AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I advised that, yes. While the senator and the judge are sympathetic, they believe the parents may have a valid point. Think of it as a test, Connor. The first of many she has to pass to come home.”
“She shouldn’t have to pass any fucking test! She’s been through enough.”
“I agree. But that’s how things stand as it is, until the psych exam is complete, and the court re-examines the evidence. Be thankful, Connor. This is a reprieve. Two days and she’ll probably be home no worse for wear.” Zeke looked miserable. “You know if it was up to me, she wouldn’t be going anywhere.”
“I know. I know you tried your best for us.” Connor ground his teeth together as his throat closed. “When?”
“Say your goodbyes,” Zeke advised gently. “They’re already behind schedule, and the hospital is strict on times and routines. When you’ve said what you need to, they’ll take her. If she doesn’t go quietly, Mark is authorized to sedate her for the journey.”
“Like hell he is!”
“It’s his job, no matter how big an asshole he is. We’ll leave you to it for a few minutes. Sarah will pack a bag for Jenna.” Zeke stood, pulled Sarah to her feet. “Connor?”
“Yeah.”
“Remember, if you fight this, she’ll fight harder. Make it easy on her.”
Chapter Twenty
Fingers digging into leather, Jenna clung to the recliner like a cat.
She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, as two strangers worked together to trap her. Blind panic pumped through her blood, surged through her body with every frantic beat of her heart. Eyes darting from man to man, she forced herself to assess the situation.
They had her pinned between them, and they knew it. Any direction she moved, one of them would be on her. Right now, they were biding their time, waiting for her to bolt, and one of them had a hunter’s gleam in his muddy brown eyes. Predatory focus. He freaked her out and played on the knowledge.
“Connor!” she screamed his name, even though she knew he couldn’t get to her. Hadley and Zeke had dragged him and Luna away, and she’d heard him shouting, heard the thump and grunt of fists on flesh. “Daddy?”
The one with the nasty look in his eyes sneered. “Fairy-tale time’s over, princess. Prince Charming can’t save your ass this time.”
“Mark, for God’s sake, stop being a dick.” The other man glared daggers at his colleague. “Just shut up and let me handle this.” He lifted a hand, drawing Jenna’s attention away from the one he called Mark. “Hey, sweetheart. Why don’t you take a seat so I can talk to you without looming over you, huh?”
Jenna edged around the recliner, sensing movement from Mark. “You don’t want to talk. You want to take me away. Don’t lie.”
“Don’t want to,” he corrected. “I have orders.”
Connor was just down the hall. She could make it to Connor if she tried hard enough. She needed him to make this stop, to make the nightmare end. He could make everything okay because he was her Daddy and he loved her.
Mark lunged for her and she screamed, throwing herself into the chair with a hard thump then scrambling forward as a rough hand grabbed hold of her slim shoulder through Connor’s robe with enough force to bruise. She dropped to her knees, breaking his grip, then scuttled away on her hands and knees as the other man came forward.
“Jenna!” Connor’s roar answered her scream.
Empowered, she charged forward, dodging Mark’s second grab and feeling his fingers graze her scalp. She bolted down the hallway to the kitchen, heard Mark snap at his colleague, “Keep out of my way, Andrew. I won’t be made a fool of by some brainwashed little bitch with a daddy fetish.”
Jenna hammered on the closed kitchen door, weeping as she tried the handle. It moved, but the door didn’t budge. She pushed frantically against the wood, using her hands, her shoulder. “Connor! Connor, please!”
She heard him shouting at Hadley, at Zeke. Harsh, vicious threats. As tears choked her, she realized they wouldn’t let him save her. They weren’t going to open the door. Dropping her forehead against the door with a thud, she keened wildly before falling to her knees and sobbing.
“Don’t touch her, Mark.”
Gentle hands touched her back tentatively, rubbed when her body went rigid. She didn’t care anymore—the people she’d come to think of as friends, ashers, had abandoned her when she needed them most. Her hand touched the bottom of the door, her nails gouging into the wood.
“It’s hard,” the man called Andrew murmured as his arms slipped around her, lifted her. He held her weight easily as she struggled weakly. “We’ll make it easier for you.”
Her legs kicked uselessly when Mark parted the robe and slid his hand along her thigh. She didn’t like him, didn’t like the way he touched her. She yelped, jerked, when he jabbed a needle into her butt harder than necessary.
Something heavy smashed against the kitchen door as her head went light and floaty. More shouting ensued, but she couldn’t understand the words. Her limbs went limp, her head dropped forward. Vision dimming, she barely felt herself being flipped around and tossed over a broad shoulder.
“Daddy,” she mumbled.
