Screaming in the Silence (2 page)

"Three hundred and fifty-eight bucks…not bad." Ray handed the money to the man with the green eyes. He glanced at me suspiciously.

"Any credit cards?" he asked.

"Four."

My stare returned to his green eyes. He stood up and walked toward me, leaving the cash on the table. "Give her to me."

The small man handed me over as Ray watched. "Where are you taking her?"

His grip was just as strong as it had been last night. He turned to face his friend at the table and said something I couldn't see. Ray nodded and returned to my bag. I found myself pulled from the room and up the stairs. Horrifying scenarios raced through my head. I struggled against him, tripping and scraping my shins on the splintered stairs. I could only imagine what he was going to do to me and I wasn't ready for any of it. I pulled against his hand, pushed his arm away with all my strength but nothing helped and I was too sore to fight for long.

At the top of the stairs, he pushed me into the bathroom and pinned me against a wall.

His face hovered inches from me.

"Look, you may not be able to hear me, but I don't believe for a minute that you can't speak. Everything about you from your designer jeans to the four credit cards in your wallet screams Daddy's money and higher education so if you want to keep up the act, that's fine. Just know that I'm not letting you out of my sights. You aren't going to fuck this up for me."

I stared at him, more of a glare, really, and waited for him to say something else. This man was perceptive and even if he didn't know who I was or why I had been on the side of the road, he knew my type: spoiled brat from up North with too many advantages and not enough ambition. He glared back, challenging me to speak but when I didn't, he released my shoulders and took a few steps back, lowering the lid to the toilet and sitting down.

"Shower," he commanded and pointed to the curtain. "You look like shit."

I looked away from him and glanced in the mirror. The girl staring back at me was not someone I recognized. Her once blonde hair now appeared brown from all of the blood and dirt. Her grey eyes were red and swollen and blood was smeared from her forehead to her neck and caked around her nose. Her lips were cracked. I had to look away as tears welled up behind my lids.

The man with the green eyes stood up from his seat and pulled back the dingy and stained shower curtain, pointing for me to climb in. I shook my head. He was crazy if he thought I was going to get undressed with him still in the room. But he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the tub. It was stained with mold and rust. I had used cleaner ones at the truck stops I had been through in the past few months.

I looked up at him and pointed toward the door. A warm shower would feel good right now but not with him watching.

"I'm not leaving." His stern face glanced to the window above the sink and I finally understood his reasoning. If he knew how much pain I was in, he would certainly have realized that jumping from a second story window was out of the question.

"You can either shower with or without my help. But you need to." His face softened and he reached for my arm. "It will be good for you."

I pushed his arm away and signed for him to fuck off before I stepped out of my sandals.

His fingers gripped my cheeks and he jerked my head up to look at him. "Fuck you, too."

I stepped back in surprise. He had understood?

His lips crept over his teeth as he smiled at me. "You're not the only one with secrets."

I flashed a mockingly sweet smile, tears streaming from my eyes. He laughed and released my face, pointing again to the shower and grabbing a towel from the shelf above my head. I slowly undid the buttons on my jeans, not wanting to bend over to pull them down because I knew how badly it would hurt. I managed to wiggle them down my hips and step out of them. He returned to his seat on the toilet and stared at me with a concerned expression. It angered me but I looked away, not wanting him to know that his presence bothered me.

I tugged at the bottom of my shirt and attempted to lift it over my head but the pain in my chest was too much and I cried out as my shirt fell back into place. I held my eyes shut until the throbbing lessened, fresh tears of pain and embarrassment falling onto my cheeks. The man was standing in front of me when my eyes opened and I jumped, startled he could move so quickly.

"Sorry," his mouth twitched at the corners like he wanted to smile. "Let me help you. Arms up."

I hesitated but obeyed and he carefully pulled my blood stained shirt from my body. The shirt was matted to my skin and I winced as it tore the wounds. I sighed in relief once it was over my head. He threw the shirt on the floor next to the remnants of my jeans and bent over the tub to turn on the water. I watched him carefully, unsure of what to think. Was he really trying to help me or did he have ulterior motives? It had been him, after all, who had convinced Ray to spare my life. What did he want with me?

I put all of these questions aside as the steam started to fill the room, soothing my aching muscles. The man with the green eyes stood up once the temperature was to his liking and looked at me.

"Thank you," I said, barely using my voice at all.

He smiled at me as if he had won a contest. "You're welcome, Raleigh."

"What's your name?" I asked, no longer caring that I was having this conversation in my underwear.

He lifted one large hand and spelled it out for me.
K-A-D-E-N
.

I nodded and turned away from him, slipping out of my panties and bra before stepping into the shower.

I stayed in the shower until the hot water ran out. The blood washed from my body to reveal dark bruises but only minor lacerations. I pressed lightly around my ribs but couldn't feel anything out of place, although the pain was agonizing. Turning off the water, I peaked around the curtain to see Kaden holding a towel, his head turned away from me. I took it and pulled it around my torso, unable to wrap it too tightly, then climbed out. The steam still filled the room. Kaden's face was damp, his hair pushed out of his eyes, spiking to the sides and looking perfectly disheveled. His shirt stuck to his chest, his broad shoulders framing the muscles underneath.

I shouldn't have been staring; I shouldn't have given him a second thought. He had kidnapped me, taken away my life and identity with one hit of his car and one split decision. I knew he was no better than the men downstairs who didn't have half a care for the woman they had in their upstairs bathroom. But I needed something to hold on to. Some shred of hope that I would survive whatever they had planned for me.

Kaden's bright green eyes danced over my face and body, showing curiosity but no emotion. "You're blonde." I couldn't tell if he was asking a question or making a statement.

"You're perceptive."

"Was that sarcasm or a compliment?"

"I'll call it an honest remark."

Kaden's eyes laughed at me but his lips pulled into a frown. "Get dressed."

He handed me a clean pair of jeans, now my only pair, some cotton panties and a t-shirt, presumably one of his or possibly Ray's judging by the size.

"I want my own clothes."

Kaden didn't say anything, just crossed his arms and stared at me.

Give me my clothes,
I signed to him.

"Sorry, darling. No can do. Get dressed."

I turned away, setting my jeans and shirt on the edge of the sink and picking up the underwear. I raised one foot slowly, careful not to let the towel drop or crush my ribs, and slipped the panties up to my ankle. But my lack of food and water had left me shaky and standing on one leg quickly caused me to lose my balance. I caught myself on the sink, cringing and gasping in pain.

As soon as I stood up and started to make my second attempt, Kaden was standing in front of me.

"Do I have to do everything for you?"

"I'm not asking you to do a damn thing."

"Yah, well, if I didn't you'd still be struggling to make it up the stairs."

Because there are so many other places you should be right now,
I signed
.

"If you have something to say then you should just say it," Kaden told me as he grabbed my hands.

I glared at him but eventually shook my head. I had nothing to say to him.

"I thought so." He pushed my hands aside and then knelt down by my feet, stretching the underwear out so I could step in.

I closed my eyes and instinctively clenched my thighs together. I felt his fingers run up my calves and over my knees, flames licking my skin in their wake. When they got to my thighs, I couldn't allow them to continue. I grabbed the cotton fabric and tugged it from his fingers. His hands seized my wrists and squeezed hard enough for me to give up the fight with the panties and jerk my arms away from his grasp. My underwear, along with my towel, fell to the ground and I inhaled deeply as my vulnerability was exposed.

Kaden stood up slowly, his green eyes taking their time to examine my naked body. His face was close to mine when he finally spoke. "Well, well, you really have nothing to hide now, do you?" His fingers twirled my damp hair and I trembled as he placed the curl on my naked shoulder, the back of his hand grazing the top of my breast.

"Now don't fight this time and it will be over quickly."

I looked past him, blinking away the tears. He dropped to his knees again and I felt the underwear being pulled up from my ankles and his fingers wrapping around my thin bones. His breath was warm on the damp skin of my inner thigh and he made no attempt to conceal what he was doing. His hands worked their way up the back of my calves, lifting the panties. I felt a jolt of arousal deep within me. This should not be happening! My head screamed at me to fight him off, not allow him to touch me this way. But my body was waiting to see where he would go next, waiting to see what he would try.

I kept as still as I possibly could, my breath coming in shallow pants. Cool tears rolled down my cheeks and heat rose from my legs where Kaden touched me. Why couldn't this be over? Why was he torturing me this way? Apparently it wasn't enough to nearly kill me and then capture me before bringing me to this sordid house. Now I had to be humiliated.

Kaden's fingers grazed the back of my thighs. I looked down to see his lips pressed firmly together, his eyes focused on the task. He was so close to my naked and bruised body. His hands climbed until they reached the sensitive area just below my buttocks and then hesitated. My breath caught in my throat as I suppressed a sob and closed my eyes. His touch heightened my senses and the site of his handsome face taking such care to degrade me was overwhelming. I prayed that he would release me. Slowly and confidently, his hands spread my legs and his fingers met between them.

"Please," I whimpered as I felt one of his fingers start to press inside. Please stop? Please continue? I'm not sure what I was begging for at the moment but I knew I couldn't take much more.

His finger remained inside of me while his other hand firmly held the back of my leg. I opened my watery eyes to see him staring up at me. He plunged deeper. I cried out, first from the shock and then a second time from the shock of the pain in my ribs as I inhaled sharply.

Before I could even attempt to recover my composure , Kaden had the elastic band of the panties around my hips. I couldn't look at him as he moved behind me and helped me with my bra, lifting my arms and maneuvering the straps over my shoulders. His hands didn't linger this time and he gently pulled the bra around my sore and blackened ribs. He set my hand on his strong shoulder so I could brace myself against something stable and then slipped on my jeans. The oversized t-shirt was last and Kaden rolled the material up so I could get my head and arms through. It hung halfway to my knees but it smelled fresh, a welcome change from the foul stench of blood and mold.

Once I was completely covered, I finally allowed myself to look at him again. Kaden stared at me and nodded, clearly proud of the job he had accomplished, as if dressing a woman was now some sort of prestigious achievement.

"Do you feel better?" Was he joking? What was there to feel better about?

"Relatively speaking."

"Come on, then. You'll want to eat something, I imagine." He sighed, an annoyed look on his face, and opened the door.

"If I'm such a burden to you, then you should let me go."

"I believe you'll be worth more than the effort it takes me to make a tuna sandwich, Blondie. But how much is yet to be determined, isn't it?" So he was after money. Money I had and I was more than willing to give it up in return for my freedom.

"If you want money, then I can get that for you. Just take me to a bank and I'll empty my account."

"Give me a number." Kaden crossed his arms in front of his chest.

I thought back to all the checks I had received for graduation, my trust fund which had kicked in on my twenty first birthday and had yet to be touched, and the bribes my father had given me for staying out of trouble.

"Twenty five," I finally answered.

"Twenty five hundred? That's not going to last me very long considering I have to split it three ways."

"Thousand. Twenty five thousand dollars."

He stopped and turned around, eyeing me with the same suspicious look he had given me downstairs. "What is a hitchhiker doing with that kind of money?"

"If I can get it for you, why would it matter?"

"Tell me, what makes you think you are in any kind of a position to be asking questions?"

I looked at the ground. I was in no position to be asking anything. But I didn't want him to know the truth. If I told him where all the money came from, he would know I was connected to people who could give him much, much, more. No, it would be better to lie, let him take what I had and leave me be.

"My parents passed away and the twenty five thousand is all that's left of my inheritance."

He walked back to me, raised my chin with his hand and, once satisfied that I was looking at him, signed his response.
L-I-A-R