This Strange Addiction by Julie Steimle (story books to read .TXT) 📖

was just a good thing that she and Hogan were both independent enough that separation for a time would not be that hard on them when she had to go.  

As she applied for more information and permission to study on the various wildlife lands, those websites which did not have online applications but pdfs to fill out, she printed off, filled out by hand, and then put them in envelopes to mail. Problem was, she had no stamps. Audry did not use ‘snail mail’ that often. And since the load of letters was so large, she decided to walk to the post office where she and Silvia now had a post office box. She had been in pajamas all day doing this. So, throwing on some jeans and grabbing the first clean tee shirt she could find, Audry tossed on some shoes and ran out the door.

As she went out, Audry also realized she needed to go back to NYU for something in her lab also. At moments like these, she missed her car. It was by foot then subway to the post office. One stop.

It was the first time she had stepped into this particular post office. She rarely visited any of them unless she was mailing packages home for birthdays, and she usually brought gifts herself on holidays. So when she walked in, she searched around for signs to show her the line to stand in, feeling incredibly awkward. There was one line. It contained an obese, red-faced man in a Luau shirt, a middle aged woman with stacks and stacks of boxes to be shipped, and a young guy with creamy mulatto skin and tight black Rasta style curls who was wearing a sports sweatshirt. The most striking thing about him was his athletic, metal prosthetic leg which was from the knee down. It looked like it hurt him to stand on it, though he was bearing the pain well. When she came in, he took one glance at her then stared at her tee shirt, flinching back.

Audry smiled at him with a nod, then glanced down at her shirtfront to see what he was staring at. It was the wolf.

“Oh.” She flustered. “Not into wolves, huh?”

He shook his head, his eyes wide on the shirt. He pointed at it. “That wolf. Where did you get it?”

She looked down again and sighed, wondering why this wolf was so stinking famous. “I took this picture. It’s my wolf. I sell these shirts for fundraising.”

“YOUR wolf?” He stared at her, pulling back. “What? How?”

Chuckling, Audry said, “I don’t own it or anything—but, uh, I rescued it once. I’m an animal rescue worker.”

He stared even more. “No way.”

She shrugged.

But he shook his head, looking clammy… like he had seen a Mike Myers with a knife standing in the doorway.

“Do you know this wolf?” she asked, wondering if he also knew Rick Deacon.

He shook his head, but like his memory pained him. “I’ve seen it.”

Audry stared at him, waiting for more. The funny thing was, most people laughed when they see that wolf on a tee shirt and then make jokes about getting it to sit still. But he didn’t. It was like the memory of the wolf that pained him.

“Where?” Audry finally asked.

He breathed hard. “Germany.”

The line moved. The huge man in the Luau shirt left, allowing the woman with all the packages to step up and heave them to the counter to be weighed, one by one.

“That’s not possible,” Audry stared at him. “This is a North American wolf. I happen to know this for a fact.”

The man chuckled weakly, nodding to himself. “Of course it is.” But then he lifted his eyes to her and asked, “How did you end up rescuing it? And when?”

She shrugged. “Oh, years back. I was working on my Masters on an animal reserve over winter vacation, and… the story is a little strange. Let it suffice that some hunters shot it in the leg, and I dug out the bullet.”

“And he just let you.” The man peered at her with dark inspecting eyes.

The woman ahead of them heaved up two more packages, having them weighed. Audry had wondered how that woman had gotten all of those boxes there.

Chuckling, Audry shook her head. “I tranquilized it first. No one with sense would handle a wounded wolf without precautions. But…” and she pulled out her pride and joy—the bullet on a chain, “… I did get this as a souvenir.”

The man peered at it. “Is that silver?” He turned it in his fingers, seeing the writing. He then pulled back from it and her, letting it drop from his fingers.

“Yeah,” Audry nodded, taking it and tucking it back in. “Shockingly enough. There’s a crazy story connected to it.”

“Why didn’t you just let the wolf die?” he asked.

That blew the breath out of her. She stared at him. “I am an animal rescue worker. I don’t do that.”

He huffed, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. It’s just…” He clenched his teeth and grabbed his leg just above the amputation. “I was attacked by wolves in Germany. And that wolf was there.”

She gasped.

“He attacked you?” escaped Audry as she felt breathless.

The man peered at her for a second and then closed his eyes. He shook his head again, pained. “No. He didn’t. But it’s still his fault.”

That made no sense to her.

But then it clicked in her head. Staring at his face, Audry did not know the man, but she knew who he was. That is, he was one of two surviving men who had returned from Germany after a wolf attack in Cochem—one of three friends who had gone to Germany with Rick. She gasped.

He nodded, seeing she understood. He said, “How well do you know Rick Deacon?”

“Passing acquaintance…” She then shook her head. “I know a lot of his friends. His best friend is married to my good friend and old roommate.” She then met his gaze. “I had met Jordan, your friend who died, on that same ski trip when I saved the wolf.”

The man stiffened.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, her eyes raking over this man’s grieving face. “Jordan was a nice guy.”

He closed his eyes and nodded. But he said again, “How well do you know Rick Deacon, though?”

She shrugged. The truth was, she knew a lot about him. But he always seemed to avoid her. “I don’t know how to answer that. I know he grew up in a creepy town. He went to a private school once. I know his friends from there. I know he is grieving Jordan’s death, and he blames himself for… everything.” She shook her head, realizing Rick blamed himself for a lot. “He tried to buy me a car once to protect me from someone who was stalking me.”

His eyes widened on her again. “What?”

“I said ‘no’.” She chuckled painfully. “My fiancée would have had a cow if I did. But… and this just my opinion, I think Rick is a decent, yet really troubled man. And I know he is blaming himself for what happened to you in Germany.” She looked at his leg, realizing those German wolves had done that to him. “And I can’t imagine why you think this wolf was there attacking you. But if this shirt offends you, I’ll try to cover it with my arms.”

And she did so, obscuring the wolf’s face.

He stared at her. Then he extended a hand. “I’m Rhett Williams.”

She took his hand. “Audry Bruchenhaus.”

They shook.

The woman with the packages was still working on paying for them. They stood next to each other in awkward silence after the handshake, Rhett still looking pained on his prosthetic.

“Is that really painful?” Audry asked, gesturing to the leg. “You can lean on me if it makes it easier.”

“Thanks.” And Rhett did, leaning on her shoulder. “It’s mostly mental.”

She glanced at him.

“I mean, it kills sometimes,” Rhett amended. “It’s still really sore. But uh, mostly it kills because the memory of what happened is still fresh. I have nightmares.”

She nodded. Who wouldn’t? Rick was probably having the same night terrors.

The package lady finished up and walked away with her tracking numbers in hand.

“Next!”

Rhett stepped up and set his package on the scale.

As the postal worker negotiated prices and insurance on the package, Rhett leaned against the counter and paid for the shipping. He then stepped aside for Audry to mail her letters, getting them all stamped up. But he did not leave. He watched her and listened. And when she finished, he walked with her to the doors.

“I’m taking a break from Brown this semester to recover,” Rhett said. “But I heard a rumor Rick went right back to school. Is that true?”

Audry nodded. “Yeah. I saw him not too long ago, actually. I do believe that he just went back to studying. I first saw him after Germany at a beach cleanup. His company had provided the trucks for hauling. I think he still had his bandages then.”

Rhett stared at her. “Do you seem him frequently?”

Shrugging as she walked toward the subway station, him also going that way, she said, “Not until recently, no. But these days… yeah, actually. But then I know a number of his friends around New York who are, currently, unavoidable. My roommate’s brother is one of his old friends from Massachusetts.”

“No way.” Rhett halted, his eyes widening. “What’s his name?”

“Daniel,” Audry said. “Daniel Smith.”

He nodded. “I met him. Fast dude. Red crystal. Weird habit of carrying a sword?”

Audry laughed, nodding. “Yeah. That’s him. His sister jokes that he is a pyromaniac.”

Rhett looked like she had hit him with a club. But he shook it off. “What other friends of his do you know?”

Counting, Audry said out loud, “Uh… Matthew Calamori—he’s an NYPD cop. Uh, Jessica Mason, now Cartwright—who is married to his best friend Andrew. Um… Tom Brown who is a CIA agent.” She watched him nod, implying he had met Tom. But then Audry knew Tom had been to Germany with Rick. Bobo had told her. “Bobo—uh, his real name is Robert Lafon from New Orleans. Randon Spade, and a few others whom I’ve only met briefly. My roommate Silvia knew him in high school of course, but they weren’t friends.”

He stared at her. Then, closing one eye, he said, “I know I asked this twice, but really, what do you know about him? I mean dark secrets.”

Audry shook her head, stepping back. “I don’t spread rumors.”

Rhett smiled, nodding. But he said, “I get it. But you have heard the weird stuff about him, right?”

Meeting his gaze Audry said, “I don’t believe any of that stuff. I met his mother. She is alive and not crazy. I’ve met his grandparents also—stuffy old windbags.”

“Ok…” he said.

“But I don’t believe in the werewolf rumors, if that is what you are implying,” she said.

Chuckling painfully, Rhett nodded. “Smart gal.” But then he got near her and said, “No disrespect to Rick, who really tried to save our hides back in Germany, but if I were you, I’d run the other way from him. Make distance and disassociate from his friends. The dude on his own is fine, but he can be dangerous. However, those people who are after him and hate him are more dangerous. And you don’t want to be collateral damage. People who know him well, know this.”

She understood his message loud and clear. He was terrified of Rick. It was clear he did not want to go back to Brown because Rick was there. And not because Rick would harm him, but those hunting Rick would—much like the situation with Silvia.

“Take my advice,” he whispered. Then he left her, walking to the curb to hail a cab. It took a bit, but one soon pulled to the curb and she watched him get in and go.