by P. J. Fiala
Lancaster nodded his head toward the bathroom. “Don’t close the door. I’ll break it down if you do.”
Molly closed her eyes. She needed to calm down and think. She needed to get out of here. Maybe if she just explained everything to Ryder he could think of some way for them to get out of this. His uncle is a cop, so maybe his uncle could keep him safe while they figured out how to stop Lancaster from doing anything to Ryder. Shit! To think she’d handled this all wrong was an understatement. She should have been straight with Ryder from the beginning. He probably didn’t want to have anything to do with her now.
Slowly, Molly walked to the bathroom and pulled her toothbrush and toothpaste out of her toiletry bag. She turned the water on and began brushing her teeth. She peeked out the door and Lancaster was making himself comfortable on her bed. Controlling her urge to vomit again, Molly slowly reached into her back pocket and pulled her cell phone out. She hadn’t turned it on in a while but turned it on now. Hopefully, she’d get a chance to call 911, telling them Lancaster was holding her against her will. Once she had him arrested, she would be able to get a restraining order against him, but she had to get out of here first.
Molly finished brushing her teeth and methodically put her toiletries in the bag. She slipped her phone into her pocket as she walked from the bathroom toward the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Out. I don’t have any food in here and I need some aspirin. I have a headache.”
“You’re not going anywhere. Sit your ass down, now!”
“Are you holding me hostage?”
“Don’t you think you have the upper hand with me, Molly. You try and walk out of this room, I’m paying that boyfriend of yours a visit at work. Rolling Thunder, right?”
Shit! Molly hoped she could call Ryder and warn him about Lancaster right away, but what if he wouldn’t take her calls? He probably didn’t ever want to see her again. If she couldn’t get to him before Lancaster, he could be hurt, maybe killed.
“Why would you risk going to jail again by trying to hurt Ryder?”
“Because he has been tasting what’s mine. No man does that.”
“I’m not yours. I never have been.”
“Oh, yes you are, Molly. You are mine.”
“No, I’m not. You raped me when I was eleven years old. Rape. That doesn’t make me yours. That makes you a rapist! And you will not do it again. Never again will you touch me.”
Molly ran to the door and flung it open. She burst into the hallway, almost running into the maid service cart. She ran past the cart, giving it a little pull behind her, in case Lancaster decided to follow her. She ran down the flight of stairs and out to the parking lot to her rental car.
***
Ryder sat at the table, surrounded by his family—Joci, Jeremiah, Gunnar, JT, his Uncle Tommy, even Tammy and Danny were there. They were at Molly’s house, trying to figure out how to find her. Ryder had looked everywhere. They’d been calling her phone to no avail. Tommy had traced her credit card and found no activity. Nothing.
“Do you believe him, Uncle Tommy? Do you believe that son-of-a-bitch, Jepson?”
“Yeah, I do. We’ve questioned him over and over. He was stalking her, and he’d recorded the two of you having sex. He got off on that. He stole her panties and some of her pictures, but I don’t think he has her. If he did, he wouldn’t have come back here in the first place to sit and listen. He would be with her. Plus, we saw the rental car company come here and give Molly keys to the rental in one of the trail cams he had installed.”
Fuck! Ryder’s mind was reeling. Right after Molly took off, his Uncle Tommy and another off-duty officer had gone through the house looking for clues that might lead them to where Molly might have gone. They’d found Jeffrey Jepson, sitting in the basement, surrounded by boxes and Molly’s things. He’d installed a microphone and pushed it up through the vent and into the bedroom. While he listened to them have sex, he would masturbate as he fondled the panties he’d stolen from Molly’s dresser drawer. It was creepy knowing he’d been in the house, listening to them, for God only knows how long.
Jepson said it had only been since he first met Molly. He had keys to the house because his dad was Molly’s landlord. He let himself in the first time and then opened the window in the basement that led to the backyard. He would shimmy through each day to let himself in the house. He set up a little area in the back of the basement, below the bedroom, which is where he would sit and masturbate.
They found trail cameras installed in the trees around the house so Jepson could take pictures of them coming and going. Once he’d figured out their pattern, he would let himself in and wait for them to come home. What a sick fuck!
“I have an idea,” Tammy said, looking at Gunnar.
“Molly told me you look like your father. Her mom called you Keith when she saw you. Maybe, you could go with us and see if Tori has seen Molly or would tell you something that would give us an idea of where she might be. I know it’s a long shot, but if Molly went there to say good-bye or something, maybe it would trigger Tori’s memory. ”
Everyone turned and looked at Gunnar. He knew something bad must have happened to make her run like this. She and Ryder were happy; everyone could see it. They’d all been blindsided by her uncharacteristic actions.
“I’ll do anything to find her. Let’s give it a try.”
Ryder ran his hands through his hair for the thousandth time today. What the hell happened to her? His emotions were all over the place. First, his heart was broken, and then he feared something terrible had happened to her. He went from his heart breaking to fear that something terrible happened to her. Then he was angry that she had dumped him before he returned to feeling heartbroken again. If she was dumping him, she owed him an explanation. She owed Tammy an explanation too. Hell, she owed everyone an explanation.
They all stood to go when Tammy’s phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw Molly’s name.
“It’s Molly. Oh, thank God.” Tammy hit the button to answer her phone. Everyone stood completely still, waiting to hear the conversation.
“Put it on speaker,” Ryder said.
“Molly—thank God you called! Where the hell are you?”
“Tammy. I need help. He’s after me and Ryder. He said he’s going to kill Ryder. I was going to call Ryder and warn him, but I was afraid he wouldn’t take my call. You need to warn Ryder that he’s in danger.”
“Molly. Who? Who’s after you and where are you?”
They were all listening. They could tell she was running. She was out of breath.
“Lancaster. Lancaster’s after me. He said if I didn’t break up with Ryder he would kill him. He found me today and…” Molly was crying.
“I couldn’t let him touch me again, Tam. I just couldn’t. He’s chasing me now. Please warn Ryder.”
“Molly!” Ryder was yelling at her now. “Where are you? Tommy’s here, he’ll send the police.”
They heard a car door slam - then, they heard a loud bang and glass breaking. Molly screamed and dropped her phone. They could hear someone yelling in the distance.
“You fucking little cunt. Get your ass out of that car.”
Tommy immediately called the station asking for a trace on Molly’s phone and that officers be immediately dispatched to her location.
They heard another crash and Molly screamed. Then the engine of her vehicle rev up. They could hear tires squealing and the sound of her phone bouncing around the floor of the car. Ryder’s stomach was rolling. It was painful to hear Molly cry; she was in danger and needed help. They stared at Tammy’s phone like it was their only lifeline to Molly. Ryder looked at Tommy and he nodded; he was able to get someone on it.
Molly yelled toward her phone. “I think I got away. I don’t know if he has a car or what it looks like. I don’t know where to go.”
Ryder yelled at the phone, hoping Molly could hear him. “Molly. Come hom
e. We’re all here, you’ll be safe. Come home.”
Molly heard Ryder tell her to come home. God, he wanted her to come home. She started bawling her head off. He wanted her to come home!
“Molly! Tell me you heard me. Come home!”
She was crying so hard, and it was hard to talk. Molly opened her mouth and nothing came out. She swallowed and tried again. “I heard you. I’m coming home.”
Tammy ran to the window in the living room waiting to see Molly’s car. It felt like hours. After about ten minutes, they could hear sirens through the phone. The police must have found her through the trace.
Tommy leaned forward and yelled into the phone. “Molly, this is Tommy Sheppard. We hear sirens. If they’re behind you, pull over. I have them tracking your phone. They’re there to help you. Can you hear me?”
“Yes,” Molly yelled. It was all she could get out. She looked around her; she didn’t see any police cars. She looked in her rearview mirror and saw nothing. But she could hear the sirens too. “Where are they? I can’t see them.” She wiped at her eyes with her hands, trying to clear her vision.
She passed a side street, then saw the police cars coming up to the intersection.
“I see them. I see them,” Molly yelled.
She waited to see if they were following her. She didn’t want to stop without protection in case Lancaster was behind her. She was using every ounce of reasoning power she had left to try and not freak out. Two police cars pulled in behind her, and she put her blinker on, letting them know she was pulling over. Braking, then putting the car in park Molly used both hands to wipe the tears from her eyes. She turned her head to see the first officer slowly approaching the car from behind. He raised his gun and yelled to her, “Get out of the car, hands up, move slowly.”
Molly gasped and stifled a sob. She opened the car door, which proved difficult, her hands were shaking so damn bad. When she was able to get the door open, she slowly moved her legs to the outside and put her hands up in the air. She never took her eyes off the officer. Standing up was going to be hard, her legs were quivering and shaking like crazy. Sobbing, she looked at the officer for help.
“Are you alone, Ms. Bates?”
Molly nodded her head; she couldn’t speak at all.
“What happened to your windows?”
Molly burst out crying. When she was able to catch her breath, she stammered, “H-he b-broke them.”
“Who broke them and where is he?”
“L-Lancaster Elson…I d-don’t know.”
The officer was joined by the others to inspect the vehicle to ensure there was no one other than Molly. When the all clear was given, the first officer holstered his weapon and came to Molly’s aid.
“I’m Officer Scott. I’ll help you, Ms. Bates. Are you injured?”
Ryder let out a huge breath. They’d found her, thank God. His knees were weak and he hit the chair behind him with a thud. He looked up at his dad, who quickly walked around the table and hugged him.
“They’ve got her. It’ll be okay now, son.”
Joci kneeled in front of Ryder and hugged him around the waist. She was softly crying into his shirt. Jeremiah reached down and lifted Joci to her feet.
“You need to rest, baby. Come sit on the sofa with me while we wait for the police to bring Molly home.”
Joci looked at Ryder. He nodded at her and Joci allowed herself to be pulled into the living room to wait for Molly. Gunnar and JT sat next to Ryder at the table, not saying anything, just silently supporting him. They were good brothers. Tammy and Danny sat at the table as well. The phone connection was still live, but they really couldn’t hear anything more. The police must have put Molly in their car. Danny knew Tammy wouldn’t leave until she saw Molly, so there was no point in asking. He just sat and waited like everyone else.
Ryder’s mind was reeling. Was she protecting him? Did she want to break up with him? Had she been hurt? Where has she been? He had so many questions he wanted to ask. Mostly, right now, he wanted to know that she was okay. How long would it take for them to get here with her?
Tommy was still on the phone in the other room. Hopefully, he’d have more information for them.
Ryder looked at Tammy. “I can piece together most of it, but tell me what Lancaster did to her. I’ll ask her to tell me herself, but if I know, I can make sure I don’t say anything wrong.”
Danny put his arm around Tammy and kissed the side of her head. “You need to tell him, babe.”
She smiled at him and nodded to the living room. They all walked in and sat down. Tammy took a deep breath and began to tell her story. “When Molly was nine, she had appendicitis and needed surgery. I think she told you this. Lancaster found out he wasn’t her father when they needed to give her blood. Tori lied to him and told him Molly was his. He was pissed, hurt, angry, all of it. He started verbally abusing Molly first at first—calling her names, telling her she was stupid, clumsy, ignorant, and worthless. She had a hard time with it. She used to come to my house and cry and cry. She couldn’t understand it. Then, Lancaster started drinking. When Molly was eleven, she came home from school one day and Lancaster was there, already drunk.
“Molly ran to her bedroom to stay away from him, but he barged in and forced himself on her. He told her she was his and she owed it to him to let him have sex with her as payment for all the years he raised her and put a roof over her head. He told her it was the least she could do.”
“Jesus. That fucking bastard!” Ryder pounded his fist on the coffee table.
Tammy continued through her tears. “He told her if she ever told her mother, he would kill her and Tori. Molly was terrified. She was only eleven fucking years old. She told me after it happened a third time. She was sickened and disgusted with herself and blamed herself for everything. That was his doing. He made her think it was her fault. Molly was already a very pretty girl and Lancaster told her it was her fault she was so ‘irresistible.’
“Fuck!” Ryder remembered the day he’d said that to her and how she froze. He thought it was weird at the time, but didn’t think anything more of it.
Tammy continued. “The fourth time he forced himself on her, Molly’s mother walked in and caught him. She hit him over the head with something and told him to get the fuck out of their house or she would call the police. She said to never contact them again. He did leave, surprisingly. Tori blamed herself for Molly being abused. It was her fault, in a lot of ways. If she hadn’t lied in the first place, Lancaster would have always known Molly wasn’t his. It doesn’t excuse his behavior.
“One day, Molly noticed him outside the school as we were leaving. It was about a year and a half later. We were almost thirteen. I told her she needed to tell someone—her mom, the police, the school, someone. But she refused. We started walking different ways home from school; I was always with her. I found a guy that could get us pepper spray and got us each several canisters of it. We carried them everywhere we went.
“Then, one day, we were at my house. We had seen him at school that day. We were scared and got a ride home from a guy in school who had a car. We ran into my house and locked all the doors and windows. We were watching the television and a “news bulletin” came on a picture of Lancaster was on the television. He had grabbed another girl at school. She looked a lot like Molly. He had raped her. That girl went straight to the police and they found Lancaster a few hours later because of the announcement on the news.
“Molly always blamed herself for that girl being raped. If she had turned him in when it happened to her, that girl wouldn’t have been hurt. Tori felt the same way. She started drinking heavier and heavier. My mom insisted that Molly stay with us most of the time. She ate every meal with us and slept in my room with me. We were inseparable. I never wanted Molly out of my sight.
“After Lancaster went to jail, Molly felt safer. She would stay at my house, check on her mom most days, only to find her drunk or with some guy. Tori started running through guys
like crazy. Molly, of course, didn’t want to be in the house with any of those men, especially after what had happened to her. She started using Bates, as her last name, because she couldn’t stand using Elson and she didn’t know who her biological father was. Bates was Tori’s mother’s maiden name.
“A few years ago, Tori had a stroke and it pushed her into the past, where it was probably the only time in her life that she had been happy. That’s why Molly was always so worried she would be like her mom. She never wanted to be that person.”
Tammy was crying by the time she finished. She’d never told anyone that story before. Tammy had been so worried about Molly after she left this week. She had mentioned to Danny that Molly lived a terrible childhood and they were very close. Danny put his arms around her and whispered soft, sweet words in her ears.
Tammy composed herself after a bit. She wiped her eyes, then said, “She’s a good person, Ryder. She would never do anything to hurt you. She’s been hurt so much. Lancaster must have threatened her. That’s the only reason she would have broken up with you. Please don’t be mad at her; give her the chance to explain.”
Ryder shook his head. This was un-friggen-real. Poor Molly, she’s been through so damn much in her life. He had an idea she had suffered as a child. The revelation that she didn’t have a Christmas tree when she was younger made him think she didn’t really have a good childhood. Part of him suspected she’d been abused, but he never went there. It would pop into his head and he would push it right out.
“I love her, Tammy. All I’ve ever wanted was for her to let me in—share things with me.”
A couple hours later, Molly walked into her kitchen to find a house full of people sitting there waiting for her. As soon as the door opened, Ryder jumped up. He was afraid to move toward her. He didn’t know what he should do, actually. He swallowed hard, balling his fists at his side.
Molly froze at the sight of him. He wasn’t moving toward her, he was staring at her. Tears welled up in Molly’s eyes as she watched Ryder swallow. He took a step forward and the dam burst. Molly ran into his arms and began sobbing. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. Molly wrapped her arms around Ryder and hung on tight.