Page 53 of Protecting Bree
“About what?” Bree asked a little belligerently. “You want to talk about the weather or something?”
“Don’t,” Julie warned.
“Don’twhat?” Bree asked.
“Be a bitch. Trust me, it’ll eat at you later. I know from experience. The first time I was taken, I was the biggest bitch in the world. And I still regret it all these years later.”
“We’ve all forgiven you,” Fiona said in a gentler tone.
“I know. And you’ll never know how much that means to me. But it doesn’t change anything that I did. I’ll never forget how horrible I was. How I begged Cookie to leave you behind in that hut.”
Bree looked over at the woman. “You did?” She hadn’t heard that part of the story.
“I did,” Julie confirmed. “And I complained during every single step we took as we escaped. Whined about the food Cookie brought for us, about how Fiona coped with everything that happened to her by counting backward, and a million other things.”
Bree couldn’t imagine Julie doing any of that. The woman she knew wasn’t cruel.
“I was absolutely horrible, and I said things that I regret to this day. So I’m telling you to take a deep breath and think before you speak. Don’t be like me. This sucks, make no mistake. I’m terrified and pissed off and a hundred other emotions. But I’ll never do the same things I did in my past. This time will be different. I’m stronger. And most importantly, I have a man who will have my back. I can just imagine what Patrick is doing right this minute. He’ll be trying to take control, even though he’sretired and not in charge anymore. He’ll be yelling at people, ordering them around.”
“And Cookie will be scowling, telling everyone to hurry the fuck up. And when he comes for us, he’ll have more than a few granola bars this time. He’ll bring me real shoes and mosquito repellent, just in case,” Fiona said.
“Damn right, he will,” Julie agreed.
It was obvious the two women had a bond. They also had a good point. She and Smiley weren’t married. But they were together. And from everything she knew about him, he wasn’t going to sit back and let others do all the work in finding her. Hell, when he didn’t even know her, he’d done everything hecouldto find her. Now that they were sleeping together? Living together? That he seemed to like her as more than a casual hookup?
Yeah, he’d go to the ends of the Earth looking for her.
“Smiley has a teddy bear that he used to sleep with. It’s tattered and looks as if it’s been through the wringer, one arm is barely hanging on by a thread, the material is all torn and worn, and the stuffing is coming out of one of the ears, but it’s sitting on a shelf in his bedroom, and he told me that it’s one of his prized possessions. That when his dad used to beat his mom, he’d bury his face in its fur and pretend he was far, far away,” Bree blurted.
Fiona and Julie both turned to stare at her.
Bree went on. “He feels guilty that he never did anything to help his mother. I tried to tell him that he was just a kid. That there wasn’t anything hecouldhave done, but he doesn’t agree. I want to change what it represents. Make it so it’s not a symbol of his shame, a reminder that he hid while his mom was being hurt. I want to fix it up.Repair it. Maybe symbolically, it’ll be like repairing his psyche. But I’m not sure it’s a good idea. He might get mad that I dared to touch something so meaningful to him.”
Fiona sat close to the bars of her cage and reached out for Bree’s hand. “I think it’s a great idea. But maybe you can talk to him about it first. Make sure it’s okay.”
“Yeah.”
“Watching Patrick with our son is beautiful,” Julie said. “He’s this macho former Navy SEAL, and yet he has no problem going to musicals and talking about fashion with him. Many fathers would resent having a son who’s not exactly like him, who doesn’t want to go hunting and fishing and do all those so-called manly kinds of things. I caught the two of them the other day talking about relationships. Patrick was telling our son that respect was one of the most important factor in any kind of relationship. It was sweet. And it made me realize the day I called Patrick and begged him to let me apologize to his SEAL team was the best day of my life.”
“Hunter is…he’s my rock,” Fiona admitted. “Without him, I’d probably be in a mental hospital right now. He’s stood by me since the first day I met him. He’s stubborn and annoying sometimes, but I knew from the second he refused to leave me in that hut what kind of man he was. Fierce. Loyal. And so damn sweet it actually makes me feel a little guilty that he’s mine, and so many women out there can’t experience what I have with him.”
Bree nodded. Tears filled her eyes. She was so scared. But if Julie and Fiona could be strong, so could she.
“They’re coming,” Fiona whispered. “But that doesn’tmean that we should sit here and do nothing. We have to help ourselves.”
“I’m not sure wasting our energy trying to bend the bars of these cages is smart though,” Bree told her.
“This isn’t the first time they’ve done this,” Julie said from Fiona’s other side. “They’ve had other women in these cages, I’m sure of it. They think they’re smarter than us. They’re counting on us being so scared we can’t fight back. But they have no idea who they’ve messed with. Patrick has taught me a thing or two over our years together. Taking them by surprise is the best advantage we have.
“We might not be able to bend the bars, but maybe there’s some weakness somewhere. All this chicken shit might’ve weakened the joints of these cages. Or maybe we can break off a piece of the plastic trays we’re sitting on. I don’t know. But we have to dosomething. I learned my lesson all those years ago. I’m no longer willing to be complacent. To sit around and take whatever they want to dish out. They can drug us, force us to do things we don’t want to do, but they can’t take our willpower. Our strength. Fiona taught me that.”
“Love you, Julie,” Fiona whispered.
“And I love you too. Bree, can you maybe check out your cage? See if you can find any weaknesses we can exploit?”
She wanted to stay right where she was. Sitting on her ass, feeling sorry for herself. But Julie and Fiona were right. That wouldn’t accomplish anything. Besides, Mateo wantedher. She was his main target. The other women had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. It wouldbe awful of her to let them do all the work when they were truly innocent victims in all this.
No, not victims…innocent bystanders. She in no way saw either Julie or Fiona as a victim.
