The Doctor Is In (17 page)

Raine was starting to feel as if this was her new home. Reality had finally set in that Kasen wasn’t coming to rescue her, especially since she’d been moved to a new location. Being with Patrice, though, was much better than being with Voncile. Patrice was difficult, but compared to Voncile, she was the perfect hostess. Even on her worst days, Patrice never seemed as angry or vicious as Voncile.

Every time Voncile stopped by, she had an attitude. Sometimes she’d be mumbling under her breath, and some of the things that Raine heard made her think that things weren’t going well with Voncile and Kasen. She sure wasn’t bragging about their relationship the way she had been not too long ago. A small part of Raine wanted to rub it in Voncile’s face, but she was sure that any mention of Kasen would get her slapped across the mouth and eating rotten leftovers again. She didn’t want that kind of trouble, especially since she seemed to be on Patrice’s good side more than on her bad side.

Sometimes, Patrice would just come into the room to lay down her burdens or simply talk to Raine about what was on TV. Raine thought that Patrice seemed a little weird too, but she also seemed lonely, like she wanted a friend more than anything. Raine wondered if Patrice was only participating in this kidnapping because she thought she was helping a friend—although she couldn’t imagine how anyone could consider Voncile a friend. That bitch was barely human, as far as Raine was concerned.

Raine sensed that there was a chance she could one day get through to Patrice and ask her to set her free. So, she kept on being kind and speaking to Patrice as if she had a new best friend.

As Raine was watching TV, Patrice came into the room with dinner on a tray. This time it was a delicious-looking Caesar salad with buttery croutons, a glass of iced tea, and a cup of Jell-O for dessert. She set down the tray and untied the restraints so Raine could eat.

“You keep spoiling me like this and I will stay here forever,” Raine said, lying through her teeth.

Patrice laughed. “Girl, please. After you have that baby, you are out of here. You’re only here because Voncile is paying me good money to keep you for a while.”

Raine felt a chill pass over her. She didn’t know what their plans were for her after the baby was born, but she knew it couldn’t be anything good. That’s what scared her more than anything. She couldn’t imagine her baby being taken away from her, and as the days ticked away, she knew she had to do something to make Patrice understand how wrong this was.

“When you say after the baby is born I’m out of here, what do you mean?”

Patrice shot her a dirty look. “Stop asking me questions and eat your food.”

Raine knew she had gone a little too far. Their bond wasn’t strong enough yet for her to be trying to get information from Patrice. First she would have to break down Patrice’s loyalty to Voncile, and it wasn’t time for that yet.

Raine did as she was told and ate her food. She was almost done with her salad when Voncile came in, fussing and cussing about something.

“We need to talk,” she said to Patrice. “I’m so done with this Negro, and I need your help.”

They left the room, standing just outside the closed door. All Raine could hear was the high-pitched, agitated tone of Voncile’s voice. Shortly thereafter, Patrice returned to the room, but Voncile didn’t.

“What was that about?” Raine questioned boldly, feeling desperate for some kind of information. Voncile’s bad mood could mean dire consequences for her, and she wanted to be forewarned if at all possible. “Is everything okay? Voncile sounded pretty angry.”

Patrice threw her hand back and pursed her lips. “Everything is fine. Voncile just gets so worked up at times, especially when things don’t go her way.”

“Yes, I know. I think she’s a good person, but she just needs to chill and let the chips fall where they may.” Raine wanted to grab her own throat and choke herself for complimenting Voncile. It pained her to even lie about how she felt.

“Exactly,” Patrice cosigned. “But I can’t tell her nothing. She has this little idea in her head that things are going to work out how she envisions them, but life isn’t as cut and dry as she wants. I think she’s gotten her wakeup call from Kasen. It doesn’t seem like he’s her Prince Charming after all.”

Raine was grateful for even this little but of news, and she felt a smug satisfaction knowing that Kasen might have kicked Voncile’s ass to the curb. She wanted to know more, but she had to be careful. Turning Patrice against Voncile had to be handled carefully.

“What did she expect from him?” Raine asked, trying to sound merely curious and not critical of Voncile. “Did she think he was going to marry her? I mean, Kasen really isn’t the marrying type. He’s a liar and a cheater. I hope she knows that now.”

“When I met him, he came across as a genuine, caring man,” Patrice said.

Patrice didn’t sound perturbed, so Raine figured she must be doing a good job of hiding her hatred for Voncile. She continued to ask questions.

“Oh. So, you met him before?”

“Yes, I met his fine self before. I made an appointment and pretended to be looking for help with a sex addiction. Voncile thought it would be a good idea if we distracted him a little.”

“What do you mean?” Raine asked. “Were you supposed to distract him with sex? Did you think he was going to try to have sex with one of his patients?”

Patrice’s eyes grew wide. “Hell no! Voncile damn sure wouldn’t have gone for that. She just said he’s a really good doctor and he cares about his patients. She thought if I made up a really crazy story, he’d be so interested in helping me that it would keep his mind off of you.”

Raine wanted to cry, but she held herself together. “And did it work?” she asked.

Patrice shrugged. “I don’t think so. In the beginning she said I should be making at least two appointments a week to keep him busy, but then after the first one, she kind of dropped the plan. I think he started showing interest in her faster than she expected, so she decided she didn’t need my help for that part of the plan.”

Raine felt vomit rising into her throat at the thought of Kasen falling for Voncile so easily and so stupidly. He damn sure wasn’t the man of character that she had once thought he was.

“Well, I hope she’s figured out that he’s not so wonderful after all,” Raine said, although she was thinking that Kasen and Voncile probably deserved each other.

“I don’t know about that,” Patrice said. “I mean, things aren’t great with them right now, but Voncile said she’s got another plan that she needs my help with so they can get back on track. She needs me to distract him again.”

Raine made her first attempt at breaking down Patrice’s loyalty. “I don’t mean to start anything, but you’re a nice lady, and I would hate to see you being used. Do you ever get a feeling that she’s asking you to do all the dirty work? If either of you get caught, you’ll be the one to go down. After all, I am in
your
house. That may not turn out to be a good thing if the police ever find me.”

Patrice sat silent for a minute, maybe two, then stood up abruptly. “Are you done with your food?” she asked.

“Yes, I’m done. Thanks again for the blessing. You are a good person who deserves to be treated like one.”

Yet again, Patrice didn’t comment, but Raine could tell she was in deep thought. She hoped that they were thoughts about what a bitch Voncile was.

Patrice picked up the tray and headed toward the door. Just to show Patrice that she could trust her, Raine called out to her, “Um, I think you forgot something.” She forced a smile and held up her hands, which Patrice had forgotten to tie to the bed again.

Patrice shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. Move around and enjoy yourself for the night.” She turned around and left, locking the door behind her.

Raine let out a huge sigh of relief when Patrice was gone. She reached down and untied her ankles, stepping down off the bed. It felt so good to be free to move around the room, and she also felt like she had made a little progress with Patrice. She was confident that if she kept at it, she would be able to flip Patrice’s loyalty soon and get herself and her baby out of this hell.

She rushed over to the window and opened the blinds, but her only view was a piece of plywood that had been nailed over the window. The same was true for the other window, so even if she had wanted to risk jumping from the second floor bedroom, the blocked windows made that impossible.

Raine checked the door knob even though she’d heard Patrice locking it when she left. It was useless. The room was totally secured. Raine’s excitement was deflated a bit, but she was still relieved to be untied. She made her way to the bathroom and turned on the shower, removed her gown, and stood underneath the warm spray. Raine felt as if she had just entered the gates of heaven. She had never been this excited about taking a shower, and she didn’t come out until the water had turned cold.

After she dried herself with a fluffy towel, she searched the drawer for something clean to put on. Many of her own clothes, which Voncile had taken from Kasen’s house, were in the there. Patrice had even taken the time to fold them for her.

She reached for a sweater that Kasen had given her, holding it close to her chest. She had been trying her best not to think about him ever since she witnessed him having sex with Voncile on the live video feed. It broke her heart to know that he had moved on so soon. She wondered if he had made any effort at all to find her. Her feelings alternated between being furious at him for forgetting about her so quickly, to longing to feel his strong arms around her, rescuing her from this nightmare. At times like this, as she touched the soft sweater and remembered the day he’d given it to her, she missed Kasen. She also regretted the way she had reacted to his proposal. What if she hadn’t laughed, and instead had said yes? Maybe they would have gone out to celebrate, instead of her going home alone the way she did, and then she would never have been kidnapped.

Raine put down the sweater and found a comfy yellow nightgown to put on. As she removed it from the drawer, a diamond bracelet fell on the floor. She picked it up, holding it tightly in her hand. Tears welled in her eyes as she thought about how excited Kasen had been the day he gave it to her.

It was about a year into their relationship, and Raine had been in Kasen’s kitchen, cooking dinner for two. He said he was going to be late but wound up coming home an hour early. Raine was not ready. Dinner wasn’t ready, and she had just put the spaghetti in water. Her head was wrapped with a scarf, she wore no makeup, and the top she was wearing had two holes in it. She hated to look that way around Kasen. Not that she feared that he wouldn’t like her any less, but she preferred to be at her best when her man was around.

He had crept up from behind, slipping his arms around her waist.

“Doggone it, Kasen. You’re early. I haven’t had time to do anything, and I look like a hot mess.”

He planted a soft kiss against her neck. “Yes, look at you. You’re beautiful, sexy, God-fearing, ambitious, inspiring.... Do I need to go on?”

Raine blushed. “No. No need to go on, but I wish I’d at least had time to shower before you got here.”

He nudged his head toward the bathroom. “If it makes you feel better, then let’s go shower together. I need to clean up too.”

Kasen had removed his clothes then carried Raine to the bathroom, where he removed her clothes. The lovemaking session was so passionate that Raine found herself near tears. It was the first time she told him she loved him, and when he presented the diamond bracelet to her, it was the first time he said those words to her too.

“I have a good feeling about our relationship,” he had said that day. “And one day, I could see you being Mrs. Kasen Phillips.”

Now, standing in a yellow nightgown as a captive in Patrice’s house, her romantic memories of that day were spoiled by the painful reality that he was having sex with Voncile. This thought caused her mind to travel to the time that Kasen had cheated on her during their relationship. For a while she thought she had moved past that pain, but now it came back full force, as if it had been waiting all along to overwhelm her again.

Maybe that was just the one I found out about,
she thought.
There could have been dozens more, for all I know. Did I ever really know the real Kasen?

As a fresh wave of tears came over her, Raine climbed back in the bed to cry herself to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Patrice entered the room, dressed in a sleazy, low-cut top that had her breasts nearly popping out. The skirt she wore made it look as if it was difficult to breathe. Her hair was in a long, sleek ponytail that swung from side to side, and her makeup was caked on.

“I have an appointment-slash-date this morning,” Patrice said. “I’ll be back, and I want you to be good while I’m gone.”

Raine sensed that this “appointment-slash-date” had something to do with Kasen, because Patrice had revealed last night that Voncile needed her to distract him again. There was no other explanation for Patrice to be dressed like a hooker-clown, since she was naturally beautiful and didn’t usually wear things like this. She didn’t know the details of the plan, but from the way Patrice was dressed, she was pretty sure that it included some type of seduction. The real question was would Kasen be stupid enough to fall for it? She hoped not, because even if she was mad about him sleeping with Voncile, she didn’t want him to end up like Omar.

Suddenly Raine came up with an idea that she hoped might send some sort of message to Kasen.

“You look nice,” she said as Patrice tied her up again. “But you need some flashy jewelry with that hot outfit. I hope you don’t mind that I took a shower last night, but maybe it was a good thing, because when I was looking for something to sleep in, I found one of my pretty bracelets. It’s in the top drawer over there. Go look at it. I think it would be perfect with what you have on.”