“The Rented Husband”


2012 Copyright All Rights Reserved


Chapter 35


    As soon as Brody stepped off of the elevator, he spotted Cane and headed straight for him.  The man that he met earlier that morning was bent down, talking with a security guard. The guard seemed to be dazed and confused while holding an ice pack against the back of his head. Approaching the two of them, he noticed that it just so happened to be the same security guard, the one that Olivia and him had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting in the not so happy nun's room.

    “Have you heard from Olivia?” he hastily interrupted, trying to hide the desperation in his voice. . 

     Cane and the security both looked up at him..  “You again,” the security guard belowed, his mouth thinning  “I should’ve known that you and that wife off yours would somehow have something to do with this.”

    Body chose to ignore him and focused on Cane. “Well have you?” he asked again, this time not bothering to mask his concern.

    “No,” Cane said cautiously, “Why would I?" He asked cautiously.  "I thought she was with you."

    “Damn!”  Brody cursed, hearing the very words that he didn't want to hear.  Turning around, he ran his hand through his hair releasing a disgruntled moan.  Staring out the front doors of the lobby,he silentedly prayed that the feeling in his gut was wrong.  Feeling his shoulders slump, he turned to face Seth and dropped his hand to his side.  “I bet you anything that she is here.”

    “Who’s here?” Cane questioned while glancing back and forth between Brody and Seth.  Something was going on.  The picture that was being painted before him wasn’t looking very pretty and he had this unsettling feeling  that something was seriously wrong.

    “Patton,” Brody gritted through his teeth, still stunned that she was the one.  “Seth just secured some video footage from back home. Patton bought the disposable phone at a small store in the courthouse that Olivia and I work at.  She used that same phone to send the threatening text to her and we both agree that she is probably Olivia’s stalker.”

    “Who is Olivia’s stalker?” Ted questioned, catching the tail end of the conversation.  He eyed everyone before settling his gaze on Seth.  He was getting more anxious by the second and needed to see his daughter. 

    “Patton Woodock! She is Judge Woodock’s daughter,” Brody pointed out, frustrated that all they were doing was standing around  talking.  “She was an intern down at the office briefly and we believe that she may be the one stalking Olivia."  Pausing for a breath, he met Ted's steely gaze.   "Can we stop with the questions now and actually do something?”  His impatience was beginning to get the best of him.  He had to find Olivia and standing around in the lobby like a knot on a log  wasn’t going to get it done.

    “Where’s Olivia at anyway?” Ted asked, finally realizing that she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. 
   

    Brody growled in frustration, throwing his hands up in the air.  “That’s what I keep trying to tell everyone.  She's missing.”

    Ted stepped up to Brody, so close that when he spoke, his hot breath lashed across his nose.  “What in the hell do you mean she's missing? She’s your wife and your supposed to be watching out for her.” Ted all but yelled as he pushed his muscled body into Brody’s chest, knocking him off balance.  “Where in the hell is my daughter you nim-wit?"

    “Guys,” Seth interceded, stepping between them while using his hands to separate them, “This is getting us nowhere.  We  have to think about this logically. if we‘re going to find her..”  He turned to Ted and gestured towards the security guard.  “First off, what happened to him?”

    Ted let out an exasperated sigh.  “What the hell does it matter?  My daughter is missing, there is a crazy stalker on the loose and,”  he stopped pointing at the security guard, “You're worried about him?”  The look on his face clearly showing how dubious he felt about that.

    Seth was the epitome of cool, calm and collective.  His training and instincts were kicked into high gear.  “It could mean everything Ted, now tell me," he implored, "What happened?”

    After listening to everyone bicker, Cane stepped up to the fray.  He was starting to see what Seth was getting at.  “He said that some pretty little petite blond haired woman came onto him. Once she got him on the elevator she cold-clocked him, knocking him unconscious."

    Seth pushed his way through everyone and knelt by the security guard.  “This woman,” he said, pulling out his phone, could you identify her if I showed you a picture?”

    “Hell yeah,” he replied.  “She was the type of woman that sticks with a man.  I’ll never forget it,”  he winced, knowing just how true that statement was. Feeling the large knot on the back of his head wasn't letting him forget either.

    Seth opened his phone and scrolled through his videos, pulling up the one that he had transferred from his laptop.  Turning the phone around, he prayed that this was his lucky day.  Showing it to the security guard, he asked him hoarsely, “Is this her?”

   Pointing at the image it only took him a split second to respond. “That’s her alright.  No mistaking it, that is the vixen that knocked me out.”

    Seth turned around, his eyes meeting Brody’s. Their look confirming what they were both afraid of.  She was here and had probably already taken Olivia.

    “Son of a bitch!” Brody cursed, turning and slowly walking away.  How could this have happened?  He was only gone maybe ten minutes.  Covering his face with his hands, he tried to force himself to think.  He had to find her, but the million dollar question was how?

    “Hold on a minute.”  Seth stood, an idea already forming in his head.  He jogged over to the information desk and whipped out his phone, showing the man behind the counter the image. 

    Brody continued to watched him with bated breath.  He could see their mouths moving quickly but couldn’t hear a word that either of them was saying.  The employee started to vigorously shake his head back and forth and Seth, in a burst of fury, reached over the counter, grabbed him by the collar and angrily whispered something at his ear.

    The employee held his hands up in surrender.  Seth released him dropping him back to the ground  He pointed at the computer and the guy started to tap away.  Fifteen seconds later, he looked back up to Seth and said something.  Brody still could not hear them and wondered what in the heck was going on?

    Seth pivoted away from the desk and made his way back to where they where all anxiously waiting.  Seth didn’t bother to stop, he simply said room 912 while making a bee line for the elevator with Brody following close behind.

                                                    **********************************************

    Olivia was floating.  She felt as light as a feather.  So free…. so happy, she didn’t have a care in the world. 

    “See,” Patton said, standing over her, “I told you that you’d be smiling.”  She picked up the spoon and measured out another dose of the white powder.  Going through the same motions, she flicked the lighter and held it under the spoon, letting it do it’s magic.  “You ought to be thanking me for this,” she chattered.  “At least this way, you can have an open casket funeral.  Death won't do a thing to harm that pretty face of yours.”

    Something niggled at the back of Olivia’s mind.  It was a warning of sorts that tried to break through her happy haze but she couldn’t quite make any sense out it.  She felt boneless and blissfully pleasant.  She couldn’t remember the last time that she felt so care-free.  Everybody should have an opportunity to feel this good, she thought to herself.

    “Here we go.”  Struggling, Olivia flopped her head to the side and stared up at Patton.  She couldn’t quite remember who she was or why she was even here.

    “He... hel-lo,” Olivia managed to stutter out the words and immediately erupted into a fit of giggles at the way her voice sounded to her own ears.  She had never felt like this and for the briefest of seconds, she thought that was such a shame.  Everything seemed so simple when she felt like this. So easy, so free.  The world could have exploded around her and with the way she was feeling, she knew that she would be okay, right where she was.  She was in heaven.

    Patton shook her head.  She rather liked the bitch when she was like this, too bad that she had to cross the line though and steal her man.  Now, she had to pay the price, with her life.  Lifting the syringe, she filled it with the second dose of heroine and held it up in the air, giving it a push to remove the air bubbles. 

    Turning back to the woman stretched out on the bed, she grabbed her arm with her free hand and poised the needle to enter her vein.  “Alright Olivia, time to say nighty-night.”

    She had just barely pricked Olivia’s skin, when the hotel door opened with a bang, causing Patton to jump and drop the syringe on the floor.  She snapped her head up just in time to see four men barreling at her.  None of the other faces mattered to her, all she saw was Brody's. 

    “You came,” she whispered, a dream like smile tugging at her lips. Her knight in shining armor has finally come to take her away to live happily ever after.

    Brody didn’t hear her, all he saw was Olivia lying on the bed and Patton with a needle at her arm.  “No!” he bellowed, charging after her.  He took her down to the floor as hard as a linebacker would take out a quarterback.  He didn't give a damn if he hurt her, he just wanted her away from his Olivia.

     Lying on top of her, he pinned her to the ground.  He had never wanted to hit a woman so much in his life as he wanted to at that very moment.  He glanced down at Patton, and all she did was smile back up at him like a love-struck puppy.  “You came,” she murmured again, this time so that he could hear her.  She didn‘t bother to fight him, instead she tried to wrap her arms around his neck.  “You came for me.”

    “No,” he bitterly denied, pushing away from her as he stood.  "Stay away from me!," he warned.  He left her lying on the floor and slowly started to back away.  “I came for my wife.”

    Patton’s whimsical face dropped and contorted into one of pure fury.  Her eyes flitted from the man of her dreams to the whore lying in the bed.  “No!” She screamed, pushing herself up.  “You came for me,” she claimed as she slapped her hand hard against her chest.  “You’re mine Brody, you belong with me!!”

    Brody shook his head and turned his back on her.  The chick was certifiable.  His main concern now was Olivia, and nothing else mattered.

    Seth stepped in with two police officers, both of whom approached Patton.  When she saw the cuffs and realized what was happening, she went into a fit of uncontrolled rage.  She screamed at the top of her lungs, yelling threat after threat.  By the time they pulled her out of the room, her threats had turned into wreathing sobs and no one paid her a bit of attention. 

    It was over and the silence that landed on Brody was heavy.  He wanted nothing more than to pull Olivia into his arms and hold on to her for all he was worth.  He was left holding her hand though, while the paramedics went to work on her.  She looked so listless and pale.  He was scared and for the first time in his life, he didn’t have a clue as to how to make her better. 

    Feeling tears start to form in his eyes he did the only thing he could, he closed his eyes and prayed.  “How’s she doing?”  Ted asked.  Brody didn’t turn to speak to Ted.  He had sensed him a moment earlier when he first walked up behind him but couldn’t bear to pull his eyes away from the small woman lying on the bed.

    “I’m not sure,” he admitted sadly, fighting his own fears.  She had gone still the last few minutes and the paramedics were working as fast as they could  to get her on the gurney.  “They are going to take her to the hospital and see how much was pumped into her.” 

    Ted placed his hand on Brody’s shoulder and squeezed.  “She’s a fighter son,” he told him.  “She may have married an O’Conner, but she has Murray blood running in her veins.  She’ll make it, mark my words, our Olivia will survive.”

    Brody couldn’t speak.  He absorbed the older man’s words and hoped like hell that he was right because now that she has successfully stolen his heart, he didn’t know if he could survive without her.