Chapter 14
“S he doesn’t have one,” Lisa stated. “He was just some guy passing through town.”
“He was a guest at the resort?” Gerald asked.
“It doesn’t matter!” she said, getting angry. “Just let it go, she doesn’t have one and that’s it.”
“Or is it that you don’t know who it is because you were, as always, a party girl not giving a damn about consequences?” he questioned. “That’s it, isn’t it? You have no idea who he is. He could be one of how many Lisa?”
“Shut up Gerald.”
“No, the town’s going to ask so what should we tell them? How many of the guys from around here are you going to have to test to figure out who he is? How many of the rumors are true about you Lisa? How many of them is Abby going to have to live down? Like mother, like daughter, right? She’s almost as old as you were, the guys will want to know how much they’ll have to chase to get her to be just like party-time Lisa, right?”
“Go to hell and shut your mouth!” she yelled at him.
“What’s wrong Sis? Can’t face the truth or do you just not want your daughter to know that you were the biggest slut in town?”
“Watch it,” Corey said turning on him. “You don’t know anything about your sister’s love life.”
“And you do? How soon before you were screwing her huh?” Gerald tossed at him.
“Shut up!” Abby said letting her anger loose. “Don’t call my mother anything or talk about something you don’t know anything about. You don’t know why she did what she did, why she kept me away from you, but I can see part of it, and I can only say thank you that I didn’t have to grow up with a jerk of an uncle like you! You should be standing up for her not trying to tear her down. You should be going after the sick bastard who hurt her not hurting her more!”
“Abby, stop,” Lisa said but the barb was already out there, and she knew they wouldn’t let her take it back, ignore it.
“I’m sorry Mom…”
“It’s okay sweetie,” she said quietly to her hugging her tightly.
“What did she mean by the sick bastard who hurt you?” Kirby asked as the mood in the room grew tense.
“Nothing, just that he talked me into something I didn’t really understand and then just left me,” she told them keeping her gaze from Corey as she did.
“That’s not it,” Corey said after several minutes of silence as the room tried to reassess what was going on. He turned her so she could only see him and stared down at her. “What did Abby mean? Baby, what did she mean?” he asked sliding his hand behind her head to hold her.
Lisa shook her head trying to stop it all, but he kept watching her, his eyes asking the question, his touch so tender that it brought tears to her eyes again.
“Someone hurt you—forced you?” he asked, feeling like murdering the bastard. “Who?” he added when she didn’t deny it, simply gazed out towards the wall. “You know who it was, don’t you? Your family knows them?”
Everyone watched her, seeing the shake in her shoulders as she tried to control the tears and her emotions, standing in shock when she bent over letting them out with a cry that tore at Corey’s heart. He crouched down gathering her to him as she crumpled. He sat holding her, murderous intentions running through his veins while her mother came over and knelt beside them, running her hand down her arm as she whispered soft expressions of love and comfort to her.
Diane held Abby to her as they watched, and she hugged Abby wiping away her tears at seeing her mom’s pain. “She loves you Abby, this isn’t about you.”
“I know…I hate him and everything he’s done to us. I wish he were dead,” she stated gaining the guys’ attention.
“You know who he is?” Ashton asked in surprise.
“She told me the truth after I went to New York to find her. She broke up with Corey so he wouldn’t find out and come back here trying to kill him.”
“Why would she care if he tried to kill him?” Gerald questioned.
“Because he tried to kill her when she was here, it was just before she left for New York,” Diane admitted surprising even Abby.
“What? She didn’t tell me that, just that he’d sent her pictures from around town. Like the ones she got last year at Christmas from around New York, which is why she didn’t want to stay there once I was living with her fulltime, didn’t give anyone here our address.”
“What?” Corey said catching the comment. “The pictures she got at Christmas…were they in a box about the size of a pencil case?”
“Yeah, there were some of you and Mom—you all were close in them,” Abby said trying to not say too much.
“Wait are you talking about the gag gift Lisa claimed she got last year?” Kirby asked and he nodded. “It was delivered to the house the day before Christmas, so whoever he is lives here still, doesn’t he?”
“Not for long,” Corey stated holding her tighter to him.
“Look, Lisa was terrified that if he discovered Abby that he would hurt her. After that visit and him coming after her, threatening he’d come kill her if she ever said a word, she put three thousand miles between her and Abby to keep her safe. She ended the relationship with Corey because she knew he’d know she was lying about how she got pregnant if she told him anything else. She was worried he’d come back here and go after him and then he’d come after her and find out about Abby,” Diane said looking around the room. “You have no idea how big of a step coming here was for her, to face not only you but the town and him. To risk him seeing, being this close to Abby…there is only one thing that would convince her to do this,” she added looking directly at Corey as she said it.
“Me? You think…that she…and I…”
“Mom’s in love with you. I knew from the second I got home last month that she had gotten back together with you or called you to talk. She’s never been as happy as she was when she was with you,” Abby told him, and he lowered his head to Lisa’s kissing her temple.
“Shh, baby, it’s okay,” he said gently to her, pressing soft kisses to her forehead focusing on her rather than his desire to destroy the jerk who had hurt her.
“Who he is?” Edward asked Abby as fury ran through him. “Who hurt my little girl?”
“I don’t know his name. She wouldn’t tell me, and I won’t tell you what I know. That’s Mom’s choice,” Abby replied. “I can tell you that whatever you think of her, what she’s done, the only thing I care about is that she did it to keep me safe. She kept the focus on her here…and not on when she came to see me.”
“That she did,” Edward agreed as Corey stood up moving to the couch with Lisa. He sat her down on it and crouched down in front of her, holding her hands in his as she stared at a spot on the floor.
“Baby, please look at me,” Corey said softly gaining her attention. “Whatever happened, it’s not your fault. Just tell us Lisa, please. When did it happen?”
“It…” she started, squeezing his hands trying to find the words. “It wasn’t just once…”
“It wasn’t?” her father asked, moving over to her and she shook her head. “Dear lord, why didn’t tell us?”
“I didn’t think anyone would believe me.”
“Why not?” Gerald asked, his voice softer than she’d ever heard it directed at her.
“Who it was…I didn’t think anyone in town would believe me and he made it so no one would.”
“He who? Who was it?” her dad asked as she closed her eyes trying to forget.
“Oh my god…I’ll kill the bastard myself,” Kirby stated his face white with anger.
“Who?” Gerald asked.
“Benton Johnson,” he replied, and her head whipped up to stare at him a surprised gasp slipping through her lips that he’d know so easily. “That sick son of a…it was him, wasn’t it?”
“Benton Johnson?” Ashton said looking to Gerald to see if he knew who it was.
“Mr. Johnson? Science teacher at the middle school-high school, Benton Johnson?” Gerald asked and she lowered her gaze back down to the floor. “No, he loved you…”
“When she was in eighth grade—but her freshman year he became an absolute jerk to her. You guys didn’t see it, but I was still in school,” Kirby said looking at her. “When did he…I mean…”
“When did he force me to have sex with him?” she asked, taking a deep breath as she lifted her face to the group. “At first, he didn’t, everyone knew I loved him in eighth grade, loved that he didn’t treat me the way you all did, he actually encouraged me. Freshman year he started pushing me more, grading me harder, being more critical…and picking on the tiny things I did in class to get me after school with him, alone. It was probably four weeks into the school year; everyone had seen the difference in how we were that year compared to the last one, when he had me in after-school detention for chewing gum in class. He told me I’d never get better than a C in his class unless I put forth some special effort. I said no when he made it clear what he meant, that I’d tell the principal what he’d tried to make me do…and he said no one would believe me. He said he’d claim that I had come onto him at the beginning of the year, and he’d put an end to our student-mentor relationship. He’d claim that I was angry and trying to ruin him and there was no proof otherwise.”
“My god,” Edward said shaking his head. “We would have…”
“Would you? With no proof, just my word against a man twenty years older than me who’d been one of the most favorite teachers at the school, my favorite the year before? I was scared and I knew he’d do it. Everyone would have been staring at me, calling me names behind my back, looking down on me for being crazy or disgusting…I couldn’t handle that, and I said that I wouldn’t tell anyone, but I also wouldn’t do what he wanted me to do. That’s when he gave me a D on my paper. It would have taken me from the top of the class to the bottom. He just wouldn’t stop, and I didn’t know what to do.”
“So you gave in?” her dad asked, not believing it.
“No…he didn’t put the D in the gradebook, so I was still eligible for the science academic competition. I won and when I told him that it would prove that he was trying to lower my grades because I wouldn’t sleep with him, he got mad. He came back that he’d claim I cheated, that he’d turn me in because he found cheat cards in my bag after the competition and the next round of the competition was that weekend. I went to ride the bus to it only to find out that there was no bus because I was the only one going. I tried to leave but he forced me into the car and took me to the competition. I was so worried about what would happen that I lost and, on the way back…he made me… I tried to stop him but…I couldn’t, and he continued to make me do things for the rest of the year or he’d hand over photos he’d taken of me, claiming that I’d sent them to him because I wanted him to want me.”
“Oh god,” her mom said covering her mouth in horror.
“He’d have me get a key to a cabin and leave it for him to get in…he just wouldn’t stop,” she said as the tears started again. “I realized I was pregnant at the beginning of October. I went to a clinic, and they confirmed it, along with taking a rape kit because of what he’d done the prior night. I told the police they called that I wouldn’t tell them who it was because I was terrified of what he’d do, and I already loved Abby. I came back and when he told me what I’d have to do to pass the midterms…I went to the cabin that night with a tape recorder in my pocket. I got him to admit to everything he’d done to me…and then I told him he’d never do it again. I took out the tape recorder and he lunged at me, yelling that he’d kill me if I ever played anyone that tape, if I ever told anyone what he’d done. He gave me all kinds of ways he could kill me, bombs, poison, explosive fires…and I ran.”
“Wait, is that why he was up on the roads when the accident happened?” Kirby asked and she nodded. “Why didn’t you go to the police then?”
“Because…I caused the accident.”
“What? He was driving too fast and slid off the road,” Ashton said.
“He was coming after me. I knew he would so before I went into the cabin, I stuck a knife in his tire. When he came after me, he hit a rock and it burst…the car slid off the side of the road, overturned and crashed into the trees. I saw him there and I left because I was scared that he’d kill me if he got out of that car…”
“But he didn’t get out of it or the wheelchair he’s been in since then,” Gerald said, and she nodded.
“When he got back to school, he told me if I said anything he’d let the police know I slit his tire and put him in that wheelchair, and while I was in jail he’d make sure I never got out alive. He threatened everyone…and I stayed as far from him as I could.”
“Him and anyone making decisions for you,” Corey said lifting her chin to meet her gaze. “It’s not about your parents or brothers at all, is it? It’s because you never had the choice of what he took. You refused to let anyone else ever put you in that situation.”
Lisa shrugged but he saw the truth in her face and pulled her close.
“Shh, it’s alright baby. It’s not your fault. That accident wasn’t your fault,” he stated returning her gaze to his. “You were scared. He’d threatened to kill you.”
“I slit his tire before going into the cabin…”
“To keep him from coming after you, right?” her dad asked. “You assumed the tire would be flat before you got out and he wouldn’t be able to drive after you.”
“So-what? He did and in a wheelchair, and he’s still pissed at me for what I took away from him. The reason I didn’t want to come back is because he tried to kill me the last two times I was here. The first was before I went to New York…I saw him in town and went out of my way to avoid him. I got back to my car and noticed what looked like wheel impressions on the ground; they were far too evenly spaced to come from bicycles. I checked both wheel wells and found a makeshift bomb in one. The first time I turned the wheel too much to the left I would have been dead. A week later I got a package at work, I opened it and there were photos of me from when I’d been here. I couldn’t risk him finding out about Abby and I took the promotion to New York.”
“Why did he come after you? It doesn’t make sense,” Gerald stated.
“I pissed him off. Colin had come after me while I was in town. He was saying how much of a slut I was and that I’d do anyone. I came back telling him he never did a thing for me, that he was as horrible and disgusting as my first encounter and I’d rather erase them from my memory completely.”
“What happened the second time?” Corey asked cupping her cheek gently.
“He cornered me when I was coming out of the ladies’ room at a restaurant in town. I told him if he kept coming after me, having people take photos of me, that I’d tell everyone and he’d lose his job, whether there was any worry that he’d be capable of hurting them or not. He pulled out a knife and grabbed my hair, pulling me down until he put the knife to my throat. He said if anyone found out he’d kill every single person I loved and cared about, that they’d all be dead and told me the statute of limitations had run out and that he was positive I no longer had the proof I once did. I came back here and looked for the tape, but it was gone. He just didn’t realize it was a copy of the original. That’s why I was so cautious about Abby. If he knew about her, knew that there is definitive proof, it wouldn’t matter if he was convicted of anything, he wouldn’t teach again…he’d lose the only thing that made him who he was anymore.”
“He’s not going to get anywhere near you or Abby,” her father said shaking his head in anger at what had happened.
“He’s not,” Corey agreed. “Money may not be able to solve everything but it sure as hell can pay for protection. No one is going to get near either of you—I promise baby. I love you so much and it doesn’t matter what happened or why you did what…I love you always, you’re mine always.”
“It’s not just me though,” she warned him letting Abby sit next to her as she hugged her tightly.
“You’re both mine…always mine, say yes Lisa. Choose me, let me love you,” Corey said softly, and she felt her heart open completely to him.
“You’ve been my choice since we met. I love you Corey…and it scares the hell out of me, but I can’t stop, and I can’t be without you anymore. It’s too hard, I miss you too much,” she admitted, and he hugged them both as a sense of relief came over him.