Just a Sketch (18 page)

Felix jumped. “Don’t touch me!” he shrieked, jerking as far away from the woman as he could.

“I’m sorry,” the woman replied. “I didn’t see you there.”

Julie moved to Felix, stopping just shy of touching him. “It’s okay. She didn’t mean it.”

Leo glanced at the woman. Her face looked horrified. “I’m sorry, he’s been through some pretty rough stuff lately.”

Her face softened. “Oh, PTSD? My son’s going through that. At least you were able to get him to go shopping.” She moved her gaze from Leo to Felix. “It’s okay. Just keep working at it. Life will get better.”

“Thank you,” Felix whispered as he gave her a nearly imperceptible nod.

The woman turned and hurried away.

“Do you want to go now?” Julie asked.

“I guess we should.” Felix moved to the back of the cart and took a shaky, white-knuckled grip on the handle.

“Okay. I think we have everything,” Leo said. “Let’s get out of here.”

Felix held it together as they made it through the checkout and into the parking lot. They had made it to the car when a rough voice shouted at Leo from behind them. “You need to stay away from Aud. He’s too good for you.”

Leo turned toward the voice. “Randal? What are you doing here?”

“Get away from me!” Felix shouted. “Stay away from me, Axe!”

A knot formed in Leo’s gut, and he glanced from Felix to Randal. “Axe? Randal is Axe?”

A sneer danced across Randal’s features. “Oh, you. I’m surprised you never contacted me. I’m probably the best man you’ve ever been with. I can give you some attention when I’m finished with Leo here.”

Felix ran the last couple of feet to the car. He pounded on the locked passenger door. Julie stood between Felix and the others as if she were protecting him.

Cold fire flooded through Leo as he put all the pieces together. “You’re a monster!” He advanced on Randal. “You raped Felix. You’ve been stalking Aud. Now you’ve got the balls to follow us all through Walmart and tell me I have to leave Aud alone? You need to be locked up!”

Randal punched Leo in the stomach. Pain lanced through him, but he forced himself to stay on his feet. He swung at Randal.

Randal laughed at him as he calmly stepped out of reach. “I didn’t figure you’d have much fight in you. Like your friend. But then I enjoy it when they give up and just cry. Crying makes everything so much sweeter, don’t you think?” Moving faster than Leo could follow, Randal rushed forward and punched him in the head, knocking his glasses to the ground.

Stars filled Leo’s now-blurry vision as he made another failed swing. His head pounded. “If you’re so into weaker men, why do you want Aud? He’s not weaker.”

Randal laughed. It was a sick sound that gave Leo the chills. “No, Aud’s perfect, just like me. We should be together. He didn’t understand that.” He struck Leo again.

The taste of blood filled Leo’s mouth. He wobbled but forced himself to stay on his feet.

“He was about to sleep with me again when you came along.” Randal hit Leo repeatedly. “When you go away, he’ll accept me again.” He glanced over his shoulder at Felix. “When I tell him how great your friend’s ass is, he might even want to help me get another piece of it.”

Leo managed to lunge at Randal while his attention was turned away. “No!” His body slammed into Randal, but his head hurt so much he couldn’t focus his attack. They went crashing to the hard asphalt of the parking lot.

A shoe-clad foot passed through Leo’s limited field of vision. It connected with Randal’s head. “The cops are on the way, asshole!” Julie shouted. “Not to mention I’ve got it all on camera.”

“Do you think I care?” Randal grabbed her foot and yanked her down as he rolled away from Leo. “You’re all a bunch of nothings. Losers.” He pulled out a knife and thrust it into Leo’s side.

The pain that shot through him was worse than anything he’d ever felt before. Leo screamed.

Felix launched himself at Randal. “You’re the one who’s going to lose this time!”

Julie’s foot passed over Leo’s head again. There was a satisfying thud as it struck home. Everything slowed down. Leo scrambled to get away from the pain in his side, but it grew worse. Something crunched under him. Sirens sounded in the distance. People had begun shouting. Horns blared. The sounds of struggle ebbed.

“Are you okay?” a man Leo didn’t recognize asked.

Leo tried to focus on him, but the pain in his side was too much.

“Shit, you’re bleeding.” The man stood up. “This guy’s bleeding! We need more help over here.”

Leo felt his side. It didn’t hurt to touch it. But when he lifted his hand away, it was covered in his blood. “Julie… call Aud.” He gasped for breath, becoming light-headed. “Tell him—” The pain in his side became too much for Leo, and the people clustered around him faded from his view.

AUD DROVE
like a madman to get to the hospital. Julie’s call had been low on details, only that Randal had attacked Leo in the parking lot at Walmart. Leo had been stabbed and was at Penrose Hospital. She hadn’t said what happened to Randal.
At this point I hope he’s dead. I can’t believe he’d actually attack Leo. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to Leo.

His tires screeched as he turned the last corner before getting to the hospital. A car pulled out as he started his search for a parking place, and he ended up close to the emergency room doors. He almost forgot to lock the Jeep but paused several feet away until he heard the beep, then dropped his keys into his pocket and rushed into the hospital.

He approached the emergency room information desk, but there was a line. He forced himself to stop tapping his foot after he realized what he was doing.

“Aud.” Julie came running over to him. “You made it.”

He stepped out of the line. “What’s going on? How’s Leo?”

“We don’t know for sure.” She thrust her hands into the pockets of her jeans and looked at the floor. “Since neither Felix or I is family, they wouldn’t let us ride in the ambulance. When we got here, they allowed us into the triage room with him until they decided they needed to operate. He was awake enough then to approve it. We’re waiting to hear something now.”

Some of the energy rush from getting to the hospital faded. It was fairly obvious that Julie was miserable. Aud gave her a hug. “Let’s hope everything goes smoothly. So what happened?”

“It was so weird.” Julie pulled him across the room as she related the tale to him. Felix sat in a chair near the windows that looked out onto the parking lot. He appeared better than Aud had seen him in recent days, even if he did have bandages on his hands.

As Julie laid out Randal’s attack, Aud’s mind swam with the information.
It sounds like Leo might come out of this okay.
Was Randal that unhinged? I can’t believe he actually raped poor Felix. I wish we’d been able to get him in jail when all this first started.
“I wonder if I can help keep Randal in jail longer if I call Detective Benet.”

“Couldn’t hurt.” Felix squared his shoulders. “I just hope someone in there will do to him what he did to me. Let him know what it feels like to be helpless while another person takes advantage of him. Or better yet, maybe he’ll be a complete asshole in there and get shanked, knifed, or whatever term they’re using nowadays.”

“We can hope.” Julie patted Felix’s hand.

Felix looked at her contact with him but didn’t jerk away.

“Anything else I should know before I call the detective?” Aud pulled out his phone. It made him feel a little better doing something while he was waiting to hear how Leo was.

Julie pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I don’t think so. If nothing else, he should be able to pull the official report. Since I gave them the video I shot of the whole thing, Felix and I are supposed to go by the police station and give official statements once Leo’s out of surgery. They were fairly understanding that we wanted to stay with him.” She ran her free hand through her hair. “Sorry, I’m babbling. Things like this stress me out.”

“It’s okay.” Aud and Felix said in tandem.

“Mr. Sorenson.” Detective Benet’s voice came from behind Aud. He turned and looked at the man standing a few feet from him with a uniformed officer behind him.

“Detective Benet, I was about to call you.” Aud slipped his phone back into his pocket. “I understand you have my stalker in custody.”

“That’s correct. We were going to wait to get statements, but I tried calling your gallery and the woman there said you were here. I decided to talk with you and the witnesses at the same time.” He gestured down the hall. “There’s a room just down here we can use.”

“So what’s going to happen to Randal?” Aud asked as they walked.

Benet shrugged. “That’s hard to say at this point. We’ve got to gather more information. His attack on Mr. Caldwell will be a separate case, since Mr. Caldwell is a separate victim, although the facts of that case will play into yours.” He stopped outside a family consultation room. “Why don’t I get the statements from Mr. Sanders and Ms. Barnaird first? Then I’ll have a better idea what we’re dealing with.” He gestured to a couple of empty chairs in the hallway. “I’ll need to do this one at a time. If the other two could wait out here?”

Aud sat in the first chair. “That’s fine. If we get word on Leo, can we interrupt?”

“That’ll be all right.” Benet opened the door.

For a second, Julie and Felix shared an intense look, then Felix followed the policemen into the room.

“I don’t think this is normal,” Julie said as she settled next to Aud.

“What? The police coming to you to get statements?” He thought about it for a moment. “You’re probably right. I wonder why. Maybe since the attack was in the Walmart parking lot down the street from one of the news stations, there was lots of coverage and some public pressure to find out what happened.”

“That’s possible. I think I saw at least one news crew there by the time they got Leo into the ambulance. They’d already stuffed Randal into the police car by then.” She sighed and put her head back. “Can I hope all this is about over, at least the unexpected parts of it?”

Aud patted her leg. “I know I’m ready to have things calm down a bit. It’d be wonderful to be able to go out on a date with Leo and not have some emergency or interruption happen.”

“I think he’d agree.” She straightened and looked at him. “You know, he really likes you.”

“I really like him too.” Aud was beginning to think long-term where Leo was concerned. It wasn’t something he was used to doing with the guys he dated. But none of them had yanked at his heartstrings the way Leo did.

“Good. ’Cause I wasn’t sure you were worth all the grief Leo’s been through, and now we find out that your stalker is the guy who raped Felix.” She bent her head and looked through her bangs at him. “I can’t say I haven’t wondered if life wouldn’t have been easier if you weren’t around right now.”

“I’ve known Randal for a while. Hell, I’ve been trying to avoid his advances ever since we had a trick in the steam room a couple of years ago. He’s been getting pushier lately. I don’t know what’s going on. I think he’s always been a bit rough and had a low opinion of anyone he thought was beneath him. When I stop and think about it, if he had a guy in the position, he might be capable of rape.”

“He was more than capable; he did it.” Julie’s voice was hard. “He actually threatened to do it again and invite you to help.”

Aud gulped. Taking someone by force wasn’t something he’d ever thought about. He liked his partners to be willing participants. He didn’t even like the guys who were into sex but then just lay there and let him do whatever he wanted to them. He shuddered. “There’s no way I could’ve helped him with something like that. Man, that’s just a horrible thought.” Aud shook his head as if he was trying to get the thought out of it.

“Good.” There was something in her voice that made Aud think she was trying to convince herself he was safe.

“Do you think Leo would be interested in me if I weren’t a nice guy?” He tried not to sound coy with her. They were all under a lot of pressure and he didn’t want to add to hers.

She let out a long breath through her nose. “He doesn’t have the best track record with guys. I don’t know if he’s mentioned it before, but most of his ex-boyfriends have either stolen from him, lied to him, left him large debts, or generally tromped on his heart. I’m one of his best friends. I’ve always been there to help put him back together.” She paused and looked sorrowfully down the hall. “This is the first time he’s ended up in the hospital, literally having to be put back together.”

Aud patted her arm. “I’m here to help with that too. It’s not something you and Felix are going to have to go through by yourselves.”

“Good. ’Cause if you ditch him now, I’ll be the one burning down your house and gallery.” Her hard stare bored into him. “Got it?”

“Yes. But trust me. I’m not going to hurt him in any way, shape, or form.”

Before she could answer, the door to the consultation room opened and Felix walked out. He didn’t look too much the worse for wear.

“Ms. Barnaird, if we could talk to you now?” Benet gestured for her to enter the room.

Rising, she paused as she passed Felix. “You okay?”

He gave her a stiff nod. “I told them.”

She touched his arm. “That’s probably for the best. Good for you. You’ll be safe with Aud. I’ll be out in a few.” Then she walked into the room.

Felix sat in the chair she’d vacated. Silence blanketed them for a few minutes, and then Felix swallowed hard. “That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but you know something? Talking about it to the police and knowing that Axe, I mean Randal, is in jail, at least for the moment, makes me feel a lot safer.”

“Good.” Aud turned his head and studied Felix. The man sitting next to him looked more like the man he’d met in the drawing class. “I’m glad you’re feeling better. I’m sure Leo will be happy about that too.”

A frown darkened Felix’s face. “When he stabbed Leo, something in me snapped. For a moment I think I was afraid he was about to do to Leo what he’d done to me. Even though we were out there in that parking lot with all those people around, somehow I could see him violating Leo, and I just couldn’t let that happen.” He looked down at his bandaged hands. “I’ve never hit another person like that before. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I still don’t remember who pulled me off him. I just wanted to pound him into the pavement.”