A Changed Man (Altered Book 1) (12 page)

"We're about to hit the exits for Denver, any certain one you want to get off at?" Jackie said finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah. Not this one coming up, but the next. There's not a lot of phone booths left but I know of a liquor store that has one."

"Liquor store? You don't look like the liquor store type." She laughed. "More of a beer from the grocery store kind of guy."

"You're right. I'm not that type." He admitted, looking at her like she surprised him. "But in my line of work, you're trained to know where certain things are. You may not always have a cell phone. This one; take this exit and make a left." Jackie did as he told her. They drove for about another mile when Remington pointed to the liquor store up the street on the right.

"Pull in here." He said.

Jackie parked her car and shut off the engine.

"Well, thanks for the ride, and everything else you've done for me. I really don't know how I can ever repay you."

"Don't worry about it. I just hope everything works out for you." Jackie said, not wanting to look him in the eye; afraid he would notice the disappointment on her face that she had to say goodbye.

"Okay, I guess this is it." Remington got out of the car and opened the backdoor to grab his backpack. He started walking toward the phone booth when he stopped abruptly and turned around. He walked over to the driver side window and Jackie rolled it down. "Um, I don't have any change."

Jackie laughed out loud and reached into her purse taking out her wallet. She pulled out a wad of money and handed it to him. "Here, you'll probably need this."

"Oh, no, no, no. I don't want all that. I just need a buck in quarters if you have it, if not, just a buck and I'll get change inside." He said in a firm tone.

"Well how about this?" She said. "How about I wait here while you make your call and if everything works out and your buddy can come pick you up, I won't give you anything. But if he can't, you'll take some money from me and not be a big macho baby about it." She smiled up at him.

Remington couldn't help but smile back at her. She was teasing him and he liked it. He couldn't remember the last time he had such verbal fun with a woman. "Fine." he said with a smile and took the quarters Jackie was holding out for him and walked back to the phone booth.

Remington dropped two quarters in to the slot and dialed Rick’s number.

"Hello?"

"Rick, it's me."  There was a crackling of static over the line then silence for a few seconds.

"Rem? That you? Hey man! Good to hear from you, how you been?"

"I've been better, how about you?" Remington asked trying to feel him out. Remington knew that if his friend had any idea of what was going on now would be the time Rick would start warning him.

There was another crack of static. "Oh you know, still rooting for the Broncos."

That was Rick’s first warning. Rick hated the Broncos, despised them really. This was his way of telling Remington that they were not alone on the line.

"Yeah? They looking good this year?" Remington asked. He was trying to figure out if Rick was under surveillance.

"Still too early in the season to tell." He answered. Which Remington knew to mean, he wasn't sure.

"Manning still playing it safe?" Remington asked.

"No, no, he's all over the place." Rick answered. Remington was starting to put it together. Rick was telling him he was being monitored and that it wasn't safe for him to stay in Denver. "I just got back from a fishing trip up at my uncles cabin. Remember that place?" He asked Remington.

"Yeah; I always loved that place, had some good times up there. Get any bites?" Remington and Rick were doing what they did best; communicating with each other about things that had nothing to do with what they were actually saying. Remington knew that the cabin Rick was talking about had burnt down over five years ago.

Another hiss of static came across the line.

"I caught some small stuff, but the real prize was two large Brook Trout." Rick said with faked excitement. "You should have seen it!"

"I bet; sounds like a good time. Well I better get going, just wanted to check in and see how you were doing." Remington said. Knowing the call was being traced. He needed to hang up without letting whoever was tapping Ricks phone know that he was on to them.

"Well thanks for calling man. We should get together soon, where are you? You back in Denver?" Rick asked, knowing damn well Remington was smarter than that, but had to ask in hopes of throwing off whoever was listening.

"Not yet, but I'll be back soon. Call you in a few days okay? Be good brother."

"You too, and Rem? Take care of yourself." Rick said and hung up.

Remington was confused as where to go from here, if they have Ricks phone tapped, then no one Remington knew was safe. He couldn't believe all this was happening to him, and for what? So some fucking Dr. Frankenstein wanna-be could experiment on him? He was growing more furious the more he thought about it. Remington slammed the phone receiver back down on its cradle. He could feel his blood heating up. He had a hold of both sides of the metal table that housed the phonebook from underneath. With his head down, he started breathing heavy. He knew what was coming and quickly let go of the table, driving his fists into his front pockets. It was too late. The top of the phone booth began to cave in; the sounds of twisting metal and cracking glass filled his ears. Remington quickly jumped out of the booth before glass exploded from every panel. Then everything went still.
Well that's new
. Remington thought to himself, stumbling backwards, almost falling off the curb.

Jackie couldn't believe what she was seeing. She was watching Remington talk on the phone from her car and when he hung up, the roof of the phone booth started shaking, and then crumbled in on itself, making a horrible noise like nails on a chalkboard before glass blew out from every side of the booth. Remington jumped out onto the sidewalk and was just standing there, staring at it. Blood started to drip from his nose. Jackie jumped out of the car and ran over to him.

"Jesus! Are you alright? C'mon, lets get back in the car before someone sees you." Jackie led Remington over to the passenger side and opened the door so he could get in. She made her way around to her side, got in, and started the car. She quickly pulled out of the parking lot just as a few patrons came out of the store to see what all the commotion was about. She hit the gas and sped off down the street, back toward the highway.

Remington didn't say anything. It was like he was in some sort of haze. He hadn't even tried to wipe at the blood slowly trickling from his nose. Jackie reached over him and grabbed a handful of napkins from her glove compartment and held them out to Remington. He didn't move. He just sat there staring blankly out the windshield.

"Hey!" Jackie said loudly. "Remington! Snap out of it! You're freaking me the hell out!"

Remington turned to look at her. She was still holding the napkins out to him. He took then from her and held them to his nose.

"Thank god! I thought you might have fried your brain there for a second. Are you ok?" She asked concerned.

Remington pulled the wad of napkins away from his nose. “I did that." He said stunned.

"Yeah; I know! I saw everything!" 

"You don't understand." He said, turning in his seat to face her. "I wasn't touching anything."

"What do you mean you weren’t touching anything?"

"What I mean is, I had my hands in my pockets when that happened. I wasn't touching anything." He said sounding scared. "Jesus what the fuck did they do to me?" Remington put his hands on his head and started rubbing at his temples.

Jackie drove down the road for about a mile before turning down a dead end road. She then switched off the engine and turned to face Remington.

"Tell me what happened." She said in the most understanding voice she could.

Remington looked up at her; his eyes were sad. He looked completely defeated. "I was talking to Rick. They had his phone tapped; I could hear the clicking of the static. Even if I couldn't hear it, I knew from the way Rick was talking to me that something was going on. He said it's not safe for me to stay in Denver. Not in those words exactly, but I knew what he meant. He wants me to meet him in two weeks at a place we used to hang out and go fishing. I guess he's hoping to have more information for me by then.

"I'm so sorry. I was really hoping he could help you." Jackie said softly.

"It's okay." Remington said wiping the blood from his nose. He grabbed the backpack from between his legs on the floor and opened his door to get out. "I know I sound like a broken record, but thanks again." He gave her a small smile. "Shit, I got blood in your car, I'm sorry." He said.

"For bleeding? You're sorry for bleeding?" She said looking up at him with her eyebrows drawn together like it was the most stupid thing she had ever heard anyone say.

"Yeah. I’m sorry for bleeding, for scaring you, for your doorknob, the phone booth, and now your car. For everything." He sounded wiped out.

"It's okay. At least you didn't have my shirt on." Jackie looked at him and winked. Remington couldn't help but laugh. Damn, this woman just kept surprising him.

"So your friend is a no go." She said feeling bad for him. She couldn't imagine not having her best friend when she needed her most. Not being able to talk to Sarah would be about the worst thing in the world. The girl knew everything about her. Remington looked like he had just had his heart torn from his chest.

"You can trust me."
Where the fuck did that come from?
She thought. He just looked so wounded; she had to give him something.

Remington looked at her like she had just thrown him a life vest in a raging sea. He'd only known this woman a day but she had done more for him in less than twenty four hours than some people he had known his entire life. "What are you saying?" He asked her, with hopeful eyes.

"I'm saying you can trust me. You can stay with me until you figure things out."

"I don't think that’s a good idea. There are people looking for me. Dangerous people. I wouldn't feel right about putting you in a bad situation. You have done so much for me already."

Jackie looked up at him with a scowl on her face. "I can take care of myself thank you very much!" She said, sounding offended.

"Whoa! Don't get mad. I have no doubt you can, but you shouldn't have to because of me."

"That's for me to decide! Besides, like you said, they will be looking for you around the Denver area."

Jesus, was she really getting mad about this? He was just trying to keep her safe. This woman was unlike any other he had ever met. She showed him kindness, compassion, empathy, and strength all in such a short time. She was involved now, whether he liked it or not. If they ever got a hold of her, god knows what they would do to her. If he took her up on her offer he could at least try and protect her. No one has any idea where he is and that could buy him some time. He wished he'd never called Rick, now those bastards would know he didn't die from the fall off the cliff.

"Okay." He said closing the car door. "I'll stay."

                       Chapter 9

Slade Thompson was sitting at his desk when he got the call.

"Mr. Smith? This is Clay. We got something on the phone tap we put on Rick Davis's line about ten minutes ago."

"Was it Remington?" Slade asked getting excited.

"Yes sir, you were right, he contacted Davis."

"What did they talk about? Did he say where he was?"

"He said he wasn't in Denver but would be in a few days. They mainly talked about football and fishing."

Slade was quiet for a few seconds. "That’s it?"

"Yes sir. They also mentioned a cabin that belongs to Mr. Davis's uncle. I have my men researching it now, once we find an address I'll send out a team."

"Very well. Did you get a trace off the phone Remington called from?" Slade asked.

"We're working on that too sir. It will be a few hours."

"Send someone over to his apartment in case he shows up there, and contact me as soon as you know anything more. Also, have the tape of the conversation sent over to me right away." Slade hung up the phone. He sat at his desk chewing on the end of his pen. Remington Cross was alive. Slade had no idea how he managed to survive that kind of fall, he thought for sure he was going to get a call from one of his teams saying they had found the body washed up on the side of the river. Not only was he alive, he was reaching out. Slade knew he would have to send someone to monitor Remington's family. An alcoholic father and elderly aunt were the only family he had left. This was bad, very bad. If he couldn't retrieve Remington Cross all hell was going to break loose.

"Your nose stopped bleeding." Jackie said looking at Remington. They were making the three-hour drive back to Jackie's house in Black Creek. "It didn't bleed as bad as it did before."