She tensed, stole one scared look at Lia, then said in a small scratchy voice, “When I ran away, it was hard to get enough to eat.”
Her mother hastened into speech. “I know, honey. I’m so sorry. But I promise we’ll listen and nothing like that has to happen again and—”
“I need you to listen now.”
The words dried up. Her parents held hands and stared at her, apprehension on their faces.
“I mostly stayed with other kids. Runaways. You know.”
Nobody said anything.
“And…the other girls said there was an easy way to make money.”
A horrified sound escaped her father.
“And I thought, well, I’ve done it before so what difference does it make?” Sorrel sounded defiant and painfully young. She was trembling. “So I had sex with men for money.”
“Oh, no.” Her mother was crying again. “Oh, honey. Have you been tested? What if you’d gotten pregnant?”
“I’m not.”
“She was tested,” Jennifer murmured.
“There were only, like, five or six. And mostly when I said they had to use condoms, they did.”
All the adults heard the mostly. What kind of monster would not only have sex with a young girl who only wanted enough money to buy something to eat, but would refuse to use a condom?
Uncle Raymond, Lia thought grimly, probably hadn’t used one either.
“It was really awful,” Sorrel said in that same scratchy voice, “but it wasn’t as bad as doing it with him.”
Her father said, almost calmly, “I would like to kill them all. And I will never forgive myself for letting this happen to you.”
Sorrel shrugged and looked down at her hands, knotted together in her lap.
“We love you,” her mother said. “I know right now you don’t believe that, but it’s true. We love you so much.”
After a very long wait, Sorrel mumbled, “I love you, too.”
Her mother gasped and pressed her face into her husband’s shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and cried.
Lia held Sorrel, who continued to sit stiffly with her head bowed. Finally Jennifer stood.
“I think we’ve made a real start tonight. But I’m going to suggest that Sorrel go home with Lia and we set up another meeting soon. Perhaps Thursday?”
Lia nodded. After a minute Sorrel’s father did, too.
“Healing takes time,” Jennifer said softly.
The minute Lia stood, Sorrel did, too. They left her parents and the counselor, walking silently out to the car.
Lia handed her more tissues, and let her cry all the way home.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
LIA DID NOT leave her door open when she went to bed, no matter how much a part of her wanted to. It took her ages to fall asleep; her mind jumped from the scene between Sorrel and her parents to Lia’s own decision regarding Conall and back again. Counting sheep didn’t seem to be an option.
But apparently she did eventually sleep, because she woke up with a start. It was a second before she realized someone was yelling her name.
“Lia.” It was a roar out in the hall. Conall flung open her door and light flooded in. “Where are the boys?”
“What?” She sat up, her covers falling away as fear rushed over her. “They’re in bed.” She blinked away the confusion of sleep. “Oh, my God, aren’t they in bed?”
“No.” His face was tense, unfamiliar. It occurred to her suddenly that he was afraid, which ratcheted up her own panic.
She swung her feet to the floor. “Why did you check on them?”
“I saw someone sneaking across the pasture to the neighbor’s. He was using cover well. I had a hard time getting a good look. Then the dogs went ballistic and two of the men came out of the house and grabbed the kid.” The muscle in his jaw twitched. “It was a kid, Lia. I think it was Bren.”
She raced past him to the door of the boys’ bedroom, which already stood open. Their covers were rumpled, the bunk beds undeniably empty. The fear swelled like hydrogen in a balloon. “Why would he do something like that?” She didn’t recognize her own voice. “If that was Bren…where’s Walker?”
“I don’t know.” He swore. “Get dressed. I’m going out.” He was lifting his cell phone as he turned away, punching in numbers. As she hurried to her bedroom, she heard him say, “Duncan? I’ve got a situation.”