Page 33 of High Country Escape
He stood and she rose also. “I need to get a few things,” she said.
“I’ll go with you,” Shane said. “Don’t touch anything you don’t have to. And let me know if anything else is out of place.”
She had to force herself to walk upstairs to her bedroom, taking comfort from the fact that the deputy was right behind her. She avoided looking at the doll as she collected clothes and toiletries. Downstairs, she added her laptop and files she needed for work. Shane helped her carry everything to her car.
Dalton joined them. “I called Mom and she’s thrilled to take you in. She’s getting the guest room ready for you.”
“What did you tell her?” Roxanne asked.
“I told her someone had broken into your house and you weren’t comfortable staying out here by yourself until the sheriff’s department figured out who was responsible.”
He had told the truth, without the horrible backstory. “Thanks,” she said.
Dalton led the way back to town, Roxanne behind him and the sheriff’s department SUV trailing. The Ameses came out to meet them when they pulled into the driveway. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Diane said, and pulled Roxanne into a hug. Roxanne froze, but as Diane’s warmth seeped into her, she relaxed a little and patted the older woman’s back. “Thank you,” she said. “It was a shock, but I’m okay.”
“What an awful thing to come home to.” Diane stepped back. “When Dalton told me, I could hardly believe it. And I’m so glad you’re not going to be out there by yourself while the sheriff looks for whoever did this. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you like.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I really appreciate it.”
“Come on inside and I’ll show you to your room.”
She picked up her computer bag and Dalton followed with her suitcase. The Ameses led the way to a bedroom at the top of the stairs. Diane pointed out the bathroom across the hall. Bedroom and bathroom were done in shades of blue and yellow, with a pile of pillows atop a patchwork coverlet and a student desk under the window. “It’s not fancy, but we hope you’ll be comfortable.”
“It’s lovely.” Roxanne swallowed past a sudden lump in her throat. “Thank you.”
Mrs. Ames touched her shoulder. “If you need anything at all, you let us know,” she said.
She and her husband left. Dalton set the suitcase on the desk. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Better,” she said. She looked around the room, at the plain homeyness of it. She had moved around a lot in her life—first in a series of shelters and foster homes, then to various dorms, apartments and rental houses. In each one she had tried to make a home. This simple room felt more welcoming than many of those places had. “I’m still afraid, but it feels safer here.”
He moved closer, but didn’t touch her. “I bet you’re exhausted,” he said. “Try to get some rest and I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Thanks. For everything.” She hesitated, then leaned in and kissed his cheek. He patted her shoulder, then left. She heard him say something to his parents, but couldn’t make out what. Then a door opened and shut and she heard the Jeep start in the driveway.
She sat on the edge of the bed. Sleep felt a long way off. She didn’t want to lie down and dream the old, bad dreams. She thought she had put those nightmares behind her. Leave it to Ledger to bring them all back.
Chapter Nine
“Your doll is so pretty.” Alice reached out a hand to stroke one blond braid of the two-foot-tall doll Billy had presented to Roxanne that morning. Roxanne couldn’t bear to look at the garish toy. Alice looked more like a doll to her, with shiny black hair and gold-flecked brown eyes set in a perfect, heart-shaped face. Alice stuck out her lower lip. “Billy never gave me a doll.”
“You can have her,” Roxanne said. “I don’t want her.”
“That’s not very nice,” Alice said. She slid onto the twin bed beside Roxanne. The two girls shared a bedroom in the nondescript house on a quiet suburban street. It looked like a lot of other bedrooms Roxanne had been in, with two twin beds covered in matching floral coverlets, a fluffy pink rug between the beds. Except the windows of this room were boarded up, and the door had double locks on the outside. The door was locked now, Billy gone who knew where. Roxanne sometimes wished he would never come back, except that would probably mean she and Alice would starve, locked in here.
Roxanne merely scowled at Alice. When she had first arrived here, she had thought of Alice as her friend. Alice comforted her when she cried and told her everything would be all right. She had shared food with Roxanne and encouraged her to cooperate with Billy, to keep him from getting angry.
But early on, Roxanne had realized she and Alice didn’t see their situation at all the same way. From the first hour in this awful house, Roxanne had been looking for a way to escape, whereas Alice reacted with horror at the very thought. “We can’tleave Billy!” she protested the first time Roxanne whispered to her about trying to escape.
And then Alice began to tattle to Billy whenever Roxanne did anything “wrong.” She caught Roxanne tugging at the edge of the boards over their bedroom windows and immediately reported to Billy. Billy had responded by locking Roxanne in a closet. She didn’t know how long she was in there, cowering in the dark before Billy let her out. The punishment hadn’t taught her to stop trying to escape, but it had reinforced the idea of keeping any attempts to herself.
Alice was staring at the doll again. “We could undo her braids and comb out her hair,” she said. Alice liked to comb hair. She often insisted on brushing Roxanne’s hair, running the brush through it until Roxanne’s head ached.
“You can comb her hair if you like,” Roxanne said.
Alice looked at her a long moment. It was so hard for Roxanne to figure out what was going on behind those placid amber eyes of hers. Then Alice slid off the bed and fetched the hairbrush. She picked up the doll and carried it to her bed and began undoing the elastic bands at the end of each braid.
Roxanne lay down and faced the wall. She imagined busting a hole through the drywall and running away. Would she find someone to help her, or would they send her back to Billy?