Savior Ch. 27

I heard the soft rap on the trailer's door. "Hanna?" Patrick's voice asked from outside.

I rose from the couch and opened door. "Patrick?" I was surprised to see him. Since I'd been here, he'd never come to Rand's trailer that I knew of. When we visited with him, Rand and I always went to his house.

"May I come in?"

I stepped aside. "Rand is at Doonz. He said he'd be back in a couple of hours. I think they're discussing the race and the thing with the Orcas. You want to sit down?"

"That's okay. I'm actually here to see you," he said, making no move to sit.

"Oh? Why?" He swallowed hard and his eyes were sad. "Patrick? What's wrong?"

"Carl just called me. He said Garrett is really sick. He wants you to come to Eugene to take care of him," he said softly as my heart nearly seized in my chest. "He said for you to meet him at some Italian place you and he liked. He said if you weren't there by eight, he was leaving Garrett on his own while he took care of some business."

I stared at him as my heart pounded. "I have to go," I said as I stepped around him and headed for the bedroom

"Hanna! Remember what happened the last time!" he said as he followed me.

"I remember, but he will leave Garrett alone. He's done it before. Garrett's only five. He can't stay by himself, and for how long? An hour? A day? A week?" I pulled my small, battered suitcase from the tiny closet and threw it on the bed.

"Hanna, I'm begging you! Don't go! It's a trap and you know it! What if he beats you again?"

I tossed my underwear into the bag and then looked up, holding his gaze. "Then he beats me. I won't give him a reason to this time. Maybe he'll start to trust me, and after a while I can sneak away again," I said as I pulled my few shirts and pants from the hangers in the closet. I still had a change of clothes at the laundry, but there was nothing I could do about those.

"Why don't you wait until Rand gets here. I'm sure between the three of us we can figure out something better than you walking into the lion's den," he said as I continued stuffing clothes into the bag, not bothering to fold them. "Please, just wait, okay?"

"Rand won't be back until seven, maybe later. That won't leave me enough time to get there."

"We could call him. He'll come back and we can talk about this."

"Why did you tell me, then?" I asked as I stuffed the last of my clothes into the bag and zipped it shut.

"Because you're his mother, and you deserve to know, but I don't want you doing something stupid."

"I have to, Patrick. Garrett was sick when I saw him, and Carl probably didn't take him to a doctor because he can't be bothered with stuff like that, and doesn't care. Taking care of Garrett was always my job. I have to go. He was coughing and wheezing when I saw him last... and I'll do whatever it takes to get him to the doctor before whatever he has turns into something even worse. If that means I have to take a beating for it to happen, then that's a price I'm willing to pay."

He followed me out of the room. "I know. It's what any mother would do, but there has to be another way. Do you know where he lives?"

"Carl?" I shook my head. "No, not since I moved out."

"What if I follow you? He hasn't seen me. He'll never know. I could follow you to where you go, and then I can either call Rand or the cops."

I thought about it, desperately looking for an angle, but finally rejected the idea. "He's not stupid. He'll be watching, just like the last time. If he sees someone pull in right behind me, and then follow me out again, he'll know."

"Okay then, what's the name of the place? Tell me where it is, and I'll get there first."

"Little Italy, but no. He got your number somehow, so he may know who you are. I not willing to risk it, not with Garrett sick."

"My number isn't hard to find. It's listed as my business number." He paused, taking my free hand and holding it in both of his. "Hanna, please don't do this. If something were to happen to you, I'd never forgive myself."

"I know you want to help, and I appreciate it, I really do. I'll go and play nice until I can get Garrett to a doctor. After that..." I shrugged. "After that, as soon as I get a chance, I'll take Garrett and try to get away again. He can't watch me twenty-four seven."

He looked at me helplessly then reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell, and pressed the phone into my hand. "Take this. The code is 72, 87, 425."

"Seven, two..." I began, the rest of the number already forgotten.

"72, 87, 425. It spells Patrick."

"Patrick. Okay."

"Call Rand as soon as you can and tell us where you are. Rand and I'll come get you and Garrett." He pulled me into a hug, being careful of my still slightly sore ribs. "Good luck, Hanna."

I dropped my bag to the floor and wrapped my arms around him. "Thank you, Patrick, for all you've done for me. I hope to see you again, soon. And tell Rand... tell him I said thank you and that I... that I'll be thinking of him."

"I will. Keep yourself safe and get back here as soon as you can."

I picked up my small bag, grabbed my purse, and took a step to the door before a realization dawned on me. I stood, staring at the door, trying to think of a way out, but there was no way. Fighting tears, I turned back to Patrick.

"I'm sorry," I said softly, unable to meet his gaze, "but can I borrow a few dollars. I don't need much. Maybe... twenty? I don't have any money for gas... and..." I whimpered, crushed with shame. He said nothing, pulled out his wallet, and extracted five twenties, paused, then pulled out two more, a ten and a five before holding the money out to me. "No," gasped, still struggling to hold my tears. "That's too much. I just need gas money, and—"

"Take it," he said softly. "You may need it... for Garrett. I wish had more with me to give you."

I whimpered, sniffed, whimpered again, and took the money slowly, my hand quivering slightly. "I'll pay you back, every penny, I promise," I gasped as I shoved the money into my pocket.

"Don't worry about that right now."

I nodded, unable to find my voice, and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. "I'm sorry."

"Just come back, and we'll call it even."

I nodded again. I didn't want to go, but I couldn't stay, and I hoped one day I'd be able to repay these kind men for all they'd done for me.

"I'll try," I whispered before I turned to the door.

My Bug was parked next to his truck, and he walked with me in silence to his house. There was nothing left to say. He opened my door for me, and I was thankful he didn't ask me to stay again. I threw my bag into the back seat and dropped behind the wheel. He shut the door behind me, and I rolled down the window.

"Thank you, Patrick, for everything. No matter what happens, I'll never forget you."

"You come back, you hear me?"

I nodded. "If I can."

"Be careful, and call Rand when you can. We'll be there before you can hang up the phone."

I nodded again. "I will."

I started my car, and backed away, rolling up my window as I did. Before I turned out of the yard, I glanced at the rearview mirror. Patrick was standing where I'd left him, watching. Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself and turned onto the road, heading for Eugene.

The drive to Eugene was uneventful. My Bug purred happily along the road, but I was anything but happy. I stopped and filled the car with gas, and was almost halfway to Eugene when Patrick's phone rang. I picked the phone up to see Rand's smiling face on the screen. I debated not answering the call, but I couldn't do that to him.

"Hi."

"Hanna! Where are you? Stop wherever you are, and I'll come get you."

"I can't."

"You can. Don't do this. I don't want you anywhere around that asshole. We can figure something else out."

"I have to."

"I know, but we can figure something out together. Just tell me where you are and I'll come to you."

"I'm about ten minutes east of Mapleton, but I'm not stopping. I have to keep going to get to Eugene before eight."

"Okay... don't stop then, but I'm leaving now."

"Rand, don't, please."

"Little Italy, right? I can be there in ninety minutes. Just stall him for a few minutes."

I shook my head. It was a solid two-hour drive from Bayport to Eugene. Even if Rand could somehow manage to shave thirty minutes off the drive, which I doubted, I knew Carl would recognize I was trying to stall him. With Garrett sick, I couldn't risk spooking him. I couldn't risk doing anything until I found out Garrett was okay.

"No. I'll call you if I can, but let me do this."

"Hanna... you know what he's capable of. He could seriously injure you... or worse. What good will you be to Garrett then?"

"And if I don't, Garrett will pay the price. I can't risk that. If something happened to him, because of me, I couldn't live with that."

Rand was quiet for a long moment. "Okay. I'm coming anyway, so I'll be close if you need me."

"No. Please don't. If Carl sees you he'll think I set him up. Just... be ready. I'll contact you as soon as I can, I promise."

He was quiet for another long moment. "I don't like this."

"Me either, but so long as Carl has Garrett, I have to do what he says. Please, don't do anything that will cause him to hurt Garrett... or me."

There was another long pause. "Okay, but the minute you can, you call me."

"I will."

"And Hanna..."

"What?" I asked when he didn't continue.

"I want you to come back here, to come back to me. I want you to know I'm here when you need me. You don't have to do anything heroic, okay? Just go along with whatever he wants until I can get you out of there. You and Garrett both."

I nodded, chewing on my bottom lip. It was the first solid indication he'd given me that I was more than a charity case for him. "I will."

"Be careful, and take care of Garrett."

"I will... and Rand?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome, but what I really want is you to come tell me that in person."

"I will, if I can."

"See that you do."

"I'll try. I'll try as hard as I can."

"That's all any of us can do. Take care of yourself... and I'll be seeing you."

"Okay. Bye."

I hung up the phone and wiped my eyes. "Dammit," I muttered as the road blurred again. I sniffed and wiped my eyes a second time.

I pulled into the parking lot of Little Italy, a small cozy place that Carl and I visited in happier times. There were only a few cars in the parking lot, and no motorcycles. I pulled into a parking place, switched off the car, and picked up Patrick's phone. I slowly entered the code, having to enter the numbers by looking at the corresponding letters, but as soon as I got the phone unlocked, I called Carl's number.

"I'm here," I said the moment the phone stopped ringing.

"Yeah, I see. About fucking time. Next, go to store where you worked. I'll be watching."

"Nobody followed—" I began, wanting to stop the stupid games, but he'd hung up. "You fuck!" I snarled at the phone.

My lips thinned in annoyance, I started my car. The Safeway was on the opposite side of Eugene from where I was. I worked my way across town, and I'd just turned into the Safeway's parking lot when the phone rang. I picked it up.

"Can we please stop all—" I began.

"Don't stop. Go to the church across the street from where Garrett was born."

"Carl, dammit, just tell—!" but again, he was gone.

"Fuck!" I snarled.

I turned around in the parking lot and began retracing my path. I didn't know what church he was talking about, but twenty minutes later I pulled into Lutheran church across the street from McKenzie-Willamette. I'd driven all the way around the hospital, and this was the only church. The lot was empty, and I pulled into the first parking space. I'd just picked up the phone when I heard a Harley approaching on the street. A moment later Carl rolled to a stop beside my car.

"I see you got the window fixed," he sneered as I rolled the glass down. "Phone."

"Fuck you. The last time you threw it away."

"Fine. See you around."

"Wait!"

I picked up the phone and handed it to him. He glanced at it.

"You've upgraded." He turned it off. "This one, I think I'll keep. Follow me. If you don't keep up, that's on you," he growled before he pulled smartly away.

I had to wring my little car's neck to keep up, not to mention running a red light and blowing a stop sign, but he eventually turned into a rundown apartment complex behind the True Value distribution center. It wasn't the worst part of Eugene, but it was far from the best, the area littered with fast food, light industrial, and commercial operations.

The apartments were older, the half-shingled sides of the two-story buildings were greyed with age, the paint was peeling, and the entire complex desperately needed updating. He pulled to a stop in front of a unit with a faded, deep purple door that may have been maroon once. My many-colored Bug blending right in with the wildly painted doors of the apartments. Taking my bag, I followed him up the concrete steps with the rusted white handrails before stopped at an apartment with a deep red door. Carl inserted his key, and the moment the door opened, I rushed inside.

"Garrett?" I called, dropping my purse into the closest chair. "Where are you, Punkin?"

The apartment was a sty, smelling of takeout, beer, cigarettes, and something else unidentifiable. I was so focused on finding Garrett I didn't notice the thin, worn carpet, the dirty vinyl flooring in the kitchen and bath, the stained, dirty, and scarred fixtures and appliances, or the smoke yellowed ceilings. I hurried to the bedrooms, looking in the first, then the second, before rushing in to hold Garrett.

He was laying on his bed, his eyes half closed while watching monster trucks roaring around on the television. I swooped him from his bed into my arms and held him tight. He was clammy and not as feverish as he was in Mapleton a few days earlier, but his wheezing was much, much worse.

"Mommy!" he said as I held him, but I could instantly tell he felt terrible.

"How do you feel?"

"Okay."

"Really?"

He nodded slowly as he held me. "Carl, we have to get him to the doctor. You hear that wheeze? That's not good."

"We're not taking him to the doctor tonight because it's too late and I have things to do. I have some stuff over there," Carl said motioning at the bottles sitting on the dresser. "Where're your keys?"

"My what?"

"Your car keys. Where are they?"

"In my purse, why?"

"If you think I'm leaving you here with a car, you're crazy." He left the room and returned a moment later with my purse. He dumped the contents into Garrett's bed. He picked up my keys and dropped them into his pocket, leaving the rest in a pile. "As soon as Kat gets here, I'm going out but first..."

"What?" I asked as he pulled Patrick's phone from his pocket and held it out to me.

"Call lover boy and tell him you've decided to stay, and you don't want him to come for you or to contact you again. Put it on speaker so I can hear." I took the phone, and began to slowly type the code. "Stop fucking around and unlock the Goddammed phone!" he snarled after the third time I failed to unlock it.

"Just give me a minute. I have to try to remember the code."

I carefully typed the number again, and this time it unlocked. Swallowing hard, I called Rand.

"Thank God! Where are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm with Carl," I said.

There was a long pause. "So you decided to go back to him, even after what we talked about?"

"Yes. I've... decided to stay. I don't want you to come for me, and I don't want you trying to contact me."

There was another long pause. "You've decided to stay with him?"

"Yes," I murmured

"You're sure that's what you want?"

Rand sounded different, his voice hard, all the warmth normally in his voice missing, and I prayed he was pretending for Carl's sake, but I couldn't be sure. "Yes," I whispered. "I'm staying for Garrett."

"So you were just using me to get Garrett back?"

I looked up at Carl and he nodded firmly. "Yes," I murmured, hoping, praying that Rand and I were playing a part.

"Fine. Enjoy your fucking life," he growled, his voice hard, then he was gone.

I blubbered once, terrified that Rand didn't realize that Carl was standing right beside me and I couldn't speak freely. He took the phone from my hand.

"I did what you said. Tomorrow, we'll take Garrett to the doctor? Promise me," I said.

He smiled, clearly pleased with how the phone call had gone. "If I have time. Clean this place up while I'm out."

"Okay," I murmured as I began piling my stuff back into my purse. My items returned to my purse, I placed my bag on the floor beside the bed and laid down, pulling Garrett in close.

"Mommy?"

"I'm right here, Punkin," I whispered.

He coughed, a hard, wet, rasping cough that made my chest hurt. "I don't feel good."

"I know, Punkin, but Mommy is here and we're going to make you feel better, okay?"

"Okay. Are you going to stay?"

"Yes, Punkin. Mommy going to stay this time."

He nodded. "I'm glad. I love you, Mommy," he said as he began to cough again.

I held him tight, my little angel, and I was never going to lose him again. I turned the television off. "I love you too, Punkin. Go to sleep now, okay? It'll help make you feel better. Mommy's going to stay right here."

He snuggled in close to me, and soon his breathing became deeper and more regular, and I chewed my bottom lip as I listened to his wheeze. I was still holding him when I heard a hard rap on the door, and then the door opened.

"What are you doing here?" Carl asked.

"Did you think I was going to sit around, bored off my ass, babysitting your kid?" a female voice said. "Fuck that. Bull and me, we're going to have us a little party while you're gone, ain't that right stud?"

"You know it, baby," a deep voice replied.

"Where's the kid?" the woman's voice asked.

"In his room, with his mother."

"What the fuck, Bee? If she's here, why am I?"

"Because I didn't know if she'd come, and besides, I need someone to watch her to keep her from leaving."

"Fuck that!" the woman said.

"Look," Carl said, "I don't care what you do while I'm gone. I've got her keys, so she can't go anywhere. Get her to join in and have a threesome for all I care, but just, I don't know, drag the mattress into the living room... or fuck on the couch, or something. I've got to go. I've got a meeting with Viper on this Bayport deal."

"Jesus fucking Christ," Bull growled. "If she were my old lady she'd do what she was told." There was a brief pause. "Okay, fine. Get the fuck out of here. Kat and I have some fucking to do." The woman squealed and then giggled.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours."

"Maybe we'll be done by then," Bull rumbled before the door opened and closed again. A moment later the woman appeared in the door. She was dressed for sex, but had obviously been ridden hard and put away wet many times.

"You're a lot of trouble, you know that?" My response was my middle finger. "Bitch," the woman muttered as she turned away.

I closed my eyes as I heard thumps and bumps from the other bedroom before there was a moment of quiet. Not long after, Kat was loudly begging Bull to 'fuck her tight little pussy with his big, hard cock' while he snarled and grunted how she was having to 'take that big fucking cock,' and how he was going to 'wreck that fucking pussy.' I silently ground my teeth with their over-the-top cries from the living room, pulling Garrett tighter into me while hoping they didn't wake him. They were being obnoxiously loud, clearly trying to either impress or annoy me, or to wake Garrett. I lay still, holding Garrett tight, hoping karma would cause those two assholes to give each other a really nasty STD.