Chance (27 page)

Brett’s reassurances
about his ability to
look after himself
hadn’t actually done much to
allay Charlotte’s fears for his safety. Additionally, her fears for her parents’
safety as well as her own, had never abated. She was still paranoid whenever
they left the house to go to work, and she didn’t leave at all. She was mindful
of what had happened last time, and regularly checked the windows to make sure there
were no black cars in the street.

She knew if Logan had
someone watching the house, being kidnapped at gunpoint again would probably be
the result if she were to walk outside. She wouldn’t be able to say no and
would be forced to go with him. Somehow, she didn’t think Logan would settle
for beating and raping her, not this time.  

Instead, she stayed home,
trying to concentrate on her work, attempting to immerse herself into her lifelong
passion. One she'd left for so long. She still had talent and with her parents’
encouragement, she was working on her designs again, determined to get her life
and career back on track, eventually. Every time the telephone rang, she'd
tense up. She couldn't help thinking it was someone calling to tell her of some
terrible disaster or 'accident' that left one of her parents, or worse, both of
them, terribly injured, dying in the hospital or dead.

Despite her numerous
attempts to persuade her parents to agree to move in temporarily with Brett,
they refused. Her father remained adamant in his belief Logan's threats were
nothing but that, mere threats. He was incredibly stubborn and couldn't be
budged. Charlotte's mother refused to leave without her husband, of course.
However, she did ask repeatedly that they contact the police.

Charlotte was as stubborn
as her father when she'd refused to contact the police without any hard
evidence, for fear of the consequences. She also refused to leave without her
parents. For no good reason, she felt if she could see them, they'd somehow be
safe. Although logically, she was aware she had no way to protect them. So,
they stayed where they were, and she remained living in constant fear.

Charlotte always feared
the worst, assuming Logan would eventually get them. She believed it was only a
matter of time before he exacted his revenge. In truth, she didn’t know what
was taking him so long. Was he was busy with other matters or were their murders
being planned? Maybe he was plotting something so terrible and awful, it would
take him weeks, or months to work out the finer details.

In her wild imagination,
she'd visualize torture chambers and underground dens, where he'd take them to
kill them slowly and painfully. She could imagine Logan cackling like some
cartoonish Bond villain, as he enjoyed every moment he watched them suffer and die.
Maybe she'd be forced to watch, and they'd be forced to watch him torture and
rape her, as well. Charlotte couldn't be sure just how demented he was. She did
know he had become increasingly more sadistic, volatile and cruel with her over
time.

Sometimes she wouldn’t
answer the phone unless her parents were both home, for that reason alone. When
she worked up enough courage to answer, it was always something mundane like a
utility provider or some cold caller wanting to do a survey about windows and
doors.

One day, she answered the
phone and it was Brett. His soft, familiar voice on the other end of the line,
made her heart skip several beats.

“Hi, Charlotte?”

“Oh, hi! I'm so glad it's
you. How are you?”

“I’m great. How about you,
how's your leg?”

“Good.”

“Excellent. I have some
news for you.”

“What is it? Is it…?”

“I need to talk to you in
person,” he interrupted, his tone sounding a warning.

“Alright. When can you
come up to visit?”

“Tomorrow night?” he
suggested. “Are you free?”

“I’m always free. I don’t
go out.”

“Well, maybe I’ll take
you out for dinner, in that case.”

The next evening, she
spent hours getting ready. She never allowed herself to do such girly things,
but she actually enjoyed devoting the time to pamper, primp and try out outfits
and hairstyles. Her mother was fussing over her and insisting she looked great.
Then she annoyed Charlotte by teasing her, she must
really
like him if
she was going through
this
much effort.

“I’m not a teenager,
Mom,” she protested. “You’re so embarrassing.”

Brett insisted on picking
her up, which relieved Charlotte to no end. He knocked on the door at six
o’clock, as promised. He hadn’t shaved in a couple of days and the stubble made
him look very handsome and rugged. She couldn’t decide which version of him she
liked best and for a moment, she was staring at him thinking of his two looks; smooth
shaven or rugged unshaven. She was mesmerized, apparently, for a little longer
than she realized.

“Um…
hello
?
Charlotte?” He was giving her a weird look.

She snapped out of it,
blushed and smiled. “Oh God, I'm sorry! You look very handsome tonight.”

“Right back at you,” he said
admiringly.

“Don’t forget your keys,”
her Dad shouted, running out into the hallway and handing her a set.

“Thanks, Dad. I won’t be
back late.”

  Brett walked her down
the driveway towards his car. She was still on crutches, and he gently grasped
her elbow to assist her as best he could. He opened the passenger door, took her
crutches and helped her in. She spent most of the time glancing nervously up
and down the street in fear.

It was dark and every noise
and shadows made her jump. It was the first time she’d been out of the house since
she'd been out of the hospital. It was likely she was experiencing a little
agoraphobia or posttraumatic stress. At least, that’s what Brett told her during
their short drive into town, after observing her behavior.

Most of the tables were empty
when they arrived at the quaint restaurant. Only one other couple was eating at
a table in the corner. That was fine with Charlotte; she didn’t know how she'd possibly
handle a crowd, in her current state of mind. As long as Logan and his cronies were
on the loose, she'd be prisoner of her imagined or possibly justified fears.

Relaxing music played in
the background, and the waiters were friendly as they showed them to their
table in the corner, opposite the other couple. The female diner looked vaguely
familiar to Charlotte and she smiled and waved before turning back to her
companion.

Charlotte opened her menu
and glanced through the choices. She had trouble focusing, feeling nervous and
vulnerable being out and about. The threat of Logan was ever present in the
back of her mind. Adding to her skittishness, was the fact that this was the
first time she and Brett had been on an official ‘date’ together.

She glanced across the table
at him and his sweet, easy smile helped her relax a bit. He reached a hand
across the table to take hold of hers.

“It’s okay,” he assured
her, his voice calm. “You can relax; he’s working on a big job tonight. He
won’t be bothering us and neither will any of his friends.”

“How do you know?” she
asked, her eyes widening.

“Well, I’ve been busy,
too. My friend Jim and I went to his house one night to do some reconnaissance when
he went out,” he smiled. “Jim broke in and installed some bugs. Now we know
exactly what he’s up to, at all times.”

Charlotte felt a rush of
relief and excitement. This might really work out. Brett knew what he was doing,
and his quiet confidence filled her with hope and reassurance. Together, they might
be able to obtain the prosecution they needed to get Logan out of her life
forever.

She was finally able to
relax, at least enough to enjoy their meal together. Eventually, they got around
to discussing the future of their own relationship, as well as the thoughts he
posed to her last time they’d been face to face.

She’d thought about it
long and hard over the past few days. Her mind had been clearer now than it had
been before. Charlotte was sure there was something special going on between
her and Brett. She felt a connection and a closeness she'd never felt before, with
Logan, or any man, for that matter. She'd felt as if she could trust him from
the beginning. They’d been so open with each other once he'd challenged her
denials. Since then, there were no secrets between them, nothing to hide.

She stared at him across
the table. He was handsome and dreamy, but he wasn’t just a pretty face. He was
so much more and all of him, the complete package, had been what attracted her
to him. He made her feel good. He was so intelligent, kind and caring. He was everything
she’d been looking for, and hoped to find in Logan.

“I’ve been thinking about
us
a lot,” she said.

“And?” He poured her a
rather large glass of wine from the bottle he'd ordered. Brett insisted she
drink most of it since he was driving and she'd been so anxious.

“And…my feelings for you are
every bit as strong as the last time we talked,” she said.

“Which was? I’ve
forgotten. Please remind me.” He was smirking now, obviously teasing her.

She rolled her eyes and
smiled at him, taking a sip of wine before cradling the glass in her hand. Then
she adopted a more serious expression.

“I have feelings for you,
Brett,” she said quietly. “And they seem to be getting stronger rather than
weaker. I honestly think we could make something of this, if you're willing to
give it a try. I hope you're…still…considering it or are at least open to the
idea.”

She was suddenly worried he
might've changed his mind. Maybe he was just taking her out to dinner to break
it to her gently. He took her hand again and gave it a squeeze, smiling
broadly.

“I’m glad,” he replied.
“To be honest, I was getting a little worried that I’d put you off with
everything I'd told you. I think I have to trust my feelings about you,
Charlotte. I like you a lot and I want to continue to see you. The here and now
is all that matters. I’m ready to put my past behind me. I hope you are, too.”

“I like you so much, too—and
yes, I’m more than ready,” she smiled.

“Well then…I guess we
should toast to that.” He raised his glass. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.” She giggled a
little, and clinked her glass against his.

The rest of the meal
passed uneventfully but enjoyably. Every moment Charlotte spent with Brett, she
fell for him a little more, to the extent there wasn’t even any point in trying
to deny it anymore. As much as she'd tried to reign in her emotions, she was
already in too deep to ignore. She wanted to be with him.

Charlotte figured their
feelings for each other were just one of those things that happened by chance.

As he dropped her off
back at her house, she reflected on the strange things that had occurred
throughout her life as if by chance, and the crucial role it had come to play
in meeting Brett. In her opinion, it had to be more than mere coincidence. Could
it have been just by chance? Could chance have possibly brought them together?

When she'd been with
Logan the night he'd been shot, she was an utter mess and so confused. It had
been Brett that came to her and helped her calm down. He'd been so lovely, both
in his appearance, as well in his gentle and caring manner. She remembered he'd
touched her in such a simple and innocent way, yet she'd felt it throughout her
entire body. That all too brief, yet significant, first meeting had haunted her
thoughts and fantasies for a long time.

More recently, after her
car accident, Brett was there for her again. And again, during a time of extreme
need. He'd been such a Godsend, really. He helped calm her down and was so
intuitive and observant he'd noticed her fear and her need for help, that she'd
so adamantly denied. He'd taken her under his wing and helped counsel her. He'd
kept Logan away from her. He connected her with her parents again. She believed
he'd saved her life and stole her heart in the process.

Could Brett and she have
somehow been brought together randomly? It would defy all odds, in her opinion.
However, maybe chance was on her side this time. Perhaps it was time for her to
be happy, to find true love. Brett and she both deserved that.

She slept soundly that
night, looking forward to the future and feeling more relaxed and confident
than she had in a very long time.

Over the few weeks, Brett’s
friend, Jim, continued to keep an eye and ear on Logan’s every move. She
couldn’t believe he hadn’t come after her yet. However, according to Jim, he'd
been very busy. He didn’t go into details, but it was clear Logan had been making
some big moves in the Chicago underground.

Charlotte knew better
than to become complacent, though. There was no way her psychotic husband would
totally forget about her. He'd probably prioritize, and leave his revenge for her
defying and leaving him, until later. Maybe Logan thought it would be more
traumatizing for her, if he allowed her time to get more comfortable before he'd
strike.

She had several
appointments at the hospital to check up on her leg. While her paranoia had
eased dramatically, every time she'd leave the house, she was extra vigilant.
Her mother was kind enough to drive her to Chicago. Once she was in the
hospital, she felt safe and secure in Brett’s care. The two of them had to
pretend their relationship was purely platonic, of course. However, her parents
knew by now that they were seeing each other.

It
was
still quite
casual between them. They spoke on the phone often and saw each other face to
face at least once a week. Yet, they'd still done nothing more than hug, kiss
and hold hands. They were both comfortable with that, given their own recent
histories. Charlotte never felt any pressure from Brett to take their
relationship to the next step. Although she wanted to be with him all of the
time and desired him greatly, she could wait. She believed it would be worth
the wait when it finally happened.

During one of her visits
to the hospital, she brought up the subject of her fertility. Despite Logan and
her having frequent unprotected sex, she'd never gotten pregnant. At the time,
she was beyond relieved and thrilled about that. She'd always maintained that she'd
never wanted children. Right now she didn’t. However, the fact that she'd
failed to conceive with Logan made her slightly concerned.

What if I change my
mind? What if I decide I want a child with Brett, then find out I can’t?

Brett was the only person
she'd felt comfortable enough to talk to about this extremely personal subject.
He was also the only person she'd ever confided everything to during their
countless discussions. She'd admitted every hideous, graphic, sordid detail
about her relationship with Logan.

It had been difficult for
her to tell Brett about what she'd endured. It was so hard to say the words,
without reliving at least some of her emotional turmoil at the time. She tried
to get it all out, to say everything he'd done. She told of his seemingly
infinite atrocities; cutting her off from her friends and family, calling her
demeaning names, locking her up and nailing the windows shut, not allowing her
to use birth control, dragging her naked by her hair, slapping her all of the
time; raping her constantly and beating her while he did so…

Brett was wonderfully
supportive and so beautiful to her. However, during those talks about her terrible
marriage, for the first time, she'd seen him get angry. Brett had gotten
extremely angry, furious, in fact. Hearing some of the more graphic details of
Logan’s abuse had made him see red. Brett felt extremely protective of
Charlotte and had such sympathy for her pain. She couldn't help but think that
Brett would've killed Logan on the spot if he'd been there.

At the time of their many
deep and emotional conversations, she hadn’t mentioned her doubts about whether
she could have children. Instead, she waited and brought it up when visiting
him in the hospital. Not knowing his view on having children, she was careful
to stress she wasn’t sure, by any means, if she'd ever want kids.

He took her hand, in his
typically comforting and loving way, and tried to reassure her.

“Look, it's actually not
unusual to fail to conceive, even over a long period of time like that. You'd also
be surprised how strong the mind can be in controlling how things happen in the
baby-making department. But to ease your mind, why don’t we get you tested when
all of this settles down.”

“Thank you,” she smiled.

“You never know, you might
change your mind one day and really want to have kids,” he grinned at her.

“That’s what I was
thinking. I just thought it would be better to know now, rather than to be
disappointed later, right?”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Do you have any kids?”
she asked him quietly. This was a conversation they’d never had before.

“No,” he answered with a
sigh. “I'd always wanted them, but…Margaret couldn’t. Her ex…he beat her to the
point where it damaged her…”

“Oh my God….” Charlotte
was shocked and horrified.

She lowered her eyes to
the floor and didn’t even know what to say to comfort him. The thought made her
feel sick. It was extremely upsetting. That poor woman. She lived through all
of that... After surviving it, she finally finds love with Brett and then winds
up dying young of cancer. Hell truly can exist on earth.

“I know. Life can be
rough. But we had time to get past that,” he murmured quietly, giving her
shoulder a quick squeeze. “I’ll be back in five minutes to sign you out. Then
you can go.”

“Thank you.”

***

When her cast had finally
come off, six weeks after the accident, she was eager to get on with her life.
She wanted to put Logan behind her for good by moving forward with Brett's plan
to get him behind bars. Brett hadn’t talked about it for a while and she had no
idea what he’d been doing on that front. All he'd said was Jim’s surveillance
continued.

Now that she could move around
more easily, she wanted to be a part of it. She wanted to speed things up. Charlotte
was determined not to have this dark cloud hanging over her head forever. She
also didn’t want to sit around at home while other people came to her rescue.
Being passively rescued wasn’t the type of person she was. It seemed as though
the more involved she was in the plan, the better she'd feel in the end.

It might be more
difficult for her to believe it was truly over, unless she was actively
involved. She felt as though it could be therapeutic, even part of her healing
process. While she'd been under Logan’s thumb, she'd become a passive observer
to her own life. She was determined to change that now.

Whenever she spoke to
Brett on the phone, they'd always end up talking about other things. If she'd bring
up the topic of Logan, he'd become cryptic and say he’d prefer to talk about it
face to face. He told her in person a few times that he didn’t trust the phone.
She figured since Brett had been able to bug Logan's house as easily as he had,
maybe Brett was concerned it might go both ways. Maybe their phones weren't
secure.

“I want to help,” she
insisted. “Now that my cast is off, I need you to fill me in on what’s really going
on, so I can help.”

“You really want to
help?” he asked. “Wouldn't you prefer that I…deal with this myself?”

“No. I
need
to do
this with you,” she said adamantly.

 “Well, I could use your
help. But I don't want you to do anything too strenuous physically,” Brett said
gently. “You still need to rest your leg as much as you can. So, no running
around.”

“Alright, alright…but what
if we have to chase Logan and tackle him to the ground?” She grinned, teasing
him.

“There will be no James
Bond moves. Well, not by
you
, anyway,” he chuckled.

Two days later, Brett
came to visit. At her mother’s insistence, he agreed to stay in the guest room.
After dinner, she took him upstairs. They sat on the bed where they’d first
kissed. They held hands as he explained what had been going on during the past
few weeks.

“Logan’s just completed a
big drug deal.”

“Drugs?” She was shocked.

She'd remembered thinking
he might be involved in drugs, especially when she'd overheard his colleagues
snorting in the bathroom during her wedding reception. However, she'd kind of
forgotten about that for a while. It seemed that some naïve part of her,
thought it might've been a coincidence or a misunderstanding. However, to hear
the words so bluntly confirmed was still strangely surprising for her.

“Yeah. He's involved in cocaine,
specifically,” Brett said.

“Jesus…”

“Yeah,” he sighed and
gave her hand a squeeze. “The good news is, his cocaine dealings have been
keeping him really busy. Luckily, it's been taking his attention away from you.
Jim’s still listening in. Most of the time, there's nothing to hear because, well…he’s
alone. There have been phone calls. We figured out he buys a fresh cellphone
every few days, but the beauty of
that
is; he talks quite freely.”

“Who are the calls to?”
she asked.

“His cronies and business
partners, about the deals they’re making. They've revealed a lot about what’s
going on and what has been taking up most of his time.”

“Have you heard any of his
calls?”

“Jim played me a couple,
yeah.”

“Did…” she hesitated as
she swallowed hard. “Did he ever mention my parents or me to any of
his…partners? Did he ever give any orders to kidnap me or anything?”

Brett looked away briefly
unwilling to meet her eyes. That was all of the confirmation she needed. She
could see he was stalling, wondering whether he should tell her the truth or
whether it might stress her out more, and be too upsetting for her to hear.

“What was it?” she
demanded. “What did he say?”

“Well, let's just say
that he hasn’t forgotten about you. It’s pretty clear he intends to kidnap you
again…and to carry out his threats.”

Charlotte's heart jumped
in her chest. “We have to do something.”

“We will,” Brett assured
her. “As soon as we can organize it, I’ll take you to meet Jim and he’ll play
you some of the recordings. Then I’ll take you to the house when Logan’s out. We
can discuss its weak points. You can show me how you got out when you escaped… maybe
we can get in and look through that office of his to find some solid evidence.”

“Are you sure your friend
Jim will be able to clear it with the police, if we find evidence illegally? I
don’t want him getting off on some technicality when it goes to court. He's
really volatile and dangerous. I think that could tip him over the edge into
coming after us, no matter what the consequences would be.”

“The best way with these
things is always to catch them in the act,” he told her. “No one can argue or
deny it, then.”

“How are we going to do
that?” she asked, scared of the answer.

“We'll need to work out
his movements…like we've been doing. We'll have to find out where he’s going to
be, and when, as well as what he’s going to be doing. Then we'll show up and
catch him right in the middle of committing his crimes.”

“Maybe you should've
joined the police along with Jim,” she smiled at him. “You’re really good at
this.”

“Nah,” he shrugged. “The Army
was enough for me. It
is
fun, though. I considered it at one time. I used
to read detective novels when I was a kid.”

“I bet you did,” she
nuzzled into his neck.

Despite the gravity of
their conversation, they began to kiss. As their kisses deepened, Charlotte
pulled Brett down until they were wrapped in each other’s arms while lying down
on the single bed she'd slept in since she was a small girl. It was a tight
squeeze, and they almost fell off at one point. Their bodies were intertwined
and neither of them gave a damn as they explored each other with their hands.

Charlotte was extremely aroused
and knew from his ragged breathing, as well as from the unmistakably hard bulge
in his jeans, he was as well. If he tried to take it to the next level, not
only would she have welcomed it, she probably would thank him outright. She
wanted him so badly she could barely think straight.

However, Brett didn’t go
any farther than an intense make out session with some petting through their
clothes. She respected him for it, even though she was a more than a bit disappointed
when he broke away from their embrace. They were both out of breath and had
been approaching to a point where it would've been incredibly difficult to
stop.

“I wish you could stay in
here with me tonight,” she said breathlessly, both her face and her body
burning for him.

“Where? Right
here
,
in this tiny bed?” he asked, a smile on his face. “I’d probably wind up kicking
you in my sleep.”

“Not if I kick you first!
And yeah,
right here
. Why not?” she giggled.

“I’d feel like a teenager,”
he said with a smile.

“I
do
feel like a
teenager with you,” she said in a low voice. “Actually, this is where I used to
sleep when I
was
a teenager.”

“Did you ever bring boys
home?”

“No,” she blushed. “I was
never really into boys.”

“Oh, so you…brought
girls
home?” he teased her, with a lascivious smile and a rather suggestive glint in
his eye.