Page 26 of Breathless
“Think about it, Roger. You’re just a kid, barely twenty at most, right?”
“Eighteen, so what of it?” He asked.
“You have your whole life before you. You’ll meet lots of girls before you find the one you want to marry,” Chaney said. Eighteen is barely grown. You have so much growing to do yet.”
Roger shook his head. “You don’t get it, do you bitch? Josie and me, we belong together. We come from the same background. No one wanted us. We were kids on the street, untilshe found her way here. It took me a while to find her again, but I did.”
“Did you ever think she was trying to get away?” Chaney asked. “Maybe she wanted to start fresh, put her past behind her. Make a clean start?”
A panicked look crossed his face. “You mean she wanted away from me?”
Chaney shrugged.
“No! Never. Josie loves me. I’m her man.”
“But she’s afraid of you, Roger,” Chaney said. “That’s the reason she runs away from you scared for her life.”
“She … she doesn’t … does she?” he said. He shook his head and raised a finger, shaking it in front of her face. “No. You’re just messing with my head. Trying to make me doubt things. Like Tom in those sessions, he makes me attend. Josie loves me. She wants to be with me. We’ll be together forever. You’ll see. She’s mine and no one else can have her.”
He ran off in the direction he came from, and Chaney slowly continued to Lydia’s office. She informed Lydia of what had happened, and Lydia contacted Hannah and let her know what Roger had said.
“It was good that you stayed calm and only talked with him,” Lydia assured Chaney. “You must remember you’re only a volunteer.”
“Everyone keeps telling me that,” Chaney said. “Have I been overstepping my bounds?”
“You are eager, and I think your wanting to help Josie has crossed the line a fraction,” Lydia said. “But we want to set the right boundary here going forward.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that,” Chaney said. “I only wanted to help Jodie.”
“I know you do,” Lydia said. “And there isn’t anything wrong with that, but we have to keep in mind our roles here at The Village.”
Chaney nodded. “I’ll do that.”
“With that in mind, I do have to say that I am worried about Roger being so adamant that no one can have Josie if he can’t.”
“I am too. I’m afraid he’ll try to kill her,” Chaney confessed. “That is normally what happens in domestic violence cases when the partner is obsessed and doesn’t want anyone having the other. I’ve been reading up on domestic violence cases since I’ve been trafficked. Not actually light summer reading, is it?”
“No, but I get it,” Lydia said. “You kinda went down a rabbit hole, looking for awareness on one subject or another. And that is where you landed, I guess?”
“Yeah. It is,” Chaney admitted.
Lydia sighed. “I shouldn’t say this to you after I just cautioned about staying within our roles here at The Village and crossing lines, but maybe Josie needs to be temporarily placed at another shelter until Roger is gone. It may be the only way we can make sure she is safe. I’ll need to talk to Hannah about it.”
“But where could she go?” Chaney dared asked.
“Not sure,” Lydia said. “We couldn’t get her placement with another agency in the state that quickly, especially for something so temporary.”
“Too bad Roger can’t be moved immediately,” Chaney mused.
“Yeah,” Lydia agreed, stacking up a few papers on her desk.
“It’s your lunch time,” Lydia said. “Go on down to the staff break room and eat. Afterward, another one of the counselors Tonya needs help boxing up items for a drive we’re helping with. I need to make a few phone calls but will meet you shortly to walk over with you.”
Chaney nodded. “Okay. See you later then.”
Later that afternoon…
Amber and Tiffany dashed through the double doors of the large assembly room looking frantic where Chaney, Lydia and a few others were packing supplies.
