Broken Pieces (6 page)

After he’d left her lying broken on the ground, after he’d puked up his guts, he realized the rage that had tormented him was gone and he was at peace like he’d never been before.

That had been the beginning. And for a year it had been enough. When the rage began to build again,
filling him up to the point that he thought his skin would crawl right off him, he’d known exactly what to do.

Her name had been Gina and she’d been sitting in the town square. He’d come up behind her, thrown the bag over her head and raped her. This time he’d been smart—he’d worn a condom. He’d left her scared and broken and run like the wind when he was finished.

It had been good, but it hadn’t been as good as with Mariah. In all the times after, it had never been as good as it had been that first time.

Even when he’d escalated it by not covering their faces, by staring into their eyes as he raped them, it hadn’t been the same. Even when he’d choked the life out of them, then carried them to his secret place and buried them, it hadn’t been as good.

And now the hunger was back.

The hunger and the rage.

Tonight somebody would pay. Tonight some woman would die and as he raped her, as he choked her until the life flicker in her eyes vanished, he’d think of that first time.

And Mariah.

Chapter 7

M
ariah stood on the back porch and surveyed the work Joel had done. The yard finally looked like a real lawn instead of an abandoned lot, and in the flower beds, now without the cover of the weeds, a few petunias and impatiens she’d bought and planted that morning bloomed in reds and purples.

Wafting on the summer breeze was not only the scent of freshly mowed grass but also the faint whiff of hickory smoke coming from the direction of Finn’s place. Kelsey was in the yard with Tiny, the little dog chasing her as if the cast on his leg were a tiny booster rocket.

Kelsey’s laughter rose in the air as she played with her companion and for a moment Mariah was filled with a contentment she hadn’t known in a very long time.

This house and this land weren’t bad. She’d once believed they were, but in fact they had the potential to bring somebody years of happiness.

Kelsey’s laughter helped change her perspective, but she knew that part of her good feeling this morning came from the residual glow of the night before.
There was no denying that she’d enjoyed the dinner with Jack.

They’d chatted until Kelsey had returned to the table, talking about the town, bits and pieces from high school days and their present lives. It had been superficial chat that seemed appropriate for a casual date. As the evening went on, she found herself relaxing, but the electricity she felt between them never completely went away.

It had been close to nine when he’d brought them home and left them with the promise of seeing them at Finn’s barbecue. She didn’t like the fact that she wanted to see him again. She knew it would only complicate things for her to get close to anyone here in town.

She’d said good-bye to Plains Point years ago and within a month, two at the longest, she would say good-bye again. There was no room in her life for a relationship with a hot vet from a small town she wished to escape.

With a sigh she went back into the kitchen and into the utility room, where a load of curtains was waiting to be moved from the washing machine to the dryer.

The odor of bleach greeted her as she opened the washing machine door. She loved the scent of bleach, so clean and fresh. It would be nice if a jug of bleach could be poured over the first seventeen years of her life, leaving behind a whitewash of her memories rather than the harsh stains of reality.

For eight months after she’d run away, she’d drifted from homeless shelter to homeless shelter in Chicago, afraid for herself and the life she carried
inside her. But even though those days and nights had been frightening, she’d been filled with a wondrous love for the baby growing inside her.

She remembered lying on a cot and rubbing her growing tummy, thinking this was finally somebody who would love her. This child would love her as her parents hadn’t, and she’d vowed to be the best mother she could be.

And so far she had been. She’d been the mother she’d never had, loving and available. She’d been a room mother and a Brownie leader. She’d gone on the school field trips and encouraged Kelsey to have her friends over whenever she wanted.

The ringing phone pulled her from the past and out of the utility room. It wasn’t the house phone but rather her cell on the kitchen counter.

“Tell me you still can’t cook,” Janice said.

“I still can’t cook.”

“Good.”

Mariah laughed and sat at the table. “What’s this all about?”

“I was thinking about all the movies I’ve seen about small towns and I started worrying that you might be turned into a Stepford Wife.”

“That might be difficult, considering there’s no evil husband around. Besides, it would take more than a miracle and modern science to make me a cook.”

“How’s it going otherwise? Is Kelsey screaming to come home yet?”

Mariah gazed out the window where Kelsey was still being chased by Tiny. “She spent a couple of hours at the public pool yesterday and met some kids. Then last night we went out to dinner with the
veterinarian who fixed the new dog and she hung out with some of the kids at the arcade. She seems fairly satisfied here for now.”

“Whoa, back up. What’s this about dinner with a vet? Who is he and what does he look like?”

“His name is Jack Taylor and I went to high school with him. As far as what he looks like, suffice to say that Kelsey calls him Dr. Hot.”

“Hmm, if he passes the Kelsey test, he must be hot. Are you seeing him again?”

“I’m sure I’ll be seeing him again. It’s a small town,” Mariah replied.

“You know that’s not what I mean,” Janice replied impatiently.

“Honestly, Janice, it would be pretty stupid for me to look for a relationship in a town I’ll soon be leaving,” Mariah exclaimed.

“And it’s about time you did something completely stupid in your life,” Janice countered. “A brief affair with a man nicknamed Dr. Hot would probably be good for you.”

“Have you been talking to my daughter?”

“No, I just don’t want you to wind up like me, alone and so set in my ways I scare off most men. You’re young and gorgeous and you deserve to have a healthy, loving relationship with a special man.”

Mariah laughed once again. “How did we get from brief hot affair to happily ever after?”

Janice’s familiar low chuckle filled the line. “I’m being a pain, aren’t I?”

A deep affection for her friend rose up inside Mariah. “I know you only want what’s best for me.”

“We’ve talked about this before. If you allow that
night to keep you from falling in love, then you remain a victim for the rest of your life.”

“Are you through?” Mariah asked. This time it was her turn to feel slightly impatient. They’d been over this a million times before.

“I’m through,” Janice agreed.

For the next few minutes the two caught up on news from Chicago and by the time they hung up, it was time to start getting ready for the barbecue at Finn’s.

What Janice had never understood about Mariah was that she’d found her happiness without a man in her life. She was fulfilled by her work as a teacher, warmed by her love for her daughter. She’d never needed a man to fill empty spaces or make her complete. She was complete on her own.

Sure, it might have been nice to find some man to share her life with, one who admired and respected the choices she had made, one who shared the same likes and dislikes.

There were times she admitted that it would be nice to have somebody to whisper to in the quiet, somebody to share a pot of coffee with in the mornings, somebody to make love with late at night. But she didn’t need that in her life.

At a quarter to six Mariah checked her reflection in her dresser mirror. She’d pulled her long hair back and fastened it at the nape of her neck with a mother-of-pearl clasp. She wore one of her favorite outfits, a turquoise sundress that would be cool and airy for a night spent in the late-spring heat and fun turquoise flip-flops. She’d even taken time to paint her nails a pearly pink.

She felt nervous as she turned away from the mirror. Tonight she would be seeing people she hadn’t seen in years. Classmates she’d laughed with, fellow students she’d seen on a daily basis.

But in the back of her mind as she thought of the young men she’d known in high school, she’d always wondered if one of them had been waiting for her that night, hiding beneath the cover of the woods and the storm.

Was she going to eat barbecue tonight, drink a beer and exchange old memories with the man who had raped her?

She shoved these thoughts away, refusing to allow her evening to be tainted by something that happened so long ago. “Wow, you look nice,” Kelsey said as Mariah met her in the hallway and they went downstairs.

“Back at you.” Mariah smiled at her daughter, who looked achingly fresh and pretty in a pair of pale pink shorts and a pink and white tank top.

“We can’t leave yet,” Kelsey said. “You’re the guest of honor and so we can’t be one of the first to get there. It’s so uncool.”

Mariah sat on the edge of the sofa. “Well, we certainly don’t want to be uncool.” Kelsey perched on the sofa’s arm, the clean scent of her shampoo battling with the latest had-to-have perfume.

Tiny yipped from his confines in the kitchen and Kelsey popped up to run to the gate and sweet-talk him. “We’ll be back before you know it,” she said. “I’ll bring you home a nice barbecued hot dog.”

“You’re spoiling that dog,” Mariah exclaimed.

“I know, but he deserves to be spoiled. He’s just so cute.” Kelsey reached over the gate and patted Tiny on his head. “I really don’t think we need to
keep him gated like this. He lets us know when he needs to go out. Maybe tomorrow we can just forget about the gate?”

“Maybe,” Mariah agreed, and stood. “Come on, squirt, let’s get over to Finn’s. I’m sure nobody will say anything if the guest of honor is right on time.”

Mariah tamped down a touch of nervous tension as they got into the car. She didn’t know if her nerves came from the prospect of seeing old friends or the anticipation of seeing Jack again.

It was the crazy male-female thing that she’d briefly felt for Tom Lantry, a kick that in his case had lasted only until she realized he got that same kick looking at his own reflection in a mirror.

When they pulled down the long dirt drive that led to Finn’s place, Mariah noticed the changes that had occurred. The old farmhouse sported fresh white paint and a new large porch. A pristine white barn had replaced the old one that had listed precariously to one side.

The place looked prosperous, although there were some things that had remained the same. The old smokehouse stood in the distant pasture along with an old feed shed that had been mangled by a rampaging bull when Finn and Mariah had been twelve.

The driveway was already full of vehicles as Mariah nudged her car between an SUV and a pickup. As she and Kelsey got out of the car, the sounds of merriment coming from the back of the house drifted in the still evening air.

“Looks like there’s a big crowd,” Kelsey said.

“Sounds like it, too,” Mariah replied.

Finn greeted them at the front door. He grabbed Mariah in one of his signature bear hugs, then released
her. “You look gorgeous as always. Come on in, most of the gang is already here.”

He led them through a pleasant living room decorated in earth tones with framed pictures of two red-haired little kids on nearly every surface.

“Hey, Mariah.” The woman Mariah had known as Hot Pants Hannah smiled from the kitchen doorway. She wore a pair of Daisy Duke shorts that exposed the long, shapely legs that had given many a teenage boy a moment of breathless fantasy. Her brown hair, once almost boyishly short, now touched her shoulders, enhancing her prettiness.

“Hannah, it’s nice to see you again. This is my daughter, Kelsey.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Kelsey said.

Hannah smiled. “Not only gorgeous, but she has good manners, too.”

Mariah smiled. “Thanks for doing this.”

She smiled and nodded toward Finn. “It’s no big deal—he looks for opportunities to throw these shindigs. Last summer we threw together a barbecue because he had a cold sore on his lip and thought it would cheer him up.”

“She’s making that up,” Finn exclaimed, the look he gave his wife one of obvious adoration.

Hannah winked at Mariah and Kelsey. “Okay, maybe it was a stubbed toe.”

They all laughed; then Finn herded Mariah and Kelsey toward the sliding glass doors that led to an immense patio complete with a barbecue pit as big as Mariah’s master bath in Chicago. Half a dozen picnic benches filled the area along with folding lawn chairs.

People were everywhere, standing in groups, sitting
on the benches and hovering around the two beer kegs surrounded by ice and chilling in oversized plastic garbage cans.

Kids played in the yard, both on a swing set and with dozens of lawn toys. Some chased one another in a game of tag. A handful of kids around Kelsey’s age sat at one of the picnic tables slightly away from the adults.

One of the girls, a cute little blonde, waved to Kelsey as they stepped outside. “Go on,” Mariah said, and smiled at her daughter.

Finn grabbed Mariah by the arm and led her to a group of people. Within minutes her head was spinning as she tried to put faces with names from her past.

Although she didn’t see Clay Matheson in the group, his wife, Sherri, greeted Mariah coolly. “Nice to see you again,” she said, although the brittle hardness in her brown eyes said otherwise.

Sherri had been the mayor’s daughter in high school. A pretty blonde who many of the girls had thought was stuck-up, she appeared to have put on about forty pounds since the old days.

“Nice to see you again, too,” Mariah replied.

“I heard you’ve been living in Chicago.” Her gaze swept down the length of Mariah. “I just assumed they’d have great clothing there, but maybe not.”

Bitch, Mariah thought even as she smiled, but before she could reply, an arm fell on her shoulder and she looked up into Jack’s knowing eyes.

“Hey, you,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for you to arrive. Sherri, you don’t mind if I steal her away, do you?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer, but steered Mariah away.

“You scare the hell out of her,” he said into Mariah’s ear, the warmth of his breath shooting that crazy electricity through her.

“Why should I scare her?” Mariah asked, half-glad and half-sorry when he dropped his arm from her shoulder. Wearing a pair of dark brown cargo shorts and a beige polo shirt, he looked cool and handsome.

His gaze swept over her in the same way Sherri’s had moments before, only in his case she felt his gaze like a physical caress. “Why should you scare her? Because you’ve come back here all sexy, sassy and single and everyone knows that years ago you and Clay had a thing for each other.”

“High school stuff, not real-life stuff,” she replied. She glanced over to where Kelsey sat with the other teens, her head thrown back in laughter.

Mariah looked back at Jack. “Speaking of Clay, I notice our good sheriff is absent.”

“Somebody said that something came up and he’ll be here later. How about I bring you a beer?” He gestured toward a nearby empty picnic table.