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“You were with her last night?” she asked, her voice cracking from worry.
I took a deep breath. “Lady, if you’re trying to tell me that I had something to do with her not showing up today, you’re fuckin’ nuts.”
“That’s not what I’m saying. Did she say anything to you, I mean anything you might be concerned about?” Shelly searched my eyes, her anxiety as high as mine.
“Where the hell is she?”
“That’s just it. I don’t know. She called me twenty minutes before she was supposed to be here saying she was running late. I’ve tried to call her twice and it’s not like her to ignore my call.”
“What the hell happened to her?” I demanded.
“What do you mean?”
Snorting, I glared down at her, able to tell she was hiding whatever Chasity had gone through in the past. “There’s something she’s afraid of. An experience from her past. A run-in she had. Something. What is it?”
Her face flushed and I was furious with myself that I hadn’t pushed Chasity when I’d had the chance. “She’s my friend and I don’t know you. I’m sorry, Corporal, but I won’t betray her confidence.”
“And I care about her. This isn’t just about some custodian with a crush. Is it?”
Shelly swallowed hard, flitting her eyes everywhere but on mine. “That’s an entirely different situation. She didn’t tell me everything and I’ve tried not to pry.”
“But?”
Her hesitation was accentuated with her labored breathing.
“You’re right, Shelly. You don’t know me except for the garbage I’m sure was spewed about my childish behavior over the last couple of months. I’m difficult. I know it and for the most part, I couldn’t give a shit what other people think, but not this time. Chasity is important to me. Can you understand that?”
The way her chest rose and fell was as if the weight of the world was crushing in on her. “I do.”
“Then please, just tell me what you know so I have an idea what I might be dealing with.”
“This goes against company policy,” she whispered more to herself, shaking her head several times. “There was a soldier she met overseas that she treated.”
“Yeah, she told me that. I thought the guy blew away his family and is behind bars.”
Now her eyes really opened wide.
“She didn’t tell me that story. She said this man was injured severely, not supposed to make it, but he did. Before he was shipped out, they developed a friendship, as much as possible in a warzone. Then he got his papers. She returned two months later. That’s where it all started.”
“Meaning what?”
“The guy went nuts and started stalking her, refusing to leave her alone. Notes. Flowers. Love letters.” She glanced over her shoulder to make certain the receptionist wasn’t paying any attention.
I took a deep breath, holding it. “What the hell did he do?”
I’d never seen anyone so nervous, a single bead of perspiration trickling down the woman’s face.
“It escalated. All I know is that one day he came to her home and kidnapped her.”
Now I was sick to my stomach, barely able to breathe. “What. The. Fuck?”
“It’s crazy and I don’t know all the details. She didn’t want to relive the experience. From what she said, he’s safely locked away in a facility back east. Baltimore. She was there for a couple months herself.”
“Facility?”
“You know, to receive mental health treatments. He was charged but managed to win on an insanity plea given what he’d been through in the war.”
For a few seconds, I thought about my odd, ridiculous behavior and was forced to accept the dude could have lost it. That didn’t take away from the rage burning inside, flames licking at every synapse. Fuck. Fuck… And I’d been rough with her. Jesus. If only I’d known.
