Now, he knew. He knew a Damien. It couldn’t be possible, of course, that this was the same man she was speaking of. The world didn’t rotate that way, didn’t connect like that, did it?
“Not now, Bryson,” Camden warned him. “Let’s continue, Misty. Tell me what happened next.”
Misty spoke for a while longer, telling about her time with Jesse. Her eyes filled with tears a few times, but she kept her emotions in check and spoke almost like a robot.
“…and then I couldn’t take anymore. I went to the police and filed a report after he punched me so hard that one side of my face swelled. It nearly left me blind in one eye. I tried to leave him,” she choked out.
“Did the police help you?” Camden asked.
Misty laughed, a chilling sound that dropped the temperature in the room by at least several degrees. “Jesse found me at the hospital. He took me away from there, his eyes colder than I’d ever seen before. No one tried to stop him. He told me he was going to show me exactly what happened to women who betrayed him.” Her voice was frightened, as if she were reliving that horrific moment in her life.
“He handcuffed me and forced me into the back of his car, then drove home to the apartment and marched me up the stairs. My head still hurt from the last beating he’d given me. People watched him take me in. No one said a word to stop him. I was so frightened, I didn’t even try to resist — I knew it would only make it worse. As soon as we were inside the apartment, he forced me to my knees, my hands still handcuffed behind my back. I had to perform…I…he…thrust himself into my mouth, pushing so hard I threw up a little, and somehow my lip was cut and throbbing. I begged him to stop when I could speak… I couldn’t even breathe… But he just laughed. I could see how much he was enjoying it. When I thought it was all over, he pulled me to my feet and took me to the bedroom… He undid the cuffs long enough to remove my clothes, then he cuffed me to the bed. The torment lasted for two days. He took turns raping and beating me.” Misty’s voice came out in a monotone as she forced herself to withdraw, to think of that time as a movie, not her own life. If she pretended she was speaking of some other person, maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much.
“This needs to stop,” Bryson demanded, his eyes glittering with rage.
“I know it’s difficult, Bryson, but if you can’t handle it, you have to leave the room. We need to do this.” Camden shot Bryson a dark look.
Bryson looked as if he was going to come out of his chair and throttle his friend. The two had a stare-down and Bryson wasn’t backing off.
“I’m fine, Bryson. I promise,” Misty said. The last thing she wanted was to see a fistfight start.
He didn’t look pleased, but he sat still, arms crossed, as he waited for her to continue.
“I didn’t really know how much time had passed. I went in and out of consciousness. It wasn’t till it was over that I realized it had been two days. He never let me up from the bed. I was lying in my own…urine…”
The shame was there for them to see, making it even harder for Bryson to listen to her talk of such humiliation. He wanted to kill Jesse with his bare hands for doing this to her.
“He broke three ribs, fractured my jaw, and I had an infection in my wrists. When I did finally get to the hospital, I lied, said I was kidnapped, but got away. He told me that if I gave any other story, the next time I wouldn’t be alive to tell another soul.”
“Were you in fear for your life?” Camden asked.
“Definitely. He told me of his last girlfriend. He told me she would never be found. He said there were several ‘bitches’ who would never be found, because they’d been stupid enough to betray him. He said the only reason I was still alive was because he hadn’t finished with me yet.” A shudder passed through her. “He won’t rest until I’m dead,” she added, the words sounding so strange coming from her flat, almost expressionless voice.
“He won’t ever get the chance,” Bryson vowed.
She looked over at him again, seeing his bunched muscles, the harsh expression on his face, the quiet fury, and she was grateful. It was somehow calming for her, as if he were taking the emotions from her onto himself. It gave her the energy to go on, to keep telling her story.
“When I healed, I began planning my escape. I knew I had to sneak out; I knew I had to disappear. No one would help me. So I saved as much money as I could. It wasn’t easy since he took all my paychecks and monitored everything I did. It took a long time, about nine months of waitressing, saving part of my tips, not all, or he would have known, but eventually I had enough and I bought a cheap car. I was ready to go, just a couple of days from escaping. That’s when everything went horribly wrong. That’s when I accidentally found a bunch of large bags of coc**ne. He was furious with me. I don’t know how I managed to get away, but I did. I escaped and was in hiding until Bryson found me.”
Camden asked more questions, and she answered each and every one, and then it was over. Misty was done — emotionally and physically drained. She didn’t know how she would manage to get up in front of a jury and say all of this again. It was one thing to speak in front of four people, but an entire courtroom? What if the cross-examination made her look like she was the bad person? She had stayed with the man, after all. Wouldn’t they spin that into her being a willing participant in his depraved games?
“We’re all finished, Misty. You’ve done very well.” Camden moved his chair to sit in front of her while the court recorder packed up. “I know this wasn’t easy, and I appreciate your strength in giving your testimony, but we can breathe a little easier now and try to put it all out of our minds. Easier said than done, I know, but how about we go get something to eat, maybe a stiff drink, and try to relax? You don’t have to think about it anymore for now.”
“I’m not hungry,” she said, the thought of food making her stomach want to heave.
“You will be after about three or four straight shots,” he told her with a smile.
“Would you like to come, Charlotte?” he asked, turning to the other woman, who they all seemed to have forgotten was even in the room.
“No. I appreciate your testimony, Ms. Elton. It will be valuable to the case. I’ll contact Camden if I have follow-up questions,” she said, and then was the first one out the door.
“She’s scary. I’m glad you’re the attorney helping me,” Misty said as she looked at the open door.
“Ah, she’s a sweetheart, but this case has everyone acting unusual. There’s just too much that can go wrong,” Camden said. “Now, let your attorney buy you a meal.”
“I guess…”
“Good. Let’s get out of this room,” Bryson said. He almost shoved Camden aside, then leaned down and pulled Misty gently from her chair. “You are braver than I could have ever imagined. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”
It didn’t take much for Misty to fall against his chest and accept the comfort he was offering.
“I was a fool, but I didn’t know how to get away,” she said, ashamed of herself for once again leaning on a man — even if this man seemed to be one of the good guys. She’d made that mistake before, but maybe, just maybe…
“Look, you were a victim and Jesse abused his power as a cop, abused it, and you, horrifically,” Bryson countered.
“I just want to forget about it,” she said.
“Then let’s go.”
Bryson wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her outside, with Camden following quietly. Misty looked up to the clear night sky and let the stars calm her. She was safe now. Though she was closer to where Jesse lived than she’d been in over a year, she felt safe. He couldn’t get her.
Or at least she felt like he couldn’t. Not with Bryson there next to her.
Chapter Nine
Misty sat in the backseat of the SUV and listened to Bryson and Camden shoot the breeze as they drove from Camden’s offices to a small country bar and grill. She was glad they weren’t expecting her to talk, because she didn’t think she’d be capable of it right then.
The experience had drained her. It was so much harder than she’d imagined to lay this story out on the table again. She’d learned Jesse’s character only too well while living with him, but after talking about it, voicing what he’d done to her, how many times he’d violated her, and in how many ways, she had no idea how she’d survived as long as she had.
No matter how despicable the person, Misty never delighted in the end of anyone’s life, or even by the idea of it, but she had to admit that if Jesse were to die, she’d sleep a lot better at night. Sure, she felt guilty, but she wouldn’t take the thought back. She considered him the incarnation of evil, and, yeah, she wished him dead.
She felt raw and exposed as she huddled against the leather seat during the ride down the dark road. The two men had chosen a restaurant outside town; was it so she could have time to collect herself? She doubted it would come to them as a big surprise if she had a complete breakdown.