Autumn Leaves (21 page)

Callie kept ignoring him until his hands were on her, pushing her against the wall of an old barn.

“Haughty bitch, who do you think you are?”

The look in his eyes made fear surge within her. There wasn’t anger, there was calculation. Callie could see the lights of the next house, but they were too far for anyone to notice her predicament. She tried to twist out of his grasp, to no avail.

“Stop it. I swear I’m going to call the cops on you! Let me go right now!”

He grinned, tightening his grip on her arms. “Oh, but don’t you know I’m doing you a favor? It’s reorientation therapy. You might even like it.”

As he leaned close, trying to kiss her, he grabbed her breast, his other hand going for the zipper of her jeans. It had taken some time, but what she’d learned in self-defense finally kicked in and she brought the heel of her shoe down on his foot hard. Matt Weller howled, letting go of her for the moment.

Callie stepped out of her shoes and ran. Branches whipped her face, but she barely noticed, trying hard to find the path in the dark. Stumbling, getting up again. She might have been in a bad place since Rebecca left, but she wasn’t going to give herself up.

“Hey, where are you going?” a voice asked. In the dark, she could only make out the shape of a man.

“Please,” she said breathlessly. “Help me. He was trying to—”

“Damn it, Tim, where have you been?” Weller, who caught up with them, addressed the other man.

“Chill, man. She’s not going anywhere.”

“Damn right, she isn’t.”

The chill Callie felt froze her from the inside. She literally couldn’t move.

“So, Callie. You’ve never had a real man?”

“A real man? I don’t see any,” she said, her words wiping the grin right off Matt Weller’s face. He slapped her hard enough for her to fall. Seconds passed by, tick-tick, and she wondered if the was anything that could be used as a weapon, fingers finally wrapping around a stone in the mud. Hands holding her down.

Callie screamed.

Then, there was silence.

* * * *

Due to the weather, Maggie’s big day as Ariel was cut short. Even though the neighbors loved the little mermaid and practically showered her in candy, Maggie was rather disappointed, sulking in her room.

Tomorrow, David would go back to work outside town. Guiltily, Rebecca realized it was the first time she was relieved about it. She had so much to think about. She wouldn’t take any commissions at the moment, just try to settle back into the daily life and maybe find a little time to spend on her own in the city, over a coffee contemplating the rest of her life. It wouldn’t work. Nothing was the same anymore, as much as she was trying to tell herself otherwise. David might be okay with a nondisclosure policy—her conscience wouldn’t let her. She was afraid, so much that the fear seeped into every thought.

Betty already hadn’t spoken to her in some time. Roz was partial because Betty walked her mother’s damn dog. Maria...Yes, maybe Maria wouldn’t hate her. Dina and Maggie? She couldn’t expect them to understand. They had a right to happiness too, and David and Rebecca had a responsibility for that. For a moment of her own happiness, Rebecca had completely ignored that responsibility. It made her feel horrible. At the same time, she wanted to be with Callie. Her head spun.

Rebecca sat at her kitchen table wishing there was someone to tell her what to do. She was past trying to pray. What God, no matter how merciful, would still be on her side when she wasn’t even ready to repent?

* * * *

“Are you all right? God Almighty,” the woman exclaimed.

Callie wasn’t all right. She shivered so hard she couldn’t get any words out, and the side of her face hurt. She finally got up with the woman’s help, looking down at the German shepherd dog that now lay at their feet calmly. His sharp teeth and the prospect of a witness had scared Weller and his buddy away.

“Ms. Bryan, right?”

Right. She was somewhat of a celebrity in the freak town. “Yes?” she finally managed through chattering teeth.

“I believe you know my daughter, Roz. Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, dear. My house is over there and I have a car. I’ll bring you to the sheriff.”

As Callie leaned into her, she felt by far more fragile than the sixty-something-year-old woman. She wasn’t all right. She wasn’t raped, but it was damn close.

“I want to go home,” she whispered.

“I can drive you later, but let’s talk to Sheriff Lowman first,” Roz’s mother insisted. “These men are dangerous.”

No kidding.
Another shiver wracked her body. Callie wanted nothing more than to go home and back to bed, forget what happened, but she knew she couldn’t. Not this time.

“Thank you,” she whispered again though she dreaded the talking she would have to do.

The dog barked softly as if understanding.

Chapter Nine

It took Rebecca a while before she could comprehend why Roz’s mother called her.

“She didn’t want me to, but I think she needs someone right now. I know this is probably a bad time but could you come? Rebecca? Are you still there?”

“Oh, God.” She had no words to express the horror. Rebecca had always considered the Weller family, widowed Nick and his son Matt, as nuisance, bullies, but they had never before presented a severe threat to anybody she loved.

“Callie,” she whispered, more to herself. The need to be with her wasn’t just a selfish one anymore. She needed to know that Callie was all right.

“Please tell me that the son of a bitch was arrested.”

On the other end of the room, David, somewhat amused at her choice words, raised his eyebrows. There were more important things than trying not to let your children be exposed to bad language though.

“Not yet,” Sonia said regretfully.

“I’m on my way.”

She hung up, grabbing her coat, turning to head back into the living room. “David, I need to go. Something happened to Callie.”

“What?” he said, shocked. “Is she okay?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know. Look, I don’t know how long this will take. I’ll tell you later.”

“Rebecca, the office called. I need to go this evening.”

“I’ll send someone over. I need to go.”

She shouldn’t have just let it go. The Wellers were trouble, plain and simple, as if breaking another student’s arm wasn’t enough proof for that. Why hadn’t Craig done anything? Why hadn’t she? Not on perfect terms with her brother-in-law in the first place, anger rose within her when she saw him at his desk, stirring coffee.

“Where is she?”

“Rebecca,” he said, irritated. “You can’t go in there. We’re not done yet with her statement.”

That stopped her for a moment. It was important that everything was done correctly, so Matt Weller could hang himself with his sexist homophobic shit.

“I’ll wait. I take it Deputy Wilkins is with her?” Bev Wilkins was the only female deputy in town.

Craig shook his head. “It’s unfortunate, but she’s on vacation. I’m taking Ms. Bryan’s statement.”

This was bad. The realization was only starting to set in, of what happened, of what had nearly happened, and the way Craig was not handling it.

“Has she been to a hospital? When are you going to arrest the bastard?”

“Rebecca, calm down. I can’t arrest anybody unless I know for sure what happened. She didn’t want to go.”

“God, are you stupid?” Granted, Rebecca’s knowledge came mostly from TV, but she couldn’t be unaware of Craig’s mistakes. “There might be evidence.” The thought made her cringe. “I brought her new clothes too. You call that ambulance right now, or I’m sure that there’s some higher-up who will be very interested in how you’re handling things in Autumn Leaves.”

“You really don’t care about family, right?” Craig shook his head, the familiar arrogant smile on his face.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means David is a fool who has no idea what’s going on right in front of him. I’m not the only one in town who knows who you’re sleeping with. Besides your husband, that is.”

“You know what, I don’t care.” Whatever happened from now, for this moment, it was true. “You think you’ve got any secrets to share, go on. I didn’t forget how you were trying to feel me up in the guest bedroom on your parents’ anniversary!”

“We were drunk.” The alarm was actually showing on his face, belying his cool tone.

“Right, whatever you want to call it, and don’t you dare talk about David like that. He’s such a better man than you can ever hope to become.”

It came back to her what Maria had said. Craig Lowman wasn’t the bravest man, and Rebecca now understood what that meant.

“I’m going in there right now. Callie is going to the hospital, and you can finish the statement when a doctor says you can.”

“You’re not telling me how to do my job!” he yelled.

“Sorry, Craig,” she said. “Somebody has to.”

Determinedly, she went over to the closed door of the interview room. He should try and stop her, Rebecca thought grimly, but surprisingly, he didn’t. She opened the door softly.

“Hey.” She crouched beside the chair, wanting to reach out and hug Callie who barely looked up at her entrance. Rebecca didn’t dare to. Instead she stayed at a safer distance.

“We’re going to take you to the hospital now, okay?”

Callie’s clothes were dirty, but otherwise intact. There was a bruise on the side of her face. Her shoes were missing. Rebecca felt her own eyes well up, from fear, from anger.

“I just want to go home,” Callie said miserably.

“I know, but you know they need to catch him, right?”

“I suppose so.” She straightened a little. “Yes, of course. You didn’t need to come. You’re only here because you feel sorry for me.”

“That’s not true.”

Callie gave her a skeptical look. Rebecca held her gaze unflinchingly.

“You think I’m feeling sorry? You’re wrong. I’m angry. I hate it that Weller goes around this town and thinks he can do whatever the hell he wants and get away with it. I’m angry because my idiot of a brother-in-law just violated every rule of how he should have treated someone who reported a crime like this. If I’m feeling sorry for anyone, it’s only for myself, but that’s really not important right now. They...They’re going to need to run some tests.”

“I guess,” Callie said in a flat tone.

Rebecca finally dared to reach out, her fingers brushing Callie’s softly, still making her flinch.

“I’m going with you. I’m serious. I’ll stay.”

“What’s David saying about all this?”

“I’ll stay,” Rebecca said again, opening her arms. Callie leaned into her, heart-wrenching sobs wracking her body the next moment as Rebecca held her very carefully. A friend was what Callie needed most right now. She could do that. It wasn’t the time for anything else, like facing the truth. She loved Callie. Tonight, she’d almost lost her. It was a brutal wake up call.

To Rebecca’s relief, Craig didn’t put up any more resistance. She wasn’t willing to cut him any slack. He was the sheriff after all. Unfortunately, he was just as overtaxed as everyone else for a reason. Malicious attacks like that just didn’t happen in Autumn Leaves. At least that was what they had all thought.

“Wait a minute,” Craig told her at the hospital entrance.

“What? Whatever you want to say, it can wait until later.”

“Not this. You know how Roz’s mother was the only one who kind of passes as a witness?”

“She and Callie,” Rebecca said, trying to rein her irritation, and failing.

“She said that it was...Carl Beckett’s son with Weller.”

“Shit.” Rebecca didn’t know any other way to put it. Beckett wouldn’t be happy, but he’d pull all possible strings to make sure that his son was let off easily. A scandal like this could risk his chances to stay in the mayor’s office after the next election.

“Yeah. Messing with Weller and Beckett is not a good idea. It would be good if you could convince her of that.”

“Messing with...” Rebecca was too angry even to speak for a moment. “Are you crazy? You’re telling me you want to sweep this under the carpet for your golf buddies? I won’t stand for that. If you can’t do your job, I’ll make sure the right people find out. I’m not kidding.”

“To be a suburban housewife with a hobby,” he muttered. “I’ll bring them in for an interview. Now, if you want me to do my job, you have to let me. I’ll see the doctor.”

“I’m coming with you.”

* * * *

Callie could see the shocked disbelief on Rebecca’s face when she wasn’t allowed to stay in the room.
Welcome to the real world.
There was a lot to learn yet.

Maybe Callie was the one who had to learn and accept that Rebecca’s presence didn’t mean anything as to their foolish dream. More likely she was here simply because of an irrational guilt. Callie was kind of relieved to have her on the other side of that door. She didn’t want Rebecca to witness her falling apart, any more than she already had. Both the doctor and nurse in the room with her were soft-spoken and careful. They did what they had to do, talking to her, and still she felt like a rubber band pulled so tightly it was about to snap. Her mind tried to play backwards to the point where making a different decision could have helped her avoid all of this, go shopping earlier, not take that way home, just stay inside for the day.