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My heart hurt for her. “That’s okay,” I said, finding my way next to her. “I’m a nurse, and some of my patients have, um, strange odors.” I was trying to set her at ease while keeping my own sanity. “How old are you?”
“Thirteen.”
I caught my breath. My mind went to a dark place that I didn’t want to go to. “How long have you been in here?”
It grew quiet, as if she was thinking. “I’m not sure. They took me while I was walking home from the store Sunday night. My mom—” A giant sob escaped her. “My mom needed a gallon of milk.” She burst out crying. “I’m ne-never going to-to see her again, am I?”
The anguish in her words caused me to wrap my arm around her trembling shoulders and pull her into me. The odor emanating from her revealed that she’d soiled herself, but I smelled something else, too. Blood? My hatred for Bronx grew, because I knew that whatever he’d done to this child had destroyed her innocence and had very likely scarred her for life.
“You will, Kelly. And you know how I know that? Because someone will come for me.”
I was sure that whoever Liam sent to meet up with Klutz at Mr. Johnson’s place would notify him when he realized that we weren’t there. Once again, I thought of Klutz, the image of him falling to the floor flashing before my eyes. I fought back tears, knowing that I couldn’t fall apart right now. “It might take a while, but Liam will come for me,” I explained in a choked voice. I didn’t expect a response from her. She was still sobbing quietly against me.
After a few minutes, Kelly said in a tiny voice, “I peed on myself on purpose. I thought maybe-maybe he wouldn’t want to-to-touch me again.”
Oh, God, it was just as I’d feared. I was amazed at her quick thinking and cleverness in handling a terrible situation. “That was very smart of you.” I didn’t want to ask her if it had worked. I felt her nod against me.
The door opened and Kelly tensed, clinging to me. I looked up at Bronx. His leering grin sent chills down my body, and as he stepped further inside the closet, I tensed right alongside Kelly.
“I want the girl.” He reached down for her.
I threw my upper body in front of her to protect her. “No!” Kelly began to tremble uncontrollably, her fingers clutching at my clothes. “You’ve hurt her enough!”
He grunted. “Not near enough yet.” He’d said those same exact words earlier. “Fuck,” His nose scrunched up with disgust, and he straightened up slightly as if he were repulsed. “She piss herself?” His hand moved over his chin as he considered the situation. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll toss her ass in the shower before I fuck her.”
“You’re a pig!” I hissed. “She’s a child!”
His laugh was pure evil and revealed that he didn’t care what I thought. “Not anymore. Are ya, sweetheart?”
Kelly clung to me behind my back. I could feel her tears soaking through my thin blouse where she’d buried her face. My mind raced with the urgent need to think of a solution to keep Bronx’s hands off her. When he reached for her a second time, I blurted out, “She started her period!”
That startled him into jerking his hand away from her as if she were a poisonous snake getting ready to strike. He scowled, his face contorting into disgust. Finally, he growled, “I don’t mind virgin blood, but I’m not into fucking someone with that nasty shit going on.”
I bit my lip to keep from saying that I was surprised that he had any standards at all. He had just confirmed what I’d only suspected until then—that he’d raped Kelly. Bile churned in my stomach, and I wanted to hurt him.Killhim! I watched him step back and breathed a sigh of relief that I’d at least prevented Kelly from another attack. But my relief was short lived when I noticed him hesitate from walking out of the closet. He looked back at me with skepticism, as if something had just occurred to him.
I had a feeling I knew what was going through his mind and rushed out, “I’m a nurse, remember? When a girl loses her virginity, it sometimes triggers her first cycle.” I was lying through my teeth, but Bronx didn’t know that, and he seemed to accept that explanation. With a rough sound of disappointment, he exited the closet and slammed the door.
Oh, God!I let myself relax and drew in a deep breath, not realizing how frightened and tense I’d been until then. The man was a sick, depraved monster, preying on innocent girls. Kelly’s trembling form sank against me, and I pulled her to the front of me so that I could curl myself around her protectively.
“Th-thank you,” she sobbed. “He hurt me.”
I could barely hear her teary whisper. “I’m sorry he hurt you,” I said. “He’ll pay, I promise.” I prayed that I wasn’t giving her false hope, but I felt in order to keep her from completely shutting down, she needed to hear that.
After a while Kelly curled up next to me and fell asleep with her head on my lap. I ran my hand over her hair, my heart going out to her. She must be exhausted from fear and the anticipation of Bronx coming back. Sometimes life was so unfair. I blinked away the tears, my thoughts drifting to Liam, praying that he would find me, and soon. The wound on my arm was a dull throb and needed to be treated. There was no telling what had been on Bronx’s knife. He didn’t look like the kind of man who washed it between uses.
I closed my eyes against the darkness and listened to the eerie silence. I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew I heard the sound of the lock and then the door was opening again. I straightened in fear, and so did Kelly. With a small cry she burrowed behind me. As soon as I realized who the man was that was suddenly standing in the doorway, I was stunned with confusion.
“Hello, bitch.”
Monk. What was he doing here? He motioned me out with a head shake. “Come on. Bronx wants you to look at his brother.”
“Don’t leave me!” Kelly whispered behind me, her arms clinging to me tightly.
I patted her hands and gently broke them apart from where they were linked around my stomach. “I have to, honey.” I glared up at Monk. “You hurt her—”
“Relax,” he snarled. “I’m not into little girls.” His gaze moved over me, and his sneer grew wider. “I like my women with flesh on their bones.”
I slowly rose to my feet and then looked down at Kelly. “Stay calm. Try to go back to sleep. I’ll be back.” Once again I prayed that I wasn’t giving her false hope by assuming what would come next. “Okay, honey?”
