The Firefighter's Girl (7 page)

“Where is the bathroom?” she asked.

“This way,” the officer said.

Sawyer watched her go. This was how it had been back when his aunt had passed away. When Sawyer took charge, Rebecca slipped into a role different from that the world saw. She wanted this, even if she didn’t know it herself. She needed this. She would thrive within the boundaries he set for her.

“Where are her things?” Sawyer asked the officer when the woman returned.

“This way, Chief Hayes.”

He followed her out into the office. There, she unlocked a cabinet and took the small package that held Rebecca’s things. He opened it, recognizing the scent of smoke from the fire, realizing she would only have the things she had on that night as all else had burned to ashes. He pulled out the nightie she had been wearing. It was torn and he imagined she wouldn’t want to keep it. Her watch and a broken chain along with the ring that used to belong to his aunt were the other things inside. He picked up the ring. It was a thin band of gold. He turned it over to read the inscription:
June 3, 1982
. It had been Amelia’s wedding band. He hadn’t noticed it on Rebecca’s finger before and imagined she had worn it around the now broken chain under her clothes.

“Where should I put this?” Rebecca asked from behind him.

He turned to her and looked her over. She had on a simple grey sweat suit, ill-fitting at that. She had lost weight since that last time he had seen her, but that wasn’t surprising.

“I’ll take that,” the officer said.

She handed the jumpsuit over to the woman and turned to Sawyer.

“We’ll get you some clothes,” he said, taking a step toward her.

“Ok. Thanks.”

“You’re free to go,” the officer said. “All the paperwork is in order here.”

“Thank you,” Sawyer said to her. He picked up the bag and shoved the nightie inside it. “Here,” he said to Rebecca, holding out her watch, the broken chain, and the ring. She looked at it and just glanced up at him before reaching out a finger to touch the golden band. She took her watch and slipped it onto her wrist, then took the chain and the ring and looked up at him.

He nodded.

“It’s too big,” she said, closing her palm over it. “I had it on that chain.”

He didn’t say anything more about it.

“Let’s go home.”

* * *

With a hand at her back, Sawyer led her out to his waiting truck. He opened her door first and she climbed inside. When he settled into the driver’s side and started the engine, she turned to him.

“We have a meeting with John Williamson, the attorney, first thing tomorrow morning,” he said.

“Thank you, Sawyer,” she said. “Thank you so much. I’ll pay you back for everything,” she said, just imagining how expensive this was.

“I’m not worried about the money, Rebecca,” he said.

She nodded and kept her gaze out the window. There was so much to say. She just glanced at him, his face in profile illuminated only in the passing streetlamps.

“I had broken up with him, you know,” she said. “The day of the fire.”

Sawyer glanced at her, but his expression said as much as she said next.

“I guess I was a little late though.”

“Did you have any idea about the meth lab?” he asked.

She shook her head, looking down at her lap and wiping her tears. “No. It’s my fault, in a way at least. The fire I mean.”

“No. It’s not your fault.”

“If I had said something earlier when I suspected the drug dealing. I just… I didn’t know it had gone so far.”

“The only people responsible for any of this are Jeff, Andy, and Shannon.”

She watched as he turned off the main road and drove up toward the foothills. She thought again of how much this must be costing and hoped he wasn’t delving into his savings. “Sawyer, you should know that I was informed by mail that I am suspended from my job without pay. I have almost no savings. Jeff…” He had used up a lot of it, but she stopped short, knowing it would only anger Sawyer. How had she let this go so far?

He drove up an unpaved road to the house at the end of the street and parked on the driveway. Once he shut off the engine, he turned to her. “Rebecca, I told you I’m not worried about the money. Top priority right now is clearing your name. That’s going to take all our energy. Let’s go inside. It’s been a long few days.”

“Why are you helping me?” she asked.

He had opened the door, but stopped, closed it again, and turned to her. “Because I care about you. Because there was a time
we
cared about each and took care of each other.” He paused and seemed to be considering something. He looked out of the window for a moment before returning his attention to her.

“I care about you. I never stopped caring about you. And I’ll be real honest and tell you that when I saw you that first day at therapy, I had already decided I was going to have you back. That I wasn’t going to lose you again. I only wish I’d acted sooner to get you away from Jeff, but my own insecurity at how to handle you held me back. I can tell you one thing though, I won’t be making that mistake again.”

She opened her mouth, but he held up a hand.

“I want to repeat what I said to you earlier tonight. I’m responsible for you up until the trial and when you walk into my house tonight, you will be living by my rules. You’ll do as I say when I say it or you’ll deal with the consequences. Those consequences entail physical discipline in the form of spankings for starters, just so there’s no question. Understand?”

She bit her lip and dropped her gaze, nodding. Her sex felt suddenly, incredibly hot.

“We’ll get your name cleared and you can have a fresh start, but I will not allow you to screw up your life any more than you already have.”

Rebecca sat staring at him, her mouth dry, but the rest of her body almost tingling. Sawyer had always been dominant, it was just his way. But their relationship was never anything other than platonic, at least neither had given in to their urges. This? This was something else entirely and it stirred inside her the sensation of sexual longing along with something else, something so much more than that base sexual reaction.

“Are you ready to go inside, Rebecca?” he asked.

He was asking so much more than that though and they both knew it. She would say yes, she knew that too, not only because of the legality of being released into his custody, but because she just would. She needed this in her life. She needed him in her life. But she also
wanted
both
this
and
him
in her life.

“Yes.”

His eyes were a steely silver now, hard and unyielding. There would be no compromise with him. And as impenetrable as his thoughts were, she felt as though he were reading hers as if a page from a book. She remained as she was, hardly able to breathe, until finally he nodded. “Let’s go.”

They walked up the stairs to the front door, Sawyer carrying the pathetic little bag that held all that remained of her belongings.

He followed her up the porch stairs and opened the front door. He switched on a light and they stepped inside. Rebecca looked around the living room. A large sectional took up the room with a coffee table set at the center on top of the lush carpet that covered the thick-planked hardwood floors. The dining room was about half the size and was set with a square table and four chairs. Two doors were closed in the hallway and stairs led to the upper level.

“Are you hungry or thirsty?” he asked, walking toward the kitchen, which was separated from the rest of the space by a bar set with three high stools.

“I’d love some water,” she said. She had eaten a few bites of the meal at the jail, but that was all she had been able to manage each of the days she’d had to spend there.

“You’ve lost some weight, Rebecca. You’ll need to start eating better tomorrow.”

She nodded and looked down at herself. “I haven’t had much of an appetite.”

“Well, it’ll be important to keep up your strength. Regular meals starting tomorrow, got it?”

“Yep, got it.”

He nodded and she walked to the sliding glass doors that led to the backyard. From there, she looked out into a heavily wooded area. “Wow, this is amazing.”

He came to stand beside her and handed her a glass of water. “And completely private. It’s a little ways from town, but worth the drive. I like being close to nature.”

“I miss that,” she said. Her apartment building had been in the center of town.

He checked his watch. “Let’s go upstairs. It’s late and I want to establish a few things tonight.”

She handed back her empty glass, her eyes wide on his, unsure if she should ask exactly what he wanted to establish. He set the glass down on the counter and gestured for her to go to the stairs.

“Your room is the second door on the right. You have ten minutes to have a shower and be waiting for me.”

“Waiting for you for what?” she asked, apprehensive.

It was as if he had anticipated her question. “You’ve managed to get yourself into a lot of trouble, Rebecca. You’ve proven yourself unreliable and unable to know what is best for you. We’re going back a few steps here and I’m deciding for you for the time being. It’s late. We’ll go over ground rules tomorrow morning. I’m going to take care of you, but you need to do as I say now.” He paused and she stared up at him. “Second door on the right.”

Ground rules?

“Up,” he said, his expression unchanging.

She thought for a moment, unsure what was going on, but when he took her shoulders and physically turned her, she went, counting the thirteen stairs to the second floor. She passed the first door and opened the second one, switching on the light. The room was of average size with two windows on two walls. A double bed was set against the wall without windows and a door led to a bathroom from there. There was a dresser and a small closet, but the room itself was sparse as far as furnishings. She went to the window and looked out, pleased to see that her view was of the backyard and the woods just beyond. She then went into the bathroom and smiled when she saw that he had laid out fresh towels for her. She turned to her reflection in the mirror, her own tired eyes meeting her.

His words came back to her.
I’m going to take care of you.
The thought of it gave her a comfort she did not know she was missing. It filled a hole almost. She had been taking care of everyone else for so long, she’d had no one to care for her for so long that she had just learned that that was the norm, that that was life. But his other words also came back to her, the ones about doing as he said or getting spanked.

She stripped off her clothes and picked up the new toothbrush on the sink, tearing off the packaging. She smeared toothpaste over it and switched on the shower, climbing into the tub to stand beneath the hot stream. Once she was shampooed and had scrubbed every inch of herself, she switched off the water and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around herself. She squeezed the moisture from her hair and combed it through with her fingers while making her way into the bedroom. She froze when she saw Sawyer waiting for her on the bed.

“You startled me!” she said.

“Why? I told you I’d be up.”

“I guess I expected you to knock or something.”

“Hmm,” he nodded. “Take off your towel. You’ll have to wear one of my t-shirts tonight.”

She raised her eyebrows and hugged her towel tighter. “Just tell me where the t-shirts are.”

Sawyer rose to stand and walked to her, taking hold of her shoulders, his hands massaging a little, squeezing a little more. “You’ve done this your way the last few months and that hasn’t worked out so well. We’re going to do this my way now. It’s what you agreed to, unless I’m mistaken?”

She searched his face. “No. I just… I don’t know.”

“Let me take care of you now, Rebecca.”

Her face heated when he reached for her hands that held the towel tight to her. She nodded.

He smiled and eased them apart, his glance running the length of her as he stripped her of the towel so she stood naked before him. She dropped her gaze and he walked backwards, pulling her gently along, until he sat on the edge of the bed and she stood just feet from him.

“Look at me,” he said.

She shook her head, too embarrassed to meet his gaze.

“Rebecca,” he said. “Look at me.”

She did, slowly raising her gaze to his.

“No shame,” he said. She kept her eyes on him, watched him while he took in every naked inch of her, from the round, full breasts with their dark, pointed nipples, over the flat of her belly and to the small, soft mound of neatly trimmed hair. Her legs were just inches apart and when his gaze paused at her sex, she felt a heat between them. Butterflies stirred in her belly and when his eyes returned to hers, the grey was darker, the pupils dilated. “Turn around,” he said.

Her eyes were wide on his and he held her gaze, allowing her only one option: to do as he said, to do as she was told. That heat between her legs turned into a burning fire as she slowly turned to stand with her back to him, her hands moving to cover her bottom.

“No. Hands at your sides.”

She glanced over her shoulder at him, then swallowed and turned to face forward again. Slowly, she moved her hands away and stood with her naked back to him. Goose bumps covered her flesh and even though she knew from the clock on the dresser that it was only a few moments, it felt like an eternity that he sat watching her without saying a word.

She heard the bed creak when he stood, but she didn’t turn when he came to her. He touched a light hand to her shoulder and when she looked up at him, he smiled down at her. “Let’s get you ready for bed,” he said.

She watched him go to the dresser and open the top drawer to retrieve one of his t-shirts. He then slipped it over her head and she raised her arms to slide them through the armholes. The shirt came to mid-thigh.

Sawyer walked her to the bed and pulled the covers back for her to climb in. When she did, he tucked her in and sat on the edge of the bed again, brushing some of the hair off her face. “John will be here at nine o’clock tomorrow morning. He should be a little better than that public defender you had. Get some sleep now, Rebecca.”