quickly took to the animals; and had a rare and genuine abandon that couldn’t be learned. He gladly gave her a part-time job, and even harbored feelings of a sort for her at first. But after he met her husband, Will, and learned of their history that was mind-blowing in its extent of tragedy and conflict, his feelings changed. He also learned Jessie wasn’t really known for her manners, elegance or sophistication. He was there for Jessie at a point in her life when she needed him, but nothing more. They remained good friends and he happily offered her the part-time position when she and Will moved back to town after Will left active duty.

“If you met Elliot, you’d understand what I’m talking about. It’s like this unholy chill surrounds the air wherever he steps. Actual goose bumps break out on my skin. He’s
that
cold and chilling. And on top of it all, he’s a big, fat, scum bag.”

“You describe him like he’s a zombie.”

“Maybe he is.”

“Who’s a big, fat, scum bag? Not me, I hope.”

Noah glanced backwards. “Will, how goes it?”

Will had recently been hired as a production manager by a new manufacturing plant that produced component parts for HVAC systems. The job was light years from what Will spent the majority of his adult life doing in the Army Special Forces. He was overqualified and certainly capable of handling any kind of stress this civilian job could throw at him. After all, he was militarily trained to handle life-threatening situations, so learning the details of this job and what they manufactured was pretty easy for Will Hendricks, Super Soldier. He stayed in the Army Reserves, but abandoned active duty after his contract was up. It shocked everyone. No one ever expected Will Hendricks to retire. But he did. For Jessie.

Jessie, meanwhile, began taking classes at Central Washington University in town where she was studying for a pre-veterinary degree. Their developing child was a true blessing and a long time coming for a couple Noah could truly say he never saw another equal to. Their lifestyle and choice to live in a small, little town were far removed from the one her sister and husband opted for in Virginia.

Will smiled at Noah after first seeking his wife’s gaze before she blushed and ducked her head. It amazed Noah whenever Jessie ever acted bashful. Only Will could bring such things out in her. “No, not you. Elliot.”

Will’s mouth tightened. “Oh, him. Yeah, can’t argue there. What was his reason for not allowing Lindsey to come?”

“I don’t know yet. But I’m sure it will be forthcoming soon. She had to check with him, but we all know that is just Lindsey code for she has to beg him.”

“Jess, you didn’t say anything like that to Lindsey, did you? We’ve talked about that. She’ll clam up and retreat from you. You know that. Whether you like it or not, Lindsey can’t help falling into a lifetime habit of keeping quiet.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Jessie grumbled, “Not really, anyway.”

“She’s not you. She willingly accepts his controlling ways. Maybe, tragically, she even likes them. I don’t know, but to keep in contact with her, which is a
must
for you, you have to ignore the subject and keep quiet.”

Jessie stood, and her stomach protruded as she was seven months pregnant. She grimaced as she put a hand to her back. “I will and I did keep quiet.” He smiled and took her hand.

She glanced up at Noah. “So, how was your date last night? You never said.”

Noah slid a glance Will’s way. It worried him a bit when Jessie acted so familiar with him in front of Will. Not that Will ever complained or anything about it. Will was always nice, and smiled easily in his presence. But Will was ex-Special Forces, and still in the same physical shape, so he could do some real damage if he had to.  And Noah had slightly, kind-of, almost dated Jessie when they temporarily broke up, just before Will disappeared in Afghanistan.

“I never said because I probably didn’t want to discuss it with you.”

Will snickered and slapped him on the back. “You might as well answer; she’ll just keep at you until you do.”

He glanced at Will before relenting with a sigh that Will was right. “It was fine. Good. We went to dinner and a movie. She was nice and polite and the conversation wasn’t too strained or uncomfortable.”

“Yes, but was there any chemistry? Fireworks? Something to make it more than the usual?”

He rolled his eyes. She was always looking for more. “There was nice, adult time. And the rest is none of your business.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Uh-huh, boring. Dull. No chemistry. You have got to start looking for less women exactly like you and more women who are interesting.”

“Are you implying that I’m not interesting?”

She smiled. “I stepped into that, didn’t I? You are fascinating. Women drop around you for being a tall, handsome, responsible veterinarian that they can’t wait to get to know. But you tend towards women who value you strictly for that, and not for your personality.”

“I tend toward women who are adults.”

“You…”

Will suddenly stuck his hand over Jessie’s mouth. “Maybe you could let Noah decide who and what he wants. Lord knows, girl, he has his hands full enough by having you as his assistant.”

She elbowed him in the gut as she smiled behind his hand. “Noah knows we’re his best friends and only wish to see him happy.”

Noah did know that. Jessie, for all her bluster and directness, was as bighearted and sweet as they came. They were both his dear and close friends; not only because of the things he knew about them, and experienced with them, but also because they genuinely cared for each other.

“And besides, I love animals, probably just as much as Noah, but they don’t keep your bed warm at night.”

Will started dragging Jessie out the front door with an apologetic glance at Noah. “Sorry; she even comments on your bed.”

Noah shook his head as he watched them leave, smiling and joking, even flirting together.

Okay, so his date lacked such things as seeing humor or flirting. She was an assistant professor at the local university with a primary focus in biology, and it soon become apparent to him that she didn’t leave her lab much to socialize.

He finished closing up for the evening. There wasn’t much left to do. As always, Jessie saw to that. What would he do when she took maternity leave? He could hardly function anymore without her organizational skills and input. What if she decided to never return? He dared not contemplate that. Jessie had to come back. He couldn’t find the spare toilet paper, let alone find a supply list or pay a bill. She was invaluable to him for everything practical.

He locked the door to the small, brick, one-story, Colonial house that served as his veterinary clinic. Clark Veterinary Clinic was his pride and joy. Scarcely a mile out of the small Washington town of Ellensburg, he lived just a street over from the clinic in a similar house that was two stories tall and had the same brick Colonial mien. Giant, graceful trees rose over the street and hid many of the houses that lined the two-way road. It was a quiet neighborhood of old homes that were set back from the street on large squares of grassy land. His barrage of dogs started barking when they spotted him walking up the walkway after exiting his truck. One side of his spacious yard fenced in the six dogs that ranged in breeds from a Dachshund to a German shepherd, and even included a three-legged mutt. He also had four cats. They were all rescues he acquired over the years from various owners who either abused or neglected the animals. It was hard for him to turn away any of them, and made his heart heavy each time he couldn’t take one in. He always had to work at keeping his professional cool with such callous owners who could so easily discard their pets. Why did people like that even bother to get them?

He petted and soothingly spoke to each dog as he crossed their play area to check on their water levels and feed them. They entangled his feet and wagged their tails in frantic ecstasy. That is what he so loved about animals, their constant ease and joy of the present moment.

He unlocked the back door and entered his quiet, modernly equipped, but old-fashioned-in-its-decorating kitchen. There was a message for him to call his sister. She was always checking in on him. And a message from the professor.
Huh
. That was a bit of a surprise. Should he bother calling her back? Then again, what other options were there in town? He felt like he tried to date almost every local in town; and as Jessie said, animals couldn’t keep his bed warm. With a sigh of boredom and a lack of interest, he picked up the phone.

Lindsey carefully finished retouching her toenails with the dark, brilliant shade of red she had professionally applied the previous day. It matched the red tones of the long, slimming gown she intended to wear tonight. Her hair was carefully coiffed on top of her head with big curls pinned to the knot. A wisp of feminine bangs covered her forehead, and longer strands trailed around her ears and neck. She wore the diamond necklace and matching earrings that belonged to Elliot’s grandmother, and which he only let her wear when they were out to impress. She hated wearing them, however, for the fear it stirred in her at the thought of what he’d do if she ever lost one. Her body involuntarily convulsed at the concept.

Elliot’s parents would be there tonight. They were as stunningly handsome together as their son was. The family ran an investment group that funded everything from biochemical research to companies producing computer parts. Elliot used much of his family’s investment funds to start his own corporation the same year he switched from active to inactive duty in the Army. He now constructed and managed hotels. The company
furnished all construction labor and materials from fixing up dated hotel franchises to building brand new mega-resorts. Some hotels were built and designed for specific clients; while others were self-funded and built from scratch to be sold outright. They kept some hotels and hired local hotel and restaurant management corporations to handle their daily operations. Everything they did depended on what brought Elliot the most profit. The work also allowed him extensive traveling perks. Although they were never for long periods of time, their frequency helped Lindsey deal with the interims, when he was home. He never took her traveling with him. He did, however, make it very clear how she was to behave during his absence.

He had been given a substantial start from his family, but no one could deny his God-given talent for success. Beginning with his small venture, and flipping one hotel at a time, he managed to turn it into a multi-million dollar corporation that was on a substantially quick and profitable rise.

She glanced up when the bedroom door opened and Elliot strode in, a large bouquet of red roses lying innocuously across his arms. He smiled as he stopped and waited for her to stand. She rose to her feet, quickly slipping her four-inch, open-toed heels on. She waited as he lay the flowers in her arms, and slowly walked around to inspect her. There was no small detail he’d overlook. She knew that. They knew this routine and ritual. He would examine her from all angles, almost as if she were a used car, and he were trying to find the tiniest dings and nicks. He came full circle around her before nodding with approval. Her shoulders dropped in relief.
Thank God
, he found nothing offensive or needing correction. She was sure she could not take anymore of his nitpicking, not tonight. She was pumped so full of Vicodin to ease the deep, sharp pains of her torso and nether regions that she had to be extra careful at hiding the dulling effects of the drug.

“You look lovely.”

Ahh, the romantic, sweet, chivalrous husband was back. The man who first wooed her. The man whom she thought, in her blind innocence, and earnest need for approval, she was marrying.

She lowered her gaze in bashful reserve, as if his
compliment made her blush. Truthfully, it was to hide her grimace of disgust at the absolute ridiculousness in pursuing the farce they insisted upon. He could so easily kick her to the ground in the afternoon, while he admired her loveliness in the evening. The red in her cheeks was not from his phony compliments, but the sanctimonious absurdity of their charade.

“Thank you, Elliot. I hoped you’d be pleased.”

“I am.” He touched her chin and made her raise her eyes to his. “Do you like your flowers?”

His gaze drilled into her. She gulped down the fear in her throat and smiled softly, as he
preferred. “They are exquisite. You are too good to me.”

His fingers trailed down over her bare neck, to her collarbone, and the top edging of her satin dress. Her breath caught as her insides clenched. “You went with the red; good choice.”

She expelled her lungs in a harsh release.
Oh, sweet heaven, he approved!
“I know it’s a favorite of yours. And I thought it would be a subtle nod at the flag colors. It is, after all, about your election.”

He smiled and inclined his head. “It makes me happy when you remember what I like.”

“I try to always remember.”

“Yes, well, maybe we can forget the unpleasantness of this afternoon.”

She tolerated the kiss he leaned forward and pressed into her forehead as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. That was the script. He always came home with a dozen red roses every single time he hit her. He announced his magnanimous declaration about letting whatever happened go, as if she were merely being naughty again and she could obtain his forgiveness now. After which, he always kissed her forehead. He was nothing, if not a creature of habit.

The first time he hit her was absolutely the most degrading and horrifying moment of her life. She had never been hit by anyone before. Never. Not even in jest. Her father bullied, belittled, and abused Jessie. But he never hit her.

So, nine months into their marriage, Elliot came home early one afternoon, much as he did today. He swiftly dismissed the house staff, and she erroneously thought he was crazily, but romantically planning a surprise afternoon with her. It was a surprise, all right. As she stood to greet him, smiling, both arms outstretched to embrace him, he did not lift both of his hands to hug her, but only one that he used to backhand her across the face. She stumbled and jerked away, crying out in shock. Her head then rocketed back against her shoulders. The stinging on her skin where she grasped the spot he struck her was very real. She stared up at him in disbelief, the shock suddenly very real and deep: Elliot did this to her.
No. It could not be. Why would he do such a thing? Why?

He briefly explained that she spoke out of turn to a colleague’s wife. She was giving a funny rendition of Elliot trying to learn to play golf. It was a new sport to him, and one he realized he needed to master, as much business and politicking often took place during a round. Lindsey considered Elliot’s funny, little back swing cute and comical, a fun party joke. Elliot, however, did not like to be laughed at. Ever. She very quickly, and forever, learned that lesson. The first of many such lessons. But initially, it was incomprehensible to her why he chose to do such things to her. Why did he wait nine months?

She finally figured it out: because her father was dead. Ironically, her monster father, was the unofficial guardian that tethered her husband’s inner monster. For her father, evil as he was to Jessie, would
never
allow anyone to hurt Lindsey, let alone hit her. And until her father was arrested, Elliot sought his complete and utter approval.

It took her years to figure it all out. Why her? Why did Elliot choose her to become his wife? It wasn’t for the reasons she valued: love, adoration, commitment, and companionship. No. Elliot felt none of that for her. She doubted he could feel it for anyone. But still, why her?

Because she was the general’s good daughter. She was respected, sought after, and easily welcomed into the inner sanctions of the most famous, powerful leaders of both the military and political world. Her father had often been the guest of several presidents, and at times, so had she. It was this status, this respect, which Elliot needed. She gave him access to all the senators, governors, military officers and rich CEOs that he could ask for. That was her great contribution to his master plan. Oh yes, and also that she was a well-groomed, quiet, obedient, sidearm who knew how to conduct herself in high society as well as entertain.

Elliot came with wealth and old family connections. He could trace his family back to the Civil War and their rank as slave-owning plantation owners in the Raleigh, North Carolina region. Elliot always had a well paying, secure job from the time he was born. He never wanted for anything. But Elliot longed for much more than that. Elliot wanted the world. And only recently did Lindsey grasp the full magnitude of what he planned. He intended to be President of the United States. Ha-ha. What little kid didn’t? Only… Elliot actually believed he would be. The first part of his plan was achieving a BA in political science, and then, much to the shock of those who knew him, a stint in the Army.

Elliot joined up as regular Army, which was, again, all part of the act. The entire point of his military service was to obliterate some of his privileged background. He did it to beat the stereotype of the silver spoon politician who had no clue regarding the real American experience. He only hoped by being a soldier, he managed to dispel that.
He had been to war.
So, who could say he was nothing but a spoiled, rich, out-of-touch Republican? He seemed to possess more honor and integrity for his choice to join up despite his plethora of money and resources. Lindsey innocently thought they shared the experience of the military when they met. She was unaware until some time after the first beating that it was all part of his master plan, as was she.

Elliot first came on Lindsey’s radar when she met him in the easiest, most ordinary way, at a local bar around Fayetteville, where they were stationed. It started when he simply asked to buy her a drink while she was celebrating a friend’s birthday. He looked so handsome, she was temporarily rendered breathless, stunned and so flattered. Sure, she’d have a drink with him. He was courteous and also attentive. When he asked her out for a formal date, she floated home, nearly on top of the world. They continued to date whenever they could correspond their schedules. They started out as equals, both soldiers at Fort Bragg, who each had small, ordinary apartments. They had their own duties to perform too. Hers were for the 407
th
Brigade Support Battalion, and Elliot served as infantry in the 82
nd
Airborne. That was probably the only time anything was simple or ordinary, not to mention equal, with Elliot.

Lindsey had no idea Elliot Johanson was wealthy. She also had no idea he would get out of the Army and start a globally successful corporation. She never guessed he would become a politician. She never even knew he wanted to move out of North Carolina. She just thought she was dating another soldier like herself. They got married way to quickly, and only in a matter of months after meeting, because Elliot was be
ing deployed. Of course, once married, she was irretrievably entrenched with him and could not walk away so easily when his fists started doing all of his communication.

What Lindsey’s life became after she married Elliot was as shocking for her as learning what her life was really like with her father.

Jessie left for Washington State only a few weeks before she met Elliot. She had just learned of her father covering up what happened to Jessie in Mexico. She witnessed what her father’s behavior did to Jessie. But at that point, she did not realize her father’s awful extent of evil. She didn’t know if he hit her sister. Or that he raped her sister, if not by his own hand, then certainly just as corruptly by using his old, perverted friends. So, at that point, she was not on speaking terms with her father, and remained furious with him.

But in her heart of hearts, she truly believed someday it was inevitable that she’d make up with him.

So did Elliot. He pursued her, and encouraged her to give her father a second chance. Several second chances. They met with him for drinks a few times, and then dinners. She never told Jessie that part. She was starting to reconcile with her father, which Elliot heartily encouraged and even instigated. She thought it was because of his love for her, and knowing their estrangement broke her heart. But no. It was because her father was acquainted with so many influential people, which, as his son-in-law, might offer huge opportunities to Elliot.

That was until Will disappeared and she finally comprehended the full extent of the fiend her father was. Then, Elliot was deployed. She managed to tell him over the phone, and felt his rage, even from across the ocean. It was a wonder, when he got back months later, he didn’t hospitalize her. Only she was to blame for him losing the powerful connections he so desperately needed.

The year she married him, he was discharged from the Army, and Lindsey was shocked when Elliot decided to move to Arlington, Virginia. His corporation was going to be headquartered there, and soon, it became their entire source of social life. Plus, he was convinced he could win a governorship in Virginia. Why? Because they didn’t allow incumbent governors to run in consecutive elections. Each election, the citizens of Virginia had to choose between two relative unknowns. Therefore, voter turnout was usually low, and Elliot figured the odds he could win against another unknown were pretty good. He only needed five years as a registered voter; and wasn’t it nice when that worked out so the following year was an election year? Hence, Lindsey was on the cusp of becoming the first lady of Virginia, for she had no doubts he’d win. He always won. And that was what brought them here tonight, to a dinner in honor of Elliot for his family’s contribution to Georgetown University’s science department.

What had to be the sickest part of the entire day was when she actually felt grateful for his kiss of forgiveness. It meant she pleased him. She could breathe again.