Page 42 of My Boyfriend Marks Trees
Once Greta went to bed—after hugging Grams, Gramps, Athena, and Derek—things got serious as Grams stared at Charly and point-blank asked, “Who’s the asshole terrorizing you and that sweet child?”
Chapter 12
At Charlotte’s shocked look,Grams added, “Yes, I know you’re being threatened.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come,” Charlotte whispered. These nice people didn’t deserve to get dragged into her mess.
“Oh, stop it with that bullshit. Of course, you should be here. This is the safest place you could be. So can the bullshit and spill. Ares didn’t tell us much, and I’d rather hear the details from you.”
Charlotte wrung her hands. “It’s my ex. He followed me from British Columbia.”
“I’m going to assume he’s a shitty father since you’re trying to keep him away from the kid?” Grams didn’t pull punches.
“He abandoned her at three months old. Tried claiming she wasn’t his, and when a paternity test showed she was, he called her defective.” Charlotte clenched her fists as the familiar hot anger filled her. “There is nothing wrong with Greta.”
“I take it he changed his mind?” Athena’s soft addition.
“About eight months ago, he showed up unexpectedly. Barged his way into our apartment, demanded to see Greta. She’d already gone to bed, and I refused to wake her up. When I asked what he wanted, he told me to hand her over.”
“That’s insane,” Athena huffed. “He can’t have seriously expected you to comply.”
“I told him he was nuts and to get out, that he’d relinquished his parental rights. I reminded him that he called her defective, and he smirked. Told me he’d changed his mind and either we moved in with him or he’d take Greta.”
“No court would have agreed,” Derek stated.
“He wasn’t planning to do it legally.” Her hand went to her cheek. “And he gave me a taste of what to expect if I didn’t give in.” Charlotte saw how Ares’ jaw clenched as he simmered with anger on her behalf. Honestly, the slap, while it stung, hadn’t hurt as much as the thought of losing Greta.
“After the assault, you left BC and came here,” Derek stated.
“Not right away. I hoped I could reason with Barry. Offered him supervised visits on the weekend so as to ease him into her life.”
“Wait, you actually were going to let him see her?” Ares couldn’t help his shock.
Charlotte shrugged. “He’s her father. I owed it to Greta to give him a chance.”
“He wasn’t content with the offer,” Grams surmised.
“Not one bit. He wanted us under his control. And he got it. For two weeks.”
Ares stiffened. “You agreed to live with him?”
“Not exactly. He kidnapped us, took us to a remote house in the woods, and made it so we couldn’t escape.” That had been the toughest moment of her life. Kept locked in a room, allowed out only under supervision. She’d done her best to keep Greta from realizing the severity of their situation, but she knew. She’d smiled very little. Spent a lot of time huddled on Charlotte’s lap.
“You obviously got away,” Athena pointed out.
“By fluke. When he and his gang went out one night, I smashed the handle off the door of the room he kept us in.” Herlips twisted as she offered a wry, “I couldn’t figure out how to pick the lock. Luckily, he hates banks. I took a few thousand in cash and stole his car. Drove to the bus depot and ditched it. Then took a taxi to the train station and booked us some seats.”
“You made him think you took a bus,” Ares murmured. “Smart.”
“We travelled by train and bus.” Charlotte stood and paced. “I’d planned to go farther east, but my emergency stash got too low, so we ended up here.”
“When you say this asshole is violent, what are we talking about?” Grams questioned. “We know he’s a piece of shit who likes to smack women, what else?”
Charlotte hesitated. “He’s the leader of a gang or a cult depending on how you view it. Around a dozen or so men and women who live in some cabins on his property. They intimidate local businesses for money.”
“Protection scam,” Derek murmured.
“It’s blackmail, all right, as the money is to protect those folks from him and his gang.” Charlotte paused and ducked her head before admitting, “He is a killer. On the day I escaped the cabin, he showed me his depraved side thinking it would make me fall in line. The victims hadn’t done anything wrong, simply got lost, but rather than let them leave, they…” She swallowed hard. “He and his gang murdered them.” The memory of the pleading, the blood, the screams still haunted her.