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“It was rather convenient that you stumbled upon the same house that Mr. Sands was occupying.” The woman cop suddenly sniffed, her eyes narrowed on Gem. “Considering the size of the national park, some might say it was serendipitous.”
My hackles rose.
Gemma tensed beneath my hand. “It was.”
“And very convenient that you were there to help him when he fell off the cliff,” the woman added.
“What are you getting at?” I barked.
The woman arched her eyebrow. “Not getting at anything. Just stating the facts.”
“Yeah, well, don’t twist the facts to try to prove something that isn’t true.”
“What isn’t true, Mr. Sands?” the guy cop asked calmly.
I was probably walking into a trap, but I couldn’t help myself. “You’re insinuating that Gemma knew how to find me. That perhaps she has co
“What do you mean by that?” The man cocked his head. “Too late?”
I flinched. How could I confess that I was reaching my limit and favoring suicide more and more? How could I look a policeman in the eyes and admit I was weak after everything I’d survived?
Gem suddenly stood, coming to my side behind the chair. Flicking her hair over her shoulder, she arched her chin. “I found Kas exactly as we said in the hospital. I went searching for a climb. I found his house instead. We got to know each other. An accident caused his concussion, ensuring I couldn’t leave to get help. I chose to stay. We fell in love. End of story.”
“And the fire? Was that an accident, too?” the woman asked softly.
“You know it was. We made a statement as such.”
“Arson forensics state they found multiple lines of accelerant. An alcohol or gasoline type product helped start the blaze.”
Fuck, how many of them were still in my valley? It made my skin crawl to think of police trampling everything. Crushing my grass, scaring the wildlife, possibly digging in places that they shouldn’t go digging.
“The guests who’d visit always enjoyed drinking,” I whispered coldly. “Over the years, the carpet would’ve held multiple spills.”
Gemma ran a hand through her hair, twitchy and tense. “If there’s nothing else, we really are late for our appointment.”
“Just one more thing.” The woman cop stood, her eyes sca
“What the hell? What happened to doctor-patient confidentiality?” Gem snapped.
“When it’s a matter of public safety, we can gain access to certain facts, Ms. Ashford.”
“So you’re saying Kas is a threat to public safety?”
“We didn’t say that,” the male cop muttered, standing to join his partner. “We’re just aware rehabilitation after circumstances like the ones Mr. Sands has endured can take time and resources that need to be discussed—for the safety of all involved.”
“Are you taking the prescribed medication and have an appointment to see a local therapist?” The woman met my gaze.
“I am, and I will.” My hands balled.
Gem glanced my way before looking back at the police.
The officers made eye contact with her. “And you’re happy to have Mr. Sands in your home? You don’t need to feel responsible for his care now that you’re back home, Ms. Ashford. There are many places he can go—even with a lack of funds and no identification. You don’t have to house—”
“It’s my pleasure to give him somewhere to stay.”
“But if he’s suffering trauma from what occurred, it might be safest if he—”
“I trust him.” Gemma stiffened. “It’s an honor to have Kas stay with me for however long he wants. He’s welcome here indefinitely. Forever if that’s his choice as it is mine.” Her chin arched. “Now, I’m so sorry to be rude, but we really must be going.”
The cops looked at each other, then at Gem and me.
Tension vibrated between everyone.
The questions they’d already asked were repetitive and garnered no new facts. The insinuation that I might be a danger to the neighborhood weighed on me. This entire visit had scratched me raw, but I had no doubt they’d garnered more information from us than we thought we’d given. Eventually, they’d trip me up. I just had to hope I wasn’t as foggy headed next time.
Clearing my throat, I spoke calmly and politely, “I’m aware of my own flaws. I’m willing to take the necessary measures to ensure no one gets hurt. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Good to hear.” The woman nodded. “Well, then, I’m sure we will have opportunities to talk in the future.”
Why does that sound like a threat?
She smiled. “However, before we go, is there anything else you can tell us that would be prudent to our investigation? Anything at all?”
I shook my head. “No. We said what we needed to the doctors and police at the hospital.”
The police looked at one another. Questions still existed in their shrewd stares, but they put away their notepads and stood. “Okay then. We’ll be in touch as we gather more information.”
“No problem. You know where to find us.” Gemma headed toward the door, unable to hide her impatience to have them gone. “Thanks for stopping by.”
The cops looked me up and down, a tight smile on their faces. “Thanks for your time, Mr. Sands.”
“No problem.”
The male stuck out his hand, waiting for me to shake.
The thought of touching anyone who wasn’t Gem, especially a guy? Fuck me, it took every willpower to lock my knees, insert my hand into his, and stay human as his fingers tightened around mine.
Sweat broke out as my instincts roared to strike or run.
Letting me go, he tipped his chin down. “Goodbye.”
I tripped a little to the side as my heart rate galloped and the room spun.
Christ, if I reacted this way to every person I had to touch, maybe I was what the cops said: a danger to the neighborhood.
Gem shifted closer to me, subtly giving me her body to lean against in case my vision went completely white.
“We’ll be in touch.” The woman smiled thinly and stepped out of Gemma’s house. Her partner followed a few steps behind.
I didn’t breathe properly until the police were down the driveway and Gemma closed the door.
Silence.
Peace.
I sucked in a heavy breath, doing my best to shed the panic still racing in my blood from the guy’s touch.
Our eyes met.
We shrugged as if we were both a little lost.
Gemma was the first to recover, rubbing both hands over her face. “Argh, they’ll come back. I know they will. We need to come up with an iron-clad story, Kas. There are way too many holes in that one. The fact that traffickers just upped and left without taking you with them or killing you? And they haven’t even asked about any other kids being held there. Is it because the house was so badly burned there’s literally no evidence of others, or do they know something we don’t?”
White spots danced over my eyes as my body continued to tremble a little. I shivered as she walked into my arms. “Do you think they’ll come back for me?”
She buried her face into my chest. “I don’t know. But I think it’s important that we make it so they can’t pin any of this on you.”
“And how do we do that?” I inhaled the sweet scent of her hair, missing the smell of papaya and woodsmoke from the valley. Now, she smelled like berries and something else I couldn’t decipher.
She stayed quiet for a long time before leaning back in my arms and catching my stare. Her eyes were narrowed and full of hazel fire. “We use the online world to protect us. We’ll post videos—not only about climbing and survival tips but also the truth about what happened to you. The ease at how children are abducted every day. How this isn’t something crazy that happened but something that occurs all the time under people’s noses. We are all responsible for letting this happen to you. People need to see rapists hiding in their midst. They need to know that their husbands and wives going on long ‘work trips’ might not be who they think they are.” Her cheeks pinked. “We’ll help Jareth, not by telling the police that there are others out there but by telling normal people. We’ll tell them to keep their eyes open, to suspect and not be afraid if they see something that makes their instincts prickle. We’ll teach them to help protect anyone who’s been trapped and abused...just like you protected your family.”
* * * * *
I inhaled lush, green air and lay back in the damp grass. It wasn’t exactly warm and the sun cast autumn shadows, hinting that in another hour or so, darkness would once again descend. However, I hadn’t felt peace like this in a while.
Three weeks I’d lived at Gemma’s house.
Three weeks of taking my meds, attending a therapist session, and sleeping on the couch or in the backyard, depending on my nightmares. I’d hoped the filth inside my head would’ve stopped by now. I was happy. I had Gem. The cops hadn’t returned, and I hadn’t been forced to touch other strangers.
Yet...I couldn’t shake the memories that struck the moment I fell unconscious.
Gem had been undeniably patient with me. She didn’t ask me to sleep with her, even on the nights where we ended up in her bed after enjoying rather aggressive sex. Those nights were the hardest to banish myself to the couch when all I wanted to do was stay curled up around her.
I’d changed a lot in the past few weeks.
I’d read new books, learned how to exist outside the valley, and became acquainted with pieces of myself I’d never really met.
Gradually, the sex Gemma and I shared evolved too. I would never be fully tame when it came to physical gratification, and I still couldn’t touch myself any longer than a few seconds, but we shared a range of pleasures these days.
Aggressive and explosive, along with slow and meaningful. The first time we’d had gentle sex, we’d both fought to get closer. To touch everywhere at once, to kiss and drown in each other’s taste. But I forced myself to stay gentle, to fight the anger inside me, and just be.
That night was the first night I’d had a dream instead of a nightmare.
A dream of Gem. Of us. Of our simple, stress-free life together.
As far as our lives were going, they were pretty fucking amazing.
Yes, it remained just the two of us—apart from the regular pop-ins by Joshua and her mother. And yes, I felt the begi
I was...Kas.