what?”
Braelyn shrugged. “Business, maybe. I don’t know. The last thing I remember about that house was the night Jimmy came into my room. He sat on the edge of the bed, told me he wanted to tell me a bedtime story. He was crazy. Like seriously insane, but I had learned to play the games the adults were playing. As long as I pretended I was interested in what they had to say, they usually left me alone.”
Usually. Did she even realize that was a key word?
“You were nine?” I asked for clarification even as I ground my molars together, knowing where this was going.
“Yes. The story…” Braelyn tightened the robe around her as though warding off a chill. “That night, Jimmy told me a story about a man who stumbled upon a little girl. He said she was sweet and kind and he wanted to protect her, to keep her safe. The only way she’d be safe was if he could keep her forever.” Her nose curled as she continued. “But she had to sleep in his bed with him … had to do whatever he told her to do, and most importantly, she had to hold on to him tightly or the bad people would get her. At the time, I wasn’t sure what he meant, but looking back on it, I realize he was a pervert. He would run his hand over my knee every so often, sliding higher until I would pull away, while he promised he would protect me if I would let him. I was terrified of him, but I pretended not to be. I’d seen Jimmy lose it, knew he wasn’t a nice guy.”
Christ Almighty, the bastard was a pedophile. It was no wonder Ransom had taken Braelyn away from there. I suddenly had a new respect for the man.
“That night, Ransom came in while Jimmy was sitting there. Jimmy’s hand was on my leg and I thought Ransom was going to kill him. The two of them argued, shoved each other, then left my room. A couple of hours later, Ransom came back, woke me up. He had a bag with him, and he started stuffing my clothes into it. I didn’t ask questions, not even when he told me we were leaving. I just slipped on my shoes and followed him out of the house.”
“Your parents didn’t know about Jimmy? About what he was doing?”
Braelyn shrugged. “I’ve always wondered if they did, but Ransom wouldn’t tell me.” She took a sip of wine. “That night, we went out through the upstairs balcony, took the stairs down. Ransom guided me through the dense trees at the back of the property. He kept telling me I had to be quiet. My parents had dogs, vicious ones, but they never came. I think Ransom locked them up somewhere. Maybe he drugged them. I don’t know. We walked for what felt like days but was probably only minutes. He stopped when we got to an old beat-up truck. I’d never seen it before. I remember wondering if it would even drive.”
She smiled now, and some of the fear left her eyes.
“Ransom was twenty at the time. He had his entire life in front of him. He could’ve gotten away from them long before that night. He had stayed because of me. He stayed to protect me. Since then, he’s been mother, father, big brother, and best friend, taking care of me, making sure I have everything I need.” Braelyn downed half the glass of wine, seemed to shore herself up. “I’m not naive enough to think they simply let us vanish, Talon. But I’ve held out hope that they’d never find us. We’ve been hiding in plain sight. They’re not that far away.”
“They are now,” I assured her. Far, far away.
“I know they’re the reason we’re here,” she continued, motioning with her hand at the area around us. “I know he went to you, asked for your help. By helping his friends, my brother shined a beacon on our identities, and he feels guilty, but he shouldn’t. If it’s meant to happen, it will. I truly believe that.” She looked out at the ocean. “I don’t know if our parents even care anymore. Not about us, anyway. About our transgressions against them, sure. We did the unthinkable, turning our backs on the family, and they can’t let that go. It undermines their authority. They have to feel powerful, and if it means taking us out