Page 39 of Break Away
“Nope.”
Expression thoughtful, Levi leaned back inhis seat, gaze steady on hers. “The only way this will work is ifyou tell me everything, even if it makes you uncomfortable.”
She closed her eyes for a brief moment. TrustLevi to pick up on that split second of hesitation. “It’s notrelevant.”
“At this point, everything is relevant.”
Counseling had helped her deal with her past,but that didn’t mean she wanted to unlock those memories whereshe’d stashed them away.
“Would you prefer someone else asking thequestions? I could get Monica if you want a woman.”
She shook her head. “You’re the only personI’ll talk to.”
“You can trust me, but you can also trustanyone in this department.”
“Cops always say you can trust them. Butthat’s not always true.”
He tapped the iPad screen. “I stopped therecording. Let’s get this out there. I’m not only a cop, Zoey.We’re friends, and I’ll be honest, I’d like to be more thanfriends. Either way, I’ll do everything I can to protect you.”
His admission gave her a jolt and had warmthstealing up her cheeks. “Um, okay.”
“You want to tell me what you’re holdingback?”
She chewed her lip, then took a steadyingbreath. “I don’t want this part recorded.”
He nodded, then pushed back from the table.“I’ll be right back.”
He left the room, returning a moment laterwith two chilled water bottles, and set one on the table in frontof her.
“Thanks.” She twisted the lid off and took asip, glad for the brief reprieve before carefully screwing the lidback on. Levi sat back down across the table from her. “I’ll tellyou, and I figure once I do, you’ll want to investigate.” Sheshrugged. “I guess I’ll have to live with that.”
“Tell me, then we’ll decide.”
She took another steadying breath and began,choosing her words carefully. “Remember when I told you that I leftthe Loss halfway through my senior year?” He nodded, and she wenton. “There was more to it than Mom getting a job in Fresno.”
Zoey hated feeling vulnerable, and that’s howtalking about this made her feel. She forced herself to press on.“Mom’s boyfriend had been living with us for several months. Hisname was Paul. At first he seemed cool. He’d take us out for pizza,or we’d go out on the lake in his boat. He taught Charlie how tofish. He knew computers, and he and Charlie would build themtogether. I think Mom liked that Charlie had a male role model whoseemed to really care about him.” She sipped from the bottle againand let the cool water ease the tightness in her throat beforecontinuing.
“Paul mostly ignored me, which was fine. Iguess I’d never really warmed up to him, and I’d caught himwatching me a couple of times in a way that made me uneasy. Anyway,we were alone one night. It was before Christmas break. I wasbaking cookies for a class party and he’d been sitting at thedining table doing something on his computer, which was unusualbecause he didn’t normally sit there. Most of the time he closedhimself in the bedroom he shared with my mom and sat on the bedwith his laptop.”
Zoey realized she’d been peeling the label ofthe water bottle as she’d been talking. She pushed the bottle awayand glanced across the table to find Levi’s gaze steady on her,compassion evident, as if he guessed what was coming.
“We were each doing our thing, then it waslike he’d come to a decision. He shut the lid on the laptop, got upfrom the table, and said he wanted a blowjob.”
The tightening of his jaw belied theimpassive expression on Levi’s face.
“I remember I’d just taken a tray of cookiesout of the oven. I stood there like an idiot, staring at him. Thetray was starting to burn my hands through the oven mitts, but Icouldn’t seem to move.” She reached for the water bottle and drankbefore carefully screwing the lid on once again. “He walked intothe kitchen and told me to put the tray down and get on myknees.”
“Christ. What did you do?”
“I hurled the tray at him and bolted for theback door. He caught me by the hair. He went nuts. He was screamingthat I’d pay for what I’d done. He hadn’t been expecting it and thetray hit him in the face. It must’ve burned. He had chocolate chipcookies stuck all over him. To this day, the smell of bakingchocolate chip cookies makes me sick to my stomach. I can’t eatthem.”
“I can imagine.” Levi leaned forward,forearms resting on the table. “I was drinking a Coke in the denwhen Mom came in to tell me Dad had died. I haven’t had a Cokesince.” He waited, and she thought his personal comment was his wayof giving her a little break. “What happened then?”
“Paul hauled me back into the kitchen by myhair. The knife block was there on the counter where it always was.I didn’t think about it. I reached out and grabbed a knife andstabbed him in the hand. He screamed and let go. That’s when Momand Charlie walked in the house.”
She squeezed her eyes shut at the memory.Another deep breath and she opened them again. “He tried to spinit, say that I’d gone crazy and attacked him. I’m standing therewith a knife in my hand, and there’s blood and chocolate chipcookies all over the floor. I must have nicked a small artery whenI sliced him across his knuckles because there were even spots ofblood on the ceiling. He kept yelling at me, told my mom that I’dsnapped and went at him with a knife.”
Her heart beat faster in her chest, anddespite the air conditioning, sweat rolled down her neck. Evenafter all these years, talking about it made her sick to herstomach.
