Black Rose

by Kris Thompson

  “Yes,” Reed answered.

  “And he alone took them to your place of work, up at the Black Rose Mines, and chained them underground at an abandoned cabin.”

  “Yes.”

  Ms. Howard nodded and walked over to the jury. “David, did your brother hold a gun to your head and force you to rape and beat these women?”

  Reed paused and then sighed.

  “No.”

  “Did Thomas say he was going to kill you, or threaten you in any way if you didn’t participate?”

  “No.”

  “So why do it?” Ms. Howard asked. “Why put yourself out there to get caught and put in jail, for your brother’s crime? Why not, I don’t know, call the police?”

  There was a long pause, and it took me a moment to realize that it wasn’t because Reed was trying to think of another bullshit answer. It was because he was staring at us. I watched as his eyes wandered from each of the girls before settling on Lee. I looked over at Lee and watched in shock as she mouthed ‘pussy’ to him, and then turned her head away and looked out the window.

  I looked back over at Reed when I heard a growl echo throughout the courtroom. It was insane how he went from calm and collected to angry and ready to strike in a matter of seconds. And then I realized it was because of Lee. She knew exactly how to get under his skin.

  “Do I need to repeat the question, Mr. Reed?” Ms. Howard asked, taking a few steps closer to the witness stand.

  “No, I heard you the first time, you dumb bitch!” Reed yelled, causing all the girls and the rest of the courtroom to gasp. “I did it because I wanted to, and there was no one there to stop me. Look how long I had them.” He leaned all the way forward and pointed right at Lee. “They were all mine until that whore came along and fucked everything up. They’re still mine, and they know it.”

  The clicking of Ms. Howard’s shoes was the only sound we heard as she walked the rest of the way to Reed, leaning forward and getting in his face.

  “Unless you want me to add perjury to the long list of charges on your indictment, I recommend you recant your story right now and tell us the truth.”

  Reed looked at Ms. Howard and then Lee with disdain. Williams stayed quiet as Reed turned back to Ms. Howard and opened his mouth.

  Several Weeks Later

  “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict?” the judge asked.

  “We have, Your Honor.”

  “What say you?”

  The bailiff walked over to the foreman, took a piece of paper from his hand, and delivered it to the judge. The judge looked at it, her face not giving away any hint of the verdict. She folded the paper and gave it back to the bailiff, who returned it to the jury foreman. Judge Cooper nodded for them to continue, and the foreman started reading. I felt Lee’s hand tighten around mine as the verdicts were read.

  “We, the jury, find the defendant on the first count of first degree murder of Nina Rosado, guilty. On the second count of first degree murder of Ruth-Ann Summers, guilty. On the third count of first degree murder of Linda Baker, guilty. On the first count of kidnapping and unlawful restraint of Anna Linn, guilty. On the second count of kidnapping and unlawful restraint of Kandace Veccio, guilty. On the third count of kidnapping and unlawful restraint of Sara Turner, guilty. On the fourth count of kidnapping and unlawful restraint of Lillian Locke, guilty. On the fifth count of kidnapping and unlawful restraint of Emma Haines, guilty.”

  I wrapped my arm around Lee when I felt her body start to shake. I looked up at the judge and watched her nod at the jury before asking, “So say you all?”

  They kept their eyes on the judge as they each nodded.

  For some reason, I looked over at Adam at that moment, and he was looking straight at Reed. I followed his line of sight and almost jumped out of my seat. Reed was staring right at us. No, not at us, at Lee. I lifted my hand and covered Lee’s face, knowing he enjoyed seeing tears pour from her eyes. As soon as his view was impeded, his gaze bounced up at mine and he smiled.

  “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you have done your job well,” Judge Cooper said.

  “Your Honor,” Williams said, standing up. “I believe at the beginning of this trial my client wished to be sentenced as soon as the verdict was read.”

  I looked over at Adam again, but he was still staring at Reed.

  “Very well,” the judge answered.

  My heart sank, knowing what was going to happen, and I was hoping that there could have been a way to protect Lee and the girls from it. I looked over at Reed and growled. Of course he had a smile on his face. This was his last act to cause them pain. He knew what he was doing.

  “I can’t even begin to imagine the pain and suffering you girls went through.” The judge sighed. “And I hope that after today you all can rest easy knowing Mr. Reed will never be able to hurt you ever again.”

  Lee’s head popped up at that moment.

  Judge Cooper looked over at Reed. “David Reed, in the twenty years that I have been a judge, I have never seen anything like this. In my opinion, your brother got off easy. With that being said, Mr. Reed, I am sentencing you to death by lethal injection. You will be placed at the Sterling Correctional Facility where you will wait on death row until a date is announced. May God have mercy on your soul. Court is adjourned.”

  As soon as the judge’s gavel hit her desk, Lee stood up, tripping over my legs. I helped her right herself, only to have her rip her hand from mine as she fled the courtroom. Everyone else watched Reed being taken away by the bailiff and two corrections officers. He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world, or like he was off on some great vacation. I wanted nothing more than to jump over the barrier and beat him to death, but I couldn’t. Lee needed me and she was my number one priority.

  When I finally caught up to Lee outside the courtroom, we were bombarded by cameras and reporters asking us if we were satisfied with the judge sentencing the last Black Rose Killer to the death penalty.

  The Black Rose Killers. That’s what they were calling David and Thomas Reed. I found it disgusting, but it didn’t shock me. The entire country had taken to this story like it was some crappy reality television show. Every major network was there, trying to talk to anyone who could give them an exclusive.

  When we pushed through the sea of reporters and made it to our car, Lee let out a scream.

  “I’m supposed to be the one that did it! Their way is too humane, too kind. I want it to be me! It was my job, my promise, and all he’s going to do is slip into darkness and never wake up. He needs to suffer, feel some ounce of pain. He needs to experience for one night what he put us through.”

  I pulled her to me as she started sobbing against my chest. She just kept saying over and over that she was supposed to do it. That she should have killed him when she had the chance.

  “I love you, baby,” I whispered, kissing her hair. “I’m sorry that this is bothering you so much.”

  Once she’d calmed down, I drove us back to the apartment. Every once in awhile I would lift our joined hands and lift them to my mouth, kissing her knuckles lightly, wishing I could do more to comfort her. She never said a word the whole time, going straight to her room once we got home. I knew she wanted to be alone, but it took everything in me not to go in and comfort her.

  It seemed as if everyone went to bed after we got home. Luke went home, saying he was going to enjoy some silence since Adam and Emma were staying over. Emma was asleep in her old room, so Adam and I were the only ones left up. It was two in the morning, and I was more than annoyed that the few rounds of beer that we had shared had done nothing for my rattled nerves.

  “Lee is gonna kick your ass for smoking in the house,” Adam said, laughing.

  “I think this is one of the few times she’s not gonna care.” I chuckled, blowing out my smoke.

  Just then Lee’s voice cried out, but it wasn’t the normal type of hysteria that escaped her at night. It was frantic, eve
n bone chilling.

  I leaped up and ran into her room. She was lying in her bed, thrashing around, screaming out my name. In the almost seven months that she had been back, she had not once cried out for me. I went to her bedside and picked her up, settled her on my lap, and held her against my chest.

  “I’m here, baby. I’m here,” I whispered, rocking her back and forth. I heard the door creak behind me and turned my neck in time to see Adam close the door to give us some privacy.

  “He just kept kicking and kicking,” she said, crying against my chest. “But it wasn’t in that room, it was here. He was in my room, Richard. In my room!”

  I lifted her chin up so she had to look at me. “Never,” I said. “He will never touch you again, Lee. I promise you . . . I swear to it.”

  I felt my body shake with anger. Anger because I had never seen such fear in her eyes before, a fear that that son of a bitch had put in her. I knew I was the only one who saw this side of her. I didn’t know why she had to put up so many walls around other people, but I was relieved that she broke them down for me.

  “I just wish I could forget him, for one night. Just forget it all,” she whispered.

  “Me, too, baby.” I nodded. “I would do anything to take your pain away . . . even for one night.”

  Lee’s eyes trailed down for a second, and I sat there waiting. I didn’t know what to do, what to say, but she seemed deep in thought so I stayed silent. Suddenly I felt her warm palm rest against my chest. I followed her line of sight and saw that she was focused on her hand pressed against my chest. With love and determination in her eyes, she slid it up, and cupped around my neck. I closed my eyes when I felt her nails scrape against my scalp.

  I don’t think this is a good idea.

  Lee sat up and then straddled my hips, lifting her other hand, and resting it against my cheek.

  Not a good idea, Richard. Not in the slightest.

  So delicately that I almost didn’t feel it, her lips ghosted over mine.

  “Lee, I . . .” I whispered, still keeping my eyes shut.

  “Please, Richard,” she whispered. “If I die tomorrow, if some freakish accident should happen, I don’t want his hands to have been the last hands that touched me.”

  Her statement jarred me, and I opened my eyes and was met with two of the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. I could see the pain in them, the agony that still haunted her, and for that I couldn’t go any further. I could understand the reasoning—hell, I wouldn’t want that man to be the last thing to touch me either—but I couldn’t let her relieve the pain this way. Not the way she wanted me to.

  I cupped her face in my hands and pressed my lips firmly against hers. “Come with me,” I whispered, standing up. I took her hand in mine and led her into the bathroom.

  Once inside, I turned on the water and made sure the temperature was just right. When I turned around, I couldn’t help but smile at the look of utter confusion on Lee’s face. Wanting to ease her bewilderment, I slowly walked over to her and kissed her forehead.

  “I love you, Lee,” I whispered. “More than you’ll ever know.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Slowly I reached behind her and unzipped the back of her dress. I let my fingertips glide up her arms and to her shoulders, where I hooked my thumbs under the straps of her dress so it pooled at her feet when it fell. I let my lips feather over her forehead again while I reached behind her a second time and unhooked her bra.

  “Turn around,” I murmured, and smiled as she did so with no hesitation.

  Leaving my hands on Lee’s hips, I trailed warm kisses down her spine until I was on my knees. I let my hands move up and rest right below her breast, as I swiped my tongue over the small scars that were scattered over her back. Even the scar from her bullet wound, which made me shudder every time I saw it, and remained bright red and puckered over her upper right shoulder months later. I had wanted to cry out in anger the first time I saw the marks on her porcelain skin, and seeing them now didn’t make me feel much different, but this was about Lee. This was about making her feel good again, even for just one night.

  A moan escaped from her lips and I felt myself grow hard. I moved my hands up and, very carefully, pulled at the bottom of her bra, allowing it to fall on the floor with her dress. I rested my forehead against her lower back as I let my hands continue up, and brushed my fingertips against her soft breasts. I couldn’t help but smile when she sucked in a tight breath, and then exhaled it with a low moan.

  “Are you okay?” I whispered, hoping I wasn’t moving too fast for her.

  “Yes,” she breathed out, as I let my thumbs rub against her pebbled peaks.

  I opened my eyes and looked at the dainty white pair of panties that my beloved was wearing. Feeling somewhat eager, I trailed my fingers down her sides to the elastic on her underwear. Inch by inch I carefully lowered them, allowing my tongue to glide over the exposed skin as it unveiled itself before me. I had to curb my inner hunger. I was becoming harder by the minute, and seeing Lee like this was not helping me tame my inner male asshole who wanted to throw her down and take her. It had been over half a year since I’d been intimate with Lee, and my body wanted to dive in and claim her back, but I wouldn’t. She wasn’t ready for that—and to be honest, neither was I.

  I stood up and removed the band that was holding Lee’s hair up in a loose ponytail. I swept her hair over to one shoulder and kissed the exposed skin. I closed my eyes and straightened up. “Get in before it gets cold. I’ll be there with you soon.”

  I didn’t touch her as she walked around me and got into the shower. I stood there for a second, calming myself down and reminding myself to take it slow with her.

  She didn’t need to be told again how strong she was, because deep down she knew that already. She didn’t need to be told that she was a survivor because she made it out alive. She needed to be reminded that she was beautiful, that she was mine, and that I was hers. I could tell by looking in her eyes that she knew it, but didn’t feel it. I had to show her, to have her feel it, to have her remember how good we felt together.

  I stripped off my clothes and walked into the shower. Her back was to me, her hair already soaked, and instantly I felt myself start to weaken. I couldn’t help but let my eyes dance over the water that was cascading down her firm body. It was a beautiful thing. I could write songs about that ass alone. I reached forward and let my arm wrap around her waist, as I moved my other arm to wrap around her chest, pulling her tight against me.

  “You are so beautiful, baby,” I moaned, feeling myself rub against her smooth ass. “I can’t wait to make you come again.”

  “Please,” she panted, rubbing herself against me.

  Biting back a moan, I let my hand trail down her stomach and toward her heated core, while I let the other cup over Lee’s perky breast.

  “Oh God, yes,” she whispered as my finger swept between her wet lips and over her soft clit.

  “Does it feel good?” I smiled, rubbing my fingers over it again, this time applying a little more pressure.

  “Oh Richard, please,” she said as I let my fingers slide lower, circling over her dripping opening.

  “Tell me,” I whispered into her ear, causing her to shudder. “Tell me what you want.”

  “I need to feel you. Richard, please, I need to feel you in me,” she said, as she bucked her hips against my hand.

  Running the tip of my tongue along her ear, I let two of my fingers dip into her warm center. I let my palm grind against her swollen clit as I rubbed myself against her again.

  We stood there, panting, moaning, and whispering words of love, as I moved my fingers faster and harder inside her. I felt her knees starting to grow weak as her walls began to tighten around my fingers.

  “That’s it, baby,” I said. “Let go.”

  “Richard,” she whispered, bucking her hips even faster.

  “I love you, Lillian. My love, my forever, and soon . . . my wife.”<
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  And with those words, she gripped one hand into my hair and the other over my unrelenting fingers, and let go.

  —Lillian

  I lay in bed with Richard, naked, watching the sun rise. The warm colors cascaded over his tanned skin as they peeked between the soft blue curtains that we should have closed last night.

  After our shower, I fell asleep quickly, and for the first night in months, stayed that way for the rest of the night. No nightmares of David and Thomas, no waking up crying, just wonderful, blissful dreams full of Richard and me—finishing school, getting married, starting a family, and living the rest of our lives in peace and quiet.

  Looking over at the bedside clock, and seeing that it was still early, I was surprised when I felt Richard stir next to me.

  “Good morning,” he said, letting out a soft yawn and kissing my hair.

  He pulled me against his bare chest and squeezed me tight.

  “Good morning.”

  “I love waking up like this. We need to make this part of our everyday routine,” he said with a smile. “Now all we need is the caffeine IV bag and I’ll be in heaven.”

  I sat up and draped myself over his body, leaning down and rubbing my nose against his. “Still with the IV bag?” I whispered.

  Richard wrapped his arms around me and pulled me flush against his body. “I don’t know, you seem to be waking me up just fine. Maybe I don’t need it.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “You are such a romantic.”

  He gave me a soft kiss before pulling back. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m good, but I also feel bad that I couldn’t . . . you know, do more last night.”

  Richard moved me to the side so he could sit up. “Why would you feel that way? I didn’t give you the impression that I wanted to—”

  “No, not at all,” I said. “I just . . . I don’t know.”

  “Hey,” he whispered, pulling me beside him and holding my hand. “There is no rush. It’s not a race to try and get back to where we were. We’ll get there in our own time. Okay?”