Almost Home

by India Masters

  Before she could blink, Winslow was on her, propelling her back until she slammed into the wall. The hand around her throat tightened. He nuzzled her ear and whispered, “Best you watch what you say, girl. Your pa’d be real upset if something happened to you.” He licked her ear, laughing softly when she shuddered in revulsion.

  “My so-called pa couldn’t give two shits about me, Winslow, and if you knew him as well as you think you do, you’d know that.”

  He leaned back and looked her in the face. “Yup. Ol’ Kent was right. You are a pretty little thing. Of course, he didn’t do you justice.” His free hand skimmed up her side to cup her breast. He gave it a hard squeeze, making her wince, then tore open her shirt. “But you’re wrong about him not caring about something happening to you. Your daddy’s got plans for you, sugarplum, and those plans include you and me.” He squeezed her breast again.

  When Winslow leaned in and pressed a hard kiss to her lips, she bit him. He jerked back, wiped blood from his lower lip and laughed.

  “Oh, you’re gonna regret that, little girl. Never thought I’d be one to get hitched but I got an idea it’d be a pure pleasure to break you in.” His hand skimmed lower and Haley swung, her fist connecting with his temple, but it didn’t faze him. “Oh, you’re a firecracker, ain’t ya?” He reached between them, fumbling with her belt. “I don’t reckon your pa will mind if I take a little taste before the wedding.” Panic knifed through her at the thought of this man touching her intimately. Bitter bile rose to her throat and she choked it back. This was no time to whimper and cry like a little girl. She had to fight, the alternative was unthinkable.

  She would not allow Winslow to sully what she and Wyatt shared. He wouldn’t be gentle like Wyatt. No, he’d hurt her, because men like him enjoyed hurting women. With the clanking of her belt buckle, Haley screamed and head-butted him.

  Winslow staggered back, cursing as blood poured from his nose. “You fucking little—” He backhanded her.

  She’d been hit before but Winslow hadn’t made any attempt to pull his strength and she could feel her jaw begin to throb as she slid down the wall. Her butt hit the floor and she shook her head in an attempt to shake off the disorientation. Shit, that hurt.

  The door flew open and Conner rushed in. “Haley? What the fuck?” Her brother took one look at her disheveled clothes and hurled the twelve pack of beer at Winslow. “You son of bitch,” he howled. “That’s my sister.” He lunged at her attacker. “Git, Haley. Get your ass home, now!”

  Haley didn’t hesitate for a second. She raced out the door, hurling herself into her truck. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she berated herself. “What were you thinking, provoking him like that? You could have been raped or worse.” A raspy sob escaped her. She’d never been so scared in all her life. If Conner hadn’t come in when he did… Oh god, Conner. He was no match for a man like Rafe Winslow. She had no choice, she had to call 9-1-1. She punched in the numbers. “Oh lord, Wyatt’s gonna have my hide.” She hit the call button and reported what Winslow had done to her and what he was probably doing to her brother. The dispatcher asked if she knew where the local station was and directed her to come in and file a report.

  It was hours before she was able to head home to Kimble County.

  * * * * *

  Wyatt looked up when Haley walked in. “Where ya been, sweet… What the hell? What happened? Jesus, are you all right?” He was by her side in a second, guiding her to the couch. “Who did this to you?”

  There was no doubt she’d been assaulted. Her cheek was swollen and bruised, her shirt was torn, and there were purple marks beginning to form on her neck. And there was a hollowness to her gaze that scared the shit out of him. Dear god, had she been…he didn’t even want to think the word aloud. Tears streamed down her face and he pulled her close.

  “It’s okay, baby, whatever it is, we’ll get through it. You hear me? No matter what, honey.” She nodded as he rocked her. “You want me to fix you a cup of tea? Your Aunt Jack used to say there wasn’t anything you couldn’t fix with a cup of hot tea.”

  “That would be nice.”

  He swiped at her tears with his thumbs, brushed a soft kiss on her swollen mouth. “One hot tea coming up.” He rose, looking down at her. “And then you’re gonna tell me what happened.”

  “Yes.” She shuddered and Wyatt’s jaw tightened. Someone had hurt his woman and she knew he had it in his mind that someone would pay, was probably trying to figure a way to keep him from going after the bastard.

  He took his time brewing the tea just the way Jack had taught him, then sweetened it with a dollop of honey. His hands shook as he carried it into the great room and sat it on the table.

  “Give it a minute to cool.” His gaze moved up and down her body, assessing the damage, real and imagined. “Can you tell me what happened?”

  There was no getting around it, she had to tell Wyatt everything. Lloyd Mattson would undoubtedly be in touch with the Travis County Sheriff’s Department and Lloyd wouldn’t keep anything from Wyatt.

  “I’ll kill him!” Wyatt exploded off the couch, heading for the door.

  “No, please,” Haley wailed. “Please don’t leave me. Don’t leave me here alone.”

  His hand froze on the doorknob. He was torn. Every instinct in his body told him to drive to that dirt ranch outside Austin and kill that son of a bitch, Rafe Winslow. But one look in Haley’s pleading eyes changed his mind. She needed him more than he needed revenge tonight. He released the doorknob and went to her, guiding her to her feet. “Come on, sweet pea, let’s get you upstairs and into a nice, hot shower.” She followed like a lamb, holding on to him for dear life. “You are not to leave this ranch without somebody with you, Haley. If the police don’t find Winslow, you won’t be safe alone. I need your word on that.”

  He spotted her bruised breast and his jaw clenched. Rafe Winslow was a dead man.

  * * * * *

  “Well boy, what’d she say?”

  Conner leaned back in his chair, trying to gauge his father’s mood. “Said she’d have to see if her foreman needed any more hands. And that she’d have to discuss it with Wyatt.” His father scowled. “Of course, since Rafe had the bright idea to break in to her house and steal her emergency money, I don’t reckon she’ll look kindly on the idea.”

  Kent waved off his words. “Who the hell is Wyatt?”

  “He’s the neighbor I told you about. Him and Haley’s getting married.”

  Kent Kilpatrick sat still as stone for a good two minutes before he spoke. “Ain’t no way we’re letting that happen, boy. And what the hell happened to your face?”

  Conner shrugged. He knew his pa hated it when he did that but there wasn’t much he could do about it, locked up like he was. If he reached across the table and smacked Conner, his parole would be revoked before he stepped a foot outside the walls of the prison.

  “Your buddy, Rafe, happened to my face. Haley was at my place when I got home yesterday afternoon. Rafe had her up against the wall, fixing to rape her. I couldn’t let him do that. And as for her getting married, don’t see how we can stop it.” Conner met his father’s piercing gaze. “Besides, she’s in love. Ain’t never seen her this happy. Not ever. I figure she deserves it.”

  Kent bared his teeth and Conner slouched in his seat. “I don’t give a fuck if she’s happy and I don’t give a fuck what you figure she deserves. She inherited all that money and property and I aim to have some of it for myself. She owes me.”

  Conner got up the nerve to shake his head. “She figures she’s done enough. I reckon she has.”

  Kent balled his hand into a fist and pounded the table. “Good thing I never left the figuring up to you, you damn pup. Elsewise we’d have nothing. I gave that little gal life and I can damn sure take it away if she don’t do right by us. I reckon Rafe will know what to do. You tell him I said the time for being subtle is over. Send a message she’ll hear loud and clear. He pointed a finger at Conner. “You’ll keep
out of it boy, if you know what’s good for ya. Your sister’s gettin’ too big for her britches. She needs a lesson she’ll remember. And if she don’t, I’ll deliver one she’s sure to understand when I get out.”

  * * * * *

  Conner brooded all the way back to the run-down ranch he’d called home since his pa went to prison. Over the weeks Rafe Winslow had been living with him, Conner had become increasingly uneasy, if not outright fearful, about the man. Winslow didn’t work but he always had money. The women in the surrounding area sure seemed to like him, even though he was rough on them. Night after night, Winslow would come home, a new woman on his arm. Always pretty but never too bright. And night after night he’d hear the noises coming from Rafe’s room. Sometimes, he couldn’t tell if the screams were pleasurable or painful but Conner could hear the sounds of flesh striking flesh, then loud moans followed by the headboard banging against the wall at a frantic pace.

  Last night, after the visit with his pa, Conner had gone out drinking and when he got home had walked in on Rafe slapping around a petite blonde. The look he’d given Conner when he’d attempted to intervene had chilled the younger man’s bones. Worse, Rafe pulled a wicked looking pistol out the waist of his jeans and pointed it at Conner. When Conner raised his hands in defeat, Rafe had simply grinned, tightened his hand in the girl’s hair and guided her to where Conner stood.

  “Now,” Rafe had growled to the girl. “You get on your knees and open my roommate’s pants. You’re gonna suck his dick.”

  Shocked, Conner had protested. “Now hold on there, Rafe, I don’t want—”

  Rafe had cocked the gun and pointed it at Conner’s face. “Don’t give a fuck what you want, pretty boy. Rebecca here’s gonna suck you off, ain’t that right honey?”

  “Yes, Rafe, whatever you want.”

  Winslow had looked down at the top of girl’s head and smiled. “That’s right, whatever I want. See, this here’s a woman that knows her place. Not like that wildcat sister of yours. It’ll be a shit load of fun teachin’ her how to treat a man. But as for this one, I met little Rebecca hitchhiking. We took to each other right off.” Then he’d narrowed his deadly gaze on Conner. “She sucks your dick, that makes you an accessory to anything that might happen later, best lock your knees boy.”

  “No siree.” Conner took a step back. “Go on and shoot me if you want because I ain’t havin’ none of it.”

  Rafe’s laugh sounded so evil it nearly penetrated to the bone. “Well, looks like you got some balls after all, Kilpatrick.” He motioned to the hallway with his pistol. “Go hide in your room and listen. We’ll talk later.” He hoisted the girl to her feet by her hair. “Come on, sugarplum, let’s me and you go have ourselves a little party.”

  Later, he’d laid in bed, listening to the girl’s feeble pleas for mercy and thought himself seven kinds of coward for not helping her. But he knew, in the deepest, darkest part of him, that Rafe had gone over the edge into something so horrible, he’d have shot him dead if he’d tried to interfere. Somewhere before dawn, he heard Rafe’s truck roar to life. When he got back, he was alone and Conner knew he’d never see the girl named Rebecca again. Conner knew he wasn’t the brightest bulb in the lot but he knew one thing for sure. He had to get away from Rafe Winslow and he had to warn his sister that serious trouble was heading her way.

  Chapter Ten

  Haley yawned and stretched, coming awake slowly after a night of completely mind-blowing sex. She’d practically had to beg Wyatt to make love to her, he’d been that worried about her mental condition after what she’d been through with Rafe Winslow. But she’d used all her newly acquired womanly wiles on him and gotten him so worked up, he’d sworn he was going to show her every trick in the book. She sat up, sniffing the air. Coffee. And was that bacon? How great was it to have a man who didn’t think it was beneath him to cook his woman breakfast? She stretched again and pulled on Wyatt’s shirt before padding to the bathroom. She was just washing her hands when the pounding on the front door started and she heard the panicked voice of her brother. She scurried back to her room and dressed quickly.

  “Conner? What’s going on? Oh my god, your poor face.”

  Her brother’s frame practically sagged with relief. “Thank god you’re okay. I was afraid he might’ve got to you.”

  “Winslow?” She rushed to him. His face was white as a sheet, one eye was almost swollen closed and there was a cut on one of his protruding cheekbones. She swiveled toward Wyatt. “Could you fix something for Conner?”

  Wyatt’s brow puckered with worry. “Sure darlin’. You like scrambled eggs, Conner?”

  Conner visibly shuddered and went even paler than he already was. “Maybe some toast.” Haley gently guided her brother to the kitchen island and eased him down onto a barstool. “Tell me what’s happened, sugar.”

  Tears leaked from his eyes and shook his head. “He…I think he killed her.”

  Haley looked up, briefly meeting Wyatt’s eyes. “Who, sugar? You think Winslow hurt someone?” Conner sniffled loudly and Wyatt yanked a paper towel from the role and gave it to Haley, who stuffed it in Conner’s hand. “Honey, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

  Conner nodded. “Wouldn’t put nothing past him,” he babbled. “The son of a bitch. Not after what he tried to do to you. I know I ain’t been the best brother to you, Hales, but…” Haley shushed him and brushed the hair back from his forehead and let him continue. “I swear, his soul’s blacker than a midnight skillet. You just don’t know what he might do. He…uh…he brung this little gal home last night. I walked in on him while he was smacking her around. I went to step in and he pulled a gun on me. Then he grabbed her by the hair and shoved her on her knees in front of me. Said she was gonna,” his cheeks turned crimson, “you know. Said that made me an accessory.” He held up his hands as though warding off the memory. “I told him he’d best go on and shoot me right then and there because I wanted no part of it. Thought he might actually do it but he just laughed and told me to go stay in my room.”

  Haley’s heart broke for her brother and the poor woman. Dear lord, what had her father brought down on them? How could he do such horrible things to his own flesh and blood? To plan on marrying her off to that animal, Rafe Winslow? To send a hardened criminal to ride herd on his only son. He was a soulless bastard and Haley found herself wishing he’d just up and die in prison. Sinful as such thoughts were, Kent Kilpatrick’s demise would allow her and Conner to heal. Maybe allow them to become close again.

  “Shhh…hush that crying now and get on with the story so we can figure out what to do.”

  Conner sobbed again. “I didn’t want to, Haley. I wanted to help her but he had that gun and I think he would’ve shot me if I’d tried to stop him.”

  Haley looked at Wyatt and shook her head in disbelief. “Then what happened?”

  “I went to my room and I listened to him abuse that poor girl all night long, feelin’ like an asshole. Sometime before dawn, he left. When he come back, she wasn’t with him.” The gaze he turned on his sister filled her with pain. Tears leaked from Conner’s eyes and he hung his head. “I think he might have killed her, Haley. After he went to sleep, I hightailed it here to warn you. Something bad’s fixin’ to happen.”

  Haley got up and poured her brother a glass of milk to go with the toast and scrambled eggs Wyatt had made for him. Conner was a pitiful mess. Half starved, scared to death and looking for his sister to protect him from a maniac. It was typical Conner but she couldn’t bring herself to turn her back on him. Not when he’d intervened on her behalf and taken such a horrible beating for his trouble. Conner hadn’t tried to step up and protect her since he was a boy and it meant something to her that he was willing to do so now. Maybe he was finally growing up.

  “Come on, now, you need to get some food in your belly. I swear, you look like the dog’s been keeping you under the porch.” She could tell he wanted to deny his hunger but that ended when
Wyatt put three slices of bacon on his plate. She patted his back. “There’s more eggs in the skillet, sugar. Me and Wyatt’s gonna go out to the porch and talk about what we need to do. When you’re done, you come on out.”

  “We got to call the sheriff,” Wyatt told her. Fearful as she was over what might become of Conner, she nodded her agreement.

  “Do you think he’ll say Conner’s an accessory to whatever happened?”

  Wyatt shrugged and sat down in a sturdy rocker, pulling her onto his lap. “Don’t think so, especially since Conner’s coming forward to report it. And he didn’t let the girl touch him. Besides, we don’t know that this Rafe Winslow actually killed the girl. He could have done all that just to intimidate your brother, keep him in line.”

  Haley snuggled against Wyatt’s chest. Her favorite place to be in the whole world was curled up against the man she loved. Somehow, no matter how bad things got, all Wyatt had to do was put his arms around her and she instantly felt safe. “We need to call Dooley and gather the hands together. Conner and I are both a threat to Winslow. My pa, too. If he can’t get his way by scaring us into doing what he wants, he won’t think twice about sending Winslow after us.”

  “So you think this guy will follow your pa’s orders?”

  A shiver ran down Haley’s spine. “Yeah, I think he will. He all but admitted he killed Snoop. And my daddy promised him something big. Me. If that plan don’t work out, you can bet he has a backup.” The front door opened and Haley smiled up at her brother as he stepped onto the porch. She wriggled off Wyatt’s lap and sat on the bench, patting a spot beside her. “You get enough to eat?”

  “Yeah. Thanks.” Haley could see it took all he had to do it but he looked Wyatt in the eye. “And thank you. For the food and for not throwing me out when you seen me at the door.” He took a deep breath, blew it out. “So, I reckon we ought to call the sheriff. See if anyone’s missing that girl. Boy, I sure do hate thinking he might have killed her.”