Broken Bear Page 6

  “I thought it was.” He said. “There wasn’t much question in my mind about it. But since that time, Jett has healed at a rate that is in a word, superhuman.”

  Daniella wrinkled her eyebrows in skepticism.

  “That sounds a bit improbable.” She replied. “What do mean by ‘superhuman’? Do you mean he’s just a fast healer?”

  He turned back towards her. A serious expression adorned his features.

  “No, Daniella.” He said. “That is not at all what I mean.”

  “Well, what then?” She asked.

  “What I mean is his bones, tissues and organs regenerated themselves to a pristine state.” He said. “It was almost as if no injury ever occurred. That’s why I needed this second scan done. If true, it is unprecedented. This is not something human beings are capable of Daniella, it simply isn’t possible.”

  Incredulous, she asked, “What are you saying? Jett isn’t human?”

  Dr. Wilson shook his head and scoffed at the notion.

  “No, Daniella, I am not saying Jett is not a human being.” He said. “Of course he is. Still, this is the most baffling thing I’ve come across in all my years as a doctor. I am at a loss to explain it.”

  The pair stood in silence and looked on as Jett’s scan continued.

  Daniella had never been more confused in her life. What was she supposed to do with this information? She imagined the conversation with Jett about how he’s a super human freak would be interesting, to say the least.

  “Is he in any danger?” She asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, this condition of his…” she said. “Could it cause him harm?”

  “I couldn’t even begin to speculate about something like that, Daniella.” He replied. “From a healing standpoint, it’s nothing short of incredible. As to whether it would have an unrelated health impact on him, I have no idea.”

  “I’d like to examine the results of the scan he’s having at the moment and do some research.” He said. “In the meantime, make sure he continues to get as much rest as possible. Once the results are in, I will be in touch but again, for now, let’s keep this between us.”

  “I understand.” She replied. “Would you excuse me for a moment, I need to clear my thoughts.”

  “Yes, of course,” he said. “I understand.”

  ***

  Daniella pretty much stumbled into the hallway. The information Dr. Wilson gave to her was more than she expected, to say the least. Perhaps a moment alone would give her the clarity she needed. As she walked over toward a nearby waiting area, a voice called out from behind her.

  “Daniella!”

  She recognized it at once and turned to see Officer Billy Holder walked towards her.

  As he walked up he said, “Daniella, can I talk to you for a minute?”

  “Sure.” She replied. “I was just about to have a seat on the couch over there.”

  “Okay,” he replied as walked behind her.

  Moments later, they sat down next to one another.

  Billy turned to her and said, “How are you?”

  “I’m okay,” she replied.”Why do you ask?”

  “Well, I heard through the grapevine you offered the patient in there a place to stay. Is this true?”

  That damn Tricia. What a busy body.

  She exhaled and sat back into the couch.

  “Yes. I did as a matter of fact.” She replied. “He’s been with me for a few days now.”

  “I see.” He said.

  “Why?” She asked. “Is there a problem?”

  “Yes,” he said. “I happen to think so.”

  “Why?” She asked.

  “There’s a lot of reasons, Daniella.”

  “Care to name any?” She said. “I’ve got a few minutes.”

  “This is nothing to be flip about, Daniella.”

  “Who said I am?” She replied. “You told me there were a lot of reasons why it was a bad idea for him to stay with me, right? All I’m asking is for you to give examples of what those are.”

  “Fine,” he replied. “We found the guy on the side of the road driving a car with no plates and no serial number. He has no identification at all and no idea of who he is or where he’s from. I am, of course, taking his word for the last part.”

  “Wait,” she said. “Are you suggesting Jett is faking his memory loss?”

  “Jett?” he said. “Is that his name? Did he tell you that?”

  “No,” she replied. “Well, no one knows. The name is tattooed on his arm so that’s what we’ve been calling him.”

  “Hang on a sec,” Billy replied. “He has a name tattooed on his arm?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, at the crash site, when I asked you if there was anything you could tell me, you said there wasn’t.” Billy said. “Don’t you think that information would be helpful for me to have?”

  “I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I guess so.”

  “You guess so?” He asked with a bit of anger in his tone.

  “Yes,” she said. “Why are you getting so pissed?”

  “Because this is an open investigation, Daniella,” he replied. “There’s a guy in there with who knows what background and you forgot to give information which could help figure all of it out?”

  “Okay,” she said. “I’m sorry. I guess I was just in shock at the time and didn’t think of it.”

  Billy sighed and shook his head.

  “Okay,” he said. “I didn’t mean to get angry with you but perhaps you ought to think twice about keeping him in your house.”

  God if one more person, just one, told her what a bad guy Jett was or why she should avoid him at all costs, she might kill them herself.

  “I don’t want to talk about this with you, Billy.” She said. “I don’t have to anyway. Is Jett under arrest or not?”

  “No,” he replied. “He’s not.”

  “Then what is the point of this discussion other than belittling him?” She said. “If there is one, I’m not seeing it.”

  “Okay, Daniella. I’m not gonna argue with you about it.” He replied. “But, I want you to know I’m here for you.”

  “Thank you.” She said. “I appreciate that. You have nothing to be concerned over, I promise.”

  “For your sake I hope that’s true.” He replied.

  Daniella didn’t respond to the innuendo. A few seconds later, he stood and straightened his uniform.

  “Alright, well, I have to get going.” He said.

  “Okay,” she replied.

  “I’ll see you at the party, right?”

  “Yes.” She said.

  Billy turned to leave. Daniella watched him walk down the hall until he disappeared from view. Once he’d gone, it wasn’t long until Jett had finished with his exam. Within the hour, they arrived back at her house and started to get ready for the party later that evening.

  ***

  Daniella didn’t think it was possible for her thoughts to be more jumbled than they were. The party was what she needed to take her mind off all the craziness in her life, if only for a few hours. All she hoped was that Tricia would behave herself and at least be polite to Jett.

  As it turned out, things went better than Daniella could have hoped. No one seemed to have any problems with Jett at all. To the contrary, within fifteen minutes, he’d disappeared into the party on his own. It felt great to Daniella to be around her friends and have some fun, if only for a few hours.

  For his part, Jett seemed to fit right in with all of the guys. Everyone there seemed content to treat him as one of their own, which was all Daniella had hoped would happen. Even better, Tricia behaved herself for the most part. Daniella knew that she was pissed but at least she let her enjoy the going away party without any drama. Things couldn’t have gone any better. Of course, the universe has a way of evening things out so what happened next wasn’t a complete shock.

  Billy showed up drunk a couple of hours into the festi
vities with a bunch of his cop buddies. He wasn’t someone who held his liquor very well and he had a nasty reputation for fights.

  He walked in and as he passed Daniella, hugged her and wished her well. The greeting was frosty and aloof. Aside from his professional persona, Billy had a tendency to be moody and dark. And whiskey, his drink of choice, aggravated the behavior. By the smell of his breath, Daniella figured he was well on his way for the evening.

  She assumed that as the night wore on, he would drink more than he should, as he often did, and then at some point his friends would get him home. Time went by and indeed, he seemed to adhere to the plan she’d imagined, at least until around eleven o’clock or so. Daniella glanced up and noticed a group of men surrounded Jett in the far corner of the room.

  At the center of them was Billy.

  Fuck.

  She knew from her history with him no good would come of whatever might happen. By the looks of things, Jett seemed to be under control but Daniella knew from the body language of the other men, something wasn’t right. She was in the midst of a conversation with a few friends when the urge to do something about the situation overcame her.

  “Excuse me for a moment,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

  Everyone stepped aside and she walked across the room. As she approached, the conversation among the men took a dark turn. By the time she arrived, Billy’s liquor fueled tirade was underway.

  Billy got in Jett’s face as she neared.

  “Here’s the deal, Jett, or whatever the fuck your name is.” He said. “I don’t trust you.”

  The comment didn’t seem to upset Jett in the slightest.

  “I get that, man.” He replied. “If I was a friend of Daniella’s, I probably wouldn’t trust me, either.”

  “So what are you saying?” Billy asked as he stepped closer to Jett.

  “What do you mean?” he asked. “I said what I mean. If I was in your shoes and didn’t know anything about any of this, I would be suspicious as well.”

  Billy moved closer again until he was about six inches from Jett.

  “Come on man, really?” Jett said.

  “What?” Billy scoffed as he puffed up his chest and passed his beer to a nearby flunkie.

  “You want to do this?” Jett said. “Right here? Right now?”

  “I’m not doing anything,” Billy replied. “I’m just standing here. Talking…”

  “Right,” Jett said.

  “Kick his ass, Billy!” an anonymous male voice called out.

  “Just what is it you think I am doing to Daniella?” Jett asked.

  “Did I say you were doing anything to her?” Billy replied. “All I know is that I’ve been a cop long enough to spot a perp. I don’t know what you’ve done or why you’ve come here but I can promise you, I will find out.”

  “Great…” Jett said with a smile. “When you figure it out, please let me know since I have amnesia I haven’t got a FUCKING CLUE!”

  The entire party fell silent and looked in the direction of the small group of men.

  Billy looked at Jett and nodded.

  After a few seconds of silence he said, “Alright, fine. You know what? Out of respect to Daniella, I won’t beat your head into the carpet.”

  Jett scoffed but in the next instant, Billy was in his face with his index finger outstretched.

  “But, let me tell you this,” he said. “If anything, I mean anything happens to her, I will find you. And, I can promise you when I do, you will beg for mercy.”

  Jett nodded.

  “Looking forward to it,” He said.

  Jett elbowed his way out of the group of men that surrounded him.

  As he walked by Daniella he said, “I guess I am wearing out my welcome here, aren’t I?”

  “Jett,” she said. “Wait…”

  Before she turned to follow Jett, she looked at Billy and shook her head.

  Asshole.

  The good news was everyone there was well aware of Billy’s tendencies. Within an hour, the whole event had faded away and for Daniella’s sake, the rest of the evening proved to be as enjoyable as she’d hoped. There wasn’t any drama with Tricia or anything else of the sort. On the heels of the relative success of the party, Jett and Daniella arrived back at her house a little after midnight.

  “Thanks Daniella,” Jett said as they entered her house. “I had a great time tonight.”

  She set her purse down on the kitchen counter and said, “What? How can you say that after what happened with Billy?”

  “Ah,” he scoffed as he waved his right hand. “That was no big deal.”

  She smiled and said, “Well, I’m glad one of us felt that way.”

  She picked up her purse to head to her bedroom. As she turned, he stood right in front of her. He was so close; she almost walked right into him.

  He nodded at her, smiled and said, “Aww, were you worried about me?”

  Daniella could smell him. The space between them felt tense, unfamiliar and a bit dangerous.

  “No, I…” she stammered.

  “You?” he said as he moved closer to her. His dark green pools flickered with risk. Daniella’s breath shortened. Her purse seemed as if it weighed a ton. God, he was hot. All she wanted to do was jump him. Every corpuscle in her body urged Daniella on and begged her to take action. While she fretted, doubted and restrained herself, he reached up with his right hand and touched her face.

  She was desperate to moisten her lips but she knew it would betray her need for him. Instead, her breath locked in her throat as she watched him and waited to see what he would do next. He smiled and moved in to her left cheek. He moved quickly and before she realized it, his lips were a whisper away from her flesh. Any instant, he might kiss her.

  He moved another inch higher and whispered, “Thank you for your concern.”

  Daniella’s lips quivered as he lingered in her ear but just as soon as he moved in, he withdrew from her.

  He smiled and said, “Well, we should get to bed don’t you think?”

  The next thirty minutes of inner dialog Daniella engaged in was unprecedented in her short life. It took every ounce of restraint she had not to throw him down on the kitchen floor. Nothing about any of their conversations or time together could have prepared for what almost happened.

  Still, she would not masturbate over it and give him an edge he didn’t deserve. Somehow, she managed to get to sleep in a short period in spite of what had occurred. It was rough but she did it.

  ***

  “Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh, aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!” a voice screamed from outside of the house.

  Daniella shot up from a dead sleep, her heart pounded.

  Holy shit, not again…

  “Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!” the voice screamed once more.

  Panicked, Daniella threw on clothes and ran out into the hallway. Jett’s door was open so she approached it with caution. As she reached it, she looked inside and noticed he wasn’t there. She grabbed a flashlight, a pair of nearby shoes and hurried out the back door of the house. Moments later, she headed up the trail behind her house that led into the woods.

  “Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!” the voice cried out again.

  Her hands shook in an almost uncontrollable way. She wanted to utter his name but was too terrified to do so. His screams stopped. The only sounds she heard now were the crunches of twigs and leaves beneath her feet as she walked.

  She followed the trail for another twenty yards when at last she saw something.

  His clothes, tattered and shredded, littered the path beneath her feet. She reached down and grabbed a fragment of his shirt. As she looked at it, she noticed it was cool and wet to the touch. Terror gripped at Daniella as the cloth fell from her hand and hit the ground. She raised her hand up under the light of the moon and saw blood coated her fingertips.

  “Jett!” she screamed in horror.

  She started to run up the trail and called out his name as she did. For another fifty or sixt
y yards, she followed the traces of clothing he left behind until they too disappeared, just as he had.

  She stopped, looked to her left and then her right when something caught her eye. In a clearing, she noticed a large shape on the ground. Panicked, she tore through the underbrush and within seconds came up on him.

  Jett lay unconscious in his underwear. As she rushed to his side, she could see he was blood stained from head to toe but did not appear to be injured.

  What the fuck?

  She knelt down beside him.

  “Jett!” she cried as she shook him. “Jett, wake up, please!”

  For several seconds he remained unresponsive until at last he awoke. But, Daniella had startled him and as he came to, he swung his right arm and struck her in the face, just below the right eye.

  The impact was terrific, as if a club had hit her. She shrieked and hit the ground.

  “Daniella!” Jett cried out as he scrambled to his feet.

  The impact jarred her. Daniella hadn’t realized how strong he was. She was dazed but, otherwise all right. She looked up at him through eyes made glassy from the strike.

  “Daniella, oh my God!” he said as he knelt down and caressed her cheek. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m think so,” she said. “What happened to you, Jett? What are you doing out here?”

  Jett looked at her. His eyes seemed distant.

  “I don’t know, Daniella.” He said. “I have no idea how I got here.”

  “Jesus,” Daniella said. “Are you sure? I mean, where did all of this blood come from, Jett?”

  “I told you I don’t have any idea, Daniella!” He shouted. “What else do you want me to fucking say to you?!”

  Daniella recoiled from him in a mix of fear and pain.

  This is insane. What is he doing out here? Who passes out in the middle of the woods covered in blood?

  Jett saw the anguish in Daniella’s face.

  “Daniella, I’m sorry,” he said as he helped her to stand. “I didn’t mean to frighten you but I swear I am telling you the truth. You believe me don’t you?”

  “Ahhh!” she exclaimed. She winced in agony and caressed her cheek. “Yes, I believe you. Are you hurt anywhere?”

  He looked down at his body and smeared the blood along his skin in search of a wound.