Page 30 of Dotted Lines (Runaway 5)

Karson’s spine stiffened. “What?”

“He was a jerk and didn’t give a shit about us most of the time. But since there was food and Aria and I could take care of ourselves, it didn’t matter. Then it got creepy. We turned fourteen and got, um . . . boobs.” I grimaced, not wanting to say that word to Karson. “He stared at us. A lot. He’d touch us too much.”

A chill crept over my skin. A sour taste spread across my mouth, so I chased it down with another gulp of beer.

“Eventually it was so disgusting that we started packing. We knew Londyn had run away. Why not us too?”

“She was here then, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah. We were trying to save up as much as we could first, not sure what kind of jobs we’d be able to get since we were only fifteen. But then he came after Aria.”

The tent went eerily still. Karson sat like a rock but the fury pulsing off his body was like a heat wave.

“He didn’t, like . . .” Rape. I couldn’t say that word either. “He touched her. He ripped her shirt. He got her pants open. I didn’t even know it was happening. I was in the bathroom but then I heard her scream and by the time I came running out, she’d already fought her way free.”

I closed my eyes and heard the echo of her scream. It haunted me. I expected it always would.

“I’ll fucking kill him.” Karson moved so fast, I blinked and he was out the tent’s door.

“No!” I scrambled to my feet, running to catch up. “Karson, stop.”

“He’s dead.”

“Karson.” I caught up to him by the small gate, grabbing his elbow with both of my hands. “Don’t. If you go there, what are you going to do?”

“Kill him.”

“And then who will be here with us?” I asked gently. Karson would go kill Craig. He had that sort of rage inside of him.

His body tensed but he stopped fighting my grip.

“It was a long time ago,” I said.

“Doesn’t make it fucking right.”

I sighed. “I know. But if you go there and do something reckless, he wins. Please, please don’t.”

He seethed for a full minute before he backed away from the fence. Then he faced me, planting his hands on his hips. “Did he touch you too?”

“No. We ran and shut ourselves in the bedroom. He pounded on the door for hours, but we held him off.” Aria and I had braced our backs against the door and our feet against a bed, then pushed with all our might. By the time the pounding and Craig’s bellowing had stopped, my legs had lost all their strength. Well, nearly all.

Never in my life had I wished so hard for my parents. I’d silently begged Mom and Dad to appear, for us to wake up from the nightmare and be home in our beds with them sleeping down the hallway.

I wished for them a lot, during the hard days. Aria seemed so angry at them sometimes. She never said it, but I could tell she was mad at them for leaving us—for leaving us vulnerable to a man like Craig.

She had a right to be angry, and there were times when I felt that too. But mostly . . . I just missed Mom’s smile and gentle voice. I missed Dad’s loud laugh and how he’d scoop us into his arms every evening when he’d come home from work.

I wished for them even though I knew that wish wouldn’t come true.

“Then what?” Karson asked.

“Craig gave up eventually. And when he did, we climbed out the window before dawn with our backpacks and supplies, then came here.”

“Clara.” The pain on his handsome face broke my heart.

“I’m okay, Karson.”

Without warning, he pulled me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me tight. “I fucking hate him.”