“Ms. Riggs, can you tell me more about what happened?” Jarrod broke in. “So I can tell the ER what to expect. Were you raped?”
Tense silence surrounded her as she processed the question in her overwhelmed brain. He’d been on her, his pants had been open, and he’d touched her, but the phone call… Had it stopped him, or had she been in too much pain from her leg to remember?
Salty tears burned down her raw cheeks. The added pain surprised her heavy mind. She didn’t think she could possibly handle any more. “I don’t know.”
“It’s okay.” Mark squeezed her hand again. “We’ll find out for sure at the hospital. Don’t worry for now. Jarrod, she’s going out again. Go ahead, sweetie, don’t fight it.”
* * * *
From the sounds and smells, Ben recognized the hospital before she opened her eyes. Her face was intensely cold. When she turned her head, an ice pack fell to the side. Something tugged at the back of her hand when she reached for it, but she moved the coldness away anyway.
“Hey, Ben.” She heard Mark’s voice and opened her swollen eyes. He looked good, a little scruffy and worried, but good. “How are you feeling, honey?”
“Not…um…well.” She reached her tongue out but found it was swollen and her lips were numb. “What happened?”
“Someone broke into your apartment through your bedroom window and attacked you. When Thomas and the other guys got to your place, you told them to run. I don’t know if the attacker was still there at that point or not. You managed to get out, with a broken leg, and Teddy took care of things from there.” Mark coughed, like his words were painful.
“It’s fuzzy. Did he, um, did he rape me?” She whispered, because her throat hurt and she didn’t really want to know the answer.
“The doctor doesn’t think so, and if he did, then it was–how did he say it–superficial penetration. Like he didn’t get to finish what he started, thank God.” Mark held her hand when she tried to move it again. “You’ve got an IV in this one, sweetheart. What do you need?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then how about you go back to sleep?” Mark eased the ice packs back over her eyes, a soft towel covering her first. “You’re going to feel like hell tomorrow, so you might as well sleep now.”
“You’re a doctor now too? Is there anything you don’t do?”
“Not a doctor, not even an EMT. I just took the first aide class at the fire station, so Jarrod grabbed me when his partner was late,” he answered, pulling the blanket over her arms. She had goose bumps she hadn’t noticed until they were covered.
“You’re really handy.” Her mouth was sore and her tongue felt thick as she tried to stay focused and talk a little longer.
“I have my moments,” he admitted. “But right now, you need to rest instead of listing all my amazing attributes.”
She laughed, and it hurt her whole body.
“Damn, Ben, you need to sleep, right now,” Mark ordered, and it didn’t sound like a horrible idea.
“Okay.” Before she even finished the word, she was pulled deeper into the black and fought for one more moment. “You’ll stay?”
* * * *
“You bet I will. Don’t worry about a thing.” Mark watched her fall back asleep, her breathing and heart rate monitor showing signs of her tension easing. “I’m not going anywhere.”
The bandages on her neck were bloody again, and rage bubble in him as it never had. He’d thought his sister was horrible for foisting her kids away like trash, he’d been angry after his father’s senseless death, but none of that touched what he felt seeing Ben brutalized.
Some bastard had hurt her, had tried to rape her. If not for three teenagers dropping off homework for a friend in the apartment building, he would have succeeded. There was so much damage to her delicate body. She was tough, but the punishment was severe, and it did seem like a punishment to him.
The beating was personal, not random. Teddy himself had looked at her windows two days earlier, a vulnerable spot on the first floor. Upon checking them again after the assault they found a new, tiny hinge on the bedroom window that allowed the window to be opened differently, bypassing the lock.
The sheriff called in the detectives from Kansas City who handled the small town’s major crimes. Flathead Falls just didn’t have the manpower or facilities needed to correctly gather evidence to catch the bastard.
He and Ben had been walking around each other ever since she’d confessed her circumstances, and Mark had been okay with that. Hell, he’d been thrilled, because it was more than Ben had expected to give so soon. Here with him beside her bed, she still clung to his hand even in her sleep.
That didn’t mean she wouldn’t try to pull away once she had a chance to think about what had happened. He expected her to, but he’d already decided, while he’d been waiting for the doctor to finish his initial exam, he wouldn’t let her push him away.
He liked her more than he’d ever liked a woman and he was edging into love. He knew it. A man like him would fall in love once, and he’d fall hard. His dad had made that prediction years ago. Ben touched something deep inside him, and he knew he couldn’t let her get away.
Convincing Ben wasn’t going to be easy, and he wasn’t able to ignore the danger involved. She’d already had one attack, and the bastard could try to hurt his kids. Mark would get a security system for the house. He had a few more dogs at the second farm he could bring over until things were taken care of. He hoped those measures would be enough to quiet Ben’s protests.
She wouldn’t be the woman he was falling in love with if she didn’t worry about their safety, but he wasn’t going to let her be alone. Not when alone made her so damn vulnerable.
* * * *
Mark remembered the days when Teddy Williams was five and had run around naked, peeing on trees like a dog. It was hard to look at the man he’d grown into and take him seriously, but Mark was trying. With Ben sitting up only slightly, still barely awake, he wanted to tell Teddy to go have a sucker or something, but he was a deputy now and he was doing his best.
“Anything else, Ben?” Teddy asked solemnly.
“Just…red hair and big and…” She was breaking in and out of lucidity because of the pain medication, and while the police were trying to respect that, they needed to catch the bastard who’d hurt her.
“Stay with us a little longer, sweetheart.” Mark rubbed her arms gently.
“He was familiar,” she muttered. “From town, I’d seen him in a truck. Red hair, big belly, truck, southern…liked big titties.”
Mark’s hand froze and when he looked up, he could see Teddy’s eyes had also gone sharp. Her description could have pertained to hundreds of men, but if he was a local that meant one person.
“You rest now, sweetheart.”
Mark pointed for Teddy to meet him in the hall while Ben fell asleep again. He hated to leave her, but he wasn’t going to talk in front of her in case the truth hurt more.
“That’s Steven Redick,” Mark said without preamble.
“He’s been a person of interest,” Teddy replied quickly. “The boys mentioned seeing the truck before entering the apartment building, and the sheriff immediately put out a watch for it. We’ve finally got a name on the woman too, a Ms. Victoria Bennet who goes by a dozen aliases. We’re looking, Mark.”
“Then why are you here?” he demanded.
“Because when we find them we have to have more than a hunch,” Teddy explained. Though it made sense, Mark was still furious. “With Ben’s description of the attack and everything else, now when we find him, we have a better shot at keeping him and Victoria locked up. There’s been reports of them in Arkansas already.”
“Then get the hell out of here and get looking,” Mark snapped.
“Mark–” Teddy stopped and took a deep breath, and Mark kicked himself for overstepping.
“I apologize.” Mark held both of his hands up. “Just… I know you and everyone else are doi
ng your best, but Ben won’t be safe until this is handled.”
“There’s a volunteer deputy on guard here, and we’re not backing down security,” Teddy said stiffly. “I’m heading back out, but my card is on the table, call if anything comes up.”
“Okay. I will. And Teddy...” It was on the tip of his tongue to apologize again, but Mark couldn’t do it. He just wasn’t that sorry. “Find them.”
Chapter 8
“No.” Ben wobbled on her crutches but not on her reply. Mark hadn’t expected her to back down, but that didn’t mean he was going to give up. “How many times do I have to say it, Mark? I will be fine at my apartment, and I don’t want to go home with you.”
They’d been discussing it for over an hour. Ben was being released from the hospital, not because she was healed, but because her insurance was crap.
The three days allowed were up, and bruised, battered and broken, held together by plaster and string, she was headed home. If she’d quit being a mule, she’d just agree to come home with him and they’d both be better off. The woman was stubborn, but he didn’t hate the trait. He figured she was the reason God had given him a pretty deep supply of patience.
“You would be fine in your apartment,” he allowed. “You’ll be better at the farm. I had a security system put in yesterday and brought over my dogs. The kids will just worry if you go back to your place, Ben. We’ll all be over there all the damn time, and you know my place is bigger. How are the four of us going to move around your little apartment?”
“No, none of you are coming over.” Her harsh tone reflected the pain Mark saw in her eyes. “No one. I’m going to put in my two weeks and get the hell away from all of you. I don’t want you here. Why won’t you understand that?”
It could have hurt his feelings, being told so point-blank he wasn’t wanted, but he heard what she wasn’t saying. She cared so much she would face her threats alone, rather than let them get hurt.
She tripped on her crutches, and he caught her before she went completely down, her body shaking with fatigue.
“Ben,” he said softly, holding her. He was careful to give her plenty of leeway to escape if she needed to. After the attack, he didn’t want her to feel trapped by him. “The nurse already went over all the instructions for what you need in the next few weeks, so I’ll be able to take care of you. Let me help you.”
“You could get hurt.” Her voice was fierce, but she rested her face against his shirt in surrender.
“I could.” He wouldn’t lie to her. “But I’d rather help you fight than stand by and watch you get hurt or see you leave. I know you don’t want a relationship, but you’ve got one. I wouldn’t push like this so soon if I didn’t care. I think we’ve got places to go and things to do together. I want years with you, honey, not days or weeks or months. Years.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” she whispered, stiffening in his arms. He thought she would push away and when she didn’t he knew she was feeling much more than she probably wanted to.
“Yeah, I do. You just aren’t ready to hear it yet, and that’s okay.” He kissed the top of her curly head. “I won’t bring that up for now, but on the same note I can’t just let you go. Not when I’ve got these plans in my head for us. If you’re gone we won’t have a chance to even try.”
She was quiet, but she didn’t pull away. He knew he’d hit something in the right area. Maybe she didn’t love him right now, but she liked him and liked the kids and enjoyed the town and the people in it.
A plant couldn’t be forced to sprout, but with the right kind of attention anything could thrive. The seeds had been planted in Ben, and they were already sprouting strongly in him. They would grow, he knew they would.
Ben was a woman made to love and give love; she just needed the right conditions and the right man. Mark was the man to make the conditions, the man to take in that love and shine it right back.
“What–what if it happens again?” He could barely hear the words she whispered against his chest.
“What if I get kicked by a cow tomorrow? It could happen. We’ll try to prevent it. We’ll do everything in our power to keep you safe, but we’ll deal with the blows as they come. Don’t worry about tomorrow. It’ll bring its own troubles.”
“That’s from the book of Mark, isn’t it?” she asked, the familiar Bible verse bringing a smile to her face.
“Yep, one of my favorites. Trust me, sweetheart, and you know what? If that’s hard at this point, then trust God. He doesn’t always work in mysterious ways. Sometimes He works very predictably through people who care about you.”
“I know you’re right, but I’m terrified. Sometimes it consumes me to the point I can’t even move. I hate being this afraid, but I can’t shake it. This mess won’t go away, and I can’t fix it.”
“I know, baby.” He strived to find the right words to comfort as he carefully hugged her closer. “And no one’s faulting you for being afraid. But be scared where I can keep an eye out for you until all this blows over. It can’t last forever, sweetheart, and when it’s done we’ll be ready to see where we can go.”
“You think you might love me?” The pain medications were loosening up her tongue.
“Yeah, I really do think that’s where this is going. I can see you and me loving each other until we’re brushing each other’s dentures and counting warts on the dogs.”
“I hate warty dogs,” she mumbled, and then the quiet stretched and he waited. “I’m ready to go home now, Mark.”
“With me?”
“Yes. With you.”
* * * *
The nurse gave her one more shot before she left, so Ben knew she was pretty out of it when they got to the farm. She’d stopped by once briefly to drop off Kira, but hadn’t gone inside the house.
There seemed to be two styles of farm families, she mused as she looked around. One style was farmhouse chic and spotlessly tidy. Then there were houses like Mark’s. It was cluttered, and dust bunnies congregated in the corners. The rugs had been shaken out recently, but had probably never been washed. The vacuum cleaner stood in the mudroom and had a nearly full canister from what Ben could see.
They probably cleaned when they couldn’t avoid it any longer. She’d bet they did the dishes when they were out of spoons and butter knives, because it was hard to spread peanut butter with a fork, though they might try.
It was a home, and it was where Mark was welcoming her. The kids at the kitchen table were willing to help too. It was the most wonderful place she’d ever been.
“Hey, Ben.” Kira’s boisterous personality seemed muted, and while it was a relief, Ben wished circumstances were different so she could have a big hug. She could use one. “Are ya hungry? We were going to make some soup and PB and J.”
“I’m not right now, but thank you.” She leaned on Mark as he helped her release her crutch foot from the metal strip at the door frame.
“I think I’m going to help her lie down for a while, squirt,” he told his niece. “I’ll get her settled, and then we’ll head out and do chores. How’s that sound?”
“Okay, I guess.” Kira pouted a little, and Ben knew she wanted to help.
“Maybe you could read to me later? You said you were reading Stuart Little last week, and it’s my favorite.”
“I can do that.” She perked up. “And if you’re hungry when you wake up, Thomas can make you some more soup. We’ve got tons in the cupboard, because Uncle Mark just went shopping at the super store. There’s ice cream too, if you want.”
“Sounds great.” Ben smiled, though it pulled incredibly on her broken face.
“Come on, honey.” Mark helped her across the kitchen to one of the four doors. “You’ll be in my room. It’s right off the kitchen, so we’ll be able to hear you if you need anything.”
“But–”
“Hush, Ben, you know I don’t mind you using my room. I’ll bunk with Thomas, no problem.”
“Yeah, Ms. Riggs
,” Thomas added. “No problem. I’d let you have my room but it’s at the top of the stairs, and your cast would probably make that hard.”
“And my room is at the middle of the stairs so that wouldn’t work either. And I don’t have a door.”
“No door?”
Mark answered, “It’s a jog in the floor plan. The room works great for now, but one of these days it’ll need a door. Come on, let’s get you laid down.”
“I’ll share, though, when you don’t need your crutches so much anymore. Uncle Mark’s kind of a slob,” Kira called as they headed into the room.
“Eat your dinner.” Mark shot his niece dirty look Ben recognized as fake, especially when Kira giggled.
Like Kira warned, Mark’s room was indeed a mess. A pile of dirty laundry occupied a corner, clean clothes were folded haphazardly but on the long dresser, not in the drawers. It smelled like a man’s room, not gross though, just manly.
His deodorant still hung slightly in the air, a really good smell that made Ben think instantly of him and she liked it. The bed was wrinkly, but she could see the sheets were fresh if not ironed and the blankets were the homemade kind. The old quilts were tossed on and smoothed by arms too small to reach the middle.
“Kira,” he said with a smile. “She tries to change us boys, says we’re too messy and don’t think about stuff, but she’s only a step up from us. She tries though, and her room is probably the cleanest of the whole place outside of the milk room. We would have made the place presentable if we’d had more time. Sorry–”
“Don’t be.” She eased to a sitting position on the edge of the bed. “It’s a farm. You work hard, and there are more important things than ironing sheets. I like your house, Mark. It’s a home.”
“It sure is.” Working together, they got her onto the bed and he put a pillow behind her head and another under her broken leg. “And we’re happy to have you here. I left a walkie-talkie for you. It’s one of Thomas’s from when he was a kid, but they’ve got fresh batteries and good range.”
Teaching Ms. Riggs Page 7
