Nothing Ordinary, M J Marlow [ebook and pdf reader .TXT] 📗

do not turn yourself into the police by the end of the day,” he said as he leaned over her lips, “I will come after you again. I will cut your throat and rip out that lying tongue. Is that understood, my dear?” Gillian nodded and he freed her from the handcuffs and left her in the room. He was feeling very happy as he drove towards the base Hospital. He saw Annie coming out the front on the arm of a handsome man in military uniform. The joy on her face cut him deeply. Her husband! He had finally arrived and he was in the way. He followed them as they got into a taxi and went to the house. He could wait to be with his angel. “Annie darling,” James Owens smiled warmly as he took her in his arms and kissed her. “I’ve missed you.” “Where have you been, James,” Annie sobbed. “Why didn’t you contact me?” “I couldn’t, sweetheart,” James told her truthfully. “You know about the explosion, right?” Annie nodded. “I was out cold and buried under rubble. When I came to it was to find myself in a prison cell.” He was shivering as he recalled those months. “They tortured me, Annie, and demanded I admit that I was a mass-murderer and terrorist.” He sighed as she came closer, her hand moving to his face. “I was seriously injured. I had to have plastic surgery.” He looked worried. “You don’t mind the new face, do you?” “I’ve missed you, Idiot!” Annie sobbed and threw her arms around her long-lost husband. “You think the fact that your face is altered makes any difference to me?” She had feared he was gone and hoped he would come home. And now here he was, with a slightly different face but the same love in his eyes. He continued telling her what he had gone through to get back to her and she grieved with him. Then they lay down and held each other and allowed themselves to find peace again. 19 Jeffrey was nearly finished dressing when there was a knock on the door to the quarters he was sharing with his father. He opened it and Camden was standing there. The man did not look happy about something and Jeffrey knew there was trouble. “Doctor Gillian Guthrie was abducted, raped and mutilated last night, Lieutenant,” Camden told him. “She says you were responsible.” “That’s ridiculous!” Jeffrey replied. “Why would she make such a claim?” “The man punished her for planting that letter claiming Anneke knew the man who murdered Guthrie. He had a tattoo on his forearm,” Camden continued as he looked as Jeffrey’s arm and saw the tattoo on his right forearm. The woman had said her attacker’s tattoo was on the left arm. “An eagle carrying the American flag.” Jeffrey paled. “Someone is doing an excellent job of framing you, Lieutenant. If we don’t start finding ways to refute the evidence, you could find yourself serving time for crimes you did not commit.” “The tattoo is specific to our unit, Major,” Jeffrey told him. “Twelve of us went down but two were left behind.” “I’ll need the names of all…” Camden started and watched Jeffrey go to the desk in his room. He came out with a picture. “Very good, Lieutenant,” he nodded as he turned it over and saw the names of every pictured. Next to the ones who had died was written the date they had died and the manner of their death. “Would any of these men have a reason to want to hurt you or Anneke?” “I would have said no originally,” Jeffrey told him honestly, “but war changes people and makes minor grievances seem like major offenses.” He pointed to two of the men in the picture. “Cartwright, McManus and Higgins all had their eye on Anneke. They were a bit put out when she chose my brother but I always saw their comments as jests.” “I’ll look into it,” Camden nodded and took the picture with him. “We can’t afford to ignore any lead, no matter how minor.” Jeffrey didn’t like to think that someone he had considered a friend, a brother-in-arms, could possibly hate him or Anneke so much that he would frame Jeffrey for murder and abduct Anneke. Did they think she would want them by behaving as Guthrie had? They didn’t know Anneke very well. He went to get his shirt and put it on. He had just finished knotting his tie when his father came in. “The man who abducted Doctor Guthrie got the tattoo on the wrong arm,” Camden informed the general. “That leads me to believe someone saw the tattoos in a photograph and made an incorrect assumption as to which arm it was on.” “The tattoos were put on the dominant hand side,” Jeffrey told them. “There were four of us who got the tattoos on the left arm: Cartwright, Higgins, McManus, and Preston.” He hissed. “Preston was the officer on duty at the Armory when I turned in my rifle, sir. He was also one of the men who Anneke insisted was at the river when her parents’ car went under.” He shook his head. “He insisted he hadn’t been anywhere near the river and Anneke had to be so overcome by grief she had hallucinated them being there.” “I want those men brought here immediately, Major,” Owens snapped. “Something is going on here I do not like and I want it dealt with as expeditiously as possible.” “Yes, sir,” Camden snapped to attention. 20 “Good morning, darling!” Annie opened her eyes and saw James coming into the room with a tray in his hands. He set it down on the table in the alcove to the left of the fireplace and went to his wife. Their good morning kiss became something far more involved. He pulled out the chair at the table and she sat down and his hand caressed her shoulder as he sat down next to her. “I hope you like it,” James said to her. “My memory comes and goes and I didn’t remember what you liked, Annie, so I made something simple.” He lifted the cover and she saw scrambled eggs with bacon cut in, wheat toast, orange juice, and milk. Annie smiled at him briefly and ate the meal he had prepared for her. James shared the news of the murder investigation with her and she agreed with the anger in his voice as he spoke of how it looked like Jeffrey was going to be arrested quite soon for the act. Annie shook her head and put down her fork. She jumped as James put his hand over hers. “I know how much you admire him, Annie,” James said gently, “but you never know how far a man will go when he is trying to protect someone he cares for. We both know Jeffrey loves you.” “Like a brother, James,” Annie shook her head as she saw the uneasiness in the man’s eyes. “I think he and Captain Lewis are going to be forming a unit of their own someday soon. “Neither of us is good enough for you, Annie,” James said to her as he crouched down next to her and met her eyes. “I should have been there for you when your family died.” He kissed her. “I want to go find out firsthand what is going on with Jeffrey.” “Don’t be too long, James,” Annie smiled at him gently. “I’m jealous of our time together.” She dozed off and came awake with a start as she began to choke when she shifted position in her sleep. She could hear him coming up the stairs, but he didn’t come in at once and she wondered what he was doing. She heard a thud and watched as storm shutters went down to cover all the windows. Then he came in carrying a vase of pink roses and baby’s breath, and a dress box. He set these on the table and went out. He came back with a tray. He picked Karl Leonard up as the baby started to whimper and brought him over to her. “Someone is hungry,” he smiled as he handed the baby over to Annie so she could nurse him. “He’s always hungry,” Annie smiled down at her son. “Our son has a very healthy appetite.” “I’m sorry I’m late, darling,” he smiled as he kissed her warmly. He helped her over to the table. “See what I bought for you, Annie.” He opened the box and Annie saw a midnight blue dress with a starburst of rhinestones along the neckline. It had spaghetti straps and a plunging back. He held it up to her and nodded. “I missed Christmas and your birthday, Annie,” he beamed as he took one of the roses and kissed it before running it along her lips. “Eat your lunch now, darling.” She finished nursing their son and then ate her lunch. He took Karl and burped him, then put him in the bassinette. When he turned he saw the look on her face. “You’re trying to figure out who is behind the frame, aren’t you?” Annie nodded and he smiled. “If you boiled it down to one of the Four Musketeers, you’re on.” He came to stand behind her and ran his hands along her arms as he leaned his cheek against hers. “But we can’t get involved in this any further, Annie. It isn’t safe for our son or for you.” He went to turn on the radio to an oldies station and he pulled her into his arms. They danced and it was as if all the months they were separated from each other had never happened. It was like it had been when they were dating and had married. She felt the bed hit the back of her legs and he lowered the straps on her nightgown and it slid down her body leaving her exposed to his view. He drew in a breath and his eyes warmed as he pushed her down on the mattress. He held her arms above her head and laid on top of her so he could suckle her breasts. “I know Guthrie hurt you, Annie,” he said softly as he caressed her gently. “If I had been around, I would have shot the bastard myself.” She looked at him in shock. His hand moved to her breast to caress and stroke and she could feel her body responding. “He was a brutal man, Annie. I promise that I will do everything I can to help you forget what he did to you.” “You’re doing that,” Annie sighed as she met his eyes, “just by being here.” 21 Jeffrey was in the viewing room as one after another the other three members of the squad he had named were brought in for questioning. The first man was Cartwright. He was still lean and wiry and his arrogance had increased with the years instead of decreased. Jeffrey had not liked the man five years ago; now he despised him. “How long have you known Anneke Weber Owens and Captain Jeffrey Owens,” Camden asked the first question. “I was transferred to Munich five years ago,” Cartwright said honestly. “ Anneke was just fourteen at the time, James Owens and his brother, Jeffrey, were in the unit I was sent to.” “How well did you know them?” “Anneke was beautiful even then,” Cartwright admitted. “I admit to being a little pushy as I flirted with her. It was nothing serious; I wasn’t about to jeopardize my career by making my superior officer, her father, angry with me. She was jailbait back then. James Owens and I were always competing for top spot in the unit and never did become more than rivals for that honor.” He looked at the Captain. “Why is this important?” “Someone is trying to