Felicity closed her eyes, tears spilling down her cheeks as Jasper pulled the door closed. Her cries were muffled by the fabric jammed in her mouth. Jasper had finally snapped, now she would pay the price for letting the monster in her life.
♦ ♦ ♦
Liam stood on the front porch of Felicity’s childhood home. He had so many fond memories of her on the porch. It’s where they shared their first kiss, where they took pictures for senior prom, and where she broke his heart. Shaking himself from the reverie, he knocked again on the old wooden door. He could hear footsteps behind the door.
Slowly the door opened, revealing a male around his age, “Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Felicity Jones.”
“Why you lookin’ for her?”
“Her job was concerned and asked me to do a welfare check, are you the boyfriend who called in sick for her?” Liam eyed the man suspiciously.
“Yeah – the boyfriend. Like I told them, she has the stomach bug. She’s upstairs sleeping right now.”
“What’s your name?”
“Look, I don’t see how that’s your business, but my name is Jasper Hollings. Felicity and I have been together for two years.”
“Right… I really need to speak with her, though. To verify she is ok. Mind if I come in?”
“Yeah I mind. She’s asleep. When she wakes up, I’ll have her call into work and talk to someone.”
“Actually,” Liam reached into the front pocket of his shirt, “Have her call me. It would make me feel better to hear her say she’s ok.”
“Fine.” Jasper snatched the card from his hand and slammed the door shut.
Liam got a sick feeling in his gut – he’d seen this time and time again as a police officer. Something was wrong, but without any probable cause otherwise, he’d have to take Jasper’s word.
He sat in his patrol car, trying to search for Jasper in the system, but without his birthday it was a shot in the dark. He called into dispatch, giving them what little he had, and then headed back to the doctor’s office. He needed to chat with Lila some more. Maybe she or Dr. Borne could enlighten him on Jasper.
Chapter 8
Felicity struggled against the cuffs to no avail. She flopped against the mattress just as Jasper came back into the room.
“You’ll never guess who that was… seems your co-workers called the cops.” Jasper pulled a card from his pocket, “seems a Sergeant Carver,” Jasper tossed the business card at her, “came by to check on you at their request.”
Felicity tried to hide the surprise from her eyes. Liam had come here. He had been just outside her house. Squeezing her lids tightly shut, she tried to picture him in her mind.
“So, here’s what’s going to happen, Felicity. You’re going to call work. You’re going to tell them you’re sick and will be out tomorrow. Tell them to call the police department and let this tool know you’re fine. And if you give them any indication, you’re anything other than sick…” he sat on the bed, pressing his hand against her neck, “well, you don’t want to find out. Do you understand me?”
Felicity’s eyes widened. Nodding, a lone tear dripped down her cheek. “Now, I’m going to pull this from your mouth so we can make that call. Ok?”
Jasper pulled the thin fabric from her mouth, causing Felicity to gag and cough. He unlocked her arm from the cuff but held fast to her arm as he pulled her phone from his back pocket.
“Here, call your boss.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Liam pulled his patrol car into the parking lot and got out. He couldn’t shake the feeling he’d left her there in danger. Lila was sitting behind the desk when he walked inside.
“Lila,” he smiled, “you got a minute?”
“Liam, please tell me she is ok.”
“I don’t know. Jasper answered the door, said she was asleep. But,” Liam rubbed his neck, “I didn’t get a good vibe.”
Lila led Liam to the back again, this time she stopped in front of Dr. Borne’s office, “Let’s talk with Doc. I’m worried about her.”
She knocked on the door as she pushed it open, “Dr. Borne, you got a second?”
“Sure thing,” he turned, “Liam Carver – what brings you in to my office this fine day?”
“Doctor,” Liam extended his hand, grasping his and shaking it firmly, “I’m actually here about an employee, Felicity Jones.”
“Oh, yes, Felicity. Well, she’s not in today – did she do something wrong?”
“No, in fact, I stopped by this morning to talk to her and learned she was out sick. Lila was concerned so I offered to go by her house and check. Her boyfriend Jasper wouldn’t let me in to talk with her. Said she was asleep.”
“Sounds about like him. He’s a total control freak.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just that. He doesn’t like her to socialize outside of the house. When she started working here, he initially freaked out over her having a male boss – then he met my husband. Do you think she’s in danger?”
“I ran into her at the coffee shop twice. Both times I thought I noticed some bruises on her face, but she ran out both times when I asked about them.”
“Yeah – I noticed them as well. She told me she slipped in the bathtub, but I didn’t believe her. I prayed she was telling me the truth.”
“I asked about them too. She told me the same thing.” Lila shook her head.
“Dr. Borne?” the receptionist came across his desk phone.
“Yes?” he held a finger up to us.
“Felicity is on line two. She’s asked to speak with you.”
“Thanks, Donna.” He looked at Liam, “Well, this is interesting. I’ll put her on speaker.” He pressed a button, “Felicity, how are you feeling?”
“Dr. Borne,” her voice was scratchy, hallow sounding, “I wanted to call and tell you I won’t be in tomorrow – I’m afraid I am still feeling pretty bad. I must have picked up a virus somewhere. I’m really sorry about causing an inconvenience to you guys.”
“No… No, don’t you worry about that, Felicity. But do you need anything? Can I drop by some soup or medicine for you?” We could hear rustling in the background. It sounded as though she whimpered.
“No, thank you. Jasper is taking good care of me.” Liam could hear her uneven breaths, “Can you please let Sergeant Carver know I’m fine? He came by today. I was asleep.”
“Sure… Sure… you think you’ll be back in a day or two?” Dr. Borne asked.
“Um,” it was obvious she was fighting back tears in the way her voice cracked, “I hope so. Maybe this is just a short virus. Look,” she coughed, “I need to go. Sorry guys.”
The call disconnected, everyone looked at each other with the same dumbfounded expression. “Dr. Borne, do you know if she listed any personal information about Jasper? Like a date of birth? I’d really like to run him in the system. I don’t have a good feeling. And Felicity sounded like she was ready to cry.”