Weightless (39 page)

“I’m fine, Willow.”

“Bug?”

The sound of his voice jerked me upright. “Rhodes?”

Silence.

“I can’t not see you tonight,” he finally said. I could hear the pain in his words. It was like he’d been fighting them for so long that finally letting them slip into the atmosphere killed him a little. “I’m still leaving in the morning, and I can’t promise you anything more than tonight. I know I treated you like shit because I somehow always manage to fuck up the best things in my life.” He exhaled, slowly breathing life back into me. “I don’t deserve for you to come over. But I’m asking you anyway.”

I bit my bottom lip with enough force to draw blood. Relief washed over me at the same time the delicious ache from running echoed through my muscles. He wanted to see me. Nothing more, nothing less, but it was just enough to reaffirm the hope I’d been clinging to. “Give me fifteen.”

“Bug?”

“Yeah?”

There was a pause, and I felt my heartrate accelerate.

“Hurry.”

I debated not showering, but one look in the mirror changed my mind. I could barely stand as the hot water washed over me. My body was caught in a mixture of the anticipation to see Rhodes and the extreme fatigue from my run. Adrenaline could only push me so far before the aches would take over. Still, I hurried through the shower and dressed in shorts and a tank top, throwing my still-wet hair up into a bun. Foregoing makeup, I looked at myself one last time before quietly sneaking out of my room.

Tiptoeing down the stairs, I willed my heart to calm itself so I could make it the rest of the way out of the house without being detected. Mom had ripped into me after I ran out to see Rhodes at the club earlier that week. I didn’t want to take the chance of her catching me now and keeping me from him.

My hand reached for the handle on our front door just as a deep voice rang through the darkness.

“Going somewhere?”

I jumped, turning quickly and scanning the black foyer until I spotted Dale. He was kicked back in the recliner next to the couch, hands folded in his lap, amused smirk on his face. I could barely make him out, but the soft light from the kitchen illuminated him just enough for me to realize he wasn’t sober.

Great.

“Jesus, Dale,” I said, blowing out a breath. “You scared me.”

He didn’t respond.

“Um, I’m just going out for a run. I know it’s late, but I can’t sleep.”

“A run, huh?”

I swallowed, realizing I probably wasn’t too convincing at the moment. Thankfully, I had forgotten to take off my watch. Holding up my wrist, I smiled. “Yep. Got my watch set and my shoes are out in the Rover. Just going to throw them on and get started. I won’t go too far.”

He laughed, but it wasn’t the laugh I was so familiar with. It seemed sinister, and suddenly the hairs on my arms were at attention. “You honestly expect me to believe that, don’t you?” He shook his head, folding the recliner down with a pop. He was sitting up straight now, his eyes hard on me even through the dim light. “Your hair is still wet from the shower I just heard you taking upstairs. You went for a run earlier, and I know that because your mom told me just before she took her sleeping pills. I can see why you thought you’d be able to sneak out easily, what with those things knocking her out and all, but unfortunately for you, I’m still here. And I see right through your little charade. You’re sneaking out to see him, and I can tell you right now, that’s not going to happen.”

My throat was tight, my hands cold. “Dale, please,” I begged. I hated the shakiness of my voice. I wanted to demand respect, I wanted to storm out, but I knew Dale. He wanted to feel like everything was his decision. My only chance of seeing Rhodes was to make him think this was. “You got what you wanted. Rhodes is leaving. I’m never going to see him again. Just… please, give me tonight.” Hoping to play into the father-daughter relationship, I even tried a joke. “I watched the last episode of
Lost
today. Have some pity.” I laughed, and a smile creaked over his lips, but it fell too quickly for my taste.

Standing, Dale made his way into the foyer, crossing his arms over his chest. He scanned me from head to toe with glazed eyes, that same smug smirk reappearing as he did. I could tell he was on something, but I didn’t know what. “He really did do a number on you, didn’t he?”

I gulped, stepping back but running straight into the front door. “Dale… you’re not thinking straight. I think you should go up to bed. Sleep it off.”

He stepped closer, and I could clearly smell it — he’d been drinking. Whiskey. But the way he was acting, there was no way he was just drunk. Something else was intoxicating him.

“It’s just amazing. You were always pretty, but he made you…” His voice trailed off and he shook his head, reaching out a hand to thumb my chin. I jerked away from his touch. “Let’s just say I can see why he was so quick to claim you as his own.”

“Dale. Stop. You’re being creepy.” I tried to sound firm, pushing my fist into his chest to put space between us. He only stepped closer, wrapping his fingers around my wrist. For some reason, that simple move violated me more than his words. I only wanted Rhodes’ fingers on my wrist.

“You really want to go see him tonight, don’t you?”

I nodded, swallowing a sandpaper-covered cotton ball as he leaned even closer. He was squeezing my wrist with enough force to make my nerves jump to life. Something was wrong. And I realized at that very moment, I was scared of my step-dad.

“Well, I can let you go and not tell your mother,” he said, and though those words should have brought me relief, they only made me shake in his grip. His next sentence proved my fear to be warranted. “But you’ll have to do something for me.”

He grinned wider, licking his bottom lip as his eyes fell to mine. Bile rose in my throat and I couldn’t hide the horror that quickly appeared on my face. “Oh my God, Dale.” I tried to shove him away, but he only grabbed my other wrist, and now he had both of them in a tight grip. My heart pounded in my ears. He was serious.
Oh God
, he was serious.

A mixture of fear and disgust rolled through me and I jerked my arms with as much force as I could, but it barely fazed him. My muscles were exhausted, and Dale was stronger. It didn’t take me long to realize the sickening implication behind those two facts.

“Dale, please, let me go,” I cried, tugging my arms again. He shoved me back hard against the door, knocking the wind from my chest. Wide-eyed and shaking, I flexed my knee forward and connected with his groin. Dale coughed and bent forward, but kept his grip on my wrists. I squirmed against his grasp, trying to wriggle free as he strained to catch his breath again. But I was trapped. And when he lifted his head again, his dark eyes were venomous. He released one of my wrists long enough to rear back and slap my face.

The force hurled me to the ground and I hit the hardwood floor with a smack. Groaning, I grabbed my head between my hands, trying to stop my vision from spinning. Pain echoed through my skull as I tried to focus on the legs of our coffee table across the room. I blinked over and over, but the room kept sliding quickly from the left to the right in my vision. I squeezed my eyes tight, willing my head to settle, praying the dizziness would pass.

Dale dropped down on top of me, pinning my wrists above my head. My chest was tight, my breaths labored. I felt the panic setting in and I couldn’t think straight. Shaking my head wildly, I thrashed against his grip, my eyes wide, vision still blurred.

“Dale! Stop! Please!” I screamed for Mom, but that only made him laugh. He knew as well as I did that she was passed out and not even my screaming was going to wake her. When a sickening snarl curled on his lip, I realized this was how he liked it. He wanted me to fight. He wanted me to struggle.

I swallowed back the acid rising in my throat, squeezing my eyes tight again.
This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening.

“God, you smell so good,” Dale whispered, inhaling a deep breath against my neck. I squeezed my eyes tighter as hot tears leaked out of each one. I focused on them as they seared a trail from my cheeks to my ears. When I felt Dale fidgeting with the spandex band of his sweatpants, my eyes snapped open.

I bucked against him, thrashing, kicking, screaming, crying. A rush of adrenaline had sparked to life and I tried so hard to help it catch fire. I tried to head butt him, to knee him again, but every attempt was futile. My muscles wouldn’t cooperate, and Dale wouldn’t budge.

“Dale,” I groaned, tears streaming, throat aching. “God, please. Please stop. Please.
Please
.” I said the word over and over, praying to his humanity or God or whoever would listen first.

“Shhh,” he whispered, touching his finger to my lips as his other hand still held my wrists firmly in place. I shook my head against the touch. “Just relax.”

I choked on a sob, writhing beneath him. My heart was pounding in my ears. It was beating so fast. Too fast. I was going to pass out. I was sure of it.

My eyes fluttered open, the beat growing louder and louder in my ears. Dale was still saying something, but I couldn’t make it out anymore. Everything was muted, vision still like a dream, or rather a nightmare. I simply stared up at the chandelier, watching it shimmer and glitter like the horrific scene just beneath it weren’t real. Like I wasn’t real. Like I didn’t exist.

Everything was in slow motion. Time was morphing.
Inhale. Exhale.
Dale’s hand slid up my inner thigh and two more tears slid down to join the puddles forming in my ears. A cry left my lips, but I didn’t hear it. I didn’t hear anything. I didn’t smell or feel or taste. I only saw through blurred, distorted vision. The chandelier. The chandelier was all that existed.

Something broke the edges of my vision, but still, no sound came. There was commotion, muffled voices and screams pierced through the barrier. I blinked. Dale was off me. I blinked again. Still the chandelier. I blinked once more.

Rhodes.

All of my senses came rushing back at once.

I gasped, bolting upright as the breath hit my lungs. Eyes wide, I clawed at Rhodes as he lifted me into him. He wrapped his arms around me. He was kissing my hair. He was saying something.
What was he saying?
Nothing made sense.
My head.
I reached up, fingering a tender spot on the back of my skull. My hand was wet. Blood.

Dale was on the ground. A woman stood over him. She had a gun.
Who was she?

Dale’s laugh was the first sound to truly register. It broke through the fog, and it was as if I were hearing for the first time.

“You,” he seethed. “Well, well. Look who’s risen from the dead!” His mouth was bleeding, staining his teeth as he smiled up at us. The woman still had the gun trained on him. All I could see was the back of her head. She had short brown hair and a dove tattoo on the back of her neck.

“You would love me to be dead, wouldn’t you?” Her voice was sweet, but firm. Her hands shook just slightly as she adjusted her grip on the gun.

Dale laughed again. “You going to shoot me, sweetheart? Go ahead. I’d just love to see your pretty little ass thrown in jail.”

“Lana, don’t,” Rhodes warned as the woman’s finger wavered on the trigger. I gasped.

“Lana?”

Her eyes flicked to mine, but all I saw was Rhodes. She looked just like him. Same green eyes, same strong jaw, same bent brow. Eying Rhodes’ arms around me for just a moment, she snapped her attention back to Dale.

“As much as I’d love to be the one to kill you, I’d rather see you rot in prison.”

Dale laughed harder and Rhodes lurched forward. Lana held out one arm to stop him. I knew more than anyone that he could have easily plowed through her, but he didn’t.

“I don’t know what you don’t get about this situation, sweetheart. I’m Dale
Poxton
. This is
Poxton
Beach. I own this fucking town.”

“I’ve been gathering witnesses. I have fourteen girls willing to testify against you.”

“And I’ve got three highly-respected doctors who will diagnose every single one of them with some form of mental instability,” he argued, not even fazed in the slightest. He lifted himself from the ground, still sitting but leaning back against the wall. “It’s my word against yours. And theirs. Sexual assault is one of the hardest crimes to prove, baby, and let me assure you, I am the only one who comes out a winner in the end.”

I watched as Lana’s face crumbled. Rhodes lurched forward again.

“You mother fucking son of a bitch!” Lana didn’t stop him this time and I watched as his fist connected with Dale’s jaw. His face flew to the left with a loud crack, blood spurting from his mouth and painting the wall behind him.

“It’s okay,” Lana tried to soothe Rhodes, but she didn’t seem sure herself. “Phil will know what to do. We have the witnesses. We can do this.”

“Who the fuck is Phil?” Dale asked.

“Not every cop on your squad is crooked,” Rhodes spat at him. His eyes connected with mine and recognition hit.
Officer Martino
.

Dale shook his head, thumbing the fresh wound on his lower lip and chuckling at the blood. “Again. No evidence.” He shook his head, still smiling. “I knew you were still out there. One by one, girls I had an eye on for so long started disappearing. Moving away. None of them went to the cops but I knew something was going on. And I just had a feeling it was you.” His eyes were so dark, so venomous. “You drove me to drink pretty hard this summer, little girl. But let me just remind you, you’ve got one cop and fifteen mentally unstable girls against a man whose family has owned this town since it was founded. Who do you think comes out on top, baby cakes?”