Bound

Chapter One: Jacki

         I gently pushed open the slightly ajar front door of the house and stepped over the threshold into a dark room. There was something wrong, I realized, as I made my way to the back of the house, something wrong and unsettling. It didn’t help that there was furniture sprawled everywhere and pictures cracked and crooked on the walls. As I passed the photos and was able to get a closer look at them, I realized they were of my friends and me and that my face was cut out of every one of the frames, blood in its place. I came to stand in front of one picture in particular. It was of me and a man I'd never seen before, his arm around where my neck would have been, as if we were old friends. I continued to another picture, this one of my friend Ivey and me. The expression on her face was of sheer terror as she gaped down at my body. Unlike the other photos, my face was not cut out of this one and replaced with blood, there was no need. My throat had been slit, with blood everywhere, my mouth wide open as if I'd been mid-scream, and I was obviously dead. I turned away from the pictures, the hairs on the back of my neck standing straight up as I continued further into the house.

         I reached the end of the hall and pushed open another door, this time one that led into what I assumed was the master bedroom. It was then that I saw a man. He was kneeling in front of the fireplace, his body a black silhouette against the burning flames of the fire, mumbling imperceptibly. He had stopped talking and was beginning to rise to his feet, the muscles in his back rippling, turning towards me. His hair was reddish-brown and his eyes were a light blue, almost like the early morning sky, and he had muscles all over his body. But then his hair would flicker to a dark brown, almost black color, and his body would look frail against the flames. His eyes were black and menacing.

         There was definitely something off about him. It wasn’t just the cross tattoo on his right bicep, or the large tattoo of angel wings on his back. There was Darkness around him, pouring out of every orifice of his body. Even more terrifying, he was smiling at me. It was a sort of evil, sinful smirk, like he was mocking me. He then started walking confidently in my direction and I was frozen in place. The closer he got the more distorted his face became, until half of his face was the black hair and eyes, and the other was the reddish-brown hair and light blue eyes. Just as he was reaching out to touch me, I was snapped back to reality; alone in my bed, breathing hard and drenched in sweat. I glanced at the metallic blue bedside clock on the nightstand, seeing the bright neon numbers reporting that the time was only 4:36 AM. Normally I didn’t wake up until about 5:30 AM, but I was in no hurry to get back to bed now.

         I slid out of bed, my silk nightgown clinging to my chest. I flipped the bathroom light on and was greeted with a horiffying sight when I looked in the mirror.
         My light brown hair was matted with sweat against my forehead and neck. My eyes were bloodshot, as if I’d been crying, and there were dark circles rounding my eyes. Not to mention, my frame looked eerily frail and my skin’s stark pallor contrasted greatly with the dark olive green of the bathroom walls.

         Defeated, I plopped down onto the closed toilet seat with a sigh and laid my head in my hands. This was the second straight week I’d woken up following a nightmare. For the most part they were different, but they all felt linked or connected somehow. This had been the third time I’d had this particular nightmare, with the reddish-brown haired man in the two week period. His facial expression never changed; it was always mocking, always teasing, and it always kept me frozen in place, trembling in fear. Paralyzed.

         I was still sweating and half asleep, so I decided a shower would do me good. With another sigh I stood up, stripped my damp nightgown off and then stepped into the shower. I turned the knob until the water reached a near boiling temperature, then just stood in place. The scorching water felt wondrous against my taut skin, and my muscles started to loosen. My eyelids slowly and exhaustedly closed as the water ran down my body, keeping my hair wet. By now I was completely oblivious to the scalding water, the light tan tile lining the shower, and the rising steam, which was growing darker with each passing second.

         All of a sudden, something clamored to the ground, snapping me out of my hypnosis and I became instinctively and instantaneously alert. Anxiously, I peeked out from behind the shower curtain, unsure of what I’d see. I immediately felt silly when I discovered what had caused the commotion. My electric toothbrush, which I more often than not left on the edge of the counter, had fallen to the ground and was in pieces from the impact. I pulled my head back into the shower and hurriedly washed my hair and body, got out of the shower and wrapped myself with my favorite white towel; its fibers soft and comforting, which is exactly what I needed right now. As I passed the bathroom counter, I picked up the toothbrush and put it back on the sink, as far from the edge as I could get it.

         Despite knowing the cause of the noise, I subconsciously tip-toed into my room, stopping at the aged mahogany dresser. I grabbed a red bra and matching lace panties, slipped them on, and went the rest of the way to my closet. It was at the other end of my room so I shook the water out of my damp hair as I walked over my red shag rug to the double door. I ended up picking out black dress slacks and a red, short sleeve button up shirt. I paired the outfit with six-inch black heels; I often liked to compensate for my undersized height of 5’2’’ with tall shoes. I put my hair up in a semi-formal bun with some wisps of silky brown hair still hanging in my eyes, then put on a thin line of black eyeliner, some mascara, and a light shade of brown eye shadow with a dash of red. By now it was almost 6 AM and I was ready to head out to work.

         I stepped outside onto the outdated, but heartening, front porch of the old three bedroom white Victorian house my great aunt Shirley had left me in her will, and locked the door. The air was somewhat thick and awfully humid. Being in Florida, though, I had learned to expect these sorts of occurrences. I took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar aroma of my surroundings, and made my way to the scarlet 2007 Chevy Impala parked at the side of the road, hopped in, and immediately started the engine.

         The drive to work is roughly 45 minutes, on a good day. When there’s traffic, add another 45 minutes to that and a warning from my boss not to be late again. I took I-95 north from Orange Park to Jacksonville, and traffic was actually quite light so I ended up pulling into the Jacksonville FBI office a little before 7 AM. I parked in the employee parking lot, which was behind the eleven story black building. I then made my way through the rotating front door to the glass elevator, riding up to the sixth floor with two of my co-workers. Since I’m the head of my team, I ended up being the first one in the office most days. As expected, I was the first to arrive. There were a few other people here early, but they weren’t part of my immediate division, so I didn’t often talk with them unless I needed their help.

         I walked down the hall to the desk in my office and found a myriad of folders stacked there. The top folder contained a tip-off for some kind of burglary that was going to take place later today; I’d give that to Amaris, the undercover agent on the squad, who I’d known since 11th grade. The next one was a drug-trafficking case, which I’d hand off to Liam, the police officer who often works with us, to deal with. I sorted through a few more folders, stopping somewhere in the middle because something odd caught my eye. The label on the folder said Urgent, which is why I stopped in the first place. After I opened the folder, though, the name “Azrael” held my gaze. I’d never heard the name before, so I had no idea why it was jumping out at me so much. There was no picture in the file, only what he was being charged with: murder. He’d killed four wealthy middle-aged men, all married. The wives of the victims confessed to intimate affairs with Azrael, though none of them gave specific reasons. The file also said all of the wives refused to give up Azrael’s true name, or spare more than small physical details about him.

“Can’ say I’m surprised you’re already here,” giggled Ivey with her English drawl; she was the crime lab tech on the team. Her and I had been best friends since 10th grade; I’d always felt like I’d known her since I was little, though. She sashayed into the office, her long, wavy auburn hair flowing behind her. “So, wha’s on the agenda?” she asked, cheerily.
“I have something for Amaris actually: a possible burglary later today at Bank of America. That one should be easy since it’ll be a group of amateurs trying to steal some money. And I also want you to get with Liam later today, or whenever you’re open, and brief him on a drug trafficking case. Here’s the file.” I said, handing her the folder for Liam to read.
“Yes ma’am,” Her voice trilled. “I’ll be seeing him tonigh’, actually. We’re going on a da’e.” She beamed.
“Really? Where to?” I asked, genuinely interested.
“I’m no’ really sure. Bu’ he told me to dress semi-fancy, so it mus’ be good. I’m hoping tonigh’s the nigh’.” She blushed, sheepishly.
“He still hasn’t officially asked you to be his girlfriend?” I asked, bewildered.

         Just as Ivey was about to answer, a booming voice could be heard bouncing off the walls of the entire floor. “Got the coffee!” Amaris had called out. There was a shuffle of rushing feet that could be heard, some small chattering, all mostly people saying “Thank you.” Amaris usually brought in coffee once a week for everyone.

“Wonder who tha’ could be.” Ivey laughed, turning to walk out of my office.
“Tell her to come in here when she’s done handing coffee out, please.” I said to her.
“No problem, Boss.” Ivey winked at me, knowing I hated it when she called me that, then disappeared over the threshold and down the hall.

         I was alone in my office for only a few moments when Amaris walked in.

“What can I do for you, Boss?” She teased, her electric green eyes gleaming in the bright fluorescent light. I rolled my eyes with a sigh. “I have a case for you.” I finally said.
“Wonderful! Lay it on me.”
“It’s a bank robbery, supposedly happening later today. I’m almost positive that Detective Ember will be there.” I said, referring to her boyfriend as I handed her the folder, knowing his name would pique her interest in the case.
“I should probably leave now, just to get the low down on what’s going to happen,” Amaris said, reading over the file, with a sly grin.
“Sounds good. Just be safe.”
“Always am.” She said with another smile, walking out of the office and down the hall, still reading over the case.
         I went back to looking at the murder case. All of the victims' wives said Azrael had reddish hair, a big build, and was great in bed. They all denied having known Azrael would kill their husbands, but none of the women were necessarily believable or credible. Of the four women, none of them acted sad or remorseful at the death of their husband, leading the FBI to be wary of their statements.

         The next few hours I spent looking through the file, familiarizing myself with the victims, their wives, and Azrael as best I could. No one came into the office, so I was surrounded by a sickening and dizzying silence. I glanced at the clock; 11:09 AM. I needed to get out of here, stretch my legs and get some fresh air.

         My entire body was stiff as I stood up, suppressing a painful moan as I reached for the work phone assigned to me; I had to carry it while on the job, no matter where I went. My purse was in the car, so I slipped the phone into my pocket. I quickly jotted down a note, mentioning where I was going and when I’d probably be back. I closed and locked the office door behind me, sticking the paper to it, and walked down the hall to the elevator. The ride down was long but quiet, so I wasn’t bothered much by it.

*****

         I pulled into the parking lot of Bailey’s Power House Gym, parked as close to the front doors as was possible, and hopped out of the car. I knew my way around the building pretty well, so I strolled past the exercise equipment and pool, straight to the rock climbing area. I’d only rock climbed a few times, but it was a great way to work out both body and mind. My first stop was the locker room; since I was a member of the gym I had been assigned my own locker, in which I always had workout clothes and shoes.

         After having slipped on my black, form fitting yoga pants, red sports bra and black tank-top with black Adidas tennis shoes, I made my way to the counter where you could “rent” any type of workout equipment you needed.

“What can I do for you ma’am?” a woman around 20, with bleach blonde hair, asked me from behind the counter with a fake, forced interest.
“Rock climbing gear, please.” I shot a phony smile right back at her; nothing got under my skin quite as much as someone who was rude.

         She gave me an identical grin, went to the back room, and came back with my harness and gloves.

“Here you go. And have a great day.” She continued, her tone heavy with sarcasm.
“Thanks, you too.” I said, grabbing the gear, not wasting another smile on her, and walked away.
I found a secluded seating area, sat down, and stared down at my lap, the harness all tangled and complicated looking. This occasion would mark the third time I’d gone rock climbing and I was no closer to putting the gear on myself than I had been the first time. Usually I had an instructor or staff member help me, but I needed to do this on my own.

         With a groan, I set out to assembling the harness, ropes, and whatever else, hoping all of it would magically come together.

         Ten minutes later the harness was incorrectly around my waist and thighs; I plopped down in the seat, defeated, head in my hands. I was becoming overwhelmed a lot these days.

“You need help with that?”

         I looked up, greeted by a man I’d never seen before. He had dark brown, almost black hair, and was wearing a black muscle hugging t-shirt with matching pants. And correctly fastened rock climbing gear.

“Excuse me?” I said, confused.
“You need help putting that on? And putting it together?” He repeated, motioning towards the tangle of ropes and harness on my body and in my lap, an amused grin on his face.
“Um, sure. Knock yourself out.” I replied, slipping it all off and handing it to him.
“You might want to watch me so you’ll know how to put this all together next time.” He said, looking from me to the mess of ropes and whatnot in his hands.
“Yeah. Definitely.” I blushed deeply, and glanced away.

         I did end up watching him, but I wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing. Instead, I studied him, attempting to get a read on the sort of person he was which, I’ll admit, is a bit weird since I just met him. His eyes were brown, a chocolate brown; their depths oddly familiar. He had naturally tanned skin, one dimpled cheek that became prominent when he bit his lip, and big strong hands with long fingers. I’d set his height at around six foot two and his age at around 26. He had some wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, telling me he liked to smile and laugh a lot, but also that there was often stress in his life.

         I pulled myself out of the trance I’d been in after realizing he’d been talking to me the whole time, narrating what he was doing as he was doing it.

“Then you pull on this, making sure it’s as tight as it can be.” He said, handing one end of a rope and buckle to me so I could examine it closer, then put it on.
“Can you put it on yourself?” He asked, eyeing me.
“We’ll find out.” I laughed.

         I tugged the harness on, hopping I looked like I knew what I was doing. Five minutes later, nothing had changed.

“Here, let me help.” He said, startling me.

         With that, he knelt down on one knee in front of me, pulling on the ropes and buckles here and there. I was still a bit taken aback by his actions, especially the closeness of our bodies to each other, so I hesitantly put my hand on his muscular shoulder to help keep me balanced. He didn’t seem to notice, so I kept it there.

         Not two minutes later he stood up, a satisfied look on his face. “That should do it.”

“Thanks.” I replied, admiring his handiwork.
“I’m Caden, by the way. Caden Adezelo.” He said, after a few seconds of silence, holding out his hand for me to shake.
“I’m Jacki Reynolds.” I replied, shaking it.
“Not to sound cliché but, do you come here often?” Caden asked.
“Not a whole lot, but enough to know I haven’t seen you here before, or anywhere for that matter. Are you new here?” I replied.
“Is it that obvious? I’m actually from Greece.” He smiled, sheepishly.
“Wow, Greece huh? I have a friend who lived there once. What brings you here?” I wondered aloud.
“I just wanted a change of scenery, and to meet new people. I’ve been here before and liked the area, and I have some family that lives in these parts.” He said, thoughtfully.
“Well there’s definitely a lot to do and see in Florida, but I don’t know if I would have chosen Jacksonville. Miami or Orlando, maybe.”
“I’m not much of a city or country boy really, and Jacksonville has the best of both worlds. It fits my lifestyle.” He said, flashing his straight pearly whites at me; he’s definitely a charmer and heartbreaker.

         While I was distracted by his smile, Caden’s eyes cut past my shoulder and any trace of a grin fell off of his face. It was obvious he was looking at something behind me that I couldn’t see. I turned to follow his gaze and saw what had caught his attention. I mean, what kind of man wouldn’t be captivated by the woman’s appearance? She was wearing a skimpy, skin tight pink tank top with matching cheer shorts. What was even more outrageous was, for shoes, she was wearing six-inch Nike heels, also pink. Her brown silky hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and there wasn’t a trace of sweat on her at all. At least, not anywhere I could see.

         I turned back to Caden, prepared to say goodbye and go my own way, but the expression on his face stopped me. He didn’t look like a man drooling over a good-looking woman, but like a man who was surprised and angry. His thick, dark eyebrows were furrowed in a scowl, while his brown eyes continued to look furious, with a bit of a perplexed tinge there too.

“You okay?” I asked softly, hesitantly putting my hand on his arm.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry about that. I have to go make a phone call. Hopefully I’ll see you around.” He said hurriedly, our shoulders brushing as he walked past me in the direction of the provocatively dressed woman.
“Great guy.” I mumbled sarcastically to myself as I watched him walk off. “Whatever.”

*****

         The wait at the rock wall seemed to go on forever, but in reality it was only 10 minutes or so. Without really thinking, I subconsciously hooked up my harness and ropes to the hooks and grapples on the wall. I immediately started to climb, clearing my mind of all thoughts and focusing on the rush of being at such a thrilling height. Right hand on the blue handhold, left foot on the purple one, left hand on the red, right foot on yellow, and so on and so forth; those being the only conscious thoughts going through my head as I moved up, higher and higher.

         As I was reaching my right hand up to grab onto the orange handhold, I slowly felt my left foot slipping but had no time to react. I felt myself losing grip and gravity pulling me down, but then there was a hand on me, holding me up; a hand on my ass. That gave me enough time to recover and hold myself up, while also being able to look down and see what, or who, had caught me. Of all people, it was Caden. I had thought he’d left, which caught me off guard and I almost fell again. Of course, he put his hand on my butt once more to keep me up, but since he wasn't directly under me it was sort of hard to hold me up for too long.

         I pulled my body closer to the wall, tightening my grip on the colorful handholds, and went utterly still. That’s when Caden climbed right up next to me.

“You alright?” he asked, nonchalantly holding onto the handholds that jutted out from the rock wall, looking at me with genuine concern. The expression on his face was worry.
“Yep.” I squeaked out, the muscles in my arms and legs starting to give out. I wanted to get down but was too scared I’d fall. I mean, I’m not the type of person who runs away from danger or gets scared easily. Hell, I’m an FBI Agent for crying out loud. But right now, just the thought of almost falling, even though I was attached to ropes and such, overwhelmed me. Plus, I felt a little violated with the whole ass grabbing.
“Come on, let’s get down.” Caden said. The way he said it though, it was like an order; one you didn’t want to argue with.

         I took baby steps the whole way down the wall, so Caden was already waiting for me by the time I reached the bottom. I felt his hands around my waist as he helped me to the ground, then once more when he took off all of the gear I’d been wearing.

         By now I was pretty much past the whole falling thing, but I couldn’t bring myself to move, or do anything else, for that matter, besides stare at Caden. While we’d been climbing down the wall, every so often I’d look down and watch him. His every move was graceful, whether he was walking, climbing, putting things together or taking them apart. It was odd to me, but amazing at the same time. His body was rather muscular, and he was very tall, leading me to assume he wouldn’t have such ease of movement. That’s why I couldn’t look away from him, not even when he caught me staring at him.

“You sure you’re alright?” he asked, now smiling; I blushed, finally back in real time.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little shaken I guess.” I replied, brushing the almost fall, and being caught staring at him, off.
“I hope you know I’m sorry about that, me grabbing you. It was completely unintentional. I saw you start to fall and I reacted in the quickest way possible. I’d say it was a natural reflex, but that sounds bad.” He said, chuckling. I was just now starting to notice the accent he had. It sounded like a mix of Greek and something else, sprinkled with a good old American accent.
“It’s fine, really. I’m just glad you were there to catch me.” I said, smiling my thanks. “I thought you said you were from Greece. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I hear something else in your voice.” Nice Jacki, random much?
“Um, yeah. My father is Hispanic and my mother is Greek. I speak both of their native languages, along with English.” He replied, obviously caught off guard by my question.
“Sorry about that. Sometimes my curiosity gets the best of me and stuff just comes out.” I laughed, blushing.
“It’s fine, really. I’m actually surprised you even noticed. Not a lot of people do.” He said. “Would you like to go out to lunch? Just think of it as me furthering my apology.”
“Oh, sure, sounds good. Where to?” I tried not to sound too excited, but I felt like my voice had raised an octave and the words were coming out too fast. I mean, I’d just met the guy and he was already asking me to go somewhere with him. Let’s just hope he’s not some psycho-lunatic, serial killer.
“That’s for me to know and you to find out. Let’s go change, and I’ll meet you by the front doors. See you soon.” He playfully winked at me, walking past me as he headed for the men’s locker room.

         It took everything in me to stop myself from smiling. I hadn’t had any type of relationship lately, mainly because my job hindered me from having anything lasting and serious, but maybe this could work. Of course, that’s what I always told myself when I started going out with someone new. Regardless, I was eager to head out to lunch with Caden, but even more eager to call Ivey with the news.
I pulled my work phone from out of my sports bra and speed dialed Ivey at the office; she picked up on the third ring.

“Ivey here.” She said; I giggled.
“Hey, it’s Jacki. What’s up?”
“Nothing much. It’s actually quite slow here today. I’ve gotten in a few blood samples for local cases, finger prints, et cetera. You?”
“I met a guy.” I started, waiting to see if she wanted to know more.
She did. “Tell me everything.” She said, emphasizing the last word.
“Well his name is Caden. He’s tall, he’s handsome, he’s Greek and Hispanic and he asked me out on a date.” I said, hastily.
“How’d you mee’?”she asked.
“Well that’s a funny story, really. You wanna hear the long version or the short version?”
“Shor’. You can give me details la’er.”
“Okay, well I met him while I was trying to put on my rock climbing gear, he helped me, but then we went our separate ways; him to make a call and me to go to the rock wall. Then, as I was on the wall, my foot slipped. Here’s the weird thing; Caden was right under me and he caught me.” I said, stopping to see if she wanted me to keep going.
“Oh my god. He grabbed your ass, didn’ he?” She laughed uncontrollably.
“Yes, Ivey. Yes he did.” I laughed. “We both climbed back down and he helped me out of my gear, and asked me out on a date after apologizing numerous times.”
“Where are you guys going?”
“I’m not sure. All he said was ‘it’s for me to know and you to find out’, so I’m hoping it’s a good place. I’m supposed to be changing right now and meeting him at the front of the gym, so I gotta go. I’ll talk to you when I get back.” I said.
“Sounds good! Have fun!” She hung up.

         I put the phone in my purse when I reached my locker, and eagerly slipped my work outfit back on. As I put my feet into the black heels I’d been wearing earlier I started to worry about whether or not I’d be too tall compared to Caden, then I laughed at myself for even thinking that. He was at least a foot taller, so six inches on my part wasn’t going to make me look any bigger than him.

*****

         When I finally made my way to the front doors of the gym I didn’t see Caden anywhere. I started to think he was still changing but it usually takes women longer to get dressed and I’d taken close to ten minutes just for me to get ready. I waited only five minutes more before giving up on the hope that Caden was still in the locker room. It sort of hurt when I came to the realization that I’d been stood up. I’d hoped he was different than my past ‘boyfriends’.

         I walked outside, prepared to drive back to work, when a silver Dodge Ram pulled up to the front of the building and honked. I didn’t stop at first, pretending to be oblivious to it, but the person in the truck honked again.

“Do you mind?” I yelled, coming to an abrupt stop and giving the driver a dirty look. That’s when the truck pulled up right next to me and the window rolled down. “Oh. Sorry about that. I didn’t realize it was you.” I was beyond embarrassed.
“It’s alright.” Caden said, clearly not offended; I breathed a sigh of relief and hopped into the vehicle. My mother had always told me not to get into cars with strangers. “You ready to head out?”
“Yep. I didn’t realize you meant you were gonna pick me up out here so I waited for you inside, but you never showed. I thought you-” I started to say, but Caden cut me off.
“You thought I’d left you?” He said in a hushed, almost offended, tone.
“Well what can I say? I don’t have much luck in the male department.” I laughed, trying to lighten the mood.
“I want you to know, I’m not that kind of guy. I wouldn’t ever ditch you like that.” Caden looked me directly in the eyes and I knew he was being serious. Maybe this one really is different.

*****

“Where are we really going?” I asked, for the hundredth time.
“That’s still for me to know and you to find out.” He replied, smirking. I was sort of surprised I wasn’t irritating him yet; I have a tendency to do that sometimes.
We’d been on I-95 for about twenty minutes when he turned off onto Exit 34. Not long after that we pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant I’d never seen or heard of. The name of it was Anastasia’s.
“I’ve never been here.” I said aloud.
“I hopped you hadn’t. It’s my family’s restaurant.” He said with a sense of pride.
“Well, it’s beautiful.” The Greek style infrastructure had red stones lining the blue glass doors, the majority of the walls made of white stone. There were pink apple blossoms and wild irises under the windows that were on the building, on the tables that were outside, and there was even a pleasant sized garden.
“I helped my family build it when I was here last, and plant the garden. That was over 15 years ago.” He went on.
“A man with many talents.” I blurted before I could stop myself. My cheeks reddened with the phrase. He parked at a spot right in front of the restaurant, hopped out of the truck, then came to my side to open the door. “And a gentleman.” I smiled shyly.
“Well my mom taught me the right way to treat a woman.” He replied, sincerely.

         He helped me down from the truck and then led me to the blue front door, holding it open for me. Once in the building we were greeted with warm, friendly “Welcomes” and fragrances from a multitude of Greek dishes. I inhaled, my mouth salivating and my stomach rumbling.

“I guess it’s safe to say you’re hungry, huh?” He teased.
“You have no idea.”