My eyes were still closed. I was crying so hard I wondered if I’d suffocate.
Now he was pulling my underwear down, slowly. He let out a whistle.
“Aren’t you sweet.”
He made me lift each foot again. I kept my eyes closed, didn’t want to see him staring, didn’t want to see the look on his face. Something landed in the corner, probably my underwear. I heard him step back.
“Open your damn eyes.”
I opened them, my whole body heaving with sobs.
“Your daddy was being a right prick today.” He reached out, gave me a hard slap across my face. I stumbled backward, trying not to fall onto the bed, my face stinging from the blow.
I heard noises, like Crystal was screaming into her gag. Gavin lunged toward her as she ran at him, hit him hard in the chest with her shoulder.
He grabbed her and threw her onto the bed, sprawled on top of her. Her legs were kicking at his backside. He slapped her hard a couple of times, the sick sound of flesh meeting flesh ringing through the air. She stopped kicking.
I screamed helplessly into my gag, tried to get closer, wondering if I could use my rope and get it over his head and choke him, but I couldn’t reach that far.
He had one forearm pressing down on Crystal’s throat, his other hand undoing his jeans. I sank to my knees, turned my back on the scene, and closed my eyes. I chanted over and over in my head, trying to drown out the noises, the sound of the bed slamming against the wall, animal grunts from Gavin.
It’s going to be over soon. We’re going to get out of here. We’ll find a way. My mom is going to find us any minute. She’ll kill him for this.
Finally Gavin let out a groan and was silent, the sound of his breathing filling the room. I could hear small whimpers from my aunt. My eyes were shut tight, holding back tears that leaked out anyway. I thought about my mom and Dallas, how they’d lived through this. I hadn’t really understood before.
I heard Gavin get off the bed, the sound of his zipper.
Footsteps coming closer now. I heard him squat in front of me, felt his presence. I opened my eyes, braced for him to slap me.
“I’ve got to get ready to go out, but you and me, we’ve got a date later.”
He turned the music up, gathered the empty water bottles, and left. I got to my feet, looking for Crystal on the bed to see if she was okay. She rolled on her left side, so that her back was facing me. Her shoulders were shaking.
I wanted to comfort her, but I couldn’t do anything. I slid back to the floor.
*
I thought Gavin was gone for the night, but he came back a little while later, rifle in his hand. I scrambled to my feet. I heard Crystal move on the bed and glanced at her. She was in a sitting position, her body turned to the side like she was trying to shield herself. He wasn’t even looking at us, though.
He walked over to the stereo, turned the music down. He seemed agitated, his movements jerky, his face flushed and his breath heavy like he’d run up the stairs. He walked back to the door, then turned around.
“You two make one sound, I’ll kill you.”
He locked the door again. I heard his footsteps going down the hall, then another door opening. He must be in the spare bedroom. I remembered how the window looked out to the front of the house. Was someone coming?
I heard a vehicle pull up, a car door slam shut. Knocking on the front door.
The doorbell rang. I waited, expecting Gavin to run downstairs, but I didn’t hear his footsteps. Was he going to shoot whoever was at the door?
Silence for a few more minutes, then knocking on the back door. It sounded like it was almost right under our window.
A voice called out, “It’s Sergeant McPhail with the RCMP. We’d like to talk to you for a minute, Mr. Luxton.”
I wanted to scream—help was so close. I looked at Crystal. She was on her feet, staring at the window. I motioned to her that we should try to lift the bed. Maybe if we dropped it a few times the posts would make some noise, but she shook her head, looking toward the door. She was right. Gavin would hear.
A couple of minutes later, I heard a car door slam again, then the sound of the car driving away. I felt desperate, helpless. We’d been so close.
Gavin came into our room. He still looked nervous, but his breathing wasn’t as fast as before. He paced around a bit, glancing at us every once in a while like he wasn’t sure what to do next. He stopped and looked at us.
“You bitches are lucky,” he said. “You get to live a little while longer.”
He turned the music back up, flicked the light off, and left the room.
I sank back down to the floor. No one was going to come now.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
JAMIE
We drove back to the motel when we were finished at the station and rented a room close to Crystal’s.
“I don’t want to just sit around waiting,” I said.
“What do you want to do?”
“Maybe we should stake out the ranch, see if they leave.”