Quicksilver Dreams(201)
“No problem.”
Crew Cut gave me a sickening grin as Frank exited. He was leaning against the wall on the far side of the room. His eyes roved over me as he relived his crimes from Vietnam, which continued to be in vivid detail in his memory. Above his fleshy cheeks, his lids grew heavy with his arousal.
Oh, my God. I had to put up my mental shield against him to keep the images from feeding into my mind. They were tragic and sorrowful. I needed to think. I didn’t have the time be horrified.
“I got plans for you, buttercup. You and me are going to have some fun.” Crew Cut pushed himself off the wall and slowly walked toward me. My blouse stuck to my back and the middle of my chest as droplets of sweat gathered.
No, no, no! I needed to stop him. “You’re going to have to wait your turn,” I offered quickly. “Frank’s not going to appreciate you screwing with me before he’s ready.”
“I won’t hurt you. Yet.” He sniggered and crouched beside me. He smelled like a mixture of stale cigarettes and body odor. My stomach protested, wanting to heave. He had reached his hands up to the collar of my shirt, like he was going to rip the buttons away, when inspiration struck.
“You ever do time for killing that Vietnamese girl?” I asked smoothly.
His eyes showed surprise. He obviously figured he’d gotten away with it. “What the hell are you talkin’ about?”
“You know what I’m talking about.” I forced myself to grin tauntingly.
In a menacing tone, he growled, “I didn’t do nuthin’.”
“You took the girl from her family. She was barely fourteen. You like doing little girls? You a child molester? Can’t get a real woman to fuck you?”
“What the fuck are you talkin’ about?” He stood swiftly and swung a kick at my leg with his steel-toed boot.
Pain crashed through my system, numbing my leg. I couldn’t help the cry that escaped my lips, but I didn’t let up. Maybe if I just kept him angry...
In a faint voice, I kept on. “I guess you’d need to be a real man, wouldn’t you? I bet you have one of those little penises. I bet some girl laughed at your little bitty piece of junk, didn’t she, and now all you can do is force little girls?”
“Shut up!” he raged, his face flushing as he kicked me again. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”
I tried to ignore the pain, though tears shimmered in my eyes from the sickening throb.
“You probably covered up your crime, didn’t you? How many other little girls have you done over the years? Does Frank know? What about your partner, Hog? It’s okay. Leave it up to me. I won’t leave out a single detail when I share.”
“Shut the fuck up!” He came at me again, and I braced myself for the violence. I preferred being hit to being raped. His arm swung back. I squeezed my eyes closed... I waited... Nothing.
“Lin’de,” the achingly familiar voice rumbled near my ear.
“Ryder!” My eyes snapped open in disbelief. My heart throbbed in my throat at the sight of him, making it hard to talk. I spotted Crew Cut crumpled on the floor behind Ryder. “What...”
His strong arms encircled me, crushing me to his hard, muscular chest. His lips found my neck, seeming to inhale my scent quickly for reassurance before pulling back.