Insatiable (7 page)

"But all kidding aside I know we haven’t been here but a few days, but during these past few days both Rosie and I have noticed that you seem to take care of everyone but yourself. So go have a good time, get laid if you want to. The point is…
ENJOY
yourself, you deserve it and don’t worry about us we'll be fine," Mari said and turned to Rosie. "Won't we Rosie?"

"Of course, we're battered women, not wounded animals who need looking after," she winked.

"Alright, alright I get it. Thanks ladies, so you won't mind if I stay out all night?" Aurora smirked.

"Please do," they said in unison.

"Ha! Fat chance of that happening, I just met the guy," she grinned.

Officer Nick Barek got out of his truck and headed towards the house.

"Someone's here," Rosie raised her voice slightly in alarm.

"It's alright Rosie. It's just Officer Barek, he's come to talk to you and Mari about what to do if you think your being followed and he's going to show you guys a few self-defense moves," Aurora told them.

"Is that why you told us to dress comfortable today?" Mari yawned. She'd just come down the stairs and was wearing a pair of yoga pants and a tee shirt.

"That is exactly why," Aurora grinned.

"I want the two of you to learn how to defend yourselves and know that you have every right to defend yourselves."

Mari nodded her head in agreement while looking out the window.

"Crap!" She yelled out.

"What is it?" Aurora asked. "I told you, it's just Officer Barek.

"Well you failed to tell us how good looking this Officer Barek is Aurora. Geez," she said and motioned for Rosie to take a peek.

"And of course we're in sweats," Rosie exclaimed.

"Well ladies, he's here and he's not going to wait. Besides, isn’t it better to see one another in your natural habitat? This is the real you, no more airs and no more pretending. You have to show people that they have to take you or leave you as you are."

"Says the woman who's freshly showered and looking as gorgeous as ever." Mari teased.

Aurora gave them a smile before opening the door.

"The yard looks great," Nick said and made his way inside. Mari and Rosie casually shied away as Nick moved towards them.

"I took the liberty of bringing you ladies some coffee and donuts. I thought we'd take this time to get to know one another before we get into the heavy stuff."

When Aurora introduced him, Nick smiled warmly and shook their hands. "Ladies, I'm not here to preach to you, nor am I here to criticize. I'm simply here because I believe in what Aurora does, and I want to help. So with that being said, let's go over what you can do if you think that someone is following you. Because there is going to come a time when you both are going to want to venture out on your own and of course that's fine. I would think something wrong with you if you didn’t." His smile lingered on Mari.

"Huntington Cove is a very small town and odds are, you're going to run into your abusers. And if and when that time comes, I want you to be prepared. Now, what you must make sure to do is keep your wits about you, don’t panic. But first, you need to make sure that someone is indeed tailing your car. You should make three or four quick turns to see if the car in question is following you. Signal to turn one way but at the last second, quickly turn the opposite direction.

If you can, get on a well-traveled highway or go immediately to a highly populated area. If you're out at night, park your car in well-lit areas. I know that most of the roads around here are quiet and deserted but by the time you reach these roads you should have noticed your tail back in town. But if you cannot lose your pursuer, drive to the police station and get help."

Mari clicked her tongue against her teeth. Nick turned to her and gave her a heartening smile.

"I know that the police probably aren’t your favorite people ladies, but not all of us are bad and before I leave here today I am going to give you each my card. If ever you feel like you're in danger, day or night I want you to call me."

Neither Rosie nor Mari was expecting such compassion, especially coming from a police officer. They were used to having the cops show up, but not once did the cops show any empathy towards them. They mostly did a lot of frowning and shaking their heads, then they reluctantly took the abusers away. It was almost as if they felt sorry for the abusers and only the abusers. But Nick was different, he seemed to genuinely care and if it was true, thought Mari, 
He was a rare breed
.

The couple of self-defense moves that Aurora had asked Nick to show them were for the benefit of Mari and Rosie. She grinned and winked at the two women, when Nick started showing them the moves. Nick was well aware that the ladies were ogling him and for a moment felt like a piece of meat. But he knew that it was all in fun, and he liked the attention. But it was time to get back to business.

"Ladies, first I want you to remember that prevention is the best self-defense. Always remember to tell someone where you are going, this is very important. Attackers, whatever their objectives, are looking for unsuspecting, vulnerable targets. So be sure to be aware of your surroundings, try to only walk and park in well-lit areas. Keep your keys in your hands as you approach your door or car. Change your routes when you go out and or travel. Now normally I would tell you that when and if you are confronted, try and diffuse the situation. But in some cases, that is not an option. If your abusers come after you, the last thing you want to do is try and talk to them. You need to get out of the situation and get out as soon as you can.

Now the best ways to do that are to draw plenty of attention to yourself. That's right; make him know that you are no longer an easy target and that you will not give in.

Now if he touches you or it's clear that escaping isn’t possible, I want you to shout loudly and push back at him."

Rosie interrupted. "Let me get this straight, say I run into Landon? And he confronts me. You want me to just shout and push? I'm sorry officer, but that doesn’t seem like enough." Her arms were folded, and she had now gotten defensive.

Nick softened his tone. "I want you to do whatever you need to do to get out of the situation alive Rosie. And yes I want you to shout and push because this does two things: it signals for help, and it will let him know you're not afraid anymore."

"But what if that doesn’t work?" Mari asked.

"It may not Mari, but I can tell you that getting loud will draw attention and warn him off long enough so that help can arrive. And that is all you want to have happen at that point. You want him away from you, you want him gone.

Now if a confrontation seems unavoidable, then you only have a few seconds to make a move. Before he has full control over you, you must do everything you can while conserving as much energy as possible, to inflict injury so that you can get away."

"Ladies, when it comes to saving your own life, there is no time to be civil. If it comes down to you or him think of it this way, its hurt or be hurt." Aurora told them.

"She's absolutely right ladies, so please, make sure you aim for the parts of the body where you can do the most damage easily, and those are the eyes, nose, ears, neck, groin, knee, and legs. Now there is no reason to get closer to him to inflict injury at, let's say his nose, when with one kick you can get him in the groin.

Do you see where I'm coming from?" Nick ask and demonstrated a kick move.

By doing this you leave yourself less susceptible to him grabbing you and more able to get away. Also, the knee is an ideal target, it's vulnerable from every angle and can be easily kicked without risk of your foot or leg being grabbed. If you want to cause injury or incapacitate him, kick the side of the knee. Don’t kick the front of the knee because it may not do enough damage to allow you enough time to get away.

I forgot to bring my padding so I won't hold any demonstrations today, but next time, we'll get down to the nitty-gritty of it and I'll teach you ladies some moves."

"Did you forget to bring your padding on purpose Nick?" Aurora teased. "Let me guess, you figured that my two new friends and I might have a little too much pent up energy, and you thought we'd take it out on you didn’t you?" She laughed.

Nick shook his head. "Well the thought did cross my mind," he grinned. "I'll be sure to bring the proper equipment next week ladies, I promise," he said.

"In the meantime, do either of you have any questions for me?"

"What do we do if one of them comes out here?" Mari asked and then turned towards Aurora.

"I mean I know that you said that the location of this place is kept secret but come on, this is a small town and people talk. It's only a matter of time before my husband comes looking for me, and all he has to do is start asking around town and someone somewhere is going to tell him. I mean look at what happened to you at the lumber yard Aurora. That guy Ken, I bet he knows exactly where you live, am I right?"

Aurora could see the tenseness in Mari's eyes. Nick turned to her too. "Aurora? What is she talking about? What happened at the lumberyard?"

Aurora held up a hand. "Hang on; let me address Mari's concerns first. Okay, you're right Mari, you're absolutely right. There is no guarantee that your men won't try and find you here. But we try and take every precaution to see that this place remains a secret. Now if any of them did come out here, they would be arrested. That's why the two of you have restraining orders against them. The moment they set foot on this property, if they do not immediately turn away, they will go to jail. Now I know that a restraining order is just a piece of paper barring the individual from coming near you. But trust me, you both need that piece of paper because if you don’t have it, none of what you say he's done to you will be believed. Ladies I haven’t had an incident yet and I don’t intend on having any now. We're safe out here, you are safe out here."

Nick nodded his head. "And when I am on patrol, I make sure to patrol this area often, sometimes you will see me and other times you won't. But rest assured, you are all safe here."

"Yes but what about when you're not on patrol?" It was Rosie's turn to voice her concerns. She'd been so used to being told to shut up and stay quiet that this new found freedom of being able to speak her mind took hold and wouldn’t let go.

"I know that you two have lost some faith in the police around here but please know that most of us don’t tolerate domestic violence. It doesn’t matter if its friend or foe, it's wrong and it's against the law."

"Yeah? Tell that to the cops that almost always let my husband go free," Mari said her tone full of defense.

Nick took a step towards her. "Miss Carr, I get where you're coming from and I know how it appears. I'm so sorry that you had to experience that. I understand, really I do. The one agency that's supposed to be there for you took the side of your abusive husband instead of yours. That won't happen to you again because I won't let it," he said and stared intently into her eyes. Mari's stomach fluttered, she hadn't felt such a sensation in years, it scared her.

"And neither will I," Aurora assured her. "Officer, I don’t think we have to worry about our friends running into anymore abusive men. That part of your lives is over, right ladies? Now it's time to think about yourselves and what you want out of life. The time for being abused, beaten, degraded, and humiliated is over." Aurora smiled and took their hands in hers. "You're not alone," she said and gave them each a hug. "And you never will be."

Nick stood, took a step back and watched as the women embraced. He hoped that they realized that Aurora Collins was not just doing her job, she was being a friend and that was something the two women were in desperate need of.

"I'm sorry Nick, you didn’t come here to watch us get all sappy now did you?" She turned and looked at him.

"It's quite alright. Besides, my time is almost up and I think it wise to let you two ladies heal physically before I start teaching you anymore defensive moves. Wouldn’t you agree?" He asked the two of them.

When they nodded, he gathered up his things and prepared to leave. After shaking their hands he once again told Rosie and Mari that if they needed anything, anything at all they only had to pick up the phone and ask. "And that goes for you too," he said to Aurora as she walked him to the door.

"And just when were you planning on telling me about what happened at the lumberyard?" He asked. "You know I'm here for you right?"

She gave him a warm smile. "I know you are Nick, but what happened at the lumberyard was nothing that either you or I should be concerned about. It was just Ken Holmes acting ignorant as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary and besides, I had one of the new volunteers with me and he was more than ready to put Ken in his place."

"He? New volunteer?"

She could sense the jealously in his voice but couldn’t figure out why. It wasn’t like they'd ever dated or anything. Yes he always asked her out but she hadn't accepted a single invitation from him. She just didn’t have those kind of feelings for him and she'd told him that on more than one occasion.

"Yes Nick, his name is Liam Hunt and he's a new volunteer here."

"Oh," Nick replied. "Well I'm glad that you had someone to watch your back then," he said. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he was hurt.

"Ladies, it was very nice meeting you and I'll see you next week", he said and walked out the door.

"Looks like someone is a little jealous," Mari said.

"Yeah, he's been asking me out for a very long time but I just haven’t been interested. He knows this though so I don't know why he's acting this way."

"Thank goodness you didn’t tell him about your date with Liam tonight."

Aurora nodded her head. "Yes I know but still there's no reason for Nick to act that way. We are friends and that is all we'll ever be. And besides, I saw him checking you out more than once Mari," Aurora teased.

Mari couldn’t help but smile. "I have to admit, he is one law enforcement officer that I wouldn’t mind getting to know better."