A Moment in Time Read online

  Kassie jerked when she felt a hand grab her biceps in an unbreakable grip and jerk her toward the table with the punch bowl. She dropped the cup of water she’d been drinking as she tried to pry the man’s hand off of her. The others parted around her, giving her room. Richard was standing next to the table with a plastic cup in his hand and a nasty smile on his face.

  “The tradition of the grog bowl goes back centuries,” he told her. “If someone doesn’t answer a question correctly, they have to drink, right guys?”

  The men around him all agreed. Kassie made the mistake of meeting Dean’s eyes. They were glued to her. His long dark brown greasy hair was pulled back into a ponytail at his nape, and his thin lips were quirked upward in a semblance of a smile. But it was his eyes that caught her attention. They were wide and excited. As if he knew what was about to happen…and couldn’t wait.

  “So, Kassie, we’ll start with you. What year was the Army founded?”

  She tore her eyes away from Dean and turned to her boyfriend. “I don’t know, I—”

  “She doesn’t know!” Richard boomed, interrupting her. “Guess that means you have to drink.”

  Kassie shook her head. “No. That’s okay, I don’t—”

  Her words were cut off when another of Richard’s friends moved to her other side and grabbed her arm. The men held her immobile. Her eyes were glued to Richard as she struggled in his friends’ grips.

  He stepped up to her with the cup of vile liquid and held it out. “Drink, Kassie.”

  She shook her head frantically. “Richard, I think I need to go.”

  “No. You need to drink this. It’s tradition.” He stood there, holding the damn cup out as if it was a glass of champagne and she should be thrilled he’d gotten it for her.

  Kassie pressed her lips together. No way in hell was she drinking the disgusting stuff they called grog.

  Richard leaned toward her until they were nose to nose, practically touching. She could smell the awful stench of the drink in his hand. “Drink it willingly, or we’ll make you. It’s tradition. You can’t say no.”

  Tears sprang to her eyes. This definitely wasn’t the man she’d begun dating a couple of years ago. She shook her head stubbornly.

  Richard stood up to his full height and nodded to someone standing behind her. An arm went around her chest and she couldn’t help the surprised screech that came out of her mouth when she was tilted backward.

  The men who’d been holding her arms continued to do so as she was hauled to Richard’s couch. She was forced to sit between the two men holding her. Richard, still holding the damn cup, straddled her legs, holding her captive under him.

  “You didn’t answer the question correctly, you have to drink,” Richard told her. “You have one more chance to man up and do it on your own.”

  A tear escaped and Kassie felt it roll down her cheek. “Richard,” she whispered…but it didn’t affect him in the least. He gave a chin lift to someone behind the couch. A large hand grabbed her chin and wrenched it backward. Her head landed on the cushion behind her and she looked up. Dean was standing there, looking down at her. The evil look in his eyes was intensified now.

  “Drink up,” Dean murmured, before using his fingers to press on her jaw. The pain was immediate and Kassie gasped.

  Obviously expecting her reaction, Richard brought the cup of grog to her lips and tipped it up.

  The vile taste immediately made Kassie gag and she tried to lift her head. Dean pressed harder against her jaw and she felt another hand press down on her forehead.

  She struggled in earnest as Richard continued to force the disgusting liquid into her mouth. She kicked out with her legs, and felt someone grab onto her ankles and hold them still. She tried to turn her head, but was held immobile by the hands on her body.

  She was well and truly stuck, and her boyfriend was the perpetrator.

  Kassie closed her throat, refusing to swallow. The tabasco sauce, along with whatever else they’d thrown into the punch bowl when she wasn’t looking, burned the inside of her mouth.

  She glared up at Richard, hate filling her soul at what he was doing to her.

  “Swallow, Kassie. You didn’t answer the question right.”

  She managed a miniscule shake of her head and Richard smiled.

  It was the smile of a man who didn’t give a shit that his girlfriend was crying under him. Who didn’t care she was in pain. A smile from a man who had lost whatever decency he’d ever had.

  Keeping the cup at her lips, he reached up with his free hand and pinched her nostrils shut.

  “You’ll drink every drop of this grog, Kassie. You either do it the easy way or the hard way. If you pass out, we’ll wait until you come to and we’ll start all over again with a full cup.”

  Kassie struggled as if her life depended on it now. She couldn’t breathe. She opened her throat to suck in much needed oxygen and the grog slid down. She choked, and Richard laughed, tipping the cup farther, pouring more of the concoction down her throat. “That’s it, baby. Drink it down like a good girl.”

  Kassie’s gag reflex kicked in and her stomach heaved, readying itself to forcibly remove the awfulness that had landed in it.

  “If you puke, I’ll still make you drink it,” Richard threatened.

  Kassie closed her eyes and her body went limp. He would, too. He didn’t give a shit about her. Whatever had happened in his brain when the IED went off had killed the Richard Jacks she used to know. In his place was an unfeeling bastard whose precious Army traditions meant more to him than anything else.

  Knowing she wouldn’t be getting up before she finished the fucking cup of grog, Kassie swallowed. Then she did it again. And again. She felt overflow from the awful concoction she couldn’t swallow fast enough dripping down her face into her ears. She and prayed Richard would only make her drink this one cup.

  She turned off her mind until Richard finally let go of her nose. She sucked in oxygen as if she’d been deprived for hours instead of the thirty seconds of so it had been.

  “There now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Richard crooned to her, leaning down and kissing her lovingly on the lips. Her entire body was still being held in position by his friends, no one had relaxed their grips, and Kassie knew she would bear the marks of their hold for a while to come.

  Richard eased off her lap, and whoever was holding her head and legs also released her. Kassie looked up at Dean and he smirked down at her for a moment, running a finger under her bottom lip. “You spilled a bit,” he mocked before standing up.

  Kassie could feel the grog on her face where it had overflowed from her mouth. She could also feel it on her chest and had no doubt it had soaked into her bra as well.

  Richard held out a hand. “Come on, baby. There’s lots more traditions to get through. Aren’t Army balls fun?”

  She extended her hand, allowing Richard to help her stand upright.

  “Why don’t you go get cleaned up. Wouldn’t want you looking anything less than your best for the receiving line.”

  The smirk on Richard’s face scared Kassie half to death, as did Dean’s.

  “The receiving line is my favorite tradition,” he said as she turned to head to the bathroom. She walked toward it on numb legs. She wanted to go home, but Richard had picked her up. She could take a taxi or Uber, but she had a feeling Richard wouldn’t let her leave until he’d had all his fun.

  Kassie shut the bathroom door and leaned over the sink. She stared at herself in the mirror and saw a woman she didn’t recognize. Black streaks lined both her cheeks and the side of her face from where her mascara had run when she’d cried. The remnants of the grog were on her lips, chin, neck, in her hair, and disappearing under the vee of her dress onto her chest. Turning her head, Kassie could see the beginnings of a bruise on her jaw from where Dean had held her in his cruel grip.

  She was a mess, and Richard had done it to her.

  She wanted to be strong enough to march out of
the room and right out the front door, but if she was honest with herself, she was scared.

  Richard frightened her.

  To death.

  She had no idea what he’d do if she tried to leave.

  Suddenly, the grog that had been resting uneasily in her belly rebelled. Kassie scrambled for the toilet and made it just in time. If it wasn’t bad enough going down, the disgusting liquid was even worse coming back up.

  Her nose burned with the alcohol and hot sauce, her throat hurt, and her taste buds were on a permanent strike. Her belly heaved and heaved, and once it had expelled all of the liquid, it kept heaving, as if wanting to get rid of even the memory of what had been forced into it.

  When she’d finally stopped throwing up, Kassie remained kneeling by the toilet bowl, breathing hard, trying not to break into a thousand pieces.

  There was a knock at the door.

  “Hurry up, baby. Everyone’s waiting for you so we can start the receiving line. I know you’re gonna love this tradition.”

  Just the sound of Richard’s voice made her stomach heave once more. Kassie took deep breaths and finally got herself under control. She flushed the toilet and stood up, staring at herself in the mirror. Beyond the mess of her makeup, the bruises on her face, and her lips stained red by the grog, Kassie was disgusted by what she saw.

  What had happened to her? How had she gotten to this point? She’d always told her little sister that if someone disrespected her, if they hurt her, to get the fuck out of the situation. And here she was. Not getting the fuck out of the situation.

  But it was different when it was happening to you.

  It was different when you knew your life was in danger if you stood up for yourself.

  It was different when one wrong word could make your former boyfriend turn into a monster.

  Opening a cabinet, Kassie took out a washcloth and wet it in the sink. She scrubbed her face, ruining the hour of careful work she’d done to make herself up before Richard had arrived. She had no idea what he had planned for the rest of the evening, but she had a bad feeling her night of hell had just started.

  “Just do whatever he wants,” Kassie said out loud softly, staring at the mirror and the woman she didn’t recognize looking back at her. “Get through tonight, then you can break up with him and he’ll be out of your life forever. Just because he’s a jerk doesn’t mean all men are.”

  With that, Kassie took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door. Richard was there waiting for her…Dean standing at the end of the hall, watching.

  “Ready?” Richard asked, holding out his hand once more.

  Kassie nodded.

  Kassie lie in bed and ignored the peal of her cell phone, knowing it would be her younger sister Karina wanting to know how the thing with Richard went. She was a junior in high school, and Kassie didn’t have it in her to talk to her right now. To talk to anyone.

  As she’d suspected, her night of hell hadn’t ended with that first cup of forced grog. The receiving line was…

  Kassie squeezed her eyes closed, trying to force back her tears. She didn’t want to think about it anymore. It was over and done.

  She curled herself into a tighter ball and pulled her comforter around her.

  Two hours later, Kassie woke up once more and reluctantly got out of bed. She couldn’t stay there forever, no matter how appealing it might seem.

  She showered and pulled on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. Luckily, she had the day off. The last thing she wanted to do was dress up in a nice outfit and head into JCPenney to try to sell clothes.

  Her cell rang again and Kassie saw it was Richard.

  And just like that, she was mad. Furious. How dare he do what he did to her? How dare his friends participate?

  Gritting her teeth and deciding right then and there to end things between them, Kassie tapped the button to answer the phone.

  “This is Kassie.”

  “Hey, baby. Good time last night. I was so proud of you.”

  “It wasn’t fun for me, Richard,” Kassie told him.

  “That’s because you weren’t sure what to expect. Now that you know the traditions, the next one will be easier. And if I were you, I’d spend some time studying up on the Army…that way you won’t have to drink so much grog.” Richard laughed at his words, a long cackle that made the hairs on the back of Kassie’s neck stand up.

  “There’s not going to be a next time,” she said firmly. “Things aren’t working out between us. I think we need to move on.”

  “What?” Richard asked in a low, even tone that scared the shit of Kassie. If he’d yelled, it would’ve been different, but that toneless voice was another thing all together.

  “You don’t even like me, Richard. You can’t and still do the things you’ve done to me. Hit me, have me followed. You had your friends hold me down as you forced me to drink that gross stuff.”

  Silence met her words and Kassie got even more nervous. It should be obvious why she was breaking up with him, but she decided to try a different tactic. One that didn’t sound like she was putting the all breakup on him…even though she was. “I mean, you’re up there at Fort Hood most of the time, obviously moving up in your Army circles. I’m just holding you back.” She tried to sound like she meant it.

  “You aren’t breaking up with me.”

  “Richard, I know it’s—”

  “You don’t know shit,” he said harshly. “And you aren’t breaking up with me.”

  Kassie started to shake. She pulled out one of her kitchen chairs and plopped down into it, her legs like cooked spaghetti.

  “You need a woman who can make you proud.” She tried to appeal to his arrogant side.

  “You’re mine, Kassie. You’ll always be mine.”

  “Is that why you let all your friends kiss me last night under the guise of it being an Army receiving line tradition?” She hadn’t planned to bring it up, but she couldn’t help it. “That’s not what boyfriends do.” At least, not boyfriends she wanted.

  “Is that what’s bothering you, baby?” Richard purred. “I shared you with them because I’m proud of you. I want to show everyone what I have. How wonderful you are.” As he spoke, his voice gradually changed from sweet and cajoling back to hard and mean. “Besides, you’re mine. If I want to watch Dean or anyone else kiss you, or more, I will. And you’ll do it. Because I’m the man and I’m in charge.”

  “Richard, Dean scares me.”

  “Good. Then you’ll do what you’re told.”

  Kassie pressed her lips together. “I’m serious, Richard. I can’t do this anymore. I don’t want to see you again.”

  “That’s too bad. Because I’m coming over right now and we’ll discuss this. I have to go back up to Fort Hood tomorrow. We have a training exercise and we’re up against this group of guys who think they’re hot shit. We’re gonna show them a thing or two. But before I leave, I want to make sure we’re solid.”

  “We’re not solid,” Kassie protested. “We’re broken up.”

  “No we’re not,” Richard insisted. “I’ll see you soon.”

  “Richard, don’t bother coming over. Richard? Are you there?” The phone beeped in her ear and Kassie sighed heavily, clicking it off. He’d hung up on her.

  Fuck. He was on his way over here. She had to leave. She didn’t want to be there when he arrived. She’d just avoid him. They couldn’t be boyfriend and girlfriend if they never saw each other, right?

  Not knowing how far away Richard was, Kassie ran into her room and threw on a pair of socks and sneakers. She grabbed a hat and pulled it low on her head. The bruises on her arms and legs were hidden by her clothes, but the ones on her face and neck would be harder to disguise for a while.

  She ran out of her apartment and locked the door behind her. She quickly walked toward her car and stopped short when she saw Dean leaning against the driver’s side.

  “Going somewhere, Kassie?”

  “Get out of my way, Dean,” sh
e said in a tone she hoped was more confident than it sounded to her own ears.

  “I don’t think so. Richard wants to talk to you, and what he wants, he gets.”

  “This is crazy,” Kassie mumbled.

  “It’s not. You belong to him, you do what he tells you,” Dean informed her, taking hold of her arm in a grip hard enough to hurt…mostly because he grabbed her in the same place she already had bruises from the night before.

  He marched her back to her apartment and held on as she unlocked her door. He propelled her in and said, “Make yourself comfortable. Your man will be here soon.”

  Hating how she meekly did what Dean wanted, Kassie comforted herself with the thought that surely she could talk some sense into Richard when he got there. Who wanted to be with someone who didn’t want to be with you right back?

  A week later, it was getting harder and harder to keep putting Karina off. Her little sister wanted to see her, but with the bruise on her face from where Richard had hit her last week, Kassie refused to. She didn’t want Karina to see how bad things had gotten with her big sister and her supposed boyfriend.

  When the phone rang, she reluctantly picked it up when she saw it was Richard. She’d definitely learned her lesson and wouldn’t risk pissing him off again.

  “What?”

  “I have a job for you.”

  Kassie was taken aback for a moment. She’d thought Richard would apologize for hitting her, would talk about how great the training exercise went that he’d been so looking forward to, even try to sweet talk her and pretend things between them were just fine. “A job?”

  “Yeah. There’s a dating website you need to sign up for. Then you need to find the profiles of a group of men and message them. Flirt with them, get them interested. Your ultimate goal is to get at least one of them to meet with you, and then find out as much information as you can about them.”

  “What? Who? What’s going on, Richard?” Kassie was confused.

  “And before you fucking say it, we are not broken up,” he barked out at her. “You’re my fucking girlfriend and you’re going to fucking do this no matter what.”