Brave Enough

Thirteen

"Okay so do you remember the names of any past girlfriends?" Talia asks. James sits in front of a computer fingers tapping on the keyboard.

"I think he dated a woman named Selena..." James thinks for a minute. "Selena Cor... Cortes. Selena Cortes. He mentioned that they had ended on bad terms. I think he said she cheated. But now I'm thinking he was lying about that. There was also a Jillian Monli. He said that one didn't end well."

     "Alright Maddie you search around for Jillian. James you handle Selena. I will dig into his past. We will know everything about that coward," Talia sits behind her computer and starts typing away.

Soon James stumbles upon a detailed blog written by Selena. 'He would wrap his hands around my neck and squeeze. He would yell and call me a worthless whore. Three days later he would "feel guilty" and apologize.' James reads post after post shaking with fear. 'One day he decided he wanted to try something different. He hired a man to come pretend to rape me so he could come save me while wearing his uniform.'

"James are you okay?" Maddie wraps her arms around James. "Why are you shaking and crying?"

     "Selena went through it too. I started reading her domestic violence prevention blog. He would call her Kareena most of the time he abused her. If he drank he'd get angry and call her Kareena. He used to do that to me. I don't understand. He never spoke of a Kareena. Ever."

     "Wait Kareena? As in half sister Kareena Shane? Who was raped and murdered about ten years ago at the young age of sixteen?" Talia says. James's face goes sickly pale. "James did you not know about this?"

"He told me it was his high school girlfriend Jayne. He was so torn up about it. They never found the guy. He still visits her grave twice a year. He had told me there was a stalker involved and he always thought that maybe that was who killed her," James says.

     "Sounds like he might've had more secrets than we thought," a deep voice says behind her. "It's nice to meet you James. I'm Shepard King. I will be your personal body guard. This here is Zedd Pierce my associate," a tall dark and creamy skinned male says to James. The male next to him is a light skinned with a crooked nose.

"Don't worry ma'am this will help us do our jobs better. Athena Grant has sent us in to give you details of our jobs. Essentially we are vigilantes. We only go for bad people never ever would we harm an innocent. We have somewhere we would like to take you alone. Tomorrow we will pick you up from your apartment. Bobby will be coming at that time to pick up Cleo. Be ready at nine o'clock sharp," Zedd says.

     With that the two of them exit the room and the girls resume their research. "Kareena Shane was beautiful. It's kind of unsettling though she looks a lot like you James," Talia says.

      "Oh my god Jillian mentioned Kareena in a video blog," Maddie gasps. She pulls the headphone jack out and plays the audio.

      "It's me again advocate for women's rights and speaker against violence Jillian. Today I will share a story of the girlfriend my ex had that had cheated on him and then left. Or so he says. Her name is Kareena Shane and she was murdered," Maddie pauses the video.

     "I think when he met you you replaced Kareena. It's why he changed her name. It's why he lied. You're his new fixation," Maddie says.

     "Maddie what the hell is this?" Buck's voice sends an alarm off in James. She turns and finds him walking towards her. "James? What are you doing?"

     "Digging into Colin's past. I'm not sitting back and doing nothing anymore Buck. I'm done," he smiles.

     "Alright well you, me, and little Cleo have dinner reservations. Your quest can wait until the morning. Let's go," Buck leans over and kisses her.

      "Alright see you guys soon. I can't believe what we've found. I'll tell you about it soon. Let's go find my sister."

     "Alesssss!" Cleo shouts running from Athena's arms to James.

     "Were you good today?"

      "She's always good. The sitter said your father called the house. So I called him for you. Marcus is coming home soon for a couple days."