Betrayed Read online

  I had curled into the fetal position. I wasn’t as sure I was going to be okay as he was. I felt something cover the bottom half of me. I tried to say thank you, but I’m not sure the words ever slipped out of my tightly closed mouth. I had my jaw clenched so tight my TMJ ached. As I let out a breath I had been holding for a long time, darkness crept in from my peripheral vision. I worked at screaming, hoping someone would hear that he was back and had placed a blindfold back over my eyes. Then I lost consciousness. Needless to say, it wasn’t Samuel. I had only fainted. The pain that I had to endure was overwhelming at times and deep sleep was a needed respite.

  I woke with bright lights all around me. Several people were touching me. I was scared. My breathing quickened. I remember screaming and my body shook so hard I thought I was freezing to death.

  The next thing I remembered was a calm voice telling me to calm down. Telling me that I was safe here. I learned that I was at the Collins Medical Center in the Women’s Pavilion. I was safe, in a room all of my own where no one could hurt me or see me. The nice voice introduced herself as Opal. She let me know that she would be with me during my exam and afterward. She was my advocate.

  At that moment, a warm blanket covered me. The warmth calmed me, and I remember snuggling under it.

  “That’s it. You’re doing great. We are just trying to see what injuries you might have before we start the rape kit.”

  My head began to shake back and forth. I let her know he didn’t rape me, that he couldn’t perform.

  She asked if he tried, and I let her know he did. Which was when she let me know if he tried, there could be forensic evidence that she needed to collect. She said it could be as small as a pubic hair, or even smaller, like a drop of bodily fluids.

  I could only nod before she let me know that while I was unconscious, she started an IV and began examining me. Before she began examining me again, I asked to be put to sleep. But I learned that wasn’t possible. The nurse did give me some medication for anxiety, but I needed to be able to answer questions as she collected evidence to put Samuel away forever.

  Once she added the medication to my IV, my body and mind relaxed. It wasn’t overpowering; it wasn’t strong, but it was enough to help me slow my breathing down from the speed skating breaths I had been taking.

  Opal talked to me during the entire exam. Asking me if it hurt here or there. After a while, I felt comfortable enough to hold her hand when the exam became more stressful. Opal asked me questions, like if I took any medications or if I had any health issues. It was difficult when she asked me about any consensual sexual activity. She explained that she knew it was a very personal question, but they had to ask in case they found that person’s DNA, they would need to exclude them. I had to think about when Jaxson and I had made love last. He had been so busy trying to catch Samuel, and I was busy writing about Samuel, that it turned out it had been a couple of weeks.

  But the hardest question to answer came at a painful emotional price. She asked me what Samuel had done to me so they would be sure to find and list all of my injuries. That was hard to talk about.

  Opal helped by listing the injuries that they had already found, so all I had to do was confirm that Samuel had done it, and if they needed to know how, she would ask me. Some of the injuries were obvious, like all of the cigarette burns, the cuts—so many cuts to make me bleed and scream. When Opal asked whether I knew what he used to cut me, I told her a surgeon’s scalpel and wondered where he got it. Opal didn’t hesitate to tell me in all probability, he purchased it on the internet.

  I closed my eyes and the tears finally came. They dripped down to my ears and flooded the canals. Then a soft cloth dabbed my cheeks and my ears. At first, the touch scared the hell out of me—but then I heard Opal’s voice comforting me. Telling me that I needed to let the emotion out or it would eat me alive.

  When she finished the examination, it was time for the detailed questions. So many questions. Opal didn’t hesitate and began. I felt violated all over again between the exam and the interview.

  Keri hadn’t known it had been that bad for Piper. She knew some of it. She’d seen the scars. But she hadn’t known how they had happened. She wanted another mimosa and doubted one more glass would hurt. Hell, she didn’t care if it did or not; the memories were too tough. She couldn’t imagine how Piper made it through the day.

  After pouring another glass, Keri moved to the next section.

  I heard my voice moaning and wondered where it was coming from. Pain broke through the barrier and I hurt everywhere. My arms, in between my legs, my belly and hip and my right breast throbbed. My eyes fluttered open. Keri and Jaxson sat next to me. Keri was busy playing with her phone, but Jaxson was gazing into my eyes.

  He called me sunshine, like he always had. He assured me that Keri and he had made sure the hospital took excellent care of me.

  I let my gaze fall to the left of him, and Keri nodded at me. She didn’t stay long after I awoke. Less than thirty seconds later, she left the hospital room.

  Jaxson told me that the docs wanted me to rest my voice. Samuel had injured my vocal cords. They should heal; he cut my esophagus, too, but they repaired both and everything should be as good as new. He also told me that I inhaled some blood into my lungs, so the docs were giving me preventative IV antibiotics to stop any chance I’d get pneumonia. He wiped my face with a cool cloth he had readied while he talked to me. The white rag was so cool and the ice-cold cloth made my face feel better.

  I pointed to the door and then Keri’s chair. He understood I wanted to know where Keri had gone. He told me that Keri had been having a hard time being in the hospital. My guess was that she took a walk to get out of here for a while.

  I nodded. Both of us had enough of hospitals when Mom was sick and died. But I didn’t think I would leave Keri’s side if the role was reversed. It really hurt.

  Keri slammed the book closed. Her mimosa sloshed. She picked up the glass and finished the rest of the liquid in one swallow. “How dare she! Piper didn’t know what I was feeling! She had no idea.”

  Keri stopped for a minute, fuming at the last entry. She knew Piper was the one traumatized. But Keri had suffered, too. Piper had endured physical torture. Keri had suffered emotional trauma over the whole ordeal. No one understood what it had done to her.

  Chapter 21

  After going through the drive-through of a fast-food breakfast place, Jaxson parked in the last open shady space—not that the shade shaved off much of the already soaring temperatures. He handed Piper her breakfast meal and then set his out on his lap.

  He took a couple of bites of his thick breakfast sandwich. A few minutes later, he finally said, “I shouldn’t share this with you, and it needs to be off the record for now. Can you agree to that?”

  Piper stopped chewing and glanced over at him. She swallowed the lump of food before asking, “Will you give me an exclusive when you can?”

  “Like the old days?”

  A shadowed smile touched her lips. She only nodded.

  “Okay… I have the autopsy results.”

  Her heart raced. “Oh, my God! It didn’t turn out to be Angela, did it?”

  “No. No. The woman was pregnant like Angela.”

  “No, not a serial. I can’t do a serial.”

  Tazzie pawed and whined from the backseat.

  Piper practiced her deep breathing and calmed herself.

  “What is wrong with your dog all of a sudden?”

  “She’s just doing her job.” Piper’s deep breathing helped calm her quicker than usual. Maybe she was getting better at this.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. Go on. I was just surprised it was a serial killer.”

  “Well, technically not yet. That’s kind of jumping the gun and exactly what we don’t want in the paper. But there’s another terrible element to this situation.”

  “What’s that?”

  “The victim’s name was Sarah Ann Braden and s
he was pregnant with a baby girl, Emily Lynn.”

  “Oh no. He killed the mother and the baby?”

  “We really don’t know. The baby was missing. The coroner thinks it was taken due to the fact they didn’t find any baby bones—no remains of a baby at all. So, we don’t know what happened to her baby.”

  “We have to find her infant. That would mean everything to her family.”

  “I know. That’s why I’m sharing with you. You were so good at research and finding background information, I thought if I share with you and you share with me, we could find Sarah’s baby, and Angela and her baby.”

  “How was she killed? Was she tortured?”

  “The ME’s report stated that it’s impossible to tell for sure. The body was too decomposed.” Jaxson didn’t want to go into details after what Piper had endured with Samuel.

  “I’d like to take Tazzie back out to the search area we found Sarah to see if she picks up on anything else. Is that okay?”

  “I’ll arrange it.”

  “Maybe we can find Angela today. Though, I’d rather find her alive…but…”

  Chapter 22

  It took a little while before Keri could pick up the journal again. Now she understood why Piper refused to let her read her writings of the worst time in her life. Not only was it incredibly personal—the horrific torture was more than most could take. Piper was the strongest person Keri had ever met—and she hadn’t given her the credit she deserved. But she had to forge on. She had to know everything.

  As bad as I hurt, I knew it was essential to move. I asked Jaxson to help me take a walk. I needed to get out of the bed. I know now that he was only trying to assist me to first sit on the side of the bed and then to stand. But the touch of his hand on my burned and stitched arms and legs freaked me out so bad my legs kicked, and my arms flailed. Tremors of my hands and arms quickly moved into hard shakes. My breathing became ragged as I struggled to breathe. I screamed. My eyelids fluttered over my line of sight until they closed, and it went dark. My first of many panic attacks.

  It took several minutes for the clinical team to revive me. Jaxson was the first person I noticed. His lips were downturned and his eyes matched the sadness of his mouth. At first, I wasn’t sure why he looked so sad.

  “What’s wrong, Jaxson? Did I get a bad test result?”

  “No, sunshine. You’re holding your own. You need time to focus on getting well. That’s all that’s important now.”

  Hospitals can’t keep those who need them in the hospital for patient care as long as they would like. Against their better judgment and certainly against mine, my insurance company kicked me out of the hospital three days after being admitted.

  Now I had to go home all alone. That’s not exactly true. Jaxson wanted to stay with me, but he had to work. Usually he worked long hours, so I wasn’t sure exactly how many hours he would spend with me. But I had to learn to get back to my normal life, right?

  After getting an earful of dos and don’ts from the discharge nurse, he was sent outside to bring his car to the pick-up door. After he left the room, the nurse turned the wheelchair so that I faced Opal directly.

  She reminded me that healing wouldn’t be a picnic. It wouldn’t be easy. That I might have more panic attacks.

  I wondered aloud if they would always be like the first one. Would I cry? Would I be scared? Would I scream? Would I faint again?

  Opal picked up my hand and gently stroked the back of it. She told me all about panic attacks and reminded me that they were different for everyone, and not always the same as the one prior. I might only shake—have tremors in my arms, hands and/or legs. My heart might race. I could have chest pains, have a sense of terror or impending doom or death. It might become difficult to breathe. I might feel weak, faint, or dizzy or have tingling or numbness in my hands or feet.

  I stared at her, overwhelmed with all the symptoms.

  As if she could read my mind, she let me know that it was a list of possible symptoms—not a list of symptoms that will hit me all at once. I might have one of the symptoms or two. The most significant part, no matter how many symptoms I displayed, was that I needed to practice deep breathing and try to relax my mind. My breathing would help me almost more than anything else. But that I also needed to try to remember that the feelings will pass—they aren’t real. If it becomes a problem, a service dog that sensed panic attacks ahead of time could be provided. She dug in her front waist-high pocket and pulled out a card. She told me it was a reputable organization that provided service dogs to people in need. She gave me a squeeze and then pushed me to the pick-up door.

  Jaxson pulled into the roundabout just as the nurse pushed me outside. The timing couldn’t have been better.

  I was able to get into his SUV with just a little bit of help because of my height. I waved good-bye to the nurse and peered out the window on the drive home.

  I didn’t know what to expect. What if she was wrong? What if the panic attacks were more than I could bear? What if…what if…what if?

  Chapter 23

  Near the Riparian Forest area Piper and Tazz had searched previously, Jaxson parked the SUV.

  “Here you go, sunshine. Do you have your cell phone, fully charged, two back-up batteries for your iPhone, and your walkie-talkie in case your phone doesn’t work?”

  “You know, Tazzie and I have trained for this more than a few times. Yes, I have all of that.”

  “And that’s the point—trained. Your first live test was when you went out on your own—against rules, I might add—and found Sarah. Uh, I don’t mean to badger you, just double-checking. I do that with everyone. And I especially want you to be safe. Don’t get mad.”

  “As long as you do that to Jon Torres, too, I will forgive you.”

  “Are you out of your freaking mind? I would never do that for Jon. He’d shoot my balls off. Oh, sorry about the—”

  “You’re fine. I’m not an innocent teenager.” She petted Tazz as she helped her from the SUV and gave her some water before they began.

  “Not funny. I really want you to be safe. A possible serial killer is out there. That’s why I assigned one of our Texas Rangers to go with you, rather than just a civilian. His name is Crew Evenson. He’s young but a good hiker and a straight shooter. I would have gone if I could, but I’ll be in meetings today with the new task force that’s forming. I can’t miss it.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate the additional person going with me.”

  “Wow, no fighting the suggestion? No problems?”

  “No. I know that it’s preferred that a second person goes with the handler and dog so that they are not as vulnerable. I don’t want to do anything to risk Tazzie’s life. Okay, we have to get started.”

  She stood and stared at a young man approaching, who appeared no older than eighteen but had to be older to be in the Texas Rangers. His hair and eyes were brown. He wore the standard uniform without a wrinkle in the shirt or slacks. His clothes had creases in the pants and sleeves.

  She introduced herself to the young man.

  He accepted her proffered hand. “My name is Crew.”

  “Very nice to meet you.”

  Jaxson started the SUV and Piper waved to him as he drove away. Crew, Piper, and Tazzie started their hike. The foliage wasn’t much different than the other day. There were many oak trees and poison ivy. She didn’t want to be exposed to the poison leaves of three. She was allergic to poison ivy, and should probably have recused herself from the search, but she just couldn’t. Being a part of this was the best medicine she had had during the last couple of years. She was regaining her life. She was healing.

  Piper had given Tazzie the traditional search command. She let her sniff a piece of Angela’s clothing that had been stored in a plastic baggie and would hopefully contain Angela’s scent. After twenty minutes, they were still at a good pace. Tazzie took them deep into the woods. Piper noted the location was near yesterday’s, but a little to the east.
r />   Continuing forward, they followed Tazz’s straight path for a few more feet and then she began to whine.

  “Okay, Officer Crew, we need to really pay attention. There may be something here. Tazz is rarely wrong.”

  “No offense, but wasn’t yesterday her first live search?”

  “No, you’re right. I meant, in training, she was rarely wrong. I know going live is very different because it’s not a sterile environment.” Piper followed Tazzie. Her service dog made a sharp right into the overgrown floor of the forest. Piper searched for poison ivy. Yesterday, Piper presumed luck played a part in them finding the body. Could she do it two days in a row? Piper cringed at the idea. She didn’t want to find Angela’s body—she wanted to find Angela alive.

  Tazzie’s pace slowed. She sniffed the ground and surrounding plants. Then even Piper could see the disturbed vegetation. “Are you seeing this, Crew? Do you see the flattened plants?”

  “Yes, but you can’t say for sure that this is where Angela is.”

  “Wow. They should have named you doubting Thomas. Anyway, we’ll see in a minute.”

  Piper continued to follow Tazz and then without warning, she laid down, Tazzie’s signal that she found what they were searching for. Unfortunately, Piper was trying to keep the local bugs away from her and missed Tazzie’s cue for a few seconds, until she almost tripped over her. But even with Piper’s clumsiness, Tazzie held still, not leaving her mark.

  Piper said, “Look around, Crew. See if you find a burial ground, tools, anything that you think can be linked to this.”

  Piper didn’t have to look long. Near a downed tree, Piper could see cloth sticking out of the hollowed base. “Crew, I think I found something. I’ll let you look since you’re with the Rangers. I don’t want to take a chance on disturbing any evidence.”