Sudz came awake slowly. The stress of the night had not yet reinvaded his mind. Spending the night on a bed of straw with Terri had been a combination of dread and renewal. He felt as if he had proven himself a man again. He lay there; eyes still closed and reveled in the assurance that he hadn’t lost it yet. He enjoyed the warmth of something soft against his eye.
As consciousness crept into his brain, he realized the warm soft something against his eye was not his pillow. He opened his eyes and found Jazz’s chest staring back at him. Without moving, he rolled his eyes up and saw that her eyes were closed. Her breathing was soft and measured and he knew she must be sleeping. He slowly slid his arm around her and closed his eyes.
Her sleepy voice whispered, “You awake?”
“Mm hmm,” he smiled.
“What got into you this morning? You were quite a different man.”
“I don’t know. I guess I’m a morning person.”
“You sure are.”
“I spent the night hiding in the woods, lying on straw. I took a shower this morning and looked for you. Somebody told me you were at the hospital with Merritt, so I came to bed. Then along came this gorgeous woman and crawled in bed with me and well the rest is history.”
“Was she worth the wait?”
“And how.”
She bent her head down and kissed his forehead. “About last night. That happens to more men than you think, especially with me. I guess…”
“I know what happened and why. It was me, not you. A mental thing. I just needed to relax and stop worrying about living up to some standard a woman like you may be accustomed to.”
“That’s just the thing. I’m not used to anything. Believe it or not, my experience is very limited. People think I’m a party girl, like my friend Merritt. I guess it’s because of the way I like to flirt. But men just look and flirt. The few who do get up the nerve to proposition me always seem to be the type I don’t care for. So…”
“I guess I’m lucky to be dumb enough to try.”
“I have a question. Why did you spend the night in the woods? Are you afraid of the cops?”
“It’s a long story. Want the short version?”
“Whatever.”
“You know the girl that joined up with us at the same place where we picked up Mickey?”
“Yeah. Terri.”
“Um hum. Terri is riding a bike that I customized for her husband back in South Alabama. He owed me money and I was trying to collect. I guess I sort of threatened him. Anyway, he got murdered and his bike disappeared. I’m a suspect and so is Terri. I didn’t do it and I don’t think she did either, but we didn’t want to have our licenses run through the computers and get dragged back home to answer more questions so we hid out.”
“She spent the night with you?”
“Don’t make it sound like that.”
“She’s a prostitute you know. I saw her with an old camper just yesterday morning. She’s peddling it all over the place. Probably has some grungy disease.”
“Well it’s a good thing I prefer a well padded lady like you, isn’t it?”
“Do you want us to be together? Was I just a one morning stand?”
“Lay, honey. Not stand.”
“I’m a one morning lay then?”
“I certainly hope not. That would be so unfair to me.”
“Then you have to stay away from that little whore. You understand?”
“Yes, dear. Will you please change the subject again?”
Dr. James Wyatt rode his Harley into the park at around 8 A.M. The sun was almost above the trees and the heat was building. Distant thunder rumbled across the landscape. Some of the campers were having breakfast while others were on the dock fishing. He found bikes all over the place, scattered among the RVs and SUVs like litter. From what he had learned at the ER, the bikers had been harassed by the police. He could relate. He had endured his share of police profiling.
He didn’t want anyone to think he was part of this group just because he also rode a bike. But he had come here anyway. He wanted to see that Jasmine woman again. Something about her had captured his imagination. It was more, he told himself, than her unusually sexy build. He had seen something in her eyes and in her expression that he hadn’t seen since he left college and entered med school. Judy Winkler had looked at him that same way. The look had led to an affair he knew he would never forget. He would be with Judy now if she had not been about to become tenured as a professor and if her husband had not threatened to ruin her career if she ever saw me again.
It had been a look of hunger, neglect and dark passion. It was a look that made him want to protect her for the rest of his life and love her the way she was meant to be loved. He couldn’t let another rare woman like her get away from him. He had to find her and work his way into her heart the way she had worked her way into his. He would let nothing stand in the way this time.
As he cruised at idle speed down the dirt lane, he wondered how he would locate her in this large group. Would he have to buddy up to some member of this grungy crew and gradually extract information? Maybe he could just ask one of them “Where is Jasmine or Jazz?” No, they would probably wonder why he wanted to know and who he was. Maybe he could pretend he wanted to check on the rape victim. What was her name? Merritt. He could ask for Merritt and when he found her, he would likely find her close friend Jazz with her. If anyone wanted to know why he wanted to find Merritt, he could simply explain he was the Doctor who treated her all night. Even her boyfriend, Snow, wouldn’t be jealous of him checking on a patient.
A pair of young women were standing beside the lane, one of them propped against a metallic green bike. They were sipping coffee from Styrofoam cups and talking. As he slowly passed the one leaning on the bike watched him intently, obviously trying to determine if she knew him. The tinted face shield of his helmet kept her from knowing he was looking just as intently as she was. As he neared, he was startled by the beauty of her face. It was clean of makeup and perfect in every way. She could be a poster girl for skin care, he thought. And he had assumed most of this biker group would be a homely, dirty lot. He had even had visions of rescuing Jazz from this gutter lifestyle, before she was marred all over with tattoos and body piercing, and taking her home to his bungalow on the river. But maybe, judging by the pretty and wholesome looking girl by the lane, this wasn’t the type of biker band he had assumed.
He decided to stop and ask this young beauty where to find Merritt. He applied the brake and put his boot to the soil. He turned his head toward the two ladies and they watched as he placed his hands on the head piece and slowly revealed his face. He knew they were waiting to see if his face lived up to the image the bike and his clothes projected. He recalled the high school yearbook that named him both “Best Looking” and “Most likely to succeed.” When his chiseled male model face didn’t win the ladies over, he would always rely on his All-Star status in the college football trophy room.
The fresh faced girl leaned and took the few steps toward him to bring them into easy earshot.
“Hi!” he flashed his pearly white smile at her.
“Hello,” the girl said. “Something I can help you with?”
“Yes there is,” he let her watch him check her out. “I could use some directions, if you will.”
“I’ll try,” the girl didn’t smile, but she had a pleasant expression and he took that as a smile of sorts.
“My name is Doctor James Wyatt,” he grinned and waited for her to respond.
She didn’t hesitate. She said, “Okay,” and waited for him to continue. He was taken aback. Usually young women either responded to the title or to the smile. Her “Okay,” was almost the same as her saying “So what?”
Never one to let a little thing like shyness stand in the way of scoring he said, “And your name is…”
“Not available, stranger,” she quipped.
His smile faded some and his lip quivered. He wanted to tell her how lucky she was he selected her to stop and talk with and she was about to blow her chances with him, but he decided to give her one more chance.
The other girl stepped forward and stopped beside the one with the smart mouth. He noticed her for the first time. She too was very pretty. She had long black hair and dark smooth skin. Her clothing had a hint of American Indian, as did her physical features. She said, “She’s Heather and my name is Nadu. I’m sorry if we seem a little apprehensive but we are a little skeptical of strangers just now. It has not been a good night. What directions can we help you with?”
He looked at Nadu for a moment, realizing the cause of their behavior. He said, “I can well understand. One of your own was attacked last night. I was the attending Physician at the Emergency Facility. I though I would ride out this morning and make sure she was okay and see if there was anything further I could do for her.”
Heather spoke then. Her tone was more kindly. “She’s being taken care of. It was very nice of you to come out, however. Isn’t it a bit unusual for a Doctor to make a house call these days? And on you own too.”
“That’s the kind of guy I am. I care about my patients. Where is her camp?”
Heather spoke again, before Nadu had a chance to. “It’s here in the park. Right now she’s getting some much needed rest, with her boyfriend looking after her.”
“Ah, yes. The lady who came in with her mentioned he was coming to pick them up. I think her name was Jasmine. I wonder if she’s up and about.”
“No,” Heather snapped. “I thought you said you came to check on Merritt. Is it Merritt you came to see, or Jazz?”
“Heather!” Nadu bumped Heather’s arm with the back of her hand. “Don’t be so …”
“It’s okay,” Dr. Wyatt said, warming to Nadu. “I understand. You really don’t know me. I don’t blame you for being afraid. I seem to frighten children sometimes.”
Before Heather could respond to him calling her a child or accusing her of being afraid, Nadu quickly said, “Perhaps if you came back after Merritt has a chance to rest, maybe around noon, we can help you find her.”
“Good idea,” he said. He put his head gear back on and started the engine. He turned around and rode away.
Nadu stood looking at Heather, a question in her eyes. Heather saw the look and said, “He is a pampas ass. He’s not the least bit interested in Merritt’s condition. He wants to get his sleazy hands on that milk cow Jazz.”
Heather giggled and covered her mouth with her hand, spilling some of her coffee. Heather continued, “Little does he know that Miss bubble butt is all snuggled up with Sudz and I know he don’t stand a chance in that race, even if he does think he’s God’s gift to women. Men!”
Nadu listened and watched Heather’s face. She said, “Why don’t you just spit it out? Say what’s on your mind?”
They both laughed. Heather turned and walked back to her bike. Nadu followed. Heather said, “I can’t help it this morning. I don’t like his type. And I like Sudz but I don’t stand a chance against that super curvy sex bomb he’s with.”
“I had not idea,” Nadu said. “You have a thing for Sudz?”
“Funny, isn’t it?” Heather said. “When I was still in pig tails, Sudz used to come over to our house to visit with my dad. They were good friends. I used to dream of growing up and riding off into the sunset with that man. I think he liked me too. But I sort of blew it when I told him I was also infatuated with a girlfriend.”
Nadu dropped her mouth open in surprise. She said, “Well I guess! What man thinks he can compete with a woman on woman relationship? Men like Sudz like to pick their battles and that’s one he can’t win. I can see you and I need to have a long talk. I think I can help.”
Heather smiled at Nadu to take the sting out of her words and asked, “Who are you? Dr. Phil?”