“That doesn’t matter. You’ll eventually stop being stubborn and fearful and let your guard down and let us in. In the interim we aren’t going anywhere.”
“Are you certain that’s your final decision?” she asked.
“Shelby.” Tazer looked at her as he said her name. He was there the other night with Max. He knew what she would do. But she wouldn’t get away with sneaking off without them knowing and stopping her. What did it all matter now anyway? What happened to her would be revealed and they would lose their interest in wanting her. Especially once they knew her body was scarred, and that three men saw her naked and had planned on forcing themselves on her. It didn’t matter that those men hadn’t been successful in raping her. The Pace men would think the worst of her and how stupid she was to ever get involved with a man like Skip Jordo.
She needed to be smart and buy herself some time to think and be alone. She had to get Kenneth and them off her case. She had to.
“I went into Charlesburgh the other day. I saw someone that knew me from New York, where I lived before moving here. He isn’t a good person and he knows my ex, who was abusive,” she said and she was shaking, especially as she saw Kenneth’s cheek cave in and also the way Bender scrunched his eyes at her as if he was already disappointed or disgusted. It would be better this way. To explain what happened and for them to know she wasn’t good enough for them. Then they would leave her alone.
“Things happened back in New York. I left as soon as I had the chance and it wasn’t on good terms with my ex or the man who saw me in Charlesburgh. Bottom line, they may or may not come looking for me. We don’t know. Like I said, I left on bad terms.”
“Why would they want you back if you left on bad terms?” Bender asked in that detective tone filled with inquisitiveness.
“Because I was part of a deal, a benefit to a certain job being completed. I didn’t know anything about it and some things happened that made the deal fall through and the opportunity to escape and get out before they tried to seal the deal again came fast. I took off, wound up here, and until yesterday I believed they had forgotten about me.”
“We still don’t know all the details.” Tazer added.
“What kind of deal?” Bender asked.
The waitress came over and interrupted, saying hello to everyone. They ordered some ice teas.
“I need to use the ladies’ room,” Shelby said and the men stood up and she grabbed her purse and headed away from them. She could hardly breathe, it was so intense.
So when she got down the hallway and out of sight, she followed her gut and snuck out the back door. As soon as she came outside, she took a series of deep breaths then saw a car pull into the parking lot.
Caroline.
Before she even made it to her sister, her sister was running toward her.
“What the hell is going on? I heard that Tazer and Parker brought you into the diner and that Bender and Kenneth showed up ready to fight them.”
“Just get me outta here and I’ll explain,” she said to her.
Caroline looked into her eyes and that was all it took. That sisterly bond they shared was stronger than anything.
“Get in,” Caroline said. They headed out of the area and to a place they could talk.
* * * *
“Start talking. She’s our woman, and you know how we feel about her,” Bender said to Tazer and Parker.
“We know. She’s keeping you out of this because she cares about you guys, too,” Tazer told them.
“What?” Kenneth asked.
“She said that?” Bender added.
“It’s fucking obvious, but she’s scared. Some crazy shit happened to her in New York. I know the one guy who she bumped into. I mean his reputation,” Tazer said and then explained about what had happened and what he saw.
“Is he her ex?” Kenneth asked.
“No. He knows her ex and she’s pretty sure Mickie called him right away. I got that feeling, too. When he saw her, his eyes lit up with interest and he went right to touching her like they just saw one another the other day. He’s slime. A real piece of shit,” Tazer explained and gave them some details about the guy and the case he was at the courthouse about.
“I don’t like this. Did she give you further details about this ex Skip and why she took off?” Kenneth asked him.
Tazer looked at Parker and then he looked away from them.
“It’s not my story to tell.”