by Amy Starling
So some egotistical douche-bag called her, huh? Gee, wonder who that could have been.
“A task? Explain, please.”
She tensed and started to cry again. “Am I going to get in trouble for this?”
The attorney sighed with annoyance. “You're under oath to tell the whole truth, miss. Not like you failed to do last time.”
Lola nodded. “He said the bachelor himself, Max, was to be treated in a very specific manner. Our job was to tempt him, as much as we possibly could, into getting drunk and...” She cringed. “We were supposed to try and get him to sleep with us.”
And try, they certainly did. No wonder they kept pushing drinks in my face and trying to pull me away from my friends.
“Do you typically have sex with clients as part of your job?”
Her eyes widened. “Well, it's not in the job description, but it happens all the time. Everyone knows it. Customers kind of expect it. They pay extra; we just keep it all hush-hush.”
“But this unknown man calls you and wants you to sleep with Max. Surely, you must have thought this rather strange. Continue.”
“I told him I didn't feel comfortable with what he was asking. That's when he offered me money to get the job done. A lot of money.”
“How much?”
“Ten thousand.”
More whispers from around the room. Damn it, if only she got the name of the caller! I knew it was Daniel; it couldn't have been anybody else. What I wouldn't give to see that smug bastard rotting in jail like I'd been doing.
“Ten thousand for just you?”
“No, for each of the girls working on him.” She took a deep breath. “The guy said Max might resist, but failure wasn't an option. If we screwed up, he'd have us all fired.”
“And you believed him?”
“I... I kind of did. He scared me. Besides, though I'm ashamed to admit it, I really needed that money. My boyfriend Tyrone was riding me to pay him back for... living expenses.”
The lawyer didn't see fit to continue that odd line of questioning. But hey, I was a fireman, not an attorney. They were supposed to be the smart ones. What did I know?
“Did the caller make any other demands?”
“No. Well, he said he'd have a couple of girls there taking pictures for 'documentation.' I thought it was super creepy. Anything incriminating at all, he said, we were to photograph. And so we did.”
“All right. Let's proceed to the party itself. What happened when Max arrived?”
She finally cast me a glance. “He was a good guy. He didn't want to lay a finger on any of us no matter what we did. Well, the girls and I weren't about to lose that money. So one of us, Cocoa, says there's only one thing we can do. We... We mixed a little something into his drink.”
I clenched my hands into fists. All along, I knew it. Jayce knew it; even the bum in the cell next to mine had been right.
“What was it?”
“She didn't tell me, but it was some kind of white powder. She dumped it in his beer. Said it would make him easier to convince. Well, the first dose didn't have much of an effect, so we did another. Then another.”
“And then you asked him for a ride home, yes?”
“That's right. He was totally out of it, but somehow conscious enough to drive. We went back to my place. It was us, plus three of the other girls.”
“What happened at your apartment?”
She covered her face with her hands. “We were supposed to sleep with him. The girls thought that was a great idea. Cocoa said he was so hot, she'd have done it for free.”
“And did you have sex with him?”
The crowd tensed, waiting for the answer. So did I.
“We had our hands all over him. All of us ladies were naked, and we somehow got his clothes off too. But he was acting real weird, and I was worried we'd overdosed him. The girls got scared and left.”
“They left you and Max alone.”
“Yeah. Then I got greedy and decided I'd do what I had to so I'd get paid.”
“Once again, did you have sexual intercourse with him?”
She hung her head. “I would have, but he passed out before I could try.”
“Tell the court how Max's semen ended up on your thigh if, indeed, you had no relations with him.”
She wouldn't look at anybody, clearly humiliated by what she'd done.
“I'm the one who took off his boxers. They were kinda wet, so that's probably how.”
The whispers became a roar of accusations and insults. I grabbed my crotch and prayed with all my might she hadn't given me some disease.
But worse than the physical worries was the knowledge I'd been taken advantage of. That, and what Anna was going to think when she heard about this. It would probably make her sick.
And I remembered none of this. I was sure telling Anna that, though, wouldn't go over very well at all.
“Enough,” the judge shouted as he banged his gavel down. “Order, order!”
After everyone calmed down, they continued.
“So that's what happened. Next?”
“I had the camera, so I took a bunch of pictures of him naked so the guy paying me would believe I'd done it.”
“Please explain why you then accused Max of sexually assaulting you.”
She wrapped her arms around herself. “My man, Tyrone, came home while Max was still there. He saw him naked, and me half-dressed. He was furious that I'd tried to sleep with another man, even though I explained I'd give all the money to him. He didn't care.”
“Then what did Tyrone do?”
Sadness filled her eyes. “He... He punished me.”
“You mean he hit you. He's the one who gave you those cuts and bruises.”
“That's right.”
I wanted to hate her for lying, for blaming such awful things on me, for all the things she'd done. Mostly, I felt sorry for her. She looked so helpless and afraid.
“Tyrone wanted Max out of the house, but he wouldn't wake up, so he put him back in his car. We drove him down the highway and left him there. I'd followed him in my car and we went back together.” She blew her nose into a tissue. “Shortly after we got back, the cops showed up. Someone heard all the racket and called them.”
“What did you do then?”
“Tyrone was already in a lot of trouble with the law. If I told them the truth, he'd go away for a long time. And I was afraid he'd find a way to hurt me, maybe kill me. Before I opened that door, he said I'd better not say a word. But I was covered in marks, so I had to think of an excuse.”
“That's where Max came into play.”
“Yes. When the cops asked who hit me, I blamed it on him. They made me go to the hospital. The doctor asked if I'd been raped and I just blurted yes without thinking.” She sobbed heavily. “I'm so sorry. I was just trying to whatever it took to keep Tyrone and me out of trouble.”
The judge, a stern older man, narrowed his eyes at her. “Because of your prior testimony, Mr. McLaren has spent one hundred and nineteen days behind bars. Do you swear that your present testimony is the whole and honest truth?”
“Yes, your honor. Max is innocent.”
Relief crashed over me like a tidal wave. When the judge apologized for my false arrest and incarceration, almost everyone in the room cheered for me. I couldn't believe it. It was like something out of a movie.
A reporter stopped me outside the courtroom. “Mr. McLaren, you've spent nearly four months in jail for a crime you didn't commit. Now that you're free, what's the first thing you'll do?”
I didn't hesitate with my answer.
“I'm gonna go find Anna Southwell and make her mine again.” I stared into the camera. “Anna, if you're watching this, I'll be there for you soon.”
Chapter 26 - Anna
I was a little over eight months along, and my belly was about the size of a basketball. According to what I'd seen from other women, though, it should've been more along the lines of a giant watermelon.
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br /> “I guess you're going to be a tiny baby, little guy.” I rubbed my tummy and smiled when he kicked me back.
I rolled through the gate of Shadow Crest Apartments, eager to be home at last. Working at Rachael's company was physically easier than busting my butt on the farm, but so emotionally draining, I doubted I could take it much longer.
Inside, I threw leftovers in the microwave and plopped down on the couch for some TV. It wasn't what I wanted to do.
What I wanted, really, was to go out in the fields and pick some veggies to sell at market. I wanted to collect eggs and honey, and all that good stuff that made me feel one with the land.
But I wouldn't be doing that anymore. Maybe not ever again.
Dad kept his promise. Full of what I could only imagine was total hatred for me, he forced me out on the street and put the farm on the market. It sat there vacant for a while until someone snatched it up just last month.
I was lucky that Rachael had some sympathy for me, and got me hired at Interdesign doing grunt work. I had no experience in the design or advertising industry, but scheduling appointments, fetching coffee and the like, I could do.
My feet ached, and I suddenly wanted my favorite pair of slippers. Hadn't seen them since I moved in, though.
“Probably still in the box. Ugh, more unpacking. When will it ever end?”
I set down my soup and dug through the box labeled “shoes” in the tiny closet. There, beneath a pair of ratty sneakers, was something that made me pause.
It was the photo of Max and I, the one we'd taken by the Colorado River to fool my parents. I brushed the dust off the glass and smiled. We'd looked so cute together, didn't we?
So right together.
Of course, the one man I finally thought was right for me happened to be a violent criminal. Shows what crappy taste in guys I had, huh?
I put the picture down and found my slippers, but couldn't stop thinking of him now. He'd screamed his innocence about what happened at the club that night, with the girl. I prayed he was telling the truth.
Then they proclaimed him guilty, and my heart broke into a million pieces.
A knock at the door, loud and purposeful, made me drop my spoon on the floor. I didn't like visitors; usually they were just solicitors hawking magazines or other junk. I fully intended to wait and let the person know they weren't wanted here.
But then he knocked again. Wait a minute. I'd heard that firm knock before.
Max?
Scared but hopeful, I ran to the door and flung it open.
“Hello, Anna. You and the baby are looking beautiful.”
He'd changed over the past few months. He wore plain, ratty clothes; his hair had grown longer, and his cheeks were flecked with the beginnings of a beard.
Yet he still had a visceral effect on me. To jump into his arms would have been so sweet, so satisfying – and also dumb as hell.
“What are you doing here, Max? I thought you were in jail.”
He pushed past me, letting himself into my place without asking. I could see his rudeness hadn't changed a bit.
God, how I'd missed him.
“There was a horrible mistake. They found me innocent.”
I sank into the couch. The baby kicked me in the ribs. “Innocent?”
“I told you I didn't do anything wrong. That woman, Lola, lied about everything 'cause she was scared of her boyfriend. Don't believe me? I'm pretty sure the trial's on TV if you'd like to check it out.”
He sat on the couch with me, but not too close. Even he must have sensed how tense I was. We'd spent four months apart while he wasted away in jail. Of course I'd be a little bit standoffish.
“I believe you. You wouldn't be here otherwise, I suppose. But... What happened?”
He laughed in his sexy way, the way which always put butterflies in my belly. It did the same now, and despite my wariness of him, I realized I would never stop needing him.
“It's a very long story. The basics? Your dad set me up to fall so I would never be able to marry you.”
“My dad?”
“They couldn't prove it was him, but who else? A man called Lola before my party – the party your father paid for, incidentally. Told her she was to try and seduce me with her friends. He offered to pay them each ten grand.”
I wanted to vomit. Could my dad have seriously sank that low? He'd really pay a bunch of strippers to try and trick Max into sleeping with them?
“But it gets worse. When I didn't fall into their little trap, they didn't like that one bit. Those girls drugged me, Anna. All those pictures you saw of me doing awful things? Just because it looked like I was awake, doesn't mean I was.”
“A likely excuse,” I said half-jokingly, but he didn't laugh.
“Lola attempted to have sex with me while I was unconscious. Her boyfriend found out; beat the crap out of her. She lied and said it was me to save him.” His gaze fell. “I already got tested for any, uh, problems that might have cropped up. Thank God I'm still clean, by some miracle. Thought you'd like to know in case we... Well, you get what I'm saying.”
“Oh, Max.” I hugged him, though it was tricky with the belly between us. “I'm sorry. I can't imagine how awful you must feel.”
“I just hope I never seen the inside of a jail again. After this, I swear I'll be good. If nothing else, I'll do it for you. For the baby.”
I pulled away. Tears came to my eyes; I let them fall.
“Did you think you'd just show up and everything would go back to how it was?” I gestured around us. “Look where I live now. Dad took everything away from me – because of you.”
“Because of me? I was trying to help you, dang it. You couldn't have possibly gone through with that stupid wedding. I did everything in my power to stop it.”
“Yeah, but blackmailing the guy who knocked me up wasn't exactly the best of plans. He caused such a scene, it was... horrible. People fighting, cops showed up, I got called a slut and a whore and a homewrecker.”
His eyes widened. Clearly, he hadn't thought about the impact his actions would have. Typical Max.
“You're none of those things, and you know it.”
“Maybe not, but that's not what all those people think. My father was humiliated in front of everyone, and they caught the mess on camera, too. You want to see it? The video is still up on the internet. Had over a million views last I checked.”
What I wanted was to cry on his shoulder, but my pride wouldn't let me do it. He'd only tried to help, yeah, but he was responsible for this whole disaster.
“Anna, I really am sorry for causing you so much trouble. But I did this 'cause I couldn't let you marry that other guy.”
“As if that was your choice to make! No, I didn't want to marry him. I thought it was absurd, what dad was making me do. But I wanted more than anything to keep my farm and my home. I was resigned to do what I had to.”
“You would rather have kept the farm than told your dad to piss off and marry me?”
I laughed and somehow wept at the same time.
“The only reason we were going to marry was because of dad's insane demands. Before that... What were you going to do when your legs healed if not for him?”
He glared. “That wasn't the only reason. You made me a better man, and I loved you for it. Took me a while to come to grips with this huge change, but the more I thought on it, the more I realized we belonged together.”
He stroked my cheek. Stunned, I allowed it. Oh, how I'd missed the feel of his rough fingers on my skin.
“You... You actually loved me?”
He nodded. “And I still do. I want to be with you, Anna. I'd give up everything in the world if it meant I could have you back.”
I rubbed my tummy and got a couple kicks in response. Max's gaze dropped to my stomach, and his hand joined mine. When he felt the baby's movements, he got very excited.
“That's amazing,” he whispered. “I can't believe he got so big.”
“Can't
believe I got so big, you mean.”
“Nonsense. I expected you to look like a whale by now.”
I faked a shriek and smacked him. He laughed, pleased with himself for getting a reaction out of me.
“Aw, I said you'd always be beautiful and I meant it. I get turned on watching you shovel dirt, for goodness' sake.”
I gazed sadly out the window. Instead of the farm and miles of land to greet me, all I had was a parking lot full of cars. The road was mere feet away, so I always heard people coming and going, yelling and blaring music at every hour.
This place would never feel like home.
“I haven't shoveled dirt in months. I miss it so bad, Max.”
He got up and paced. “Maybe I can talk to your dad. Reason with him, get you the house back.”
“Too late. He already sold the place.”
“It's never too late. I'll find a way.” He returned to the couch and took my hand. “But what about us? You know you want this. You know it's the right thing for us.”
I let him hold me because it did feel right. But I'd followed my feelings before, and look where it got me in life.
“I don't know what's right, honestly. You've done some bad things, Max, and I'm not sure I can just forgive and forget.”
“So an apology isn't enough?”
“Not really, no. You made me lose my home and my farm. Now I'm living in this dump, working in a soulless office, with no hope in sight. I've run through almost all my savings. I lost my garden, my chickens, everything. I could go back to law, but I'd have to move, and it'll take some time for a firm to hire me.”
“I told you I'll fix it.”
“There are some things even you can't fix.” I pulled back and tried to ignore the look of hurt on his face. “That's not all. You got fired for doing some terrible stuff, and then you hid it from me. From everyone.”
“Yeah, I know that. I was a stupid idiot back then, and I made some real bad choices. I hid it because I didn't want to upset you. You were too wonderful to lose. I couldn't let that happen.”
