“Yes, yes. No waiting,” she gasped. She had been waiting for this all her life.
He lowered himself to her and began to move, slowly at first, treating her with a combination of tenderness and driving need that nearly brought her to tears. Out in the cool night air of the porch, with fireworks from one of the neighbor’s yards crackling in the dark sky, Ruth felt the storm clouds race over the horizon of her shame, a clear sky at last. Only clear skies.
*
He stood behind the lilac bush by the fence, only a few feet away from the rutting sounds on the porch. The whore.
He sheathed his knife and pressed it to the crotch of his pants. He was rock hard, eager to get in on the action, hungry for another taste of her. He should never have let her get away. Her bare, naked fear had intensified his thrill that night. He’d had her, and he would have kept her if it weren’t for her friends coming after him.
And then she’d left town. Gone, just like that.
But she’d come back, all high and mighty. All educated. A therapist. Like she was better than everyone else. But he knew the truth. Strip off the fancy clothes, and you had a simpering whore like any other. She was supposed to be his that night, his way to get the craziness out of his system so he could fly straight and leave those other bitches alone. She slipped through his fingers then, but he’d gotten smarter, better at the game. This time, he was taking home a trophy.
She would know that soon enough. He had left her a gift in the mailbox—a snapshot of their time together.
A promise that he would keep coming around until he could have her again—this time for good.
*
Sleep was a panacea for so many things.
After a night of rest in the safe comfort of Ethan’s protection, Ruth awoke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee from downstairs.
He’d made coffee.
Never in her marriage to Sterling, child of privilege, had he ever lifted a finger in the kitchen. It was such a simple gesture, but it filled her with hope for the future and a sizzling excitement about their relationship. She threw on a robe and met him downstairs in the kitchen.
“G’morning.” He was putting his boots on.
She was sorry to see him go. “Leaving already?”
“I’ve got to get going. Shower and church. Will I see you there?”
“I take Penny to Sunday school at the Unitarian Church.”
“Sounds like a father-daughter issue, but I get it. Been there with my own father, and I didn’t have those hellfire and brimstone sermons to deal with.”
“I’ve been trying to avoid church with my father since I returned. And now that I’ve told him I am going public with the rape, I want to keep my distance more than ever.”
“He wasn’t supportive about that?”
“Hardly.” She took a sip of coffee. “I’ll explain that later.”
“Maybe for dinner? I could pick up something to grill here,” he said. “Or if you have plans, I can come over later to man my post on the porch.”
She was about to tell him he didn’t have to stay, that a good night’s sleep had restored her confidence, but in terms of her personal security, nothing had really changed. Right now, she needed him. “Dinner would be great,” she said.
He headed out the door, pausing on the way to pull her close and kiss her good-bye. He left her a little breathless and wanting more.
*
She was dropping off the cupcakes in the Sunday school office when her phone buzzed—the hotline.
Panic squeezed her tight as she thought of him. Was he here at church, watching her? She looked behind her and saw Daisy, the church secretary, talking with a mom. Down the hall, a handful of ushers were chatting, but she was too far away to make out their faces.
She pushed her way out the door to the pebble walkway lined by thirsty pansies and braced herself for his voice.
“This is the Sexual Assault Support Line,” she said flatly.
“Um . . . is this Ruth?” A female voice.
Ruth allowed herself to breathe again. “Yes. Please, tell me what happened to you.”
“Uh . . . this is Lily.”
“Yes, I remember your voice.” Ruth moved rapidly, putting some distance between herself and the church complex so that congregants did not hear her conversation. “You usually call at night.”
“Is it a bad time?”
“No, no. Don’t hang up.”
“I . . . I just left church and, I don’t know. . . . Everywhere I turn, I see signs that I should tell the police what I know. That girl Addie going missing, and the dead girl’s body. And this morning in church, the minister kept saying, ‘The truth shall set you free.’ It was like he was talking to me. He kept looking at me. This is killing me.”
“I know Addie Donovan’s disappearance has been weighing on you, Lily.” Just as it’s been killing me. “I think it would help you to talk to the sheriff.”
“I can’t do that. I can’t risk my girl being . . . no. I told you, you can pass on the stuff I remember if you think it will help the cops nail him.”
“I’m happy to do that, but the investigators will want to meet with you.”
“No.”
“What if we met somewhere of your own choosing? There’s a female detective with the sheriff’s office who’s very easy to talk with.”
“I can’t . . . I don’t know what to do. He’s all I think about now.” She was starting to panic.
“When you’re ready, Lily,” Ruth soothed. “You can do it. There’s a vicious brute out there, and he needs to be stopped. We can do this together.” Ruth knew that Lily would not understand how difficult it was for Ruth to also come forward, but maybe she would sense the urgency and commitment in Ruth’s voice.
“I’ll think about it,” Lily said. “But I can’t come to Prairie Creek.”
“Detective Starr and I will meet you halfway.”
“I’ll think about it. That’s the best I can say now.”
And without another word, Lily ended the call, leaving Ruth stranded alone two blocks beyond the church parking lot in a residential neighborhood so quiet she could hear bees buzzing in the hedges.
As Ruth walked back toward the church building, she looked warily toward the parking lot and then toward the church lobby—both empty, now that the service had begun inside.
Was he out there, watching? Planning. Waiting to pounce again?
Her heartbeat raced faster than the click of her heels as she returned to the relative safety of the church building. She couldn’t go on like this much longer. She was grateful for Ethan’s presence at night, but she was out of her league in the investigation of a potential kidnapper and rapist. After all the avoiding, now she couldn’t wait to talk with Kat.
*
After church, the afternoon loomed long on a scorcher of a day without a breeze or a cloud in sight. “It’ll be too hot to sit through the rodeo,” Ruth told her daughter. The fairgrounds had very little sun cover—just a few tents and hardly a tree in sight. “Why don’t you invite the girls over to splash around in the backyard?”