Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (24 page)

Dannilynn
began to tear up and shake her head.
“But I don’t really remember what happened—
last summer
, I mean
.”

“Ma
ybe not at the conscious level,”
Angela continued. “Rape is not something you asked for.
It had nothing to do with what you were wearing or where you were, or anything that you did or did
n’t
do or said or didn’t say.
I’ve already told you I think you were
given
Rohypnol
last summer
and that’s why
you can’t recall
much of what happened
there
.
” Angela made a quick note in
her
pat
ient’s
chart.
“Even if you don’t know what happened,
your brain does. And,
you have to
deal
with this
in order to be able to move on
. M
aybe
then
you’ll
be able to get past it and
not have
nightmares
. We’re going to talk about this every
week and at every visit
—until you aren’t reacting to it like you did.
”

She nodded.

“
The
butter
f
ly
bandage near your eye will hold
your
tissue
s
together.
That cut isn’t so
dee
p
that
you need a stitch
, though it’
s going to be sore
.
You may want to cover the bruise
on your face
with some make
up. The bruises on your ribs will probably hurt longer than your face, and where he hit you in
your middle
, too.
But the water the baby is floating in protected him.
The fetal
heartbeat
is good and strong.” She
pat
ted
Dannilynn
’s
arm. “I’m glad you came to see me. Do you want me to call Ben to drive you back to school?”

Danni
nodded.

Angela
looked
at the calendar. “
Okay
.
I’m going to call you in a week—so we can talk about how you’re feeling. Then
I’ll see you in two weeks,
at your regular visit time. Until then, call me if yo
u experience any frank bleeding,
the bright red kind. Don’t wait.
N
o
matt
er what time
of the day or night
.”

Ben helped
Danni
into
the car and
drove to
the
vet
clinic.

“Where are we going
?
I need to get back to school—
for a late class this afternoon.
”

“
This won’t take long
.
” Minutes later, he
emerged
with Happy on a
leash,
a bag of kibble
, the dog bed,
and
several well-chewed
toys under his arm. The big dog jumped into the back seat
area of t
he Thing
and greeted
Danni
with a wet slurp along the side of her face.

“Down, Happy.
”
Turning to Ben
,
she asked,
“
Why’s he coming with us
?”

“I can’
t be your body
guard
when I’m here and you’re there
.
He will b
e.”

“
Really
?”
She reached back and scratched Happy behind one ear. He moaned gratefully.

“
After
you left for school, I was showing
his owner what
Happy had learned
. He
said he wanted him to be a
guard
dog and could I teach him to protect the shop if someone
broke
in or got nasty with one of his
workers
. So, we worked it out and we taught him a couple of words that would work as a signal to
tell Happy what to do
.”

“But Happy is so—happy! Were you able to make him act mean?” She
stroked the top of
Happy’s head
and he panted in
to
her
face
for more attention.

“He did great! Then,
one night
when we were practicing,
the police chief
stopped by
. He told me t
hey’
re starting a K-9 unit and
he
thinks Happy would be a great dog for that service.
So far, I’ve added
some
more things
that
he knows
and his owner has agreed to donate him to the department if he graduates from the training they put him through
.”

“What’
s that?”
S
he rub
bed
Happy between his shoulder blades. He leaned his big head against hers and tried to lick her ear.

“I’ve trained
him to attack on command,
and to release a
bad guy
when ordered
and only take food from his personal dish
,
so he won’t be distracted by food or treats he might f
ind when he’s on the job.  The c
hief told me they would
handle
the drug training and whatever else they want him to do after he is
assigned.
For
now, he
can
be your guard dog
. Y
ou can practice with him. Joel’s been keeping me really busy lately and I haven’t had much time to work with him
.
”

“But,
I don’t think pets are
allowed in the building.
”

“
Joel pulled some strings
.
The c
hief called
your landlord and
told him
you are
training
Happy
—since he knew you trained one of his officer’s dogs last summer—
and it was important that
Happy
learn silent signals
.
Oh, and that he never barks, so he won’t bother the other tenants.
”
Ben
laughed.  “
The old guy
even asked if
you were an
undercover
officer
.”

“
You
look
proud of yourself.
”

“
It was my pleasure
.” H
e doff
ed
a
n invisible
hat in her direction. “
So if you want him to attack
,
you say ‘watch’, and if you want him to
stay on the person
, you say ‘
hold.’ If you want him to leave the
bad guy
alone, you just ask him to come to you.
I’ll bring you
the
attack dummy
in a couple of days
so
you
can
practice with him
.
”

Ben
reached
her apartment
in time for
Danni
to take
her
completed
history paper to class
, accompanied by Ben and
the big dog
.
When she returned home
, the landlord smiled at her, and
hesitantly
pat
ted Happy, who
sat and
offer
ed him
a paw.
Ben helped D
anni
p
lace
the dog’s
bed near the foot of hers
.

“He snores sometimes. I hope he doesn’t wake you up.”

Danni smiled. “I won’t mind. Knowing he’s there will make me feel safe.” Her eyes filled briefly. “Thanks, Ben—for coming to get me so quickly, and everything.”

He
reached for her hand and squeezed it. “That’s what friends are for. Helping out when you need it.”

“How are you doing
now
,
Dannilynn
,”
D
octor
Wright
asked during
the third of
her
weekly
calls.

“More relaxed every day.
”
Danni
then
talked at length about her past relationship with Steve
. After each such session
with Doctor Wright
,
she’d begun to
fe
el
better about herself and what had happened
.

“Are you keeping
Happy
with you?”

“A
lways. Even when I go to class. I just have to make sure he doesn’t start to snore. Sometimes that can be loud,”
she chuckled.
“We sit in the back
.
None of my profs
seem to m
ind.
”

“Have you seen
St
eve
?”

Her pulse quickened at mention of his name.
“No, it’s li
ke he’s disappeared
.
He’s a
creep
and a bully. I hope never to see him again
.”
She smiled to
herself, hoping
that was the case.
Maybe the police officers had found him and warned him to stay away from her. At least she had Happy
,
and
his presence, especially at night,
was a
comfort to her.

One evening, too restless to continue reading her
ge
ology text, she
took
Happy out for a late night
walk
. The rain earlier that evening left a sheen on the streets, and occasional drips fell from the
tree
s
as
they climbed the hill to the arboretum bordering the campus.
She
walked up the street
, passing a man as she crossed the street
. She
continued walking
,
listening to
the hooting of an owl
perched somewhere in a nearby tree
.
She stopped and looked around, feeling
as if she was being watched
.
I’m just being silly
. Maybe it’s the owl
.

“
But no one’s on the street but us, right
, Happy?
Heel.” The dog moved
closer
to her side
. A squirrel scampered
across the street and into the woods
, and the dog quivered in excitement, but did not
leave her
.

“Good dog.” S
he
touched
his back.

T
he
darkness
remind
ed
her
of that night at
the lake
and she began to shiver
.
Remembering
the doctor
’s suggestions,
Danni
breathed
dee
ply.
“I’m safe. No one’s going to hurt me,” she whispered
over and over
.
She forced herself to stand quietly
until
the thudding in her chest slowed. Then she
turned
for home
, remaining on the side of the street with the wide sidewalk and open lawns
.

“Time to go
back to the
book
s
, Happy.”