by Sherri Hayes
Wednesday arrived before either of us was ready for it. When Stephan left for work that morning, he hugged me longer than usual. I could tell he didn’t want to leave me, but eventually he did. My heart ached, and I wanted to ask him to stay with me. It was weak, but I needed him.
I spent the morning cleaning everything I could find to wash, dust, or vacuum. Usually cleaning helped to relax me, but it didn’t this time. As the day wore on, and the time for Cal to pick me up got closer and closer, I began to feel sick to my stomach.
My phone rang, and I rushed to dig it out of my pocket. It was Stephan. “Hi.”
“How are you doing?”
I wouldn’t lie to him. “I’m nervous. Scared.”
“Have you changed your mind?”
“No.” There was no conviction behind my voice, but it was the best I could do.
Stephan sighed, and I knew if he were here, I’d see the same frustration that had been on his face for the last four days. “What time is Ross coming to pick you up?”
I checked the clock. It was almost noon. “He said he’d be here about one thirty.”
“Have you eaten anything since I left this morning?”
“No.” I could feel his disappointment over the phone.
“Go make yourself a sandwich. I know you’re nervous, but you need to at least try to eat something.”
“Okay. I’ll try.”
“Once you’ve eaten, go take a shower, and try to relax a little. I want you to wear your favorite jeans, and the dark green sweater I bought you. No other jewelry besides your collar. Understand?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“You’ll do fine, Brianna. You’re strong—stronger than he is. Stronger than he will ever be.”
I sat back on the stool I’d been leaning on and let the tears fall. “Thank you, Sir.”
“Now, go eat. I’m only a phone call away if you need me.”
We said our good-byes, and I placed the phone back in my pocket before going into the kitchen and doing as I was told. I still wasn’t hungry, but I did feel a little better. Hearing his voice always had a calming effect on me.
Stephan took the decisions out of my hands by telling me exactly what to do and what to wear. If he hadn’t, I would have stressed myself out even more trying to decide what was best to wear given the circumstances and where I was going.
As it was, I came out of my bedroom right as the phone rang. It was Tom, letting me know Cal was here. I told Tom it was okay to let Cal come up and went to grab my purse and keys. Since I’d moved back in, Stephan had eased up on his insistence that I not be alone with Cal. He still didn’t like it, but he’d lifted the restriction. Stephan hadn’t, however, added Cal’s name to the list of approved guests—Cal still had to go to the front desk first and have them call up to the condo.
When I opened the door, Cal stood, his frame taking up most of the doorway, looking ready for battle. “Stephan isn’t here.”
He blinked. “I know. I talked to him about ten minutes ago.”
“You talked to Stephan?”
Cal chuckled. “Yes. I talked to Coleman.” He looked down at the purse in my hands. “Are you ready to go?”
A few minutes later, we were on our way to the FBI office. It was only about fifteen minutes from Stephan’s condo, but Cal wanted to make sure we had plenty of time in case we ran into any traffic. It was a good thing, too, because for some reason there seemed to be more cars downtown than usual, and we arrived at Agent Marco’s office with only five minutes to spare.
Cal parked the car in the parking garage directly across from the building. He stayed close to me as we exited the garage and crossed the street to the front of the FBI building. The sky was overcast, and it looked like it was going to start snowing again at any moment. I pulled the lapels of my coat closer together, although I wasn’t sure if that was more to keep out the cold or just to have something to do. My insides were churning.
He paused before we entered the building, and I glanced up to look at him, wondering if something was wrong. “Are you ready for this?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out, so I nodded.
He extended his hand, offering it to me. I looked down at it, unmoving.
Cal, completely out of character, stood motionless as I contemplated if I wanted to take his offered hand or not.
Hesitantly, I reached out and slid my hand into his.
Emma was waiting for us when we entered. “You made it.”
“Sorry. We ran into some traffic.”
She nodded. “Are you ready, Anna?”
“I don’t . . . I don’t know.” It felt as if there were something lodged in my throat all of a sudden. “Is he here?”
“Yes. They brought him in a few minutes ago.”
Whatever was lodged in my throat seemed to grow. “Okay. I’m . . . I’m ready.”
Emma turned and led us down the hall to a set of elevators. When the doors opened, we all got in, and Emma pushed the button for the fourth floor.
No one said a word on the ride up, which was probably best.
When we arrived on the fourth floor, Emma led us down another long hallway before stopping abruptly and knocking on a closed door.
“Enter.” I recognized Agent Marco’s voice.
Emma opened the door, and we stepped into the room.
“Ms. Reeves.” Agent Marco nodded a somewhat gruff greeting. “Mr. Ross.”
Agent Marco extended his hand, and Cal took it. I kept my one hand clasped to Cal’s and the other balled into a fist at my side.
Emma, Cal, and Agent Marco conversed for a minute or two before he addressed me. “I have your father in a holding cell. If you’re ready, I thought we could use one of the interrogation rooms across the hall.”
I nodded, pressing my lips together. It was the best I could do at the moment.
“All righty, then.” Agent Marco rounded his desk and led us two doors down and across the hall to another room. It held a table and three chairs—two on one side, one on the other. “Wait here.”
Agent Marco left the room, and Cal guided me over to the two chairs on one side of the table, positioning himself so that he was closest to the door. Emma took up a position in the far corner.
“Not too late to back out.”
I didn’t look at Cal. My eyes were focused on the door to my right, on the other side of Cal. The one we’d just come through, the one John was going to walk through in a matter of minutes. “I-I-I have to do this.”
Five minutes passed before the knob began to turn. The door opened, and John shuffled in. He had cuffs around both his wrists and ankles. Both were linked with a chain. It prevented him from walking normally. Seeing it instantly brought me back to Ian’s dungeon. I knew how it felt to have cuffs around your wrists and ankles, holding you in place. The cold metal binding you . . . preventing you from escaping . . .
“Anna? Anna?”
I blinked several times and stared up at Cal’s worried face.
“Anna.” Cal breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m . . . I’m okay.”
The sound of a chair scraping against the floor caused me to turn my head. There, across from me, sat my father. He looked . . . different . . . yet the same. There was more gray in his hair than I remembered, and he had wrinkles around his eyes that were new.
Agent Marco held on to John’s upper arm until he was firmly in his chair, and then he walked over to stand by the door.
John shifted in his seat, and the chains binding him rattled. “I didn’t know if you’d come.”
This was going to be harder than I thought. “Why?” I swallowed. “Why did you want to see me?”
“They want me to testify next month at Pierce’s trial. I didn’t know if they’d told you or not. They want me to testify to the timeline or some such lawyer nonsense. I didn’t want you to be surprised when I showed up. I know I’m not one of your favorite people right now.”
I didn’t know w
hat to say to that, so I remained silent.
“For what it’s worth, Anna, I’m sorry. I didn’t plan for this to happen. I didn’t mean for it to get so out of control. It just . . . did.”
Neither of us spoke for several minutes, and I knew this was my opportunity to ask him what I needed to. “Why did you borrow money from that man?”
“Dumas?”
I nodded.
He sighed. “It’s complicated.”
Cal spoke up. “Why don’t you try to explain it?”
John glanced briefly over at Cal before returning his gaze to me. “When I found out your mom was sick . . . that she was going to die . . . I don’t know. I lost it, I guess. Chad, one of my deputies, took me gambling to try and get my mind off things, and it worked. It worked too well. Before I knew it, I was spending every waking minute I wasn’t on duty at the casino. When I ran out of money, I borrowed against the house.”
He shifted in his seat, and the chains clanged against each other again. A shiver ran down my spine. It’s not real. It’s not real.
“They were going to take the house, until someone gave me the name of a guy that might be able to help me. Dumas gave me a loan. I was able to pay off the casino and keep the house. I thought I’d be able to pay him back, but then your mom died and everything changed. You came to live with me, and my world was turned upside down. There were cuts that had to be made in the department, and instead of having the money to pay Dumas back, I barely had enough to make ends meet.”
John looked me directly in the eye. “I thought I had more time. I thought . . . I didn’t think he’d take you as collateral. I didn’t know . . .”
Cal tightened his hold on my hand as I spoke.
“You didn’t look for me.”
“I did, baby girl. I promise you, I did.”
Moisture pricked at my eyes. “Why didn’t you look harder? Why didn’t you . . .” I was sobbing uncontrollably.
Emma handed Cal a box of tissues. “Thanks.”
Once I’d calmed down some, John continued. “I should have tried harder. At first, I thought he was just hiding you away somewhere until I came up with the cash. It wasn’t until I approached him a month later with the money, after selling the house and nearly everything I owned, that I realized he no longer had you. After that, I widened my search, but I couldn’t find even a trace. A few neighbors saw you get into a vehicle, but other than a general description, I didn’t have anything else to go on.”
Anger welled up inside me. “You should have tried harder! Do you know what happened to me? Do you know what he did?”
John visibly swallowed and had the decency to look somewhat ashamed. “No. All I’ve been told was that he held you captive for ten months.”
For some reason, I wanted to show him rather than tell him. I wanted him to see what Ian had done to me.
Standing, I turned around. “Cal, can you help me pull up the back of my sweater?”
Cal looked up at me in question, but he stood and did as I asked, being careful to go slow and not touch me any more than he had to.
I heard two gasps as my shirt was lifted, revealing the scars on my back from the whip Ian and his friend had used on me.
Without being told, Cal lowered my shirt a few seconds later and helped me back into my chair.
When I looked up, both John and Agent Marco had paled. “How? What . . . what did that to you?”
“Ian whipped me for not remembering the proper kneeling position.” I paused. “I was a slow learner.”
His eyes looked as if they might bulge out of his head.
“If you’d looked for me harder, maybe . . . maybe I wouldn’t have these.”
“I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I—”
“You left me there.”
“No. No I didn’t. I looked for you. I did.”
“You didn’t file a missing person’s report.”
John sat back, deflated. “No. I didn’t. After what happened, I was ashamed. If I’d known, though . . .”
I closed my eyes and asked the question I most wanted to know. “You put yourself before me. You thought of your well-being before mine. Why do you think you deserve a chance to be in my life again?”
“I’m your father. I love you.”
I shook my head. “No. You don’t do that to someone you love. You don’t put your needs ahead of theirs.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say, Anna. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. None of it.”
I stood abruptly, needing to get out of there.
“Where are you going? Our time isn’t up yet. Please, don’t go.”
Cal walked me to the door, but I stopped before opening it. I didn’t look back but spoke loud enough that he could hear me. “Ian beat me. He tortured and raped me and allowed his friends to do the same. I have someone now who loves me, who would do anything for me. He would move heaven and earth to keep me safe . . . to protect me.” I paused and glanced over my shoulder to meet my father’s gaze. “Good-bye, John.”
Cal opened the door, and I walked out into the hall. I was able to keep myself together until I heard the door close behind me. Then I collapsed onto the floor and began sobbing uncontrollably.
Chapter 44
Stephan
As soon as I received the phone call from Brianna saying she and Cal were leaving Agent Marco’s office, I grabbed my things and told Jamie I was leaving. I’d already cleared my schedule for the next day. It was hard to tell what state Brianna would be in after her visit, and I wanted to be prepared. It wasn’t as if I’d been all that productive anyway for the past six hours. I was too worried about Brianna’s meeting with her father.
Traffic was unusually heavy for the time of day, but I managed to get home before she did. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, since I spent the agonizing minutes pacing the floor and glancing at my watch.
When the security monitor lit up, giving me my first glimpse of her, I knew straight away it was going to be a long night. Her shoulders were slumped, and she was looking down. Cal, walking beside her, didn’t look much better, although his stance was more protective than weary.
I opened the door for them, not waiting for Brianna to fish out her key. The minute she saw me, she rushed into my arms and pressed her body as close to me as she possibly could. It felt good to have her close, to know she was safe with me. Taking a deep breath, I inhaled the scent of her hair . . . her skin . . . letting it wash the tension away.
Cal entered, and I stepped back, keeping an arm securely around Brianna. He looked at her and then up at me. No words were spoken between us, but I saw volumes in his eyes. Something happened, and it wasn’t good.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, Anna. If you need anything before then, you have my number. And Jade’s.”
When he hesitated, I knew he must be reluctant to leave. “Thank you for going with her.”
He nodded and turned toward the door.
“Cal?” Brianna’s voice was muffled with her cheek pressed against my shirt.
Looking back at us, Cal met Brianna’s gaze.
“I’m sorry you had to see that.”
He blanched, but at the same time, I saw him harden his features. “You don’t ever need to apologize for anything that monster did to you, Anna. Ever.”
She nodded slightly and averted her gaze.
Cal sighed, and his gaze lowered to her back. It took me a moment to understand the significance, but when I saw a shiver rock his body, I knew Cal must have seen her scars.
With one more glance at Brianna, Cal strolled out the door, closing it behind him and leaving Brianna and I alone.
I kissed the top of Brianna’s head and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Come on. Let’s get you out of these clothes and into a nice, relaxing bath.”
Brianna walked, plastered to my side, into my bathroom. As the tub filled with water, I began undressing her. She stood still as a statue as I removed her sweater and jeans. It wasn’t until I
reached behind her to unclasp her bra that she spoke. Unfortunately, it was in that robotic tone she used when she was distancing herself emotionally. “I showed John my back. Cal saw, too. And Emma. And Agent Marco.”
Tilting her chin up, I brushed my lips lightly against hers. “What did John say when he saw them?”
“He asked what they were from.” Her voice sounded dead.
“Did you tell him?” I kept my voice soft and low. She was here with me but not completely.
“Yes.” She paused and looked up at me. “But I don’t know if he believed me.”
With every new thing I learned of Jonathan Reeves, I liked the man less and less. I seriously wondered if he had one fatherly bone in his body. How could anyone see scars like Brianna’s and not immediately want to rip off the head of the bastard who did it? Or at the very least show some compassion for what she’d obviously been through.
Wrapping one hand around the back of her head, I pulled her against my chest, giving her what comfort I could. I hated feeling so helpless, especially when it came to Brianna. “Let’s get you in the bath. You can lie here and relax while I order us some dinner.”
She glanced up at me, and I saw moisture in her eyes. “You’re not getting in with me?”
My heart broke seeing her like this. “Let me call for the food, and then I’ll be in, all right?”
Brianna lowered her gaze. “Okay.”
I helped her into the tub and quickly went to order the food. It didn’t take me long, and I was back in the bathroom in less than ten minutes, stripping off my clothes and climbing in behind her. She let her head fall back against my shoulder, and I held her close.
After a long silence, Brianna spoke. “He doesn’t love me.”
Although I happened to agree with her, I was curious as to how she’d arrived at that conclusion. Before when she’d brought it up, it had been phrased more as a question. This had a finality to it. “What makes you say that?”
“He cared more about himself than he did me.” She paused. “He still does. When I asked him why he didn’t look for me harder, he made excuses.”
I placed a kiss on her bare shoulder. There was nothing I could say to make it better, because what she was saying was true. He was selfish. The world revolved around him, not his daughter, even after he’d confirmed she’d been sold to pay off his debts.
