Deadly Embrace (5 page)

Impatiently, she helped him. The bra came off and her breasts
tumbled out, big and round, with enormous nipnjes.

Jeez! Once again, he almost came in his pants.

Somehow he managed to maintain control, and by the time the two of
them fell back on the bed, he'd decided he was going to try and savor
every moment of this fantastic new experience, make it last as long
as he could. Which, the way he was going, was not about to be too
long.

* * *

"Where you been?" Grandma Lani demanded the moment Michael walked
through the door. She was always questioning him, criticizing his
friends, and trying to find out what he was up to. She drove him
nuts.

"What?" he mumbled, hardly in the mood for conversation. He had
one goal, and that was to make it to the safety of his room, where he
could relive the whole incredible experience with Polly, and maybe
jerk off, because he was already horny again.

"I
said
, where you been, young man?" Lani repeated, folding
her arms across her chest.

He wondered if she suspected he'd just gotten laid. Grandma Lani
was very intuitive.

Vinny, glued to the TV, watching
The Andy Griffith Show
,
didn't bother looking up.

"I was, uh ... out with some pals," Michael said.

"Those boys you hang around with are nothing but trouble," Lani
complained. "You should spend more time at home with us."

Sure
, he thought.
That'd be a laugh a minute
.

"Anyway," she continued. "Some girl dropped by with cookies for
you. Seemed sweet enough."

"Who was she?"

"I think her name was Tina."

"Oh, yeah," he said, suddenly remembering that he'd promised to
call her and hadn't. She'd probably come snooping around to see what
he was up to. Girls were like that, always wanting to know
everything. "She ask where I was?"

"She did," Lani said. "Only,
I
couldn't tell her, could I?
'Cause
you
don't tell
me
anything, do you?"

"I was with the guys," he said, repeating himself. "Y'know, Max
an' Charlie."

"Those two louts," Lani said, her voice full of disapproval. "I
hope you weren't smoking."

"Who, me?" he said innocently.

"All boys smoke," Lani grumbled. "Don't think I don't know what
you get up to, young man. And you'd better not let me catch you.
Smokin's a filthy habit. I
hate
filthy habits."

I know that
, he thought, attempting to slide out of the
room.

"Don't you want your cookies?" she asked, coming after him.

He mumbled a quick "No."

"And you'd better not forget, you're working in the store
tomorrow."

"How many times I gotta tell you?" Vinny said, dragging his eyes
away from the TV. "Michael does
not
work at the store on
Saturdays."

"That's ridiculous!" Lani snorted. "It's just a superstition on
your part."

"No, it's
not
," he said, turning to his son. "You hear me,
Michael? You will
not
work there on a Saturday. Don't listen
to her."

"God help me!" Lani sighed, throwing her hands in the air.
"Somebody save me from these two impossible men."

"It's all right, Grams," Michael said, trying to placate her.
"I'll do whatever you want."

"No, you
won't
," Vinny interrupted fiercely. "You do not go
near that place on a Saturday as a sign of respect for your dead
mother. You understand me?"

"Yes, yes," Lani said irritably. "He understands. I'll get extra
help if you force me to. Things are bad enough, but what do you care
if I have to pay for another pair of hands?"

"Do that," Vinny said, returning his attention to the TV.

Michael escaped to his bedroom and slammed the door. The room was
small, but at least it was all his. On the wall he had a large blowup
poster of Wilt Chamberlain tacked up next to a glamorous picture of
Elizabeth Taylor lounging on a leopard print couch in a sexy white
swimsuit.

Tonight he didn't need the inspiration of Elizabeth.

Tonight he would sleep like the man he now was.

The day she got her period, Dani knew she had to escape from the
god-awful place she called home. At thirteen she was still a child,
although physically she looked like a young woman, with her
blossoming body, gossamer yellow hair, clear blue eyes, and fine
features.

"Can't wait for this one to be of an age," her daddy often said to
anyone who'd listen. "She's as ripe as a peach ready for the
pickin'."

"You'd better watch out," Emily, one of her older half sisters,
warned her. "Soon's he knows you're bleedin', he'll be at you."

"No," Dani said defiantly. "I won't let him."

"Try stoppin' him," Emily said. "He'll force you, exactly the same
as he did me."

Little did Emily know that Dashell had already molested Dani. When
she was younger he'd sometimes take her into his bedroom, lock the
door, and make her touch him. "When you're a big girl we'll do a lot
more than this," he'd promised with an evil chuckle.

"You mean y—you've slept with him?" Dani stammered, keeping
her secret to herself.

"Wasn't
my
choice," Emily said, turning up her nose at the
memory. "He's a pig."

"That's horrible! Disgusting!" Dani said, shuddering.

"It'll be your turn next," Emily warned.

Emily was short, with light brown frizzy hair, a compact body, and
big breasts. She was seventeen and quite smart. Dani worshiped her
and followed her around whenever she could.

Although over seventy, Dashell took advantage of all the female
members of his family. Since Lucy's unfortunate death (they'd buried
her in the back garden and told Dani when she was old enough that
Olive was her mother), he'd taken on two more wives. One was an
ex-prostitute, the other a teenage runaway. Between them they'd given
him five more children.

Dashell ruled his large household like the pasha he imagined
himself to be. All seven of the older girls had to sleep with him
whenever he summoned them, and so did his four wives. Recently two of
his daughters had become pregnant by him. He called it "the grand
circle of life."

Dani dreaded the day when he would come after her. Emily was
right, she knew it would be soon.

"If you don't want him on top of you, you'd better run," Emily
said. "God! I wish I had."

"Run where?" she asked.

"Anywhere—'s long as it's away from here."

"Will you come with me?"

"I might," Emily answered mysteriously. "The thing is, if we get
caught he'll beat the bejesus out of us. That man is full of
vengeance, and he don't care what he does."

Emily knew things the others didn't because she'd palled up with
Sam Froog, a cocky young man with bright red hair who occasionally
worked part time at the ranch and had eyes for Emily; she liked him
too. He smuggled her books and magazines, and from them she learned
plenty about the outside world, information she sometimes shared with
Dani.

Sam rode in on his motorcycle for a few days every month. He'd sat
next to Dashell at the roulette table in Vegas, and the old man had
offered him good money to come out to the ranch and help out. Mostly
he took care of the horses, cleaning their stalls, grooming them, and
stocking up on feed.

"Your old man's a perv," he told Emily one day when they were
getting more than friendly in the back of the barn.

"What's
that
mean?" she asked, picking straw out of her
hair.

"He's screwin' all these women. Whadda
you
think that makes
him?"

"A pig!" Emily said.

"A perv," Sam said. And then they began necking again. Soon Sam
began telling her all kinds of stories about Las Vegas and life
outside the ranch. Emily couldn't believe how exciting it all
sounded.

"Y' know, there
is
a better way of living out there," she
confided to Dani, passing on her knowledge. "I've been thinking that
maybe we
should
go find it. We've got nothing to lose."

"Yes," Dani said, nodding fervently. "I want to get away from here
more than anything!"

So they made their plans, eliciting the help of Sam, who was sure
he could squeeze them both on the back of his motorcycle as long as
they were really serious about splitting.

"If I help you, I can't ever come back here," he said. "That old
geezer pays me plenty, so I'll be losin' out."

"Think of it this way," Emily said persuasively. "You'll be
rescuing
Dani
and
me. That makes you a real hero."

"It does?" Sam said, liking the hero idea.

"Oh, yes," Emily said encouragingly, giving him a quick peck on
the cheek.

"It's not like he knows where I live or anything," Sam mused. "He
only comes t' town every coupla months—so he'll never track us.
We'll see
him
before he sees
us
."

"Then you'll take us?" Emily asked.

"Why not?" Sam said, imagining himself as a kind of superman
figure. "I'll help you."

"We'll pay you back," Emily promised.

"You bet you will!" he joked.

Two days later they took off in the middle of the night while
everyone was sleeping. Sam wheeled his motorcycle a good distance
from the property before he dared start it.

"Don't worry about waking him," Emily said, climbing on the back
and helping Dani aboard. "He sleeps like the dead; snores so loud he
wouldn't hear a bear fart if it was standing next to him."

"I know, but the old guy's some kinda wacko," Sam said,
experiencing second thoughts. "We don't want him catching us."

"He won't," Emily assured him.

"I could give him up to the cops, you know," Sam said. "Havin' all
those wives—it's gotta be against the law."

"Really?" Dani said, thinking how satisfying it would be to see
Dashell led off in handcuffs.

"Oh yeah," Sam said confidently. "An' how about none of you goin'
to school?
That's
not legal, for sure."

"
I
taught Dani to read and write," Emily said proudly. "She
learned good."

Dani's heart was fluttering at the thought of this new adventure.
All she'd ever known was the ranch, and Olive forcing her to work.
Every day she'd had to feed the animals, clean the house, do the
cooking, washing, sewing, and scrubbing. Her workload was
endless.

She clung on to Emily, her arms around her sister's waist, hoping
and praying that they'd make a clean getaway and Dashell wouldn't
come after them.

As they neared the bright lights of Vegas she went into shock.
"It's . . . it's like a fairyland," she gasped, darting her head this
way and that.

"Just you wait," Sam said, chuckling. "You got the good stuff to
come."

"I do?"

"Bet on it."

And sure enough, the moment they hit the Strip she could barely
speak. "Oh my Lord!" she exclaimed. "Look at all these people."

After driving up and down a couple of times, they stopped at a
coffee shop, where Sam bought them all hamburgers, milk shakes, and
big slices of apple pie.

"What'm I gonna do with you two now I got you here?" he said,
realizing that he might have made a rash move.

"You can let us sleep on your floor for a couple of days," Emily
suggested. "I promise we'll stay out of your way."

"It's not like I got a palace or anything," Sam explained. "It's
only one bedroom, so that means we'll all havta sleep in
together."

Emily giggled and gave him a knowing look. "Sounds like fun to
me."

"Yeah, but not with your sister watching."

"Dani won't watch," Emily promised. "She'll curl up in a corner
and go to sleep."

"Honestly," Dani agreed, wolfing down her pie. "I'll make sure I
don't bother you."

"Tomorrow we'll both go out and find jobs, then we'll look for
somewhere to live," Emily said. "You won't be sorry you brought us
here."

"You can't get a job unless you got a Social Security card," Sam
pointed out.

"What's that?" Dani asked.

"Somethin' you gotta have."

"How do we get one?" Emily wanted to know.

"Well." Sam hesitated for a moment. "I know a man who knows
someone who might be able to fix it. Don't suppose you got birth
certificates?"

"No," Emily said. "We're lucky to have clothes."

Ten days later Sam came up with two fake Social Security
cards.

"You're the best!" Emily squealed, kissing him soundly on the
lips.

"Thanks," he said, looking embarrassed. "Now you
really
owe
me."

"I don't mind that," Emily said with a half smile.

"You're so nice," Dani added shyly. "God will reward you for being
so nice."

"Don't go spouting all that God crap," Emily said crossly, glaring
at her younger sister. "We're not at the ranch now, so drop it."

"Sorry," Dani muttered.

"That's how he kept us in line," Emily continued. "Threatening us,
telling us that everything was God's will. It's
not
God's will
that he was poking us."

"That's incest, y'know," Sam said knowledgeably.

"What does 'incest' mean?" Dani asked.

"Go to the library and find out," Sam said.

"What's a library?"

"Oh my!" Emily exclaimed, exasperated. "I thought I taught you
stuff like that."

"Not well enough," Sam said, chuckling.

Armed with her forged Social Security card, Dani passed as
seventeen and got a job working as a maid at one of the big hotels.
Emily scored a job as a waitress at the same hotel. With their
combined wages they were able to move out of Sam's room and rent a
tiny apartment, although Emily spent most of her spare time over at
Sam's.

When Dani wasn't working she visited the public library, soaking
up information. Being ignorant was not a good thing. She was thirsty
for knowledge and determined to get it.