Light From The Dark: Protecting What's Theirs, page 12
“You went through something horrific.”
She blinked, and a tear escaped her watery eyes. It quickly made a trail down her now pale cheek and hung off her chin. I reached out before it could fall, gently brushing it away.
“Baby, we are here for you. Both of us. You can tell us anything. If you want to talk about it, we will listen. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s okay, too. But know this, Casey. We will protect you. Always. We won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.”
A sob broke from her chest, and she flung her arms around my shoulders and began to cry in earnest against my throat. I let her get it out as I slowly rubbed her back and looked up at Brent from over her head. He looked stricken and at a loss for what to do. I gestured with my eyes until he snapped out of it and stepped closer until he was awkwardly patting her back. I had to hold back my chuckle. He looked as if he wanted to cry, too.
“Let it out,” I murmured in her ear. “Let it out. Give it to us so we can carry it for you.”
My words made her cry harder for another long minute before she pulled back and started wiping her eyes. Brent quickly reached over to grab a napkin off the table. Instead of handing it to her, he turned her face toward him with a finger under her chin. He gently wiped her cheeks dry.
“Dollface,” he spoke quietly. “We need to know more about the man that kept you.”
She nodded, blinking up at him. “I will tell you everything. But can we do it later tonight? I…” She looked around the kitchen, her gaze landing on the stove clock. “Can we talk about it after work?” She gestured at the clock. He nodded, still holding her chin as he stared down at her with concern. I knew he wasn’t used to displays of emotions, he’d never been around people that showed anything but anger growing up.
“Of course.” He swept his thumb over her cheek before letting it rest on her full bottom lip. “You’ll be okay.” It was a statement of fact. For him, there was no other option, one I wholeheartedly agreed with.
I stood back up and picked up her abandoned fork, pressing it back into her hand. “Let’s finish breakfast so we can get you to work. I hear your boss is a real hardass.”
She giggled at my wink. Brent looked relieved that her tears had dried up and almost collapsed in his chair, seemingly exhausted by the short bout of intense emotions.
Seventeen
CASEY
The morning at the diner went by quickly. Grace had given me a couple of tables to get used to being a server instead of just running plates and drinks out. I had been nervous. It seemed like such a huge responsibility, but it wasn’t as bad as I had built it up in my head.
I stood at the counter, feeling the solid weight of the new phone in my pocket that Ethan had slid to me before we left the house. I was rolling silverware after the lunch rush and staring out at the pounding rain. Grace walked up next to me and placed a tall milkshake down in front of me. She gestured to the storm outside.
“I’m afraid it’s just going to get worse today. Mark has the radio running back in the kitchen and says they have just announced that we are on a tornado watch.”
I whipped my head around to look at her. I was sure my face showed every bit of fear that suddenly cascaded into my belly. “Tornado?” I looked back at the rain, trying to see through it to the clouds as if a funnel cloud was about to form any second right over the street.
She pushed the glass closer to me. Needing a distraction, I picked it up and drew hard on the straw to pull the thick goodness into my mouth without taking my eyes away from the weather.
“Tornado watch. Right now, that just means the conditions are favorable to create a tornado. When it switches to a warning, then we will worry.”
“What happens if it turns into a warning?” We didn’t exactly get tornados on the California coast. I was more used to earthquakes and had felt my share of them. Tornadoes were new to me, and all I could picture was destruction, houses torn to bits with people inside. Trees uprooted, and cars tossed around like discarded toys.
“We have a basement under the diner large enough to keep everyone safe. Thank goodness we have never needed it, but it feels good to know that all our staff and customers would be able to wait it out if we needed to. If a warning hits, we close down. No sense in keeping everyone in danger working when they could get home safe instead. Of course, we will keep our doors open for anyone that doesn’t have a safe place to go.”
“And that’s never happened before?” It was a relief to know that they hadn’t had a tornado here before. But that didn’t mean it couldn’t happen, though. Right? I chewed my bottom lip.
“Well,” she hedged, seeing my nervousness. “We have had plenty of warnings, so we learned to keep the basement stocked with bottles of water and things like candles. But we have not had an actual tornado yet.”
“Yet?” I squeaked out.
She chuckled and patted my arm. “I just mean it can never be completely ruled out. It’s better to be safe than sorry in any case. It will be okay, Casey. Once you have lived through a couple of decent storms, you’ll be an expert.”
“I don’t think so,” I mumbled before sticking the straw back in my mouth and indulging in the comfort the milkshake offered.
“I’m guessing where you are from, you don’t get many storms?” She eyed me with curiosity. I shook my head.
“No, but we have had a few small earthquakes.”
She raised an eyebrow, and I sighed internally. I hadn’t meant for that to slip out. The fewer people that knew who I really was and where I came from, the better for me and the less likely it could get revealed where I was. I could just picture someone writing on social media that they had seen Casey Rivers, the girl that escaped a serial killer. Just one post would be enough to set the killer on my path.
“So you are from California? Or somewhere close to there?”
I nodded but gave her a pleading look to not go further with her questions. Thankfully, she caught on and gave me one of her sweet smiles. “Okay, sweetheart. No pushing.”
“Thank you.” My grateful words and her pat on my arm were interrupted by a woman stepping in with two young children, both around the age of seven or so. She folded up a large umbrella and leaned it against the wall next to the door, then she took her daughters by the hand and walked to an open table.
“Do you want this table, or do you want me to get it?”
I grinned at Grace’s question. “I think I can do it.”
She nodded. “I know you can. I’ll get their waters. Why don’t you take them their menus?”
I grabbed a laminated menu from the holder next to us and reached under the counter for two paper kids’ menus and two sets of crayons. I paused before heading over to the table the woman had taken. “Grace?”
“Yes, Casey?”
“Thank you.” I hurried away, leaving Grace to stare at my back with a look of sympathy on her face I didn’t really want to see.
I set the menus down, making sure to push the small boxes of crayons over to each child with a smile. “Welcome to the Hardgrove Diner. What can I get you to drink?”
The woman looked up at me. Her smile was small, and there were dark circles under her eyes, but she looked happy. “I’ll just have a water with lemon. The kids will each have a lemonade, if you have it?” I nodded.
“Of course. I’ll be right back with the lemonades and a bowl of lemons for you.” Grace walked up and placed the glass of water in front of the woman as I backed away from the table. Grace walked back with me and watched as I got two kids’ cups out from under the counter and started to fill them with the lemonade. I could tell she had something on her mind, and I was sure I didn’t want to hear it. Before she could come out with it, the door opened again, but the woman who stepped in didn’t look happy to be there.
She was soaking wet from the rain, looking around at the mostly empty room. Her eyes landed on the woman with her two kids and narrowed dangerously. Grace tutted under her breath as she stepped back around the counter. Before Grace could say anything or intercept, she marched directly for their table and slammed her palms down on the tabletop, making the glass of water slosh over the top with the force.
Grace turned to look at me, a serious look on her face, her voice calm but firm. “Call Ethan, sweetheart.”
I nodded, my eyes wide at the spectacle the woman was already making, just as she started to scream. I pulled my new phone out of my pocket and looked down at it in my hand, bobbling it for a second before finally opening up the call list. As I pressed Ethan’s name, I could hear the woman asking where her son was as the young mother shrank back in her seat, and the kids started crying loudly.
“Hey, sugar. Are you ready for a ride?” Ethan’s deep voice made me sigh with relief, already knowing that he would take care of whatever the problem was. As I whispered into the phone that there was a problem at the diner and Grace wanted him there, her screams just got louder.
Ethan’s voice lost its cheerfulness, and it sounded as if he were moving through a busy office. “Okay, Casey. I’m on my way. Are you or Mom in any danger?”
“No. I don’t think so. This woman, she’s so angry. She keeps screaming that she wants to know where her son is. She’s making the children cry, Ethan.”
“Okay, sugar. I’m in my car. Let me call a patrol car. They should get there before I will. Be right there. Okay?”
I was nodding my head even though he couldn’t see me while my eyes stayed glued to the table. “Yes.”
“Good.” Then he was gone, nothing but silence coming from the phone. I slid it back into my pocket and nervously picked up the two lemonades for the kids, not knowing what else I should do. But I hated how scared and upset they looked and had to do something.
Grace was trying to calm the woman down, asking her if there was anyone she could call for her, but that only seemed to make her more upset. She whirled on Grace and pointed at her face.
“I want my son! Do you think you can make this woman tell me where my son is,“ she spat out. Her chest was heaving, and her eyes were wild. She looked capable of violence, though she was dressed as if she were heading to a country club. Her hair was in wild disarray, and her face was void of any makeup, and I had the distinct impression that was unusual for her. I could tell she was a distraught mother, but she was taking it out on another mother, and in front of two crying children that looked scared.
I stepped forward as Grace continued to speak calmly. “No, ma’am. I don’t know who your son is, but I’m sure if we all just settle down, we can find out.” Grace placed a gentle hand on the woman, who was vibrating with her fury. “You’re scaring the children, ma’am. I’m sure you don’t want that, do you?”
The woman slapped Grace’s hand away from her. “I don’t give a fuck about anything except what this woman has done to my son!” She whirled back around to the now crying woman who looked helplessly at her kids while trying to calm them down, reaching across the table toward them. The angry woman reached out and grabbed the other by her hair, yanking her toward her. “Did you kill him?” She screamed.
The other woman sobbed hard, reaching up to grab the hand holding her hair. “No! I swear it! He just disappeared! He didn’t come home. I thought he was with his mistress!” Her words were hard to understand between the crying of both her and the little children. I squeezed in between the women and set down the drinks before reaching out my hands toward the kids and gesturing wildly for them to come with me. Without hesitating, the first one slid out of the booth, taking my hand. Once she saw her older sister moving, she followed quickly.
Once I had them both in hand, we backed away, with me shielding the two of them with my body. The older woman spun around, her eyes zeroing in on me. “Don’t you touch my grandbabies!”
Grace stepped in front of us, blocking her advance. “Ma’am, I’m going to ask you to leave,” she said firmly.
“I fucking dare you to make me leave!“ the woman roared out. “My son is missing! You aren’t taking my grandbabies, too! They are coming home with me!”
The young mother cried out in denial just as the bell sounded over the door. I turned my head to see two uniformed police officers step inside, followed quickly by a serious-looking Ethan. As soon as I saw him, my shoulders immediately relaxed, and I squeezed the tiny hands holding mine. I turned around to face them and squatted down so we were face to face.
“It’s going to be okay now,” I whispered, wiping at their tears.
“Is Grammy really going to take us away?”
“I don’t want to leave Mommy!” They both wailed at the same time as I continued to try to calm them down, keeping their attention on me instead of the commotion going on just feet away.
“Shh, it’s going to be okay. I promise.”
“I’m glad daddy’s gone,” the older one whispered, breaking my heart. Seeing the defiant look in her eyes and the way she hugged her sibling tightly made me glad he was gone, too.
Ethan had the older woman in handcuffs, trying to talk calmly to her while she continued to rage at everyone. When the young mother was finally able to get by, she sprang to her feet and ran over to us, her knees hitting the tiled floor hard without seeming to notice as she threw her arms around her girls.
“You fucking bitch! I know you killed him!”
“Ma’am, I promise you, we are investigating the case thoroughly. But Mrs. Banks was at a PTO meeting the night Mr. Banks disappeared. She has several witnesses, including the mayor, to corroborate her whereabouts.”
“She’s lying! He hated her, and she knew it! He was going to divorce her and take everything, and now she’s driving his car around town. He wouldn’t want her in his car.” She had begun sobbing. I felt for her. Clearly, she was obviously worried about her son, but her behavior was out of line. I watched the two officers pull her from the diner with a sigh of relief.
I stood up and backed away from the small family as they hugged and calmed each other down. I felt a hand on the small of my back and looked up into Ethan’s worried gaze.
“Are you okay, sugar?” I nodded and swallowed thickly. My shoulders slumped at the sudden end of the conflict.
“Why don’t you go home for the day, Casey?” Grace looked outside and then over to Ethan. “The storm is getting worse anyway. You should probably hunker down for the evening. Just in case.”
Ethan agreed, kissing his mom on the cheek, and led me to the door after I stripped the apron off and handed it over.
“Tomorrow is Saturday, Casey. You don’t have to come back until Monday. Enjoy your weekend, okay?”
“Thanks, Grace,” I said softly, glancing back at the woman and children one last time, and then took the hand Ethan offered before we left the diner and ran through the pouring rain to the shiny black Mustang.
Eighteen
BRENT
A rainy day in construction meant there was basically not a damn thing to do other than get caught up on all the piles of paperwork that often got neglected throughout the week. It wasn’t a completely wasted day since I was able to handle the phone calls needed for orders as well as payroll. It was a task that I had to do every Friday, anyway. But I hated not having my men and women at work. I would try to help them make up their hours throughout the week if they wanted by offering overtime.
I had just finished placing my special order for our new bathroom counter, a beautiful marble with room for three sink basins, when my phone dinged with a message. I dug the phone out from under a stack of invoices and opened it, not surprised to see a text from Ethan. The text made me frown and immediately sit up in my chair. Something had happened at the diner, and he was taking Casey home for the day. Not bothering to text back or call to ask what had happened, I stood up and grabbed my jacket, deciding that I was done for the day.
I ran through the rain as thunder boomed overhead and quickly made it to my truck, cursing the entire way. My hair was plastered to my forehead, and cold rainwater dripped into my eyes. I started the engine and put it into gear as the radio came to life with an emergency broadcast alarm blaring through the cab. I cursed again and lowered the volume until the recording came on, then turned it back up. You could never hear those damn recordings properly, and the sound was always garbled. But the warning of a tornado was clear enough.
With yet another curse, I flew through the parking lot of my office building and hurried down the streets, straight toward the house. I had planned to stop to get something for dinner on the way home, but there was no way I was staying out in this weather, not with a tornado warning for the county now in effect.
I pulled up into the drive, slammed out of the cab, and ran up to the front door. I was soaked from the run and stood for a second in the entryway, ready to run through to the bathroom, when Casey looked up at me from the couch, startled.
“Hey, dollface. I’ll just be a second.” Before she could jump up and say anything, I took off for the primary bathroom, leaving puddles of rainwater in my wake. I struggled to take off all my clothes, dumping the sodden mess in the bathtub, then jumped in the shower, sighing as the hot water ran over my rain-chilled body. The rain had felt good at first, washing away the heat of the day, but it quickly got chilly, especially while sitting in the cab with the air conditioner blowing.
I made quick work of washing down, ready to get back to the others. We needed to get into the basement for safety, just in case. It was always better to be safe than sorry when it came to tornadoes, and I was already taking too much time in the shower instead of herding them downstairs.
I shut off the water and grabbed a towel, rubbing myself down as I stepped into the bedroom to throw on some sweatpants. I tossed the towel on the end of the bed and stopped short when I saw Casey standing there with another towel at her feet. She’d obviously been wiping up the water I had left behind as I had darted into the bedroom. My cock went from limp and laying against my thigh to rock fucking hard in a nanosecond, almost making me dizzy with how fast the desire surged through me.
