Page 60 of Fallen

“No. Please. I didn’t do anything wrong. I just want to go home.”

Placing one hand at her upper arm, his other on the chain connecting the cuffs, he guided her to his car. Upon reaching the trunk, he turned her toward him, and backed her up so that her backside was against the trunk.

“I’m going to do a quick pat-down to make sure you don’t have any weapons on you,” he said. “Just stay calm for me, okay?”

“But I’m not drunk,” she said.

“We’ll get it all straightened out.”

She stood stone-still while he ran his hands over her hips, squeezing the pockets, turning then inside out. He removed her pack of cigarettes, lighter, cell phone, and the twenty-dollar bill she had in her back pocket.

“Please don’t arrest me,” she said. “I just made a mistake. Please. I’ll be in such trouble.”

When he was finished searching her, he stepped back. She was leaning against the car, her hands clamped together at the small of her back. He stared at her. She stared back, aware that she was shaking, and she struggled to keep it in check.

“Looks like we got us a situation,” he said.

For the first time she noticed his breathing was elevated, even though he hadn’t exerted himself. Sweat beaded on his forehead and upper lip. The underarm area of his uniform shirt was wet. And for the first time, she sensed something was amiss.

“Can’t you just let me go?” she whispered.

Something in his expression changed. A strange light entered his eyes. His jaw flexed, as if he were biting down on something hard. “Do you think maybe we can work something out?”

She blinked, not understanding the question, but the sense that something wasn’t quite right burgeoned into a different kind of alarm. And for the first time it occurred to her that she was alone with a man she didn’t know or trust. They were in the boondocks in the middle of the night.…

“Them jeans you’re wearing are sure nice and tight,” he whispered.

The alarm grew into something closer to panic. The urge to run swept through her. She looked around, wondering if she could make it to the field before he caught her.

“You got nice big titties for a seventeen-year-old, you know that?”

No one had ever talked to her like that. Certainly not a grown man. An adult. The terrible understanding that followed brought with it a gasp of shock that stuck in her throat like a chicken bone.

“Hold still now. You hear?” He reached for the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it up.

Instinctively, she leaned forward, hunched her shoulders forward, tried to cover herself. But he pressed her back against the vehicle, forced her to straighten so that her breasts were visible.

“Man.” He didn’t even look at her. Just stared at her breasts, a starving animal watching prey in the seconds before it attacked. “Man.”

“You can’t do that,” she cried. “It’s not right. You can’t.”

His eyes slid to hers. “Let me tell you something, Amish girl. If I take you to jail, you’ll be there for at least three or four days. A DUI will cost your parents thousands of dollars. Plus a lawyer and they ain’t cheap. You’ll lose your driver’s license. Your car. Everyone will know. All those self-righteous Bible-thumping Amish going to shun you. Is that what you want?”

“Please don’t,” she cried. “I promise not to do it again. Please.”

“Well, listen up. If you let me put my hands on you, I’ll let you go home. No ticket. No jail. We won’t tell a soul. And no one will ever know.” His voice had gone hoarse, his breaths coming faster.

Rachael didn’t know what to think. Didn’t know what to say. Did he just want to touch her? Did he want to do something else?

“I don’t want to do anything,” she choked.

“Then you’re going to jail. You want to know what’s going to happen when you get there? They’re going to take your clothes. Strip-search you and they ain’t very nice about it. Keep you locked up for days. Is that what you want?”

“No.” Feeling trapped, she began to cry. “What do I have to do?”

“You don’t have to do anything.” Slowly, he turned her around so that she was facing his car. “I’ll do everything.”

Clamping his hand around the back of her neck, he forced her face against the trunk lid.