This Strange Addiction by Julie Steimle (e book free reading .txt) 📕

“They were my best friends,” she explained, understanding that look. “We still keep in touch. And all three of us have this picture on our cell phones. It’s like our go-to pic.”

“So he was with your group?” Hogan asked.

Audry shook her head. “No. I told you, he was with us fifteen minutes, tops. He was hiding from somebody. He had come with this lady, who had really amazing blue eyes, to the Eiffel Tower. But he snuck into our group to avoid someone else and went down with us. And he needed a map, so I gave him mine. I bumped into him again almost two years later at the conference where he signed my permission forms for my Master’s research. He didn’t even recognize me. But I had to get permission to do some research on his family’s land, so I spoke with him—as did everyone else in my group. Again, only a few minutes. He’s was actually pretty reasonable.”

Hogan smirked. His eyes read Audry’s embarrassment as she tried not mention that she had thought Rick was attractive, though a pompous rich boy.

“I hardly ever talked to him at all until the last week of my Master’s research when he unexpectedly showed up at the ski lodge where I was staying—and all we really did was talk about my research and argue about veganism,” Audry said.

Hogan’s smirk spread. His eyes were shining. “I take it he’s a die-hard meat eater.”

Audry nodded. “Exactly. But at that time I was dating Harlin—my stalker ex—before we broke up. And I broke up with Harlin right after that. Which is why Harlin thought Rick and I had an affair.”

This time Hogan stared. She could see in his eyes the question “Did you?” But his mouth said, “He’s a good looking guy. I can see how your ex would be jealous.”

Rolling her eyes, Audry groaned. “Please. Don’t. Nothing happened between Rick and me. Nothing. Honestly, all I knew about Rick at the time was that the guy was a rich punk who has lots of serious allergies and I wanted to avoid him.”

“Lots of allergies,” Hogan murmured, wondering how that came up as a conversation piece between her and Rick.

Seeing his skepticism, Audry explained, “He had a huge allergic reaction at the convention where he signed my permission form. The Deacon family allergies are famous.”

“He didn’t seem like a wimp,” Hogan murmured.

Shaking her head, Audry chuckled, “Come on. Allergies have nothing to with physical strength. Anyway, the point is, I really don’t know him. I know his friends. I know about him. Internet rumors and the like. We just kept bumping into each other, and Harlin targeted him. So I had to warn him about it when I saw him. Besides, he’s best friends with Jessica’s husband. It’s unavoidable now. He’s a friend of a friend. That’s how close I am to him. He was the best man at their wedding.”

“Wow,” Hogan looked stunned. He knew Jessica. They had met when Andrew had gone to Europe to help Rick during the Germany fiasco. She and Silvia both went to have ‘girl’s weekend’ with Jessica to celebrate her pregnancy. When Hogan had found out that Jessica was the police officer who had helped Audry deal with Harlin, he had remained strictly polite with her—inclined to call her Officer Cartwright—rather than Mrs. Cartwright. He had never met Andrew.

“I’ve met two of his ex-girlfriends,” Audry continued, “His mother, his private school roommate—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Hogan lifted up his hands. “Audry… you met his mother?”

“By chance,” Audry said, shrugging. “She ate at a café where I used to work near Central Park.”

“Are you sure he didn’t plan it?”

Groaning in irritation, she replied, “He didn’t even know I was there. He went on a trip to the park with his half-brother and half-sister. And when he did return, he was shocked to see me.”

Yet Hogan’s smirk crooked even more. “Really?”

“Come on, Hogan,” Audry groaned. “It has just been a series of weird coincidences.”

But Hogan shook his head. “No. I don’t think so.”

Flabbergasted, Audry protested. “But I—”

“I believe you,” Hogan said, laughing. “I’m sure you aren’t seeking him out. But… Audry, maybe you have caught his eye. You are a beautiful woman, you know.”

She blushed. Hogan wasn’t wrong. In a way, she kind of knew it. Not about her being beautiful… though that was flattering. But that somehow at the ski lodge she had caught Rick’s attention. He had insisted, after all, on introducing her to his friends that morning, like he wanted them to know her. If they really had been people in passing, he would not have bothered.

“Can you recall what you might have done?” Hogan asked, mostly curious now. “Something that maybe your ex noticed—which was why he was jealous.”

Rolling her eyes now, Audry shook her head. “The only thing that Harlin had against Rick was that Rick told me Harlin sounded like a player—which was what everyone was telling me anyway, and I just wasn’t listening. The only difference was that I realized Rick was right, and that’s why I broke up with Harlin.”

Hogan raised his eyebrows. “You talked about your ex with Mr. Deacon?”

This was getting ridiculous… especially how Hogan kept referring to Rick as ‘Mr. Deacon’ as if he were ‘Mr. Darcy’. Audry shook her head. “Not really. Rick’s ringtone was the same as Harlin’s. Duran Duran’s Hungry Like the Wolf. I heard it when someone called him, and it came up as a topic of discussion.”

“And that was Mr. Deacon admitting he was player…” Hogan smirked.

Audry shook her head more. “No. His ringtone was a prank on him. His friend Tom pranks him all the time. His cellphone plays wolf songs as ringtones. Hungry Like the Wolf and I think Werewolves of London. You have to understand, the family has these wolf reserves….” But as she said this, something clicked in her head. “The wolf. Oh my gosh… Maybe that’s it.”

“That’s…?” Hogan was confused.

Nodding, Audry said in a murmur, “I rescued the wolf. Is that why…?”

Still confused, Hogan said, “What wolf? What are you talking about?”

It was so strange. It seemed really to boil down to that wolf. So Audry said, “You know the wolf tee shirts I sell?”

“The one that is your computer screensaver?” Hogan wryly asked. “The one you’re in love with?”

Audry nodded, rolling her eyes as it confirmed that Hogan really was jealous of the wolf. “Yeah. That’s the wolf. I told you about how I had dug a bullet out of that wolf’s leg, right?”

Hogan nodded, interested though still confused.

“Well, that wolf is somehow connected to the Deacon family. It’s not a pet, or so they say. Rick’s friend Tom says the wolf kind of follows Rick everywhere, which—I don’t know—Tom says is burden to Rick. And yet, I know all his friends know that wolf. They’ve all seen it. His ex-girlfriend Daisy has seen it. And they seem to like the wolf as if it were Rick himself. They all bought a shirt, laughing as if they knew it would annoy him.” Audry shook her head. “Thing is, Rick is really protective of that wolf.”

“So… he likes you because you saved his wolf,” Hogan summed up, not quite sure that was what she had meant.

Audry shrugged. She really wasn’t sure. But Rick’s attitude towards her, the way he looked at her had changed since the morning after she had saved the wolf. He seemed to really see her, whereas before she was just one of many faces in the world he had to deal with. She remembered how he had made sure her car had all the ice scraped off of it, and warmed up, and chains on. Since then, he seemed to be watching out for her. In fact, since then, he appeared to trust her for no good reason at all.

Sighing, Hogan took the car out of park and pulled back into the road, taking her home. “Alright. Though admittedly, I am jealous.”

Glancing from the passenger side of the car, Audry chuckled. “He’s not competition with you, Hogan. The guy has got a lot of strong opinions which counter mine. And he’s got a… I dunno, weird life. And though, yeah, he’s good looking—you are what I want.”

He smiled to himself then leaned over and kissed her cheek.

After they pulled into the parking lot, Hogan got out and walked Audry to her door.

“Thanks,” Audry said. She then looked about to see if there was any sign of those three women from Massachusetts. So far, no. “Do you mind being my escort for a while? At least until my car is fixed?”

“I’d be your escort forever, if you want me to,” he said, kissing her on the nose.

Audry blushed, ducking her head a little.

After a brief doorway kiss, Audry unlocked her door and let herself into her apartment. Hogan left once she was safe inside.

The apartment felt so empty.

No Silvia. No even the scent of her.

Audry turned on some lights and looked around. There wasn’t even a note from her. She really was gone.

It was strange. When Audry had first met Silvia Lewis, she had creeped her out to no end. And that was when Silvia had joined NYU’s Green Club and had flirted with Harlin when she and Harlin had been on the outs. But after finishing her Master’s degree… No, after Audry had permanently dumped Harlin and Silvia found out that Audry knew Rick Deacon, that’s when Silvia started being friendly to her. But it really was during the whole Harlin stalking her phase when Audry had bumped into Rick once more and Silvia had confessed to being a ‘witch’, that was when they ended up forming the weirdest friendship. That was when Silvia needed help to leave her coven. And that was when they recruited Jessica’s help. After all, what could Audry do? She was the kind of person who rescued. Wounded animals. Wounded people. And Silvia was so wounded.

Audry hoped her roommate was safe.

Audry did a lot of walking in the following two days. She stuck to public transportation and kept an eye out for those three Massachusetts gals. There were moments when Audry thought she could see them, but it was like out of the corner of her eye. Or around a corner. Or between two book shelves. It was like she was not able to see them except in a reflection or in some obscured space. It made her constantly nervous.

Audry spent a lot of time on campus writing up her findings and work experience from Africa. She was almost done. She had a copy-edit to do, and she had to verify all her source material. All her photographs were catalogued and backed up. Her journal was all photocopied and transcribed, and including all sketches she had made.

On the second day, she got a call from the auto shop.

<< It’s ready, >> Tom Brown said cheerily. << Just come on over and pick it up. >>

“Great!” Audry said, immediately relieved. She would have to call Hogan to get a ride. “I’ll be there this afternoon.”

<< You know, though, I still think you should sell the car for scrap and have Rick buy you a car—one with bullet proof windows. >>

Moaning, Audry stared at the ceiling. “No one is shooting at me, Tom.”

But he just chuckled into the phone and hung up.

Audry called Hogan right away and arranged for them to go to China Town to pick her car up. He had time and readily said ‘yes’.

So when they drove into the area and Audry pointed out the shop, Hogan pulled in and parked in the one empty space in the lot. When they got out, they saw Tom was there with that kid Roddy, both of them sitting on the ground and taking apart a machine piece Audry could not identify on a greasy cloth. Tom seemed to be drilling Roddy on each part and where it