by Unknown
“You can’t make me.”
“Can’t I?” He lunged for the child, snatching her up.
Naomi was on him in a flash. Her small fist pounded his back, screaming and sobbing for him to stop. He fought her off as easily as a horse would a pesky fly. Then he said the words that tore her heart from her chest. “Stop it or Kayla will be the one that suffers.”
Tears streaming down her cheek, she shook her head. “Please, Gordon, I’ll do anything. Just let me have her back.”
Fury raced across his flushed face. “You’ve always loved her better than me. Haven’t you?”
The argument was an old and painful one. “Please, Gordon, she’s just a child.”
“Me and Kayla are going home. If you want to see her again, you better be in the car two seconds after I get there.” Wrenching open the door, he stalked out, carrying the frightened child with him.
Naomi didn’t hesitate. Heart pounding, she ran after them, her heart breaking anew to see the look of fear on Kayla’s face, her lower lip trembling. Kayla wouldn’t cry. She had learned early that tears made things worse, not better.
RICHARD WAS RUNNING LATE. HE HAD STOPPED BY THE bakery and picked up some donuts and danishes. Naomi needed to eat more. She always saw to it that Kayla ate while she ate little or did without. The day before at lunch he had made sure she didn’t try to save any of her food by ordering chicken salad.
Pulling up behind a blue Pontiac convertible with the top up, he got out of the Jeep and started down the walkway whistling. The tune stopped abruptly on seeing a man hurrying toward him carrying Kayla, a terrorized Naomi behind them.
Alarmed, Richard caught her arm when she would have kept going past him. “Naomi, what’s going on?”
The man whirled around and stared at him with cold eyes. “Stay out of something that doesn’t concern you.” He glared at Naomi. “Come on here, we have a long ways to go.”
Richard saw the tears mixed with fear in her eyes. His stomach clenched. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
The man’s face distorted with fury. “The hell she don’t. She’s my wife.”
Something cold clutched Richard’s heart. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” he repeated, trying to keep his voice calm despite the emotions raging through him.
Cruel fingers snatched Naomi away from Richard. “If I weren’t holding this kid, I’d kick your butt.”
“Then why don’t you put her down and try?” Richard asked tightly.
Gordon batted away Naomi’s frantic hands reaching for Kayla. “Another time.” Turning, he stalked away. Naomi started after them.
Again, Richard caught her arm. “Nao—”
“Let me go,” she cried in mounting terror. “He’ll leave and I’ll never see her again.”
“Do you want to go?”
“Please,” she cried, her eyes locked on Kayla as Gordon opened the door on the driver’s side. “Please.” Tears ran down her cheek.
The instant Richard released her, she started running. No sooner had she opened the car door and gotten in than the Pontiac spun off.
NAOMI WAS THANKFUL GORDON COULDN’T DRIVE AND hold Kayla at the same time, and considered being the recipient of his hatred a small price to pay. “I see why you didn’t want to come back. You turned into a slut just like my mother warned me you would.”
He whipped around a car. Naomi closed her eyes, and held Kayla closer.
“Thought you were smart, leaving your car in the shopping mall and disappearing, didn’t you? I knew you had run away. Thought you had covered your tracks, but you should have known I’d find you.”
He stopped at the red light in a screech of tires. “The man you bought the used car from saw your picture in the paper and went to the police. When someone ran a check on the registration from Santa Fe, I contacted the police here and asked them to locate the car. They did in less than four hours. The manager of the motel where your heap broke down was too happy to tell your loving husband where you were after I explained you had left after a slight disagreement.” Gordon sneered. “Thought it was nice of you to let him know you were all right and had a job. It was easy to get the key from the desk clerk at your hotel after I showed them my ID.”
Stepping on the gas, the car shot off. Less than a block away, red lights flashed behind them. “Damn.” Flicking on his signal, he pulled over to the side of the street. “This won’t take but a minute.”
Gordon reached into his hip pocket and pulled out a small, black case. By the time the police officer arrived at his window, Gordon was smiling broadly and showing his badge, which identified him as a San Antonio patrolman. “Good morning.”
“Good morning.” Through the lenses of his mirror shades, the policeman looked at the badge. “Always glad to see a fellow officer, but you were speeding a tad back there.”
Knowing the routine, Gordon chuckled. “Guess I’m anxious to get back to San Antonio.”
The policeman peered into the car. “Your wife and daughter?”
“Yes.” Gordon shot Naomi a warning look. “Neither one is very happy with me this morning. They wanted to stay another day, but I’m on duty tomorrow night and it’s going to be a hard drive as it is.”
The officer nodded and straightened. “Then it’s a good thing I stopped you. Your right front tire is going flat.”
“Damn.” Getting out of the car, Gordon walked to the front and stared down at the tire. “The tire is fine, what the hell are you talking about?”
“My mistake,” the officer said mildly.
The passenger door opened and Gordon swung to tell Naomi to get back in the car. The sight of a police officer talking to her, then another patrol car pulling up, set him on another course. “What the hell is going on here?”
“Nothing, we hope, but we plan to find out,” the officer said.
Naomi knew the routine. The police officers would question her and Gordon separately, then they’d leave. They were brothers. A strict code of silence prevailed. They’d listen politely, then turn a blind eye to his cruelty because she had no visible scars.
The scars that wounded Kayla’s and her souls were just as deep and painful, more so. Physical wounds would heal in time. She had ceased to think theirs ever would. Hope just made it worse. Head down, she answered the questions automatically.
“Are you going with him of your own free will?”
“Yes.”
“Do you fear for your life?”
“No.”
“Has he threatened you or the child in any way?”
“No.”
“If you could stay in Santa Fe, would you?”
Her head snapped up. “Richard,” his name trembled across her lips.
“Dr. Richard,” Kayla cried, launching herself into his arms.
Tears started flowing from Naomi’s eyes, then flowed faster when Richard pulled her into his arms.
“Take your damn hands off my wife,” Gordon yelled. Any progress he might have made was impeded by the police officer with him.
“I don’t think you want to do anything that might detain you in Santa Fe.”
Gordon whirled on the officer. “You threatening me?”
“Stating facts.”
“She’s my wife,” he yelled.
Naomi’s head came up. “No, I’m not. We were divorced over a year ago, but he just won’t let me go. Two months ago I went to renew my restraining order against him, but some of his friends on the police force called him. Before I could go into the judge’s chambers, he came. He told me if I obtained the restraining order again, he’d make me sorry.”
“She belongs to me.”
“I belong to myself,” Naomi said, her voice growing stronger with each sentence. She turned to the officer beside her. “I’d like to retract my earlier statement. The reason is that I was afraid you’d be just like the other police officers who ignore my calls. My ex-husband is a cruel man who thinks of me as his possession, and has tak
en every opportunity to criticize and degrade me. I don’t want to go with him. If you could arrange it, I never want to see him again.”
“You bitch.”
Naomi felt Richard tense beside her. There came a time when she had to stand up for herself. “No, I’m not, Gordon, and no matter how many times you call me that, I never was nor will be.”
Richard’s arms went around her shoulders. “We’ll be at my clinic if you need us, officer.”
“You come back here. Come back here,” Gordon yelled. They kept walking.
The policeman opened Gordon’s door. “Texas is a big state. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding it.”
“I can go where I want.”
“Now that’s where you’re wrong. Seems like your day has been a long time coming, but it’s finally here. I can almost guarantee it when your commanding officer receives my report. Better warn your buddies to watch for the fallout.”
Getting in the car, Gordon slammed his car door, then pulled off in a defiant burst of speed. The officer smiled and walked to his car.
Red lights flashing, the officer pulled out in pursuit of Gordon. Some days he just loved his job.
RICHARD DROVE NAOMI AND KAYLA BACK TO THEIR hotel room. Naomi had elected to sit in the back with her daughter and he understood why. Parking the jeep, they went to her hotel room. The door was still open. Thankfully everything was safe.
“How did you know?” she asked, closing the door.
She looked frail and vulnerable. The fear wasn’t completely gone from her eyes, but it wasn’t as stark. “You didn’t have your canvas bag and Kayla didn’t have Teddy.”
She swallowed. “Thank you.”
“Why don’t you take the day off with pay, and I’ll pick you up in the morning?” he offered, sticking his hands in his pockets because he wanted to hold her again.
“No, you have a full schedule and I’ve already made you late.” She picked up her canvas bag, and reached out for Kayla’s hand. The child already had Teddy.
“You’re sure?” he asked.
“I . . . I’d feel better if we were with you,” she told him.
He gave in to temptation and the appeal in her eyes, and curved his arm around her shoulders. “So would I.”
LUKE WAS ON EDGE. JOHNNY HAD COME BY TO tell him that his check had turned up nothing. He was back to where he started.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going down and he wasn’t going to be able to stop it. It continued to worry him that someone had been bold enough and desperate enough to come to the house again. Why had they taken the risk to come back? And even though wounded, had taken time to lock the gate again.
“Boring you?” Catherine asked walking beside him down the wide hallway of the hotel.
“Nope. I kind of liked the last session.” He winked at her. “Didn’t know so much was out there on sexual repression.”
She smiled. “You won’t ever be on anyone’s couch, and thanks to you, I won’t either.” Then, “Here it is.”
On a large easel was her name in bold black letters on white poster board, the time and topic, “Raising an Emotionally Stable Child into a Responsible Adult in a Permissive Society: The Rules You Should Break and Those You Can’t.”
“I better take notes or get a tape for Daniel,” Luke commented, opening the door for her.
“Daniel and Madelyn will be fine.” She worked her way through the lingering crowd from the last lecture. “They are aware that with love, a child also needs consistent discipline, structure, and reinforcement of rules and regulations.”
“I’m glad it’s them and not me.”
Catherine’s hand trembled on her purse. “You don’t want children?”
“Marriage and children go together, and since I’m opposed to the first, the second is never going to happen,” he told her.
His statement brought misery to Catherine. She loved him, and with that love was a desire for his happiness above her own. She had seen how caring he was with Kayla. He was like many people, who, until confronted by a situation, said one thing, but deep down meant another. He’d make a supportive, loving father. He deserved children. “You might change your mind.”
“Not likely,” he told her, shaking his dark head.
“Dr. Stewart, I’m Kenneth Boman,” a thin, sandy-haired young man said. “I’m supposed to do your slides.”
“Thank you, Kenneth.” Taking the round carousel case from Luke, she handed it to the young man. “They’re already in order. I was told I could control the slide progression from the podium.”
“That’s right. This session should start in about five minutes.” He glanced around the people still milling down the aisle. “I better start working my way to the projector. Hopefully, they’ll clear out and we can start on time.”
“Thank you.” Catherine turned to Luke. “I suppose you’re going to stay with me.”
“Where you go, I go.”
She smiled. “Go get a seat before you distract me.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he teased and took a seat on the front row. The room could hold three hundred people, and half that amount were standing and talking. Luke had serious doubts the session would start on time. However, five minutes later the final stragglers were taking their seats and a woman was walking to the podium.
Her introduction of Catherine was glowing, filled with praise of her work and her numerous accomplishments. Luke found himself again applauding wildly for her, a wide grin on his face. Coming to the stationary microphone, she glanced over the crowd until the applause died down.
“Good morning, I’d like to thank my esteemed colleague, Dr. Brent, for that wonderful introduction. For a moment, I must admit to looking around and wondering if I was being replaced by another speaker.”
Laughter sounded throughout the audience.
“I wanted to hear laughter, for you to remember the sound, to remember how easily it rolled from your mouth, because the topic I’m going to talk about at times may hold little joy or laughter. What should be one of, if not the greatest joys in our lives has become a task that many grow to hate and few go into knowing what to expect. I’m speaking of parenthood. If not done responsibly, it can lead to heartbreak, as this first slide will show.”
Catherine pushed the control button in her hand for the first slide.
Gasps sounded from the crowd. Many stood to their feet. Some palmed their faces. The picture of homeless children had elicited different responses, but never ones so strongly. Then she saw Luke running down the aisle toward the projector. Her heart thudding in her chest, she turned toward the screen.
Disgust, shame, and horror swept through her.
On the screen was a nude picture of her and two equally nude men committing the vilest sexual act she had ever seen.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
SAVAGE FURY RODE LUKE LIKE A WILD THING. HE wanted to smash the projector and the projectionist, his mouth open, staring at the pornographic image on the screen. Instead he slammed down the switch to turn off the light control and flung the carousel back in the case. The entire process took less than three seconds, but that was three more additional seconds that had kept him from getting to Catherine.
Then, he saw her. His fury doubled. One small hand clutched the podium, the other curved around the waist of her bent body as if she had been dealt a mortal wound. He had never wanted to kill before: he wanted to do so now.
What took only seconds seemed like an eternity for him to reach her. His only thought was to get her away. His arm going around her waist, he whisked her out of the room. “I’m here, Cath. Hold on.”
The murmuring audience watched their every step. A few followed them out into the hallway. Luke kept walking until they were by his truck. Unlocking the door, he shoved the case across the seat, then got in with Catherine.
“I promise I’ll find out who did this.”
She flinched and huddled her shivering body into his, hiding her face in the crook of his
arm.
“Catherine, look at me.” Shaking her head, she moved away from him.
Her pulling away from him sent him over the edge. He grabbed her shoulders and stared at her bent head. “Don’t you dare fold, don’t you dare give that bastard that satisfaction. You hear me? You’re stronger than this.”
Gradually her head came up. Torment and tears shone on her face. “I-I thought you might think . . .”
“Never.” Tenderly, he brushed the tears aside, then followed with his lips. “Never.”
Holding her, his hand ran the length of her back, then up again. With each sweep, her trembling lessened. “I’m going to take you to Brandon’s place, then I’m going to the photographic lab of a friend of mine. Maybe he can give me some leads.”
Her head lifted. Shame shimmered in her eyes. “I don’t want anyone to see it again.”
He understood her feeling of violation, hurt for her. “Your picture was superimposed on that negative. That needs to be verified by an unquestionable authority to help clear your reputation. Peter can do that for us.”
Down went her head again. “I’ll never be able to face any of them again.”
Strong fingers lifted her chin. “The woman I know might bend, but she wouldn’t break.”
“They’ll look at me and see that picture,” she said, torment in her trembling voice.
“A few might, but if any group can separate myth from reality, it’s people in your profession.” His voice seethed with rage. “Before I’m through, they’ll know that wasn’t you, and the person behind this will wish he never started this.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Trust me.” Kissing her on the forehead, he sat her in her seat and started the engine.
Dropping Catherine off at the Red Cactus, Luke stayed long enough to explain to Brandon what had happened. Not wanting her to dwell on the incident, Luke asked Brandon to let her help him with the inventory he took each Friday before ordering supplies. When Luke left they were working their way through the store room.
