Chapter ten. Old couples, new couples and never couples.
It had been ten hours since Jordan had crashed the morgue van. Many unexpected events had followed. She and Woody had been abducted. Woody had been injected with a drug that left him not only unconscious, but also appearing as though he were dead. Jordan had helped the mysterious Mr. Green and his crew to make a staged murder scene completely believable. So, it didn't surprise her a bit that they were now climbing into a helicopter that had landed briefly in the warehouse parking lot just after sunrise.
Early morning light shone into the secluded parking lot when they left the ground.
Ten minutes before that, they were still tied to the chairs. Helen and her children had returned from their trip to limbo. Debra had taken care of everything, adjusting the dosages on the antidote so that they didn't suffer any pain. Helen was the only one that was really injured. She had taken quite a beating from her husband, but her physical injuries were small compared to the damage to her soul, which was much more painful. However, Debra's amorous attention alleviated her suffering from both kinds of injuries.
Woody had been talking to Jordan about the wisdom of her willingness to obey their captors; they still didn't know how trustworthy they could be. Jordan being Jordan trusted her instinct, which had been telling her since she first saw them that these people weren't criminals. With what she knew now, she had taken Helen's side, so, it was pretty much a waste of time for Woody try to convince her otherwise.
Though Jordan wouldn't have attempted any heroic moves to get away from their captors, she wasn't so sure about Woody. His cop instincts might lead him to try something, which might get him or any of the others in the group hurt. So, to keep him calm, she sat quietly tied to her chair, without complaining, almost serene. Neither she nor Woody was going to be released if it meant jeopardizing the success of the mission.
Jordan had been insisting that Mr. Green give her more details about the story; the puzzle still had a lot of holes and she wanted to fill them in. She needed to understand the picture completely, so both she and Woody could get the story straight. It was the only way they could help Helen and her family without accidentally implicating themselves as accomplices. Mr. Green was still reluctant to say anything. However, he was convinced it was something that Helen and Debra should decide; it was their call.
Anyhow, just before the group had come into the warehouse after the big set up, Debra had started to tell the story to Woody. She had been feeling so guilty about their actions and how they had treated Jordan and Woody that she felt compelled to justify themselves in their eyes. Helen agreed with her, so from the hour Helen and her children had awakened, until the time Drew came from the station after she had given her statement, Jordan and Woody learned the whole story.
"I married Gordon Bloom ten years ago," Helen began. She settled herself as comfortably as she could on a chair near Woody and Jordan and told them the long, ugly story of her marriage to a man the world knew as a political genius, but who she had come to learn was a monster capable of unspeakable evil. "After Bradley and Lindsey were born, I had no life of my own. Between being the wife of a popular politician and a mother of two, I had no friends; I was alone."
"What about your family, your parents?" Jordan inquired.
"My mother died right after Gordon and I were married. My father is a retired Navy officer with poor communication skills and very high moral standards. He was intolerant and expected too much of me. All he saw was how well off I was as a high society woman; it was all that mattered to him, or so I thought at the time."
"But, didn't you notice Bloom wasn't the right guy for you?" Woody questioned her, he was still unconvinced that this whole disaster couldn't have been prevented earlier. "I mean, he must have showed something of his dark side to you before it got so bad that you had to resort to staging your deaths," he added, adamantly.
Jordan glared at him, astonished at what he had just said. Whose side was he on anyway?
Woody returned the look, apologetic, but not giving in an inch on the question he had established. "What? I just want to know," he added.
Helen sighed despondently, and continued. "Don't worry, that's exactly the question I expect everybody will be asking me." She paused, as though she were gathering strength to reveal her life to a stranger. "To your eyes, Gordon is a respectable member of society. You don't know the monster… I mean, I didn't know him either. He is extremely intelligent. He comes from a family of great political tradition and he inherited their persuasiveness. He fooled me the same way he fools everyone else. Success started to come so easily to him that I think he got bored, needed bigger and bigger challenges. He could make people do anything he wanted, so he started to seek out other kinds of excitement, like drugs, women and... sexual perversions. I didn't know anything about the last thing for a long time, but one day he forced me into one of his sexual games." She stopped abruptly, ashamed by her confession. She bit her lower lip and hung her head. Debra came to stand next to her chair, patting her hair lovingly to reassure her.
Helen looked up to her lover in despair, and grabbed hold of her left hand, somehow to keep herself from drowning. Then, she turned to them. "His working team always covered it all for him. He's such a valuable investment and it's just the little price they all have to pay," she said angrily. "He started to bring his drugs and his horrid life to our home. One day he was so stoned, that he let one of his friends rape my little Lindsay." Her voice was trembling, and she couldn't continue for a long moment.
Jordan felt sorry for Helen, but when she heard her last statement, anger began to boil in her stomach. Woody lowered his head in anguish. This was the first he had heard that the child had been raped; the revelation hit him like a torrent of freezing water.
Helen spoke again, "Beating me and our children was a regular habit, and since he wasn't going to let his image get stained, the injuries we received were treated only by people he trusted completely. No hospital visits, no real medical attention, until I escaped with Lindsey after the rape… incident, to the hospital where Debra works."
Both women shared a loving look. "That was how I met her," she added.
Debra raised her lover's hand to her mouth and kissed the back of it.
Helen went on with the story, still looking at Debra with pure devotion. "She took care of my Lindsay, and offered her help. She wanted to inform the authorities about the abuse, but I wouldn't let her. I was so frightened of what Gordon could do to my children. I knew he needed them to protect his shiny political reputation, but I still feared for their lives. We were becoming a stone in his shoe. I believed he would eventually decide he didn't need us anymore and have us killed."
Helen sighed again, resignedly this time. "Debra had always insisted that I tell everything to my father, the Admiral. And I finally did it, after two more horrible episodes. The first was when Gordon threatened Debra's life if she didn't leave me and the children alone. The second was when my little girl was raped again." Helen's voice faltered once more, but she went on determinedly. "I knew then that I couldn't wait any longer. I couldn't let the abuse rule our lives and I wasn't going to let Gordon turn me into his accomplice!" she spat out, her chest about to explode with restrained emotion.
"I swallowed my pride and talked with my father. It was so embarrassing and sad… but I told him everything, even my relationship with Debra. But to my surprise, he believed me. Moreover, he supported me… Mr. Green appeared at my door one day, three weeks ago. He came up with the plan to fake our deaths. Although shooting Gordon wasn't a part of the plot…" she uttered, glancing at Debra remorsefully. "I'm sorry, I didn't want you involved like this; it's my fault," she finished.
Helen was on the verge of tears, but to Woody's surprise, the delicate and fragile woman he had met as Debra before, turned into a strong and vibrating woman now. She knelt down beside Helen and kissed her passionately, unashamed by the many eyes that were watching them. "I love you, Helen. I wasn't about to let that piece of crap beat you to death in front of me! And you know what? I would do it again if I had to," she said, resolutely, at the end.
Woody observed them, a mixture of confusion and surprise in his eyes at their amorous display. However, he still wanted to know more details about the shooting and the way they were going to handle Debra's responsibility, just in case he needed to explain it properly to his superiors, when they were released. Turning to Debra, he said, "Yeah, I know you shot the Senator because he was beating Helen, but before, you mentioned someone else who was there, who tried to talk you out of it. What was her name again? Drew, I think you said--" He didn't finish his question because Mr. Green approached them just then accompanied by a beautiful, young, blonde woman who had apparently just arrived.
Jordan immediately recognized her as the witness from the previous faked crime scene, and she let everybody know, as the woman reached them, "I think she's the same Drew that you're talking about. The girlfriend Bloom brought to his home, and at the same time, she's Mr. Green's granddaughter, aren't you?" she asked her.
Drew just smiled at them as Mr. Green gave them a knowing look. "My granddaughter gave an astonishing performance! I'm so proud of her. She acted like a pretentious, ambitious woman in search of excitement and high class opportunities. She made sure she was introduced to Senator Bloom and eventually was able to gain his trust. With her attributes,it wasn't long before he had made her his new girlfriend. Tonight was the first time she went to his home. Of course, Bloom had no idea it would also be the only time she was there. Every detail of what happened tonight had been planned for weeks, all except the last minute incident of Debra shooting Bloom. But Drew even explained that to Detective Chandler perfectly, without implicating herself in any way. Didn't you, honey?" He turned to smile at his granddaughter, giving her the cue to tell her part of the story.
Drew's harmonious voice filled the room as she related her part in the drama. "What I told the detective in charge was a combination of what we had planned beforehand and something I had to make up in a hurry. I told him that the Senator and I had been drinking all afternoon at a well-known bar where everybody knows me. I agreed to go home with him because he said his family wasn't there. But that wasn't true. He told me to get into bed with his wife so he could watch the two of us together. Filthy creep! He thought his power would make people do anything for him. But when his wife refused to do it, Bloom flew into a rage and beat her furiously," she recalled.
Her tone became more serious as she continued. "Everything I have just told you is what really happened. This next part is what I made up to tell the detective."
Before she related the rest of the tale, she sat up straight, shook her hair and settled her facial features into a look of sheer horror. Jordan realized she was getting into the 'character' of Bloom's distraught girlfriend, the only 'eyewitness' to the evening's gruesome events.
"So, Bloom was beating his wife. All the yelling and loud banging brought the children running upstairs and Bloom got even angrier. The children were terrified and they ran into the girl's bedroom with their mother right behind them. Bloom grabbed a gun from a drawer in the nightstand in one hand and me with the other. He dragged me along with him, chasing his wife and children. The children were screaming in terror, and he just shot them in cold blood, right in front of me and his wife. After that, his wife snapped, and she fought for the gun against him. I heard two shots. His wife was the first to fall. The Senator followed her, though he still was struggling to keep himself conscious."
Drew softened her tone of voice as she continued, getting out of her previous gloomy 'characterization'. "I didn't touch anything or anybody, just called 911 right away. I explained the detective I really didn't know anything about CPR, so, I waited for help to arrive. At the precinct, the GSR test proved I hadn't shot any gun. He considered me a true witness, I signed up my statement, and left the police station as free as a bird," she finished; the same captivating smile she must have shown to Chandler was on her face.
Mr. Green had grabbed a seat next to them while Drew was talking. When she finished, he applauded her, excitedly. "Amazing! Honey, absolutely fantastic."
Then, he turned to Woody and Jordan and continued telling the story. It was obvious he was in a good mood. "So, the time between when the Senator and Drew were last seen in a public place and the time Drew's call came in to the emergency call center, was when we staged the crime scene. Bloom had the bad taste to bring his girlfriends home and try to get them into bed with Helen. He did it time after time; he was so predictable... Anyhow, the original plan had Debra going to the police station to testify against the Senator when she supposedly learned of their deaths the next day. She would have told them all about the abuse and the rapes, the idea being that Bloom wouldn't go unpunished for the abuse if it was ever found out that their deaths had been faked. However, given the unexpected turn of events, and because Debra would likely be considered a suspect because of her relationship with Helen, the plan had to be changed a bit. Also, Debra does have gun powder residue on her hands; she was the only one who fired Bloom's gun aiming to a living target. I mean, we had to incriminate Bloom, so Ray put the gun in his hand, and fired it three times into that." He showed them a piece of material that lay on the table next to them.
Mr. Green stopped for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. At last, he addressed Helen and Debra. "We need to implement a new plan to bring Bloom down. I was just informed a little while ago that he survived the surgery and is expected to recover. We need to exonerate you two of everything. After all, it was in self-defense, or at least it was to protect those two little angels," he said, nodding toward Bradley and Lindsey who were sleeping peacefully on a makeshift bed on the floor.
"So, we're going to release you soon, my friends," Mr. Green informed Jordan and Woody, turning to look at them, the story telling already finished. "However the place isn't any site near Boston, and for your own sake you won't know where this site is, not even when we arrive there. You'll need to trust me, it's safe and your friends will be notified in a convenient time and through a reliable channel, so they can go and rescue you," he finished, grinning at Jordan and sharing a wicked look with her.
The children were still sleeping when the distinctive 'whop-whop-whop' of a helicopter hovering overhead filtered into the building, making it sound like a resonance box. Everybody prepared to leave. Jordan and Woody were liberated from their bindings, but it was impossible for him to move from the chair. Woody had been sitting there for more than ten hours. His legs were sore and his back hurt like crazy, especially in the region of his old gunshot wound.
"Come on, Woody. We have already discussed it," she said slowly and wearily. "We cooperate, they free us, and then everybody can continue with their lives." Jordan compelled him to get on his feet, with a head movement, but he just looked at her, annoyance written all over his face.
"I can't move, Jordan," he confessed, angrily, his voice so low only Jordan could hear him. It was so embarrassing and frustrating that he felt like crying.
She stared at him anxiously, and waited for him to be ready. "Oh, I'm sorry!" She whispered to him. "Is it your back?" She asked, concerned.
He glared at her and answered, "Just don't…" clenching his teeth, he silenced whatever he was going to say. Once upon a time, he had mistaken her worry for pity, but time had taught him how wrong he had been, so he struggled now to control his temper.
With an extra effort, he finally could move. His face was pale, but Jordan wasn't sure if it was for the effort or for the anger. However, she held his hand and took his arm around her shoulders, so he could support his weight on her. She did it so gently and lovingly that it took Woody by surprise.
"Don't be angry, I'll let you hold me, if that's what you want," she told him, glancing at him sweetly. She was masking her help with the hug so he wouldn't feel mortified, in case he was thinking that everybody was watching him.
He let her do it. It certainly lessened his aching, but mostly it boosted his spirit. What did that loving gesture mean? That was something he was going to find out when they were free.
They walked toward the exit, embracing like an old couple, even though they weren't a couple, and never had been one. No, their story was one of deep feelings held at bay, only showing what was necessary to let the other one know that they were more than very good friends.