Joining the Circle Ch. 02

Donna gloated, "Look, he isn't talking in capitals anymore."

When she answered the phone, Junie's voice was tired. "Ma'am?"

"I am sorry to wake you up so early. I just wanted to tell you I have taken care of everything. Bob and I did a little research and found out that this James bastard wasn't very careful. We know his name. We know what church he is the pastor for. We already have been in communication with him."

"I wasn't sleeping. I can't sleep, Ma'am, but that's wonderful. Is he going leave me alone?" "He is very willing to leave you alone in return for us not outing him to his wife and congregation. He did confess that someone has put something on your car during the night. I don't want you to freak out. It happened before we could convince him of the folly of his ways. He is scared shitless at the moment."

Junie giggled. "Good. You are amazing, Ma'am. I am so lucky to have found you. I can't begin to thank you enough."

"It was meant to be, Sweet Junie. Try to rest. We will see you soon."

"How can I rest thinking about that?"

Junie was almost a half an hour late arriving at the restaurant. She was wearing the same little yellow dress that she had on in the first picture she sent them. She looked grim and frightened, but when she spied Bob and Donna sitting in the sunshine on the deck, her face lit up and she held out her hands to them as she walked up. "I am sorry I am late..." she hesitated and looked around, uncertain, "um... Sir and Ma'am."

Donna stood, took her hand, and pulled her into a hug. She whispered in her ear. "Just call us Bob and Donna in public."

Junie sighed and melted against Donna for the briefest of seconds and then stood back and smiled. "Okay, Donna."

Bob stood and pulled out a chair, his eyes drinking her in. "Sit down, Sweet Junie." "Thank you, Bob."

"How was your morning?"

"Pretty bad. Whoever James sent did not leave something 'on' my car. He left something 'in' my car. Whoever it was, broke my driver's side window, put this in my car, and then pissed on my front seat." She dropped a plastic zip lock bag with a stained yellow piece of paper and a vicious looking knife in it on the table. Junie's cheeks were scarlet and her big brown eyes were filled with tears. "The knife was stabbed through the picture, right through my..." She stopped, took a deep breath, and pressed her lips together, trying not to cry.

Donna scooted her chair close to Junie and put her arms around her. "Don't worry, baby, we will fix it. We will never let anyone hurt you."

Junie whispered, "They wrote on the picture. They said they were looking forward to when James sold me to them to fuck."

Bob spoke up. "No wonder that bastard was so scared in his email to me. He has definitely stepped way over the line."

Donna grinned evilly. "I think someone is going to need a new car. This one has too many bad memories. And I know exactly who is going to pay for it. Give me your cell phone, Junie. He already knows your number. We don't need to let him know mine."

Junie handed her cell to Donna. Donna dialed and then handed the phone to Bob. Bob had a very predatory look on his face.

The man's voice that answered sounded confused and frightened. "Junie?"

"Oh I am sorry, Pastor James, you are not ever going to be speaking to Junie ever again. This is Bob. You remember me. Don't fuck with me and mine Bob!"

"Oh god. You said no harm, no foul. Why are you calling me?"

"You slimy foul asshole! Who did you send to terrorize Junie this morning? They did a hell of a lot more than put something on her car."

"It was just a guy I met online, one of the guys that hung in the chat room. I knew he lived in the same town as Junie."

"Now is the time to start confessing. I want to know everything you told him about her. I want to know what you have promised him."

"Nothing. I didn't tell him anything."

"I think that it's time for that private detective to go visit you again. Maybe he will start attending church."

"Oh fuck no. Please don't."

"Then try and tell me the fucking truth."

"Okay, okay. He said I should train Junie to be a whore. He offered to... um, punish her for me. I told him that if he put the picture in her car he could be her first and it would be for free."

"In her car?"

"Yes I told him to put it in her car."

"With the knife?"

The man's voice sounded defeated. "Yes."

"Did you actually tell him to piss on her front seat?"

This time it was barely audible. "Yes, I guess so. The knife and all were his idea, but I agreed."

Bob smiled evilly. "Speak up; the tape recorder did not quite pick those last words up."

James' voice was in a panic. "You are taping this? You can't tape this! That's illegal."

Bob chuckled triumphantly. "I am not a cop, remember? I am Don't Fuck With Me Bob."

"Please, oh god please, what are you going to do?"

"It is not about what I am going to do. It's about what you are going to do. You are going to buy Junie a new car. Something nice and sporty, make it a two seater, yellow. Yes, I think it should be yellow and with good gas mileage and an extended maintenance package. Nothing too fancy, a Honda or a Mazda. Get a nice sound system and a removable hard top." Bob looked up at Junie's huge shocked eyes. "Will that be sufficient?" Junie suddenly dimpled and whispered, "Automatic."

"Junie says she wants an automatic transmission."

"How can I buy her a car? My wife will find out. She keeps track of all the money."

"I leave that to you to figure out. I want all your communication regarding the car to be made to me via my email. I expect Junie to be able to pick it up from the dealership within a month. Make sure tax and license are all paid for too. Now back to this problem of this friend you sent over to Junie's apartment last night. How did he know which car was hers?"

"I have had him watch her sometimes. Follow her to work."

"Do you know his name and address?"

"I know his first name, Harold, at least I think it's his first name, and I have a phone number and email for him. I don't know his address."

"You are a complete fucking idiot. This guy could be really dangerous."

The other end of the phone was silent.

"You better hope this guy backs off when you call him. And you will be calling him."

"Okay."

"We will be in touch. James, I truly hope we can conclude this ugly business without anyone getting hurt. If Junie gets hurt, you will be guilty of a crime and I will not hesitate to turn you into the police. I could so fuck up your life. Lucky for you, that is not my wish, despite your apparent eagerness to hurt Junie."

"I don't know what you mean. I never wanted Junie to get hurt." James voice was defensive and starting to sound angry.

"Bullshit! You never gave a fuck about her safety. Now it's coming home to roost. So hurry up, buy the car, pay off your friend, or do whatever you need to do to get him to leave Junie alone. And we will hopefully never have to speak with you again."

Donna leaned over and whispered into Bob's ear.

Bob laughed and spoke up one more time. "It would be a good idea if you wrote a nice apology to Junie and sent it to my email address."

James mumbled, "Yes, Bob."

Bob laughed and hung up Junie's phone and handed it back to her. "We have been sitting here for quite a while. Let's order something to eat and talk about something a lot more pleasant." He grinned at the two women sitting with their arms around each other. Junie looked dazed and awestruck. Her head was resting on Donna's shoulder.

Donna waved to a waitress that she had warned off a few times and ordered grilled chicken chef salads and iced tea for all of them. After they had ordered and eaten, they talked about the food and their enjoyment of each other's company. Bob reached over and picked up Junie's hand and asked her how she was feeling.

Junie softly whispered. "He was a really bad person. All that time he was just setting me up to hurt me. If I had not found you guys, I don't know what would have happened."

Donna smiled and kissed Junie's hair. "Well, I think he may have learned his lesson."

Junie giggled. "I know he has met his match. I will love driving that car. I never would have thought that I was a vengeful person, but when he admitted he had told that guy to piss in my car, I just started to hate him."

Donna frowned. "I am not sure about that guy. I get a bad vibe off of someone who would leave that knife and then urinate. That smacks of criminal and rapist." Donna looked meaningfully at Bob. "Honey, I don't like the idea of leaving Junie alone."

Bob looked thoughtful. "Junie how much time could you take off from work?"

Junie looked surprised. "Um... I have about two weeks of unused vacation. I have almost a month of sick leave too."

"Let's not use your sick leave. But let's plan for you to take some time off. How do you feel about spending a fun week at a nice house in the country? Maybe if you are lucky, you will find a new job." Junie looked at him and at Donna her eyes huge and speechless. Her eyes were filled with tears. She swallowed and nodded. "I... I would like that, Sir."

As soon as they had finished eating, Donna had snuggled back up to Junie. Pulling Junie's head to lean against her shoulder, her hands stroked Junie's hair and arms, whispering into her ears. Bob watched the two indulgently. "I better get you girls out of here before you make a scene."

Once they were out at the car, Bob looked sternly at Donna. "If I let both of you ride in the back seat, you will behave scandalously. You should let our little girl get home with us before you totally ravish her." Junie giggled. "If I am to be number two girl here, Sir, I should ride in the back seat."

Donna nodded, "That is true. But somehow I think that what should happen now is for me to drive, and for both Bob and you to be in the back seat. I don't think Bob will argue with that and somehow I think he will behave better than I would."

Bob made a growling sound. "No promises."

Junie giggled happily and stood on tip toe to whisper in his ear. "They are yellow."

Bob reared back and looked in her eyes. "What are yellow?"

Junie giggled, winked and gave her hips a little swish as she climbed into the back seat of their hybrid SUV. Once they were in the car, Donna turned to look at Junie. "Now, Sweet Junie, tell me the way to your apartment so you can pack a few things."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Bob slid over and sat close to Junie, keeping his arm around her possessively as they drove to her apartment. "She smells so good, Donna. You should have told me."

"Then you would have made me share."

At Junie's apartment Donna handed Junie her driver's license. Junie looked at her confused. "Write it down, my name, my address, everything. You should never head off into the unknown without knowing where you are going and some guarantee that they will know where to come looking for you if you disappear."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Put it all in an envelope and address it to yourself. We will drop it in the mail on the way out of town. Normally we would have someone you trust, that you could call and tell them things are going okay, but this will have to do. If you want, you can call someone, maybe one of your kids or a friend at work, and let them know you are going to spend the weekend with us for a job interview for a house keeping job." "Oh Ma'am, I know everything will be okay. After all the things you did to help me with S..." She caught herself. "...with James, I just know that I am safe with you."

Junie quickly packed a few things in a suitcase, grabbed her laptop computer, and stood looking around her apartment. "I feel like this is a huge turning point in my life."

Both Donna and Bob put their arms around her, sheltering her between them. Donna spoke softly "Sweet Junie. If at any time you get scared, let me know. This is a time to feel safe and happy. If at any time you want to slow down say yellow. If at any time you want to stop say red. Everything that happens from now on will be because you want it to happen."

"Oh Ma'am," Junie's voice quivered with emotion. "Would it be... Could I," Junie's voice dropped to the tiniest whisper, "kiss you?"

Donna gently lifted Junie's face up to hers and kissed her, their lips soft and almost worshiping. The kiss was infinitely slow, teasing, the softest of tongues gently exploring, breathing soft and slow. Junie could feel Bob's harder male body supporting, sheltering her and Donna. She could feel his hand gently stroking her neck and cheek. When Donna's lips left hers, she whispered softly "Thank you, Ma'am."

"Let's go home, Sweet Junie."

"Yes, I would like that, Ma'am."

Junie found herself cuddled up to Bob in the backseat of the car, his arms a wonderful, strong fortress. It wasn't too many miles before he was pressing soft kisses on her hands, pulling her fingers into his mouth and sucking on her fingertips and then moving up her wrists. Over and over his fingers traced the contours of her face and caressed her neck, her ears, and her lips.

When Junie caught his hand in hers and pressed it to her lips, softly sensually kissing his palm and then pulling his thumb into her mouth, he growled and took her lower lip between his fingers and drew her face to his. His blue eyes were sparkling with humor and excitement. Junie realized instantly that kissing Bob was infinitely different than kissing Donna. He was not patient. His mouth took hers and demanded a response, overpowering her senses, taking her breath away.

When he let her up, she was intensely aware of her heart racing. She put a shaky hand to her lips. She saw Donna looking at them in the rearview mirror and she smiled a shaky smile. Donna smiled back, a warm encouraging smile. "He can be pretty intense sometimes."

Bob had one arm wrapped up around her, holding her firmly against him, his hand gently stroking the inside of her arm, the backs of his fingers rubbing up and down along the side of her breast through her dress. Junie could feel her nipples tightening at the sensation of his fingers on her skin and the telltale touches against her. Bob's voice rumbled softly in her ear. "Is it okay for me to hold you and touch you like this?"

Junie felt a shiver shake her and she whispered, "Yes, Sir."

"Do you like how it feels?"

"Oh yes."

Bob held her close and did not stop the soft touches on her arm and the edge of her breast as the world slid by. Junie could feel her body slowly softening and relaxing against his warmth, waves of sleepiness slid over her. She stifled a tiny yawn.

"Are you sleepy, Junie?"

"I am sorry, Sir. I did not sleep at all last night. I was too frightened and then too excited about seeing you. I guess all the emotions kind of kept me on edge and at the same time wore me out."

Bob continued to stroke her arm, tracing lazy circles on her skin. "If you are tired, close your eyes. Let yourself float. If you fall asleep, it will be okay."

Junie yawned again and stifled a tiny giggle behind her small hand. Her eyes were heavy and blinking softly. She could feel what seemed like years worth of tension slowly loosening, easing. As her eyes drifted shut, she thought to herself of how rigidly controlled she had held herself, never letting herself truly relax. To let go of the control would have let the loneliness pull her under. She would have sunk below the waves of despair. It felt so good to finally let go of it.

A deep shuddering sigh shook her. Bob made a deep approving murmur and laid his lips on her hair. She had no sense of the passage of time. Junie did not move until Donna called softly from the front seat, "Wake up, sleepy heads. We are almost home."

Junie sat up and looked out the window as they drove down a long, narrow, gravel driveway. Firs and cedars loomed tall on either side of the road. Junie looked out into the rich, green, moss covered ground and tree trunks. The dim, green depths of the forest seemed mystical, almost a temple. She craned her neck, trying to look up, to see the tops of the trees. "The trees are so tall." Her voice was small and awestruck. "They are second growth, but many of them are almost a hundred and fifty-years-old. This area was logged a long time ago." Bob sounded proud and protective.

"Are they yours, Sir?" Bob had an almost shocked tone. "Mine? How can a man own something eternal? I am their shepherd. I am their servant and their worshiper. I count myself lucky to be a part of their existence."

Junie looked at him, her head tipped to one side. "You love them."

"More than you could imagine. They have old souls. If you listen, they have a lot to say."

"You will have to teach me how to hear them, Sir."

The car broke free of the deep green corridor. The afternoon sun shone across a wide blue lake, lighting up an expanse of green lawn. A wide, low, stone house and a second, shingled, barn sized building behind it, dominated the clearing. There was a riot of color from the flowers that seemed to overflow around all the buildings and walkways.

Junie was transfixed by at the idyllic scene of light and color. She exclaimed softly. "Oh! Oh, the pictures you sent, the ones with the puppies, did not do it half justice. It's so perfect."

Donna drove around to the back of the larger shingled barn and pulled in after the automatic garage door opened. Junie could hear the loud excited barking of dogs. Bob laughed, "The kids are eager to say hello to their new friend. Let's get out and say hi to them, and then take a walk around the place. I want to show you around."

As they got out of the car, the sound of barking instantly silenced. Bob waved his hand around, "This is the garage. I have my workshop out here and the dog's kennel is over on that side. We keep them in there when we aren't home." Junie looked around at the space, inhaling the rich scents of sawdust and dog food. Tall shelves stretched along one wall and neatly labeled boxes were neatly arranged along them. In the workshop she could see the tools carefully hung on racks. The whole garage was meticulously clean and organized. Junie smiled. This was exactly how she liked things.

Bob opened a door and four big Golden Retrievers burst through. Bob spoke a single word and all four sat instantly and looked at him, clearly excited to meet Donna and this new person, and yet trembling with eagerness to obey. "Just stand still, Junie. Don't look at them. Don't pet them. Act like they are not there. They will come up and smell you. When we walk around, just walk through them. They will have to move out of your way. This way they will learn you are not going to let them push you around."

"Yes, Sir."

Bob told the dogs, "Okay, go see her." All four dogs leaped up and crowded around her, sniffing her hands and legs. When one particularly curious cold wet nose poked her between her legs, she jumped and giggled. Bob barked out, "Bump, No! Junie, if he does that to you again, just tell him, "No!" And push him out of the way. "He is our baby and still learning some of the finer points of good manners." He introduced the dogs. "Sunny, Honey, Maddy, and Bump, they are our kids. You will soon learn how to order them around. They are pretty well behaved. I don't tolerate spoiled dogs."

Donna laughed. "Spoiled dogs or women."

Bob raised his eyebrows. "Don't you start acting sassy." He spoke to Junie. His voice was amused, but there was a hint of steel underneath. "I would not be surprised if she doesn't get a little feisty for a while, trying to show off for you." He turned his attention back to the dogs. "For now, don't pet them, don't throw anything for them, and don't give them any treats."

"Yes, Sir."

"Come on let's look at the yard. I want to show off my garden."