Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
“Blue, last fucking chance.”
I nod. “After my dad was arrested, I left. I took my mom’s car and Wren and I left. I was in a hurry and scared and hadn’t thought it through. I had no money. I was sixteen. And Wren, well, my big sister was gone. She was always good at taking care of us and the Wren I knew was gone.” My hands shake as I bring the tumbler to my lips and force myself to swallow past the lump in my throat. “I knew where Mom hid her checkbook and there wasn’t a lot of money but some, so I went back to the house to get it. It was late and no one should have been there, but someone was.” My voice breaks as I recall that night. What almost happened. “Two men.”
“Who were they?” Zeke asks.
I shrug my shoulders. “They didn’t take the time to introduce themselves,” I say, trying for casual but failing. “The house was torn apart. I was stunned. When I walked in, I mean, I just stood there, and he was right there although he didn’t see me at first. If I’d been faster, I maybe could have run. But then another man came out of the bedroom. He saw me right away. And he said something, I don’t know what. I tried to run then but I was too slow. The first man, he grabbed me, and held me while the other one asked me where it was.”
“Where what was?” Jericho asks.
I point to the laptop. “He said my dad had left something for him, but it wasn’t where it was supposed to be. I knew that much. I’d already taken it. I couldn’t tell him where it was or they’d find Wren. When I wouldn’t give him the answer he wanted, he just got bored or something. He checked his watch like he was late. Then he told the other one to take care of me and left. And then he, the one who was left behind…” Oh God. This part. This next part. Another secret I’ve kept, like what happened to Wren. What my father did to her before he beat her.
“Blue?” Zeke says gentler this time. “What did he do?”
I don’t look up. I keep my eyes on the amber liquid in the glass. “He grinned and it was the scariest thing I’d ever seen. He took me into the bedroom and threw me on the bed and… He hit me. Slapped me and I was dazed. He didn’t have to. He was so much bigger than me and so strong.” I drag in a shaky breath and in my periphery, I see how Zeke’s hands are clenched, his body stiff. “I guess he decided since he couldn’t find the laptop that he’d take something else while he was there. He’d had his gun out already to threaten me with it and he set it aside. He then… When he had his hand in…” Jesus. I look away from them. All of them. I take a shaky breath, start again. “He told me what he was going to do to me, and I could see he would. He was…” My voice is so small, so shaky. I’ve never talked about this. “He undid my jeans and when he put his hand inside, I didn’t even think. I just grabbed the gun. It was right there, and I grabbed it, and I don’t even know how it went off. I don’t know.”
“Christ.” Zeke pushes his hands into his pockets.
“Did you kill him?” Jericho asks.
“I didn’t know at first. I thought maybe. He was so heavy on me, and it took forever to get him off but then he made a sound, and I think I’d only hit his shoulder or something. I don’t know. There was a lot of blood, but I didn’t wait for him to wake up. I just grabbed the checkbook I’d come for, and I ran. I didn’t even realize I was still holding onto the gun until I got to the motel.”
I rub my face, press the heels of my hands into my eyes. I still remember how it felt to have him on top of me. I can still feel his hand inside my panties.
“What did he look like?” Jericho asks, some of the edge gone from his voice.
I shake my head. I don’t want to remember. “Blond hair. Really light, like his eyes. Big too. He had a tattoo on his neck. Here.” I point behind my ear, to the side of my neck. “An O with something like a plus sign through it.”
Zeke and Jericho exchange a glance.
“Draw it,” Jericho says, getting up to retrieve a piece of paper and pencil from the desk.
“Um. Okay. It was something like this, I think. I remember because it was kind of familiar but I’m not sure why.”