A Changed Man (Altered Book 1) Read online

  There was a knock on Slade's office door. "Enter." He called out.

  The door opened and a large man dressed in a black BDU entered the room. "Mr. Smith." He nodded at Slade.

  "Ah, Austin. Have a seat." Slade said pointing to the chair on the other side of his desk. "Has your team found anything?"

  "No sir. The dogs seemed to pick up a trail about six miles to the east; we followed it deep into the forest and they led us to a large fallen tree, there was blood on it."

  "But no sign of Remington?" Slade asked, his anger palpable.

  "No sir. From there the dogs seemed to pick up the scent again, but this time they took us northwest. We followed it for another ten miles. The dogs were definitely onto something, then it just ended."

  Slade crossed his slender fingers together resting them on the desk. "Do you think it was him? Did you get a blood sample?"

  "No sir; we wanted to keep the dogs moving while they had the scent and by the time we circled back it was gone."

  "Gone? How could it be gone?" Slade asked glaring at this new disappointment. "Did it rain?"

  "No sir. It was just gone; like it had never been there. We looked around the area but didn't find any more traces." Austin said, sweat starting to form on his brow.

  "Am I making you nervous?" Slade asked with a menacing grin.

  "No sir. I'm just sorry we couldn't find him for you. It may not have even been him. He fell from the cliff right? He's probably dead." Austin said clearly uncomfortable.

  "For your teams sake, you better hope so. First thing in the morning I want you to send your team twenty miles down the river. Have them start from where Remington fell in and walk the bank on both sides the entire way, see if you can find the body."

  "Yes sir."

  "Now get out of my office. I have work to do." Slade said flicking his hand out at the other man as if shooing away a fly.

  "Yes sir."

  Jackie woke up on the couch; she must have dozed off. It was late and the room flickered in blue shadows from the light of the TV. She sat up, remembering she had an injured houseguest, and got up to go check on him. She kept her footsteps light as she walked down the hall toward the guest room. She peered though the crack of the door and could see Remington lying on his side with his eyes closed facing the door. He looked so peaceful. He looked nothing like the huge, scary, bloody intruder she found laying in a heap on the floor of her shed earlier in the evening. Not wanting to disturb him, she started to back away from the door.

  "Don't go." He whispered opening his eyes. Jackie froze for a few seconds, then took a step forward and opened the door so she could see him better.

  "I thought you were asleep. I didn't mean to wake you.” She said taking a small step into the room.

  "It's okay. I'm a very light sleeper." He said and started to sit up. "What time is it?"

  "It's a little after three A.M. I fell asleep on the couch in front of the TV and just woke up. I figured I'd come check on you."

  Remington couldn't believe he had slept for nine hours. He couldn't remember the last time he slept so well. "I could watch a little TV." Remington said in a hopeful tone. "If you’re up to it."

  "Uh yea, sure. For a little while." Jackie walked over to the bed and held her hand out to Remington to help him up.

  "I don't have any clothes on," he realized with a grin.

  "Oh! Yeah, let me get your things from the dryer.” She said trying not to blush. Jackie left the room and went to get Remington’s clothes. The sweat pants didn't look too bad, but the shirt was trashed. She walked back to his room.

  "Here are your pants but your shirt wasn't so lucky" she said handing his sweats to him.

  "Thanks. I'll just put back on the one you gave me earlier if that’s okay." He said.

  Or you don't have to wear one at all; that would be fine by me! She thought to herself. "Of course" she answered instead. Jackie turned and faced the door so that Remington could get dressed in private and she wouldn't look like a sex starved idiot staring at him with her mouth hanging open.

  "All done." He said. Jackie turned around and walked over to the bed to help Remington stand and together they hobbled into the living room. She helped him get seated on the couch then lifted his injured ankle and rested it atop a pillow on the coffee table. "How’s that?" She asked.

  "Perfect, thank you."

  "Can I get you anything? It's been awhile, are you hungry again?" Remington looked at her with disbelief; she'd done so much for him already and was still offering.

  "Of course you must be, I'll make us a snack. Watch whatever you want." She handed him the remote and walked in to the kitchen. Remington clicked on the TV, and scoured through the news channels; looking for anything that may relate to his missing or if anyone was looking for him. He stopped and sat straight up when he saw a picture of himself on a local Denver channel with the words 'Wanted for murder' and 'May be armed and dangerous' underneath. It was a headshot of what he looked like before being taken; his hair at his shoulders, his face fuller.

  "Oh my god that’s you!" Jackie said from behind him. "That’s you! I thought you looked familiar. What did you do?" She asked him slowly walking toward the hallway.

  "Nothing! Please believe me. I told you they kidnapped me, they did this to me!" He said rubbing the stitches on his head. "You don't need the gun, I promised you I wouldn't hurt you and I meant it. Please, just come sit down. I'll tell you everything I remember."

  Jackie wanted to believe him. He hadn't tried anything yet, but that was before he knew she knew who he was. She wasn't sure if she could trust him further. She wanted to, with everything inside her screaming for her to believe him, but the logical side of her brain was telling her if this mans picture was on the TV and the cops were looking for him, there was a reason for it.

  "Please Jackie. I promise it’s not what it looks like. You've trusted me this far." He looked at her with pleading eyes. Jackie walked slowly back over to the couch, sitting on the far end where she could jump up and run if she had to.

  "Okay, I'm going to start from the beginning." He said, waiting for her to look at him. "I told you I was military, that’s true. I'm Navy; I am a member of an elite team called the SWCC. I have been in the service since I was eighteen. I don't have any family. Let me rephrase that, I don't have any family I want any part of, so I just kept re-enlisting. I was ranked one of the best, and there aren't that many of us so that’s saying something. I just got back state side a week ago?"

  "Are you asking me or telling me?" Jackie said a little confused.

  "Well, I think it was a week ago. I'm not sure how long I was held. What’s the date?"

  "Its the eighth of October." She answered.

  "I landed in Denver on September twenty-third. Damn, I was in that shit hole longer than I thought.” Remington whispered, his eyes drifting away from Jackie and staring off in to space.

  "Sixteen days." She said

  Remington brought his head back up and re-focused his attention on Jackie and telling her the crazy story he hoped like hell she believed. "Yeah. Sixteen days." He said. "Anyway, my flight got in around five P.M. I caught a taxi and that’s the last thing I remember. I never made it to my apartment. Whoever grabbed me, they did it in the taxi. Probably gassed me like they did when I woke up from the operation." He said remembering back.

  "Operation? The stitches?" Jackie asked.

  "Yeah, I'm getting ahead of myself. After the taxi, I woke up in this room. This disgusting room that smelled of every foul thing you could imagine. It was dark. I couldn't see anything. My head was pounding and when I reached up to touch it I realized why." Remington pointed to the stitches on his head. "So I started yelling; after a couple minutes a monitor that was on the wall came on and a man started talking to me. He said "We only use the best, that’s why you’re here" and "We tried to make you better, make you able to do things people only dream about." Then he said something about how disappointed he was, because I had f
ailed. The procedure didn't work on me and they thought I was dead. He said I flat lined on the operating table, and that he was getting ready to call for a "clean up" when he heard me yelling. I assumed that meant get rid of me."

  "I need a drink." Jackie said getting up. "You want one?"

  "Do you believe me?" He asked feeling nervous.

  "I haven’t decided yet, but I’m going to need a drink to get through the rest of it, excuse me." Jackie went to the kitchen and pulled the bottle of wine out of the fridge, grabbed a glass and went back to her seat on the couch. "Okay, continue." She said pouring her glass so full it almost spilled over the rim.

  "Okay." Remington said; he wasn't sure how to react to Jackie’s response, so he just kept going. "I told him to let me out, and he said something about them not being animals and the next thing I knew I was on the floor trying to breathe. I woke up in another room. I didn't see any cameras or monitors in this one. There was just a bed, and a bathroom. It had two doors; a wooden one that opened up to a door with bars, like on a jail cell. Some guy came by and gave me a sandwich and told me I was here because they wanted to try again with me." Remington stopped talking and just looked at Jackie, trying to put himself in her shoes. What would he think if someone was telling him this nutty story? He wished he could get inside her head. He watched her down half her glass. "Are you okay?" He asked her.

  "Oh! Yeah! I'm great!" She said and took another gulp. "I have a strange, severely injured man in my home and he’s wanted by the police! Now I'm listening to a crazy kidnapping story and really just trying to take it all in you know? Sorry if it's a little hard for me to trust everything you say after only knowing you less than twelve hours!" Jackie was standing now; she looked like she wanted to run, but didn't know which way to go.

  "And I appreciate everything you've done for me. I'm telling you the truth Jackie." Remington put his injured leg down on the floor and stood up. "Thanks for patching me up and feeding me. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't find me. I've caused you enough trouble; I'll get out of your way. Remington limped toward the front door.

  Chapter 7

  Jackie watched Remington walk out the door. Where’s he going to go? She thought. It’s the middle of the freaking night! "Wait!" She shouted. She went to the front door and opened it, turning on the porch light. Remington was standing on the porch about to descend the stairs. "Wait, I'm sorry. I'm just a little overwhelmed with all that’s been going on around here and now this. Come back in, it’s the middle of the night, where are you gonna go? Come back in and finish your story.” Jackie didn't know why she wasn't just letting him go, why take a chance that this total stranger is telling her the truth? He could just be lying so she'll hide him and when he gets his strength back god knows what he'd do to her. What if the cops find him here and he uses her as a hostage? What an imagination you have! She thought to herself. Get a grip, if he wanted to hurt you he had ample opportunity numerous times, you left the gun in the bedroom hours ago.

  "It’s okay, really. You've done enough for me. I've been on my own a long time, I'll manage." He smiled at her.

  "Please, I feel like an asshole. Just come back in and tell me the rest of the story. I promise to listen without freaking out. Besides, how are you going to get down the stairs, let alone walk miles to town?" She said giving him a crooked smile.

  "Are you sure? I really don't want to put you out anymore than I already have. I understand this is a lot to take in, and I could never think you’re an asshole." Remington winked at her.

  "I'm sure, c’mon, it’s chilly out here." Jackie held the door open for Remington, she grabbed his arm and helped him back in the house and got him reseated on the couch. "Let me grab that snack." Jackie made a plate of sliced apples and cheese. She grabbed another wine glass for Remington and went back to the couch, this time not sitting so far away. She set the plate on the cushion between them and poured him a glass of wine.

  "Okay, I’m all ears." She said, giving him a serious look.

  "Well, after he said they wanted to try again with me, he said Mr. Smith would be back tomorrow to discuss it with me, I'm assuming that was the man over the monitor, he seemed to be the one in charge."

  "What was the operation for, and how did you finally escape?" She asked.

  Remington started to get nervous, if she wasn't sure she believed his story before, she was going to have a really hard timing believing what he was going to tell her next. "This is going to be really hard to believe, but the operation didn't fail, and I figured this out when I went over to the cell door. I was freaking out a bit and I leaned my head against the door and wrapped my hands around the bars, I just pulled on them out of frustration." Remington was looking at Jackie, trying to figure out how to say what came next, there was no way to sugar coat it, so he just said it. "And they moved."

  Jackie stopped chewing the piece of cheese she had in her mouth and swallowed. Tilting her head she stared at him. "Moved? The bars moved?"

  "Yes." he said quietly. "I was able to pull them apart enough to squeeze through them. I put pillows in the bed to make it look like I was sleeping. Then I went through the bars and pushed them back together. I made my way to an exit and there was a guard at the door."

  "You bent metal bars, with your hands?" She asked not buying it. "I'm sorry, but that’s impossible. They must have been a light aluminum or something."

  "They were metal, these were cell doors with real metal bars." He looked at her as if trying to will her to believe him. "The next thing I'm going to tell you may frighten you, please don't let it. I had to do it."

  Jackie picked up her wine glass and took a drink. "Just say it."

  "On the news it said I was wanted for murder, that’s not entirely true. I did kill someone, but that’s not why they're looking for me. I had to take out the guard that was blocking my escape. We fought, it was him or me, and so I made sure it was him." Remington dropped his eyes and starting picking imaginary lint off the couch cushion. He was waiting for Jackie to freak out again, waiting for her to call him a liar and ask him to leave, and this time let him go. When she didn't say anything he looked up at her, her eyes were wide but she was sitting calmly, watching him, waiting for him to finish. "So after that I found myself in a tunnel of a cave and when I reached the opening to the outside there was a sheer cliff with a river below. I tried to climb up the face of the cliff but lost my footing and fell into the river. That’s how I got so banged up. When I finally made it out of the water I moved as fast and as far as I could. I stopped to rest on this big fallen tree and that’s when I must have passed out. I don't remember anything else until you found me in your shed."

  Jackie stared silently at him for what seemed like forever. "Show me." She said resolute.

  "Show you?" Remington asked confused.

  "Yea, show me how you can bend metal. That’s one hell of a story. That’s one hell of an unbelievable story. If you want me to believe it, show me."

  Remington was between a rock and a hard place. Telling her was one thing, showing her was another. What if it freaked her out even more and she called the cops on him? It could lead those crazy fuckers right to him. She would be able to tell them she actually saw him do something no one else could do and that could put her in danger. These weren’t the kind of people that would just let her go and hope she doesn't tell anyone else. This could put her life at stake. If he didn't show her, she would think he made up the whole thing, that he was a nutcase and he would lose what little bit of trust he may have had with her. He made his choice.

  "I need you to make me a promise first,” he said to her. "I need you to promise me, if I show you, you wont freak out and call the cops. I know it’s going to be a shock for you, but I need your word."

  Jackie looked at him with a smirk. "Okay, I promise. You have my word." She held out her hand.

  Remington swallowed hard and shook Jackie’s hand. That seemed too easy. He thought. Maybe the wine is kicking in.

>   "Okay." He said. "Lock me outside."

  "What, why?" She looked at him puzzled.

  Remington laughed. "So I can show you I can get back in. The knob is metal."

  "Ohh!" Jackie said feeling a bit foolish. "Okay."

  Jackie got up and walked to the front door. Remington followed, though a bit slower. He went outside and closed the door. "Lock the knob!" He shouted through the closed door. She did as he said. "Okay, do your stuff!" Jackie said in an exaggerated tone. Remington knew she didn't believe him.

  Remington tried the doorknob to make sure it was locked. Then he tightened his hand around the knob; he could feel his hand start to get warm. His heart was pounding and the adrenaline he began to expect was racing through his body. With not much effort Remington twisted the knob, pulling it right off of the door.

  Jackie heard the groan of metal bending, and the next thing she knew there was a hole where her doorknob used to be. She bent down and peered through it. "Are you fucking kidding me?" She said in disbelief. Jackie straightened up and opened the door. Remington was just standing there looking at the knob in his hand. Then he looked up at her with his eyebrows raised like a kid knowing he was about to get reprimanded. "I'm sorry?"

  "Your nose is bleeding!" Jackie said her voice full of concern. "C’mon back in, let’s get you cleaned up." She grabbed his hand and led him back into the house. She pushed the door to, but without the knob it didn't want to stay shut, so she locked the deadbolt.

  "I'll fix it for you tomorrow." Remington said while Jackie led him to the kitchen sink. She wetted a paper towel and wiped at the blood pouring from his nose.

  It filled up quickly so she handed him another. "Hold it here and keep your head back." She said. She dampened a third towel and wiped away the blood that had run down his neck. "That was pretty unreal." She said, her breath heavy. "Does this happen every time? The nose bleeds?"

  "So far. This is only the third time I've done it. It gives me a hell of a headache as well."