Rain was on her stomach. They lay amongst a patch of daisies and were making chains. She was a little rusty in her skills, but it didn’t help she was constantly thinking about the man who’d … taken them.
This morning had been dirty and wrong, and yet, she had loved every second of it. She felt safe under his tutelage, and that was so wrong.
He was a bad man. She hated how she had to keep on reminding herself he was a monster. He wasn’t a good man, but a bad man.
Taking a deep breath, she rolled over, looking at her daughter with a smile. “You want to go swimming?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know if Wolf has a pool.”
Evelyn got to her feet, and before Rain could stop her, she was running across the garden toward one of the guards.
Rain saw him tense up, but he made no move to reach for a weapon. Getting to her feet, she was already chasing after her daughter. She expected them to shoot at her, but again, surprise of all surprises, not a single one grabbed a weapon.
“Mr. Guard, do you have a swimming pool?” Evelyn asked.
“I’m so sorry,” Rain said. Her heart raced.
The idea was to get the hell out of this situation in one piece and without Evelyn being scarred for life.
What about you?
Rain ignored the thoughts. It didn’t matter if she was scared or scarred. So long as she got her daughter to safety. Nothing else mattered.
But you like what he does to your body.
That irritating voice needed to shut the hell up. Rain didn’t like being made aware of the damn obvious.
The guard held up his hand. “I will ask.”
Evelyn clapped her hands. “You have a pool.”
The guard gave a single nod of his head, and Rain couldn’t be sure if that was such a good idea.
She grabbed Evelyn’s shoulders, trying to put some distance between them and the very scary guards.
Her daughter was so damn fearless. It was one of the many things she loved about her.
Evelyn never seemed to be afraid of anything, but then, it wasn’t like she’d put her daughter in any truly dangerous positions. Not that she’d ever do that.
The guard pulled out his cell phone, and she waited as he made a call. He turned away, talking in hushed tones on the cell phone.
Other guards stood close, but their gazes were around the property. If she could find the security room, she’d be able to locate a place that didn’t have cameras. Licking her lips, she tried and failed to come up with a plan that meant she’d be able to take Evelyn and find her freedom.
She didn’t want to be someone’s prisoner.
The guard hung up his cell phone. “Come with me,” he said.
“It’s okay. We don’t need anything,” Rain said.
“We want to swim,” Evelyn said.
Gritting her teeth, she forced a smile to her lips and followed the guard. They didn’t go further into the yard, but instead, across the grounds, heading down a stoned path toward another building.
“You don’t have a pool outside?” Rain asked.
“Mr. Jackson likes to swim whenever he can,” the guard said. “And if it’s raining, that cannot happen.”
So, Wolf left the house to go swimming. Would that be her chance?
Rain waited as the guard pressed some buttons on the keypad, and then the doors slid open.
A large pool greeted her and Evelyn.
“Score,” Evelyn said.
Her daughter wriggled out of her arms and ran toward the pool, fully dressed, and jumped into the water.
Rain shook her head, looking at the guard to see him smiling. When he noticed she looked at him, the smile disappeared.
“My name’s Rain,” she said, holding out her hand.
Putting a name to her face, wouldn’t that work? Would it help the men here that helped to keep her prisoner to see her as more than a criminal?
What the hell was she thinking? She wasn’t a criminal.
These men, she shouldn’t be trying to make this work.
She still held her hand out, but he didn’t take it.
“There are swimsuits in the drawers.” He pointed across to the far wall.
Rain spun around, and before she could try and speak to him, the doors slid closed, and he had his back to her, now guarding the door.
Evelyn had swum to the other side of the pool, giggling. “It’s warm, Mommy.”
“What have I told you about running off?” she asked.
“Wolf said I’m safe here. I don’t need to worry about bad men.”
The irony was not lost on Rain.
“Come in, Mommy!”
She wore a pair of jeans and a shirt. It was still warm out, and she loved any opportunity to soak up the sun. There was no need for any excuses. “I will grab a swimsuit first. Come on, sweetheart, out.”
Evelyn grumbled, but as Rain held up a unicorn swimsuit, her daughter had no more complaints. Evelyn changed quickly, not wanting to waste a moment.