Chapter Three
“How much you’d bring home today?” a raspy voice asked.
The sound had been familiar over the course of her life, but had lost its comforting appeal over the last two years.
Trey hadn’t even closed the makeshift door before her father began riffling through her wristlet. His cracked, filthy fingertips emptied the bag onto the floor and he knelt down to sort through her belongings. “Where’s the money?” Cal Aston brushed through the items on the ground once more, his voice reaching a panic-tinted level. “Where is it?”
She didn’t want to tell him the truth, but he would take it out on her for not having the money either way. “Cops took the cash.”
Red-rimmed eyes shot up to meet hers. For a small moment, they seemed confused or lost, reminding her of the man who’d lost his wife to suicide. In the next second, Cal’s eyes hardened. “Where were you?” he asked through gritted teeth. The cracks in his lips pulled apart with the effort and Trey licked her lips automatically.
She inhaled slowly, readying herself for what would come next. “The gas station.”
Faster than she thought a fifty-five year old man could move, he shot to his feet, the back of his hand smashing into the right side of her face. The hit forced lightning strikes across the back of her eyelids. “You stupid piece of trash!” Another hit slammed into her and Trey dropped to the floor in self-defense, rolling into a ball. “You’re just as worthless as your mother. I told you not to use that damn gas station, but you never listen!” He would hit her over and over until he either got too tired to continue on or blacked out from the alcohol.
Trey would not apologize for getting caught. She only had to wait a few more minutes. It would get better. He could change. He could love her again. A pang of guilt rained down with each hit. She’d driven him to this. She’d ruined her father’s life. The hits were nothing today compared to the ones he brought down on her sober. A bad day, she told herself repeatedly, tears running down the bridge of her nose as she hugged her knees. He just had a bad day. Less than two minutes later, her father sulked back to the stolen, moth-eaten recliner, his breathing even raspier from exertion. “Get out of my sight.”
Trey waited a few seconds then unrolled herself, wiping the streaks of tears from her face. The worst had passed, but it didn’t stop her from silently yelping when she tried to stand. He’d gotten in a good kick to the same rib he’d broken two months ago and had cracked it again. Another wave of tears streamed down her face as she tried to breathe.
With a glance back toward her now-sleeping father, she moved past the aluminum square separating her “room” from the rest of the space they’d constructed out of junkyard leftovers. For two years he’d lived here, giving up everything he owned to save her life, taking on two full-time jobs. She owed him. In fact, her debt had made her come home, but over the last few months, the price had skyrocketed. Working at the diner hadn’t paid enough to cover the monthly payments to the Camino Family. Whoring did. Sometimes. The memory of the Caminos last visit pulled at her thoughts, but she refused to acknowledge it, wincing.
Trey held her side tenderly, doubling over before she made it to the stained mattress she slept on at night. Breathe slowly, she reminded herself as her bloodied knees hit the dirt.
She inhaled, clenching her jaw tight.
It hurt, but could have been worse. Trey thanked God her father hadn’t been sober. Getting to her feet, she stripped off her tank top and skirt as slowly as possible. They were ruined from Luke’s tackle. “Damn,” she whispered. They’d been her nicest set of clothes. She let them fall onto the dirt floor and hobbled toward her mattress.
It didn’t smell so bad today and relief warmed her. She’d be able to get to sleep. Some nights, after her father had company over, she would nearly throw up from the smell. But not tonight. Tonight she could just close her eyes and remember her reasons to keep doing this.
****
“You going to eat those french fries or play with them longer?” Tucker asked. His blue eyes focused on Luke’s plate as he scratched at the cropped, brown sideburns on the side of his face. “You’ve hardly touched your food.”
Luke and his partner had stopped at Ruth’s for lunch a half hour ago, but he’d lost his appetite. The encounter with Trey had taken everything out of him. Thoughts of how to redeem the love of his life ran through his mind in vain. Even if he were able to think of a way to get her out of the life, she wouldn’t hear of it. She’d proven it to him on more than one occasion. He stared down at his food, only now realizing Tucker had asked a question, and shrugged. What was the point of eating when the thought of Trey with countless men only made him sick? “Be my guest.”
He pushed the plate toward Tucker and absently watched his long-time friend chow down. They’d grown up in the same house, almost brothers, but the man’s table manners were atrocious compared to his.
“You know me so well.” Tucker smiled with an extremely full mouth. After swallowing, those same lips puckered to the left. He leaned back, tattooed arms stretching across the back of the booth. “Come on, man. Not even a reminder to chew with my mouth closed?”
“Not in the mood.”
“Is this about last night?”
The conversation with Trey had taken a bad turn. Luke didn’t want to talk about last night, didn’t even want to think about it. If she didn’t want him to get involved, he wouldn’t. Or so he told himself.
“Heard you paid Trey’s bail,” Tucker said.
The diner went unusually quiet and Luke’s attention focused on the other patrons.
They waited for an answer along with his partner.
“I don’t think that’s any of your business.” His eyes darted around the diner, hoping to convey the same message. In the next moment, whispers, clips of conversation drifted to him from the counter and surrounding booths. Whore. Jail. Aston family.
“Luke, we been partners a long time,” Tucker interrupted. “And I love ‘ya like a brother, but you got to rid yourself of that woman for good. She ain’t been nothing but trouble since she came back, and payin’ her bail? That’s just wrong.” A woman passed by the window, Marlene Jenner, Luke noted, and Tucker’s eyes followed with a new light. The deputy ran a hand over his faux hawk brown hair, realizing too late Luke had noticed his focus. A blush crept over his pasty white face.
“Just helping out a friend.” He stood. “Let’s go.”
Tucker remained in his seat. “You weren’t just helping out a friend. You want her back, don’t you?”
Luke exhaled in frustration. He couldn’t have this conversation again. “Tucker—”
“That’s it, isn’t it? You want to ride up on the white horse and be her Prince Charmin’. Well, sir, I got news for you—”
“Enough!” The diner grew silent again, all eyes focused on him. He never used to lose his temper so easily, especially with Tucker, the man who’d stuck by his side when he needed it most, and he didn’t understand what brought the change on. Idiot, he told himself. You know exactly what brought it on. “I’ll meet you in the car.” Luke left a twenty on the table to cover both meals and walked out into the cool air.
The surrounding pines glistened this time of year, caps of snow decorating each one. Comprising mostly farms, Dunn County made the perfect place to settle down. Right here, at the edge of town, Luke confronted an uninterrupted view of the Killdeer Mountains. A small crest of hope built in his chest. He could be happy here.
He couldn’t focus on that right now. He wanted to know if Trey had enough blankets, if she had a coat to cover her sleeveless top and short skirt. He inhaled as slowly as possible to clear his head, remembering why he’d come to this small town in the first place. It’d been for her, because she didn’t want to leave that piece of shit she’d called her father. He shouldn’t have snapped at Tucker, but whenever Trey crossed his mind, Luke felt out of control.
The bell tied to the diner’s door chimed behind him and les
s than two seconds later, Tucker appeared at his side. “I shouldn’t have egged you on like that, Luke. I’m sorry, but you know the town’s cracking down. And the other guys? They’re not going to see it the way I do.”
Luke couldn’t hold a grudge against Tucker easily. They’d been through too much, seen too much. “Thanks,” he finally said, his eyes glancing out over the base of the mountains once more. “Let’s go catch us some bad guys.”
Chapter Four
“Wake up.”
Some type of liquid splashed onto her face and Trey sincerely hoped it’d been water. It tasted sour, in fact, even burned as she swallowed. Whiskey. She bolted upright, trying to cover up with a thin dress she’d found at the donation center last week. “What are you doing in here?” Her voice caught on the last word, revealing the fear building in her chest.
“You got a date,” her father said. The light brown stubble along his jawline had grown out of control, bringing attention to his receding hairline and unwashed shoulder-length hair.
She tried to rub the sleep as well as the vision in front of her from her eyes. He’d been handsome once. Before her mother died, he’d even been happy. A stranger had ruined it all, turned her father into the man standing in front of her, one who forced his own daughter to whore herself. Trey couldn’t hate him. She’d only made his grief worse, reminding him of what he’d lost every day she showed her face. “With who?
“What’s it matter? I give you the date, time and place. You just make sure your skinny ass is there and bring home the dough.” He stalked back to the other side of the shack. “And why don’t you wear something a little nicer than those ratty things?”
Trey glanced down at the bra and panties she’d been wearing for God knew how long. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d washed them. A couple days at least.
“Here,” he said, tossing her wristlet on top of the mattress. “I put ten bucks in. See if you can get something lacy for this guy.”
“What’s the special occasion?” She stood, throwing on the dress she’d used as a blanket. Luke’s question replayed in her head over and over. Why do you do this? She stared at the man who’d given her a roof and food her whole life, but didn’t recognize him. She understood taking a loan from the Camino Family had been a necessity at one point, but wondered if he’d thought about the consequences of missing payments before doing so. Had he known her mother would pay for a single late payment? Raped, pregnant, Suzanne Aston had killed herself, revealing Cal Aston’s true self, the one who sat across the room from Trey now. He wasn’t her father anymore, no matter how much money he’d put up for her against the mob, because that had been the next warning: money or his daughter’s life, neither of which he seemed to take seriously. He’d missed another payment two years ago, forcing Trey to run for her life and for Luke’s. In that time, he’d threatened to kill everyone she’d ever loved, including Luke, if she left him again.
The memory of that conversation made her grit her teeth together. She wouldn’t lose the only man who’d given a damn about her, who’d moved away from his family and everything he knew for her. She had no one else. A lightning-fast eruption of anger overwhelmed her as she looked to the man who had made her a prisoner in her own home. Who was he to take away the most important person in her life?
She had to stop thinking about the cop before she lost her head. Luke’s disgust toward her had been a small price to pay for his safety.
“New guy in town. Passing through, looking for company before lunch,” her father interrupted.
“What time is it now?”
“Six,” he answered. “Get down to the gas station and clean yourself up. Put some makeup on that bruise, too. Get out of here before the dogs wake up.”
She touched her face gingerly, wincing at the contact. She listened as her father sank into his recliner. A can hissed open. Trey didn’t argue. She couldn’t even breathe evenly around the newest cracked rib, let alone speak clearly.
“Get moving in there!”
Five minutes later, Trey poked her head out of the shack’s removable door.
“And don’t you dare take him to that damn gas station, do you hear me?” he yelled. “You get caught one more time and you won’t walk for a year.”
Trey moved the door back into place before he’d finished speaking. She’d had enough of his demands, with his determination to push her further away each day. Resentment swelled in her stomach followed by pity. He’d betrayed her by missing that damn payment, taken away the future she’d wanted with Luke. Shaking her head, Trey tried to dispel the thought. Without the loan from the Caminos, the cancer would have taken her mother’s life instead of the shotgun. Suzanne Aston had gone out on her own terms, however bloody they might have been.
The pit bulls were still asleep, their owners nowhere in sight, but she moved cautiously just to make sure. Squatting had been a crime as long as she remembered, even in a town made up of only two thousand people. She stepped onto Main Street and, noticing a police cruiser heading toward her, instantly headed in the wrong direction.
Trey watched as it drove right on by for another block before slamming on its brakes. “Shit.” She’d been seen coming out of the junkyard before business hours. Luke might even be the one driving, but she wasn’t going to wait around to find out. She turned on her heel, booking it as fast as she could.
The broken rib made it hard to breathe, but in two blocks, an alley offered protection she could take cover in until the cruiser passed. The fear of getting arrested for the fourth time this month pushed her faster. Trey put all her energy into reaching it as sirens echoed behind her.
****
“Dispatch, looks like we have a squatter over in the junkyard off of Main,” the radio squawked. “White female. Black hair. Mid-twenties. We lost pursuit, but we’re going to check it out.”
“Sounds like Trey,” Tucker commented from the passenger seat.
That had been exactly what Luke thought. He knew there had to be a better reason she didn’t want him to follow her last night, other than out of anger.
She’d been living in the junkyard.
“What the hell has she gotten herself into?” Luke asked aloud, sorrow coating every word. She deserved better. She deserved to be happy for once. He made a hairpin turn in the middle of 2nd, ignoring the honks from oncoming traffic.
“Whatever it is, you can bet that old man of hers is in on it.” Tucker flipped on the siren.
“If I’d have had my way, Cal Aston would have been dead a long time ago.” Luke scanned the street, knowing Trey had gotten away from the other cruiser, most likely hiding inside one of the buildings on Main or the alleyways between them. She’d become an expert at hiding. “Keep your eyes open. She’s not stupid enough to hang around after being spotted.”
“You got it, loverboy.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“What? Loverboy?” Tucker asked with a shit-eating grin on his face. “I think it kind of suits you.”
“Nobody gives a shit what you think.”
Tucker’s smile had always been contagious and Luke couldn’t help but lighten a little. Their confrontation from the diner had already been washed under the bridge. But the fact remained that the woman he’d do anything for had run from him two years ago without an explanation.
He pulled the car over, his gaze searching the decrepit, abandoned buildings on the right side of Main. He wouldn’t bother with the left. Too many patrons shopping this time of day. “Stay here. I’m going on foot.” Pushing himself out of the car, North Dakota air pulled the breath from his lungs. He didn’t know how long Trey would be able to stay out in the open before freezing to death, but he sure as hell wasn’t about to let her try. No matter how angry she’d been with him for proposing two years ago, he wouldn’t let her kill herself trying to hide from him. Luke checked the windows of every store for her face, hoping for a glimpse of that flawless, pale skin. Nothing.
The alleywa
ys between the buildings reeked of molded garbage and wet wood, the sour refuse assaulting his nose. Why did she have to make things so difficult? From the moment they’d met in high school, he’d known he would do anything for her. Money. Food. Clothing. Shelter. Love. He’d offered it all. Crawling through alleyways, however, was not what he had in mind. Luke made his way toward the back of the old pawn shop. He thought over every step before he made it so as not to scare her off. With the brick building on his right, the chain link fence on his left and the end of the alley in front, she had nowhere to run. If he’d chosen the right place to search.
Broken glass crunched to his right.
Luke froze.
Trey.
He could feel her. He knew she wouldn’t allow the betrayal to happen again so he had to move fast. Luke lunged toward an old wooden door leveraged against one of the buildings and pushed it out of the way.
Trey darted out from behind it, but not fast enough.
He caught her around the waist, nearly hoisting her into the air in order to get a better grip. “Trey, it’s me!” She kicked and screamed like a child as she tried to get free, but with a mere adjustment of his grip, he pushed her back up against the old pawn shop wall. “Stop it! I’m not here to take you in.” His face had ended up inches from hers, their breaths mingling in the short distance from each other’s lips.
She seemed to register his presence and quieted, her eyes darting to either side in search of a way out. Her breathing sounded labored, her chest rising and falling against his. It might have been hard for her to look up into his face, but she managed, nearly knocking Luke on his ass. Tears streamed down her face, dirt clinging to the moisture. An angel with a dirty face, he thought. My angel. “What do you want?” she bit out.
“Was that you Reynolds saw leaving the junkyard?”
“Maybe.” She pushed him back. “What if it was?”
White Trash Beautiful Page 2