Honey B

"I'll talk to the doctor."

"Good, thank you," he said as the nurse closed the door and left them alone again. "Look, Honey. I don't know you and you don't know me, but you can't go back to that guy. Is there somewhere you can go, stay, when you get out of here? Somewhere safe?"

She shook her head no. "We just moved here. I don't know anyone. All my family are back east. I don't even have many friends in Vancouver. They were all his, not mine."

"Okay. You just relax and get well. I'll see what I can do."

"Please, Adam. Don't get mixed up in this. He can really hurt you."

"Yeah, well, I just love it when bullies get what's coming to them. Don't worry about me." He left her lying there in the bed looking small, lost, scared and alone.

He got out to his truck and made a call on his cell, "Josh, it's me Adam. You at the detachment? I need to talk to you for a second. I need your help, and some of your muscle. Be there in a few."

He pulled into the visitors parking at the police detachment. His friend, Sgt. Josh Green, was the detachment commander. He quickly found himself sitting across the desk from his friend as he explained about Honey Baker.

"Classic battered woman syndrome. They're so abused, so brainwashed that in some strange way they think they deserve the beating. I hate this kind of shit," he said vehemently.

"Me too. But for now we need her safe in the hospital. Do you still have those 2 auxiliary members, Mutt and Jeff?"

Josh laughed, "You mean Townsend and Wright. Yeah. I see what you're thinking. Maybe a little hospital duty. Just hang on, I'll find out if they're around and available." Josh went to the outer office and spoke to his secretary. "Jill will find out and let me know. If they're available I'll get them and a couple of others to sit outside her room. Meanwhile, let me get hold of the woman's shelter."

"Josh, I don't think she'll go to a shelter. If she goes into hiding, he'll find her somehow. Maybe it's time me and Teddy had a house guest. I'll talk to her. Meanwhile, I promised to run an errand for her."

Jill poked her head into the office and advised, with a smile, that "Mutt and Jeff" would be in shortly.

"Thank you Jill," he turned to Adam, "I'll get them to take shifts sitting outside her door at the hospital. We'll just tell the hospital there have been some threats against her life."

"Thanks Josh, I appreciate it. Tell Mutt and Jeff that too. It means a lot to me." Adam left the detachment and went to the mall to pick up the dry cleaning for Honey. The owners knew him so there was no problem with him picking it up. It was almost 5:00, the time Honey said her husband usually would be home, so he drove over to the house instead of Baker's office. He got there just before Baker showed up.

As Baker pulled into his driveway, Adam got out of his truck and walked over to him.

"Your wife is in the hospital. She asked me to get this to you."

"Stupid bitch can't do anything right. Who are you?"

"I saw her collapse on the sidewalk in town and called the ambulance. They're keeping her at least for tonight. Name's Adam, Adam Spicer."

"Okay, what do I owe you, Spicer?"

"Nothing, the cleaners said they'd put it on your bill."

"I mean for delivering. I know the cleaners run a bill for me."

"Not a thing. Just doing a favour is all."

"Yeah, well. Okay. I gotta run. Got this function with the mayor tonight." With that, he dismissed Adam and went into the house.

Adam returned to his truck deep in thought. "It's going to be a real pleasure taking this asshole down," he thought. He drove back to the hospital. Mutt had the first shift outside Mrs. Baker's ward. His instructions were concise. Honey Baker was in protective custody and wouldn't be moved without police approval.

Adam poked his head in and saw that she was sleeping. "Okay Mutt. Thanks for doing this. The lady needs all the help we can give her."

Auxiliary Constable Townsend, Mutt to his friends, replied, "The boss told us what's going on. Let's just say that anyone tries to move her without the bosses say is going to have a very bad day. We don't like wife-beaters either." Adam wasn't worried, Mutt stood about 6'3" and weighed a very solid 250 lbs. Adam had seen him in action and wasn't worried about anybody giving him too much of a bad time. His partner, Jeff, aka Auxiliary Constable Wright, wasn't much smaller at 6'1" and around 230 lbs. Together, though they were Auxiliary Constables, they were a formidable and intimidating force when they had to be.

Adam went home to feed Teddy and start plotting the downfall of John Baker. He called his sister and asked if she could come and visit for a couple of weeks. He might have a house guest that needed female help.

"Adam, what have you gotten into this time?" asked Sheila, his older sister.

"It's a long story sis. Do you know who Honey Baker is?"

"She's some kind of artist or something isn't she?"

"Or something. She's a photographer, and from what I've been able to find out, a pretty good one. She's in trouble and I might have her staying here when she gets out of hospital. Her husband beat the shit out of her and she's got a couple of broken ribs along with bruising and stuff." Adam sipped at his glass of wine, thinking back to his encounter early this morning. How the hell did she carry that stuff down from the highway if she had broken ribs? Another mystery to solve.

He became aware that Sheila was talking, "...so when you know for sure if she's staying with you and that big hound of yours, let me know. I can be there in a couple of days."

"Thanks Sis. Hi to Jack and the kids. I hope its short term, but you never know."

"You be good, Adam. Be sure to let me know one way or the other."

"Will do. Thanks again Sis. Love you." He ended the call. He wasn't worried about having enough room; he had five bedrooms in two different wings of the house. The hallways from the bedrooms all lead to the central pod that had the kitchen, dining room, living room and den/office. Sheila and Honey could use the west wing where there were 3 bedrooms; his master bedroom was in the east, and easily took up at least half of it, leaving enough space for the fifth, smaller bedroom.

Chapter 3

It had been awhile since any women had spent time in the house. Adam didn't seem to have much luck with prospective partners. He'd tried and been burned 3 times, so had in essence stopped looking.

The first had been Nancy. She moved in with him shortly after the house was finished. They both knew that it wouldn't last. She had made it quite evident that she was looking for a friend with benefits for the winter. She moved in at the beginning October and left at the beginning of the following April. Adam knew that was going to happen; nevertheless he was sad to see her go. She was a nice, warm and caring person and a great lover. There had been a few tears on both sides, but she was off on her adventures. Adam assured her that she would be welcome if she ever came back this way.

The second big mistake had been Janice. She sort of caught Adam on the rebound; not too long after Nancy had departed. He didn't realize just how high maintenance she was until she began to criticize how much time he spent working, and if he had to overnight it somewhere the recriminations when he got back home were unreal. She couldn't seem to get it through her head that in order for him to buy all these things she 'just' had to have, he had to earn real money. She departed for greener pastures one December afternoon while he was at work in his office in town. Frankly, he was happy to see her go. Her whole attitude of me, me, me, just wasn't worth the aggravation he felt when she was around.

He happened to run into her a couple of times. She was hanging onto the arm of her latest sugar daddy and barely acknowledged his existence. He later learned that she had gone through quite a few men, married and single; she didn't care as long as they had money to spend on her. She had apparently left town under a cloud after an affair with a town official became known.

The last had been Meghan. After Janice, Adam had pretty much kept to himself for about a year. He met Meghan at a dinner party at a friend's house. She happened to be friendly with his buddy's wife, and they seemed to hit it off. He had her out to the house a few times and they got along really well. The sex was good, and Meghan had shown that she could be a good homemaker as well. Adam began to think she was the one and invited her to move in about 6 months after they met. Everything was fine for the first couple of months. They settled in and she seemed to enjoy living out in the rural area away from town.

Then Adam began to notice a change. It was subtle at first. He caught her in a few lies about where she had been and what she had been doing. It was nothing major, but he was starting to get that old feeling back again. It came to a head one January afternoon. Adam had told Meghan that he had to go out of town overnight on business. This happened occasionally so she didn't make a big deal about it. He packed his overnight bag, kissed her goodbye and headed into town.

He just got into his office when his customer called to postpone the visit for a week. He finished what he had to do in the office and decided to surprise Meghan. He drove back out to the property to find an unknown vehicle parked in front of the garage. He drove in and parked, apparently without being heard then went into the house, dreading what he was sure he would find.

Meghan and her lover were on the bed, his bed, not yet naked but working on it. They were so intent on their passion that they never noticed Adam standing in the door of the bedroom. He silently withdrew to plan his next course of action.

His driveway was unpaved and fairly steep in sections. No problem for him since he had a good 4-wheel drive truck. It would, however, be a problem for the man with Meghan since he was driving a fairly standard 2-door, 2-wheel drive sedan. Adam decided to make it a little more difficult for them, since Meghan would be leaving with her lover, and only with what she had originally brought with her. He would ensure that.

He went back up to the entrance of his driveway. He kept the loader up there instead of near the house because that was where it was most needed. He fired it up and dumped load after load of snow onto the driveway, making it impassable unless you had a good 4-wheel drive vehicle, or the loader. He went back to the house and, taking his truck, pushed the car into the snowbank lining the drive into the garage, making sure it was good and stuck. Yes there were some scrapes on the car, but Adam was sure they wouldn't be an issue, if they were noticed at all, at least today. The couple would have other things on their minds.

That part of his plan complete, he parked in the garage and locked it up, making sure the shed where his tools were kept was also locked. Then he entered the house, making the usual amount of noise he would when entering his own house. All he could hear were the sounds from the bedroom. He walked down the hall and stood in the doorway of the bedroom. They still didn't notice he was home. He went into his den/office and grabbed a small digital camera and went back to the bedroom. He had taken about a dozen photos when Meghan suddenly realized he was there, and screamed. The man with her fell all over himself getting away from Meghan and the bed; expecting that Adam was going to lay a beating on him.

"You two have exactly 15 minutes to get your shit together and get out of here." Adam's voice was flat and as unemotional as he could make it. That made it even more scary to Meghan and the man with her.

"Adam," Meghan began crying, "it's not..."

"It's not what? You're fucking another man in my bed? Get your shit and get out. The clock is ticking."

The man with Meghan was cowering in the corner, afraid to come and get his clothes off the chair near the door. Adam turned away and walked toward the kitchen. "Fourteen minutes fourty five seconds," he said over his shoulder.

"Adam, you can't..." cried Meghan.

"Not only can but will. Fourteen minutes then I throw you and your cheating ass out the door. Your shit will follow." His voice remained flat, unemotional, and scary.

"But Adam...," she started then realized he was no longer listening. Quickly she gathered her clothes and dressed, as did the man with her.

"Jesus Christ. He's crazy. He'll kill us. Get your stuff. I hope he'll let us leave."

"For fucks sake George. He won't kill us. Help me get my stuff." She began throwing items into a suitcase.

"Twelve minutes," called Adam. He started down the hallway toward the bedroom. The man called George, scared to death, scampered past him and ran to the door to put on his boots and coat.

"Adam, please. We can talk about this," Meghan was starting to panic. There was no way she could fit everything into the suitcases that she had brought with her. Adam had been good to her, and she had a lot more to leave with than she did when she arrived.

Adam didn't say a word. He grabbed the suitcase sitting on the floor and walked down the hall to the door, opened it and threw the suitcase out into the snow. He went back into the house and got a large garbage bag. Wordlessly he went to the bedroom where Meghan was still trying to close the second suitcase, and started stuffing her clothes and things into the garbage bag. Once full, it followed the suitcase out into the snow.

Adam took time to notice that George really was stuck, but was working away at trying to get the car out of the snowbank. Too fucking bad! They could walk to town. He wasn't about to help them. He went back inside and wordlessly grabbed Meghan by the arm and dragged her down the hall to the door. He threw her coat at her and kicked her boots towards her. He went back to the bedroom and got the second suitcase and threw it out to join the rest of her belongings in the snow.

Meghan was openly bawling now. No-one had ever done this; no-one had ever made her accountable. She'd always used her sex appeal and personality to get out of bad situations. It was a rude awakening at the worst possible time.

As soon as she went through the door, Adam slammed it shut and double locked it. He went around and made sure all the other doors and windows were locked as well. Then reaction started to set in and he went into the kitchen, sat down at the table and put his head in his hands. It was at this precise moment that he decided that he's better off on his own; no more romantic entanglements.

Awhile later there was a pounding on the door. He looked to see Meghan standing there. He opened the door and as flatly as he could, said, "Get the fuck off my property. Now."

"Adam. We're stuck. Would you call a wrecker, please?"

"Too fucking bad."

"Please, there's no cell service. We can't call," Meghan was crying, almost hysterical.

"Well then, you better start walking 'cause if that car is on my property tomorrow it's getting seized and impounded."

"Adam, please, you wouldn't."

"You don't want to find out. If it's there in the morning, it's gone." With that, Adam closed and locked the door again. Realizing the futility as soon as she tried the door, Meghan made her way back to the car.

"George, he won't call. We'll have to walk 'til we get cell service. It's like about 5 miles toward town or 4 up the hill."

"Jesus, I don't have the gear for walking. These are commuter boots. Only good for riding around in. You're sure he won't help?"

"For fuck's sake, George. Would you?" Angrily Meghan set off up the driveway, "Are you coming? It'll be dark in about an hour." Reality was setting in for Meghan. She was starting to realize that she had made a huge mistake. Adam's demeanour scared the hell out of her.

Next morning Adam drove his truck up the where the front end loader was parked. It was evident that a tow truck had managed to get the car up to the top of the driveway. He didn't know how or when; he just hoped that it cost the two of them a lot of money. Half-heartedly he cleared the drive and went into town to the office to try and get some work done.

His mind wasn't on it, and he returned home after running a few errands. There were several messages from Meghan, she didn't mean it, it was a mistake, yada yada. He erased them. One message from George said that he, meaning Adam, would get his. That got erased as well. He wasn't too worried about George, or anything he thinks he might do.

He went into the bedroom and stripped the bed, taking all the sheets and blankets into the laundry. The mattress he took and threw into the back of his truck to take to the dump. He wouldn't sleep on a mattress that had been used for cheating. He found a few items that Meghan had left behind. They also went into the garbage.

It was just after Meghan was gone that Teddy arrived and adopted Adam. Adam had been in town and saw a display for the SPCA in the mall near his office. On a hunch he talked to the woman looking after it and, long story short, a shaggy ragamuffin of a dog joined Adam on his property. Teddy readily took to Adam, and his new home. In very short order he had explored almost all of it, even though it was snow covered. His goofy grin told Adam all he needed to know; Teddy was home.

Chapter 4

Adam arrived at the hospital just after lunch. Jeff (Auxiliary Constable Wright) was on duty at the door and reported all was well. No one had come to visit Honey except for the medical staff. Adam went into the room and found Honey was awake.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. She looked so frail and small there in the bed.

"Um, not too bad as long as I don't laugh," she replied, her voice stronger than yesterday.

"Okay, I'll try not to tell any bad jokes." He looked at her with genuine concern. "Look, you can't go back to him you know. At best you'll just stay a human punching bag, at worst he'll kill you, slowly." Adam tried to keep the worry out of his voice, while emphasizing that he was, in fact, worried about the possible outcomes.

"I know," Honey started sobbing, "I know, but I don't know what to do, I've got nowhere to go."

"Well, once the doctor says you're well enough, I'll take you out to my place. My sister said she'd come down and help look after you. Then we'll decide where we go from there. The first thing is to get you away from him. You'll be safe, and he probably wouldn't be able to find you there either."

"I can't..." she started to say.

"Yes, you can. And will. Once you're healed we'll worry about the future. Your immediate job is to get well enough to leave here. No arguments."

"Well, okay. But only 'til I'm healed," Honey was still crying quietly, wondering why this big, gentle man would help her.

"Look, a friend of mine is going to come in and talk to you. He's the policeman in charge of the detachment here. He wants to find out more about your husband beating you."

"Oh God, I couldn't, I can't talk to the police. He'll kill me for sure."

"Look, you just don't know it yet, but you're done with him. I, well my sister and I, will make sure you don't have to be afraid of him again. My friend Josh will be in to talk to you later today. Just answer his questions honestly and let him take it from there."

"Well, okay, I guess. But," she hesitated, afraid to ask, "can you be here too?"

"If you want. Now get some rest. I have to get hold of my sister and get her out here." Josh patted her shoulder and left the room.

Jeff was just returning from the cafeteria with a cup of coffee. "Look, Jeff, she's scared out of her mind of her old man. Do you know this guy?" Jeff shook his head, no. "If he tries anything or even tries to get in to see her, you have permission to use whatever force necessary to keep him away. I already talked to Josh. He doesn't want to know"