A New Life Series - Starter Kit Read online

  “We have determined that she had relations of a sexual nature with at least five of the deceased men on the night in question, and her body shows signs of several years of sexual and physical abuse.” He referred to the reports before him, adding to his credibility, “That being said, it’s currently difficult to determine if she’s in fact a victim or an aggressor in this instance. Since we have evidence going both ways, we just don't know.”

  “So what you’re saying is, she could be a victim, but she could be one of the bad guys,” Eli clarified giving him a thumbs up as he spoke, and the doctor nodded his agreement. “Ok,” Eli continued, “So who is she?”

  “We don't know that either,” Godfry interjected. “We found an ID in the house with her picture on it, completely fake, and so far we have come up empty on every database at our disposal. Oddly enough, we easily identified every man killed through military records, which makes it even odder with regards to what she was doing there with them, and why she alone survived.”

  Godfry studied his subordinate for a moment, then clarified the situation, “So, this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to pump this girl for every drop we can get from her, hope it leads us to some answers here on this case, and gets us back on track with Castleford. That means you two,” he pointed at Founder and La Buff, “Are going to go play nice, see what you can find out.”

  “But she is going to prison,” La Buff spoke up, “If she is found to have been involved, she will be prosecuted, correct?”

  Godfry hesitated, leaning back in his chair to consider his words carefully. “I realize that under normal circumstances, anyone found in a house full of bodies would become the primary suspect with prosecution as a forgone conclusion. However, these are not normal circumstances. This young lady presents a large number of problems as well as opportunities for us, and so this matter needs to be handled delicately. I would go easy on the prison talk. She’s pretty banged up, and it would be mighty tough to get a jury to convict, even if we could show she had a hand in the deed. I think we can all pretty well agree, it is in our best interest to tread lightly and see what we can get from her.”

  “See what we can get from her,” Eli repeated blankly. “And how do you propose we go about doing that? I mean; it would go a lot smoother if she wanted to tell us what she knows.”

  “Yes. Yes, it would.” Godfry agreed, “And fortunately we have a plan for that. Dr. Bennet, would you care to explain?” And so Dr. Andrew Bennet explained how they intended to make Tori believe she is helping herself by telling them what they needed to know.

  Eli nodded as he listened, ready to do his part and pretty much whatever it would take to get the person or people responsible for his former partner's death. Giving his current partner a sideways glance, he doubted Warren La Buff would be as enthusiastic.

  Recovery

  It seemed like days that Tori spent recovering in the tiny room. Nurses would come in and out, checking her tubes and wires, and eventually removing them. One nurse with 'Jane' on her name badge outlined the rules for her. She could get out of bed and walk around if she felt strong enough. Do not leave the room. The bathroom is behind this tiny door. Pull this string if you need help when you are in there. Here are some fresh gowns and towels. Take a shower if you feel like it.

  If I feel like it? Tori's thoughts raced with excitement. She had spent most of her life dirty and ragged, covered in grease and the grime of men. Showers were like her ultimate reward, the one treat she rarely received and craved the most. She would do anything for the feel of warm water and the chance to be clean, even if only for a few hours.

  As soon as the woman left her, Tori slipped into the tiny bathroom, dropping the gown to the floor and turning on the shower. As she stepped beneath the warm spray, a loud gleeful gasp escaped her, and she ran her hands over her bare skin, tracing the path of the water.

  After a few minutes of standing with the cascade splashing down on her upturned face, she found the soap contained in a strange pump bottle. It had an odd fruity smell, but it made large bubbles as she rubbed it across her sticky flesh, and she felt the tense lines in her face soften with the pleasure of lathering and rinsing her delicate female parts.

  Finally, she put her forehead against the wall, allowing the water to pour onto her clean hair and wash down her back. A small trickle found its way over her front and followed the curve and plunge between her breasts. She used a finger to trace the rounded scar, a bite mark that hugged the inside of her left breast, squarely between the nipple and breast bone.

  She recalled that Eddie had given it to her years ago. He had laughed about it at the time and said, “Now you will never forget your place.” Tori would often place her hand over that spot whenever she felt the temptation to disobey him, and she almost never forgot her place.

  Her fingers wrinkled, she grew tired of the water and shut off the valve. As she ran the towel over her other scars, she thought about how each had been acquired, or at least the ones she had been sober enough to remember.

  Eventually, her thoughts landed on Henry. Henry Morgan, the only Dragon to show her any measure of kindness. Her guardian, who held her close to keep her warm when she was young. Her caretaker, who brushed her long black mane and taught her how to care for herself whenever she had the chance. The one who made her feel special; the only one she had ever thought of as a friend.

  Henry had told Tori that one day she would have a different life. She had dismissed the thought—a foolish waste of time to even hope for such a thing. Now, standing in that tiny hospital bathroom, it looked as if her friend and mentor might have been right.

  Henry had been gone six months, since Eddie had killed him after an argument. Tori had never been sure what the fight had been about. She only knew it had angered their leader to the point of killing one of their own, so it must have been something very bad. She had missed the old fool terribly, though, and had grown more contemptuous each day since his passing. In a way, his death finally gave her the strength to do what had to be done.

  Tori looked around the small chamber. After her shower, she felt more comfortable and a bit restless with a need to explore. The walls were stark white, with no decorations, but an outline on the wall next to the bed hinted a painting of some kind had hung there at one time. In the far left corner, opposite the door, there stood a plain wooden chair. She considered sitting in it briefly before opting to rummage through the few cabinets that surrounded the small sink on the wall opposite the bed.

  However, the search proved fruitless, with every cupboard bare, and she was again left to choose between the bed and the chair. After a moment, she opted for neither. Instead, she dropped to her knees in the empty corner of the room where she would be hidden from view by anyone entering through the wide portal. A typical location for her, corners and hidden spots, she felt much more relaxed as she squatted down with her shoulder leaning into the crack, and her face pressed into the cool paint of the wall. Within minutes, she fell fast asleep.

  Tori spent three days cowering in the dim light of her room before they decided to move her. During that time, she had only one visitor—Eli Founder. He would come to the room each morning before breakfast thinking he would get there before she woke, and catch her sleeping in the bed. Instead, he always found her awake and wide eyed, crouched in the far corner of the room, listening to the silence. So, he would sit in the hard wooden chair facing her and make small talk, mostly with himself.

  By the third day, he had come to realize this girl was unlike any he had ever, or probably would ever, meet. Her answers to questions always seemed honest, but were never rushed or elaborate. Her face seemed the most expressionless he had ever seen, almost as if it were made of china like a doll. He noted her hair, long and thick, reaching the small of her back in black waves, while her eyes were like crystal blue spheres, staring into eternity.

  She would sit with her back against the wall and her right shoulder pressed into the corner. She kept her kn
ees pulled up to her chest, with her arms wrapped tightly around them, resting her cheek on the top of them, so that her face was only half exposed at a time. During one of these sessions, Eli noticed how strikingly beautiful she was, or at least half of her was, with the scar covered, and only the right side of her face visible.

  “Where did you go to school?” Eli asked.

  After an appropriate length of silence, “I never went to school,” came the reply.

  “Can you read and write?” another question, followed by a long silence and “of course,” being the short and simple response.

  When asking questions did not seem to be getting him anywhere, Eli decided to tell her stories about his life in hopes of drawing her out to share her own. In the end, he shared a great deal about himself, while she sat in calm indifference, and shared nothing of her own history. By the third day, he felt completely at a loss. He knew something would have to change if he were to have any hope of reopening Castleford.

  In the midst of their session, Warren La Buff entered the room with two other men dressed in white. He laid a white uniform on the bed, instructed Eli to be sure she changed promptly, and then the three of them stepped back outside. Eli picked up the items and inspected them briefly before returning them to the bed.

  Turning towards the girl, he nodded, “Go ahead. I’ll find out what's going on while you get dressed.” As he headed out the door himself, the thought occurred to him how protective of her he had come to feel, as though she were in his charge.

  “What's going on?” he demanded of his partner. “I thought you wanted off this case.”

  “I do,” La Buff bit a stiff reply, “But the powers that might be won't allow it. So, we are stuck, babysitting, until this is wrapped up, and she is either committed long term or set free. Me? I would rather see her committed, but at this point, I don't really care, as long as I get to move on to more important cases.”

  “You're such a pig,” Eli replied, his voice dripping with contempt. “Three years you have been my partner, and I never realized how much I despise you until now.”

  The two men stood in angry silence, waiting for Tori to emerge. After several minutes, Eli decided to check on her and rapped lightly on the door before peeking inside. The girl stood in her corner, wearing the new clothes, patiently waiting for the next command. She turned her face towards him as he entered, her expression a blank stare. He managed a smile and a cheerful, “Are you ready?”

  In compliance, Tori stepped towards the door, her hands folded in front of her. Outside, she looked perfectly cool, lethargic even. Inside, her heart pounded, and her mind raced. Where are we going? Is this my chance to escape? Should I escape? When she stepped up beside him, she could see Eli glance down at her hands and instinctively she knew he wanted to cuff her.

  Slowly, she raised her hands, offering them to him like a sacrifice. Cuffs meant there would be no escape. Not in unfamiliar territory, with no weapons or tools. Besides, attempting to escape could mean hurting him, and even though she held no particular fondness for him, she had never harmed anyone without orders; except for the Dragons of course.

  Eli Founder had been kind to her, the first man since Henry to treat her with respect. No, she wasn't particularly fond of him, but she needed him somehow, and would have done anything he asked of her to prove it.

  A Room with a View

  After securing the cuffs about her wrists, Eli led Tori out of her hospital room. They followed Warren La Buff down the hallway towards the elevators, the two men in white uniforms bringing up the rear. Eli had placed his hand on her elbow to guide her, so Tori felt free to take in her surroundings as they moved.

  The walls were white, but the rooms they passed seemed cheerier, having cushioned couches and paintings to decorate the walls. As they walked, she peered into more open doors, enough to know for certain her room had been stripped. How did they know I would sit on the empty floor? She pondered their motives as they shuffled onto the elevator, still allowing her new friend to guide her.

  Once they had reached the ground floor, the group marched out onto a patio containing a trolley cart of sorts. La Buff grabbed Tori's free arm and pushed on her back to direct her to climb aboard; his touch shocked her, and she reacted swiftly.

  Twisting her upper body, she pulled her arm free and stepped away, a sharp yelping noise escaping her. Eli intervened, waiving his partner away while turning to face the girl as if to question her behavior.

  Tori stopped moving, taking in a deep breath and allowing it to escape through tightly clenched teeth. “I don't like to be touched,” she stated flatly. She stood for a moment, staring into his eyes while Eli evaluated her statement, aware that he had been touching her ever since they had left her room.

  Shifting aside, he allowed her to move into the cart and choose a seat, and then sat down beside her. With everyone aboard, one of the white uniforms drove them along the path. As they moved, the shadow of the trees along the left side passed across their faces, alternating with the glow of the sun, and Tori got her bearings for the first time since her arrival.

  They rode for several minutes before she noticed Eli watched her intently. When she turned to stare at him, he gave her a quick smile and nod of his head. “I think you’re going to like this place,” he said in a low voice, leaning closer so she could hear him over the noise of the vehicle.

  Eventually, they turned a corner and arrived at a large pair of glass doors. The cart lumbered to a stop, and the group exited the transport to make their way inside. The lobby was stunning, with the sun shining in through the walls and roof made of paned glass, the light pouring down onto a large fountain and pond area surrounded by small trees, with hanging vines clinging to their limbs.

  The sight took her breath away, and for a moment Tori remained still and closed her eyes to listen. The sound of the running water lifted her away, and for a split second, she sat on the bank of a small waterway the Dragons had frequented when she was a child.

  In that instant, Henry was alive and sitting beside her, and she could almost feel the warmth of his presence as he brushed her long hair. A stab of loneliness pierced her soul when she opened her eyes to the beautiful sight before her, knowing Henry could not really be there to share it with her.

  Again the group moved forward, turning down a long hallway to the right, following it when it made a turn to the left. Three doors down on the left, Warren La Buff stopped and turned into the room that had been prepared for her. For a second time, the walls were plain, and the furniture simple. Looking in, Tori could see that there were two padded chairs on either side of a small round table on the far side of the room. Directly behind the table and chairs appeared to be a small, square, multi-paned window that looked out onto a well-tended garden path.

  Tori made her way into the area, where she noticed the bathroom set off to the right as soon as you entered the chamber, and a small closet space and built-in dresser stood on the left. Inwardly, Tori felt a small pang of amusement, knowing that all of the clothes she owned would not fill a single drawer.

  Moving beyond the narrow entry hall formed by the bathroom and closet area, she could see the twin bed on the right, running along the wall connected to the bathroom; positioned so that if you lay on the bed, you could see straight out the window and into the garden area. You could also close the small white curtains that hung to the sides of it to hide the view.

  Leaning back and gazing out into and across the hallway, Tori could view the room on the other side of the hall. Directly in line, she could see the bed running along the left hand wall, the same as it had been in all the other rooms she had passed.

  Realizing that she had noticed the change, Eli shrugged and explained with a small smile, “Maybe you will feel more comfortable sleeping in the bed if it’s in a more protected location.”

  Tori felt touched that he had noticed her need to hide, along with a stab of loyalty towards the man standing beside her. She knew it would be difficu
lt to sleep in the bed, but for him, she would at least try. Holding up her cuffed wrists, she stared into his cool grey eyes as he removed her shiny bonds; her porcelain expression remaining unmoved.

  After the room had cleared, Tori turned and sat on the bed to stare at the dresser. Her mind began to wander, and she thought about the old backpack she used to carry her change of clothes and personal items in when the Dragons were on the road. Well, they were always on the road, and Tori never changed into clean clothes unless given the chance to shower.

  The girl would simply remove her clothes each day when the time came after dark and tuck them into the saddlebags on Eddie's bike. Experience had taught her that failing to do so would have harsh consequences if one of the guys had to remove them. Then, after the night ended, she could put them back on for the day’s ride, relatively clean, or at least cleaner than the alternative.

  Unexpectedly, a young woman poked her head into the room, disturbing her thoughts and causing Tori to give a startled jump. “I'm sorry,” the honey blonde exclaimed, “Am I interrupting?”

  Tori merely stared at the girl, amazed an outsider had spoken to her. By this time, she had pretty well guessed Eli only came to see her because of his job, and was therefore required to talk to her. Judging from her clothing, which matched Tori's, this girl was also a guest of the hospital and her interjection therefore, surprising.

  “Hi,” Tori responded calmly in a low voice, trying to appear normal while tossing the hair that had fallen in front of the left side of her face behind her. As soon as she did so, Tori could see the shocked look flutter across the girl's features when she noticed the scar.