Another update is posted, thanks for reading and the feedback!
Dallas had returned in the dead at night at least in her dreams. Tall, shadowy and always there, he had grabbed her and dragged her into her bedroom, her feet stumbling on the floor, trying to stall his process. But he had been too strong for her and he made that clear when he pushed her on her bed, the one where she had spent a couple of days visiting specialty stores to find the one she liked best. The spread had been a gift from a close friend, the pillows, one of them had been sewn by Julia before her death.
Not that she had never known fear there, waking up one night from a restless half-sleep to see Christian Dean standing etched in the darkness, leaving her too shocked to move…not until she heard Matt knock on her front door and call her name. She had reacted then by pushing her stalker off of her bed and had grabbed her Magnum and fired shots at him even as he broke through her window to get away.
But this time no one had been coming to help her, no one called her name while knocking at her door. She hadn't waited for anyone to rescue her this time, she just couldn't get him off and away from her. His weight on her own body had been solid, unmovable muscle, his hot breath against her face stunk with whisky and while he pressed his forearm against her neck enough to steal her voice, his other hand had been tearing her clothing off, caressing her skin.
She had closed her eyes at some point; she remembered when she had realized she couldn't get him to stop. And she had found herself someplace else because what he had done to her next had happened to someone else, not her.
A couple bullets from her gun had killed Clyde but Dallas had escaped and hadn't been seen since but every night he returned to taunt her whenever she tried to escape from him.
As he did now.
"You never had a real man before, I can tell," he drawled, "Well you got one now and we've got all night darling until I figure out what to do with you..Because you'll run off and report me if I let you go."
She forced herself to smile even as her body shook.
"No…I won't…I promise…"
He smiled and shook his head and pushed aside a lock of hair with his fingers, in a way that didn't comfort.
"You know I can't let you go…but it will either be quick or slow depending on how happy you make me…You see it's been a while for me and I've been thinking about what I would do when I saw you again."
She had seen his eyes and knew he meant it; he was going to kill her to avoid getting caught and punished for his crimes. And she would never see anyone she loved ever again…this night would be her last memory of life on earth. When she had woken up this morning, dying before the next morning hadn't been on her mind, hadn't been her reality…what had she been doing? She couldn't remember as it seemed a lifetime ago, one that belonged to someone else.
"Just like he'd been thinking about what he would do if he saw you…"
C.J. awoke with a start, her heartbeat thudding in her chest and she knew she wasn't alone…someone's arms were around her. So she struggled to get away, she had to get away before…her breathing remained uneven and she started to focus her energy even as her vision blurred in the darkness.
"C.J…"
The voice froze her…it sounded familiar and then she remembered. She must have fallen asleep in the couch with Matt earlier.
"I…"
He heard the terror in her voice and relaxed his grip knowing that if he didn't, her fear would mushroom into panic. A feeling he had grown all too familiar with himself during traumatic episodes in his life.
"Hey it's okay…it's me…we both fell asleep from the sound of the rain last night," he said, "We're in the guesthouse at the old ranch and you're safe here."
She focused on him, his voice until she could make out his face, and the features she knew so well. Just that brief period when she had been close to bolting in a panic had made her weary again so she settled her head against his chest again not sure it was the best thing to do but tired of the adrenaline rushes controlling her life. She felt him rub her back gently.
"You dreaming?"
She nodded against his chest.
"I guess you could say that…it never stops…"
He heard the resignation in her voice and he had felt her struggle.
"That's going to happen for a while…but what you'll find is that you'll become more active in your dreams at confronting what scares you…as you work through what's happened."
What he said made sense in fact her counselor had told her that too but in the meantime, her dreams still terrified her and left her feeling helpless, not empowered. And when she woke up, it didn't seem like much separated her dreaming from her daily life.
"I know…but I go to sleep hoping not to think about what's happened and it's right there waiting…he's there waiting."
He stroked her hair off of her back.
"He can't get in here," he said, "I won't let him."
"I know…but it's not just him that scares me."
"Who else," he asked.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to relax.
"There's someone else there," C.J. said, "Not physically there but somehow…something that Dallas said…that was in my dream…someone else was watching…"
Matt heard the certainty in her voice now, etched with fear.
"Who do you think it was?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know…he didn't tell me," she said, "but that it wasn't just him…"
Matt had wondered if someone else had been behind the attack because the Web site that he believed was connected to it had been constructed while Dallas and Clyde had been locked up in prison…before their escape. He thought back to an earlier time when he had been the target of three hit men who had been broken out of different prisons and paid to kill him by a psychotic serial killer he had crossed paths with at one time and had tracked for months.
What if the same plan had been launched against C.J. by someone seeking revenge against her, it had to be someone she knew quite well at one time based on the photos which had been published on the site. He had questions for her but knew it wasn't the right time to ask them. She needed something else from him besides his investigative skills, which was his friendship.
"We're going to figure all of this out," he said, "but in the meantime, you need some sleep…it's not morning yet."
She yawned at that which meant she had relaxed enough to maybe slip back to sleep soon. He gently squeezed her tighter to him and she nestled into his warmth. She didn't know if she could go back to sleep but she knew she could rest in his embrace.
At least until morning.
She looked at the mare who she had led out of her stall and outside into the warmth of the morning. The rain had dried up and though there remained a hint of dampness in the air, she knew the afternoon heat would evaporate it. She had put a long lead on the mare's halter and began walking her around the barnyard before she would jog her gently along a dirt trail to the meadow where she could enjoy her morning by the creek.
Matt had gotten up at the same time she had when the sunlight slipped through the curtains into the living room and they had eaten breakfast together. She knew that he was busy on the computer trying to find clues to what Dallas had meant when he said someone else had been there. She couldn't think of whom that might be, she had enemies plenty of them unfortunately due to their line of work but most of them were out of commission, whether dead or locked up in prisons across the country.
The mare nickered happily as they continued on the bumpy trail and reached the first meadow where a gate opened that they could slip through to continue on towards the creek. The shade there would be enough so that they could remain there even in the heat of the afternoon. She still felt a bit tense that morning from the nightmare and she felt that surrounding herself with nature would be the one thing that would help her.
They walked through the tall grass and headed towards a glen of trees and C.J. smiled at the beauty surrounding her.
Matt pored over the online information he had drawn up to try to determine which person from C.J.'s past had returned into her presence through the two thugs who had broken out of prison and come after her. He had looked at some obvious suspects again like the Duval father and son and any relatives from any of the men and women they had been sent to prison because of their investigations. But no real red flags shot up and Matt ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He remembered how helpless he had felt when that trio of hit men had come after them and one of them had wired up a bomb in a birthday present for him nearly blowing up one of his ranch hands, Bo. And it had been up to him and C.J. to find out who had been masterminding this plot against him, from behind the secured walls of a mental institution as it turned out. He wondered if anything similar had been taking place here. After all, if someone had a ton of cash, then nothing could stand in their way of exacting revenge against someone, as Matt had discovered more than once.
Maybe that's what happened here. Clearly it had to, since the two men who attacked her were locked up in a maximum security prison and had inexplicably been sprung or had sprung themselves. How had they pulled that off, given that Clyde didn't have much for brains and even Dallas on his best day wasn't smart enough to pull off an escape, let alone have enough money to change his identity before leaving the city. Hoyt had told him that the police had staked out a few places he could have gone to do that but had no activity or even sightings of Dallas to report.
But who could be pulling the strings, who could be that well padded financially and hate his best friend that much, to seek out two other men who had grudges against her including a serial rapist. Matt wanted to find out so he could beat this person to a pulp before handing what was left of him to the police to arrest. Hoyt had warned him more than once not to go vigilante and Matt had no plans to run off rashly but he had no desire to see Dallas and whoever bought his services getting away with it either.
After perusing some possible leads on the internet, he decided to check out the site that had been focused on her and he saw that some changes had been made. He was just about to click the media link when his cell phone rang. He pulled it out and saw it was Hoyt.
"What's up," he asked.
Hoyt sighed.
"Dallas' attorney filed a motion for discovery but that's not unusual."
"When's the arraignment," Matt asked.
"He had a hearing this morning on whether or not he'll be sent back to prison while this case is being prosecuted and the judge said, he's staying in county jail."
"I thought that had already been decided…"
"Me too Houston but the lawyer saw it as his client getting fewer days off for good behavior which would shorten his sentence if he remained in county lockup."
Matt sighed.
"You're kidding…this guy can never get out of prison."
"I agree but the rape case would have helped," Hoyt said, "and we've only got a partial statement from C.J."
"You make it seem less like you're putting her on trial and maybe she'll fill in your gaps."
Now Hoyt sighed.
"Houston…we're not doing this to make it worse for her," he said, "It's necessary to build the best case for conviction."
"I know…but she's having a hard time with this…and there's something else…someone else involved here."
Hoyt's silence greeted his assertion.
"Hoyt…you still there?"
The lieutenant grumbled on the other end of the line.
"I'm still here…what do you mean?"
"That someone hired these two men to break out and go after her," Matt said, "This wasn't a random breakout Hoyt."
"And you know this how, or should I even ask."
"These men had grudges against her that go way back but neither of them are sophisticated enough to put together a plan to break out of that prison."
Hoyt paused.
"I think you're right about that but if someone hired them…who's that person and why did they do it?"
"It has to be someone that knew her very well," Matt said, "Maybe he didn't always hate her but he does now."
"Yeah…well the detectives will consider that during their investigation."
"No they won't Hoyt…that Perkins is not interested in even finding Dallas."
"Houston…you don't know that," Hoyt said, "He's been in investigations for over a decade, he's well decorated."
"He's alienated the woman he needs to help him bust Dallas and anyone else involved," Matt said, "and that makes him lousy in my book."
"I agree he could have handled things better," Hoyt said, "Look thanks for the update, I'll talk to you later."
Matt clicked off his phone and put it aside, returning to his computer, where he clicked the media link on the site and waited for it to download but he wasn't prepared for what appeared in front of him.