Private Heroes – The Devils Breath Part 6

Rick’s POV
The date I had with Sarah was amazing, all things considered. She’s a strong, smart, funny, beautiful woman. I asked her for another date on friday and she accepted. We spent that night together and had coffee in the morning before I had to leave for work.

Me and David are driving up to the police station. I had someone from our legal council ask the judge to postpone the trial and have Tommy moved into our custody. It gives us easier access to him rather then wasting time with visitation forms. I hand the request, signed by the judge, to the chief. He groans as he reads it and heads off to get our client. He comes back and Tommy looks pale with bags under his eyes. It looks like he’s hardly slept. The chief uncuffs Tommy and pushes him towards us.

We’re taking Tommy to one of our safe houses. We’re gonna have Tyler watch over him. We also have a sketch artist ready for Tommy to describe the big guy he saw. Its not exactly cabin in the woods but its secluded. Its a small one story house with a kitchen, shower, living room and a bedroom.

Tommy drops his bag on the couch and sits with his head in his hands. Our sketch artist Mark, starts drawing as Tommy describes the big guy. Tall, about 6ft, bald, heavy set, wearing a black suit. What he says next catches my attention. He had a tattoo on his neck, of a heart with a sword going through it. Mark shows us what he’s got and I swear, if this drawing is accurate then he’s an ugly mother fucker. “Ok you did good Tommy.” I tell him. “Try and get some rest and we’ll follow up on this.”

Driving back home and I can tell David wants to say something as he has his head resting in his hand against the window. “What is it?” I ask exasperated. “We’re really doing this? Going above and beyond to help someone who’s obviously a murderer?” I shake my head and say “He wants to know what happened. So that’s what we’re gonna do. As long as we’re being paid, what’s the problem?” David laughs and says “Rick I know you better then that. You don’t think he did it.” I have to smile at his telepathy. “Too many things aren’t right. He didn’t know the victim, no clear connection between them. And he just suddenly feels the need to kill someone? And why can’t he remember? AND who’s the big guy he saw before he blacked out, why did he black out?” “Rick maybe he’s just a druggie who cant remember freaking out.” I’m getting irritated now. “Then why hire us?” I reply hotly. “Why were there no drugs in his system? It doesn’t make sense. You brought me this case, you were jumping up and down like a girl. What’s changed?” He looks at me and says “I thought it would be more fun then chasing ghosts.” I decide not to say anything else as we just keep heading to the office. I’ll have to call Jodi and tell her I wont be home tonight. We have alot of work to do.

Daniel’s POV Same time.

I can literally hear my heart pounding in my ears. The time is now. I’ve been dreading this. I’m driving to aunt Jodi’s house. Holly agreed to stay at the hotel for this, this is a family matter. I drive round the corner and the house is in sight. It’s taking all my mental strength to fight the urge to turn around and drive back. I park the car outside and walk up. I wanted to dress smartly in a black polo shirt and jeans. I walk to the door and take a few deep breathes before knocking.

The door opens and I see her. A beautiful blond haired woman dressed in jeans and a white blouse. She looks at me confused and says “Can I help you?” She doesn’t recognise me. Not surprising she hasn’t seen me in 13 years. I’m having trouble finding the words but I just say “Jodi Green?” And she nods. “My name is Daniel, can I come in?” “Um yeah sure come in?” She stands aside and lets me enter. I find the front room and take a seat on the couch. She sits in the arm chair opposite me and asks what she can do for me. I have to force the words out of my mouth. “as you can tell from my accent, I live in London. Ever been there?” Her face hardens and she says “Not for a long time now. Why?” I nod and say “There was a woman who lived there and…. She had a son. A son who you used to take to the park. Used to walk to school. Used to cook macaroni cheese for.” I tell her remembering my favourite meal. She looks confused for a moment and looks at me hard. And then she gasps. She puts her hand over her mouth and I see a tear in her eye. “Hello aunt Jodi.” I say smiling. “What are you doing here?” She says more horrified then happy. I’m more nervous now then I have been in my life. “I came all the way out here to find you. I need a place to stay and this is only place I have left.” Suddenly she shakes her head and says “no!”. My heart drops. It’s sinking and sinking like its been dropped in a bottomless pit. “What?” Is all I can say. She looks at me with a shit load of anger and shouts “No! Get out!” She grabs my arm and drags me back towards the door. I’m too shocked to argue or fight her. She opens the door and pushes me out. “Go! And tell that whore if she ever sends you to fight her battles for her again, I’ll cut her tits off.” And she slams the door.

I’m lost. I cant think. I just stare blankly at the door that was just slammed in my face. My worst fears realised. I’m alone. I cant think I just….. I dunno….. I… I don’t know what to do. I walk. Walking… Walking… Walking….

Jodi’s POV after kicking Daniel out…

THAT BITCH! THAT FUCKING WHORE! WHO THE FUCK DOES SHE THINK SHE IS!!! SENDING HER FUCKING SON TO PLAY PEACEMAKER! I think as I throw anything I can pick up. Glasses smash against the wall. I flip tables. Throw plates. Tears running down my face. I think of what that bitch did to me and scream at the top of my lungs…

Daniel’s POV

I’ve been walking for nearly an hour now. Now that I’ve had a chance to get my head straight I realise I haven’t talked to Holly yet. I call her and she has a pleasant tone as she asks me how it went. “Fucking awful!” I tell her. “She turned me away Holly. I’ve got nothing else.” I nearly shout down the phone. “Daniel come back to the hotel and we’ll talk about it.” She says sounding worried. “No! No! I’ve got nothing. I cant go home. I’m lost!”. “Daniel please come back it’ll be ok I promise just come back to me!” She says frantically. She’s about to say something else but I hang up and keep walking.

I don’t know how long I’ve been walking for but it’s dark and fucking cold. It doesn’t bother me much. Nothing does right now. There’s only one person who I want to talk to right. I call the number and pray she answers. “Daniel!?” My mom answers. “Hi mom!” I answer. “Honey what’s wrong? Are you ok?” That’s where I break. I cry down the phone and mom’s getting worried. “Daniel!? Talk me baby. What’s wrong!” But I cant answer. “Honey please you’re scaring me!” I’m not supposed to tell her where I am but it seems pointless now. “Mom I’m in Woodchip! I went to see aunt Jodi!” She doesn’t answer right away but she says “you what!” More scared then angry. “Its the only other place I had to go!” I say sniffling. “I understand baby. What happened?” She says calmly. “She turned me away! Called you a whore and told me to go away.” “SHE FUCKING WHAT!?” mom says angrily. “Baby come home. Forget that bitch! She doesn’t deserve to have you in her life.” She says angrily. “I can’t come home mom! I used all my money to get up here. I’m stuck here. I just wanted to say goodbye. I love you!” “DON’T SAY THAT!” she says angry and scared. “Baby just…” Is as far as she gets before I hang up and throw the phone away.
I tidy myself up, wipe the tears away and walk into town it’s nearly empty surprisingly. I don’t know where I’m going but I need to figure out what I’m going to do. It’s then I hear shouting. I look up and see a couple of drunken assholes outside a nightclub. I look up and see it’s called the panther. I just walk past the two drunks and keep going. I hear one of them shouting after me. I don’t look back. “Hey kid! You got a light?” One of them shouts, I ignore them. I hear them coming after me and I see one of them come into view. A tall skinny guy in a polo shirt with gel in his hair. “Hey kid. You got a light?” He asks again. I just walk past him and keep going. “Don’t turn your back on me!” He says angrily.

Then someone pushes me. I fall to the ground and the two start kicking me in. The two of them land solid kicks to the ribs and face. I taste blood. Then it all goes black.

Holly’s POV

I’ve been driving for over an hour, hoping to find Daniel. I’m really worried, when we spoke on the phone he was devastated. It sounded like he wanted to hurt himself. I just pray he wouldn’t do anything that stupid. I keep driving around looking for him. But I cant find him. We spoke about 2 hours ago. How far can someone get in 2 hours. I decide to look around town. The town is empty, good. That’ll make it easier to spot him. As I’m about to turn I see someone lying on the sidewalk, bleeding all over himself. Shit! I need to find Daniel but I can’t leave him there. I pull the car over and run to him. I turn him over and my face turns to horror as I see its daniel. There’s cuts and blood all over his face. “Daniel!” “Daniel!” I say as I try to shake him awake. He groans quietly and I breathe a sigh of relief. He’s still alive. I pull out my phone and frantically call for an ambulance.

2 hours later…

I’m sitting in a waiting room. I hope Daniel’s ok. I’m going crazy with worry when the doctor comes in and I stand. “He’s gonna be ok.” He says it and I puff out in relief. “Can I see him?” I ask. “He’s asleep right now but when he wakes up you’ll be the first person I tell. We wanna keep him here for a couple of days for observation.” The doctor says and I nod. “it would help if he had a blood relative here. Do you know of any?” My thoughts instantly go to his aunt Jodi. But I don’t know that he’d wanna see her or if she’d even bother to turn up. Heartless bitch! I shake my head no and the doctor leaves. I sit back in the chair with mh head in my hands. Please be ok Daniel.

Rick’s POV same time…

I was lucky to finish early today but Jodi hasn’t been answering her phone which worries me. As I get to the house, I see the lights are off. Which is unusual since Jodi rarely goes to bed this time. I doubt she went out. I unlock the door, walk in and I’m instantly on alert. The place is trashed. Tables flipped, broken glass, broken plates. I pull out my gun and run upstairs to search the rooms. Once I get into Jodi’s room, I see her lying on the bed crying. There’s photos all over the place of a woman who looks like Jodi, holding a baby. Other pictures of Jodi holding the same baby. She looks so happy in the pictures.

I sit on the bed next to Jodi and touch her shoulder. She quickly looks up at me and grabs me in a hug tightly. “Hey, what’s wrong?” I ask with concern. “Oh rick I did something terrible. I’m a horrible person.” I’m confused as I rub her back and say “Hey, you’re not a bad person. Tell me what’s wrong.” And she tells me. She tells me everything. I can’t believe it, I have a cousin. She tells me about how she and her sister, my aunt Jade were close. She moved to London with her father when she was young. Jodi stayed here with her mother. Jodi used to visit Jade every few months. But then they got into a bad fight years ago and they haven’t spoken since. Jodi doesn’t tell me what the fight was about but I pay little attention to that fact. “So my cousin Daniel came to visit? Where is he?” I ask and she starts crying harder. “I threw him out Rick. I got so angry and I chucked him out without even listening to him. Seeing him here brought back so many bad memories and I got so angry. I don’t know where he is.” I sigh and her Jodi. I rub her back reassuringly. “It’s ok Jodi. I’ll find him. You’re not a bad person, you just lost control of your anger.” I break our hug and make her look at me. “I’ll bring him back here and we’ll talk. As a family.” I see Jodi give a small smile at the idea and she suddenly jumps up and starts tidying up the photos. “I need this place spotless for when my nephew comes home.” She says optimistically. I smile and leave her to it. I need to search for my cousin.

Daniel’s POV at the hospital…

Fuck I hurt. I got aches and pains all over my body. I wake up with misty eyes. I’m in a hospital bed and there’s an older doctor stood beside me looking down at me. “Welcome back son! You’re a tough kid. You took a hell of a beating that would normally need surgery, but you need no stitches and there’s hardly loss of blood.” He tells me. “Great!” I say sarcastically. “So when can I leave, I got things to figure out.” The doctor looks at me as if I should be grateful I’m still alive, but alive for what? “We wanna keep you for another day for observation. When we went through your belongings we found a number and address for your aunt Jodi. We’re gonna have her come down so someone can look after you when you leave.” He says and my eyes go wide. “No!” I say sternly. “Not her!” The doctor shakes his head and says “Make no mistake your tough but you need time to recover. Which means no strenuous activity.” He says and its my turn to shake my head. “Do. Not. Call. Her. I have someone to look out for me.”

“If you’re talking to miss Blackwood, she’s out in the waiting area but we need a blood relative here. I’m sorry but the call’s already being made.”

I groan in despair and the doctor leaves me. Great! Aunt Jodi here to remind me how much she hates me and mom. I don’t know why she hates me. Probably cause I’m my mother’s son. I know they had a real bad fight but mom never told me what it was about. Every time I suggested calling aunt Jodi mum would grimace at the idea and say how we didn’t need her. All I know is that mom must have really pissed her off. Or vice versa.

I’m shaken out of my thoughts by Holly walking in. She doesn’t look happy. I sit up and before I can say any thing she slaps me across the face. It’s a good hit that hurts, it doesn’t help that it landed square on one of my bruises. “You selfish asshole. I’ve been losing my mind all night. First when you disappeared and left me. And when I was sitting in there praying you wouldn’t die.” There are tears in her eyes as she grips me in a hug and says she’s so happy im ok. I hug her back and apologise. She pulls back and looks me in the eye. “It’s gonna be ok. We’ll work this out together. You’re not alone. You have me.” She says and hugs me again.

Rick’s POV…

Jodi’s got the place cleaned up and I’ve been making calls. Lucky Katy had to work late so she can help. It ain’t easy finding someone when you can’t trace their phone or credit card. But Katy faxed me a picture of him with all his details. Suddenly the phone rings. I answer and get a shock when I hear its someone from the hospital. My confusion turns to fear and anger when they tell me that my cousin is in hospital after getting beaten up in the streets. I grab my keys and call after Jodi. “What is it?” She says. “I’ve found him.” I say it and she immediately bolts for her coat and we’re out the door in record time. On the journey up to the hospital, I tell her what happened and she gasps with her hand over her mouth.

We arrive at the hospital and she out of the car before I even have time to stop. To hell with straight parking, I stop the car and follow Jodi to the desk where she asks where Daniel Green is. As soon as we know we get to the elevator. Jodi’s so nervous that she’s pacing around the elevator. I have to hug her just to keep her still. The doors open and Jodi runs to Daniel’s room, we’re stopped by an older doctor who warns us that Daniel didn’t want to see us. I can understand his anger. I know what it’s like to feel betrayed by someone you trust. The doctor tells us to take it slow not to put Daniel under too much stress, then stands aside for us to enter.

We enter and I see my cousin for the first time in person. For someone who got beaten up in the street, he looks pretty good. There’s a bruise on his cheek and a fat lip and that’s about it. Although mentally he looks broken. Him and Jodi lock eyes and I see the anger start to rise. Jodi walks to his beside and kneels beside him. “Go.. Away!” He says with venom. “Daniel, I’m so sorry I turned you away please forgive me!” Jodi says crying. “Fuck you!” He says quietly. It’s now that I decide to talk. “Daniel?” I say and he looks at me. “I’m Rick, I’m your cousin. It’s great to finally meet you.” I say offering a handshake and he just scoffs. “Daniel, baby I’m really sorry, your welcome at my home anytime.” Says Jodi and Daniel laughs in pain. “I would rather brush a crocodile’s teeth with my penis. Get out!” He says. Jodi tries to argue but he just shouts at us to get out. I help Jodi to her feet and lead her outside. Daniel needs time to get past his anger but we’re not leaving. There’s healing to be done here.

We leave the room and Jodi immediately cries into my shoulder saying how she fucked up. I rub her back and tell her its ok, Daniel will come around. We’re interrupted by someone saying “Excuse me.” We both turn and see a young redhead. She’s cute. She’s carrying a cup of coffee and asks if she can get past us. “Sorry, who are you?” Jodi asks. “I’m Holly, I’m trying to see my friend.” She asks confused. “You’re a friend of my nephew?” Jodi continues and Holly’s eyes go wide. “You’re Jodi Right?” She asks and Jodi nods. It’s then that Holly slaps Jodi across the face and Jodi flies into the wall. I hold Holly back, and she starts shouting at Jodi. “You selfish cunt! How can you turn away your own nephew. You soul less bitch.” Jodi’s sat crying. “I’m sorry!” She says crying. “Sorry!? Your nephew is lying in hospital bed thanks to you! I don’t know you, I don’t know what your problem is and I don’t care. You turned away your own nephew who needed a home, now look at him. What if he’d been stabbed!?” I’m trying yo pull Holly away but she’s fighting me trying to get at Jodi. A doctor comes over and tells us to stop or security will be called. Holly finally stops fighting me, I release her and she just stands with her arms folded. I apologise to the doctor and tell him there’ll be know that there will be no more fighting.

Jodi’s still crying and Holly is staring daggers at her. I decide that me and Holly need to talk and I ask her to walk with me. We end up outside the hospital and I light up a cigarette. I offer her one and she declines. “My name’s Rick, I’m Daniel’s cousin.” I say taking a puff on my cigarette. “Look I just want you to know that I didn’t know Daniel was coming. I didn’t even know I had a cousin. But I want him to stay with us so I can get to know him.” Holly laughs at me sarcastically and says “Thanks, but no thanks we can get by on our own. Aunt bitch face in there made that clear.” She says and I don’t like the way she’s talking about Jodi, But she has every right to hate her so I bottle my anger. “Look I’m sorry about Jodi. Her and Daniel’s mother don’t get along and seeing Daniel brought back bad memories. She just lost control of her anger.”

“Yeah well I’d be more willing to forgive if my friend wasn’t nearly killed.” She says and I nod in understanding. “You got alot of love for him don’t you? Are you and he…?”

“No we’re just friends. Kinda.” She says and I smile. I know the confusion in her head. It’s the same thing I had when me and Katy started having sex but I leave it alone for now. I take another puff on my cigarette and say “Listen I’m guessing you two don’t have a place to go. I want you to stay with us.” she shakes her head. “Look you said Daniel needed a home. Stay with us and we can work things out.” Now I have Holly thinking logically. Good. “Daniel won’t want to.” She says with an uncertain tone. “I’ll talk to Daniel.” I tell her.

We get back to Daniel’s room and see Jodi sat in a chair leaning forwards, staring at the ground. “Jodi, me and Holly have been talking, she and Daniel are going to be staying with us.” Jodi looks up at us with wide eyes. “Really?” She says shocked. “Yes really!” Holly pipes in. “And while we’re staying there, you’re going to love Daniel like a son. Do you understand?” She says getting in Jodi’s face. “I will I promise.” Jodi says with her eyes lighting up. “Right. Rick’s gonna talk to Daniel.” Says Holly.

Daniel’s POV

So I guess guilt got the best of aunt Jodi. Frankly, I’m not interested in her guilt. I was scared when she kicked me out now I’m just angry. It’s funny how an ass kicking can change someone’s perspective. The door opens and I’m expecting Holly to come in but instead its the douche nozzle that Jodi came with. I have no beef with him but I know he’s gonna be taking Jodi’s side in this so I’m not gonna waste my time with him. He sits in the chair beside me and loosens his tie. “How d’ya feel?” He says. “Like shit thanks for checking fuck off!” I tell him. He smirks and says “I understand your anger pal. I just wanted to talk to you man to man.” I laugh at him and say “you mean you want to fight Jodi’s battles for her. Fuck off and tell Jodi she’s a fucking hypocrite.” His face hardens, I can tell he doesn’t like what I just said. “Daniel, Jodi made a mistake. She wants to make it up to you.”

“Yeah she made a mistake, a mistake that nearly got me killed. She doesn’t deserve a chance to do anything. She disrespected me, she disrespected my mother. I knew when I came here it would be tense but I thought she’d at least give me a chance to talk. But no. She just chucked me out and said fuck you!”

“Do you know what her and your mom fought about?” He asks completely changing the subject. “No.” I say shaking my head. “It must’ve been pretty bad. Jodi wouldn’t even tell me and she tells me everything.” It’s now that I realize the significance of that. Mom never told me either. Guess that’s something that me and mom will have to discuss if I ever get home.

“Daniel I know you have no where to go. I want you to stay with me and Jodi, at least til we can get you home. After that if you want to go home, that’s your choice. Until then we’ll try and get to know each other. What do you say?”

It’s true without them all me and Holly have is that hotel. I’ve got enough money for maybe a week. It seems I have no choice. “I’ll stay with you.” I tell him. “Not because I want to but because i promised Holly a peaceful trip. And I’m not going to break that promise because of my pride.” Rick nods and says ok. Without another word he leaves the room to tell Jodi im guessing.

So the next day is spent with doctors running tests on me, sticking needles in me and tell me what not to do. Not that I listen. Finally, im released from the hospital in a wheelchair that Holly pushes. Aunt Jodi is beaming with joy and goes into a long list of what she wants to do with her nephew. Rick is smiling at Jodi’s happiness. Me and Holly however don’t share there optimism. Staying with my aunt who hates my my mom what could go wrong?