“So I decided to tell Damon we needed to stop seeing each other. I didn’t plan for it to be permanent. Once I turned eighteen, which was just a few months away, I planned to start seeing him again. It would have hurt my parents, but at least I wouldn’t have been sneaking around. I thought if I was a legal age, it would somehow be different.”
She paused and took a long trembling breath. “He took the news better than I thought he would. He said he didn’t like the fact that I was lying to my parents, either. That I should do what was right. He kissed me, told me everything would be all right.”
She stopped again. Lucas held his breath, waiting for what had to be the most horrific event a young girl, or anyone, could experience.
Closing her eyes, McKenna saw it all as if it happened yesterday.
Eight years earlier
Traylor City, Nebraska
A soft sound woke her from a deep sleep. Drowsy, she rolled over in bed and snuggled deeper into her soft, warm pillow. Squirrels again—trying to get into the attic. They did that this time of year. Daddy would have to run them off tomorrow. On the edge of sleep again, she heard another sound.
“McKenna.”
Someone was calling her name. McKenna sat up, her heart thundering in her chest. She gasped to see a tall, dark figure in the middle of her room. Damon! “What are you doing here? How did you get in?”
“Your window was open.”
Keeping her voice barely above a whisper, she said, “My daddy will kill you if he sees you in here. You have to leave.”
He laughed. It wasn’t a laugh she’d ever heard from him before. It sounded almost nasty, not like the Damon she knew and loved.
She put her feet on the floor; she had to make him leave. Daddy would never understand this and would never forgive Damon for sneaking into her room.
Before she could stand, Damon pushed her down and then came down on top of her. Though fearful of having him in her home in the middle of the night where her parents might hear, she wrapped her arms around him to kiss him. Instead of the passionate yet tender kisses she was used to and expected, he ground his mouth onto hers. He was hurting her. She tasted blood and knew he’d cut her lip.
She pushed at his shoulders, trying to dislodge him. Why was he acting this way? Finally managing to get him to move his mouth from hers, she whispered, “You’re hurting me.”
“I’m about to show you what real hurt is, McKenna. You’ve cock-teased me for the last time.” He pushed her nightgown up; she felt his hands on her bare legs and then extreme pressure between her thighs as he thrust deep inside her.
* * *
A harsh sob jerked her out of her memories. Lucas’s arms held her as she shuddered against his chest. “I was a virgin. I thought he understood that I wanted to wait. He had never pressured me before. I didn’t realize I screamed until the light in my room came on and I felt him being pulled off me. Oh God, why did I have to scream? If only I hadn’t screamed…”
Swallowing hard, she returned to her memories.
“Bastard! Get off my daughter!” her father shouted.
Sobbing, McKenna lay on the bed, unable to move. Damon had raped her…why? How could he have done this to her?
Damon’s harsh laughter woke her from her shock. “She ain’t your little girl anymore. She’s mine.”
The slamming of a fist into flesh caused her to sit up. Her father was on top of Damon, pummeling his fist into Damon’s face. She screamed again. Her father jerked his head around and looked at her; tears swam in his eyes, and she saw love and compassion in his beloved face.
Her body and heart aching, she held out her hand and whispered, “Daddy?”
A loud blast pierced the silence. Her daddy’s face changed from shock to pain, and then in an instant he fell onto the floor.
McKenna shouted, “No!” and threw herself onto her father’s lifeless body. Damon pulled her away from him and dragged her out of the room. Her mother stood in the hallway, a phone in her hand. McKenna barely registered her mother’s pale, panic-stricken face before Damon raised the gun and fired. A red stain suddenly appeared on her mother’s white nightgown; she dropped the phone and fell to the floor.
Screeching her pain, McKenna whirled around and clawed at Damon’s face. He slammed her against the wall; her head struck so hard she literally saw stars.
“Nobody comes between me and what belongs to me,” he growled. “You were mine the moment we met. Your parents were too stupid to realize that. Don’t you make the same mistake.”
Sobs tore through her. She was crying so hard she could hardly breathe. Her mama and daddy…Oh dear God. Mama. Daddy. Amy! She had to protect Amy!
“You have to go,” she babbled. “My mama called the police. They’ll be here soon.”
“Police ain’t coming. I cut the phone lines before I came in. You think I’m stupid or something? Now, where’s that sister of yours?”
“No. You can’t hurt Amy. I won’t let you. Please, Damon. I’ll do whatever you want, but you can’t hurt Amy.”
“You do what I tell you to do and I won’t. Understand?”
Barely able to stand, she leaned against the wall and nodded.
“Good. Go get some clothes and let’s grab your sister.”
“You said you wouldn’t hurt her.”
The smack of the back of his hand against her face busted her lip, but it woke her up, too. No longer faint, she straightened and said woodenly, “What do you want me to do?”
“Get some clothes. I’ll get your sister.”
“If you hurt her, I’ll kill you.” She said the words softly, but he heard them.
Instead of reacting like the maniac she now knew him to be, he smiled and said, “You can try.”
She ran, stuffed some clothes into her bag, and then ran back out. She would be crazy to take him at his word. Rushing down the hallway to Amy’s room, she found him kneeling on the floor, trying to coax her sister out from under the bed.
“No!” McKenna flew at him, pushing him away. “Leave her alone.”
Damon backhanded her in the face, knocking her down. Lying on the floor, she could see Amy’s terrified eyes gleaming at her. Oh God, please help me save her.
Getting back on her knees, she tugged on Damon’s arm. “Please, Damon. I’ll do anything…anything! I swear. Just don’t hurt her.”
“I ain’t going to hurt her. I’m just trying to get her to come with us.” He looked back at Amy. “Come on out here, little girl. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Amy didn’t utter a sound; McKenna knew she was too terrified to move.
“Tell her to come out or I’m going to shoot her under the bed.”
“Dammit, Damon. Leave her alone.” She was sobbing, pleading…she didn’t care what she had to do. She’d already lost her mother and father—she couldn’t lose Amy, too.
Damon grabbed McKenna by a hank of hair and jerked her down till she lay on the floor. “Tell your fucking sister to get out here or I’m going to shoot your head off.”
McKenna gritted her teeth. She didn’t care if she died. She deserved to die for bringing this monster into her home. No matter what she had to do, she would save Amy.
But Damon’s threatening words had worked. McKenna heard her little sister’s trembling voice say, “No, I’m coming…don’t hurt Kenna…I’m coming.”
“Amy, please, no.”
“There ya go,” Damon coaxed. When Amy came within reaching distance, he grabbed her arm and dragged her the rest of the way out.
McKenna pulled Amy away from Damon. Getting to her feet, she placed Amy behind her. “Let me lock her up in the closet or something. She won’t call the police, I promise.”
Damon got to his feet and grabbed McKenna by the shoulder. “Shut the fuck up!”
Swallowing a sob, she nodded.
“Did you get your clothes?”
She nodded again.
“Then let’s go.”
“But Amy—”
&n
bsp; “She comes with us.”
“Why can’t she—”
He pointed the gun toward Amy’s head and snarled, “She either comes with us or I shoot her. Your choice.”
As much as she wanted to get Amy away from him, she had no choice. Willing herself calmness so she could try to figure something out, she turned and said, “Amy, pack some clothes.”
Her little sister stood shivering, obviously in shock. McKenna took her hand and walked with her to the closet. “Here, I’ll help you.”
Taking some of her summer dresses and shoes, they dumped them into Amy’s backpack, lying on the closet floor. No one spoke but both were more than aware that Damon stood behind them, the gun pointed at Amy.
Zipping the bag, McKenna turned. “What now?”
He gestured with the gun. “Let’s go to your parents’ room. Get what cash they have, get their ATM and credit cards. We’ll use them till they’re canceled.”
Acting on automatic, careful to keep Amy at her side, she walked the short distance to her parents’ bedroom. Her eyes focused on the bureau where her father kept his wallet. She refused to look around, to think about all she had lost, what she had caused. She took the wallet from the dresser and turned.
Damon grabbed the wallet from her hand and pulled out several bills and credit cards. “Okay. Where are the car keys?”
“Hanging on a hook in the kitchen.”
“Get them. Then let’s get out of here.”
“Damon, please…let Amy—”
The gun pointed at McKenna this time. “Every time you argue or disobey me, you’re going to pay for it. Now, either get your sister in the car with you or I kill her here. It makes no difference to me.”
Knowing she had no choice, McKenna put her arm around her sister and led her through the house. They stopped in the kitchen and McKenna grabbed the keys. Refusing to allow herself one last look at the life she had destroyed, she took her sister’s arm and went out the door.
Amy was crying now. Soft, silent tears. Did she know what Damon had done to their parents? McKenna hoped not…but feared that she did.
Her father’s vehicle was a small, old truck he used to drive back and forth into town. Her mother’s car was newer, larger.
Damon pointed to the car with his gun. “Get in the car. Put your sister in the backseat. You sit up front with me, where you belong.”
Opening the back door for her sister, she helped Amy in and put the two bags she’d packed in with her. She got into the passenger seat and watched as Damon came around and settled himself into the driver’s seat.
He turned and smiled at her. “Now we can be together like we were meant to be.”
Returning to the present again, McKenna found herself curled into Lucas’s strong arms. Her face was hidden against his chest, and ugly, soul-deep sobs tore through her. This was the first time in years she’d completely let go. The first time in years she had allowed herself to recall everything that had happened.
Lucas held her, pressed kisses to her head from time to time, and allowed her to cry. Finally there were no tears left. She lay in his arms, exhausted and so sad she could barely think straight.
“And Amy?” Lucas asked softly.
Breath shuddered through her body. “We were about fifteen miles out of town, going down the highway. I don’t know why she did it. Maybe she thought she could get help; maybe she realized Damon would kill her when he got tired of having her with us. She never said anything, never gave any warning. I had my head against the window, kind of going in and out of consciousness. The next thing I heard was the door opening.”
“She jumped out?”
McKenna nodded.
“And?”
“I screamed at Damon to stop. He refused. I turned around and she was lying in the middle of the road…just lying there. Still in her pink pajamas. Not moving. I couldn’t just let her lie there…I jumped on him, determined to make him stop. He hit me in the head with his gun, knocked me out. When I came to, we were miles from home.”
She swallowed. “I listened to the news on the television when we stopped at a motel. She was found, taken to a hospital. She told them what Damon had done…about my parents. And then she died.”
Lucas had no words to convey his sorrow for what she had gone through. Just losing one parent was bad enough, but to lose both parents, along with your sister, and to hold yourself responsible? Beyond hell.
Would she tell him the rest? He knew most of it, but she didn’t know that and the last thing he wanted was for her to know he’d dug into her past. That would come later when they were able to talk about this openly. Until then, he’d wait and see if she could bear to tell him the other horrific parts. He didn’t have to wait long.
“He took me to somewhere in Kansas. A friend of his had a place there. I knew I had to get away from him, but I couldn’t think straight. My head was splitting open; I kept passing out. He locked me in the bathroom with no windows. Told me I had to stay there until I learned obedience. Finally he let me out.” She shook her head and added, “I have no idea how many days went by.”
She was silent again. He risked asking her a question, one he had to know. “Where did the scars come from?”
“Mostly from Damon…though I’ve picked up a few over the years.”
“The cigarette burns?”
“Damon,” she whispered. “He’d come into the bathroom, light a cigarette, and talk, telling me things would be better once I learned obedience. Then, when he was through with his lecture and his cigarette, he would force me to the floor and put out the butt on my skin.”
Lucas closed his eyes. He had to hear everything. “And the thin scars on your thighs and back?”
She took a shuddering breath. “He came in one day, said he was going to test me, give me some freedom. I had to do it…I had to try to leave. At that point, I didn’t care what happened—I had to get away from him, even if he killed me. So when he let me out of the bathroom, I shot out the door. I even made it halfway across the yard before he caught me. That was the first time I’d been outside in weeks…the first time I realized we were at a small ranch.” She shook her head quickly. “Anyway, he took me back inside. His friend, the one who owned the ranch, helped Damon tie me to the bed. Then Damon used a whip on me.”
“The brand on your bottom?”
“Damon was gone one day, or outside or something…I don’t know where. Anyway, I was chained to the bed. Butch, Damon’s friend, came in and he…” She took a deep, trembling breath; Lucas held her tighter. “Damon came in and pulled him off me before he could get inside me. Damon beat him…literally beat him to death. Slammed his head against a windowsill over and over again until there was almost nothing left. There was blood everywhere…the stench gagged me. I started throwing up. Damon unchained me.”
She gave a half laugh, half sob. “Stupid, really, but I thought he was going to comfort me, or at least let me go to the bathroom and throw up.”
“He didn’t?”
She shook her head. “He dragged me to the barn. I was so damn weak, I couldn’t fight him. He told me the reason Butch went after me was because his brand wasn’t on me. He tied me to a stall and branded the D on my bottom.”
One thing…just one of the atrocious things that had happened to her would have broken many people, but not McKenna. Yes, she might be broken in some ways, but God, she had so much good in her, so much strength and courage.
How he hurt for her. Lucas wished with all his heart that Damon hadn’t died in prison. Because if it took every bit of his wealth and he had to pay with his life, he would have taken the man apart for what he had done.
Silence once more. Would she tell him the rest or wait for another day? Then she whispered, “I didn’t expect them to think I was in on it.”
Already knowing, he asked, “Who?”
“The police. They thought I helped him…that I was an accomplice. That I actually aided him in killing my parents.”
“How do you know?”
As if she couldn’t be near him when she told the rest of the story, McKenna moved to get up. Lucas wasn’t having it. “Stay, McKenna. Whatever you have to say…we’ll deal with it together.”
She stopped resisting then, but didn’t relax as she had before. “Damon kept me locked up. If I wasn’t locked in the bathroom, it was the bedroom. Wherever he kept me, I was chained. I got sick a lot, had no appetite. He raped or beat me almost daily. Said I had to learn obedience and this was the only way to teach me.
“I found some sleeping pills way back in the medicine cabinet. I had seen them before but kept hoping I could escape alive. Then one day I realized the only way I could escape him was to die. I swallowed all the pills. Damon found me on the bathroom floor, tried to get me to throw up, but I couldn’t. He had to take me to the hospital to get my stomach pumped out. When he was talking to the doctor, I snuck out of the hospital. The police picked me up as I was walking down the road. Since all I had on was a hospital gown, I guess I looked suspicious.”
She swallowed audibly. “I was so glad to see them…I thought they would help me. And they did at first. They were really kind and sympathetic. Then they checked their records, or whatever they check. There was a warrant out for Damon and me. They arrested me. And then they went and arrested Damon.
“They didn’t believe me when I told them I’d had nothing to do with Mama, Daddy, and Amy’s deaths. They locked me up and then sent me back to Nebraska. Fortunately, I had a public defender who believed me. Everybody else either didn’t believe me or thought I got what I deserved.”
“I’m assuming you got off?”
She nodded. “The public defender made a deal with the DA’s office. If they got Damon to confess that I had nothing to do with it, they’d drop the charges against me. They tricked him into admitting I wasn’t involved. Damon was furious…or so I was told. I didn’t see him again.”
“Then what happened?”
“Damon went to prison. By that time I was eighteen…an adult. I tried to restart my life, such as it was.”
Last Chance Page 14
