I inhale slowly. Every inch of me tells me to trust this man with information that could get me in serious trouble, or worse. I know in my gut that Cannon is one of the good guys, and that’s saying something since, in my experience, there aren’t many good guys in the world.
“I have no doubt there’s a warrant out for my arrest,” I inform him.
“Okay. I’ll handle that, Little one. You know no one is going to get to you here, right? No one knows you’re here, and even if they did, they can’t get into the apartment. My security system is top-of-the-line.”
I fight back tears. My walls are crumbling around me. Everything feels so heavy. The weight has been tremendous for so long that I can’t remember what it was like to feel safe and free.
I’m not free by any stretch of the imagination, but I am safe. I can sleep tonight, knowing no one can get to me.
“It was a month before I was supposed to graduate. I had turned eighteen. I had only been at that high school for about six months. I was keeping my head down just trying to get to the end so I could go on with my life.”
“I bet your grades were exemplary,” Cannon says softly.
I startle. “How would you know that?”
“Because you’re one of the brightest people I’ve ever spoken to.”
I frown.
He smiles. “Eloise, you’d rather be reading Moby Dick than watching a movie. You have an incredible vocabulary for someone who didn’t finish high school. You know a lot about a lot of subjects, considering I assume you’ve been completely off the grid for the last four years.”
“Oh.” It should unnerve me how much he knows without me telling him. I should stop being shocked by now. He’s observant.
“Go on, Little one.”
“Larkin was the school officer. I assume he saw me as easy prey because he knew I was in foster care and that I had no friends. So, he framed me. He planted cocaine in my locker and then called me in and used it to blackmail me.”
“Jesus…”
“Yeah, he had a file on me that included a whole list of previous arrests, even though I’d never been arrested in my life. I’d never done any of those things. He planted them in the police files so that if I declined to accept his blackmail, the cops would arrest me for the drugs. It would be easier to convict me since I had such a long history of charges.”
Cannon’s brows are furrowed, and his jaw is tight, but he doesn’t interrupt me.
“He told me to go home, pack a backpack, and meet him behind the school that night. Make it look like I’d run away. Since I was eighteen, no one would look for me. I was an adult. I didn’t have to stay with my foster family. It was brilliant. He was a mastermind of a conniving asshole.”
“So you did it. You met him.”
I nod. “It was either that or take off and live on the run, knowing the cops were looking for me for the fake drug charge. I would look guilty as hell if I ran.”
Cannon grips my leg. I doubt he realizes it. “I’m certain the rest will make it difficult for me to maintain my cool, but please, go on.”
“When I arrived, he opened the back door of his car and pointed for me to get in. It was the scariest thing I’d ever done.” I let out a sardonic laugh. “Now it doesn’t even rank in the top ten. I kept thinking of all the times I’d heard counselors at school assemblies telling us to never let a predator take us to a second location. To fight like hell. Scream. Anything. Don’t get in the car. And there I was, climbing in, ignoring all my instincts.”
Cannon’s jaw is tight. So is his hand on my thigh, but I like it. It’s grounding me somehow.
I draw in a breath. “As soon as I sat down, he grabbed my arm and injected me with something. I panicked, but I faded so fast I didn’t have time to know anything except that he lowered me onto the seat as I blacked out. And his laugh. I’ll never forget his fucking evil laugh. And the way he muttered, ‘stupid bitch.’” I shudder.
Cannon is breathing heavily. I know he’d like to go after Larkin right now, but he hasn’t even heard the beginning of it. “What happened next, angel?” he whispers.
“I woke up in pitch darkness on a mattress. My head hurt so badly I thought I would die. I assume it was from the drugs. I started screaming, but no one came. I couldn’t hear anything. I was alone and cold and scared out of my mind. Far more scared than I’d been when I’d gotten into that fucking car.”
“Sweet girl…” A blood vessel is going to pop on Cannon’s forehead at any moment.
I look down, thinking it would be best if I didn’t continue.
Cannon slides his arms around me and pulls me against his chest. He rubs my back and kisses the top of my head in that way that soothes me. After a few minutes, he says, “I’m sorry. I’ll control my reactions better. Please tell me the rest.”
I sniffle. “Are you sure? I don’t have to. It won’t change anything.”
