She shakes her head vehemently, “Yes, you can.”
He runs his hand through his hair, frustration starting to boil again. He shoves his hands in his pockets, desperate to keep from frightening her again. “I’ve been extremely patient waiting for you to talk to me, and, frankly, my patience has run out, Rain.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” she replies bitterly.
“The hell there isn’t!”
“Just drop it, Kas,” her words are a mixture of a plea and a demand.
Kas pulls his hand out of his pocket and runs the back of his fingers across her cheek, “Not this time.”
A sigh of frustration escapes her lips, and she turns away from him. “You’re just going to have to,” she whispers as she walks to her room, closing the door behind her.
As Kas stares at the closed door, he knows exactly what he has to do.
The next morning, Kas pulls Raina’s iPad out of his messenger bag, laying it on the table in front of Chase, “I’m running her prints.”
Chase looks at Kas like he’s lost his mind, “I thought you agreed to not go behind her back to get the answers.”
“Screw that! You didn’t see the way she looked at me last night, like I was going to beat the hell out of her,” Kas growls, nausea churning his stomach at the unpleasant memory. “I have to know who she is and what has happened to her.”
Chase gazes at the iPad, knowing that running her prints will be a betrayal of her trust, but he also knows that Kas is right. From what he has witnessed himself about Raina’s leeriness, and after hearing what Kas told him had happened when he called him over there late last night while she was sleeping, he knows that she hasn’t let go of her past yet, even though she has tried very hard to leave it behind.
“Are you prepared for the truth and for the possible repercussions when Raina finds out?” Chase asks Kas bluntly, wanting to be absolutely sure Kas knows what he’s doing before they take the next step.
“As ready as I will ever be,” Kas replies honestly.
“Okay then, I’m with you all the way.”
Kas nods his head appreciatively, knowing that Chase has his back, “Let’s do this.” He carefully lifts a print and runs it through IAFIS. Both men sit back waiting and watching while the Improvision NPS2 does its magic.
Kas is a strong concoction of raw anticipation and utter dread as the information loads. As they read, both of their eyes widen in shock at the name that pops up, identifying Raina’s father.
Chase lets out a low whistle, “No wonder she didn’t want to talk.”
Kas runs his hands through his dark hair, his mind trying to wrap around the magnitude of the discovery that Raina’s father is none other than William Waterford, the most powerful lawyer on the East Coast, quite possibly the United States.
He and Chase spend the next half-hour reading over the sparse information they can find on Raina’s life prior to D.C. He jots down the address for Judge Whitaker’s office after seeing his signature for the grant of Raina’s emancipation. His office is only two and a half hours away, so Kas decides to pay him a visit.
After making arrangements with Chase for him to check in on Raina, Kas calls her, telling her that he has been called away to check on something. As he tells her bye, a twinge of guilt squeezes him, but he quickly banishes it, knowing that he’s doing this for her own good. Grabbing his coat, he heads out the door, wondering and worried about the information he will find once he arrives. He makes one other call as he heads to his car. When Pete, his friend in the local police department, answers he informs him of what happened between Mr. Sutton and Raina and how he had let the air out of her tires, “Do something now, Pete, or I will handle this myself!”
Pete assures him he will handle it, and Kas knows he’s a good man, so he backs off for now, giving Pete the chance to stop Mr. Sutton before he takes matters into his own hands.
The drive takes less time than he expected, thanks to the unusual lack of heavy traffic. Kas tightens his grip on the steering wheel as he rolls the jeep into a parking space, cutting the engine. Taking a deep breath, he tries to prepare himself for whatever information he may receive. If this were any other case, he could handle it with his usual adeptness at compartmentalizing, but this isn’t any other case, this is Raina, his Raina. Whether or not either one of them has openly admitted it, he knows she’s his, even if just by the sheer intensity of his love for her alone. He knows she cares about him, too, he has seen it in her reactions to him. He just hopes and prays that she loves him back, and loves him enough to forgive him for what he’s about to do.
Kas walks through the court house doors and places his gun and badge in the tray, handing it to the security guard as another guard checks his credentials before nodding him through. Hastily grabbing his badge and weapon, he heads straight for the elevator. The short ride to the fourth floor seems to drag on forever before it finally dings, and he steps out into an elegantly decorated lobby. He walks across the spotted burgundy carpet, through the lobby with gray and royal blue couches and chairs scattered throughout the room next to tables with vases filled with fresh, colorfully mixed flowers. He follows the hall to the stained oak door with the golden name plate that displays Judge Whitaker’s name. He steels his nerves as he raps his knuckles on the door.
A deep voice from inside answers his knock, “Come in.”
Kas steps through the door and sees a middle aged man with salt and pepper hair and wire-framed glasses. Hazel eyes study him over frames that are sitting low on the bridge of his nose. Kas offers his hand as Judge Whitaker stands and takes it in a firm shake.
“My name is Kas Pierce, and I am here to see if you can help me answer some questions about Raina Kapture,” he informs him, flashing his badge.
The look of concerned panic that darkens the judge’s eyes speaks volumes. Kas can tell by his reaction that he not only knows Raina well, he cares about her.
“Has something happened to Raina?”
Kas shakes his head quickly, wanting to ease the judge’s mind. “No, sir, I am Raina’s—Raina is—she is a good friend of mine, sir, and I am worried about her and am looking for some answers that I hope you can provide.”
Judge Whitaker’s taut expression eases, and he motions for Kas to take a seat as he sits down himself. Tilting his head slightly, he studies Kas for a moment before breaking into a warm smile, “So, you’re the one that has captured Raina’s heart, Agent Pierce.”
Kas stares at him quizzically, wondering just how close he and Raina are for him to have any kind of information about him.
“I want to thank you for what you did after that boy attacked her,” his expression returns to his prior concerned state, and his voice is full of gratitude.
Kas’ confusion mounts. “I wish I could have stopped it, sir,” he replies truthfully. He returns the judge’s gaze and frowns, “Forgive me, but I seem to be at a disadvantage here.”
The judge softly chuckles, “Raina hasn’t mentioned me, well, I can’t say that I’m surprised. Don’t take it personally, son, she is a very private young lady.”
Kas lets out a long breath, “Well, that’s one way of putting it.”
Judge Whitaker smiles kindly at the young man sitting in front of him who is obviously in love and up to his ears with worry and frustration from too many unanswered questions that he is sure his relationship with Raina has presented. “Raina and I meet every three months or so to catch up, and we speak on the phone once or twice a month. I’m assuming by you being here looking for answers that you took it upon yourself to delve into her past.” The mixture of determination and a hint of guilt shining in Kas’ eyes confirms his suspicions.
“Obviously, you have discovered that her prior last name is Waterford.” The judge chuckles again, “Kapture was my idea for her current last name. I thought it appropriate due to my heart being captured the second I looked into that baby girl’s eyes when the social worker placed her into her mother’s arms.”
<
br /> “Raina is adopted?” The news takes Kas by surprise.
“William and Beth tried for a couple of years to have a child the natural way, but it just wasn’t happening. Her mother was a wonderful woman, kind and so full of love that she wanted more than anything to bestow on a child. William adored Beth, he couldn’t stand to see her heart broken month after month, so when she brought up adoption, he agreed. I guess he never thought about not being cut out to be a father.”
Kas notices the shot of anger that ignites in the judge’s eyes when he made that last comment.
“Beth did most of the child-rearing on her own, with William being on the fast-track with his career. When he was around, he spent most of attention on Beth, but I never saw that he was neglectful. After Beth passed, it changed William. He used to be my best friend, we went to high school together, we were in the same fraternity at college, we even dated and married best friends. William withdrew after Beth died, and I saw that he was distant with Raina, but I thought it was just the initial stages of the grief. He eventually shut me and almost everyone else out of their lives, except for his trips to the bar with his co-workers. I still didn’t see that there was a problem, I never saw him inebriated. Before long, I only saw Raina on birthdays when I stopped by, and I blame myself for that, for not forcing the issue, but I didn’t have any ground to stand on, she’s of no familial relation, I was only Uncle Judge by name.”
Kas smiles encouragingly at the judge, his eyes full of empathy, “I read about her mother’s wreck, I’m sorry about your loss.” He can tell that the judge took his role as Raina’s uncle just as seriously as if there were a blood connection.
The judge’s eyes focus, leaving the reminiscing behind, “Son, why exactly are you here?”
Kas spends the next hour visiting with the judge, answering his questions, telling him the story of how he and Raina met. He tells him how he felt when he saw Chris beating her and when Raina looked at him last night, like she had given up, when she thought he was going to beat her, too. “I have to know what happened to her, sir, I don’t know what to avoid, or how to help her,” Kas admits, the truth burning sorrowfully through his soul.
Judge Whitaker studies him again and softly nods his head. His intuition tells him that Kas is trustworthy and that he truly loves Raina. He could tell by the look in her eyes, when she talked about him at their last visit that she is in love with him as well. He sighs as he looks at Kas, his hazel eyes darkening from heinous memories. “Son, you will not like what you will see,” he warns him gravely.
Kas’ jaw tightens, and he presses his lips into a grim line, “Yes, sir, I’m positive I won’t, but I have to know. I want to be there for her in all the ways she needs me to be.”
“Call me Henry,” the judge tells him before he gives Kas a stoic nod. He walks to his file cabinet, unlocking the bottom drawer and retrieving a file.
Kas notices how it looks like it pains the judge just to be holding the file as he places it on the desk. He stares at the manila folder lying inches in front of him, containing the mystery of Raina’s past, and his hands suddenly grow stiff. His heart pounds within his chest as he stares at the 8 X 11 file. He forces his hands to move, the dexterity to return to his fingers, as he slides to the edge of his chair, leaning over the desk before flipping open the folder.
He reads the report on the details that granted Raina the termination of her father’s rights, giving her emancipation. The words on the pages blur as he reads the list of contusions and cuts found on her body. He turns the page and almost loses his stomach at the images of the wounds on Raina. Every part of her in the photos is covered with welts and bruises, some so large it took two angles for the pictures to record them. The bruises had started to turn color, and some of the welts had thin scabs around the edges, nauseating Kas at the proof that her father had beaten her so viciously with his belt that he brought blood.
Memories of last night storm his conscience. He thinks of the frightened resignation he witnessed in her eyes, when she saw him holding his belt. He has to lean back in the chair as the realization slams into him that she had momentarily thought that he was just another man in her life that was going to hurt her to satisfy his anger.
Judge Whitaker sees Kas’ blanched face and slumped posture and places his hand gently on his shoulder. He knows it would be foolish to ask if he’s alright, knowing there’s no possible way he could be after witnessing the gruesome photos.
Kas pulls on all his inner resources and forces himself to finish reading the file. Bile churns inside of him, threatening to spill from his mouth when he reads of her father’s business partner being charged with child pornography. Kas’ eyes shoot to the judge, his expression begging for him to tell him that Raina wasn’t involved so far in the depths of depravity. The sad hazel eyes meet his, their own questions and doubts reflecting the judge’s own torment of not knowing all of the answers.
Tears well in the judges eyes as he turns to stare out of the window. A few seconds pass before he can speak, “The images recovered from William’s partner’s computer didn’t include her, that’s all I can tell you on that. She made it clear that night that she either didn’t know about it, or she would never let on like she did. I’m afraid to say that I think it’s the latter.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The drive back home is filled with torturing questions for Kas, darker and more numerous than when he first left this morning. He has to roll the window down to calm the nausea when the images of Raina’s tattered body and the charges against her father’s business partner mercilessly run, unremittingly, in his memory. He calls Chase about midway and divulges the sordid details, for once needing the psycho-babble of his friend to soothe his tortured state.
Pulling into the driveway, Kas stares blankly at the outside walls of his house as he cuts the engine. Raina walks outside and waves at him, her beautiful smile brightening her whole face at his arrival. Fighting back tears, he steps out of the jeep and goes to her. Raina’s smile fades when she sees the worn out, forlorn expression on his face. Kas pulls her into his arms, holding her as if his life depends on her touch. He cradles the back of her head in his hand as he presses his forehead to the top of her head, pulling her even tighter into him. A tear that manages to escape rolls down his cheek, and he swipes it away with the back of his hand.
Raina tries to pull back, scared at what has happened to cause him to look so despairing, but he wraps his arms around her tighter, needing her in his arms a few minutes longer. She senses his need and wraps her arms around him, pressing her cheek to his chest as he cradles her protectively. Minutes or hours pass, neither one knows or cares as they remain tangled in each other’s arms, each giving the other as much as they can give.
Finally, Kas pulls back, knowing that he can’t put off the inevitable any longer. He whispers a silent prayer that he doesn’t lose her, realizing devastatingly that his heart will not survive it if he does. “Rain, there’s something I have to tell you.”
The worry in her eyes kills him as he leads her inside and sits on the couch next to her, his eyes pleading with her before his words even begin. “Please, listen to me before you say or do anything.”
The pounding in Raina’s heart is almost unbearable as she waits on Kas to tell her what’s wrong.
“I checked into your past, sweetheart, I know about your father. I know who you are.”
She stares at him blankly for a second, hearing the words, but her psyche not yet able to handle what he just told her.
“I saw the pictures, and I—”
She leaps off of the couch like it burned her, “You what?”
Kas stands up and goes to pull her into his arms, but she pushes him away, the action stabbing him directly in the heart.
“You promised me, Kas,” she states almost inaudibly, her throat raw from the hurt of his betrayal, “did you use my license to find out?” The emotional pain makes her words ragged as she wonders if he lied about not using
that, too.
He shakes his head, “No, baby, I promised you I wouldn’t, and I didn’t
—”
Raina cuts him off again, “You also promised to just let it be, Kas.”
He goes to hold her again, but she steps back further this time, the pain in her eyes breaking him. “Sweetheart, I told you last night I had to know.”
“Why? Why did you have to know? What good did it do, what problems did it solve?” she screams at him, the tears burning in the back of her eyes, and she knows she has to get out of there before she can’t control them from erupting. The humiliation and despair from her past ram against her battered barriers, and she bolts, running as fast as she can, out of the house, through the yard, ignoring his pleas for her to come back. She continues to run, concentrating on the feel of her feet hitting the pavement, over and over again, in rapid succession as she forces the tears back, refusing to allow them to come.
Kas wants to run after her, knowing he could catch her, but he knows that she needs time to be alone, time to think. It takes all of his willpower to just stand there and watch her running away from him, her frame getting smaller and smaller until she disappears around the curve. He stands there alone, hoping and praying that she will come back to him.
Kas paces the living room floor and calls Raina for the fifthteenth time, grunting loudly in frustration as her cell goes straight to voicemail again.
Chase watches his friend, wishing he could do something to ease his misery. Pulling out his own cell phone, he walks over to his best friend, “Let me try, Kas.” Chase sends Raina a text message, knowing it will be harder to not peek at that than to simply refuse to check her voice messages. He keeps it simple but imploring, explaining Kas’ current state of worry and asking that she come over to his place and cool off, to at least give Kas peace of mind that she’s safe. He knows that she cares too much for Kas, even in her outraged state, to ignore him and hurt Kas.
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