Man Detox: A Novel Read online

  It wasn’t that he didn’t wonder about Irene. He had agreed to Rob’s insistence to monitor her to make sure there were no further nefarious activities, which could put additional harm on him.

  The logic, which he found unassailable, had been that it was inevitable there would be contact between Mexico and her in the aftermath of an operation that went wrong. It was also conceivable, as Rob emphasized to him, that there could be financial reward the funnels back to Irene. The latest report he received had not been conclusive.

  Now, he was surprised to get a call from the hospital. He hoped it would give him the evidence he needed to forget about her once and for all.

  “This is a follow up to our discussion, Mr. Anderson. I recall you expressed grave concern about Ms. Harwin’s wellbeing. Well, we have the results of our tests back.”

  Ethan’s heart started beating fast. Was this going to be the cure for his instinct that insisted on not believing all the worst suspicions about Irene? How could he be so wrong about someone?

  “Yes…” he said, holding the armrest tightly.

  “If you recall, I mentioned we didn’t see significant wounds and that most of what we assessed were superficial. Results paint a different picture. I tried to call Ms. Harwin directly, but haven’t been able to reach her and was wondering if you knew of how best to contact her.”

  Ethan started to have a sinking feeling something terrible might have taken place. Two things worried him most. That he might have been completely wrong and Irene was now unreachable.

  “Can you tell me what happened? I will make sure she gets the information…”

  The doctor hesitated for a second. She was reassured that her worst suspicion hadn’t come true. Nothing was connecting Ethan to the evidence that had been gathered. If anything, it was now clear to her he was a protector that suffered the brunt of danger that was visited on the woman. Plus the woman had given full consent to involving Ethan in all the evaluation and discussion during their hospital visit, the doctor made a quick mental calculation before proceeding forward.

  “Well… I am afraid the evidence now indicates… there were traces of semen found on Ms. Harwin, localized to the external and interior of the vagina… Bruises on the hand and legs are consistent with being forcibly detained…”

  “Our experience is women in this kind of situation undergo significant psychological trauma and enter a state of denial because of shame and as a coping mechanism… What leads us to believe this was the likely explanation is the freshness of the stains obtained. It appears the attack may have been averted before it could go too far…”

  “Yes…” Ethan said, autonomously. Yes, crisis was averted. Unknowingly, he provided the answer the doctor needed to continue to speak.

  “We do see the presence of an intact hymen… That’s what is called the virginity test. In cases of suspected rape, although not conclusive in all cases, such detailed examination is conducted routinely. So, Ms. Harwin was spared from the worst possible danger, but that doesn’t preclude other lingering effects, mostly psychological, from causing harm. Follow up is recommended to address such issues before they become debilitating.”

  Ethan listened to the doctor in disbelief. How totally wrong he had been about Irene. The combination of her purity, as expressed in her virginity, and what must have been a traumatic experience in the hand of those evil captors made him feel guilty beyond anything he could tolerate at the moment.

  “Thank you for all this help, doctor. I’ll make sure she gets the message.”

  “If you or she want to talk, you are welcome to call anytime. Again, if you want to press charges, I am happy to testify to these findings.”

  “Thank you. We will be in touch.”

  Ethan put down the phone and started examining how he could have completely miscalculated everything. He called Irene immediately. The phone rang many times before going to voicemail directly.

  Irene, it’s me, Ethan. I need to talk to you as soon as possible. Would you call me, please? This is important. Talk to you soon.

  With that one input of unbiased information, Ethan’s world was again turned upside down. He didn’t immediately know how he could rectify the situation. He needed to talk to her. He needed to apologize. But he couldn’t do any of that until she called him back.

  How was he going to be able to focus on anything for the rest of the afternoon? It dawned on him he had let Rob influence his thinking about her. Sure, it was his job to provide him information. But it was also Ethan’s responsibility to make judicious judgment about the information, and he didn’t do that in this case. He was quick to assume the worst about Irene despite his instinct about her. That was where he went wrong. He desperately hoped he wasn’t too late to rectify the situation.

  ∫---∫

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The day had dragged on for so long for Irene. Multiple tough cases and, to make things worse, she had to sit at lunch and be berated by Lauren. She was exhausted and leaning against the back wall of the elevator when someone stopped the door from closing. To her simultaneous dismay and relief, in walked Dr. Caleb, a young neurosurgeon who had been ogling her and flirting indiscriminately.

  “Look who is here. Done for the day?” He asked, seizing the fortunate coincidence to finally pull off something he had craved for a long time.

  “Yes,” Irene said, weary to think of anything else other than going home and crashing on her bed.

  “How about dinner?”

  “Dinner? I’m sorry I am too tired…”

  Would this be another of those decisions she would come to regret? The important consideration at the moment was she needed to get away as quickly as possible. The other consideration was that Dr. Caleb doesn’t work on her floor.

  Other than his infamous reputation, she knew a limited amount about him. They had crossed paths in the cafeteria a few times, none of which had exceeded exchange of pleasantries until she started running into him at odd places as if she were stalking him.

  “How long is this going to go on for, Irene? If nothing else, I am relentless. I don’t stop until I get what I want.” He said, casually.

  What was her answer? That she was still committed to a meaningless purity that had come to cost her so much? That she was above everything? What was she anyway? A lowly nurse, hospital employee, at the bottom rungs of medical hierarchy.

  What was her reason for saying no? She tried to think of any good reason run away. The truth of the matter was, as she concluded quickly, she was lucky that anyone would pay attention to her, let along Dr. Caleb. Confident and brash and handsome and reasonably wealthy. What would be wrong if she could have dinner with him?

  “It’s not like that…”

  “I know you want to… C’mon, it will be fun. It’s been a long day, coming out of a twelve-hour case. Need something to blow off steam.”

  “Sure,” she said, assuming blowing off steam meant more than dinner and being perfectly at ease about it. Maybe this was the relief she needed to take her out of the rut she had been on since the weekend.

  For the next many minutes, she mindlessly followed him as he led her to his Range Rover parked up front. What was it about rich and elegant men she found irresistible? She sat comfortably in the passenger seat and scanned the surrounding hoping no one saw her.

  Did it matter if anyone saw her? Why did she care so much about what others think about her anyway? Wasn’t it part of her problem? For once she needed to let her guard down and needed to enjoy herself. The other way hadn’t worked all that much for her. Why not try something new?

  As the SUV sped away from the hospital in the darkness, Irene didn’t care to make small conversation. She was resigned to accept whatever would come out of this chance encounter. Instead of going toward downtown, the car was heading to Chery Creek area. She didn’t have time to contemplate if there were good restaurants in the neighborhood before the car took a right turn on First Avenue toward a residential area.

/>   “I have a better idea,” he said to her.

  “Didn’t know they have good restaurants around here…”

  “Do you know the area?”

  “Not that much,” she said, realizing by now that they weren’t going to a restaurant. Instead, she was being driven to a house. Instead of being alarmed, she was pleased.

  What was the point of darting around when one could get to the point? She wondered how he might be like in bed. For whatever reason, all Irene thought about was sex. Maybe because she knew it was inevitable this time around. Maybe she was finally liberated from obsessing too much about attaching meaning to the piston-like physical act. Either way, what could she ask for other than this very fortunate interference?

  As the car passed through a gate that opened automatically and slowed to a stop in the driveway, he leaned in to kiss her.

  “I have something better than dinner,” he said.

  “I wonder what it might be…” She said, blushing.

  Irene had been actively ignoring the buzzing of her phone throughout the drive and as he slammed her against the wall and started to kiss her aggressively. As much as she tried to still herself, she couldn’t stay focused on the moment. She refused to let anything stop her from finally giving into the explosive desire bursting like a volcano.

  If she hadn’t been tired, she might have done so much to reciprocate this advance. For now, she let him ravish her as he was expertly capable of doing. She followed mindlessly as he led her to the couch and started taking off her clothes. As if conspiring to spoil her fun, she sensed she needed to use the bathroom instantly. She was on the verge of urinating on herself from the excess stimulation of her body.

  After apologizing, Irene rushed to a bathroom on the other side of the living room taking in the interior decor on the way. When she sat down to relieve herself, her palpitating heart reminded her this was what life had always been about. This was what she was missing out on.

  The phone buzzed again. She took it out in anger and look at it to discover there were fifteen missed calls and two voicemails. All from Ethan Anderson. She laughed out loud. This was the tragedy of her life. How could this happen when she was on the verge of solving her anxiety once and for all?

  As tempted as she was to ignore the phone, she decided to listen to the voice mails. The first didn’t alarm her as much. He wanted to talk to her. What could be so important now, many days removed from her unceremonious departure? The second message got her attention.

  Irene, look, I’m coming to Denver. We need to talk. Please call me back. See you soon, alright?

  She looked at the phone to see when the message was left. It was more than two and half hours before, and there had been a few missed calls since then. The phone buzzed again in her hand. She picked it up knowing fully well it was a crazy thing to do.

  “Yes,” she said as if it was a call from an unknown number.

  “Irene? Is that you?”

  “Yes,” she said again whispering into the phone, acutely aware she sat on the toilet bowl trying to contain her voice and reaction.

  “I’ve been trying to reach you. Where are you? I went to the hospital, and they told me you had just left… I am on my way to your apartment…”

  Irene stopped for a second to make sense of what he was saying. How did he know about where she worked and lived? She never told him about those things.

  “What’s going on, Ethan?”

  “I need to see you. I’m coming wherever you are. It looks the geo tracking on your phone isn’t working…”

  This gets worse by the second, she thought. Why would he want to track her down? Who gives him the right to do any of this?

  “Ethan, I am busy now. I am not home…” she murmured.

  “Can we meet? Please, I have something important to talk to you about… It is an emergency… Can’t talk about it on the phone…”

  What a tragic quandary? She got up from the toilet and pulled up her panties. What was she to do? She washed her hands while keeping the phone tucked to her ear with her shoulder.

  “Are you alright? What’s that sound?”

  “I'm all right,” she said, thinking it was too late to worry about her now.

  “Where are you at?”

  “I don’t know…”

  “You don’t know where you are? Is someone holding you?”

  “No.”

  “What’s the address then?”

  “I honestly don’t know…”

  Ethan panicked. Could he be too late to save her? When confronting Rob earlier in the afternoon, he had been assured it was a matter of time before the Mexicans tried to eliminate all traces of the operation. In his mind, he was not only trying to redeem himself for his misjudgment, but also racing against time. The way she talked quietly and her unwillingness to tell him where she was at were evidences of a terrible situation.

  “Can you ask someone? You can also drop a pin on a map app on your phone…”

  “Wait, hold on a second.”

  Irene left the bathroom holding the phone in her hand. Her host was walking around in boxers clutching a glass in hand. He was good looking by all measures. He looked irritated.

  “What’s going on?” the doctor asked her angrily. “Took much fucking time in there.”

  “What’s the address here?” Irene asked leaving the phone on. Her mistake was slowly creeping into her mind. This doctor was a jerk. All he wanted from her was one thing and he was clearly mad because she hadn’t given it to him right away.

  “What address? Who are you talking to?”

  “It’s a friend,” she said, hearing Ethan nervously telling her to stay calm and get the address.

  “What the fuck does your friend want?”

  “I took her badge by accident… She can’t get to work…”

  Irene could see he was getting angry. She needed to find a way to appease him quickly without raising too much alarm. “It’s Rachel,” she said, knowing there is a higher than likely chance she might have slept with him.

  “Rachel from Ortho?”

  “Yes,” Irene said eagerly.

  “Tell her to come over!” she saw him smiling. “She knows the address,” he said.

  In that instant, Irene knew she was in deep trouble, “She says she doesn’t remember it.”

  “Let me talk to her,” he walked toward her.

  Trembling and not hearing any of the words Ethan was saying to her on the phone, Irene ended the call. Her improvisation was heading to a dead end.

  “She says to text her the address.”

  He took what remained in his glass in one large gulp, examining her panicked state.

  “Well, isn’t that something?” he said heading back to the mini-bar to refill his glass.

  “I think…” Irene cleared her throat. Why was she scared? Couldn’t she say she made a mistake and didn’t want to be there anymore if that was what she really wanted? What was Ethan panicking about?

  Dr. Caleb walked toward her. Undeterred by her trepidation. “Why did you lie?” He asked pointedly. Irene could feel her legs weakening as she leaned against the wall.

  “Lie? What... w-what?”

  “Rachel happens to be out of town. So, who was calling you?”

  “Uh…” She stuttered.

  Why was she so scared of him? Did she or did she not want to have fun? It was a simple choice before Ethan called and spoiled everything. This was to be the end of something.

  Waffling on whether to go forward or not, she tried to account for the difference between the two men. Both handsome. Here, she hasn’t been given a chance to breathe as soon as she entered the house. In San Francisco, she was given an entire house to use as her own without the slightest suggestion of expectation.

  Couldn’t Ethan have slept with her? Hadn’t she put herself out there for him numerous times? What she had concluded was disinterest now, contrasted with the present situation, seemed like a remarkable restraint of maturity.

&nb
sp; It was evident to her, like a clearing of fog, almost like what she saw in San Francisco. As that memory passed through her mind, she recalled the explanation Ethan had given about the varied micro-climate between the different parts of the city.

  “I’m sorry. I need to go…” She said, finally gathering her strength.

  “What the fuck did you lead me this far for?”

  “I apologize. I didn’t mean to…”

  “Get the fuck out of here!” He shouted at her, opening the door and directing her outside.

  For a moment, Irene was shocked and could barely talk or move. Was he suggesting she walk out of the house? Then what? Sure enough, as soon as she stepped outside, he slammed the front door shut. She walked toward the gate dazed and confused. It opened as soon as she got there. She stepped out into the darkness of the night not knowing exactly what she should do next.

  ∫---∫

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  In desperation, Ethan had called in a favor from his tech wizard buddy to find Irene’s location. This required triangulating her position using nearby cell towers. Not an exact science nor as accurate as GPS, but it got him close enough to the Cherry Creek area, and he had commanded the towncar driver to head in that general direction.

  His sense of danger had reached an acute state. Would Irene have tried to deflect attention away from their conversation if she didn’t fear for her life?

  When his phone rang, he could barely contain his excitement.

  “Irene!”

  “I’m outside… I am…”

  Why was she shaking so much? Was it the cold or the fear or the close call or the prospect of seeing Ethan soon? She had walked as fast as she could away from the house before she called him.

  “Where? Tell me? I think I am nearby. Are you in Cherry Creek?”

  “Yes…”

  “Get to the nearest intersection and let me know what you see… Stay on the phone… Don’t hang up, okay?”