Read Online Behind the Facade by Rebecca Heap, Victoria - Free Book Online Page A

glinted between the trees, pale and bright but offering little
warmth.
      Kate had nothing on her feet and so her progress was slow. She
walked awkwardly but bit down on the automatic urge to voice a complaint, not
wanting to antagonise him. Sean pulled at the handcuff, glancing at her in
irritation. Noticing her feet were bare without warning he lifted her into his
arms. He tried not to notice how satisfying it felt to have her up next to him
again.
      Kate hated being so close to this monster but he gripped her so
firmly she could do nothing to resist and she was now more afraid of him than
ever. Fear of death had been superseded by a personal fear, much greater in
magnitude. She thought she understood now why he’d taken her: he wanted to rape
her. It was nothing more complicated, nor more horrifying, than that.
      They arrived at the car
and Sean bundled Kate inside, quickly and expertly unfastening the cuff that
linked her to him, only to secure it to the inner door handle. Once in the
driver’s seat he didn’t start the engine but chose instead to release the
handbrake, letting the car slowly glide backwards down the driveway to ensure
their departure was as silent as possible. Once they reached the entryway he
turned to Kate and passed her the sunglasses, demanding that she put them on.
He then turned the ignition, flipped the car around and accelerated away.
      Sean turned the car in the direction of the west coast. Both of
them remained silent and lost in their own ruminations. Sean had in mind to
dump her at a service station and then get back home, before the alarm was
raised and there was any watch on the airports.
    “Stop!” This cry from Kate
surprised Sean so much he lost concentration and the car suffered a momentary
wobble to the left. He turned to Kate with considerable annoyance in his eyes
but this did nothing to deter her from acting even more surprisingly, removing
the sunglasses and tugging on his left arm, urging him again to “Please, stop!”
      At this, for sheer safety’s sake, he pulled over to the hard
shoulder at the side of the road, sharply applying the brakes. His frustration
with the whole situation re-ignited and fused with his mortification over what
had happened in the bedroom. Whilst his rage had been directed at himself for
losing his usual self-control, it now turned to direct itself at Kate. Wasn’t
she the reason everything had derailed and he’d lost his focus?
      “What do you want?!” he roared. “Why do you keep being so fuckin ’ difficult?”
      She now shrank from the fury she saw in his face but found
enough courage to speak again. “Please,” she implored, “please, just listen.”
      He glowered at her. The explicit entreaty he saw in her eyes
gave him pause but he just assumed she was going to beg for his mercy. “Do you
know how easy this could have been if you’d just gone along quietly? I am not
going to kill you or rape you, if that’s what you’re thinkin !”
    She
interrupted his diatribe with, “We need to go back! Now! Please!”
    “What?”
he exclaimed, completely taken aback. “What the hell do you mean? Back to Angela’s?”
      She nodded. “Please, please! I’m begging you.” She sobbed and
lowered her head, overcome by emotion.
      Sean stared at her, utterly thrown by this request. He leaned
forward and shook her. “Explain to me. Why? Why do you want to go back there?”
      She raised her head then and he could see that tears were
flowing down her face and she was shaking with distress. This alarmed him. He
let go of her and gave her time to compose herself.
      She finally looked up, tears still looming in her eyes, and said
softly “I don’t expect you to understand. I’ve lost something…..something
incredibly dear to me. A locket. It belonged to my
mother.” She choked back more sobs on this last word. “The mother I barely
remember.” She put a hand to her throat, “It’s gone. It must have come