Abandoned Angel (26 page)

“It was amazing when the verdict finally came through. It had been a tough case, one we weren’t sure we were going to win.”

The realization that Blaze had been an attorney slowly set in as Blaze told his story. She felt a sense of pride for him.

“This, man, if that is what you want to call him, was pure evil, but he covered his tracks very well,” Blaze continued, quietly.

“He had raped, beaten and murdered four women. Well, we had him on four counts anyway, there were more victims though.” He paused for a moment, discouraged, as he remembered the trial, and the faces of the family members of the victims. It had been a hard process for him to endure.

Angelina rested quietly in the dark, looking at his masculine features in the moon's reflection as he thought. She waited for him to continue, saying nothing, imagining how much Blaze must be hurting.

“After the verdict was announced, the staff went down town to celebrate the win, as usual. We were relieved to have the trial over. It had really taken its toll on all of us.”

Blaze remembered the long nights, and the stress the case had caused at home. It had been a difficult case for all of them, and they had all looked forward to celebrating the win with a drink.

“I called Michelle - my wife – on the way over,” he said with obvious grief in his voice.

“I wanted to let her know about the verdict and tell her that I would be a little late. She didn't answer the phone but I, I didn’t worry about it.”

Blaze sat without speaking for a long time, fighting to take control of his emotions. If only he had worried, maybe she would be ok now.

Angelina found his hand in the dark and held it tightly, as tears began to swell in her eyes.

“I only stayed for a couple of drinks,” he continued. “I knew Michelle would be anxious to hear how the trial went. There had been a lot of late nights and, well a lot of missing out on the family.”

Blaze held Angelina’s glance for a moment before continuing. He was ashamed that he had spent so much time at work instead of with his beautiful wife and his baby girl.

“After I left the bar I tried calling her again as I went to my car, and then again on the way home.” His words came out slowly, the pain drowning in his tone. “She still didn't answer. That wasn’t like Michelle and I guess it was then that I felt something was wrong.” Blaze remembered the anxious tension he felt when he drove up to the house that night. What he found was far worse than anything he could have imagined.

“The house was mostly dark when I got home, but the door was unlocked. When I entered the house, I hollered for her. She never responded.” Blaze stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath as a tear filtered down the side of his face.

Angelina tightened her grip around his fingers.

“I looked in the living room first, hollering for Michelle and Janna, my sweet baby girl. She was so completely beautiful. Janna had me wrapped around her finger.”

Janna’s deep-set brown eyes and inquisitive smile had always lifted her father’s spirit. A soft sob escaped his throat. He wanted his baby back.

“When I turned the light on in the dining room, I found my wife sitting there, motionless.” Blaze recalled the horrific scene that he walked into.

“Michelle was sitting on one of the dining room chairs. She was sitting up straight, and for a moment, I almost believed that everything was ok, that she was just mad that I had stayed out so late. Then I saw the duct tape wrapped around the back of the chair and knew that it held her in place. I did not see the blood until I got closer to her though. There was so much blood.” Again, silence as he recalled the tranquil scene. Even today, it seemed unreal.

“It wasn’t until I swung the chair around that I realized Janna was on her lap. How could anyone hurt my sweet little girl? She was just a baby.” Anger controlled his appearance as Blaze pictured the pleading expression forever frozen on his wife’s face, and the blood that consumed Janna’s blue daisy filled sundress.

“The bastard taped Janna to her mother to keep her from moving.” Blaze tried to push aside the horrible image of the two of them sitting there, tape binding them to each other, blood spewed all over the both of them. He let the tears fall, something he had not done since he met up with the bikers.

“She was just a baby, Angelina, my sweet, helpless little girl,” Blaze whispered, feeling lost to his emotions, afraid the anger would once again consume him as it had years ago. “She was only three years old.” His voice rose as he continued. “The bastard sat there in MY house, with my wife and baby duct taped next to him.” He was on the verge of losing himself to his hurt and rage. “They must have been terrified as he listened to the news, waiting for the verdict to be announced.” Blaze stopped for a moment, again, trying to get his mental state intact.

“You don’t have to continue,” Angelina stated, rubbing the tears from her face. She didn’t know if he should continue with the story. His sadness, anger and guilt hung in the air. The familiar sound of crunching eggshells was right around the corner, under the surface.

“They said my wife had been fastened to that chair for more than three hours before he finally shot her. She was beat, repeatedly, during that time, with her baby girl right there watching it. Janna had bruising on her face and arms. She must have tried to get away from him.” The anger that consumed Blaze made him feel as if he would vomit. He managed to hold it in.

“They still had tape across their mouths when I found them.”

Blaze remembered every detail and every emotion from that horrible night. It was an image that would never go away, and a rage that took all his strength to douse.

“That monster had his brother beat and then kill my family because of the trial,” he softly stated, guilt filling his expression. He would forever blame himself for the suffering they had endured. Angelina now understood what constituted a “monster” in Blaze’s mind.

“I hadn’t even noticed that his brother wasn’t in the court room that day,” whispered Blaze. “I never even noticed.”

Blaze lay motionless for a long time. Angelina knew that nothing she could say or do would help ease his pain, so she leaned against him, continuing to hold his hand without saying a word.

“Once the guilty plea was announced, he put a bullet through my daughter’s head which landed in my wife's chest. One bullet killed them both.”

Angelina clamped her eyes tightly closed, trying not to allow the image into her mind. She had seen a lot of bad in her life, but could not fathom how someone could do something so deliberately cruel to an innocent mother and child.

“I should have been there to protect them, and instead I was out celebrating the win.”

It took all Angelina’s strength to control her tears and grief for him in order to speak without sobbing.

“You couldn’t have known Blaze. You had no reason to know,” Angelina stated, squeezing his hand for reassurance.

“No, I couldn’t have,” replied Blaze, “but they suffered just the same didn’t they?”

It was a simple, honest statement, which he would always remember. His mother-in-law, in all her hurt and disappointment, had said it to him at the funeral.

“Anyway, the bastard is dead now,” Blaze stated without any real emotion, suggesting the conversation was over.

Angelina embraced him, holding him close to her, wanting to take his pain and guilt away. They lay like that for a while before Angela spoke again. She wanted to ask him how he became a biker, but figured she would have to leave that question for another time.

“Blaze,” Angelina whispered, as she loosened her grip. “I'm really sorry about your family.”

“I know Angel, so am I.”

The next morning Blaze was quiet during breakfast. He kept to himself while they ate. Telling his story the night before had taken its toll on him. His old nightmares resurfaced, and the anger and guilt that he had dealt with for so long had returned, though he managed to keep it under control. They ordered scrambled eggs and toast, making small talk as they waited, but mostly leaving things unsaid. Angelina, realizing that they would be in Iowa soon, was beginning to get nervous. She tried not to assume the worst would happen when she got there, but her fear of Rusty gnawed at her heart. She prayed they would find Justin safely with his grandmother, but in the back of her mind, she wondered if she were too late. She desperately wanted to call but knew that if she did, she would chance scaring Rusty off, and losing her son for good. She hoped she was correct about where her cruel husband had taken Justin. Angelina, overwhelmed with emotions, was worried, scared, and excited about the prospect of seeing her son again. She
was also saddened
by the fact that her time with Blaze was drawing to an end.

“First thing we need to do is file a police report,” stated Blaze, after swallowing a mouthful of his eggs. “Problem is that this didn’t happen in Iowa.” Blaze seemed different to Angelina, cold and distant again, as he had been in the beginning of the trip. They had not made love that morning as she had hoped they would. He was already up and showered by the time she opened her wearied eyes. Blaze had avoided contact with her all morning, and Angelina was hurt and defensive because of it.

“Why?” she asked, irritated by the idea. “Why do we have to do that? Why do we have to waste time with the police? I just want to go get Justin.” Angelina had absolutely no faith in the judicial system, and did not want to waste another minute without her son. The idea of filing a police report seemed absurd.

“If we file a report Rusty will find out and take off with Justin,” she continued. “It doesn't matter anyway, they won't do anything to him,” she protested. Experience had taught her to keep the police out of family matters.

“Yes it does matter Angelina, you need to tell them what happened and file a police report. We need it on record. That’s the first step to getting him back, for good,” Blaze insisted with stern conviction in his voice. “You can’t just show up and take him from Rusty,” Blaze tried to explain, but Angelina did not want to listen to his reasoning.

“WHY can't we just go and take him? That’s what Rusty did, and he's my son!”

She was visibly distraught, and the fact that Blaze seemed cold and uncaring only made things worst. He was supposed to be on her side, and she felt betrayed.

“He is my son Blaze, he’s mine, I raised him, and I will take him back. Don’t you dare try to tell me that I can’t,” she steamed.

When she spoke of her son, a new level of strength consumed Angelina’s voice.

“Hey, slow down there Angel,” Blaze grinned, slightly amused by her strong determination. “We could do it that way, but if we just show up and take Justin, Rusty would probably fight us, and turn around and run with him again. Is that what you want for Justin?” Blaze asked, as he put his hand on top of Angelina hand in order to calm her down.

Angelina did not answer right away. What she wanted, was her son back.

“Do you want to be running with Justin for the rest of your life?” he asked, trying to get her to think about the situation; she just sat staring at him, her eyes filled with disbelief. She did not understand why the badass biker who had protected her all this time would quit on her now. Although she knew it was ridiculous, she felt like he was taking Rusty’s side.

She chose her words carefully. “I know you were, or are, a lawyer Blaze, and I know I need to listen to you, but I can’t wait any longer. It is killing me. I need to know that Justin is ok. I need to see him.”

Angelina cupped her face in her hands, crying lightly. She couldn’t wait for the police to help, because she didn’t believe they would, and she didn’t want to take the chance of having Rusty take his anger out on Justin once the police were involved. She knew how that felt and would not put Justin in that position. She did not want to involve the police at all. In her mind, they were useless.

Blaze waited until Angelina looked up again and then took her soft hand and surrounded it with his larger, stronger hand. He wanted to tell her that they would pull up and snag the boy from his father, taking him by force if he needed too, but it was time for him to be a lawyer again, and not a biker. He needed to protect her future and the future of her son by working with the law, not against it. Blaze just had to figure out the best way to do that.

“You will see him, real soon Angel, I promise.” He assured her. “We just have to do things the right way so that he is yours to keep. If you show up without the police or the department of human services, Rusty is just going to run with Justin again, never mind what he will do to you.”

Blaze knew that this was not what Angelina wanted to hear, but he tried to explain it to her just the same. He was, after all, good at being persuasive.

“According to the law, Rusty has just as much right to Justin as you do, until we prove otherwise. That might mean waiting a bit longer to take him, but we will make sure that he is safe.”

Angelina couldn’t stand to hear any more, she did not want to believe that Rusty had any rights when it came to her son. He was a vicious, arrogant bastard, and she wanted him gone.

She quietly stood and left the busy restaurant, unable to continue her conversation with Blaze. She felt like her life was crumbling again. Like Rusty had beaten her and left her alone to fend for herself all over again. She felt as if Blaze was saying that she had no rights to Justin, her baby. Angelina believed Rusty had won and did not understand why Blaze was not helping her the way she needed him to. Was it because they had slept together, or because she had asked too many questions about his past? She just did not know what to feel or think anymore, but she did know that she could not wait any longer to see her baby. She stood, lost and alone, on the sidewalk outside of the restaurant, not knowing what to do or where to go. She stood there, lost to the world wanting to hate Blaze for not rescuing Justin the way she needed him to.