When they arrived at their destination, she took a deep breath as he turned off the motor. "I want you to know, I take care of my sick grandmother when I am not at work. She means a lot to me and I can't imagine a world without her, but she's dying because her heart is weak. I told you all of this because if after three days I refuse, I don't want you to think it's because of you, or age or your color. Choosing between her health status and you wouldn't be hard. I'd choose her."
He nodded and watched her get out the van. He followed suit as she came around to his side and stood to look up at him.
"Good bye Ethan," she said.
He drew her in his arms intending to kiss her so deeply she wouldn’t' resist him. Her response was immediate and she equaled his passion drawing his own senses into the kiss. They were oblivious to their surroundings as he moved her around until her back was pressed against the van's door and he was pinning her body was his waist. She felt light as a feather as he lifted her and drew her legs around his waist and with one hand he held her up there securely as his other hand moved under her shirt making a direct path to the soft mound of her breast. She moaned as he cupped the fullness in his hand and moved his thumb against the tip. She was senseless and completely under his control wanting so much more.
A flash of light coming around the corner startled them both and they quickly drew away from each other. The taxi passed them without stopping, but they both knew things had gotten way out of hand for both of them.
When he reached to touch her again, she moved quickly away and stood arms length from him to regain her equilibrium. "I am going. I'll see you in three days Ethan."
He watched as she ran away into the darkness and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He wanted to pound his head against the door and curse for losing his cool. Who was in control of what he did not know. On one hand she was driving him crazy with her sexuality and he was tearing her apart with his wantonness for her. There was no doubt in his mind she wanted him, but as she said there was too much responsibility on her hands to involve herself.
He'd heard the rumors in the nearby bars that Marvin was tough and lots of guys talked about trying to get in her pants. One man even spoke about hearing Marvin saying he planned on getting in those panties first. They way they spoke about her, one would think this girl was a virgin but the way she acted to him was definitely a different story. He refused to believe an almost twenty beautiful smart girl like that would allow her uncle by marriage have so much control over her life now especially now that she was not even a minor. Yet, the men at the bar, men who had gone to school with her told rattled on about stories of Marvin threatening to cut off family jewels if he found out anyone of them had touched his niece.
When Ethan had seen them interact in the Laundromat before he had made his presence known to her, Marvin had been very rough on her and once he had even dragged her in the back and a lot of screaming and hollering from the both of them had in sued. When Marvin had left from there, she hadn't come back up to the window for a couple of hours and even then he saw redness on her face.
So Marvin probably slapped her around a couple of times. She didn't seem as if she couldn't handle him. If she didn't want to be there why didn't she leave? Was Nanna that important to her than her own life?
Had making her choose between spending time with him and being beside Nanna been wrong on his part? Ethan had to wonder. It didn't matter; his main objective was to destroy his wife, well his ex-wife if he got his way in a month. His lawyers could have the whole thing settled by then and Lynne would be out of his life and destroyed not only financially because she would have to pay for the cost of the proceedings, but she didn't know this yet, she would also be destroyed mentally knowing he had seduced her daughter.
If she was innocent, it would be all the sweeter.
Chapter 7
As soon as she closed the door to her home, a hard pain came to the back of her head sending her sprawling to the floor. Turning over and blinking to catch the dizzying room, Marvin stood over her with his fist bawled up. Lynne was holding him back ordering him to give Nicole time to explain herself.
"What?" Nicole asked innocently.
"Where the fuck were you?" he bellowed.
Her heart raced as she tried to get up, but the room was still spinning. "I was at work."
He kicked her in the thigh with his steel toe boots. "You fucking liar." He pushed Lynne away and grabbed Nicole by her hair to drag her in the kitchen. Nicole screamed and held on his arm to decrease the pain in her head. He practically tossed her against the kitchen wall, and then before she could pull herself up, he grabbed her collar and swung her around until she was thrown over the kitchen table and landed on the floor. He came around the table and pinned her down.
Nicole tried to block the blows to her face and chest, but the several that got through hurt so bad she almost gave up in her effort to protect herself.
Lynne shoved him away screaming at him to stop. "You're going to kill her asshole!"
Marvin angrily backhanded her to silence. "If you think she's going to go around and be a fucking tramp like her Mamma, then she's got another thing coming. I'll fucking kill her and you if I catch any man between her legs."
"So you can fuck her for yourself," Lynne sneered. "I wouldn't put it past you Marvin since you fucked your sister."
Marvin raised his fist to slap her again, but Lynne took a glass bowl and knocked him over his head. He fell to the ground out cold.
Nicole crawled to a corner still trying to protect herself as Lynne walked over to her and just stared down at her. "I'm surprised he hasn't raped you already," she sneered and walked out the house grabbing Marvin's keys off the dining room table.
####
Awaking the next morning in her bed, she groaned in pain as she sat up feeling the muscles in her body scream at being moved. She tried the door to her room, but the door was locked. Covering her swollen face with her swollen hands, she sobbed in frustration wondering if and when he would let her out. Once he did, where would she go, who could she run to? No one cared. What about Nanna? Looking about the room, she saw a first aid kit, some cat food and a bucket.
Moving back to the bed, she covered herself up and cried even more.
####
After three days he went to the Laundromat confident she would give him a positive response. He'd brought a load of clothes to throw everyone off, but when he saw a different girl up at the window with Cleo, he left. Had she exchanged shifts with someone to avoid him?
When a week passed and she didn't show up for work, he staked out the house. His lawyer informed him, Lynne's lawyer wanted to meet for negotiations at the end of the second week. That time came very slow and he was at his wits end. As far as he knew from questioning the nurses that went in and out of the house that no one had seen Nicole.
Entering Bynum and Bernstein law office, followed by Renaldo Bellini, his lawyer out of Chicago, he wanted to grab Lynne by her neck and demand she tell him where Nicole was, but when he saw Lynne she looked aloof and stressed herself. Obviously Mr. Bynum her lawyer had informed her, whatever assets of hers would be used to pay the proceedings and she knew there was nothing she could do. The sooner she got the proceedings over with, the less money she would have to pay and she had demanded the proceedings over with as soon as possible.
When the tremors of the divorce came up and the court appointed negotiator asked Lynne do she have any objections to not taking anything from Ethan, Lynne looked at Ethan long and hard, then shook her head.
"I don't want anything."
"What a surprise," he sneered.
She narrowed her eyes knowing he was aiming for a verbal fight. "I won't give you what you want Ethan. The sooner you're out the picture the sooner I can get on with my life. I've got prospects and you are just in my way."
"Was your daughter in your way too? Is that why you got rid of her."
Lynne stood up and started to leave. He jumped up and moved around to block he
r path. "Get out of my way, Ethan. What I do with my child is none of your business?"
"It is when she disappears in thin air. Did you kill her Lynne? Was she that much in your way to get your hands on your mother's money?"
Lynne slapped him with rage running through every fiber of her being, but that didn't daunt his cold expression nor did it stop his hand from going around her neck and holding her tightly. Renaldo jumped from his seat and moved to stop Ethan.
"Whatever she's done is not worth it. We'll get the law involved, Ethan, but hurting her will not be worth it."
Ethan held on for one more moment, then released her and walked out the room knowing Renaldo would handle the proceedings from here on with his client's best interest in mind. He knew if he spent another moment in that room with that bitch, he would kill her.
The next afternoon as he was staking out Nanna's home, he saw the long brown coat come out the door. He nearly dropped his coffee trying to sit up from his crotched down position. Pulling the car in drive, he followed the figure all the way to the store and then drove to his site to look for David who lived across the street from the site he was working on. He had to wait until the boy got out of school before he could talk to him, then his mother made him wait an extra hour after that before David could come outside in the cold weather.
He sent David around to the store instructing him to give a message to Nicole. If she wasn't there, don't reveal who sent him and just leave. David came back after a half an hour looking a bit shook up.
"What happened?"
"She wasn't there and a mean old lady who looked like her said she's gone to school away from home. She asked me who sent me and I lied and said my daddy wanted to know about some clothes he dropped off, but it was like she knew I was lying and she tried to grab me, but I ran out." David gave him the ten dollars back. "I don't want to go around there no more until she comes back, mister."
"When will you know if she comes back?"
"My sister works at the corner store near there, I could tell her to look in for her."
"Thanks David."
Ethan decided to go next door and knock on Cleo's door. One of his foremen told him that he had talked to the older woman about the noise early in the morning and Ethan didn't mind adjusting the workman's schedule so she could get some sleep.
Cleo looked very wary when she opened the door to him, but left her security door closed. "Don't I know you?" she asked.
"I use the Laundromat up the street. I wanted to ask you about Nicole."
"There's nothing to ask." She started to close the door. "She don't get involved with customers."
"Please," he beseeched.
The tone of his voice made her stop. "What do you want?"
"I want to know where she is?"
"The owner said she's staying at the hospital with her grandmother as far as I know."
The cold bit at his ears. He only put on his sheepskin to speak to David and it was freezing cold outside. "That's not true. I know it's not true, but I can't explain how I know. Can I come in, because I think she might be in trouble?"
Cleo looked worried and then confused. Finally, she unlocked the security door and let him in. He put of the cigarette he'd been smoking and came in. The home was clean, but it had that familiar poverty smell. She offered him a seat on the couch, and he welcomed it. He knew not to refuse any generosity because she would think it as an insult.
"When she didn't come in a couple of weeks ago and Marvin started working her shift, I got a little suspicious but he told me to shut my mouth. Well, one of the customers didn't like how his orders were always late so he demanded to know where she was. I happen to be there early trying to help with the Christmas orders and Marvin told him that Nanna got rushed to the hospital and Nicole was doing some vigil by her side. This sounded like Nicky because I know her grandmother means everything to her."
"I know that's not true because I've been watching for her. Nanna's still in the house on bed rest. I spoke to one of the nurses just the other day. They say she's getting worse, but there hasn't been any sign of Nicole. Do you think she might of run away?"
Cleo shook her head. "She wouldn't leave Nanna. I don't care how bad Marvin beats her."
"He beats her?"
"Hell yeah, but nothing lately. The last time he hit her was when she demanded to know why there was so much money missing from the accounts. He dragged her in the back and slapped her around a couple of times, but that was about a month or so ago. She told me about it. As far as I know, he only hits her when she stands up for herself or she does something he doesn't like."
"Could this be one of those times? Could he have hit her and hurt her?"
"Maybe, but… he'd never kill her. I think Marvin likes her a lot. I've seen how he looks at her sometimes. That's why he made me work nights cause I made a comment one time that if he kept looking at her that way, he might as well fuck her, but I was just teasing. He got so pissed at me though and that's when he started looking for reasons to fire me."
The thought of the uncle wanting to do something like that to his niece repulsed him, yet maybe Marvin could have done so.
He passed her his business card. "If you find out anything, can you give me a call?"
She nodded taking the card. "Why are you so interested in her?" she asked suspiciously. "Do you like her or something?"
"Or something. She was real nice to me and feels bad for treating her the way I did. I want to apologize and well I know she's a student and I thought I'd do something nice for her."
"Like what? She's smart. You could give her a nice job at your company. She's sweet too. If you really knew her you'd like her. She wouldn't hurt anyone and she works real hard."
"Are you two good friends?"
Cleo flushed. "I don't think Marvin let's her have any friends, but we talked a lot. I got her to open up about stuff and I taught her a lot of stuff. Marvin never lets her interact with boys. I thought I'd die when I found out she was a twenty year old virgin. She'd asked me a lot about sex and I'd tell her." She looked him over with appreciate wondering if she could work her wiles on him.
He stood up stiffly. "If you find anything, can you call me? I've been staying next door, but I don't anymore if I'll be moving in on the property too soon anymore."
"Yeah, sure and if you get lonely next door and you want to talk about Nick, I've always got my door open."
Ethan had to wonder what else would she have opened if he accepted her offer. "Thanks, Happy Holidays." Once he left, he went next door and called the investigator on what he had found out. He knew this was enough evidence to get them out there.
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Picking the millionth splinter out of her finger, she continued digging at the hole in the wall. She knew beyond the attic door was some space. Ten years ago an electrical fire had hit the house and the backstairs that led up to the second floor hallway had caught on fire. Instead of building another staircase, Nanna hired someone to just build a ladder, so if there was another fire, no one would get trapped on the second floor. Another thing Nicole remembered the fire doing was messing up the attic which was why her bedroom was almost like a closet. Nanna had enclosed the burned walls promising to redecorate the upstairs as soon as they had the time, but things happened and they were never able to get to it. The guy who had done the construction on the house though had made a makeshift closet sort of with a door over the ladder, but Nanna thinking some crack head might come and try to get in, put a master lock on the door.
Nicole knew exactly where the lock was positioned at by looking at the nail holes, but she also knew it would be faster to get the hinges off the door too and she could jump on the roof and go down. Her objective after that would be to make it to Cleo's house and get help for herself.
One hinge was loose and by the end of the night she would have the other hinge off. From listening to the vents, she knew Nanna was still alive. Lynne and Marvin were arguing about way
s to make the death look as natural as possible. They had told the nurses to stop coming.
Marvin had told her if she attracted any attention to her while she was in the room, he would come up there and beat her. He checked on her constantly during the day, but at night she knew he was with Lynne. Most times he could hear them together. In a way, she almost thought her mother was becoming a prisoner in the house just like she had been, but he needed Lynne in order to get to the money he wanted when they sold Nanna's business.
In two weeks, Mr. Mills would be paying a visit to the Laundromat to look it over and to sign the papers. He had insisted on meeting at the Laundromat even though Lynne had tried to convince him to meet at Mills' offices. If she got out in time and contacted him then there was a chance of saving the business. Whatever her mother had used to entice, Mr. Mills to buy the business, she would have to find a way to get him not to buy it.
Right now she had to work on her present objective and get out of there.
Cold rain practically froze her limbs to the bone, but she made it to the Cleo's street and knocked on the door. She knew Cleo would be home because she had heard that they'd switched Cleo to the afternoon shift and another girl worked the evening, but she had walked by the Laundromat to be sure looking for Cleo's car.
When no one opened the door, she went around to a bedroom window and knocked on there. A light came on and she rushed back to the front door. Cleo flung to door opened ready to cuss someone out, but then the cigarette fell out of her mouth as she realized who the person was knocking on her door at three in the morning.
Helping her in on the couch, she ordered her daughter to bring some covers and water. The oldest son was told to get warm some tea and the left over stew in the refrigerator in the microwave. All the while, she kept demanding Nicole to tell her what happened?
"Tired," was all Nicole could say. She hadn't eaten in a month. Her first attempt at eating the cat food had made her throw her and her second attempt had almost killed her. She hadn't tried to eat anything else except some old junk food and candy she had in the book bags around her room. With the leak in the walls, when the rain had come she had managed to drink, but not a lot because the salty water had made her stomach hurt bad.
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