Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.
You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.
Click here
He puts his hand on her shoulder. "It's going to be okay."
She shakes her head. "No, I don't think it is."
* * * * *
Ben walks towards the waiting room in the hospital where Matt and Abby are standing talking to each other. He is trying to get the doctor's words out of his head -- to focus on the, 'she is going to be okay' part, vs hearing about the things the doctor had told him had likely been done to her. In spite of how bad a man he knew Gavin to be, the fact that he could hurt her so badly was truly disgusting to him. And Ben was going to make him pay for that.
Abby turns to look at him and he just sinks down into a chair and hides his face in his hands. She moves quickly towards him and sits down next to him, pulling him in close to her. Matt approaches slowly.
"What can I do?" he asks.
Ben looks up. "Find me Gavin Sharpe so I can kill him."
"John is organizing a team now. We'll find him. Is Riley going to be okay?"
"I don't know. I don't know." He pauses.
Ben looks at Abby and back to Matt. "I don't know why, but I didn't think he'd do it. He threatened her, and it was sick. But he knew that threatening her in that way, that's what would get to me. I just thought he was making threats." Abby rubs her hand up and down his back. "He actually did it. He raped her."
"We're going to catch them," Matt say. "And when we do, I'll turn my back while you do whatever you want to Gavin."
Ben nods. "I need you to do me a favor."
"Anything, man. Just ask."
He closes his eyes and looks back at Abby. Then back to Matt. "Can you call Jason Crawford down at the DC field office? Ask him to put in a protection detail for Abby at her sister's house in Alexandria."
Abby is shocked. She doesn't want to leave him. She won't. "What? Ben, no. I'm not leaving you here."
"Abby, please. Please just go stay with your sister. Just until we find them. It won't be long, I promise. You'll be safer with your family. They want to keep Riley at least a couple of days and I... just please, do this for me."
"No. No. You're my family. You and me and Riley. We're a family. I'm not leaving you. I can have a protection detail here, I don't need to go to Alexandria."
He steps in close to her as she starts to cry. He puts his hands on her face and she shakes her head. "Ben, please don't make me leave you. Please. Please. Not right now."
Ben watches her cry, and his heart breaks. He absolutely wants her here, but the agent part of his brain knows that sending her away is the right call. Gavin and Chase are likely to lash out at everything and everyone that matters to him. If he can remove Abby, not put them together, if anything happens to him -- Riley would still have her.
"Abby... if we are going to catch them I need to be focused and I can't do that unless I know you're safe. If you want to help me, please go."
Matt steps in and puts his hand on Abby's shoulder. "We have some NYPD officers here. I'll have one of them take you down to the house to get what you need, and then we'll arrange for a transport to Alexandria. He's right Abby, it's better for you to go. I'll take care of him, I promise."
Abby looks at Ben with tears in her eyes. "Okay, okay." She hugs him. Sobbing into his shoulder. "I love you. Please, don't get yourself killed while I'm gone okay. Otherwise, the wedding is totally off and you can have your ring back. And I don't want to do that you know, because I already have a dress and..."
He laughs and kisses her. "I love you too."
Matt motions for the officers to come over and they have a quick quiet conversation while and then they usher her off. He turns back to Ben.
"Are you going to be okay?"
Ben stares at Matt. Matt can see a side of Ben he's never seen before -- pure primal rage. "I'm going to kill him. I don't care if I lose my job. I don't care if I go to jail. I'm going to fucking kill him -- and before I do, I will cut off his dick and feed it to him."
* * * * *
Riley left the hospital in scrubs. If there was one thing to make her feel even more broken and like a victim, it was the blue scrubs she left the hospital in. Matt drove. Ben sat next to him in the front seat. Everyone was silent, except for the occasionally awkward moment where Matt would try to make the moment lighter, and was answered with short, one sentence answers, making it clear that things were not okay -- that they would never be okay again. Riley rested her head on the glass as they drove, the cool glass on her cheek a small source of comfort for a reason she couldn't understand. As the car hit bumps in the road, her forehead hit the glass, and the jarring of that moment of pain momentarily shook her out of her daze. But still, she didn't move.
They arrived within a few hours. John McLaren's house upstate -- a place no one knew existed -- for the foreseeable future. The days there were long, boring. And she didn't feel like talking much. For five days she lay on the bed in her bedroom staring at the ceiling, leaving only for the occasional shower or whatever attempt at food Ben tried to concoct to get her to eat. She was no longer a prisoner and yet, continued to feel trapped.
On day 6, she found herself lost, standing in a bedroom there, staring at herself in the mirror, looking at the now yellowing bruise on her face. She didn't recognize the girl in front of her. She couldn't help but think she looks older. She's dressed for bed in a pair of black sleeping shorts with grey stars on them, and a red and white baseball tee that looks big enough to be Ben's. A knock on the door interrupts her.
"Hey... I brought you some tea. How are you feeling?"
"Still pretty sore. Really tired."
Ben sighs and walks in the room. He places the tea on her nightstand. How did his little sister become such an adult? "What about everything else?" She looks at him and takes a deep breath. She climbs into bed and Ben sits down next to her.
"I don't know." He gently tucks her hair behind her ear, and looks at her with all the love an older brother should.
"I'll listen, you know," he says.
Her lip trembles and she just stares straight ahead at him for a moment, breathing in deeply. "Ben... I really want Mom." Her whole chin quivers as she fights the onslaught of tears welling not just in her eyes but in her whole body.
Ben blinks the tears from his own eyes as he pulls her into him. He kisses the top of her head. "I love you so fucking much, do you know that?" She nods into his shoulder, not letting the tears come -- knowing that they would never stop. "I'm never going to be mom, Riley. But I'm here for you. Talk to me."
Riley sighs deeply, still holding onto him. She waits a moment and pushes back. "I... I was really scared. I am really scared." She doesn't want to look at him. She fidgets with her fingers and stares at the bed. "I tried not to be, but I can't help it. Gavin... he... The minute he walked in the room, that I saw him that first time, my whole body just... I've never been more scared or felt more powerless." She pauses to breathe, squeezing her eyes tightly for a moment. "I've never felt that way before. It wasn't just that he was stronger than me and that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fight him off. It was that he really wanted to hurt me -- he enjoyed it."
Ben chokes back his tears and looks at his sister. "I'm sorry that this happened to you. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you."
She shakes her head. "I don't think we can do that, Ben. Blame doesn't... I don't blame you, anymore than I know that you blame me for being an idiot. For lying to you." He nods his head. "Ben, are we really safe here? I mean I know that John said no one really knows about this place but..." Ben is wondering the same thing, but he holds it together.
"Listen, I'm here, Matt's here. No one knows where are except John. Not even Abby. You trust me right?" She shrugs. "You trust Matt?" She shrugs, but this time with a little smile on her face.
"Is that a smile?" He laughs, looking at her. "Are you smiling? Do you like Matt better than me? Is that it? You think he's a better big brother than me, don't you?"
Her face changes. She stares back at him, serious. "You're a great brother. Thank you. For everything."
Ben moves in close to her kissing her on the forehead. "I love you. Get some sleep okay, I'll come back in a bit and check on you. Drink the tea. It will help."
* * * * *
Ben walks into the living room. Matt is cleaning up a couple of pizza boxes and some cans of soda. He pauses as Ben comes in.
"She get to sleep?" he asks.
"She will. She's exhausted. She told me she wanted our mom."
"Ouch."
Ben sits down on the couch, puts his feet on the coffee table.
"I can't protect her from any of it, really."
"We're going to catch them, Ben. If I didn't have to babysit you, we could do it faster, but..."
"John told me you volunteered for this."
"A chance to crash at John's house upstate? How could I turn that down?"
Ben pauses and looks at him, getting serious. "You love a good manhunt. Why? Why'd you really volunteer?"
Matt shakes his head. "Truth? I don't know if you know this, but I was the first person on the scene when your parents were killed... Did your father ever tell you..."
"Tell me what?"
"What happened the week before. When Robert ... he came to your house."
"What are you talking about?"
"Yeah... so... he approached your sister when she was with her babysitter."
Matt pauses for a moment to watch Ben's face as he starts to tell the story.
* * * * *
Ten Years Earlier
An 8 year old Riley and her best friend Megan kicked a soccer ball back and forth on the front lawn of a Brooklyn brownstone. Riley's babysitter, Chloe, sat nearby on their stoop reading a book. Megan kicked the ball and it went sideways off her foot, trickling into the street. Riley chased after it. She stopped, looking down at it under a man's foot. He picks up the ball, holding it out to her. Riley reaches for it. But he doesn't hand it to her.
"Hey, mister, can I have my ball back?"
Chloe's looked up, staring at the man. She approached them. "Can I help you?"
The man kept his eyes on Riley. "Riley, right? God -- you are getting so big." He handed her the ball. She tossed it to Megan, who watched from afar.
"Excuse me -- who are you?" Chloe asked.
"I'm looking for Scott."
Chloe seemed to sense that something was off. "Scott isn't home yet. He will be soon though. If you want to wait outside, you can. But we were just heading in."
Chloe reached down for Riley's hand. Robert grabbed her arm. Chloe gasped.
Robert smiled, gently. "I'm sorry. I don't want to scare you. I'm just here to give something to Scott. Why don't I just leave it with you?"
Chloe was skeptical. She pulled Riley behind her. "Yeah, sure."
Robert handed Chloe an envelope. She reached for it and he didn't let go. "You can just tell Scott, I have plenty more of these if he needs them."
"Who should I say..."
Scott Wilson walked up the house, briefcase over his shoulder. He tried to maintain his composure.
"Hi Scott," Robert stated, casually. Robert turned and let go of the envelope, dropping it into Chloe's hand.
Scott looks at Chloe. "Chloe, would you mind taking the girls inside? I'll be right there."
"Of course, Mr. Wilson. Come on girls -- let's go play inside."
Riley looked back at the man as they went into the house. "Riley is really growing up, Scott. She seems like such a sweet little girl." Robert watched her go, not taking his eyes off of her.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"You know, you think you live in a safe neighborhood, but anyone could just show up..."
Scott grabbed Robert by the front of his shirt.
"Did you just threaten my family?"
"You took something from me, Scott. $5 million worth of something. That's not just something a man forgets."
"If you're admitting that was yours, we can skip the pleasantries and I'm happy to take you in right now."
"Isn't this getting old, Scott? You've been trying to catch me for a long time now. You just never quite seem to get there."
"I've got you now, Robert. You wouldn't be here if you didn't know that I had you."
Robert shoved Scott off of him and stood up straight, readjusting his suit. He got close to Scott. "I don't work alone, Scott. Something happens to me -- something happens to my business again... I can't promise that the next time someone comes to see you or your wife it will be as nice of a visit."
Scott shook his head. "Robert -- If you come near my family again -- I won't arrest you, I'll just kill you -- do you understand?"
Robert laughed. "See, now that's a threat."
"You have five seconds to turn around and leave or I swear to God..."
Robert started to walk away and he stopped, facing Scott. "It really is terrible when someone threatens something important to you, isn't it Scott? I'm glad we're on the same page now."
And with that he was gone.
Hours later, Scott found himself in the living room of his home, Matt and John sitting on his couch. Riley was putting a puzzle together on the floor. The front door opened, Riley's mother Elizabeth walked in, surprised to see her daughter awake.
"Mom's home!" She looked up from her puzzle.
Elizabeth stared down at her. "I am. Why are you awake? It's almost 930."
Scott walked towards his wife. He kissed her on the cheek. "She wanted to stay up until you got home."
Elizabeth nodded, skeptical. "I see. I also see we have guests."
"Mom, did you know Daddy's friend Matt plays soccer too? He said we could play together after school tomorrow."
Elizabeth's eyes widened. "Really? Is Daddy's friend planning to be here tomorrow?"
"Lizzie, we should probably..."
"Dad said he was going to sleep over for a few days."
Elizabeth looked at Scott. "Riley I think you should head up to bed. Brush your teeth and straight to bed okay? No story tonight. It's late."
"But..."
"Riley -- not tonight." Riley rolled her eyes and headed up the stairs. Elizabeth waited until she was out of ear shot. She folded her arms and looked at her husband.
"Do you want to tell me what's going on?"
"It's nothing to be worried about." He tried to be reassuring, but his voice was not reassuring. He was worried. It was clear. Elizabeth had been married long enough to see through him.
"There are two FBI agents in my home after 9 PM on a weekday and apparently one of them is moving in, so please, tell me what I don't have to worry about."
"Lizzie, why don't you sit down and..."
She started yelling, and put her hand up. "I don't want to sit down, Scott. I want to know what's going."
He took a deep breath. "Robert Sharpe came by the house today."
She pauses for a moment, pondering what to say, clearly looking upset. "Did he hurt Riley? Did he..."
"He gave Chloe this." He reached for an envelope that John was holding and handed it to her. She looked at the contents for a second. Tears started to well in her eyes.
"Scott... Scott... These are pictures of Riley and I... everywhere. School, activities, playing outside our house, going to the grocery store... just..."
"I don't think he would hurt you."
Elizabeth is beside herself. "How can you say that? If you really believed that, John and this stranger wouldn't be here!" The tears started to roll down her cheeks.
"I promise you, everything is going to be okay." She was clearly upset. Scott stepped towards her and she pushed him away, hard. He took a step back and looked at her.
"You promised me. Ten years ago when Robert stood here and... you promised me that you would not let him threaten our family."
"Lizzie..."
"No! No! Scott! She's a child... I'm... no!"
John, stood, trying to bring some semblance of order to the situation. His voice was calm as he walked closer to her, but stood back a bit. "Lizzie, I know this is scary. I know that. But I don't believe that Robert would hurt the girls, or you -- but let's play it safe, okay? Matt is going to stay here for a few days, just until we wrap this up. We are so close, and I think Robert knows that. He's grasping at anything he can."
Elizabeth wiped the tears from her eyes. She stared at John "Can you tell me in 10 years of chasing this man, in the almost 20 years that Scott and I have known him -- when has ever shown restraint?"
"Lizzie, I promise you -- we will handle this. It's going to be okay."
"One week, Scott. One week to put an end to this, or I'm taking Riley to my sister's in California."
* * * * *
Ben shook his head. "He never told me. I mean I knew Robert had made threats but..."
Matt nodded. "Yeah so... I... I stayed with them. I went everywhere with your sister. And when we took care of Robert, your dad sent me home." Ben stares at his partner. "And three days later, Gavin killed your parents."
"It's not your fault man."
"Yeah, I know." He shakes off the memory. "Look, I guess after spending the week with your family -- your sister, she... didn't know what to do. I was probably the only name she could remember at the time. So she called me from your dad's phone." Ben swallows. "So I was the first one there, I was the one who called 911... and John... and waited with her."
"I didn't know that. I remember you were sitting with her when I got there, but I didn't realize you were the first one there."
"Do you remember, she had this cut on her cheek, right under her eye? She had tried to run, and had fallen and cut herself, just below her eye." Ben nods, remembering exactly what he is talking about. "But... what I can't get out of my head was that just under that, there was this streak of blood, like war paint across her cheek. And it was there, because after he had killed your parents, and she was crying, he wiped the tears out of her eyes."
Ben stares back at him, pained, unable to say anything. "Look, I know she isn't my sister, but you're my partner, your dad was my mentor, and... for all the shit that Robert and Chase and Gavin have done -- that, the fact that he could do that to her... I just want to protect from that. What kind of monster, looks at a grieving child, and so kindly touches her, as if anything he had done was kind, and then fucking ten years later, rapes her?"
Ben can't think about it. He pushes the thought out of his head. "She loves you, you know? When she was younger, and we had moved to DC, she used to ask me if you could come down to DC and be my partner."
