by Dawn Martens
“More news… Now, this is going to be hard because we only recently learned of this, but it needs to get out before we tell you the worst part. The child you had, we know who the father of the baby is.”
My head snaps up. “What?”
Angel hands me an old picture, so I look at it, confused at first, but then I remember. I knew him. I remember him. I also knew how completely high he was, too. The entire time, he was apologizing for doing this, for hurting me in this way. I look more closely at the picture... The eyes, they are familiar. I’ve seen these before, after the time in that hell house.
I look up, staring at Blake. Oh, shit. The same eyes.
“Blake here was in that home while you were there. However, he never knew girls even lived there. And, as you know, you thought the same thing about the boys until we raided and got you out.”
I nod my head. I was shocked to learn there were boys in that house the day we got taken out of the basement and put into the main house. But, then again, I wasn’t at the same time, considering they found boys to rape us girls all the time.
“Blake was the father of your child, Cori,” Angel says gently.
“No, that can’t be. How? What?” I stutter.
“He was drugged. He had no clue what was happening. Now, he does.” At least he doesn’t have the God awful memories like I do.
I don’t... I can’t. Oh my God. I will be getting my child back. “Wait, you said was. What does that mean?” My heart sinks.
Angel’s face falls for just a moment. “Did you know what you had?”
I shake my head no. “They wouldn’t tell me. They wouldn’t let me know. They just kept the baby wrapped up in that blanket I kept.” Tears fall from my face, and I finally look Blake’s way. His face is pale, and he looks just as shocked as I do. “He was my first,” I blurt out.
That shocks Blake out of his stillness. It probably wasn’t the time for that admission, but it just came out. I forcefully lost my virginity to Blake. And now, here we were, together—well, sort of.
“Cori, there were other boys in that house at that time. You can’t know for sure that Blake was the one,” Reaper says from his spot in the office.
“No, I do. I wasn’t drugged. It was always the same boy they put me with. I knew he was out of it, but at the same time, he kept telling me he was sorry. He couldn’t help what he was doing. That much I do know.”
The room tenses at this revelation. It’s something I didn’t tell them when they saved me.
“You had a son, Corinne,” Angel says quietly. He comes close, kneels at my feet, and takes my hands in his. “There’s more.”
I frown. “What? What more could there be? I want to get my son back.”
Angel looks at our hands, and I notice the room is deathly quiet, except for a few sobs I hear coming from Melissa. “Your son, Cori sweetie, is dead,” he says so quietly I almost miss it.
Blake
I watch her fall apart in front of me, Melissa hanging on to her. I want to reach out and hold her myself. Hearing that I was her first… Fuck. It killed me. She remembers me. Hearing about everything has me remembering the nightmares I’ve been having lately. But I thought they were just that, nightmares. Now, I know they were, but they were also real life nightmares, too.
I had a kid, a kid with Cori. That kills, hugely. We could have so much together. Maybe now that this is all out in the open finally, maybe I can win her back, be what she needs. Maybe I can finally get her in with the counselor downstairs.
I hear Melissa groan. “You okay?” I ask her. I know she’s due anytime now.
“Yeah, just been getting twinges of pain all day. It’s fine.” She waves me off.
“You sure you’re not in labor?” Angel asks her.
“Nope, I’m fine,” Melissa says.
Angel backs off. I turn to him. “What are we going to do about this?”
“We were able to get the trial moved up. This will be presented as evidence, too. Sam is going to help us out with things. He’s got a few friends that are judges around the area, so this trial will most likely be fast-tracked.”
I nod.
“Melissa, why don’t you and Cori go on home,” Angel suggests to her gently.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”
Chapter 47
Cori
I walk out of the building in a daze. My son is dead. Hearing Angel say that my son died of SIDS made me not believe him, but they had an autopsy report done, so at least I know those terrible people didn’t hurt my child.
And on top of that, Blake. It’s like our whole lives were twisted up in each other’s.
“Uh, Cori,” Melissa says urgently from beside me.
“What?” I mutter.
“My water broke,” she states.
“Oh, shit.” I grab her arm, rushing her to the car. “Please, do not have the baby in this car. Keep it in,” I tell her.
“Yeah, sure, I’ll try,” she says, clenching her teeth. “Oh, God,” she moans in pain.
I grab my phone and hit speaker once it starts calling. “Yeah.”
“Get to the hospital. I’m on my way now. Melissa’s in labor,” I tell him.
“Shit! Okay, be there soon!” He hangs up, and I race off, hoping to get to the hospital before she ruins the car.
*~*
“She’s so beautiful.” Melissa says, tears running down her face as she holds her daughter. She looks up at me and smiles. “Want to hold her?”
I shake my head no.
Melissa frowns. “She’s your niece.”
Dray stares at me when I look away from my sister, and frowns.
“I’ll hold her,” Chelsea pipes up.
I can’t be here. Without a word, I grab my purse from the chair and take off. Dray shouts for me as I run down the hall, but I don’t stop. I can’t be here. I can’t see that.
Blake
I go to follow Cori out of the building, but Angel stops me. “We need a chat,” he stresses, looking pissed at me with his jaw clenching. Angel is a tough fucker, and I have never wanted to be on the receiving end of his anger. I once watched him beat the shit out of a man who danced with Eden at a club. It was a beating I doubt the man will ever forget.
“What I need to do is go talk to Cori.”
Angel hangs his head down. “I should have gotten her help when she lived with us. The reason she doesn’t want kids is because of her son being taken from her,” he confides in me.
“I think I got that,” I mutter.
“Well, it’s all out now. Only thing left to do is finally move on.” Reaper comes forward with a file. “What’s this?” Angel asks.
“Just found out how the Mercers were able to get away with this shit for so damn long.”
“Their cousin is a social worker. Shit. She’s the one that kept getting the cases. How’d she do this, though? She’s family. She wouldn’t have been allowed,” Angel says.
“Different last name, and she never told anyone she was related to them. But Zippo was able to figure it out. Had a check done on the woman,” Reaper says. “Also, before Wayne Mercer’s father died, he was a highly respected Judge in these parts. That family has a lot of friends. The one and only time a warrant was ever issued to search their house was when we pulled rank on it. Everything otherwise was thrown out before anything was ever brought to light because of all of this.”
“Well, shit. What happens now? We have a brother and a cousin helping to cover this shit up, and judges,” I say.
Zippo speaks up. “We gave that shit to Drew, and he’s getting warrants now. Lyle Mercer was fired this morning, and Candy Smith was as well. Both can’t be found. They ended up taking off, but they won’t be able to hide long. Anthony is searching for them, while Trevor is searching for their buddies.”
“I’m gonna go see if I can talk to Cori,” I tell them. I want to help them more with this case, but Cori needs me right now.
Angel nods. “Make her listen to you. Don
’t let her go, Blake,” he tells me sternly.
“I’ll do my best,” I say and stalk off.
I get home and change before going down to Cori’s condo. As I’m about to leave, a soft knock comes to the door. Thinking it’s Cori coming to me, I open it, feeling relieved. What I see instead has my anger bursting at the seams.
“What do you want?” I sneer at her.
“Can we talk?”
“Oh, about what? The fact that you gave me up and had other children, and didn’t give a shit about me?”
“Blake, please. I never meant for any of this to happen. I wanted you to have a better life than the one I would have given you. I wanted to heal,” my mother says.
“No, what you wanted was to forget I existed,” I tell her. “Because of you, I grew up in some of the worst foster homes, abused, starved, raped. It’s why I do what I do now. Your husband called me, by the way. Told me I have siblings, the children you actually did care about.”
“Blake, honey, I do care about you. I always have,” she pleads with me.
I shake my head. “Nope, not true. Even when presented with evidence, you still denied it all. Get away from me. Stay away from me. My step-dad and my siblings want to get to know me, and you know what? I’ll gladly have them be a part of my life. But not you. Never you.” With that, I slam the door in her face and listen as her footsteps walk away from my door.
I rub my face. “What a fucking day,” I mutter to myself.
Chapter 48
Cori
I’m on shot six when Randy comes over and sits next to me. “Hey there, big guy. Wanna go into your office?” I slur.
“No, and you don’t either,” he says.
I snort. “Yeah, I do, actually. Need to drink and fuck away my problems right now.”
“Chelsea told me everything, Cori. You need to talk to someone,” he chides, leaning close to me.
“Nope. I really don’t.” He leans in closer, and I grab the back of his head, pulling him in for a kiss. He pulls away almost instantly.
He shakes his head at me and holds my hands in front of me. “Stop this, Cori. You know I’ve been seeing Chelsea. Don’t do this to your friend. I also know how madly in love with Blake you are.”
“Oh, fuck you.” I sneer at him. “You don’t know shit. You don’t know what it was like being tied down and raped by someone who couldn’t stop it even if he tried. You don’t know what it’s like having your child taken away from you, and then years later, finding out the child died. You don’t know shit!” I scream at him.
His face softens. “No, Cori, I don’t, but self-destructing like this? Don’t do it. You’ll only hurt yourself more in the end.”
“Whatever.”
“Not whatever. Why are you even here? Didn’t Melissa just have her baby?”
I nod. “Yeah, saw her born then I left. Couldn’t be there.”
Seeing her have what was taken from me, and what I will never get back, was too fucking hard. Melissa understands that I can’t be there right now. As much as I want to, it isn’t a good idea. I can’t be around her and Dray, all happy and smiling over their daughter. I’ll never get to hold my son and know what that feels like. Neither will Blake, unless he meets someone who will give him everything that I can’t. Part of me hopes he does, but another part of me dies at the thought.
Randy looks at me with sympathy. “Cori, why don’t you go home and sleep this off,” he suggests.
I shake my head. “No, I need a little more courage, and then I’m going to do something I should have done a long time ago,” I tell him cryptically.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” he warns.
“Oh, fuck you.”
“You want to get shit faced, great, but not here. I hate seeing you like this.”
“What is your problem, man? Huh? Chelsea turned you into a pussy, but don’t worry, she’ll break you soon enough. If Keller comes sniffing around again, she’ll be back with him faster than you can say her name.” I sneer. Shit, I’m a shitty friend right now.
“I’m going to let that go, considering how drunk and upset you are, but I’m not letting you stay here. Let me get you a cab.” He tries pulling at my arm, and I shove him over, watching as he falls back into the chair.
“Don’t touch me. I fucking hate you!” I shout at him and storm out of his club.
No one gets what I’m going through. I can’t do this. It hurts so fucking bad. My anger continues to boil.
Blake
I’m pacing my office. I went to Cori’s place after I was sure my mother left the building, but no one was there, so I figured I can help out in some way by being here, hoping to accomplish something. Anything.
“You need to fix whatever mess is going on,” Marcy declares, walking into my office.
“I’m trying, okay. We just got hit hard with bad news shit. Give it some time.”
“We don’t have time, you idiot! She’s leaving, Blake. She got a position in Devon at Ashley’s House. She starts in just over a week, and if you don’t stop it from happening, I will leave, too,” she snarls at me. She leaves my office, slamming the door shut behind her.
“Fuck!” I yell, throwing the phone on my desk across the room.
I grab my cell and try calling Cori, but only get her voice mail. “Cori, fuck! You get this, you call me!” I shout into the phone. I try calling Melissa, and her phone is turned off. I try Chelsea, and she finally answers.
“Hey, where is Cori?” I ask her.
“She went out,” she says in a hushed voice. “I’m not supposed to be on the phone right now. The nurses are giving me the stink eye.”
“Nurses? Where are you?” I ask her, worried.
“Hospital. Melissa just had the baby.”
“Does Cori know?” I ask.
“Yeah, she brought her here, stayed until the baby was born, and then took off. She’s not answering anyone’s calls. Randy was just here with me. I guess she showed up at his club, was getting drunk as hell, tried kissing him, and she got all pissed that he wouldn’t take her. She left, and no one knows where she’s at,” Chelsea tells me in a rush.
I’m frozen. She tried to sleep with someone else? I am livid and hurt. I know she is lashing out, but that fucking cuts deep.
I run out of my office and see Angel and Trevor talking in the parking lot. “Good. You’re still here.”
Angel looks alert and worried. “Everything okay?”
“First, Melissa had her baby.” Angel smiles. “Second, Cori’s missing. She was at Randy’s club, tried to fuck him. He turned her down, and then she took off. No one knows where she is.”
“Shit. Okay, I’ll get Reaper and Zippo to help. Anything else?” he asks.
“Cori is planning on moving to Devon. Can’t let that happen.”
Angel puts a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry. It won’t. You go to her apartment. She might turn up there eventually. Trevor, I’m pulling you off of searching for the judge friend. You go up to the hospital. Go meet your new niece. I’ll get calls put out looking for Cori.”
We break off, and I head to her condo to wait.
Chapter 49
Cori
I know I’m drunk, but you know what? Fuck it! At least I’m in a cab, not driving. I tell him to take me downtown to any place at all that sells guns. Since the main stores are all closed right now, he takes me to a small little shop next to a tattoo parlour. The place looks run down, with bars all over the windows, and I see a few guys in the alley next to the shop smoking a joint. I don’t want to be here, but I have to. The Mercer family has to pay. “Want me to wait?”
“Would you?” I slur out slightly.
He nods, and I smile at him.
I walk into the shop and head straight to the front counter. The man behind it gives me a look and does something at the wall.
“Turned the cameras off,” he tells me, seeing the look on my face. “You here for something not quite legal?”
I nod. “
The family that had me raped and took my child from me, the son I just found out about that is dead. They need to pay,” I tell him steely.
He pulls out a glock. “Just got this in. Was gonna hand it over to the police, since it looks like one of theirs, and normally, I never just hand over a gun to just anyone. There’s a process, but you need this.” He hands it over, and I grasp it in my hands, somewhat shocked at how easy this is. “You get caught, leave where you got that gun from out of your statement. Good luck,” he tells me.
“Thank you,” I whisper out to him as I hand him over the giant wad of cash I pulled from an ATM on the way over.
I run back to the cab and give him the address to the Mercers’.
*~*
The cab driver pulls up to the rundown house and watches me. I go to give him money, but he waves me off, not wanting the money. “You need me to stay?”
“No, I’ll be here a while. But thank you.”
“Stay safe, girl. You need a getaway, call me,” he says, passing me his personal card then peels away from the street when I close the door. I walk up to the house and knock.
“Who is it?” I hear called through the house.
“Got a delivery for Wayne Mercer.”
The door unlocks and opens, and I rush in, waving my gun, the gun I bought from the local gun shop, at my old foster mother. “How could you do that to me? To anyone!” I scream.
Mr. Mercer looks older, uglier, and even fatter than before. Disgusting old man. Mrs. Mercer is on her knees, pleading with me to put the gun down.
“No, I’m not putting it down. You deserve to die. You deserve to have everything taken away from you!” I scream.
“You’re right. We do. Please, just, we’ll call 911 right now and turn ourselves in.”
I shake my head no. “I’m not letting you do that. That’s getting you off too easily.”
“We’ll take you to his grave if you put the gun down.”
“Why should I believe you?”
