Hank sat at his desk reviewing the case he'd just been given before the weekend. It was Monday morning and Jean wasn't in the office yet. Hank was usually the first one in most mornings. He had been an early riser since his Army days. He didn't see the need to change his ways now. He realized he got some of his best work done in the early hours of the day before all the distractions of an office full of people made that difficult. He was going to have to work twice as hard now to concentrate on work, now that Jean was his greatest distraction of all. But he was determined to make it work. He didn't want to lose her either as a co-worker or as a lover. He knew he was walking a very precarious tight-rope. But walking it he was going to do.
The two of them had been together for several weeks now. Hank was the man she'd been longing for her whole adult life. He was everything she needed and wanted in a man. She knew he loved her, and she felt safe with him. Jean's struggle of submitting to Hank's domination of her was no longer the issue. She knew she belonged to him, and she didn't want it any other way. The question now was just how big of a slut was she. The deeper and harder he pushed her sexually, the more she was consumed by a craving for more. Their times together with Tommy and Shannon had also opened her eyes to desires and cravings within her she'd only fantasized about before. Hank had awakened an animal in her. An animal that never wanted to be caged again.
Jean walked through their office door just before 8:00. Hank instinctively smiled knowing it was her before he even had time to focus on her. He'd recognize that body anywhere. Then he consciously focused on her face and his expression changed. Jean had done her best to cover the red mark on the left side of her face with make-up, but a blind man could see she was trying to cover something up. Hank jumped out of his chair from behind his desk and almost ran around it. "What happened?" he asked with genuine concern in his voice.
Jean was a terrible liar. She chuckled. "Oh nothing! I'm too embarrassed to even talk about it! I fell and hit the side of my head on a coffee table!"
Hank grabbed her by the upper arms and squeezed them tightly as he stared at her. Jean felt herself melting under his glare. "Like hell you did! Now tell me what happened! And that's not a request!"
Jean fell into his arms and sobbed. Hank held her tightly and caressed the back of her head. When she finally regained her composure he walked her over to the couch and sat down with her. "Now tell me what happened," he said in a more gentle voice.
Jean proceeded to tell him of Ed's drinking and violent temper. What it had been like for years. But this was the first time he'd hit her. Hank listened quietly, his anger seething as Jean recounted her story. When she finally finished Hank sat there quietly, thinking how best to respond. He didn't want to allow his anger to cloud his judgment or his response. He'd seen too many good men die because they allowed their anger to get the best of them.
"You're not going back there!" he told her.
"No! I have to! It will be alright! Please don't make this worse than it is!" Jean pled with him.
"Would you listen to yourself? You are the battered wife! He's already hit you once now! Do you really think it won't happen again? How can it get any worse?" Hank was almost yelling.
Jean looked at him with fear in her eyes. Hank knew it could get worse. "You're not going back. And there's no force on earth that's going to change my mind on that one!" Hank sat there quietly as he thought through his next moves. "Is he home now?"
"No. He left for the office early this morning."
"You've got some paperwork on your desk. Start working through that." Hank stood up. "I'll be back in a few minutes." Hank walked down the hallway to Sid Blakely's office and stuck his head inside. "Can I talk to you for a second boss?"
"Hank! Of course! Come in! What can I do for you?" Sid greeted him with a handshake.
Hank proceeded to tell him what Jean had just laid on him. Sid's demeanor went from a smile when Hank first walked in to an angry scowl. As Hank finished, "I know you Hank. You wouldn't be here if you didn't have a plan or need something. Whatever it is, you've got it."
"Thank you sir. I'd like to borrow the firms private investigator to dig up all the dirt he can get on that piece of shit."
"Consider it done!" Sid said as he picked up the phone. "Margaret, call Jake and tell him I need to see him in my office today, if at all possible." Sid looked up at Hank as he hung up the phone. "What else do you need?"
"I've got a 9:30 meeting with a client. But after that, if it's alright with you, I'd like to take Jean to her place while Ed is at work and help her pack up whatever she needs so she doesn't have to go back there."
"Do you need any help? Take whomever you need. That lady is part of this family and we're going to take care of her."
"Thank you sir!"
"Do what you need to do and keep me posted Hank."
Hank left Sid Blakely's office and started back down the hallway towards his. On the way he passed Randy, one of the summer interns from college who had been assigned to Hank. "Randy, I want you to clear your schedule for the rest of the day. I need your help with something outside the office."
"OK Hank! What's going on?"
Hank wrote Jean's address on a piece of paper and handed it to him. "Just meet me at this address at 11:30. I'll explain things later. And change your clothes. We're helping Jean move."