by Becca Van
* * * *
Nash was so angry he wanted to hit something or someone. Preferably the assholes that had kept Lilac and the other girls locked away behind a high fence and barbed wire. If he ever found those fuckers, he wouldn’t lose any sleep over scoping them through his sniper rifle and pulling the trigger.
“Where did you go?” Cree asked.
“I ended up in New York. The first few nights I stayed in a women’s shelter, but when the counselor started urging me to talk to her to find out where I was from and who I was running from, I left.”
“Why?” Luke asked. “Why didn’t you go to the local sheriff’s office?”
Nash tensed when she snorted and laughed a little hysterically. “The first thing I did was go to the Bemidji Sheriff’s Department. After Virgil and his cohorts started shadowing me, I started writing everything down. The other girls thought I was keeping a journal and I guess in a way I was, but it was evidence. Evidence of the evil deeds those people did.
“I stood in the shadows under a tree and wrote them how I’d been virtually kept prisoner, locked away from society, and that they were planning and had condoned rape. The sheriff’s office was closed, but I pushed the paper under the door.” Lilac stared at Luke. “Nothing was done. I used local libraries to search the internet on any news regarding Werner and the surrounding county. The sheriff and his deputies didn’t do anything.”
The rage that crossed Luke’s face was so fierce Nash wondered if he was going to explode. Luke glanced at Damon and nodded.
“No wonder you didn’t trust anyone in authority,” Damon stated. “Did you end up on the streets?”
Nash wanted to pound his fist into the floor. The thought of Lilac at the age of fifteen being on the streets with all the pimps, hookers, and drug dealers was so horrifying, it felt as if his blood was boiling and freezing at the same time.
“Not really,” Lilac answered Damon.
“What do you mean, not really?” Cree asked.
Lilac sighed. “It took me twelve months to work my way across to New York. I was lucky enough that I had skills dealing with food since I had to cook for everyone along with the other two girls. I worked in diners and cafes helping chefs with food preparation, as well as waiting on customers and washing dishes.”
“Where did you sleep?” Wilder asked before Nash could.
She glanced at each of them before lowering her eyes to the floor. “Bus terminals, subways, and the like. Sometimes I was lucky enough to room with one of the other staff.”
“And after you left the shelter, where did you go?” Nash asked.
“I had enough money to enroll into school.” She gnawed on her lips nervously.
Luke leaned forward in his seat. “And?”
“I did my homework in the school library until I was kicked out and then I’d sneak into the basement. I’d been able to pick up a sleeping bag at a secondhand shop. I set up a living space in the corner of the school basement. I was able to use the showers in the gym, and there was always food on hand since there was a large cafeteria.” Lilac smiled.
Nash’s breath caught in his lungs. Her violet eyes lightened and there was a sparkle in them. Her lips were a lush Cupid’s bow, and when she licked them, he couldn’t help wondering what they tasted like. They were a tempting light pink color, which had him thinking about other parts of her body. When he realized where his mind was going, he pushed the lascivious thoughts aside and brought his mind back on track.
“The school janitor caught me in the basement halfway through the second week. I thought I was in trouble and was so scared, but he was wonderful. He put me at ease and then led me across to the other side of the basement. There in the corner was a bunk bed and a rack with clothes hanging from it. He was elderly, and though he’d lost everything in the financial crash, he was happy enough.
“We struck up a friendship, and after a few weeks, I moved my bedding near his. He made me feel safe and I hadn’t felt that way in a long, long time.” Lilac shrugged nonchalantly.
Nash could see that the friendship had meant a lot to her. He would love to find the man and offer him a home. When he noticed tears pooling in Lilac’s eyes, he held his breath.
“His name was Sam and he had no living relatives, no family, just like me. He died just before I graduated high school.” Lilac sniffed and cleared her throat.
“I’m sorry, baby.” Nash stroked down her shin.
“What did you do after high school?” Cree asked.
“I enrolled in culinary school on a scholarship and was lucky enough to be picked up by a renowned restaurant in New York City when I had my degree.” Lilac shrugged again, but Nash knew she had to have worked hard in school to be picked up by a popular restaurant right out of college.
“How did you end up here, in Slick Rock?” Damon asked.
Lilac sucked in a noisy breath and shivered as if she was scared. Nash wanted to pull her into his arms and offer her comfort but he refrained. She didn’t seem comfortable being the center of male attention. She’d tugged her hand out of Wilder’s just after starting her story, and she’d shifted away from his brothers, making sure they weren’t touching in any way. He hoped that eventually she would get used to having them around and even concede to having a relationship with them, but he wasn’t sure she’d agree. Nash, Wilder, and Cree were going to have to be patient with Lilac.
“I was on my way to work my shift and saw the leader’s son walking toward the restaurant. He hadn’t seen me, so I ducked into another shop and watched him out the window. When he entered the restaurant, I knew he’d been searching for me.”
Nash scrambled up onto his knees and gazed into her frightened eyes. “Is that why you were scared earlier? Did you see this asshole?”
“I can’t be sure because it’s been just over ten years, but I thought I saw someone who looked like it could be him.”
“Were you being kept in a cult, Lilac?” Luke asked.
Lilac nodded slowly.
“Shit! Why the fuck didn’t the sheriff in Bemidji do something?” Cree scowled.
“I don’t know,” Damon replied. “But you can bet your ass we’re going to find out.”
“We’re going to need names, Lilac,” Luke stated.
“I’ll give them to you, but what can you do? You need proof, evidence that these people are doing something illegal. For all I know, they could have adopted me and the other girls.” Lilac covered her face with her hands and then lowered them again. “I wanted to take them with me, but I couldn’t trust them.”
“You did the right thing, honey,” Damon said.
“Did I? If I did then why do I feel so guilty? Those bastards were raping those girls and were intending on raping me.”
“Do you know for sure it was rape?” Luke asked.
Nash stood when Lilac did and he was about to clasp her hand in his, but she moved around him and started pacing. “From what I overheard I’d have to say yes, but I’m not a hundred percent certain.”
“How old were the boys?” Wilder asked.
“They were eighteen and nineteen. Rose and Fleur were older than me.” Lilac frowned. “Rose was twelve months and Fleur was eighteen months older.”
“They might have consented,” Luke said.
Lilac glared at him. “And they might not have.”
“I’ll be looking into it, Lilac, don’t think I won’t. However, if those girls don’t press charges, there’s nothing we can do.”
“What we need to do is find out who you are,” Damon said.
“How are you going to do that?” Lilac asked.
Nash moved to stand in front of her and gazed into her amazingly gorgeous, unusual eyes. “We’re going to search every missing person’s database.”
“You don’t know if I’m missing.” She frowned.
“We’ll look at all the records of adopted children in the States,” Cree said.
“How old are you, sweetness?” Wilder asked.
&nbs
p; “If those people didn’t lie about my birthdate, then I’m twenty-five. I’ll be twenty-six on December 31.”
“You’re a New Year’s Eve baby?” Nash asked.
“As far as I know.” Lilac sighed and rubbed at her eyes.
“Give me the names, Lilac,” Luke ordered in a firm voice.
She sighed. “The son’s name is Virgil Kennedy. His friends are Grant Mills and Warren Gordon.”
“And the father?” Damon asked.
“Messiah Kennedy.”
“How many men were in this cult?” Luke asked.
“Fifteen including the teenage boys.”
“How many women?” Damon asked.
“Five, not including Rose, Fleur, and myself.”
She looked absolutely exhausted. Nash hoped she’d finished working for the day. Now that he knew she lived next door to him and his brothers, he was going to keep an eye on her.
If the guy from the cult was in Slick Rock, he and his brothers were going to make sure Lilac was safe.
No one was getting their hands on her if he could help it.
Chapter Four
“I want to go home.” Lilac was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. She was physically and emotionally exhausted. While she’d never told anyone what her life had been like growing up in a cult besides Sam, she was relieved she had. She felt lighter, as if the burden of those ten horrible years had lifted from her shoulders.
She’d been petrified of anyone in law enforcement for a long time, but after watching Luke, Damon, and the other deputies, she’d realized they were good, honest, hard-working men trying to keep the surrounding county safe.
“We can take you home,” Wilder said as he stood.
She shook her head. “I usually walk.”
“Baby, you’re nearly asleep on your feet,” Nash said. “According to the sheriff, we live right next door to you and we’re going home anyway. Let us give you a ride.”
Lilac wasn’t sure how to react to the Sheffield men calling her by pet names, but she didn’t want to get on their bad side by saying anything. For all she knew, they called all women sweet names.
“Okay. Thank you.” The other men got to the feet, and they all headed toward the front of the diner and outside.
Lilac inhaled the clean country air deeply into her lungs and released it again on a weary sigh. She didn’t even notice that she’d closed her eyes until someone clasped her elbow.
She met Cree’s concerned gaze and tried to smile. She realized she’d failed miserably when he frowned down at her.
“Me or Damon will be in touch, Lilac. Go home and get some rest,” Luke ordered.
Normally she would have been pissed off at being told what to do because she’d been on her own since she was young, but right now she was too tired to argue, so she just nodded.
“Come on, sweetness,” Wilder said as he laced his fingers with her hand. He and Cree guided her down the street toward their vehicle.
Cree opened the back door to a late-model truck and lifted her up into the cab. She scooted across the seat and glanced around for Nash.
“Wait! I forgot my…bag.”
Before she’d said the word “bag,” Nash had exited the diner clutching her purse. He held it up and grinned as he hurried toward the truck. Wilder got into the driver’s seat, and Nash got into the front passenger seat. He turned to gaze at her over his shoulder. “I figured you’d need your purse so you could get into your house.”
Lilac nodded. “Thank you.”
Nash winked and smiled. “You’re welcome, baby.”
Cree shifted in the seat beside her gaining her attention. “Are you living in the small white house with the blue trim?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a pretty place,” Wilder said as he started the truck, checked the mirrors and turned so he could back out of the parking space.
“I like it.”
“We’re leasing the house on the left of yours,” Cree said.
“That’s nice,” Lilac replied tiredly and then covered her mouth when she yawned.
She tried to keep her eyes open, but getting up at 4:00 a.m. every morning for weeks on end and dealing with broken sleep because of her nightmares had finally caught up with her. Lilac rested her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.
She was asleep in seconds.
* * * *
“She’s asleep.” Cree met Wilder’s gaze in the rearview mirror.
“She’s exhausted,” Nash said over his shoulder.
“Yeah,” Wilder agreed.
“What do we do when we get home?” Cree asked.
“What do you mean?” Nash frowned.
“Do you think she’d be upset if we went through her purse looking for her house keys, or should we just carry her into our place?” Cree combed his fingers through his hair.
“We’ll wait and see,” Wilder said. “She might wake up when we stop the truck.”
“How do you think Lilac ended up living in a cult?” Nash asked.
“Hell if I know,” Cree replied.
“The only way to know for sure is if Lilac remembers, but she said herself, she couldn’t remember things because she’d been too young.” Wilder checked his mirrors and indicated before turning the corner.
“I wonder if she’d been willing to be hypnotized?” Nash mused.
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea,” Cree said.
“Hold on, you two.” Wilder slowed the truck and turned onto their street. “You can’t just go giving Lilac orders. As she said earlier, she’s been looking after herself since she was fucking fifteen years old.”
“I wasn’t going to fucking order her to do anything, Wilder. You should know me better than that,” Nash snarled.
Wilder sighed. “Yeah, I do. Sorry. It’s just that…” He shook his head as he turned onto their driveway and finally stopped the truck in front of the house.
“We’re all in stormy waters,” Cree said. “None of us have ever been in a short-term relationship, let alone vying for a long-term one.”
“I want her so bad.” Wilder shut the engine off and opened the door. He turned to stare at Lilac’s beautiful face. “She’s everything.”
“She is, but we need to give her time to get to know us.” Cree reached over and clapped Wilder on the shoulder. “I think she trusts us as well as Luke and Damon.”
“How the hell could you know that?” Wilder asked.
“I don’t think she’s ever told anyone about where she grew up.” Cree smiled as his gaze wandered over Lilac’s face.
“I think she told that janitor, Sam,” Nash said. “I wish like hell he was still alive. I would have gone to New York and brought him back to live with us.”
“We all would have, Nash.”
“So what do we do now?” Cree asked.
“Women are strange about their purses. I think we should bring her inside and let her sleep in the spare room,” Wilder suggested.
“I have to agree.” Nash nodded.
“Me, too,” Cree said.
“Then let’s go get our woman comfortable.” Nash got out of the truck.
Cree gently lifted Lilac into his arms and maneuvered them both out of the back seat. He kept his gait slow and fluid so he didn’t end up waking Lilac as he carried her inside.
He hoped that she would spend more and more time with him and his brothers, but he wasn’t about to hold his breath.
Lilac had every right to be wary of the opposite sex after what she’d had to deal with growing up, but he had a feeling that she’d only touched on some of the things she’d dealt with while living at the cult. Although he wanted to know everything about her, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to contain his anger when and if she told them more.
* * * *
Lilac cringed when she heard laughter outside her bedroom door. She pulled the blankets up over her head and held her breath, praying they would go away, but she knew they wouldn’t.
Her h
eart stopped beating in her chest and then slammed painfully against her ribs, and though she tried to regulate her breathing, she still ended up panting breathlessly. The doorknob rattled and the hinges squeaked as the door was pushed open.
She peeked from under to blanket toward the other two single beds and quickly closed her eyes when she saw they were empty. She had no idea where Rose and Fleur were, but right now she wished they were in their own beds. Maybe if they had been, he wouldn’t have come into her room.
The door nicked shut and she held her breath again, when she heard footsteps coming toward her. She didn’t need to look to know who was there. He was always watching her with lust in his eyes, and when no one was watching he’d grab at his crotch lewdly.
She kept her lids lowered but watched him from beneath her lashes. When he was close enough, he reached out and grabbed the bed covers. Lilac screamed as she rolled to her feet and faced the bastard. He didn’t seem at all fazed by her angry glare. The asshole actually smiled at her.
“Get out.”
“No. You’re sixteen today, Lilac. It’s time you learned what a woman’s for.”
“You aren’t going to touch me, you sick bastard.”
“Is that right?” Virgil took a step closer, and while she wanted to step back, she had nowhere to go. “You’re wasting both of our time and energy by fighting me, Lilac. I’ll have what I want in the end.”
That’s what you think, you prick.
It didn’t matter that she’d grown up isolated and away from society. She’d read a lot of books and knew how to defend herself. Putting what she’d learned academically into practice was another thing. Thankfully, the bedside lamp was on and she could see Virgil’s face. She kept her gaze on his and waited for his next move. She breathed deeply and kept her muscles loose, and when he reached for her, she grabbed his wrist, twisted his arm as she spun into him, and flipped him over her hip.
He crashed into the bedside table, sending the lamp crashing to the floor. Lilac didn’t wait to see if she’d hurt him or watch him get to his feet if she hadn’t. She ran for the bedroom door and then down the hallway heading for the front door.
