“Now, why would you punish yourself that way? Listen, let’s make a plan for how you want this to go. If she is in this boy’s house, do you want to call the house, alert his parents? That might be a better idea than just going up to the door and beating on it.”
“I don’t think they’re going to his house. He doesn’t live in Ohio.”
“Are you sure?”
Bonnie thought about it. Actually, she wasn’t sure. She turned at a traffic light, and they drove on the bridge. “Not really, no. But I assume he lives in Kentucky because they go to school together.” She hit the steering wheel with her hand. “I should know these things. What kind of mother am I?”
“You’re a mother who trusted her daughter until she gave you a reason not to.”
“If something happens to her, I’ll kill him.”
Brandt reached over and grasped one of her hands. “Can you drive one-handed?”
“Yes.”
He guided her hand to rest between them, intertwining their hands. “Breathe.”
“I am breathing.”
“There’s a Buddhist saying that each person is allotted only so many breaths in their lifetime.”
“You’re Buddhist?”
“Listen to the wisdom. Not the theology. You only have so many breaths in your lifetime. That’s motivation to slow your breathing down. You’ll live longer. Deep, steadying breaths.” His tone of voice was calm and soothing. “Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. In and out. Breathe with me. In and out.” He demonstrated the breaths, and Bonnie followed his lead. “Good. Slow and deep. Turn left here.”
Bonnie followed his directions.
“We’re going where she’s going. She has a tag on. We aren’t going to lose her.” His fingers squeezed her hand briefly. “Okay?”
A calm settled over Bonnie. She continued to breathe the slow breaths. “Okay.”
Bonnie drove to a neighborhood on the East side of Hampton. When Bonnie pulled up in front of the house in a cul-de-sac, she paused. Cars were everywhere, and every light was on in the house.
“It’s a party,” Bonnie said.
“Okay, so, calling his parents in the house is probably not going to work. We could call the police.”
“No! What if they arrest her?”
Brandt didn’t respond. Bonnie looked at him in the darkened interior of the car. His meaningful look elicited a protest from Bonnie.
“She’s fifteen. I don’t want her to have an arrest record.”
“They won’t arrest her, just bring her in, and call you. It might scare her enough not to do this again.”
Bonnie parked the car and shut off the engine. She removed the key from the ignition and palmed her key ring. “I just want to go get her and bring her home.”
“Okay. You go in, and I’ll be your back-up.”
“You’ll be my back-up?”
He nodded. “I’ve got your back. You need me, I’ll be right there.”
“But people will see you.”
“Not unless I need to intervene. It will be all right. I’ve done things like this lots of times. But a lot trickier. This will be easy.”
“I wish I’d worn a bra.” Realization struck Bonnie, and she covered her face with her hands. “Oh, my gosh. You saw me naked.”
“Nah. It was too dark.”
“You said you could see really well in the dark because of your pupils.”
“Acknowledged. But you weren’t completely naked. You had on your panties.”
“I’m such an idiot. Just kill me. Kill me right now.”
“Let’s go get Kayla. You can apologize later for taking your clothes off in front of me without any apparent interest in my presence whatsoever.”
Bonnie sighed. She lowered her hands and shook her head in disbelief. “Damn that Rex. This is his fault.”
Brandt laughed.
Bonnie exited the car and straightened her spine. I will be calm. I will not freak out and scream. No matter what I find.
She walked to the front of the house and pushed the already ajar door open. Rock music met her, overwhelming her hearing and giving her an instant headache. All these kids are going to go deaf. Walking into the foyer, two teens shot her startled glances as they left. A large group of people congregated in the living room, and Bonnie nearly growled when she saw a keg placed prominently in the back. She scanned faces for Kayla but didn’t see her.
A big screen television showed two people engaged in graphic sex. Bonnie walked in front of it, found the power button, and punched it. She turned and glared at several of the people who protested her action.
“Would your mother want you watching that trash?” she snapped to one vocal young man.
“His mother was the one in the G-string,” someone said.
“Shut up, Randal. She is not.”
Bonnie walked into the kitchen and found them. Kayla held a Solo cup, and Rex had his arm around her. A few other people milled around in the kitchen, but when they noticed her, they made a quick exit.
Kayla’s eyes grew round. “Mom? What are you doing here?”
Rex kept his arm around Kayla’s shoulders. His bold stare held no remorse. Only defiance.
“Come on,” Bonnie said. “We’re going home.”
“I’ll bring her home after a while,” Rex returned, moving a little closer to Kayla.
“No. She’s going home with me now.” Bonnie reached to take the cup out of Kayla’s hand, and Rex blocked her. The cup fell to the floor, and the smell of beer filled the room.
“You’re drinking?”
“It’s just beer, Mom.”
“You’re underage. Both of you are.”
“Why don’t you mind your own business?” Rex pushed Kayla behind him, and crossed his arms over his chest. He was a big boy, at least six feet tall, and Bonnie had to tilt her head to look at him.
“Kayla is my business.” Bonnie attempted to reach around him, but he grabbed her arm, his fingers biting into her skin.
“Rex, stop,” Kayla said. “That’s my mom.”
The pressure increased, and Bonnie tried to pull her arm away, but he wrenched her downward, and she fell to her knees. Then in horror, she watched Rex turn to Kayla, with hatred in his eyes. “What did you say to me?” He raised his other hand to her.
“No!” Bonnie said, attempting to move in between them as a shield before he hit her daughter. But she never got the chance, and Rex never got his chance either.
Brandt appeared, and Bonnie was free of Rex’s grip. She stumbled backward, and watched in amazement as Brandt stood in between Kayla and Rex. Rex grabbed Brandt by the throat, and in an instant, Rex was on his knees with Brandt behind him, holding the boy’s hands in what appeared to be a painful stance.
“Oww. Oww,” Rex bellowed.
Brandt stepped forward and leaned into him until Rex lay down on his belly.
Something pushed into Bonnie’s side, and when she looked, Kayla was at her side as tears streamed down her face.
“Mom. Mom.”
Bonnie put her arm around her daughter and guided her out of the room, out of the house, and to the car. She put Kayla, who was still crying, beside her in the front seat.
“How could he do that? How could he knock you down like that?”
“Because he didn’t care if he hurt me. I was getting in the way of what he wanted.” Bonnie looked in the console and found a travel pack of tissues. She pulled one out and tucked it into her daughter’s hands.
Was Brandt coming? Bonnie wasn’t sure. She turned and looked through the window at the house.
“Who was that guy?”
“What guy?” Bonnie asked.
“That guy that jumped in between Rex and us.”
“Oh. Did you get a good look at him? He was one of your friends maybe?”
“I didn’t know anybody there. Rex said it was a college party.”
Kayla, why did you go with him?
Bonnie resisted aski
ng for now.
“Do you think he hurt Rex?”
I hope so. “Kayla, has Rex hit you?”
She didn’t answer immediately. Oh, my God, have mercy.
“He gets mad sometimes. He’s never hit me.”
Bonnie puzzled over the response. He gets mad, and he’s never hit her. But he’s done something else.
“What has he done when he’s gotten mad at you?”
“Mom, please. I don’t want you to freak out about this.”
Breathe. Breathe. “Okay. I will try not to freak out.”
“A couple of times he’s grabbed me, like, when I didn’t want to go somewhere. But he gets over it quick. I think it’s because he plays football. You know, he’s used to being physical and acting on impulse.”
Fury brewed in Bonnie’s chest. Breathe. Breathe in. Breathe out. I only have so many breaths. Bonnie turned on the interior light in the car. She reached over and pushed up Kayla’s sleeve and saw bruises on her upper arm.
Bonnie sighed. She turned out the light.
“You’re not going to freak out, are you?”
“Honey, it’s not okay for him to hurt you.”
“He didn’t mean to.”
“They always say that, and they’re always sorry afterward. If he loves you, he wouldn’t hurt you. He wouldn’t grab you or make you go where you didn’t want to go.”
“I can’t believe he knocked you down. My own mom.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“I guess I’m not going to do anything. You’re probably going to restrict me for the rest of my life and start sleeping in my room.”
“Sweetie, there’s a more serious issue here, and me restricting you isn’t going to fix it. If you stay with him, he’s going to keep hurting you.”
Kayla reached up and wiped the tears falling from her eyes. “He’s nice most of the time.”
“Until you do something he doesn’t like.”
“Mom, I’m somebody when I’m with him. No other tenth-grader is dating a senior.”
“Maybe there’s a reason he dates tenth-graders. Maybe the twelfth grade girls got tired of him grabbing them and pushing them around.”
“You just don’t understand.”
“I’m trying to. I really am.”
The back door opened. Bonnie glanced back and saw Brandt sit behind Kayla. He nodded to Bonnie, and she headed for home amid Kayla’s tearful words.
“I can’t believe he knocked you down like that,” Kayla said.
“Let’s just go home, and we can talk about it later.”
But what could Bonnie say to her to convince her Rex was an abuser? It seemed the more things Bonnie did to keep them apart made Kayla that much more determined to be with him.
Chapter Thirteen
“I guess I’m in trouble,” Kayla said looking at her mother once the car had pulled into the carport. She opened the door but didn’t leave the car.
Brandt didn’t move. He waited to hear what Bonnie would say.
“This has been a difficult night, and it’s late. Why don’t you go on to bed and try to get some sleep. Tomorrow we’ll sort it out.”
The girl sighed. “Are you going to sleep in my room?”
“Do I need to?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
Kayla swung her legs out and stood. She looked remarkably like her mother except her hair was a darker shade of red and longer. She shut the door and walked to the house.
Bonnie looked back at him. “She didn’t even know you were in the car.”
“She’s upset. People who are upset aren’t observant.”
“Can you stay a little while?”
Brandt wanted to reach forward and touch her, comfort her. “Sure.”
“Would you wait here until Veda leaves?”
Brandt nodded though he exited the car when Bonnie did. She walked into the house, and Brandt stood at the corner of the house out of the illumination of the light until he saw Bonnie’s neighbor walk across the yard to her own house across the street. He slipped into the house, listening for movement. Bonnie wasn’t in the living room or kitchen, so he waited a couple of minutes, stepped to the hallway, and heard shower sounds coming from the bathroom.
Bonnie’s bedroom door was open. He paused at the threshold and saw she was inside sitting on the edge of the bed. She looked up when he entered.
“May I come in?” he murmured.
She nodded and stood, closing the door behind him. The room was dim, the only light coming from a lamp on the bedside table. She stood inside the door and crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.
“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do.” The expression on her face was at once desperate and hopeless. “He’s got some control over her, and I can’t protect her.”
The need to soothe her tore at Brandt, but he didn’t approach her. He waited for a signal from her. “Tonight, she’s safe. You made sure of that.”
“What if you hadn’t been there? What could I have done? He would have hurt her, and I was powerless to do anything.” She sat down on the bed, looking at him with tears in her eyes. “When she goes to school Monday, it’s going to start again.”
Brandt knelt in front of her. “You’ve got the weekend to figure something out.”
“Maybe I should keep her home from school.”
“No. She should go. He won’t bother her.”
Bonnie took his hand that had been resting on his thigh. “Come sit here with me before your legs go to sleep.” As he moved to join her, she asked, “How do you know he won’t bother her? I’ve made it worse by going in and taking her from the party.”
“I had a little talk with him after I invited him to lie down on the floor.”
“What did you say?”
Brandt shrugged, not wanting to tell her he’d scared the shit out of the asshole, threatening him within an inch of his life if he said or did anything to hurt Kayla again. Brandt was specific when he talked to the guy because he didn’t want to leave the dumbass any loopholes or leeway.
During his speech, Brandt had moved Rex’s arm so far behind his back the boy had begun to whimper in pain. And just for an added bonus, he growled in his ear while he had him pinned to the floor.
He thought with such strict stipulations, Rex would probably break up with Kayla, but Brandt hadn’t told him to do so because those kinds of decrees made the relationship sweeter to pursue—like a Romeo and Juliet kind of deal, and Brandt had seen enough tragedy without being the cause of one.
“I said, ‘Be nice.’”
Bonnie exhaled a breath of surprise. “Do you think he’ll do it?”
Their clasped hands rested between them on her unmade bed. “I think so. I gave him the ninja nudge. It’s an effective method of persuasion.”
Her fingers tightened on his. “Thank you, Brandt.”
“You’re welcome.”
Her gaze dropped to his lips. He thought she wanted to kiss him, but she didn’t move. Was she afraid he didn’t want her to or that he did? He reached up and caressed her cheek and she moved her face into his hand. Then she leaned forward and touched her mouth to his. Immediately, the kiss became desperate and searching. Brandt figured all the tension and anxiety feeding her adrenaline now enflamed the passion in the kiss. He tempered her emotions, slowing her hurried pace by cherishing each touch and taste.
“I think,” he whispered against her skin, “you are so beautiful.”
She stopped and drew back, gazing at him intensely. “I wish I knew you were real,” she whispered back.
“I’m trying to show you I am.” He moved her hand under his shirt, to rest on his chest over his heart. Her fingers pressed against his skin, and her thumb moved to graze his nipple, making him shudder.
She kissed him again, but a sound from the hallway stopped him. “Your daughter,” he said.
Bonnie’s eyes widened. She pushed him to the far
side of the bed. “Get on the floor,” she hissed at him.
There was a knock on the door. “Mom?”
Brandt scooted across the mattress, looking behind him at Bonnie who stood and scrambled to the doorway. Placing his feet on the floor, he crouched down on the floor and was in the process of getting below the level of the bed when he spotted a little boy lying down next to the bed. He gazed at Brandt solemnly, and in shock Brandt returned his stare.
This had to be Bonnie’s younger son, the five-year-old.
The door opened. “What is it, honey?” Bonnie asked.
“Can I lay down with you?” Kayla asked.
“Let’s go to your room,” Bonnie suggested. They moved down the hall.
Brandt sat up, and so did the boy. He wore pajamas, and his light brown hair stuck up in several places. His eyes were the same color as Bonnie’s. He blinked at Brandt like a wise owl.
“Smoking’s bad for you,” the youngster said.
****
He’d disappeared again.
When Bonnie came back to her bedroom after Kayla had fallen asleep, she’d found her bedroom empty.
No note or anything.
He’d texted her the next day and said he’d come by the Commonwealth offices at two on Monday afternoon if that suited her. She’d texted him back and accepted.
At two on the dot, Tammy had called Bonnie and told her Brandt was in the lobby. When Bonnie stepped out of the elevator, she didn’t see Brandt in front of Tammy’s desk where she expected him to be. Then she heard a familiar whistled version of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.
Joy filled Bonnie’s chest, and she turned and saw him leaning against a pillar on the far side of the room. Dressed in the same black he had on Friday night with sunglasses shielding his eyes, he looked sophisticated and a little mysterious.
My bonnie lies over the ocean. My bonnie lies over the sea.
Bonnie walked toward him, realizing she felt relief he had kept his word. He said he’d be here at two, and he had done just as he said.
He’d ceased the song as she approached and stood as if made of the marble he leaned against. She stopped a respectable distance from him.
What should she say? Hi, Brandt. Thank you, Brandt. Why did you leave without saying goodbye? Will you kiss me again?
Unforgettable Heroes II Boxed Set Page 104