There was silence for a bit and Dan thought he’d lost the connection when Officer Duncan’s voice came back on. “Yeah, I got it. Is there any access to that gorge?”
“I don’t think so. It’s very narrow and the river in it is pretty wild most of the year. I have a buddy with a Sikorsky cargo helicopter that might be able to lower someone with a line from above but it would be a long hairy ride down. Anyway, I can send you the GPS coordinates. I had the entire area mapped when we were building this place.”
“What about the woman?” Officer Duncan asked.
“I got her back to the house before she froze to death and patched her wounds which appear to be pretty minor. She’s suffering from malnutrition and her weight is very low. She may have some memory loss as she has been unable to recall her name. She did remember the name of the man she was with. Percy Jackson. From the marking I saw on his jacket I think he may have been a member of a motorcycle gang, maybe the Blood Brothers. I have no idea what he was doing trying to drive his bike up this mountain road in a snow storm. Makes no sense to me.”
“Damn, that complicates things considerably. The Feds are going to want in on this. When can you come in for a statement?” the officer asked.
“In about four months,” Dan replied.
“What?” came the shocked reply.
“Sorry, but the mountain road is closed for the season. It will remain blocked with snow until the spring. We’re completely snowed in. I can get extra supplies air dropped in but us getting out is up to Mother Nature,” he explained.
“OK, but I can reach you at this number?”
“As long as the storms aren’t interfering with the connection, yes,” Dan answered.
“Thank you Mr. Bishop. I’ll be contacting you once I find out how the Feds want to handle this.”
After signing off Dan looked over to see Willow standing in the doorway watching him. He gave her a smile which she returned. “I just have to send a note to Andrei to fill him in. Can you come over here a minute?”
She approached him and sat on his lap when he indicated he wanted her to sit. He turned on the webcam on the PC and they posed for a quick snapshot. Then he asked her to look into the camera and took a close up of just her face.
“I’m going to send these along to Andrei. The family is going to be very curious about you and Andrei will need the close up for his investigator. I’m going to ask him to have them do some discreet searches based on the information you gave me. One thing you should know, as Andrei is a Russian national, all of my communications with him are very likely monitored by Homeland Security. I’m not worried about it but I just wanted you to know as well. OK?” he asked.
Willow nodded at him with wide eyes. He just smiled at her with wonder at how good she made him feel. He gently pulled her face down to his and kissed her tenderly. She moaned a little and hugged him fiercely. After he returned her hug he had her stand again so he could prepare the email for Andrei. Willow sat on the floor beside his chair and rested her head on his thigh. He was going to protest but she looked so content he turned back to the keyboard. Once he had described the events of the past two days (omitting the racy bits) and included the chronology he’d gotten from Willow he completed the note to Andrei, attached the images and sent it off. He turned back to Willow and ran his fingers through her hair. He felt her purr in pleasure at his touch. He tucked a tablet PC under his arm, helped lift Willow to her feet then they walked back into the kitchen. Dan started the oven, slid the pizza inside, and set the timer. Dan took her hand and they walked into the living room. They sat together on one of the sofas and snuggled under a blanket while they waited for the pizza.
“Speaking of comfortable…” he smiled and continued “I think we’d better order you some clothes and other items you may need.”
Willow looked out the window at the continuing blizzard and back at him. “How?” was all she could say.
Dan smiled at her and pulled a tablet PC from under the blanket. “Through the magic of the Internet!” he said with a flourish. All he got for his theatrics was a puzzled expression. “OK, I’ll let you in on the secret. We order stuff and get it delivered to my buddy Wally’s place. Then he delivers it by air drop in the meadow just past the small forest to the east of the house. Wally’s a pilot and enjoys the challenge of precision payload delivery. I’ll set up the target and he drops the delivery bundle on it. If he’s within 3 feet of the target I owe him a beer. If not, he owes me one.”
Willow was still looking at him like he was a little nuts so he just flipped on the tablet and proceeded to load up the webpage for an online clothing retailer. First he had to figure out her size. He found the help page and saw how he needed to determine her measurements.
He gave Willow the tablet and rushed off to the workshop where he grabbed a cloth tape measure. Granted it had a one hundred foot spool and was used for more industrial purposes but it would work. He grabbed the pencil and pad on the way back to Willow and asked her to stand. Using the tape measure he recorded her measurements on the pad and Willow had a good giggle at how flustered Dan got when he had to measure her for a bra.
Now that he had the details out of the way Dan took Willow through the webpages where she could see the clothes. Dan watched her face to see if she liked any of the clothes but when she didn’t react to any of them he started to suspect she didn’t realize what they were doing.
“Willow, do you understand I want to buy you some clothes? Have you ever gone shopping for clothes?” he asked.
She glanced at him and shook her head.
“So people just brought you clothes and you wore them whether you liked them or not?” he asked.
She nodded but had a puzzled look on her face.
“OK, I’d like you to try imagining yourself in one of the outfits you see on this page and let me know which one you think might look good on you and be nice to have.”
Willow looked at the models on the page and turned her eyes back to him. “Which ones do you like?” she asked.
That stopped him short. He realized that she couldn’t make this kind of decision. She’d been basically a living dress up doll for quite possibly most of her life and only wore clothes at the whim of her ‘masters’ to please them.
Well, he wasn’t going to make her feel bad about it now. He turned his eyes back to the page and studied what the models were wearing. He finally clued in that he had no idea how to dress a woman. Guys were easy; undershirt, shirt, underwear, pants, socks and you’re done. Mixing and matching? Please. He needed help. Female help.
He heard a chirping and realized he had an incoming call on the PC. He got up again and hustled into the communications room. Willow was right behind him. He sat and she sunk to kneel next to his chair. He suppressed his annoyance as her reaction might just be an automatic reaction for her. He’d talk to her about it later. Dan answered the call and Kira Noskov’s face appeared on the screen. At her elbow was her youngest daughter, Katya. The picture was choppy as the signal was weak but that didn’t diminish the brilliance of the woman’s smile as she greeted him.
“Hello Daniel! We received your message and I wanted to call you immediately to congratulate you two! You make a beautiful couple! I’ve been telling you for years to find yourself a woman. You’ve finally taken my advice!” she laughed.
Dan realized that Kira read more into the photo he’d sent of Willow sitting on his lap than he’d intended. He looked down at Willow and saw the smile on her face and knew he couldn’t try to explain it now. “Thank you Kira! And hello Katya!”
“Svetlana is crying, DanDan. She is not happy,” Katya said, using her pet name for him.
Kira looked pained then apologetic. “Not to worry Daniel, Svetlana has been holding onto her hero worship too long. She will grow from this and her tears will dry.”
Dan’s expression froze and twitched as he realized he’d fucked up again and hurt the young girl unintentionally. He knew she’d had a crush on him. They had a strong bond from what they’d gone through together. “Oh god, I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt her.” His PTSD surfaced with a series of twitches.
Kira’s voice grew firm, “Daniel, stop this. You are NOT responsible for Svetlana’s happiness or tears.” She turned to Katya and said something quietly to the girl who vanished out of the frame. Willow got worried at Dan’s stricken expression so she stood and took his face in her hands and turned his face to hers so she could look into his eyes. He was slightly dazed but his eyes came back into focus when they were looking into the vibrant green depths of Willow’s eyes. He heaved a sigh and came back to the present.
Kira witnessed the transformation with a satisfied smile on her face. There were tears in the corners of her eyes as she saw her friend pulled back from an attack. She was convinced that this young woman was just the medicine her Daniel had been missing all of these years. She didn’t approve of his self-imposed solitude but he hadn’t listen to her protests. She didn’t know anything else about this woman but she was good for him, this much she knew.
Svetlana appeared in the picture and took in the shaken expression on Dan’s face and the beautiful woman holding him. Her jealousy flared terribly to see another woman touching Dan. She’d vowed she’d marry him so many years ago when he’d saved her and her family. But she couldn’t bear the thought that she’d caused him pain. Above all else she knew the scars he carried from that day and how long he’d struggled with them.
“D-Daniel! I am so pleased to see you looking well! Please know that I am well and happy for you! Do not worry about me! I have many friends here and many boyfriends- I mean many who would like to be my boyfriend!” she corrected herself before her mother could protest. She looked at the annoyed expression on her mother’s face then gave Daniel one more forced smile and left the picture.”