Chapter 12
Tamara easily found Subie by the sound of her soft sobs. What could upset the confidant woman enough to make her cry?
“It was horrible!” Subie whined as Tamara saw Alex pull her into a hug. “There was so much. . . . And it was. . . .” Subie shuddered and buried her head in Alex’s shoulder.
Tamara looked back towards the beach, wishing she'd stayed to see what was back there. She remembered the look on Sam’s face. He’d never looked at her like that. He'd been so serious and so severe. So dangerous. It sent a thrill through her even as it infuriated her. He cared enough to protect her, but not enough to let her have what she really wanted?
Why couldn’t he just give in to his obvious desire for her? It was obvious from the way his eyes lingered on her. But he was so damned stubborn! Was that what attracted her to him? Would she lose interest if—no, when he finally gave in? No, that couldn’t be it. He’d already fallen once. It had been incredible— she couldn't remember ever feeling anything like it. Then again, she couldn't even remember how to spell her name. It didn't matter, he'd give in. He'd want her again and she'd let him have her. Over and over. Thrusting himself deep inside of her and making her his. Emptying his soul into her and—
“It’s alright. Whatever it was, it can’t hurt you,” Alex cooed to Subie and pulled Tamara out of her fantasy. “You’re safe.”
“You don’t understand,” Subie cried. “It felt . . . wrong!”
Alex glanced up and saw Tamara standing with her hands fidgeting with one another. Her eyes pleaded for help, but Tamara didn’t have any idea how to fix Subie's problem.
“I’m sure it was nothing,” Tamara offered.
“Nothing?” Subie almost screeched, making Tamara step back in shock. “Nothing?! Did you even see it? Did you see all that blood? That wasn’t nothing! There were bones down there too. Something died down there!”
Alex’s eyes grew wide at Subie’s tirade, but Tamara’s curiosity was growing. Blood and bones? What was going on? Damn it Sam!
She realized that Alex was glaring at her. She was being a terrible friend. Tamara dropped to her knees beside Subie in the soft sand and awkwardly pulled her into a hug. The hug didn't feel right. It wasn't natural. Not like when her mother had hugged her when she was upset when the doctor had told her she was sick. Tamara gasped and stiffened. She was sick? She struggled to hold onto the memory but it slipped away like the water through her fingers when Sam woke her up on the beach.
The shivering girl in her arms hugged her back, bringing Tamara back to the reason she was on her knees in the sand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” she told Subie. Tamara's neck twisted and she stared into the shadows where Subie had seen whatever it was that freaked her out. She wanted to see what all the fuss was about, but the way Subie was shaking to her made her realize she was needed here.
Subie's arms clutched her tighter and pulled their bikini clad bodies tight against each other. Warmth spread through Tamara, different from what she felt with Sam, but still pleasant. Before she quite knew what was happening, she was hugging Subie and Alex back. For some reason, she even began to cry along with the distraught woman.
“Why are you crying?” Subie asked.
“I don’t know!” Tamara wailed back, and then they were all crying and hugging.
Subie was the first to pull away, wiping her eyes. “Thank you. I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you sometimes, Tamara. You’re being a better friend than I deserve.”
Tamara didn’t know what to say. She felt warm and fuzzy inside. She didn’t know if she liked it. Her eyes teared up again. She turned away before the others could see her.
Sam was walking up the slight incline to them. She went to him, glad to pull away from the emotional woman. “What was it?” She asked, dying of curiosity. “What did they find?”
“Nothing,” Sam said, giving her a strange look. “It’s nothing you need to worry about.”
Something in his tone rubbed her the wrong way. “Nothing I need to worry about? I’m not some little kid, Sam!” She was struggling to keep her voice from rising, but the man knew the exact things to say to piss her off. She was tired of him treating her like a little girl. She was an adult, damn it! Hadn’t she already proven that to him?
“I know, I know!” he exclaimed, gripping her shoulders in his powerful hands. “It’s just. . . .” The big man closed his eyes and dropped his head as he sighed. “It’s so ugly down there. What they found. . . No one should ever have to see that.”
“But what is it?” Tamara demanded, calming down some. Now that he was admitting that he was trying to protect her it was kind of cute. She didn't need to be protected, but his heart was in the right place. In fact, his hands were shaking as he gripped her.
Tamara's breath hissed through her nose as Sam's behavior made sense. He was a combat veteran. More than that, he'd been a combat medic. He'd probably seen men shot to pieces and it was his job to keep them alive. But he was shaking a little himself with what he'd seen. He wasn’t treating her like a kid after all. Whatever Brock and Subie found was really bothering him. Now she knew she had to see it.
“It—I don’t know. Something sick and wrong.” His eyes met hers. Her stomach only gave the faintest of flutters as they locked gazes. Sam sighed again, before looking at Alex and Subie, and pulling her aside. “I don’t know what it was. There was a lot of blood, bones stacked in some kind of pattern, and the remains of a fire. Adrian found a knife, but I told him to leave it alone. Brock was on the phone to the police when I came to check on you.”
“You were worried about me?” A different flutter ran through her at his words. Was he finally going to admit defeat and accept her?
“I—um, well I was worried about all of you.” He looked past her again, and she knew he was looking at Subie. The light feeling in her stomach turned to lead. Could the man be any more obvious?
Tamara shrugged his hands from her shoulders. “I see,” she told him, her voice full of ice. “Go talk to her. I’m sure she’d appreciate a big man like you looking after her, while her boyfriend is brave enough to stay down there.”
She didn’t wait for him to respond, before storming down the beach away from him. If he called after her, the waves beating against the beach, and the anger buzzing in her ears blocked him out. She was going to see for herself exactly what was creating all the fuss.
Only she didn’t make it that far. Officer Jenkins, of all people, blocked her path.
“Why am I not surprised to see you here?” There was something different about him, tonight. A strength she sensed in him that she’d never noticed before.
“Get out of my way,” she commanded him. She remembered how he’d acted every other time she glared at him, but he only placed his right hand against his chest, and held his ground. She sensed his inner strength grow, but she was determined to get past him.
“I’m not afraid of you, slut,” he sneered, blocking her path. “I don’t know what part you play in all of this, but if you’re here, then I’ll bet your pimp is too. Where is that pathetic excuse for a man?”
With every word that dripped from him, Tamara was becoming incensed. She was no slut. Sam was her lover, not a pimp, and he was far from a pathetic excuse. How dare this man treat Sam or her this way! He was the pathetic excuse!
“Get out of my way!” she commanded again, and attempted to step past him.
Jenkins’s left hand, the one not held against his chest, shot out, grabbed her shoulder and shoved her back.
Tamara screamed as she fell to the ground. Not because of any type of frustration or anger, but because he’d physically hurt her. Her right shoulder felt on fire where he’d grabbed it. The collar of Sam’s shirt hung free of that shoulder, and he’d connected with bare skin.
“What the hell is going on over here, Jenkins?” someone demanded. Another officer walked over to them and stared between Jenkins and Tamara for only a second. “Damn it, man! I told you to
make sure no one approached the site. Not beat up little girls!”
“Captain, I wasn’t!” Jenkins protested. “This is the second time this girl’s been at a crime scene. I think she’s involved.”
“You don’t get paid to think, Jenkins. Or have you forgotten why I pulled you off the streets?” The new officer bent over Tamara and offered her his hand. “I’m sorry about that, miss. Are you alright?”
“Captain,” Jenkins continued to defend himself, “this girl’s pimp, or lover, or whatever he is, is a known troublemaker.”
“Three women, Jenkins,” the captain said, despair in his voice. Tamara could see his nametape read Gomez, as she accepted his hand with her left and stood up. Her right shoulder still stung. “That’s how many women complained about your behavior the other night.”
“But Captain—“
“This is America, Jenkins! Innocent until proven guilty, remember?” Gomez’s eye flared now, as he spun on his officer. “One more peep out of you, and I’ll have you down in the evidence locker so long, we’ll have to tag and label you!” He turned back to Tamara once more, before adding, “Are you hurt, miss?”
“No. I’m—“ she winced as she moved her right shoulder, and Captain Gomez didn’t miss it.
His hand pulled up the sleeve of Sam’s shirt, revealing a red spot surrounded by the discoloration of a bruise in the making. If Tamara had thought the man was angry before, she became a little frightened of him, as his eyes hardened. He turned on his officer.
“Now Captain,” Jenkins started to back away from his superior, “I didn’t touch her enough to do that. Sam must have—“
“Enough,” Gomez said in a tightly controlled voice. “You are suspended until further notice. We do not assault young women, and we certainly do not assume every woman is a prostitute. I’d hoped for better from you, especially considering your father’s record with the force. Now hand over your badge and firearm.”
Gomez held his hand out, but Jenkins only stared at it. The junior officer’s mouth worked wordlessly for a few seconds. His head bowed after a few seconds and he numbly handed over the requested items.
“Go home, Jenkins,” Gomez told him. “With all this weird shit going on, you chose a hell of a time to act up. Maybe I’ve been working you too hard, but that’s no excuse. Go home and get some rest.” He turned his back on Jenkins. Tamara didn’t miss the murderous gaze he gave her before turning in the sand and stalking off.
“Do you want me to have someone look at your shoulder?” Gomez asked her.
She shook her head. Jenkins had barely touched her. She didn’t understand why it had hurt so badly.
Captain Gomez offered her an apologetic smile and cleared his throat. “I hate to ask this, but if there is something you know about what happened down there, I’d like to know.”
It took Tamara a moment to realize he’d meant whatever had happened down on the beach. “No. I mean, I don’t know. My friends found something, but no one will tell me what it is, or what they found. I was coming down to have a look for myself.”
“I think it’s best you not see it,” he told her, and anger flared up in her chest again. She didn’t need someone else trying to protect her or telling her what she could and couldn’t see. “You remind me of my daughter, you know that?” His words confused her, and for a moment she forgot about her anger as he looked into her eyes. “I know that look. One way or another, you’re going to try and see what’s down there.” Gomez looked back to the beach. “I suppose it would be better if I take you down there, rather than have you sneaking around and possibly ruining evidence.”
Tamara kept her mouth shut. She didn’t know why he was willing to help her see what everyone was so afraid of, but she wasn’t about to argue with him, either.
“Come on, then. Follow after me, and don’t touch anything.”
Tamara did as instructed, following the officer down the beach. The cops already had spotlights up and had taped the area off. To her annoyance, Gomez didn’t lead her past the tape, but took her around it, until she could see what the fuss was about. She saw the black candle with lines dug in the sand leading from it. The lines led to other candles and more lines, but that wasn't where her eyes were pulled.
The scream that broke from her throat startled Gomez. He grabbed her and spun her away but it was too late
Images flashed before her eyes. She saw a knife, but it was wrong. It was held over her, not in front of her. She was looking up at it. Unimaginable pain coursed through her as the knife fell. It wasn't the first time, pain erupted through her as the knife slipped beneath her skin like a needle through cloth. It sliced and her skin was pulled away, tearing with a wet burning agony. She cried out and begged for mercy.
Her hands and feet were tied to something. She couldn’t get away. She sobbed and pleaded but the owner of the knife didn’t know the meaning of mercy. Somebody asked a question, but she couldn’t understand it. What did they want from her? Why wouldn’t they just kill her and get it over with?
Hands grasped her, and she tried to fight them off. No. No more. I can’t take anymore. Just let it stop! I’ll do anything to let it stop!
Anything? A hard voice echoed in her mind.
Cold oblivion took her before she could answer.