Wordz Press

12:30 a.m. 
"Oh, my God..." Sarah said the words softly, each one holding the weight of her shock. "Sheriff Bentley? Ray, are you sure"

He cut her off. "Believe me, Sarah I knew the man. He was brutal and angry and he had the size to back it up. Joan wouldn't have had a chance. He hated her...or at least he acted as if he did. Maybe it was something else and he couldn't allow that to happen...so he beat her instead."

A sick roll of disgust washed over Sarah. "How horrible for her. I always thought..." She stopped herself and started over. "I never knew".

He looked past her, to the window above. He had no idea what time it was, but behind the streetlights, there was total darkness. "No one knew. No one but me. Every night he'd come home and work her over...or her mother. I think Joan deliberately put herself in his way sometimes to spare her mom. Her life was hell, believe me."

Sarah thought back. Joan had been beautiful, a tiny girl with golden hair and dark green eyes. Sarah had always been so jealous of her, never knowing, never suspecting....

Her heart clenched at what the other girl had gone through. She raised her face to Ray's, his expression torn with grief and sadness. "What about the baby?" she asked softly. "I didn't ever hear"

"She lost the baby, which was a blessing, I guess." His face went tight and closed. "We tried to stick it out for a few years, then realized it was pointless. We didn't love each other and we never really had. Not like..."

Sarah knew what he'd been about to say.

She started to answer, although she had no idea what words to use, but all at once Ray shook his head then grabbed her. "Shh..." Pushing her behind him, both of them still sitting on the floor, he slid himself between her and the door as he whispered urgently over his shoulder, his hands on her legs. "Listen! I think I hear someone...."

She held her breath and concentrated, the heat of his touch burning through to her skin. The sensation was a familiar one; she'd dreamed about it for years.

Frozen against the wall, she waited behind him, but her pulse was the only sound she heard. After a moment, he relaxed. She could see his shoulders slump and feel the tension ease from his muscles. He shifted to face her, but he didn't move back.

Instead, he closed the gap between them and reached out for her....