Convict

Once again, she didn’t speak and made her way out to the kitchen, and when that sinking feeling came, which felt like someone was clawing at her chest, trying to get out, she opened the back door as her dog came rushing in. He brushed past her, and she stroked his long back, making her way outside and taking in several deep breaths.

The town didn’t want to know her.

She was a reminder of what they’d failed to see.

Ryker didn’t get the hint that she wanted to be alone, and he followed her outside. She hated that she felt him. Men meant nothing to her. She never wanted to be near them, and until she’d seen him, nothing had changed.

What made him so different?

“You said you’d had a gun pointed at you before, and you made it sound so casual, as if you’re used to it.”

“I was.” Rubbing her arms, she finally allowed herself to face this man that had broken out of jail.

In a matter of hours, he seemed to care a little more about her than anyone who’d known her for years. When he looked at her, he saw her. There was no passing glance, no apology, nothing. He merely stared, and when he did, she couldn’t hide. She couldn’t escape, even though he’d been gone for years.

“Who’s the man in the picture?” he asked.

“You shouldn’t be asking questions.”

“I’m guessing not a lot of people have paid all that much attention to you,” Ryker said. “I could kill you now, and no one would know about it for weeks.”

No one would ever find her because they refused to come up here and see her, unless it was her father who made the trip whenever he felt like it, which wasn’t often. She didn’t tell Ryker that.

“I’m just a passing stranger, Scarlett.”

“Then why do you care?”

“I’m curious,” he said.

“The man in the picture was my stepfather. I’m used to having a gun pointed at my head because for years after I turned ten, he’d use it to rape me every single night. He’d make sure my mom was passed out on drugs so no one would interrupt him.”

Chapter Two

Holy shit!

Ryker watched as she made her way into the forest. The Labrador rushed out, and started to follow her. He didn’t know what to do, so he simply watched her curvy ass disappearing.

Sitting on the back step, he ran a hand down his face, and he had so many questions. Her stepfather? Where was he now? She’d cut every single memory of him away, and she lived here, far away from the town.

He’d noticed the way people offered her more of a passing wave without much enthusiasm. He figured she was the weird girl in town as most places had them. Someone would always take pity and be their friend.

Scarlett was different. She was living proof that someone got away with hurting her, over and over again, and no one paid any attention.

She was their living guilt.

He stayed, waiting for her to come back. The day faded and night fell, and still he waited.

When there was movement toward the edge, the back light came on, and he saw her appear with her dog at her side.

“Do you often go wandering the woods alone?” he asked.

“Why are you still here?” She stopped several feet from him.

“I need clothes, and I don’t know how to work a dryer, don’t worry, I figured it out.”

“I thought they taught you that stuff on the inside.” She glared at him, and he had to admit, she looked really cute when she did it.

“They taught us a lot, but drying clothes wasn’t one of them.” He lied, and it was easy to. He wouldn’t be bested by a dryer

She sighed, and once again brushed past him. He followed her, being sure to close the door after her dog entered. Flicking the lock into place, he did the same with the front door, and found her ironing his clothes, which were already dried.

“Just because you’re running away doesn’t mean you have to do it looking a mess.”

She finished his pants and handed them to him. He pulled them on, removing his towel, and he noticed that she paused in what she was doing to look at him.

“Like what you see?”

Scarlett didn’t say anything, and went back to ironing his stuff.

“I take it … he was put away?” he asked.

He noticed she tensed up.

She shook her head. “My dad … I used to go and visit him, and he saw the change in me. He rarely saw me, but he was the only one to see the scars, the bruises.” She took a deep breath. “He … erm … shot him. There was a big scandal, but he killed my stepdad and had my mother arrested. For a long time, I lived with him, and then I came here. I found this place, and knew this was where I wanted to stay.”