“The fuck there isn’t,” Clark yells, his voice vibrating with anger, and sadness inside the cab. I can feel the pain in his voice pricking at my skin. He slams his hand against the steering wheel, and I glance up at him, almost wishing I hadn’t. Anguish as thick as a wool blanket seems to be suffocating him. We pull into the driveway of the condo and he throws the car into park, causing it to jolt forward with a sudden stop.
Turning toward me, he says, “He will not get away with this, Emerson. I understand why you don’t want to talk, and why you think someone like him will never be held accountable for the abuse that they caused, but I’m telling you right now….” His jaw tightens, and the look in his eyes takes a dark turn, “he will pay, one way or another. He hurt you and I refuse to let someone like him, scum like him, walk this planet.”
“It’s over, Clark. I doubt he’ll ever mess with us again, we have nothing to worry about.” I reach across the seat and place my hand on his. I can’t let him risk his future, his life for me, for something that happened a few times, when I was a teenager. Yes, he raped me, and hurt me, and ruined my life, but I’ve bloomed into a flower in a new garden and my future is bright and filled with happiness. I don’t want Clark to do something stupid that will rip all of that away from me.
“What if he does it to someone else, or already has? You could be saving someone else? What if there are others?” My throat tightens. I can’t imagine something like that without feeling the need to vomit.
“I… I don’t know. I would never want someone else to go through what I did, but he’s a lawyer Clark, and it would be my word against his. I mean, who would believe me? If I told my father, he wouldn’t even believe me. He thinks that I’m a whore, some girl who got knocked up from partying too much. Anything I say will be twisted into a mess that makes me look bad.” My voice cracks and I feel the tears stinging my eyes. I wish my mother was still alive, because I know she would’ve protected me, would’ve made sure nothing like this ever happened to her little girl. Where my father failed, my mother never would’ve.
Sucking in a hard breath Clark lets his head fall back against the seat, and his eyes drift closed, and I take the opportunity to unbuckle my seatbelt and crawl across the bench seat and into his lap. He tenses for a moment but then wraps his arms around me as I snuggle deeper into his chest. Home. He is my home.
“Don’t risk what we have for him. He’s already taken so much from me, and I can’t bear to lose you, Clark. You’re the one thing that matters most to me, and if he takes you, if we try and fight him and we end up losing each other because of him, then he wins all over again.” I clutch onto his shirt with desperation, as if he’s going to disappear into thin air.
Squeezing me tighter, as if he’s trying to embed me into his skin, he says, “Nothing, and I mean nothing will ever take you away from me and I’ll always be here, and always love you. But he will get what’s coming to him, even if I’m not the one that delivers the final blow.”
His words should soothe me, and in a way, they do, but they also scare me, because if Clark isn’t going to hurt Rick, then who is?
Chapter Seventeen
Clark
A few days pass, and I let myself stew over my next move. I know what I need to do, what I will do, no matter what. I didn't think I would ever be the type of person to wish death on someone, but Rick has that dark need stirring inside of me. Rick deserves everything that’s coming to him, which makes my decision easy.
The next morning, Vance and Ava swing by the condo to pick up Emerson. I hate lying to her, but I tell her my father has some work for me to do and needs to talk to me about it. It’s not a full lie since I will be speaking with my father, but it’s one that leaves me feeling guilty as she gives me a kiss goodbye. Once she’s inside the car with Vance and Ava, I head back up the steps and into the house. Closing the door behind me, I head into the living room and sag down onto the sectional. I pull my cell out of my pocket and scroll through my phone, finding my father’s number in the recent calls list. I hit the green call button and shove all the guilt, and shame down. I can’t feel bad when I’m doing this for her.
He answers on the third ring. “Clark, son, is everything okay?” I don’t miss the worried note in his voice, which is something I still haven't gotten used to. I wonder a few times if the entire thing is an act, a ploy to draw me closer to him, but even if it is, I don’t care. Right now, I need his resources more than I need anything else.
“No, I need to talk to you. Emerson won’t be home for the next few hours. Can you come here so we can talk?”
“Okay, I’ll be over in about thirty minutes.” The call disconnects and I drop the phone to the cushion beside me. I get up and do some mindless cleaning feeling the need to do something with my hands before I leave and go find Rick myself. I’m in the middle of sweeping the kitchen floor when the sound of the doorbell fills the house.
Setting the broom down I all but jog to the door, pulling it open with much more force than needed. On the other side stands my father, in his suit, his eyes flick up to mine and I gesture for him to walk in. He steps inside and I close the door behind him. His eyes dart over the furniture, tv, and light art that we have on the walls. I surely hope he doesn’t plan to comment on the place because I can’t handle any such discussions.
“As your father, I’m disappointed in myself that I didn’t get to see this place before you bought it. I don’t want you making bad buying decisions.”
I shrug. “I didn’t ask you to come over here so we could talk real estate. I asked you here to talk about this scumbag, Rick. Please tell me you got some dirt on him. Something that will actually hold in court?”
My dad’s frown deepens, and I know he doesn’t have good news to share with me before he even opens his mouth. “Rick might be scum, but unfortunately, he isn’t stupid. He’s covered his tracks well which isn’t surprising since he’s a lawyer, and any of the times he didn't he made certain no one would talk. We found some other girls, but none of them are willing to talk. It’s not looking good, son. All we can do is wait and hope he slips up or that someone is brave enough to come forward and testify. In cases like this, it normally takes one person to come forward and only then do others follow. The problem here is no one wants to be the first. These girls are scared, and rightfully so, this process isn’t an easy one, and it’ll be brutal at times, but that’s the way the legal system works. There is nothing I can do when I have no victims that want to speak out against him.”
I can’t help myself my fist makes contact with the closest object, which happens to be a nearby lamp. It falls to the ground with a heavy crash, shattering into a million pieces. My chest heaves up and down, the raging bull of anger threatening to break free. I need to get myself under control, calm down, think clearly.
Nostrils flaring, I say, “I need your help, we need to get rid of Rick, there must be something we can do? He attacked Emerson again, on campus this time.” I pause, exhaling a ragged breath to try and calm myself. “If you don’t help me, then I won’t be held responsible for what I do.”