Protective Love (Hidden Secrets) Read online

  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 brothers 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. Amazingly, 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 names 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.

  As 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 shuddered, 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 out 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.

  “I want to know what’s going on.” He lowered his voice. “I know you like my daughter, but if you can’t handle the job-”

  “Sir, I assure you I can handle the job. There’s more to this story than you know about. Why don’t you join me in a meeting with the Captain? You can fully understand why we had to leave the room then.”

  He nodded and I started toward the Captain’s office. Nate stayed behind so Larry could come with me. I knocked on the door.

  “Yeah?”

  “Sir, we need to talk, it’s an emergency.”

  “Come on in.”

  I held my hand out for Larry to enter first. Once inside I shut the door.

  “Mr. Larry Williams. What brings you here old champ?”

  Larry looked to me. I cleared my throat.

  “Um, sir, this isn’t a social call.”

  “Oh?”

  “You know the case that Nate and I have been working on? The one I started when I first got here?”

  “Yeah, the serial rapist. You have a lead to save other women?”

  “That’s just it, sir,” I looked nervously at Larry. “I have reason to believe there weren’t other women to begin with. I think it’s been one woman for all these years.”

  “That is the most ridiculous theory you’ve come up with, Gold. That would have to be one stupid woman to have let herself be raped that many times. How many more of these theories of yours do I have to point out are wrong?”

  I could feel Larry tensing up next to me with everything the Captain was saying. He was known around the station as Captain Dick. He was living up to his name at this moment. However, this time, it was at Kayla’s expense, and I wasn’t having that.

  “She is not stupid, nor had she ever let this happen to her. She has been through hell and back, and this son of a bitch is taunting us! She let none of this happen to her. Quit being a dick for five minutes and listen before you spew out your words. You sound like an asshole. Oh, and sir, I would like to introduce you to the victim’s father.”

&nb
sp; The Captain’s face dropped, as did the color. The insults I just pushed out at him were immediately forgotten when he met the angry face of Larry Williams. The laughter caught in my throat and I coughed instead.

  “She was raped by this guy when she was 12, and he hasn’t stopped since. The most recent was today. And he sent a picture as proof today.”

  “What’s your plan of action?” he asked, still looking at Larry.

  “I want to do undercover work. I want to protect her so this asshole can’t hurt her again.”

  “Granted.”

  It was too easy this time, though I knew it was because Larry was sitting next to me. I wasn’t going to argue. Protecting Kayla from this happening ever again was my main concern.

  “Nate will be going with me.”

  Captain nodded. I stood, but Larry didn’t.

  “Go ahead Jason. Let my kids know what’s happening. I need to have a chat with the Captain here.”

  A shudder ran through me at his tone, but I quickly left the office. Not long after the door shut voices rose quickly. I hurried myself back to the conference room. Everyone looked up when I entered.

  “So can we count on you taking care of our sister when we are unavailable? I can pay you for the extra time.” Eli asked.

  All of her brothers nodded their head and said they’d pay too.

  “Um, I’m a detective, not a bodyguard.”

  Elijah stood up and gestured for me to join him on the other side of the room. I did.

  “Look, I know you like my sister.”

  “I do,”

  There was no way I was lying about that. Besides, I was sure anyone in the room could have seen that.

  “Well, I’m going to tell you that she does not take too kindly to men. I’m sure you can see why. Hell, she was even afraid of us, and we would never do anything but protect her.”

  “What are you trying to say here, Mr. Williams?”

  “Eli, please. What I’m trying to tell you is, if you want a chance to be with my sister, spending time with her will be your only way. She needs to feel comfortable around you to open up like that or you’ll never get anywhere. Now, I believe you’re a good man. I have taken the liberty of talking to several people about you on our way to the station and while we waited for you to come out. They tell me you’re as loyal as they come. Many of the female officers here say that you’re one of the few remaining good guys. Aside from an incident a few years back, you’ve been in no trouble.”