AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re going to be okay.” Her eyes are red-rimmed as she pulls back to inspect me.
“Where’s my mother?”
“She’s asleep upstairs. The doctor has prescribed some heavy sleep aids. She … she’s had awful nightmares and traumatic flashbacks.”
My inhales grow more shallow, the racing of my heart picking up speed. “I’m sorry it took me so long to get back to her.” My voice is a hoarse whisper as I brush away the tear on my cheek.
Aunt June shakes her head, leading me toward the kitchen. “It’s not your fault, dear, of course. That awful man will pay for his crimes against your family for the last time. You will never suffer at his hands again.”
I shake my head, desperate for her to understand. “Holden didn’t do this. He rescued me. He—” It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her about his shooting Jed right between the eyes at the cabin. “He’s being framed. Someone set him up.”
I have to speak to him.
Will he speak to me after what I did?
June’s delicate features crease with concern. “Darling, I do believe you might be suffering from a case of Stockholm syndrome. Sometimes, victims can harbor feelings of … sympathy for their captors. It’s a coping mechanism to help you survive the trauma.”
I shake my head more vigorously. “No! I’m telling you … he didn’t do this! The Redfords care about me. I want to speak to Dolly. I need to see her.”
My aunt tilts her head to the side as she grabs an open bottle of white wine and pours two generous glasses, handing me one. “I don’t see why you can’t see your friend, dear. In the safety of your father’s home, of course. Who knows what that girl has suffered from as well?”
She suffered from my uncle attempting to rape her—that’s what.
The way none of them see what’s happening is driving me out of my mind.
“Did he … did he do anything … to hurt you?” Her features soften as her hand closes over mine.
I know what she’s asking. The answer, of course, isn’t that simple. We had sex, very consensual, mind-blowing sex. I know I can’t tell her that.
I shake my head. “Holden saved my life. Men in masks had come to my apartment and kidnapped me. They took me to an old cabin on Redford Ranch and held me, without food, for almost six days. All I got was one sandwich.”
I pour out all the details for her the same way I did at the police station in Portland, leaving out the gritty parts about sex and murder. The last part of the story she knows because they found me when I called her from Holden’s pay-by-minute phone while he was in the restaurant, getting our sushi. While he was sound asleep early this morning, I texted my aunt our location. I didn’t know they’d send a SWAT team. I thought I’d have a chance to explain what happened to the police and he’d be released when I told them he was innocent.
Aunt June nods along, listening intently and sipping her wine. She seems concerned for me, shocked by the story of me being thrown around in the cabin and starved but very confused about why when Holden found me, he took me to New Mexico with his brother instead of telling the sheriff and my father immediately.
“Don’t you think it’s odd that he carted you off to another state when I was at their house, looking for you? Are you certain you weren’t drugged and harmed in your sleep?” She says the words gently, but they feel like a blow to my stomach.
I take a long gulp of wine, the smooth liquid burning down my throat. She rubs my arms reassuringly, attempting to console me. My father enters the kitchen then, immediately coming over to me and pulling me into a stiff hug.
“That bastard will never see the light of day, you hear me? He’s gone for good. You’re safe now.”
You’re safe now. You’re safe here. You’re safe with us.
Why does it feel like a lie?
I tuck my face into his chest, my body trembling with all the fear and stress of the last ten days from hell.
Holden didn’t do this! He’s innocent!
He was right. He told me this would happen …
I want to scream at them both, to smash the wine bottle on the floor until they fucking hear me. All they can see right now is a traumatized woman who doesn’t know what she’s saying. My stomach roils with an aching sickness at what I’ve done to him, to the man I love.
Stockholm syndrome, Aunt June said.
They think I’m suffering from some kind of trauma bond.
“You and your mother won’t have to suffer like this ever again, Rosie. You and she will heal, and we’ll be a family again. The Redfords will pay for this, all of them.”
