Protective Love (Hidden Secrets) (8 page)

“It was my debt
, wasn’t it, Kayla?”

By his tone, I knew he was getting ready to blame himself
, and I couldn’t let him do that.  No matter how I may have felt, he did the right thing.

“Cu
rry, it wasn’t your fault.  You did the right thing by not cheating for him.  It wasn’t your fault.”

“What’s she talking about?”
my father asked Carson, but I jumped in.

“Alex asked him to throw a fight so he could be assured to win a bunch of money.  Carson didn’t do it and Alex lost.”  I turned to Carson, but he was gone.  “Where’d Carson go?”

Just as I asked, squealing tires could be heard outside.  My stomach sank.  We all tried to get a hold of him by phone, but he wouldn’t answer.  Over the course of an hour, they continued to question me, and for many of those questions, I didn’t have answers. 

The house phone rang and my mom got up to answer it.

“Hello?... Yes, that’s my son… No! No, please… Yes… in about twenty minutes.”

She hung up and began to cry.  My dad was at her side in no time
.  We all waited in silence wanting to know what happened to Carson.

“Carson’s in the hospital.  We have to go now.”

Twenty minutes later we were all at the hospital.  We moved through the building like a wrecking ball; anyone in our path quickly moved out of our way.  We were on a mission; however soon, we were directed to a waiting room. 

“A surgeon?  A surgeon?  What has our son done?  Who did this to him?  Should we call the police?  Yes,
yes, we need to call the police.” 

Mom made a move to pull out her
phone, but Dad stopped her.

“We need to wait and find out what happened before we can call the police with anything.” 

Dad was always the cool, calm, and collected one.  I attributed that to being a lawyer and needing to keep his wits about him during trials and the like.

The surgeon walked
out to the waiting room not long after we’d arrived, and was immediately rushed by twelve people.  The surgeon held his hands up, and everyone quieted.

“I’m Dr. Marley.  I am the attending surgeon for Carson Williams.  He suffered a concussion and a six inch gash across his stomach.  The weapon cut into a section of his intestine, but I have repaired it all and
he should make a full recovery.  I have also noted some old fractures…”  The doctor was interrupted when all of us said he was a professional kick boxer.  He nodded his head and continued.

“I thought he looked familiar. 
He’s very talented.  He should be able to go back no problems once he has healed fully.”

Once the doctor finished updating
us on everything, we were led to his room.  I stopped outside the room and turned to my family.

“Can I have just a few moments with him
- alone?” 

Everyone nodded and waited in the hallway.

I walked slowly into the hospital room.  Carson turned his head, looked at me, and frowned.  Without hesitating further, I ran to his side and carefully hugged him.  When he brought his arms around me, I cried.

“What were you thinking?  You went after Alex didn’t you?”

“I had to!  This is all my fault, Kay.  I wanted to beat the living shit out of him!  And I almost did too.”

“What happened?”

“I had him.  Was beating the shit out of him when he called in a bunch of other people I didn’t even know were there.  They had weapons and Alex got away.  I got the other guys down, but not before some asshole cut me.  I won’t let him hurt you anymore, Kay.  I won’t let him do it!”

“Carson, I love you, but you shouldn
’t have done that.  You could’ve been killed.  I would never have forgiven myself if something happened to you because I finally told what happened.”

I stared at my brother for a moment.  He was hurt because I spoke out
, and I blamed myself for that.

“Stop it!  I made the decision to do this, Kay.  You, however, need to file a report.  You need to go to the police about his.”

I shook my head.  “No, I just want help from you guys.”

“Please
, Kay! Do it for me if not for yourself.” 

I was getting ready to say no again when he grabbed my hand. 

“Please!  You’re not the only who needs and wants justice.”

I knew my brother was right.  It was time that I did this much for myself, but now for
my family too.

Everyone came in and visited with Carson.  He told everyone what happened.  Of course, everyone was furious
- even my parents were in rants now.  I just sat back and watched everyone.  I knew I’d done the right thing by telling everyone, but then Carson got hurt, and that was not what I wanted at all.  He was right though, I needed to report it all to the police.  I understood that some of the incidents were past the statute of limitations, but not all of them.  I needed to do it; I needed to report my rape.

“I am going to go and report this all to the police.  I think Carson is right and it’s time to get justice
, not just for myself, but for you all too.  Would anyone want to go with me?”

After a long discussion, it was decided that all the guys, including dad, would take me up there while
Mom and the girls stayed behind with Carson. 

Within minutes, we were headed to the police station
, and I couldn’t quit shaking.  Jake placed his hand on mine and I jumped.

“We’
re not going to let you out of our sight.  While we walk in there you walk in the center of us.  We will protect you, Kay.  Trust us.”

I nodded.  The drive to the police station took no time at all.  Before I knew it, I was in the center of my brother
s and dad walking into the station.

CHAPTER SIX

~JASON~

I didn’t know who I was kidding - every day that week, Kayla had been in my thoughts.  There hadn’t been a time that I had been able to shake her from my head.  There were times when I’d actually wanted to hit myself for it.  Even Nate was getting tired of me constantly being distracted.

“What you need is someone who isn’t Cinderella and
didn’t run off before you even know anything about her.”

“I can’t get her out of my head.
There’s just something about her that… I don’t know calls to me.  Pulls me toward her and I can’t seem to resist it.”

“You sound like a fucking girl.”

I shrugged.  I didn’t have anything to say to that.  He was right, and there was no other way to describe it.

Thankfully
, the week days didn’t drag. It was the evenings when I wasn’t working that did.  Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her, felt her, and remembered her.  It was going to drive me insane staying away.  There was only one choice for me: I had to see her.  I planned to swing by the shelter the following day to see her.

A letter was delivered
, breaking me from my thoughts.  I looked at the writing on the front of the envelope and realized what it was.  I dropped it immediately, grabbed my gloves from my desk drawer, and picked up the envelope again, getting Nate’s attention.  Once he was next to me, I began to open the letter.

Dumping the contents on the
desk, we found a picture and a note.  The note made the hairs on my neck stand on end.

Detective Gold

It will all make sense real soon, but remember
, it was mine first.  Ha ha ha ha!

A.G.

“Jay, he sent this to you by name.”

I nodded and reached for the picture.  When I flipped it over, my breath caught in my throat.  There was a woman face down
and handcuffed to a bed. The marks on her back and butt hurt me.  He was still inside her while taking the picture. There was something in her mouth - a sheet or something - and he was pulling her head back and her arms taunt against the cuffs.

“Oh shit!  This woman was hurt badly, Nate.”

“I know,” he whispered.

We were
discussing the note and the photo when another detective called me to the front.  It was the understatement of the year, but I was a little shocked to see a group of grown men in a circle.

“Uh,
can I help you?”

The older man of the group spoke. 

“We need to talk in a private room, please.”

“Uh, sure.  Right this way, please.”

I started to walk down the hall and they followed, keeping the circle formed.  It was the most bizarre thing I had ever seen, and I had been a detective for a while.

As I passed Nate, I shrugged my shoulders at his raised brows.  The more I thought about the older man, he looked familiar.  I just couldn’t place him.  I opened the door and they all walked in.  Amazing
ly, they didn’t have to break the circle at all to enter the room, and I did see another person on the inside.  They were protecting someone.  Now at least the circle made sense.

We were in our biggest conference room.  There was a table big enough to seat twelve; five on each side and one at each end.  They walked to one side of the table and I went to the other.  They stayed standing, so I did too.

“We need to file a rape report.”

“We?”

There was no hiding the shock in my voice.  All of these men needed to file a report.  How the hell did anyone overtake them?  They all looked pretty well in shape.

“My daughter.  My name is Larry Williams.”

Oh shit!  It’s Kayla’s dad!

“Hello, Sir.  We met at the graduation party a week or so ago.  I am Detective Jason Gold.”

I heard a gasp from the inside of the circle.  My arms tingled and my heart skipped a beat.  Then the men moved out of the way and my heart completely stopped; frozen for a minute as I stared at the very woman I couldn’t get off my mind.

“Kayla…” I whispered.

“Jason…” she whispered back.

Was this her story?  Was this the reason that she was so scared of me when we
met?  Was this what she was referring to at breakfast?  How could one rape put me in danger?

We just stared at each
other, neither of us says anything.

“You two know each other?”

Kayla shook her head and blinked a few times. 

“Yes
… no.  We met at Mylee and Kylee’s party,” Kayla said to her dad.

“Do you want someone
else, then?”

I stared at her and prayed she said no.  I wanted to help her.  Yes, it was also because I wanted to be near her too.  I waited for her answer.

“No, daddy, he’s fine.  You said you wanted to help me,” she shrugged.

“I do.  Please sit down.  Tell me what happened.”

She stared at the chair for a moment.  It was like if she sat it was going to attack her.  One of her brothers placed a cushion I didn’t even see him holding on the chair.  She smiled at him and sat down slowly.  Her father and a brother on her left, two more brothers on her right and three brothers behind her.  Honestly, it was quite intimidating.  When I looked at Kayla, I could see her shaking.

“Do you want to do this in private?”  I hoped she’d say yes, but I knew they were with her because she wanted them there.

She shook her head. 

“I want them here.  That’s Colt,”
she pointed to the guy on the other side of her dad. “This is Elijah and Jack,” she pointed to the guys next to her. “Behind me are Jeff, Jake, and Nick.”

I nodded to them as they nodded to me.  It was a lot of name
s to remember, but I needed to get to the topic on hand.  I took out my pen and paper and began to take notes as she was telling me her story. As I took notes, I happened to notice her family blanching and clenching fists through some of the details. I felt so horrible for her.  When she got to present time, Jack handed me a stack of photos.  I started to flip through them. 

“When
did this happen?  When were these taken?”

“Today
,” she whispered.

A
s she said the word, I froze on marks on her back and butt.  It explained the need for the cushion.  Another picture popped into my head and felt the bile rising up in my throat.  I excused myself, walked out of the conference room and hurried to the nearby trash can.  I made it just in time before losing my lunch.  Everyone was staring and I didn’t care.

A tear slipped down my cheek as I stood up and walked to my desk.  I didn’t bother wiping it away.  I could feel my heart breaking in my chest for this woman.  She was amazingly strong and beautiful.  I cared about her more than I have any other woman
, and she not only has been through a horrific ordeal, but the guy doing this to her knew I liked her.  I prayed I hadn’t caused her any more pain.

I grabbed the picture and almost broke down
as I sank down in my chair. 

“Jay, what’s wrong”

“Detective Gold?”

I looked
up, startled to see Mr. Williams is standing there with two of his sons; Jake and Elijah.

I stood quickly, but my legs wouldn’t hold me and I sank back down.

“What is going on?”

“Why are you crying?”

Willing my legs to comply, I stood and was relieved when they supported me.

“Let’s go back to the room to talk, please.”

We all walked back into the room, followed by Nate.  Instead of heading to my side of the table and to my chair, I walked directly to Kayla and pulled her into my arms. 

“I’m so sorry
,” I whispered over and over again in her ear, and I was shocked when she returned my hug. “Was this because of me?  Because I couldn’t stay away like you wanted me to?”

“No.  It was because I stood up against him.  Then I fought him and cried.”

I shudder
ed, and she held me tighter.

“I really care about you, Kayla.  I really do.  This is killing me.”

“I am still alive, right?  It could be worse.  I just want it to stop.  Maybe I could have a life when it’s over.”

“Do you want me to stay away?”

I was praying the hardest I had ever prayed in my life for her to say no.  From the moment I met Kayla, I knew she was different.  This woman was a part of my life, whether I felt I was ready or not.  She was there and I didn’t want to lose the chance to be near her.

“No.  Please help me.”

“I will.  I promise I will.”

I badly wanted to kiss her right now, but I knew her father and brothers would probably tackle my ass to the ground if I did.  Pulling back from her, I did the next best thing and kissed her on the cheek.  She smiled
, and I smiled in return.  All of her brothers were staring at me; some were glaring daggers at me.  Only the one who had talked to me at the party, Jake, smiled.

“Can you tell me what the hell is going on here?  Why were
you sick in a trash can, and why you were in tears at your desk?” her dad bellowed.

Kayla looked at me. 

“Did that really happen?”

I swallowed hard. 

“When I realized the connection between what I got in the mail today to what you were saying, it hurt me deeply.  So yes, it made me sick and a little upset, but it is not because of you.  It’s because of what this sick bastard did.”

She swallowed this time.  “What did you get in the mail?”

I handed her the note and her face paled. 

“H-he knows,” she whispered and sank to the chair behind her and winced when she made contact.

I was in front of her holding her hands tightly in mine.  She looked up at me with pain in her eyes. 

“You’re in danger
, and it’s my fault, Jason. Y-you need to stay away from me.”

“I am not in any danger and you didn’t do this.  HE did this.
  There is no way I am going anywhere, Kayla.  No way!”

I held the picture out and leaned in and whispered, “You decide if you want your family to see it.”

She nodded.  I kept a hold of her other hand as she turned the photo to see it.  A sob slipped from her lips and she dropped the picture.  There was no way of stopping me, not at this point.  I pulled her in a hug and held her while she cried.  I wasn’t going to ask, but I was curious as to why she suddenly let me comfort her.  It really wasn’t something I cared about at the moment. 

Maybe later
, when I’ve had my fill of comforting her. But right now, I just want to enjoy being able to hold her, even if it was only for comfort.

It wasn’
t until we heard her brother yell ‘Fuck!’ that we realized someone had picked up the picture and note.  She pulled back and tried to get the picture from Jake, but her dad took it.

“I am going to kill that son of a bitch!”

“Not if I get to him first!”

“We have two reasons to hang him by the balls!  Let’s go back to the hospital and find ou
t where he’s at from Carson!”

“STOP IT!!” Kayla screamed. 

She had tears coursing down her cheeks.  She walked over to her brother Nick and pulled the picture from his hand.  I could see the embarrassment on her face.  That was one thing she didn’t need to feel at the moment - embarrassment.

She
’d had her life ripped out from underneath her for so long.  It finally made sense why she didn’t want me touching her and why she panicked.  I understood why it was dangerous for her.  Whether she wanted to admit it or not, I
was
to blame for what happened to her that day.

“This is not your fight!  Carson already tried
, and now he’s sitting in the hospital because he decided to take Alex on alone!  STOP IT!  I am not letting anyone else get hurt because of me!” she sobbed.

Suddenly
, it dawned on me what she just said.

“Wait a minute.  You know who has been doing this to you
?”

She wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“Yes… Alex Greene.”

I stumbled backwards and sat down in a chair for a moment.  I looked up at
Nate, who had the same sick look on his face.  He tipped his head toward the door and I nodded.

“If you’
ll excuse us a minute.”

Once we left the conference room
, I veered off to the bathroom.  I needed to hit something and I needed to do it now!  If Nate hadn’t said the one thing capable of stopping me, I would have destroyed the station’s bathroom.

“We need to save her now, Jay.”

I turned around and headed back toward the Captain’s office, but before we could get in there Larry stopped us.