Rony often enjoyed a little pain. It provided a real separation between the times she felt nothing and the times she felt—well—something. A distinction she frequently struggled with.
This was not one of those times.
Before her sister had vanished, she'd found good sex, running, and swimming sufficient to elevate her from the void. Afterward, she discovered rough sex, backcountry Snowboarding, fighting, and other dangerous situations were even better.
She’d always stayed well away from drugs, fearing she’d end up like him. The thought prompted her to turn her head for a last glimpse of his twitching corpse but white-hot agony spiked through her skull making her vision swim.
Not good.
Rony decided she really didn’t enjoy this pain. In fact, a heavy dose of fentanyl would be welcome right about now. To take the edge off.
Alas…
Another large bubble of blood formed on her lips as a small rasp of air escaped her lungs instead of a bitter laugh.
Then the pain started to recede from her fingertips.
Contrary to cliched expectations, only glimpses of the last day flashed before her mind’s eye while she failed to draw another breath and true panic set in as the world started to shrink rapidly from the edges of her vision.
Okay, okay, I’ll do it! Anything! I’m yours! she thought desperately at the lean and graceful man looming above her, hoping he saw agreement in her eyes.
His piercing green eyes crinkled with amusement before he nodded deliberately.
Her vision narrowed to a pinprick as she drowned in the blood filling her lungs.
Everything tasted magenta for a moment, and then the pain vanished in a giddy rush of endorphins.
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24 hours earlier:
Rony tucked a hundred-dollar bill into the birthday card before slipping it into the envelope and looking up at the tall man beside her.
“Why are you even doing that?” Her neighbor Beau asked her with a small shake of his handsomely chiseled head. The young man had a chin that could make lesser girls swoon. The best part was that he seemed totally unconscious of how attractive his lean and graceful build made him.
“She used to do the same for me when I was a kid and I figured I'd pay it back. She's old and on a fixed income. She could use it.” Rony said and sealed the envelope to pass it to him.
“Seems, I don’t know, silly?” Beau said.
“You’re just cheap,” Rony laughed. “Thanks for doing this. I have a stream in five, and was unsure if I could make it to the box in time.”
Beau sighed and looked at her camera setup and pink plush bed before shaking his head. “No worries. Still want to catch a ride later?”
“Yeah, my jeep is still at Corey’s.”
“Okay, later then.” Beau nodded in parting and Rony turned to her computer and got ready for work as the door closed behind him.
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Today is the seven-year anniversary of the mysterious disappearance of Chester Stewart near Weyburn which later went on to claim a total of 13 people including five Rcmp officers and a pair of professors from the University of Saskatchewan. The radio announcer said from the small speaker taped to the dash of the late 80's pick-up truck.
“Can you please turn that off?” Rony asked and pulled the ties on her hood tighter until the faux fur lining held tight to her red cheeks.
What the hell was I thinking? she wondered as she did her best to curl into a ball on the backseat to preserve what warmth she had in the frigid truck.
“Sure.” Kyle killed the radio then glanced over his shoulder to look at Rony with a small smile before turning back to the road. “So," he dragged the word out in the now silent truck. "I was thinking. You're what we might call an expert for a very important question I stumbled upon recently.”
“Oh great, this should be good,” Beau muttered from the passenger seat. His breath misted in complimentary eddies as he spoke and he leaned forward to wipe the fog from the windshield.
Kyle gave his brother what Rony might call a mischievous smile.
“So,” he repeated. “I have it on very good authority that a close associate of mine has an obsession with a particular pornstar. In fact, I checked his history, purely out of curiosity mind you, and it’s been the same girl for going-on two years.”
“Hey!” Beau turned a bright red before punching his brother in the shoulder, hard.
Rony winced then held onto the headrest of Kyle's seat as he swerved back and forth a bit as he fought off his indignant brother.
“Hey! Hey! Stop that you two! You’re gonna kill us,” Rony protested, and with chagrin looks both settled down.
“Really Beau? Haven’t you heard of deleting your history? Or, I don’t know? Using an incognito browser?” Rony said in exasperation.
“The real question is, is it healthy?” Kyle teased.
“Don’t…” Rony warned as Beau pulled back for another punch.
Rony spent the next minute trying to calm them down before it occurred to her. "Wait. It’s not…”
“No, It’s not you,” Kyle clarified.
Rony laughed in relief then got contemplative. “Really, I think it’s kinda cute. As long as he’s not actively stalking her. But really Beau? You need to get a girlfriend.”
“That’s not it,” Beau murmured.
“What was that?” Rony asked.
“I said that’s not it.” He sounded defensive, shooting his brother a vengeful look to keep him quiet.
Kyle chuckled.
“Oh?” she prompted.
“It’s just I saw an interview with her, and she does the job because she wants to, runs her own thing. I wasn't comfortable with it before, you know? How many of those girls are forced into it? You never know,” Beau explained.
“You could always watch my stream. I manage my own stuff,” Rony teased.
Beau grimaced. “That would be just strange. I know you.”
Rony laughed. “What? You don’t think I’m attractive?”
“Yeah, no, not going there. Just no.” Beau shook his head.
Kyle studied his brother for a moment in mock thoughtfulness. “Do I detect a little crush? You’re always over at her house. Running little errands. Do you peek in her window when she’s working?” Kyle teased and backhanded his brother’s shoulder.
Beau grumbled incoherently and turned to look out the frosted passenger window.
“You know,” Rony gave Beau a deliberate once over, “you’re plenty handsome, and with your size, I'd bet you're packing. Want to make a hundred bucks tomorrow night?”
“What!?” Beau choked and turned even redder.
“Aww that's so cute,” Rony said.
Kyle chortled, barely keeping the truck straight on the road. “I think I love you.”
“I hate you both,” Beau sulked and turned to look out the window again.
“I don’t blame you for being hesitant to take her up on the offer. Who knows what she has. Am I right?”
Rony kicked his seat. “I’ll have you know I get tested weekly. I’m as clean as a whistle.”
Beau snorted and shook his head but didn’t turn from the window.
"Wait! Stop! Did ya see that?" Beau said.
"See what? I can barely see the road! Y'all need to stop breathing so much!" Kyle protested using his toque to clean his shrinking view.
"Just pull over!" Beau demanded and his brother grunted an affirmative before slamming on the brakes and rocking Rony into the suddenly tight seatbelt.
"Ass," Rony swore and kicked the back of Kyle's seat again.
He laughed and said, "hold your horses’ girly! We have plenty of time before your 'date'." The jerk made air quotes.
"Wait! Don't..." Rony didn't finish before Beau undid his seatbelt, shouldered his door open, and stepped out.
A snow-filled blast of winter air set her teeth to chattering when he left the door wide open. The two large rottweilers in their large cages started a low rumbling growl behind her that Rony could just hear over the engines. Their paws squeaked against the blue styrofoam insulation used to line their cage.
"Close the damn door!" Rony yelled at him and managed to hunker further into herself. I Should have worn some damn pants, she thought and tucked her legs under her ass. “How do you idiots not have a blanket in here?”
“Beau used the last one to clean up some blood,” Kyle explained, grinning at her in the rearview mirror.
“Savages,” Rony muttered.
"I knew it!" Beau yelled from outside. "Hey! Back up some, then help me with this!"
"Alright, alright! Don't get your panties in a twist!" Kyle yelled before dropping the truck into reverse. The tranny made the typical reverse whine as his brother guided him back. Door still wide open
Kyle stopped and jumped out leaving Rony alone in the back seat with both doors open to the winter night.
The brothers had a conversation muted by the howling wind before something thumped into the bed of the truck and the pair scampered back into the cab and finally closed the door.
"Holy balls it's nippy out," Kyle cursed but grinned at his brother.
"I know, some idiots left the doors open," Rony snarked.
"Worth it though, can't believe it was still warm in this cold," Beau said.
"What did you guys do?" Rony asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"Some idiot hit a doe. One man's trash." Beau rubbed his gloved hands together then blew into them.
"Is another man's treasure," his brother finished for him.
Rony mock-gagged. "You two really are rednecks."
The brothers looked at eachother then back to her and shrugged before grinning and saying "guilty," in unison.
Rony shook her head.
Kyle got the truck moving again.
Beau gave her a sheepish smile and a second shrug. "It's free meat. Hell, it looks like most of the damage was to her head so it should be mostly good. You should stop by after your...date. We'll be cooking up the back strap if it's not spoiled."
"I'll think about it," she muttered and began rubbing her arms to produce some heat.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
"I'll call Jordan for the tag, I'm pretty sure he's on-call tonight," Beau told his brother.
"I don't know if it's sad or impressive that you know the work schedule of our conservation officers," Rony muttered.
"Hey, it's good dog food if nothing else," Kyle protested.
A half-hour later Rony slipped her short heels back on and groused. "I can't believe I'm paying you, idiots, for this." As she handed Kyle a twenty for the ride.
"See you at the hill on Sunday?" Beau asked.
"You know it," Rony bumped his fist before she kicked the stubborn door open and made a mad dash to the front doors of the hotel.
"Enjoy your date!" Floated in behind her as she entered the lobby.
Her handbag held tight to her chest as she made for the elevator. Inside she adjusted herself and opened her thin coat to reveal the tight black dress beneath.
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"Good evening Luke," Rony gave the middle-aged man a beatific smile and held up her phone when he opened the hotel room’s door.
"Evening Foxy." Luke rested a broad shoulder against the doorframe.
"Say cheese," she joked and Luke matched her grin. Her nails clicked as she sent the man's picture to Mr. Micanlus, her former science teacher and now reluctant helper.
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Rony fumbled around under the bed, snagging her panties with a pinky before standing and smiling at her newest john. "Got 'em." She held them up with two fingers like a trophy. New was a relative term in this case; it had been a couple of months since she’d added the rakish Luke to her short client list.
“I wish I could have you all to myself,” Luke said wistfully as he watched her dress. His angular face propped up in his big hands.
Rony smiled back at him coyly, “Maybe in another life.” She wiggled her butt at him as she drew her panties on slowly.
With a grunt, Luke rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling. “You know? I think I may hold you to that."
Rony laughed and threw his pants over his head. “It’s time for me to go,” she said as she shimmied back into her sleek dress and adroitly braided her unruly black curls into a rough queue.
“Can’t you just stay the night?” he asked.
Part of Rony yearned to crawl back into his embrace but she shook her head.
“You can’t afford that,” she said, stepping into her matching heels, though it was largely a guess based on the semi-regularity of his visits.
"Sad but true," he sighed and held a hand to his heart, but nodded before Rony turned to leave.
“Until next time, handsome.” She gave him a two finger wave over her shoulder.
“Until next time, beautiful,” he muttered.
She paused to grab the envelope from the dresser and fan the hundreds inside before tucking it into her clutch and opening the door. White sand and mojitos here I come!
Maybe in another life, I would have settled down with Luke and explored the adventures of a normal life together. She laughed at the thought as she made for the elevator. She glanced back at Luke’s door before hitting the button for the lobby.
Maybe in another life, we wouldn't all be so broken. A bittersweet smile creased her lips.
In the lobby, she restarted her phone and texted Beau, 'Hey, are either of you sober enough to come get me?' before checking her other messages.
She scowled seeing one from her uncle Colin. The scowl turned to a frown when she read the contents. 'Your sister has officially been declared dead. The funeral is on Sunday at 9 am. Saint Paul's United.'
Rony swore when she found a similar text from her cousins Abby and Keith, then checked the time: 3:13 am. "That's only six hours from now. How in the hell am I going to make it in time?" she muttered to herself only to be interrupted by the chime of her phone.
Nothing from her parents as expected. The brief thought of them made her spine crawl.
'Half a 40 in,' was Beau's response and she sighed.
She tried both ridesharing companies but no one bit for fifteen minutes so she canceled the bid.
"Well, that's a no. Colin, it is," she grumbled and reluctantly dialed her uncle. There was a good chance he was working the night shift. If not, he could go blow himself.
"Haes," was his brusk answer.
"Hey, it's me," Rony said, suddenly feeling more than a little nervous. He was an RCMP officer after all.
The line remained silent for a moment. Maybe he's reading the phone? Rony thought before he answered. "Hey Ro."
Rony winced at the diminutive. "Hey…" she swallowed before continuing in a rush. "So, I just got your text… I'm stuck in the city and I'm wondering if you're still in town so I could maybe catch a ride for the funeral?"
"What happened to your Jeep?"
"It's at a friend's farm to have the transmission replaced, besides I've been drinking," the last part was a lie, she never met a client after drinking, but she didn't want to explain her night to him.
"Okay," he drew the word out with a sigh. "I'm working an accident scene near Unity but I'll see what I can do. Where are you?"
"The James."
"What are you doing there? You know what? Never mind. Hold tight and I'll get back to you." He hung up without saying goodbye and Rony took a seat in the lobby, tapping her toe against her leg as she waited fifteen minutes before she got a response.
'Davidson will pick you up in ten.'
She sent him 'thanks' then hurried into the washroom off the bar and did her best to wash away the lingering smell of sex before giving herself a single spritz of the perfume in her clutch.
She studied her alabaster reflection in the mirror for a moment, touching up the dark eyeliner that framed her smoky-blue orbs before adjusting her ample chest and forcing a smile. Luke and I have the same angular face and nose. A smile quirked the ends of her soft lips when the thought flickered through her head.
Convenient, she thought while smoothing the black dress across her flat stomach.
She wet her fingers under the tap and carefully wiped the corners of her eyes before trying on a cheerful smile.
She left the washroom with a bounce in her step.
When she returned to the lobby a female constable was talking to the concierge.
"Rony?" The officer asked, turning to her, only to freeze.
Rony nodded and cleared her throat against her sudden nerves, "yeah," she said then reminded herself to be friendly and smiled wide.
The silence drew out for an uncomfortable moment before the woman shook her head and said. "I'm Sergeant Davidson, Captain Haes said you were looking for a ride to your sister's funeral?"
"Yup," Rony agreed.
"Sorry, you just seem, I don't know, inappropriately happy?"
Rony shrugged, "I just had a very thorough dicking from a very handsome man and it's been nearly seven years since the 'incident' with my sister. You've all been real cagey about what happened, but clearly, she’s gone and not coming back. I made peace with that years ago. Maybe cagey is an understatement, but that seems par for the course with the police."
Davidson coughed and turned a bit red before saying, "Well, shall we?" She gestured towards the doors.
Rony took the lead before turning back to the constable with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm not at liberty to discuss an ongoing investigation. It’s not just your sister missing," Davidson said with an eye roll before waving toward the highway patrol SUV waiting out front.
Rony shrugged. "Can't blame a girl for trying. So, why are you going to my sister's funeral? Hoping to get some sort of lead?"
Davidson closed her eyes and shook her head before opening the back door for Rony.
"Can't I sit upfront with you?" Rony complained.
"Sure, I just figured you might want to sleep. It is a four-hour drive and the front is a little crowded with gear."
"Oh." Davidson closed the back and opened the front for Rony, guiding her head in, before moving to the driver's side.
"So, your very handsome man couldn't drive you?" The constable asked as they pulled away from the hotel.
"He has work in the morning," Rony deflected.
"Not serious then?"
"Relatively new. You never did say why you're coming to my sister's funeral."
“I was there. When she disappeared.” Davidson explained.
“You were part of the search party for Chester?” Rony clarified.
Davidson nodded.
“Oh. Still can’t tell me, can you?”
Davidson looked pained but shook her head. “NDA.”
“I’d say I understand but I really don’t.” Rony turned and looked out the window.
Silence reigned supreme for a time.
“I have something for you. It took a lot of paperwork for them to give up this much. But it should have happened years ago,” Davidson said bitterly then dug into the space under her computer and handed Rony a tablet.
Its screen was cracked and the back was covered in stickers.
“Is this?” Rony felt her chest tighten as she traced her fingers along the all too familiar cracks and images.
“Your sister’s,” Davidson nodded. She kept her eyes on the road.
“Are?” Rony’s voice cracked.
“They’re all there. It’s charged,” the sergeant confirmed, her lips pressed into a thin line.
Rony’s hand shook as she reverently pressed the button to start the device.
There, as the desktop background, was a charcoal self-portrait of her missing sister.
“Thank you,” Rony croaked.
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"...I'll not abide my daughter being a two-bit dirty whore!" her father raged.
Rony stared at the back of her mother’s head for a long moment, the woman just sat there, watching her game show on the TV, giving no evidence she’d heard anything her so-called father had just said to her, before turning her flat gaze back on him across the small kitchen table.
She knew she should have left well enough alone but was unable to stop herself from saying, "You're the one who put those cards in my name. Ruined my credit. My chances at further education. So, I can waitress or whore, it's not a real choice with these…genetics, is it? Father…" she snarled the last word with venom while cupping her breasts.
Rony ducked the first swing, shed the second with a roll of the shoulder, but missed the third and fourth.
The next thing she knew, she was on the ground with lights dancing in her vision and the man—she had long ago stopped considering him her father—standing over her.
"You'll show me proper respect if it's the last thing you do!" Spittle flew from his lips as he yelled down at her. His nose was bright red from the bottle of whiskey he'd downed since the funeral.
"You know shit about respect," Rony spat a glob of blood in his face as she tried to scrabble backward.
The volume on the TV increased to ear-piercing levels.
He stepped forward again and threw another lightning-fast jab at her face which she took on her cheek trying and failing to get a grasp on his arm.
I shouldn't've come here. What was I thinking?
Her mind broke and, after spitting a mouthful of blood and saliva, she giggled.
It was an even bigger mistake.
The stomp to her groin took her by surprise and she gasped like a beached fish as she tried to draw a breath.
He grabbed her hair and viciously yanked her to her feet. The next meaty hit made her see red. The one after that made her vision blank.
Then all she knew was pain.
Then blessed nothing.
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Where am I? Rony wondered.
Biting all-encompassing cold seeped into her battered body and her head throbbed steadily. Her chest felt unnaturally heavy. Every breath was a desperate agony to draw through broken and shattered teeth. Something felt wrong inside.
Near her, someone muttered and it took her a while to parse what he was saying around the sharp ringing in her ears, and then a while longer to realize it was her so-called father speaking.
“It’s kinda poetic,” he muttered to himself.
It sounded like he was shoveling gravel or ice.
Rony’s consciousness floated in and out with her agony for a time.
What? Where? Rony wondered. It took all her willpower and remaining strength not to scream when she rolled over to look about. Then her vision blacked out before returning.
She lay in a graveyard. Headstones stood in neat rows all around them and her father threw soil from a nearby hole. A stack of fresh-turned earth stood next to it. A flashlight sat at the foot of the grave illuminating his head and shoulders and the gravestone beyond. A small pile of snow had already collected on the side of the pile facing her.
‘Stacey Haes, beloved daughter’ the grave read. There's no date. Rony squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as dread filled her. She knew what this was. She knew what he’d been accused of. What they'd never proven.
Move! She raged at her limbs as she fought against their broken stiffness. The idiot hadn’t even tied her up. This is your only chance! But she had no strength. Her arms did nothing but twitch as she struggled more and more for each breath as they grew shallower and wetter.
That’s when she knew.
She was dying.
Rony squeezed her eyes shut and tears of frustration and dread seeped out as she tried everything to make her body move.
All to no avail.
So much for Turks and Caicos. The thought made her want to laugh.
A while later a new sound brought her wandering thoughts into focus and she opened her eyes again.
A large shadow stood beyond the light, something large held in his big hand, watching her progenitor dig.
A desperate hope surged in Rony’s chest.
“Are you nearly done down there, friend?” An eerily familiar voice asked calmly.
Rony’s dread and confusion redoubled for an instant before her father spun in shock, bringing his gun from its holster and up as he turned with practiced ease.
He fired.
The figure clicked his tongue and stepped aside, moving well before the gun went off. The move looked fluid and Rony watched in disbelief as the man did the same for the second shot. Seeming to stutter to the side, like Neo in the Matrix, letting the second shot whiff in the other direction, while with an almost contemptuous flick of his wrist, he launched the fist-sized stone in his hand.
It hit before the bastard could take a third shot.
The former RCMP officer crumpled like the bag of refuse he was and Rony heard him twitching against the gravel below.
"I guess so," the man said dismissively.
Rony closed her eyes, overcome by the tumult of emotions that embraced her and drove the pain back for a moment.
When she opened them again and took another rasping, gurgling breath, Luke’s beautiful greens regarded her with sadness.
“Hey Foxy,” he said softly and knelt to brush a stray hair behind Rony's ear.
Luke? What?
Bubbles of blood foamed from her mouth when she tried to speak, making her choke.
Luke tisked. "What am I to do with you? How am I to keep my promises when you go and get yourself killed before I’m ready?" he asked, while continuing to rub her forehead.
He looked up into the distance for a moment before looking her in the eye again.
“There’s nothing for it, but to start early, is there Foxy? So, the question is, are you willing to be mine in your next life as you promised? Or will you inconvenience me terribly by making me break my promise to your sister?” he asked as his smile touched the corners of his eyes.
What!? My sister? she wondered as her mind and consciousness swam.
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When the girl’s chest stilled, Loki turned to the pair of foxes waiting outside the light and smiled.
He took a minute to drag Mr. Haes from his daughter's grave and staged it to look like he'd tripped and brained himself on the headstone. Using the shovel to scoop the viscera-filled soil from the bottom he placed it carefully under and behind the bastard's head. The gun he tossed a few feet away and collected the casings to scatter near the weapon.
"As promised; her essence is mine but you can have the flesh and the filth," he told the waiting foxes, indicating Mr. Haes.
"Bargain set and struck," A bellows breeze whispered in a sultry voice that caressed his ear.
"Make a mess," Loki chuckled, then snapped his fingers, and disappeared.
The scavengers descended on their feast.