Page 89 of Mountain Freedom
“I don’t owe you anything.” My voice trembled.
“Allison, your father owed me a great deal of money. An astonishing amount, actually.” Dr. Johnson actually chuckled. “He was as bad at poker as he was at everything else in life. It was quite easy to force him into debts he could never pay.”
“That has nothing to do with me.”
“Oh, but it does,” he said. “Because originally, I agreed to let your mother pay off those debts. It was an arrangement I was very pleased with, actually. She was a very beautiful woman, and the arrangement was quite pleasing. Until she got pregnant and lost the baby, then refused to continue on.”
I flashed back to her miscarriage, the one where she hadn’t gotten out of bed for three days—the shame on her face, Fiona’s sadness. How after that, she’d stopped getting dressed up and working nights like she had before.
My heart sank, because I knew it was true.
“Again,” I said, my voice shaking. “That has nothing to do with me. I was not my father’s property, this is not even legal, and I owe you nothing.”
“Did you forget how I got you this job? Or your residency? You do owe me.” He shook his head in disappointment. “Oh, Allison. Your family wouldn’t even have made it if not for me. Who do you think made sure your mother had money for groceries every week? Or that the light bill got paid when your father pissed away everything on gin?”
I couldn’t speak.
“After your mother refused to keep up her end of the bargain, your father and I spoke. I offered to let you fulfill it instead. Notuntil you were eighteen, of course,” he said, holding his hands up in defense. “Though I admit, I did wonder—even imagine—what it would be like to be with someone so…innocent.” His eyes flickered with desire before he frowned again. “I think that’s why I got so angry Saturday. I always imagined you’d stay innocent for me. I can’t help but feel disappointed that you didn’t.”
My stomach shuddered as my body went cold.
“You should have always been mine,” he continued, his voice hardening. “It was all arranged. Then, when your mother found out, she did the unthinkable. She disappeared with you.”
There are monsters in Rosemary Mountain.Mama’s words came back to me, and suddenly it all made sense. Why she had left, why she had been devastated by my taking this job, and why she wanted me back in Memphis—away from Dr. Johnson.
“I don’t know what you thought you’d accomplish by telling me any of this,” I said, fighting to keep my voice steady. “I have no intention of becoming your mistress in order to pay off my father’s old debts.”
“You don’t understand. Debt or no debt, you’re mine, Allison,” he said softly. “You always have been. And one way or another, I intend on having you.”
He pulled out a syringe and moved toward me.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Jackson
I clenchedmy fist and counted to ten inside my head. All I wanted was to wipe the smirk off the man sitting across from me. I’d brought him in after I’d found his ten-year-old son hiding out in the woods, covered in cuts and bruises.
The kid wasn’t talking. The dad’s story was that the kid had run away earlier that morning because he was mad about being grounded for bad grades. The bruises and cuts must have happened while he was attempting to create a shelter in the woods.
Which, admittedly, was plausible based on what I’d seen.
But right now, all I could see was this guy’s smirk. His arrogance. His complete lack of concern for his son.
In other words, all I could see was Russell.
I reached ten and took a deep breath. “Let’s go over it one more time,” I said before my phone vibrated. “Just a minute,” I said, grateful for an excuse to step out and gather myself. “Hello?” I answered, as I closed the door of the room behind me.
“Detective Ford?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s Beverly.” Her voice was hesitant. “I feel stupid calling you about this, but…”
“What’s going on?” I asked as I started moving toward the door. Somehow I knew, even before she said it—Allison was in trouble.
“Dr. Bell has a meeting tonight with Dr. Johnson.”
“Right, I know,” I said. “She texted me about it a few minutes ago.”
