Scarred - The Complete Series

by Kylie Walker

  “He told her that he would and she believes him. That’s good enough for me.”

  “Okay. I’ll find out where Jesse is and we’ll put someone on him. Dear God, it’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? I mean, I see this sort of thing every day in my work…but you don’t expect your best friend’s son to be…”

  “Satan’s spawn?” Derek finished.

  “Yeah, something like that,” his father said. “I just feel so bad for that poor girl.”

  “Me too, but you know what Dad?”

  “What’s that, son?”

  “Jesse thinks he’s going to show up and find that scared young woman he used to know. He’s got another thing coming, I think. If he finds her, he’s going to find a woman who is strong enough to fight him this time. I just hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  Jessie sat in the dark, watching her. He’d spent the last week, doing the same thing every night. He found out that she took a walk along the jogging path. She lived in what New York real estate had dubbed a “walking” neighborhood. The people that chose to live here mostly did so because of the ample opportunities to be able to walk almost everywhere they wanted to go. When you added in the walking path it was a fitness addict’s paradise.

  They had a neighborhood patrol that patrolled the streets, but Jessie found a spot along the path near a school where the trees and the brush were so thick a man could probably pitch a tent and no one would notice. They weren’t quite smart enough to have a foot patrol. Jesse wondered if they would implement one after they found her. He smiled. The knowledge that it would be because of him was strangely thrilling. He dressed in black from head to toe and armed with his Bowie knife and a small black flashlight. He would sit amongst the trees and watch.

  He loved watching her glide by, all arms and legs and content in what she thought was her safe neighborhood. The fact that her surroundings seemed to relax her rather than put her on guard amused him. She was so trusting. A woman without a man to guide her and tell her how truly pathetic she was for flaunting herself out here in the open like she did, without even a thought of danger or her own, personal well-being.

  Some nights he could see the moon reflect off of her eyes like those of an animal in the headlights of a car just before it became road kill. The animal was too stupid to get out of the way. Just like Chantelle. The correlation amused him because when he was finished with her, road kill was what she would be reduced to. Tonight would be the night. He’d been patient, but the scene was set tonight. There was no one else out and the moon was partially hidden by the clouds and offered only a sliver of light…not enough to illuminate him when he took her. He waited, controlling the tempo of his breaths as he watched her come closer. She thought she was headed home and he hoped that she was enjoying the way the fresh air felt in her lungs because it was the last that she would ever breathe.

  The first blow as he came up behind her sent her to her knees. The second was mostly for fun and the cracking sound of her pretty white teeth a bonus. He used his foot to kick her off the path quickly. She rolled into the brush and with two more healthy kicks off the end of his heavy black boots she was behind the trees. He could hear her sobbing and gasping for breath. She probably wanted to scream, but he doubted she could get enough air into her lungs to form one.

  “Wh—Who--?” She was trying to talk. Jesse watched her for a minute. She would push up onto her knees, but the rocks and the dry brush would cut and dig their way into her delicate skin and send her hurling back down violently to the dirt, the second time flat on her face. He wished he had more time. It would be fun to watch and see if she ever managed to get back up and then knock her down just as she did. Unfortunately, he couldn’t risk being here too long and he knew it would only be foolish of him to try and take her with him. He ran a hand over the front of his pants as his tongue shot out and licked along his bottom lip. If he only had just a little bit more time…

  “Who are you?” she breathed out at last. That was what he was waiting for. He wanted to make damned sure that his name was the last one in her head before she closed her eyes for the last time.

  “I’m sorry. Did I forget to introduce myself?” He got close to her and held out his hand as if to shake hers. “I’m Jesse. Jesse Donovan…Kelly’s boyfriend.”

  “Fuck…”

  He threw his head back and laughed. “I’m sorry baby, but we don’t have time for that…not that I didn’t consider it.” He grabbed his crotch a little harder this time, making sure she was looking at him when he did. Her brown eyes were wide with terror now and he wondered if she knew that rape would have been a Godsend compared to what he had in mind for her.

  “Please don’t hurt me,” she whispered. Her voice was so shaky it was difficult to understand and she had a slight lisp from the missing teeth. She was still crying, sobbing in fact. Jesse couldn’t resist having just a little bit more fun with her before he put an end to her sniveling once and for all. He leaned down close and as she tried to struggle, he put his hand over her mouth tightly and with the serrated blade of his knife, he sliced down the back of her shirt.

  He watched her eyes as it fell away. There was a mixture of horror and pain in them and when he glanced at her back he realized the knife had nicked her in a few places. She was bleeding in a straight line along her spine and the crimson blood glinted off the silver of the moon. It was kind of a pretty sight, he thought, especially against the light mocha of her skin. Looking back at her face and smiling, he let the edge of the knife run along underneath her bra. He pulled it taut and when the elastic wouldn’t stretch any further, the knife sliced through that as well. He surveyed his work that time. He’d sliced that off without even touching her skin…sort of. The straps that had been attached across her shoulders had cut into her when he stretched it and left bloody ruts in their wake. That was her fault for being so damned thin that her skin had nothing to cushion it but bone.

  “Sit up,” he whispered in her ear through the mass of dark, curly hair that had fallen loose from the clip she had it in. She struggled, really trying to do as he told her, which pleased him. He could see her face better now and the snot that was pouring out of her nose was as red as the line of blood down her back. Her top lip was so swollen that it looked like she’d gotten a bad overdose of collagen. As soon as she was up on her butt, the stupid bitch decided to try and scream. But the edge of the silver blade cut off the sound as it pressed into the delicate skin of her throat.

  “Do you really want to do that?”

  Her hysteria further served to excite him as she shook her head in a back and forth motion. Her bare breasts dangled in front of him and being only human, he had to reach out and touch one as they did. A gasp escaped from her swollen lips and he smiled at her and said, “Like that slut?” She wasn’t quit stupid enough to answer. “Where is Kelly?” he said, suddenly turning serious. She didn’t answer right away so he let the blade trace a path down her side and watched her shiver in fear.

  “Please don’t hurt me,” she said again. Her voice was strangled with the sobs that wouldn’t stop and she was shivering so what was left of her teeth chattered as she tried to speak. He could still hear the desperation there. She knew that her life was in his hands and the power of that excited him more than anything.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” he lied. “I just want you to tell me where to find Kelly. It’s not that I can’t sniff out the skank on my own…I just think this way would be quicker and more efficient, don’t you?”

  “I-I swear, Jesse. I have no idea. I send her messages through the computer…she never told me where she went and I never asked. P-P-Please, Jesse. Please don’t hurt me.”

  Jesse put an arm around her and sat down next to her in the dirt. “You’re a good friend, Chantelle. Kelly’s a worthless slut and she doesn’t deserve a good friend like you. So…you know what I’m going to do?”

  He could feel her body shaking so hard against him that it was practically convulsive. He reache
d around under her arm and let his hand cup and fondle her breast as they talked…this didn’t have to be all work. She didn’t answer his question, but just this once he gave her a pass. He put his lips back to her ear and said, “I asked you a question. It would behoove you to answer it.” He laughed then. That was the only time in his life the word, “behoove” had passed through his lips and for some reason, he found it funny.

  “I-I-don’t know, Jesse.” She kept using his name. Probably something she learned in one of her domestic violence courses with the state. It was supposed to “personalize” the attack and make it harder for the attacker to kill you. He almost laughed again.

  “Since Kelly doesn’t deserve you. I’m going to save you the trouble of having to be friends with such an insignificant little parasite. Just remember though, Chantelle…when you close those pretty brown eyes remember that Kelly did this to you. The second that she called you and told you to call the police. The second that she begged you to get in on my business….she killed you.”

  Chantelle began to try and struggle again and he pushed her down onto her back. He stood up quickly and pressed his boot to her throat. As he pressed down, her hands came up and grasped at his calves, trying desperately, but not succeeding, to knock him off of her. He pushed down until it looked like she was just about to pass out and then he pulled back.

  He stood looking down at her, watching how relieved she looked to be able to breathe for a few seconds before drawing his foot back and letting it connect with her diaphragm. He heard the crack of her ribs and when she tried to scream, nothing came out. One of them had likely sliced through her lung and would be taking her life away before he had the chance. He kicked her a few more times just in case, leaving the last strike for the center of her face. As he connected, her head snapped back and actually bounced up once as it hit the dirt. It was kind of cool.

  Jesse rolled her a little further into the brush before leaving her there. He felt almost satisfied. His only regret was that he didn’t have more time with her. Kelly would be a different story. He would find a place to take care of her where they would have nothing but time.

  He put the knife down in his boot underneath his black jeans and pulled off his black sweater and stuffed it underneath his arm. Then he stood at the edge of the path for a few seconds and made sure there was no traffic…foot or vehicle. Seeing no motion anywhere, he casually stepped out onto the path and strolled along at a leisurely pace until he reached the end of it and turned onto 164th street where he’d left his car. When he reached it, he took a big gulp of the crisp night air and smiled. It felt good to be productive.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Derek sat looking at his in-laws, trying to find the words to tell them what he’d come here for. He had a whole speech prepared, but now as he looked at them he spent a fraction of a second wondering if he was doing the right thing. If Chloe was completely receptive to the idea, he wouldn’t be so concerned. She’d finally agreed to meet them, but she was skittish about it…and still so worried about Jesse coming after her, that he almost felt like he was cheating them all over again. They had been cheated out of twenty-four years with her. What if she met them and then she wanted to go on with her life without really knowing them. Would he be cheating them all over again?

  “Derek,” Samantha said, gently, “You’re frightening us a little bit.”

  “Oh jeez, I’m sorry. I got lost in my thoughts there for a moment.” He looked at Trevor who was trying not to look impatient, but he’d been sitting here for a full fifteen minutes since he’d told them he had “news” about the questions he had come here and asked them the last time.

  “I’m just not sure how to say this. It’s not bad news…at least not now…”

  Samantha reached across the table and took his hand in hers. She looked at him with those soft brown eyes and said, “It’s okay, Derek. Whatever you have to say, we can handle.”

  He smiled at her. He knew she was right. They had already lost two children and they were still two of the most amazing human beings he’d ever known. They survived that with grace. They would survive this as well.

  “When your girls were born, the doctor who delivered them was involved in a black market baby ring. I spoke to the midwife that was there and I gathered statistics on the infant mortality rate at the hospital where the girls were born. There was an inordinately large amount of infant deaths and still born babies during that time…but mostly amongst those having multiple births. The doctor wasn’t able to give me any information. He has Alzheimer’s…” He could already see the hope on their faces and now he was racing to spit out his news. “I don’t think Sarah’s sister died that day.”

  Samantha looked both hopeful and confused. Trevor looked almost angry, which was unlike him. Neither of them spoke for a long time until Samantha finally broke the silence by saying, “What do you think happened to her?” Her chin was held high and her posture was perfectly straight, but the look on her face told him she was crumbling inwardly. He hoped that he could make it better…

  “She was sold and illegally adopted. I found her, by accident…”

  Trevor jumped out of his chair, almost knocking it over. Samantha didn’t even look up at him; her eyes were riveted to Derek’s face.

  Samantha managed to croak out a whisper. “Where is she?”

  “Derek,” Trevor’s voice was low and husky and it had an almost threatening edge to it that Derek had never heard. “Before you answer that question, please tell me that this is more than a “feeling.” Tell me you have proof…DNA proof…”

  “I don’t have DNA, but this woman is the spitting image of Sarah. She changed her hair and eye color and I could still see it. She told me her history of being adopted and I checked it out. There is no trace of the adoption agency these people supposedly went through and no trace of a birth record for her anywhere. She was born on the same day as Sarah, she’s the same age. She grew up in New York…” Samantha let out a strangled sob and Trevor knelt down and took her into his arms.

  He still looked skeptical.

  “They gave us pictures…”

  Derek swiped a hand through his hair. “Doctored photos to make you think the baby was dead and to make you not want to see her like that. He got away with doing this for quite a few years before the hospital finally let him go. There were no charges filed so apparently they had no proof of what he was doing…but he did it and your daughter is alive.”

  Samantha was sobbing uncontrollably now and Trevor was trying to break through his own shock and comfort her.

  “She was as shocked over this as you are. It took a lot of effort to get her to even agree to meet you, but she is willing at this point to agree to a DNA test. She doesn’t want you to think this is a scam on her part. In fact, none of this was her. It was all my doing. It breaks my heart that all three of you had to endure what you did for twenty-four years. I just want to try and help set some of it back right if I can.”

  The silence was deafening again, with the only sound in the room being Samantha’s sobs into her husband’s shoulder. Trevor finally said, “We’ll talk about…”

  Samantha whipped her head up and interrupted him. There was finality in her eyes that warned them both not to argue with her as she said, “We don’t need to talk about it. I want to see her.”

  He looked from her to Trevor and his father-in-law nodded.

  “Good,” Derek said, softly. “I’ll arrange it.”

  Derek left that day emotionally spent, but encouraged at the same time. They’d all agreed to the meeting. Once that happened, he hoped they could find their way towards forging some kind of relationship. Twenty-four years was a long time, but from what he knew about parent/child relationships, time was rarely a rival for that infinite bond.

  As he got into his car, his phone rang. He saw that it was his dad and answered right away. “Hi Dad. What’s up?”

  “I have bad news,” he said.

  “What’s that?” D
erek felt his stomach in his throat before his father even said, “Jesse gave our men the slip somehow yesterday. They followed him to Long Island and he went into a car lot. Somehow he managed to get out of the car lot without taking his own car. My guys got the salesman to tell them what kind of car he’d driven out in and even the license plate number. That car was found abandoned at the train station in Newark today.”

  “Jesus, Dad! So we not only have no idea where he is, we don’t know what he’s driving either?”

  “I’m so sorry, son. I went to Vince. He says he has no idea where Jesse is. I’m going to go back at him. He has to be supporting him. At the very least there should be some kind of financial trail we could chase.”

  Derek felt like he was going to be sick. “It’s not your fault. Let me know if Vince offers anything. I get the feeling he’d go to his grave protecting his son though. Can you have some of your men help out with the guy who’s been watching her? I’m going to try and convince her again to stay with me, but she’s a little bit stubborn on that point.”

  “I’ll send them over today.”

  “Thanks.” Derek hung up and just sat there for a few seconds. How long was Chloe supposed to have to live like this? He beat his fists into the steering wheel and finally started the car and left. He needed to get back to Rhode Island. Shit!

  The next day as Derek left the yacht and headed to his car, he had no idea that he was being watched. Jesse sat in his car on the far side of the lot and watched through binoculars as Derek Stark…arrogant, rich, and apparently very stupid, got into his car. Jesse had been tracking him for two days after he’d given the fools Derek had following him the slip. He didn’t have confirmation they were working for Derek, but he was sure that Kelly didn’t have the kind of money or the pull something like that would take. Stark thought that she was his to protect now. He was in for a very rude awakening. He had no idea who he was dealing with here.