Sariah knows what happened to me, because she saw a news report at the time, and we’ve talked about it, but I haven’t given her the whole picture.
I give her a terse nod before taking another swill of my beer, eyeballing Emmett. “You only moved to Lowell a couple years ago, right?” I’m only asking to be polite because I already know everything there is to know about Emmett thanks to the background check I performed on him.
“Yeah. I’m not from around here.” His foot taps on the floor.
“So, you don’t know my background.” I look to Sean for verification.
Sean shakes his head. “I know you don’t like people gossiping about you. I’ve never said a word.” His solemn gaze radiates with the truth, and I thank him with my eyes.
“What don’t I know?” Emmett asks, his gaze bouncing around the room.
“You don’t need to do this,” Sariah blurts before I can open my mouth. “I know how much you hate reliving it.”
“I need to start at the beginning because that’s where it all began.” Although, if Neo’s words tonight are to be believed, it began the instant I was born.
“You have my full attention.” Emmett’s face is a mask of seriousness as he leans his arms on his thighs and focuses on me.
“I was kidnapped when I was thirteen and held hostage for five days. I was only released after my father paid a three-million-dollar ransom.”
Emmett cusses.
“It was in all the papers and all over the news,” Sariah confirms.
“And most everyone in town knows who Harlow is because of it,” Sean adds.
I wet my dry lips. “It gave me a certain level of notoriety. One I still hate to this day.” I push the sleeves of my sweater up, showing him the scar tissue on my upper arms. A look of horror is etched upon his face as he leans in closer to examine the faded lines. “My captors did that to me. Every day I was their prisoner, they inflicted some new form of torture on me. They recorded it and sent it to my parents. Dad was scrambling to get the money together to pay the ransom and arguing with Mom. She wanted to go to the cops, but Dad knew involving the authorities would sign my death warrant.”
Of course, I only learned this much later. At the time, when every minute felt like eternity, I thought my parents didn’t care enough because they hadn’t come for me.
Emmett’s brow puckers. “But I thought it made the news?
“It did, but only after I was released. No one knew what was happening at the time it was happening, outside of my parents.”
I rub my palms down the front of my tight jeans. “My captors kept me blindfolded the entire time, and they were careful not to use their names around me. They stripped me to my underwear, tied me to a bed, and kept me locked in a cold room with only a thin blanket for warmth. Someone stood over me anytime I needed to use the bathroom. Strong arms pinned me to the bed every day when they inflicted new torture on me.”
I lift my sweater up to my ribs, showing him the six puckered circular-shaped scars scattered across my stomach. “Sinner did that to me on the last day. He laughed as I screamed every time he stubbed his cigarette out on my skin.”
Sariah’s eyes almost bug out of her head. “What?” she screeches, nearly dropping her beer on the floor. But Sean has spidey senses, and he snatches the bottle before beer ruins her grandma’s new royal blue carpet. “I thought you didn’t see any of their faces?”
“I didn’t until the last day when Sinner did this. He was alone in the room when he pulled the blindfold off.”
“He wanted you to know it was him,” she surmises.
“Yes, but I didn’t know who he was until I figured it out years later.”
“You should’ve told me,” she huffs.
“Don’t be mad.” I beseech her with my eyes. “I didn’t tell you to protect you.”
“I don’t understand,” Emmett says, frowning again. “Who’s Sinner?”
“Sinner is Neo Lennox a.k.a. Mom’s new fiancé. President of The Sainthood and my soon-to-be stepdad,” I explain.
His mouth drops open.
“Holy shit.” Sean shakes his head, his face displaying his shock. “David Jennings is innocent?”
I bob my head. “David Jennings was the scapegoat, because someone had to pay for the crime or the authorities would continue investigating.”
