My phone rang past midnight, waking me up. Miss Catherine was in need of my services, the services only the few I trusted know about.
They call me Boxer because I’m an ex-boxer, among other things. I was here playing a part in this small town, and Miss Catherine had received a visitor who needed both our help.
I arrived at Miss Catherine’s to find a stunning female, who had a story of a lifetime, long asleep, knocked out by a strong sedative—the weapon of Miss Catherine’s choice in case of any danger she needed to contain.
I gave her this sedative. It’s something nobody will see coming. Given on an offer of food or drink, they’re all welcoming things, that with a little sleight of hand, can incapacitate the danger until help arrives. This time, she used it solely for comfort, to ease the girl into a deep sleep.
She lay naked under the blanket, and I got the short rundown of events that led this girl to Miss Catherine’s doorstep, while we both checked her over without uncovering her to my eyes. I didn’t want to see what that bastard had no doubt touched without permission.
Her wrists were a shredded mess and her hands needed stitches, the cuts too deep to leave to heal on their own. She would have been in pain, but Miss Catherine said she was stoic, strong of body and mind...until it would come time for it to crack open.
It always eventually does.
Now, as I really look down at her for the first time since I arrived, I see she’s beautiful. Her long, thick brown hair has dried from the heat of the fire. Miss Catherine had undone her braid while she slept. It is now in need of a good brushing. Her young face is haunted, even in her sleep. I doubt she has gotten a good night’s rest in a long time. The best thing for her is a chemical induced sleep.
The stories she has told Miss Catherine painted a pretty damning picture. I agree to look into it for Miss Catherine. I just need to go over to the house and validate the girl’s stories. I’ll question her when she wakes in the morning, then make a visit to William’s home.
I will need to be careful; it sounds like I’ll be the only other male she has laid eyes on in person. That will be a frightening thing to a female who has only known one other male in her whole life, a son of a bitch who had abused her in more ways than one.
I’d seen William around town, but he seemed to be acting like a model citizen and he kept mostly to himself, but inside him was a dangerous monster, a master of deceit.
I trust in Miss Catherine’s bones and what they are telling her, and they are telling her getting the police involved this early wouldn’t bode well for the girl, nor would the public attention. Miss Catherine believes the media circus it will turn into would only damage her more.
I need a lot more information before I go turning to the local police, for my own peace of mind. The way it reads at the moment, she has been badly abused. This town is small, and none of us knew she had been living close by. William wanted her kept a secret for reasons this girl can’t fathom. I’ve seen evil, and if William had abducted her, then there is more to her story than even she understands. I want to see the evidence of her stories for myself, then take it from there.
I send Miss Catherine off to bed after she gives me a warm blanket and makes me promise to wake her when the girl comes to. For now, I’m here to protect them. I throw another log on the fire and make myself comfortable in her chair to see the rest of the night out.
***
SMASH!
My training has me jumping up out of the chair where I’ve nodded off, the blanket falling in a heap at my feet. I’m instantly alert, ready to protect the females in the house. I focus on where the girl had been asleep and realize she’s now awake and must have knocked an antique vase off the sideboard, trying to snatch her clothes from the fireplace, where they had been hung on a rack. She obviously wants to get away from me.
The vase has shattered into pieces on the wooden floorboards. She gasps and freezes, more afraid now of having broken something that isn’t hers. She has forgotten about me for a second, while her eyes are fixed on the damage. She’s deciding what she should do.
“It’s ok, love.” I keep my voice light and hold my palms up as I sit back down in the chair to show her I’m not going to come after her. “My name’s Boxer.” She doesn’t know whether to clean up the mess, hide the evidence, or move away from me.
She has her clothes in her hand held to her chest, trying to hide the fact that she’s naked under the blanket, which is slipping off her shoulders, exposing her long legs beneath.
She’s stunning, even in her messed up state of mind.
I can see she’s losing her grip on the blanket as she tries to keep a hold of her clothing, which is adding an extra protective layer between her and me. Her hands must be stinging, since the pain will be kicking in now that she’s awake. She loses her battle with the blanket and drops the clothes to the floor to save it from falling, and snatches it tighter around her small frame. I make sure to lower my eyes to the floor while she adjusts herself. I know she’s watching me the entire time.
“Whisper, your body is safe around me. I will not touch you in a manner that will cause you distress, and you are free because nobody here will cage you or take away your rights.” Her face reddens at my bluntness. “If you will allow me, and if you won’t run, I’ll slowly get up and go wake Miss Catherine. She made me promise to alert her when you woke up. I’m a trusted friend of hers, and that means I’m a good guy. She does not suffer fools.”
She looks like a wild child, flighty and anxious. I carry on trying to give her a little peace of mind that I’m here with good intentions. “She called me last night while you slept and we fixed your hands up. Your body was safe from my eyes. I stayed the entire time to protect you both, in case there was a threat we did not know about.”
She looks down at her hands and wrists, which are trying to keep a grip on the blanket folds and notices the clean bandaging, and then looks back at me. “I cleaned your wounds and stitched your hands up while you slept.” I point to the other room. “There are pain killers to help with the discomfort in the kitchen cupboard. Miss Catherine can give them to you when she comes down, if you’d like?” I’ve painted on the most nonthreatening, peaceful, friendly face I can muster, which is a little hard, considering I have a slightly crooked nose and I have a boxer’s build.
“No drugs,” she whispers to me. Her pupils are big black orbs filled with fear and confusion. I’m the only other male she has ever laid eyes on, and she simply doesn’t know what my angle is. Her mind will be sending her mixed signals. She sounds like she needs me to command her and will do as I say, but I can’t resort to doing that to her if I’m going to get her to trust me.
So I try my way. I reason with her and let her mind decide if I’m indeed a good guy. “They are just an over-the-counter tablet that everybody uses for pain relief, nothing more. They won’t put you to sleep. ”
“Do you have a computer?” she asks timidly.
“Well, yes, love, but not here. I have my phone? You can Google the name of the tablets. Is that what you want to do?”
She nods.
“Your name is Whisper, isn’t it?”
She nods again.
“Whisper, you won’t be able to hit the buttons with your hands bandaged. I tell you what—if you let me go get Miss Catherine, she will do it for you, and you can read all about Ibuprofen. Your hands must be causing you a lot of pain.”
She gives me a little nod before she can stop herself. She doesn’t want to show me she is hurting. I would bet a thousand bucks she’d never admitted to being in pain in front of William. I know from this small betrayal of her body that she already trusts me more than William, even if her mind doesn’t quite want to accept it just yet.
“Miss Catherine drugged me last night. I can tell. That’s the last time anybody does that to me.” Her voice is determined and stronger.
Ah, hell. She’s a smart girl.
“She wanted you to sleep, and nothing was done to you other than taking care of your wounds. You wouldn’t want to feel stitches being put in, love.”
“I’m used to pain. I will not be drugged again.” She ruins her confidence by looking down when she says those words to me.
Fuck, and I need to be able to question her this morning. There goes the truth serum.
“Nobody will do it to you ever again; you have my word. But we need to have a talk once you’ve had breakfast, and I need some straight answers to my questions. What you told Miss Catherine about the dead body, I want to be able to handle that for you, but I need to know details. Is that a deal?”
I wait for her while she works it all out in her head. Is he a safe bet? That’s what she’s asking herself. Can she trust me?
Then she surprises me with her response. “You sound different than Miss Catherine and Master William. Where are you from?”
Master? What a fucking joke.
“I’m British. You have my word I won’t hurt you in any way, nor will Miss Catherine. She’s a good sort. She did the right thing contacting me. Once we talk a little more, you will understand I’m trying to help you. I need to find out more about William, you, that house, and a few other important details. Miss Catherine believes you need to be protected, and I trust what Miss Catherine thinks.”
She’s staring at me all confused because she has forgotten about what her future holds.
I watch her as it all comes flooding back to her.