The Trip Ch. 07

Chloe Adams was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming where she lived with her family until she turned eighteen. She was the youngest and only daughter of her parents' five children. Her family owned a well respected farm in the valley and daily life for her was not unlike that of a ranch hand on any other farm in the country.

Growing up with four brothers had its share of difficulties for Chloe. She spent half her time rough and tumbling with her brothers on the farm, and the other half learning to be a domesticate with her mother in the kitchen. She had a hard time deciding which type of woman she wanted to be, so she did her best to be a bit of both.

Around the age of seven, Chloe started having a problem with night terrors. She would often wake up in the middle of the night screaming, her body and bed soaked with sweat. Her dreams would be horrific, almost paralyzing some nights. So much, in fact, that she was too frightened to go back to sleep a lot of the time. She would spend her waking hours keeping herself busy trying not to think that the glorious days would soon turn to night and she would have to endure that unspeakable hell all over again.

Her parents had taken her to various psychologists to try and figure out what was causing Chloe's terrible dreams and what could be done to cease them. No one could really get a handle on what was going on. Having grown up on a farm, her father was convinced that it may have been traumatizing for her to see animals slaughtered on a regular basis. Maybe the sight of it all left her uneasy around the farm and they wondered if it would be something she would ever outgrow. Adults speculated about the origin of Chloe's dreams for years, but Chloe knew what had started them all and it was a secret she would take to her grave.

When Chloe was seven she was out in their thirty acres of back yard going through the rows of corn picking some for dinner. She was just heading out of the field when the sound of a woman yelling caught her attention. She turned her sights over to the Webber farm just across the field and over the barbed wire fence. Mr. Webber was dragging Mrs. Webber out of the house by her arm and pulling her along the ground toward the chicken coop in their back yard. Mrs. Webber was screaming and kicking wildly as her legs made trail marks in the bare dirt outlining their house. Mr. Webber had dragged her out of sight around the house. Chloe blinked hard and her heart raced. She had no idea what was going on. Were they playing a game? If so, Mrs. Webber didn't look like she was having much fun at all.

The Webber couple were known for their violent outbursts in the community. Mr. Webber was a raging drunk who would frequently come home late at night intoxicated. The constant fighting and yelling coming from their farm was pretty much routine for anyone who lived within a twenty mile radius. Police officers were called to their residence so regularly, it was almost a daily occurrence.

The two had disappeared around the house when Chloe heard a loud thud and suddenly Mrs. Webber was quiet. She stood and waited for a few minutes only to see Mr. Webber return to the front of his house, his clothes splattered with blood and a bloodied axe in his hand. Chloe's eyes widened and she dropped her bucket of corn. The sudden sound made Mr. Webber glance out into the field for its source. Luckily, Chloe was still short enough to be hidden by the tall grass and corn stalks. She ducked underneath the brush and watched as Mr. Webber closed in on her location.

"Who's there!?" He yelled. He began swinging his axe in the brush trying to get a clear view of what may have been hiding.

"Who's there!?" He yelled over an over again. It seemed like an eternity that Chloe sat in the brush waiting for Mr. Webber to be satisfied that no one was there. Just then, a jack rabbit jumped out of the brush and hopped past Mr. Webber. The fear on his face diminished as he took one more check in the brush with his axe. He finally turned back toward the house.

"God damn rabbits!" He screamed. Chloe watched as he quickly walked into his house and let the screen door shut behind him.

It wasn't until months later did the authorities ever find out what had happened to Patricia Webber. Chloe recalled the whole scene with the police cars and Mr. Webber being carted off to jail. It took investigators less than a week to dig up all the remains of Frank Webber's wife. And even though he was being punished for his crime, the damage was still done. From the day that Chloe saw the murder of Patricia Webber, her nightmares had begun.

As the years went on, her nightmares became fewer and farther between until they all but disappeared, but even now, Chloe had never really forgotten the dramatic effect of that horrific day and those terrifying nights.

She grew up, moved out further west and tried to start a new life away from the farm that harvested not only food, but a lifetime of horrible memories.

***

Chloe found herself in L.A. trying to forge a life in the huge and unfamiliar city. She had already come to terms with her sexuality in high school and by the time she made it to California, was extremely comfortable with the idea that she preferred women to men.

Chloe first met Rachael at a mutual friend's birthday party. Rachael Brown was notoriously known as being one of the elite lesbian community's playgirls. Anyone who left a party with her knew exactly what they were getting in to. Rachael Brown was a very attractive and an irresistibly seductive woman and any woman (or man, although futile) would give anything to be with her. She was the oldest daughter of wealthy entrepreneur Maxwell Brown, owner of Brown Industries, an architectural conglomerate known throughout the western states. The company was known for designing some of the most elaborate, modern-day and technologically unique buildings in the country.

Being the first daughter of the Brown clan, Rachael was lavished with every possible thing her heart ever desired. Her father taught her the virtues of hard work, and she held that close to her heart, but she was indeed a rich party girl and she easily lived up to her reputation.

One evening Rachael was attending a swanky birthday bash being thrown by one of her wealthy friends when a beautiful young woman with long brown hair and stunning blue eyes walked in and immediately caught Rachael's attention. The young lady saw Rachael and smiled. The attraction was instant and magnetic. Rachael had to get to know her.

Chloe wore a very well fitting red strapless dress and three-inch heels to match. She was carrying a matching red, satin purse tightly clutched in both hands in front of her. Chloe had spent much of the night mingling with the other guests and quietly watching Rachael Brown. Everyone watched Rachael Brown, but Chloe stood out to Rachael and Chloe knew that Rachael was watching her too.

Eventually, she smoothly glided over to Rachael to introduce herself when she was rudely interrupted by another woman who arrogantly dismissed and ignored Chloe's attempt to talk to Rachael first.

Undeterred, Chloe placed a small, yellow napkin into Rachael's vest jacket and walked away. Rachael reached in her pocket to find a name and phone number printed on it. In true Rachael Brown form, she quickly dismissed the unlucky woman talking to her and quickly plucked Chloe out of the crowd.

When Rachael brought Chloe back to her place, she had every intention of seducing her. Rachael had always been a mistress of conquests. She rarely ever kept a lover more than a night or two, and in her eyes, Chloe was no different.

No sooner had they entered her apartment than Rachael pushed Chloe up against the wall and kissed her fiercely. Chloe's purse strap still clung to her fingers as she tried to shake her hand loose from its binding. Rachael was busy running her hands up Chloe's dress fondling the quickly stiffening nub beneath her cotton panties. Her hands finally free, Chloe responded in turn kissing Rachael back and running her hands up the underside of her blouse.

Rachael released Chloe from her invasive kiss, lifted the bottom half of her dress and angrily yanked her panties from her body. With Chloe's sex completely exposed, Rachael quickly burrowed her head beneath Chloe's dress. She gasped and let her body fall back against the wall in the wake of Rachael's tongue devouring her pussy from stem to stern. Chloe lifted her leg and rested it on Rachael's shoulder, looking for some form of support to keep her from collapsing to the floor below.

Chloe reluctantly tore Rachael's lips from her body and gasped again when the heat from Rachael's warm mouth was gone. Rachael stood up and locked her mouth on Chloe's again, letting her taste herself on Rachael's lips.

Rachael pulled Chloe backward with her and they both collapsed on the couch behind them. Chloe fell on top of Rachael, their lips still locked in an intense tango. Rachael began unbuttoning her own blouse and Chloe's hands found their way inside her partially opened shirt and underneath her bra. She teased her nipple as Rachael squealed from the intense sensation of Chloe fondling her body--

And just as suddenly as it all began -- it ended.

Chloe lifted herself off of Rachael's body, stood up and attempted to straighten her clothes. Her hair was in disarray and her face flushed.

"What are you doing?" Rachael asked, her body still writhing on the couch below.

"Nothing." Chloe said pulling her hair back in a large bun behind her head.

Rachael let her forehead rest on the back of the couch and let out a sigh of pure frustration.

"Are we going to do this or not?" She almost yelled as she sat there, with her blouse completely unbuttoned, exposing her full, voluptuous, heaving cleavage barely being contained by the black lace bra covering them.

Chloe smiled and sat back down on the couch next to her. She leaned in and carelessly pushed Rachael to her back on the couch. She straddled her at the waist and held Rachael's hands tightly above her head. Rachael's breathing became erratic. The sexual excitement rose ten-fold in Rachael's body and her wanting hips began to move beneath Chloe in response.

Chloe lay her body square on top of Rachael's as their lips closed in to connect. Chloe brushed her lips softly along the outline of Rachael's sending a shiver down her spine. She slowly ran her lips along the underside of Rachael's chin and back up the lines of the side of her face, stopping at her right ear. Chloe flicked her lobe with her tongue and whispered in her ear:

"Not."

Rachael's closed brown eyes suddenly shot open as she stared into Chloe's baby blues. Chloe smiled, kissed Rachael on the forehead and released the grip she had on her hands.

"What the fuck do you mean, NOT?" Rachael sat up as Chloe stood up off the couch.

"What exactly don't you understand?" Chloe said nonchalantly and straightening her dress again in the process. "Your reputation precedes you Ms. Brown, and if you want to be with me, you're going to have to work a hell of a lot harder than that."

With that, she grabbed her jacket and purse and headed toward the front door of Rachael's apartment. Rachael sat there wide-eyed and horny as hell trying to figure out what in the world had just happened. Nobody -- NOBODY turned down Rachael Brown. What the fuck was this woman thinking?

Just as Chloe was shutting the door behind her, she looked back at Rachael's stunned face.

"You have my number," she said and she quietly closed the door behind her.

Rachael lay on her couch irrevocably aroused and uncontrollably angry. She quickly got up, went through her mental rolodex of play things and within an hour had a replacement to help her with what she needed.

Still.

Chloe Adams had made a lasting impression. No one had ever been bold enough to walk away from her before. Didn't Chloe know who she was? She was Rachael Erin Brown, Goddammit! Chloe wasn't "important". She came from a poor family and she didn't really have much of an educational background. She was a NOBODY.

But still.

A few days had passed and Rachael's curiosity finally got the better of her. She picked up her cell phone, grabbed the folded up napkin lying on her nightstand with Chloe's number on it and dialed.

From that day on, Rachael never went another day without the beautiful and spunky Chloe Adams in her life.

***

Chloe exited her school's building around 9:30 that night, much later than the rest of her classmates. She frequently stayed after with the professor to go over missed answers on a test or to discuss future assignments. Tonight was no different. She was parked in the vast student parking lot by the wooded area off the highway next to the school.

As she walked out onto the walkway ramp to cross from the school grounds to the student/faculty parking lot, she noticed there were only two other cars in the lot besides her own. The driver in one car had just turned on his headlights and was getting ready to pull off.

No sooner had the car cleared the parking lot, then a black gloved hand reached in front of her and covered her mouth muffling her scream.

"Chloe, Chloe, Chloe. Long time no see," the scraggly voice from behind muttered.

Chloe immediately recognized the voice and the fear ripped through her like a hurricane. It was Ellis Richards.

Chloe struggled to break free from Ellis's hold, but the harder she fought the tighter his grip on her body. By the time she stopped her struggles, Ellis's grip on her was so tight she felt dizzy and she had bent at the waist, half lowered to the ground. Her muffled screams began to subside and fade into tears.

"Shhhhh", Ellis consoled. 'Don't move. Don't scream." He said in a gruff whisper. "Cooperate and you won't get hurt." He said placing his serrated Leatherman at her throat with his other hand.

Chloe felt the coolness of the blade on her warm skin and blinked hard. She tried her best to compose herself, but in the face of what she was going through, he may as well have asked her to walk on water. She closed her eyes hard and tried to inhale deeply under Ellis's leather gloved hand that was still covering her mouth.

"Where is she?" The voice came from behind her in a whisper. Ellis lowered his hand from her mouth and wrapped it around her neck. Chloe gasped in response.

Chloe closed her eyes and tried to convince herself that this wasn't happening. She was having a nightmare like she used to when she was a child and she would soon awake to Rachael's warm skin and soft kisses.

"San Francisco."

"Where!?"

"I don't know. She went up there to find some lawyer," she said crying.

"I can't remember his name. Eric something...Jeffries! Eric Jeffries!" The blade of the knife was already piercing her flesh and warm trickles of blood ran down her neck.

"Good girl", came the hoarse whisper from behind her. He took his hand and covered her mouth again. Chloe's eyes quickly flooded with tears. She held her breath and closed her eyes tight, she knew right well what was going to happen next.

Ellis yanked his knife hand hard against her throat and her stiff body suddenly went limp. Ellis let her body slump to the ground as he cleaned it on his jacket sleeve and ran into the woods behind the school.

Chloe Adams would never get the chance to wake up from her final nightmare.

***

Brian had just pulled up in front of his apartment when his cell phone rang. It was John McCreary, his friend and co-worker.

"Hey, asshole! I thought you were going to meet me at Marty's? I've been waiting for you for almost an hour! Where are you?"

Brian had completely forgotten -- again -- to meet with John. They were supposed to be celebrating their mutual promotion by getting shit faced at Marty's bar.

"John, I don't think I'm going to be able to make it tonight. Something's come up. Another night, okay?"

"Brian, if you don't get your ass down here to Marty's right now I'm going to go to your place and personally drag you here myself! And trust me," he added. "You don't want me to do that. No excuses! Get your ass down here! Now!"

The phone clicked and John was gone. He didn't bother waiting for a response from Brian. Brian snapped his cell phone shut and sat in his truck staring at Eric Jeffries's business card. He sighed, slipped the card in his jacket pocket and started his SUV. The more he thought about it, the more he thought a few beers weren't such a bad idea after all.

*

Twenty minutes later, Brian was just walking into Marty's when he saw John sitting at the bar ordering a round for everyone seated there. He saw Brian walk in and stood up to toast him.

Brian looked at the bartender and before he could order his drink, the bartender looked at him and smirked. "You must be Brian! We've heard a lot about you!" He said glancing at John and presenting Brian with a beer. "This one's on me!"

"Thanks!" Brian said briefly raising his glass toasting him.

"Where the hell have you been?!" John asked, clearly intoxicated. "I've been here for over an hour, you asshole!"

"I just had some things to take care of," he said taking a hard swallow of his beer.

"What kind of things would be more important than getting drunk at Marty's?" He said toasting the bartender and downing a shot of whatever was in his shot glass.

Brian appeared to be in deep thought and was quiet for a moment.

"Hey," Brian said suddenly turning to John. "You ever hear of a lawyer named Eric Jeffries?"

"No. Why?" John asked trying to choke back a beer in nearly one swallow.

"I don't know, just curious. He knows a friend of mine. I was thinking about maybe paying him a visit tomorrow."

"Wait. What was the name again?"

"Eric Jeffries." Brian repeated.

"Eric Jerfies?" John said, so drunk he was unable to pronounce the name correctly. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"You know him?" Brian asked with wide eyes.

"I know of him, but I can't remember where." John sat staring at his drink as though if he concentrated on it hard enough, it would tell him.

"Apparently he's some kind of divorce attorney. This woman I'm seeing --"

John looked up at Brian with surprise. "You're seeing someone?! How come you never told me!?" He slung his arm around Brian's neck and pounded his fist on the bar to get the bartender's attention. "Another round for my friend here. He has a new girlfriend!"

"You're drunk off your ass, let me take you home," Brian said reaching for John's arm when he suddenly jerked it away.

"No!" He yelled, trying to stand up and almost falling over. "I can take care of myshelf." He stumbled over his own feet before catching himself on Brian's shoulder.

Brian asked the bartender for the tab and he almost fell over himself when he got the bill. Brian paid with his credit card, then grabbed John's arm and his jacket from his stool and began walking him toward the door.

"Wait!" John said stopping them both in their tracks and looking shocked. "I know where I know that name! Jerfies!"

"Jeffries." Brian corrected.

"Yeah, Jerfries. He's that one lawyer that was in the news some monshs ago. I think it was for shleeping with his clients." John looked at Brian with wide eyes and his mouth open in surprise. He used his hand to cover his mouth. "He's a perv!" John said in a loud, chuckled whisper.

Brian stopped and looked at John for a moment, unsure if he should believe him or not. "John, are you sure? Do you know what you're talking about?"

"Look, I may be drunk but I'm not shtupid. I remember him," he said nodding. "My wife kept talking about she had a friend that he tried to sucker into shleeping with him. She just found another lawyer, though."

"Your wife's going to love you tonight," Brian said trying to balance John on his own two feet.