This Strange Addiction by Julie Steimle (story books to read .TXT) đ
- Author: Julie Steimle
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<< Of course he is. Theyâre all friends. Now hurry and get the car and pick me up. We need to go help out. >>
âIâm not a nurse,â Audry protested, but Silvia had already hung up the phone. Looking to Hogan, Audry said, âWe gotta go. Can you drive me to the police station? Iâll give you the directions to which one. We need to get my car.â
Hogan stared, shook his head for a second, and sighed. âOk.â
They apologized to the realtor, cancelling the rest of the day, then went down to the curb to get into Hoganâs vehicle. As they were buckling their seatbelts, Hogan asked, âJessica is a really good friend of yours, right?â
âShe used to be my roommate with Silvia,â Audry said, putting her seatbelt on.
He blinked, surprised. âOh. I didnât know that. I just thought she was another friend of Deaconâs who had decided to keep watch over you.â
Audryâs eyes widened on him.
With a resigned sigh, he explained what he meant. âIt just seem likeânow that Iâve met himâthat Mr. H. Richard Deacon is kind of keeping you. Heâs provided you bodyguards, given you an apartment, and even surrounded you with his friends. The fact that heâs letting you marry me is kind of⊠I donât know, weird. Like he was grooming you earlier and now has given up.â
âGrooming me?â The very sound of those words offended Audryâs sense of the universe. She was a free and independent woman. No one was grooming her.
âThatâs what sexual predators do,â Hogan said, meeting her gaze levelly. âPrepare their target so that when they are ready they can be abused and they wonât be able to fight back because they will be so confused. And those one percenters are infamous for that.â
Shivers ran down her arms. She had heard stories about sexual predatorsâbut Rick Deacon as one? She had a difficult time believing that.
âAnd you are attracted to dangerous people and things,â Hogan added.
She looked to him, annoyed.
Drawing a breath, Hogan enumerated on his fingers, âAll your ex boyfriends, your roommate Silvia who is a self-proclaimed witch, even your field work for animal rightsâyou are most attracted to the predators. Most of your wildlife pictures are of cheetahs, lions, elephantsâand donât tell me elephants arenât dangerous. I know they are. âAnd wolves. I mean, donât tell me you arenât in love with that wolf on your computer? Iâve seen you just stare at him and sigh.â
âI do not!â Her cheeks felt hot.
âYou do,â he said laughing. He then started the car. As he pulled into traffic, he said, âAudry, I love you and I want you safe. So please consider the kind of people that surround Mr. Deacon. He associates with cops, CIA agents, people into the occultââ
âMedical school studentsâhis best friend,â Audry retorted.
Hogan shrugged. âHeâs a pastorâs son, right? I heard someone say it.â
She shook her head. âGrandson. I think his father is either a gynecologist or an accountant. â
âOk, fine,â Hogan said, watching the traffic ahead.
Audry took his GPS then and inserted in the address for the NYPD police headquarters.
âBut what about the others?â he asked. âDo you really know what they do?â
Closing one eye, Audry thought of the other friends she had met. Bobo was wanting to do securityânothing creepy about that unless you wanted to think in terms of thugs and mafia. Then here was Troy and Randon, whom she had only met briefly, but twice now. Troy was still in school, and she wasnât sure what he was studying. But Randon was a veterinarian.
âFor example, that hacker friend of theirs,â Hogan said.
Audry drew in a breath. Jessica had mentioned him, but she had never met their friend Semour Dawson. âComputer genius,â she said. âNothing wrong with that. And Rick has a friend who is a veterinarianâand there is nothing bad about that at all.â
Sighing, Hogan just shook his head. âOk. Fine. But think about what happened to Rickâs one friend in Germany. He was killed. And I donât want that to happen to you.â
No. She didnât want that either. Her mind rested on Jordan, wondering what really happened in Germany.
As they were driving along, Audry noticed a recognizable car in the police station parking lot. Dannaâs car. She wondered if it had been impounded, or if they were watching the police station now. If Silviaâs spell truly was working, then in those witchesâ search for her they would most likely stake out the last place they had seen their prey. And it had been a while too.
Once they parked, Hogan let Audry out, walking with her into the station where almost immediately they were greeted by Matthew. Matthew shook Hoganâs hand then turned to Audry. âThis is only temporary. Weâll want the car back, as you canât have the car near the apartment.â
âThen how am I supposed to pick up Silvia?â Audry asked with a dry stare.
âWhy canât she have her own car?â Hogan asked, suspicious.
Turning to him, Matthew nodded politely. âBecause this car is being tracked by possible murder suspectsâand we donât want them to follow Audry home.â
Hogan pulled back. Looking to Audry, he then peered at Matthew. âBut you are going to let her drive it to a friendâs house and let those murderers track her there?â
Snorting, Matthew said, âThey can handle it.â He then looked to Audry. âSilvia will meet you at your old workplace, she said.â
That meant Silvia was going out alone. Audry wondered if that affected the so-called shadow spell. Audry had long felt it was real in some wayâand the risk frightened her.
âYou donât have to go to this,â Hogan said, turning to Audry.
âHeâs right,â Matthew chimed in, stuffing his hands into his pockets. âYou can run away from this right now and I can take Silvia. We can explain to Jessica why you canât come.â
âNo.â Audry straightened up, realizing that Jessica had asked her to comeâand Jessica, despite Hoganâs suspicions, was a true friend. âIâm coming.â
Stepping back, Hogan heaved a sigh of resignation. He could tell her mind was made up. His eyes lifted to Matthew who grinned with confidence at her decision. They met gazes for a moment before Hogan stepped away. He kissed Audry on the cheek. âCall me if you ever need to get out of there for any reason.â
She nodded, kissing him back.
Once Hogan had left, Matthew guided Audry to her car and handed back the keys. âThe car is filled with gas. Once you pick up Silvia, donât stop for anything until you get to the house.â
âCan they really handle a bunch of murderers?â Audry asked, thinking about Daniel and his sword. That could easily be defeated by a simple hand gun.
Nodding, Matthew grinned. âThey can handle an entire coven of witchesâespecially that one.â
It clicked in her head. Of course. They were not just up against Danna or her two friends. They were against an entire coven of Middleton Villageâwomen who have killed over emotional slights by priests⊠if that werewolf story Silvia had told were true. Or the story about Michael Tomâs mother being killed because she had tried to leave the coven. Audry had never met him, but she knew his story well. She had heard a number of different points of view on it from Jessica to Silvia, to the internet. But why did Matthew think his friends could take on an entire witch coven? They sounded frightening.
âThey grew up with it,â Matthew said, reading her thoughts. âAnd theyâve had special training. Trust me.â
But could she really trust him? A psychic cop? Audry had never told Hogan about all that weird stuff connected to Rickâs special New York school. If she did, heâd probably freak out and kidnap herâinsisting they elope. And though eloping was kind of romantic, she really wanted the wedding.
Matthew chuckled, clearly reading those thoughts too as Audry sighed.
She shot him a look. âStop it.â
âI canât help it.â He shrugged. âBut Iâll try not to listen in if you donât want me to.â
When she got her car, Audry noticed it had nice smell in it. Someone had it professionally cleaned. Apparently they were extremely thorough in looking for tracking devices on the vehicle. Buckling up, she started the car and rolled out of the police headquarters parking lot.
Audryâs old employment was this cafĂ© off Central Park. Silvia liked it for its gelatos. The last time Audry had worked there was just before Africa, but she had saved up so much money from renting with Silviaâas their previous apartmentâs actual rent was minimized by the Deacons owning the placeâthat she really didnât need that job anymore. Besides, her tee shirts and photos were selling wonderfully online. Audry had thought about going back to the jobâbut to be honest, waitressing wasnât exactly an enjoyable full-time goal for her. She was glad that moment in her life had come and gone.
Silvia was on the curb in plain sight. Audry pulled up and she climbed in.
âDonât you think you were kind of obvious standing there?â Audry said once she pulled back into traffic.
Shaking her head, looking back to the street, Silvia replied, âNope. Because of the shadow spell, no predator can see me. They canât hardly see youâexcluding your Hogan, of course.â
âHe is not a predator.â
âSays you,â Silvia muttered.
Groaning, Audry knew Silvia had that attitude. It was annoying that she had not lost it yet.
The drive was long. With no stops and both ladies anxious, they could not arrive soon enough. Once in the neighborhood, Audry pulled along the curb where there were already a good number of cars. When they got out and went to the house, a brawny sort of guy who was a little familiar looking to Audry, opened the door. His eyes rested on Silvia.
âNo way,â he said, looking likely to slam the door in Silviaâs face. But he just hung his shoulders and moaned out, âSwift, your sisterâs here.â
âOh good! Is Audry with her?â Daniel ran up to the door from inside and grinned at Audry. He grabbed both of their hands and said, pulling them in, âGreat! You came! I need your help.â
âWith what?â Silvia asked. That was also Audryâs question.
âWe need one person here to greet family when they come in,â Daniel said, looking to Audry. âAnd one of you to make this place a safe place for when mother and child return.â
Both Audry and Silvia exchanged lookes. âA glorified greeter?â âYou want a spell on this place?â
Daniel moaned, hanging his shoulders. âNoâŠâ He looked to Audry first. âRedâsâuh, Andyâs family is coming and so is Jessicaâs mother. They donât exactly get on well. And we need somebody very, um, normal to run this place to keep them calm.â
Normal. Audry blinked at him. He wanted somebody who was normal? Her eyes scanned the room, taking in the others who were already occupying the couches. Besides the brawny blonde man who had opened the door, Audry saw a rather normal looking man with toast blonde hair and glasses. Well, he was normal except for the sword at his hip and the red crystal he wore around his neck.
Audry looked back to the brawny blonde, realizing he also had a crystal. What had Jessica said about those crystals? Every one of her friends who had been abused by that Wolfâs Wood cult had one. All eight of them. Would she meet all eight now? And with a glance to Silvia, Audry realized that maybe she would be the only ânormalâ person there. At least, she would be the only one not affected by occultists in her past.
Hogan was right. What had she stepped into? Who really were these people? Had she been groomed?
âI know this sounds funky, but you are level-headed and we will need you to keep things here from getting out of hand,â Daniel said.
âAnd not me?â Silvia asked dryly.
âOh no. Theyâre scared to death of you,â Daniel replied. But he was smirking.
And that brought things back to the absurd reality
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