Captive

Chapter Thirty Five

Mark folded his arms across his chest and watched as she dialled the number, her hand trembling. Kane scowled at his brother, shaking his head and then grabbed him by the arm pulling him to a chair to sit down while Bret moved closer to Juliet, close enough that his leg brushed against her, his physical presence bringing comfort and giving her strength. He saw her fingers stray to her pendant as soon as she had finished dialling the number.

"Hello?" Her soft voice trembled slightly. "It's Juliet Cavanagh. I... I need to report a crime."

"Hi Juliet, I'm so glad you called. I know this won't be easy for you but just start at the beginning and we can go from there ok? Take your time and if you need a break just say."

"Ok," she said, quietly. Taking a breath she began to tell the story of what had happened with the Turner brothers so many years before. The detective stopped her every now and again to ask a question, to gain some clarity about the sequence of events and in particular the parts that were criminal, such as when Jason had taken her into town and plied her with drinks leading to a possible assault and then the false imprisonment and the beating he had subjected her to. The men could only hear Juliet's side of the conversation and their faces reflected their pain at hearing it again. It certainly didn't get easier the second time round and they all grimaced as she described him beating her with the wire and then how it had cut into her wrists and ankles. As she came to the present day and explained about Edward coming back into her mother's life she revealed that he had threatened her and forced her to stay out of her mother's life up to the point where the three of them had come across to Canada and tracked her down to Jim's bar. "I'm afraid I don't really recall much of what they said there. It was such a shock to see them that I shut down I think... couldn't quite focus on what was said. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise Juliet," said the detective. "Thank you, you've given me a lot of information here and I can start investigating. Is there anything else at all?"

"I don't think so."

"Ok, well you have my number and can call any time day or night. I'll be in touch."

"Will I need to come back to the UK?" she asked tentatively.

"Not straight away no. If we do need you to come back I'll be in touch ok?"

"Thank you." She ended the call and sat frozen for a moment, her head bowed. Reliving it all, going back over it had been beyond painful and she couldn't meet the sympathetic gazes of her brothers or Bret. Pushing back her chair so suddenly that it almost toppled she walked out of the room. Mark went to get up to follow her but Kane placed a hand on his arm, shaking his head.

"Leave her, Mark," he advised. "Give her a bit of space to process what just happened."

Finding her way up the stairs to her old bedroom, Juliet sat down on the bed and wasn't too shocked when a light weight jumped up to join her and Socks curled up against her side. Absentmindedly stroking the little cat who rolled onto his back, stretching his legs straight up in the air, Juliet tried not to think about the sudden pain gripping her chest. It was just the stress she told herself as her hand strayed there, rubbing at the area where hot pain seemed to radiate. Her arm went numb suddenly, excruciating pain flickering like hot needles up and down her shoulder until she was gasping for breath. Black dots appeared in her vision and she feared she was about to lose consciousness when suddenly strong hands rested on her shoulders and she opened her eyes to find herself meeting Bret's concerned gaze.

"It's ok, it's ok," he soothed. "Take a short breath in and then breathe out, ok?" She tried to follow his instruction, but she couldn't catch her breath and her panic increased. Kane suddenly appeared at the door, took one look at his sister and immediately called for an ambulance. Bret stayed with her, holding her hands and trying to calm her but she pulled away from him as tears poured down her cheeks and she struggled to breathe, completely panicked now and overwhelmed by the hot pain radiating from her chest. Finally everything started to go black and she sank into unconsciousness, feeling only relief as the world faded away.