Manhunt (4 page)

“Shhhh, Nikki, it’s okay.”

She didn’t move. Something about her forehead against his neck felt familiar, and in a good way. A very good way.

“I don’t like spiders,” she mumbled against his collarbone.

His chuckle rumbled throughout his chest.

“No, you don’t. You never did, especially not after…” Michael let his sentence die off, leaving Nikki curious about what he was hiding from her this time. He pulled back and kissed her forehead. “Let’s get you cleaned up. It’s been a long day and you need your rest.”

Michael turned her away from him and washed her hair. She loved the scent of the lemon sage shampoo he had bought. Nikki let a small moan of pleasure escape as he massaged her scalp. She heard him take a couple of deep breaths behind her before speaking again.

“Have you soaped up yet?” His voice was barely a whisper.

Nikki suddenly remembered her situation. Not only was she naked, but her nipples had become hard. Funny, it didn’t seem cold. Embarrassed, Nikki moved her arms to cover herself. Michael’s eyes didn’t wander, though, and stayed focused on hers.

“Nikki, I’m a doctor, or at least I almost am… or was about to be… The point is, I’ve seen plenty of naked women in my line of work. So please don’t be embarrassed. You’re injured, let me help you. I’m going to have to tape your ribs back up anyway. Now, I’ll ask you again. Have you soaped up yet?”

Nikki nodded, blushing furiously. Had he seen her naked before? In a professional capacity, or a personal one? And on another note, how many women had he seen naked? And why did that thought make her prickle with jealousy?

Michael reached around her to turn off the water, grabbed the two thin towels which looked more like dishcloths by their size, and handed her one while he dropped to his knees in front of her. He started at her feet, followed by her legs, only going up to mid-thigh, where she could reach without bending over, then he stood and turned her around to dry her back. Nikki was thankful her legs appeared recently shaved. She didn’t think it was possible to feel pampered in this dump, under these circumstances, but she did. Never once did he do anything inappropriate, a fact she was mysteriously almost disappointed about.

Afterwards, he helped her out of the tub, led her over to the bed, placing the towel down first for her to sit on, and climbed behind her. He began the long process of wrapping her ribs and dressing her wounds, professional yet gentle, as his arms circled around her. When the last piece of tape was secure, he fetched a couple of pain pills and a bottle of water, which she took with profound gratitude. Sitting behind her yet again, he brushed her hair. The unhurried pattern of brush, fingers, brush, fingers stroking her hair soothed her rattled nerves and lulled her to sleep. A peaceful fog settled in her brain, making her eyelids grow heavy and her head start to droop. The pillow drifted toward her, or perhaps Michael was laying her down, she wasn’t sure which. Just before she succumbed to exhaustion, she could have sworn he brushed his fingertips ever so lightly across her lower lip, trailing up her cheek, then gently across the gash on Nikki’s temple before retreating. The bed shifted as Michael rolled away from her with a sigh. Perhaps it was the fog, but she wasn’t sure which was more confusing, Michael or her amnesia.

Chapter 5

“Get it off!” Nikki screamed in her sleep.

Michael took her by the shoulders and shook her gently awake. “Nikki! Nikki! You’re having a nightmare.”

Nikki’s heart rate slowly returned to normal as she looked around, trying to differentiate what was real from what was a dream as the hotel room came into focus.

“Let me guess, spiders?”

Nikki nodded and told Michael all about her dream, shuddering as she replayed the scene in her head.

*******

The only one for me is you,
And you for me,
So happy together…

The music blared from inside the trailer. Nikki was outside, dancing on the concrete patio and singing along. A young boy with dirty blonde hair poked his head out the window of the trailer next door.

“Hey, Nikki! Your mom’s home, huh?”

“Yeah, she has to be. My dad’s on his way to pick me up for the weekend. Wanna come over and play?”

“Sure! I’ll be right over!”

Michael hollered to his mom, and out the door he went. Michael was her best friend, and had been from the day she and her mom moved into the trailer park.

“Do you have to go?” he asked as soon as he sat down beside her. She knew how much he hated when she went to her dad’s for the weekend.

“Yeah. My dad said he was even giving up prime golfing weather, so I have to give up you.”

Nikki always got the impression her dad didn’t like Michael. Michael’s dad, Mike, Sr., was a truck driver and wasn’t around much. When he was home, he was an angry drunk. Her dad, a public defense attorney, claimed he had to represent Mike one too many times for Michael to be anything other than bad news by association. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, he’d grumbled once. Nikki didn’t think it was fair.

Nikki and Michael started playing tic-tac-toe with sidewalk chalk when a perfectly tanned boy with feathered chestnut brown hair walked up. He was dressed in a pressed navy blue polo shirt and crisp khaki shorts, much nicer than her dirty clothes or Michael’s hand-me-down t-shirt and cut off blue jeans.

Michael curled into himself, seeming so much smaller than he did a moment before.

“Hey, Sebastian!” Nikki said politely. “What’re you doing here?”

“I asked your dad if I could come with him to pick you up.”

Sebastian lived down the street from her dad, and their dads were old friends and golf buddies. Sometimes she thought Sebastian spent more time at her dad’s house than she did.

Sebastian spared a quick glance in Michael’s direction. “Hey, Mike.”

“My dad is Mike. My name is Michael,” he said through gritted teeth.

Nikki hated how Sebastian always did that. He knew Michael didn’t like that nickname. It reminded him of his dad, which was never a good thing.

“Cut it out, Sebastian,” Nikki chastised.

Sebastian rolled his eyes, then got distracted by a large wolf spider hiding under the grated metal steps which led to the trailer door. He did a quick search for a couple of sticks, and managed to use them like chopsticks to pick up the arachnid.

“Hey, Nikki! Check out what I found!”

The spider he held up was seriously creepy, all furry and squirmy and angry. Nikki swore she saw fangs. She started scooting away, but Sebastian followed her.

“Keep that thing away from me, Sebastian Cross!”

“Awe, Nikki, don’t be such a chicken. Watch, he won’t hurt you.” Without warning, Sebastian tossed the spider in Nikki’s lap. Nikki screamed. The spider began climbing up her arm, over her shoulder, and into her hair.

“Get it off, get it off!”

*******

“That wasn’t a dream, Nikki. That was a memory. We were six years old. I’m still so sorry for that day. I should have protected you better. Maybe then your dad wouldn’t have hated me so much.”

“What are you talking about?”

Michael took a deep breath and sighed before finishing the story. “After Sebastian threw the spider on you, I was so angry at him, I reacted without thinking things through. I jumped up, knocked him to the ground and punched him. Several times, in fact, before your dad came barreling down the sidewalk and dragged me off him. I was trying to defend you, but what I should have been doing was protecting you. The wolf spider bit you repeatedly as you tried to get it off. You were screaming and swatting at it, but you kept missing and the spider kept biting, until your dad managed to knock it out of your hair and kill it. You had an allergic reaction and ended up in the hospital for three days. Sebastian blamed me for the spider and your dad believed him. He said I was no better than my good-for-nothing father. He was right. If I’d have used my head instead of my fists, you wouldn’t have gotten so hurt. Neither of us would have.”

Michael hung his head in shame, guilt weighing heavy on him.

“Neither of us?” Nikki cocked her head to the side, curious.

Michael shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “When my dad heard about me getting into a fight with Sebastian, he took his belt to me.” Getting the belt was a regular enough occurrence in his youth that he learned to become numb to it.

“Michael, it sounds to me like you did a courageous thing, defending me from a bully and enduring the wrath of both our fathers to boot. In my opinion, you were gallant and brave.” The sincerity in her voice and eyes relieved him of some of the guilt he’d harbored for years.

He smiled ruefully. “I will always protect and defend you, Nikki. Always. Even if that means protecting you from me.”

Michael caught a glimpse at the clock and realized they were running late. It was a convenient excuse for ending the conversation.

“I’m going to go down to the office and buy us another hour or two while you get dressed. I think they had coffee. Do you want some?” Nikki quickly shook her head, her throat making a gag-like sound. Michael laughed. “You’re right. If this place is giving something away for free, it’s probably not a good idea. I’ll be right back.”

Michael walked down to the office, surprised to find the same greasy guy from the night before still behind the counter.

“Excuse me, I was wondering if I could arrange for a late checkout.”

“If I were you, I’d arrange to wait until nightfall.”

Michael furrowed his brow in confusion, and the man picked a piece of paper off his desk and handed it to Michael. It was a missing person poster with a picture of Nikki, along with one of him as the suspected kidnapper.

“Saw that at the post office this morning, thought you might like to know. Apparently, it was on the news last night, and some lady called in claiming she saw the two of you at Walmart. Now, son, I don’t know what kind of trouble you’re in, but I can tell you it would be a bad idea to be driving around town in broad daylight.”

Michael nodded numbly, still staring at the paper. He couldn’t believe they were already catching up to them. He’d driven so far yesterday, had been so careful. Well, except for helping the mother with her cart. She must have been the one to turn them in. He guessed it was true what they say, no good deed goes unpunished. Michael suddenly felt guilty. He’d judged the motel owner as below him. He should have known from experience not to judge a book by its cover. This man may just have saved them from capture.

“Thank you. I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”

“I see all kinds come through that door,” the man replied kindly. “The scumbags, the hookers, the folks who are just down on their luck. Over the years, I’ve become a pretty good judge of character, and something tells me you and that girl, you’re all right. She certainly didn’t appear to be underage or with you against her will. Motel’s not busy today, got three other rooms open right now. I’m not gonna charge you anythin’ extra. Just wait until dark to head out, drop off the key when you leave.”

“Thank you again. I won’t forget your kindness.” Michael hoped one day to find a way to repay the man’s compassion and generosity. With a nod, he headed back for the room. He told Nikki he was too tired to drive and he’d arranged to stay until that evening. She seemed skeptical, but she kept her comments to herself.

Michael decided the time had come to use the hair dye. He didn’t want to—Nikki had such beautiful hair—but with the authorities hot on their tail, they had little choice. Nikki wasn’t happy, especially when Michael refused to tell her why it was necessary. She growled at him, only giving in after he agreed to go first. He handed her the surgical scissors and had her give him a trim beforehand. The end result was jagged and rough and only served to make his hair wild and unruly. Then she put the dye in, paying close attention to the mixing directions. Even though they left it in the maximum time suggested, and possibly even a few minutes over, it still didn’t look brown or even dirty blonde. It was a slightly unnatural color somewhere in-between, but Michael figured it would do.

Then it was Nikki’s turn. She cried when he took the scissors to her hair and truthfully, he cried a little too. He managed to do a halfway decent job, taking off about six inches, but keeping it fairly even in the back and adding bangs in the front. The black dye worked well, giving her tresses a lustrous ebony shade, not at all Goth like he feared. It wasn’t her beautiful natural auburn color, but she still looked amazing in Michael’s eyes.