by Taryn Plendl
Omission
By Taryn Plendl
Omission
Taryn Plendl
All rights reserved
Text Copyright © 2013 by Taryn Plendl
This is a work of fiction. Any similarities of characters to actual persons, living or dead are purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format with exception to Amazon Prime’s Kindle Owners Lending Library.
To my family and friends. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement of my writing. It truly means the world to me!
A huge thank you to my Editor Madison Seidler who has never once yelled at me for my excessive comma and extra space usage, but just continues to correct me with care and proficiency.
You rock girl!
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
About the Author
Also by Taryn Plendl
Chapter 1
It’s always the same dream. It’s dark. I hear crying and whimpering. I walk down the hallway, trying to find the source. I peek into my parents’ room. My mom is snoring softly. I continue down the hallway toward my father’s office. The large oak door is cracked, and I can see a bit of light shining through.
“Daddy?” When he turns to look at me, I catch a glimpse of small frightened eyes, full of tears before he blocks them. They haunt me.
“Go back to bed, Payton,” he barks, causing me to jump. I don’t know why, but I turn to leave, knowing in the pit of my stomach that something is wrong, but so afraid to find out. I walk softly back to my bedroom and crawl under the covers, ignoring the empty trundle bed below mine.
***
“Two more hours,” I groaned at Shelly as I shimmied behind the bar. Tonight was exceptionally slow, but then again, it always seemed to be on Tuesday evenings.
With only a handful of customers left between the bar and tables, everyone seemed to have what they needed, so I grabbed a rag and busied myself with wiping the counters while Shelly finished cleaning the glasses and re-stocking the shelves.
Pastimes was the number one bar in our small college town and it was where I spent most of my time, bartending, when I wasn’t in school. Fridays and Saturdays were always packed, and it was one of the best places to be, which also made it the best place for me to make money. I’ve worked here for just over a year while finishing up school, and it has provided me enough money to live off—especially since I had a partial scholarship that covered most of my tuition.
“Do you want to grab a bite to eat before going home?” Shelly wasn’t in school, so she didn’t always understand that after work I actually had to get some sleep so I could be up and functioning for my ten o’clock class. My schedule of classes was packed, and if I intended to graduate in the spring, I needed to keep myself on track.
“I can’t, Shell. I need to sleep.” I smiled, knowing exactly what was coming.
“Uggg! I am so tired of that shit, girl! Sleep when you’re old!” I couldn’t help but laugh. Shelly liked to give me a hard time about it, but I knew she understood.
“I’m just doing my best to make you proud, Shell.” I winked.
“Oh, girl, you know I’m already proud of you.” Shelly smiled at me sincerely.
I knew she was, too, and it meant a lot to me. Shelly was the closest thing to family that I had left.
I lost my family years ago. One sick and selfish act destroyed everything I knew. Unfortunately, the dreams were back. That always seemed to happen after some sort of contact with him—a parole hearing, letter, or an unanswered phone message. They would go away again. They always did. I would just push them back down—bury them where they wouldn’t surface, at least for a while.
“Payton? Are you okay?” Shelly’s soft voice brought me out of my own thoughts.
I shook the memories away. “Yeah, sorry. Just lost in thought for a minute.”
“Why don’t you go on home? I’ll finish up here, and Rob can wait with me.”
Rob was the bouncer for the bar. He was a former Marine jarhead and was intimidating to even look at. He kept things under control here, and rarely did anything escalate into physical violence before he could defuse it. As scary as his appearance was, he was a big teddy bear to us. He treated Shelly and me with such respect and always had our backs. He was one of the few men I trusted wholeheartedly.
“Are you sure?” I was so tired and wanted nothing more than to just go home, but I hated to leave Shelly to finish up alone.
“Are you kidding? It has been so slow tonight; I barely have enough to keep myself busy for the next hour. No sense in you staying, too. Besides, you look like you could crawl up on the bar and fall asleep right now.” She laughed. She was right. My life was non-stop with school and work. My days off seemed very few and far between.
“Thanks, Shelly, you’re the best.” I hugged her and reached under the bar to grab my purse. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” I ran over and gave Rob a quick kiss on the cheek. “Bye!”
The night was slightly cool. October had been very mild so far, but the winter was coming, and I needed to remember to start wearing my jacket. I rolled the sleeves of my shirt down and stepped off on the sidewalk, crossing the deserted street, for the short walk to my small apartment.
I didn’t own a car, and honestly, I didn’t really need one or the added expense that came along with owning one. The bar, my apartment, and my school were all within a mile of each other, so I was used to just walking everywhere. The walk from the bar was the easiest. I just crossed through the park, and then I was on my road. A short walk down the sidewalk, and that was all there was to it.
The park was dark and quiet, but I had traveled this route so many times before that I didn’t think much of it. The grass was still a bit damp from the rain earlier, and the leaves were beginning to fall from their branches. I loved fall. I could honestly say it was my favorite season. There was something about the cool crisp air, the way it cleansed your lungs. The falling leaves, the colors and smells—it just made me want to curl up with a cup of hot cider.
I couldn’t help but smile as I stopped to tie my shoe. The park was usually quiet at this hour, although you would occasionally see a young couple making out or drinking, but all in all, it was relatively uninhabited. I heard rustling close by. It could just be a small animal, maybe a squirrel or even a deer. I whipped around, trying to see anything out of the ordinary in the vast dark space.
“Hello?” There was no answer—nothing unusual, but it still took a second to calm my heart rate. I giggled at the irony of it all. I always thought the “too stupid to live” characters in horror movies were so obnoxious when they’d ask if anyone was there. Seriously, like the killer would pop out and say hello. I shook my head. I was letting my imagination get the best of me.
I stood up, glancing once more over my shoulder before continuing on my way. Without a second to scream, an arm was around my neck, and a hand was over my mouth. I struggled to turn, but t
he strong arm applied more pressure on my throat, pulling me tighter against the hard chest of my attacker. I couldn’t breathe, much less scream. “I’m sorry. Just give me your money, okay?” The deep voice was the last thing I heard before everything went black.
Chapter 2
“Garrett!”
The frantic sound of my little brother’s voice screaming through the phone jolted me off the couch. “Jackson, calm down! What’s wrong?” My brother Jackson was a mess—in more ways than one. I couldn’t understand a word he was saying, and I had a feeling he was probably just strung out again.
Jackson wasn’t always a druggy. In fact, I didn’t think he had ever really tried any type of drugs in high school. He was a good kid—ran track, got good grades, and people liked him. He graduated earlier this year and had plans to start college in the fall where I was now a senior. That had changed. The fall semester had started, and there was no way he would be going to college any time soon, not unless he could get himself together.
We had the best upbringing, without a doubt. Our parents were so involved with our lives, and we were as tight as a family could get. They never missed any of Jackson’s track meets or my lacrosse games. They were our number one fans, and they always made sure we knew it. They had our backs, even when we didn’t deserve it, which I seemed to prove quite a bit.
The day Jackson graduated from high school was just about perfect. I was so proud of my little brother, and my parents were ecstatic. I drove separately that night so I could leave straight from our family dinner to go on a date with a girl I’d met at college that week. The dinner was great, and Jackson was on top of the world, talking about his plans and college. We got up to leave at the same time—me for my date, and Jackson was planning to drive Mom and Dad home so he could meet some friends at a graduation party.
That night changed our lives forever. Jackson didn’t remember the details, so my only account of what happened was from witnesses. Apparently Jackson ran a red light and T-boned a large SUV. The impact literally crushed my dad’s Toyota Corolla. Mom was thrown out of the car and was said to have died instantly. Dad had been flown to the trauma hospital with major head wounds and internal bleeding and died on the table during surgery. Jackson broke his left arm and his right ankle, as well as suffered a major concussion, but his emotional injuries far surpassed the physical ones.
I didn’t even know how I made it to the hospital that night; all I remembered was walking in and seeing Jackson so swollen and bruised, looking so small, like such a little boy in that large hospital bed. I fell across him and sobbed, unable to control myself.
Sadness and shock overwhelmed me for the loss of our parents, but more than that, intense relief that I still had Jackson fueled my tears. He patted my head and said “I’m sorry” over and over. He wasn’t even eighteen yet—not for two more months—so I became his guardian. I tried, but I seemed to screw it up.
I lost my family that night—my entire family. Jackson sank into a major depression, and who could blame him? He was in a lot of pain with his broken bones, as well as with the guilt he carried. He took a lot of pain killers, and I didn’t realize just how much he was taking until it was too late.
He was now dealing with an addiction to prescription drugs, which was slowly taking over his life. I watched as he became someone I didn’t even know. He was aggressive and emotional. He became extremely paranoid and was losing weight. I tried to get him some help, but he refused. He was the only family I had left. I couldn’t turn my back on him, so I just made it so it wasn’t as easy for him to get his drugs. I had anything of value locked up in storage so he couldn’t sell it for drug money. I cleaned out our medicine cabinets, leaving only the basics like Tylenol and Benadryl. I didn’t know what else to do.
It was ironic, really; if anyone had been a black sheep in our family, I was it. I was the one with the hot temper. The one who had been suspended for fighting, and the one who had more brawn than common sense sometimes, yet now I was the one trying to keep things from falling apart.
“You have to come here!” He was crying. His voice was hysterical, and I still couldn’t get a clear picture of what he was talking about.
“Where, Jackson? Where are you?” I grabbed my keys and was already out the door, waiting for him to tell me where to go.
“I’m in the park. Oh shit, Garrett! I really fucked up! Oh God!” His voice was deep and distraught.
“Jackson, calm down! What the hell did you do?” I was already running. We lived right on the other side of the park, so I didn’t need my car. I just started running. The park wasn’t huge, but because it was dark, I couldn’t find him.
“Where are you?” I yelled into the phone, spinning around in a circle, but just as soon as the words left my mouth, I saw him. He was hunched over, and for a moment I thought he might be hurt, but as I got closer I noticed that he was actually standing over something—oh shit! Not something … someone.
As I reached him, I took in the situation—trying to make sense of it all. There was a girl lying in a crumpled heap, and she appeared to be unconscious—I mean, holy shit, I was truly hoping she was just unconscious. I knelt down and pressed my fingers to her throat, trying to find a pulse. “Thank God!” I gasped. She had a pulse; at least he hadn’t killed her.
“What the fuck did you do, Jackson?” I was trying to stay calm, but my hands were shaking, and I wanted to grab a hold of him and shake him like crazy. He stood there shaking and crying—completely hysterical.
“I … shit Garrett! I needed money,” he sobbed, and I looked back down at this poor girl.
“What the hell, Jackson! Did you hurt her?” I was almost in shock. I had never seen my brother violent, especially with a woman. He didn’t answer me, but I didn’t need one. I had a pretty good idea of what happened.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” I growled as I grabbed my knees, trying to figure out what to do. I was at my wit’s end with him. It was one thing to mess up his own life, and I could even tolerate him making mine a living hell because he was my family, but never in a million years could I allow him to be a danger to anyone else, and that is exactly what I had done.
“Get out of here Jackson!” I shouted, and he looked up with wide eyes.
“I’m sorry, Garrett … I’m sorry! Please don’t leave me, too.” He was sobbing, and my heart ached for who he had become. He had always been smaller than me, but at six foot, he was still taller than most. He had a runner’s body—long and lean—but now he looked so small and broken. A child in a man’s body.
I ran my hands over my face and through my hair, trying to regain control of the situation. “I’m not leaving you, Jackson. I promise. Just go back to the house and wait for me. Do you hear me? Just go.” He nodded and started running.
Crap, what was I going to do? I knelt back down and ran my hand against her cheek. She started to stir, and I sat back a little onto my feet so I didn’t startle her. “Hey?” I said softly. “Are you okay? Can you hear me?”
Her eyes flew open so quickly that it actually startled me, causing me to fall back onto the cold grass. She was wild with fright, as she tried to move, scooting backward. She didn’t seem to have the strength to stand up, and she began to cry when she realized it. “Please … Please don’t hurt me,” she pleaded.
Oh. My. God! My brother did this to this poor girl. I held up my hands. “I’m not going to hurt you. I found you lying here unconscious.” Technically, that was true; I just left out the important detail that it was my own fucking brother who had made her that way.
“Do you remember what happened?” She just stared at me in shock. It killed me that this small woman was so frightened. I just wanted to pull her into my arms and hold her. “Can I call someone for you?”
She shook her head no as she was finally able to sit up. She took a deep breath and leaned forward, rubbing her legs through her jeans. “He wanted my money,” she whispered with a hoarse voice. Her eyes were wide, and she was still very vi
sibly shaken.
“Do you know who he was?” I slowly knelt down next to her. I was such an ass. I was still trying to do damage control for my idiot brother. It’s what I did. How the hell did it come to this?
“No.” She shook her head as she looked around.
“Did you see his face?”
“No.” I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Can I call someone for you or take you somewhere?” I owed her this much.
“Can you take me to Pastimes?” she asked. God, she really was beautiful. I couldn’t stop looking at her wide blue eyes and puffy pink lips. Damn it, Garrett! What’s wrong with you? I chastised myself for even having those thoughts while she was so obviously completely freaked out.
“I’m sorry, did you say Pastimes? The bar?” Shit, I knew I needed a drink after this, but I couldn’t imagine dropping her off at a bar after what she had been through.
“I work there.” Ahh, that made sense. I stood up and reached down, offering her my hand to help her up. She gladly took it and stood for a few seconds before her legs gave out, and I caught her around the waist. She felt tiny in my arms.
“I’m sorry, I don’t think I can walk yet. Give me a minute, and I’m sure I’ll be ready,” she croaked, her voice still hoarse from Jackson’s assault.
“Can I carry you?” The bar really wasn’t too far away, and she looked to be barely over one hundred pounds soaking wet. She bit her bottom lip and looked toward the bar.
As soon as she nodded, I scooped her up and started walking. She fit perfectly in my arms and laid her head against my chest as I walked toward the bar. “God, this is so embarrassing. I’m sorry you got caught up in this mess,” she groaned. She was apologizing to me. Yeah, I was seriously a bastard.
I had barely made it across the street when a big guy with a shaved head came running toward us. “Payton!” Oh shit, this guy looked pissed.
“What the fuck, man! What did you do?” He grabbed her from my arms, glaring at me. I let him take her from me without argument. I wasn’t a small guy, but he matched me in height and maybe even weight. I was six foot three and pretty solid, but I had no doubt that this guy was a fair match to me.
