Fall On Me (41 page)

"Well,"
he said in an injured tone of
voice.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, this is a little hard for me."

"Go on, Perry,"
the presenter
crooned.
"You're completely safe."

"I was the victim of slanderous
accusations, ma'am. I'm here tonight to set the story
straight,"
he said with fake hurt in his voice
. "I took
Delia to our high school prom. We had sex in my truck after prom.
It was completely consensual. I'd tried to hold her off, but the
girl was all over me. Afterwards she accused me of raping her."
I looked at Lee. She was crying so hard and I didn't have a clue
what to say. She ran out of the room with Hope in her arms but I
couldn't move. My eyes were glued to the piece of shit on the TV
screen

"Were the police involved?"
she
asked.

"Yes ma'am."
he nodded his head
solemnly
. "Her lies were dismissed. Everyone here in Montgomery
knows how flirtatious Delia is. She sets her eyes on a man and she
doesn't stop until she gets him. Even her daddy knew she was lying
about me."

The reporter nodded in sympathy. Fucking
bitch.
"So let's fast forward eight months to the night you and
your friends were attacked at the bar."

"Yes ma'am,"
Perry said as he shifted
in his seat.
"I was having a few beers with a couple of buddies,
minding our own business, when her boyfriend burst into the bar and
attacked us without provocation."

"When you say boyfriend, you mean Delia's
lover?"
the reporter asked.
"Hotel tycoon, Kyle
Carter?"

Lover?

Who said that word nowadays?

Yuck. I wanted to puke.

"Yeah,"
the asswipe confirmed as he
wiped his brow with his hand
. "He went nuts. Broke up the bar.
Picked a fight with all three of us. We were only defending
ourselves when we fought back. But he had back up. Some bald guy
and a friend of hers who used to live 'round here. Cammy
Frey."

My heart stopped.

The camera zoomed back on the female
presenter
. "Camryn Frey is the twenty-two year old student from
the University of Colorado, who was shot dead on June twenty-eighth
this year. Her body, along with the unconscious body of Delia
Bennett, was discovered in a house owned by hotel tycoon, Kyle
Carter, in University Hill, Colorado. The women were found on the
floor of Mr. Carter's kitchen. The paramedics who were called to
the scene described what they saw as heartbreaking. The young women
were found holding each other. Miss Frey was pronounced dead at the
scene. Both women were taken to the St. Luke's hospital in
Boulder…"

I grabbed the remote and switched the TV.
Rubbing my hands over my face, I grabbed my phone.

This shit was too much.

****

Chapter 20

Kryptonite

Kyle

"Open the door, Tracy." I knocked harder. "I
know you're in there. I can see your shadow."

The door creaked open and Lee's mother
peeked her head out from behind the frame. "I'm sorry," she
whispered as she gestured me inside. I stalked inside and watched
as she closed and bolted the door.

"You better have a damn good reason for
letting her down again." I paced the kitchen, unable to keep my
feet in one place, before I bumped into something hard. "And why
the hell are we in the dark?"

"He knows," she whispered. The light's came
on and the anger I had inside multiplied. Rapidly. There were boxes
all over the floor, nothing on the walls or the countertops. "Jimmy
knows," she said in a louder tone. "He phoned me…my house phone. I
have to leave."

"So that's it?" I demanded as anxiety filled
my gut and my brain tried to make sense of this shit-bomb. "You're
just going to run away again?" What the hell was it with this
man…He was just a man. A drunken fucking bully.

Goddammit.

"I have to," she sobbed. "You know what he
did to me."

"I know if you run he wins," I sighed
heavily. "Don't do this, Tracy. Take control of your life. Of your
future."

"What am I supposed to do, Kyle?" she
snapped. "I'm just a woman."

"What the fuck?" I demanded in disgust.
"Just a woman? That's the worst excuse for being weak I've ever
heard."

"That's easy for you to say," she hissed.
"You've never had to worry about someone being stronger than you.
Being more powerful than you. Having control over you."

"Yeah, I have," I shot back. "I do. Your
daughter is my fucking kryptonite and that scares the daylights out
of me every single day. She
is
and
does
all those
things to me. Do you think I like feeling overpowered like that?" I
shook my head. "You're not the only person in the world who's
afraid of something, Tracy. There are some things in life worth
fighting for and some things in life are worth fighting. Period.
For me it's the former. For you it's the latter."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"She'll never forgive you," I warned her.
"You walk away now and that's it. There's no coming back,
Tracy."

My stupid damn phone started ringing and I
growled in frustration. Derek's name flashed across the screen and
I answered immediately. "Is she okay?" I asked him.

"Turn on the channel 837 right now," he
roared. "Get the best damn lawyer your grandfather's money can buy
and take him out. Annihilate each and every one of them."

The line went dead and I stood, staring at
my phone for a moment before my brain kicked into gear. "Where's
your TV set?" I asked a confused looking Tracy. "Is it packed
up?"

"N...no," she stuttered. "It's in the living
room."

I barged through her small cottage until I
reached the room and turned on the channel.

"So there you have it, folks, right from
the horse's mouth,"
some blonde, with a set of teeth that
resembled Gnasher's from the Dandy comics said
. "It makes one
wonder just how far Delia Bennett pushed Rachel Grayson in the
months before the shooting. Tonight we heard from Perry Franklin
about her compulsive lying and promiscuity.

Just what happened in the run up to the
shooting to make Rachel Grayson snap? Is Delia Bennett more
responsible than has previously been reported? Does she feel guilt
for causing the death of her friend? From where we're sitting, it
certainly seems that she should. She embarked on a love-affair with
a man who she knew was involved with another woman. She snared him
with a child and is now sitting pretty on her thrown at the top of
a multinational hotel chain, having gotten exactly what she wanted.
My question for all of you watching tonight is how far would you go
to snare a multimillionaire?"

"Oh my Lord," Tracy cried from behind me.
"Turn it off."

I didn't move.

I couldn't.

I was frozen to the spot.

What the hell had just happened…What the
fuck had I just heard? I turned my head to look at Tracy. "Are they
blaming Lee?" I shook my head and stared at the television again.
"Did I hear that right?"

"They're liars," Tracy snarled through her
tears. "How can they do this? Isn't there a law against this kind
of thing?" she demanded.

"Why do you care?" I roared. I knew I was
taking my anger out on the wrong person, but this was too fucking
much. This had to stop. I had to make this go away. "I have to go,"
I muttered as I moved towards the door. "If you want to be the next
person in a long fucking list of people who've let her down then be
my guest. But if you run away this time, don't ever ask me to help
you again."

****

Lee

I curled into the tightest ball and covered
my ears with my hands. Derek was still in the lounge area of the
hotel room. He came and took Hope away earlier. I was grateful. I
couldn't function. I was a mess and she didn't need to see me like
this. I was numb and I was ruined. This was never going to be
over.

Never.

"Cam," I whispered into the darkness. "Cam,
please help me…" I shoved my fist in my mouth to stop myself from
crying. I bit down hard. The physical pain was easier to deal with
than the emotional pain. It was a distraction. I couldn't live like
this anymore. "Cam, please come back…I'm so afraid." I squeezed my
eyes so tight they started to ache. "I need you."

The door creaked open and a shadow loomed in
the doorway for a brief moment before the door closed out. I heard
the light pad of feet moving closer just before the mattress dipped
and I was being pulled into a pair of strong arms. "Shh, baby. I
got you."

"Make this end," I begged as I curled my
body into his. "Please…take me away from this." I let the tears
fall as his hand gripped the back of my head and pulled me closer.
"I can't live my life like this anymore."

"I'm gonna fix this," he whispered as he
kissed my face. "I'm gonna end all of this, baby."

"It's too much, Kyle," I whispered as I held
onto the frail tether of my sanity. "I want it over."

"I know, princess," he choked out. "I'm so
fucking sorry that you're going through this."

"He called me." I dug my nails into Kyle's
shirt. I was probably tearing his skin, but he didn't complain and
I needed the anchoring. I needed him.

"Who called, baby?" he whispered as he
folded me into his arms. The heat of his body calmed me. The weight
of his arms around me gave me comfort.

"Daddy," I managed to say, though my voice
was shaky. "He threatened me…"

"When," Kyle demanded and his arms fell away
from me. Jumping off the bed, he flicked on the light. "When, Lee?"
he asked again as he grabbed my purse and tipped it inside out.

"When I was in the restaurant," I sobbed.
"Kyle, don't…"

Grabbing my phone, he tapped at the screen
then held it to his ear. "No, Lee," he shouted. "This is not
happening to you again. You are mine. Mine. He is not fucking with
you anymore."

****

Kyle

My whole body was on fire. I was burning the
hell up and every sob, sniffle and tear that was coming from Lee's
body was adding fuel to that fire.

"You see the news, girl?" Jimmy snarled as I
held Lee's phone to my ear. "Aint so white now, are you? Whole
world knows what kind of slut you are. Should have kicked your
momma down the stairs. Saved myself years of trouble…"

Jesus Christ. Is this what she was listening
to all her life?

"I'm not your daughter, you worthless piece
of shit, and you've pushed me too far," I snarled as I locked eyes
with Lee. She was kneeling on the bed with her hands in her lap.
Her eyes were wide and fearful. I had to look away or I would snap.
"I'm only going to say this once, so listen very clearly." I paced
the floor in a bid to calm myself. "The next time you see my face
it will be when I'm standing over your fucking body."

"Well, aint it the city boy with the fat
wallet." Jimmy's cruel laugh filled me ears. "Brave words, boy.
Your daddy teach you how to talk like that?" He laughed harder.
"No, that's right, you aint got no daddy, do ya, boy?" he snarled.
"I know all about you, Carter. All about your whore of momma." He
whistled down the line. "Sixteen, wasn't that what I read? Must've
fucked her up real bad to make her kill herself…"

"I'm going to end you," I vowed. "Before you
take your last breath on this earth, I will have found a way to
make you suffer for what you did to her."

"Not if I kill you first," Jimmy roared.
"You, your whore and your little bastard..."

I hung up.

I'd heard enough.

I'd said enough.

I meant every word.

He'd been warned.

My gaze landed on Lee, crying on the bed,
and my whole body shuddered. "Come here," I mumbled as I held my
arms out for her.

"I'm sorry," Lee whispered as she scrambled
off the bed and rushed towards me. I caught her just as she flung
herself into my arms. I hoisted her up as she wrapped her legs
around my waist and clung to my neck. "I'm sorry he said that to
you…"

She was apologizing for him…

I turned around and pressed her back to the
wall. "Look at my face, Lee," I told her. Sniffling, she lifted her
face to mine. Her eyes. Jesus, the fear I saw in her eyes crippled
me. "I love you." I wiped her tears with my thumb. "You are
everything to me. No one is going to hurt you again. Not while I'm
breathing. I'll take the whole fucking world down before I let that
happen. Got it?"

She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. "I
love you too. So much." Tucking her face into my neck she
whispered, "I think we're cursed, Kyle. Every time we get back up
from one blow, someone comes along and knocks us back down. I'm so
afraid that the next blow will end us."

"We'll get through this," I promised her.
"We've survived worse than an asshole gossip station and that drunk
piece of shit."

"Look at the odds though," she whispered.
"Kyle, they're all stacked against us."

"So fucking what?" I growled, pulling back
so I could see her face. "Let me tell you something, princess. The
odds were never in our favor, but we're doing it. We beat those
fucking odds every second of the day. I'm damn proud of us for it.
I'm so fucking proud of you, and I love you. I
more
than
love you, if that makes any sense." I pressed my forehead to hers
and tried to slow my breathing. "I'm not good with words or
expressing my feelings and shit, but that's the best definition I
can give you. I more than love you, Lee. I am more than in love
with you. Every day. Every night. I can guarantee you that won't
change."

"You're right," she whispered as she brushed
her lips against mine. "I'm proud of you, too. I more than love
you, too. This won't break us."