Wife Number Seven (The Compound, #1)(85)

I curled tighter into a ball, covering my head with my hands, when I heard retreating footsteps. Someone had left the room, but I couldn’t raise my head high enough to see who had gone, who had turned their back on me. My vision was fuzzy, but I could see several figures in the room. Leandra, Lehi, Rebecca, and Brenda. But I couldn’t see Aspen.

Where was Aspen?

“Mommy?” a little voice called from the door. One of Brenda’s children, I think. A fuzzy figure left the huddled group above me and shuffled to the door.

“Let’s go. You can’t be here,” she said.

They left the room, but I heard the young voice again. This time I recognized her. It was Bonnie Jo, Brenda’s nine-year-old daughter. She sobbed as she asked, “Why is Father beating Mother Brinley?”

Not only was Lehi placing scars on my body and my heart, but he was scarring the minds of his children who would remember this day. Bonnie Jo in particular would remember me beaten and bloody, lying on the floor while the other adults watched.

More footsteps, this time entering the room. I lifted my head to see. I hated the idea of another child witnessing the horrendous acts of their father. I recognized the shoes and the dress immediately.

Aspen.

She’d returned.

“Step away from her. Now!” Aspen yelled.

“This is not your concern!” Leandra snapped. “Brinley has sinned against her husband, against the prophet and Heavenly Father. And she must be punished.”

“Lehi!” Aspen yelled, standing in front of me to block Lehi’s blows. “Do not touch her.”

“You don’t tell me what to do! None of you! This is my home. My house and my rules. Do you hear me?”

And then I heard the sound of Lehi’s hand making contact with skin. He’d slapped Aspen. I yelped to protest, but no words left my aching mouth.

When I looked up, I could see the blurry image of what appeared to be Aspen holding up some crumpled pieces of paper.

“I know what you did,” Aspen said softly. “And if you touch her again, everyone will know. Everyone.”

“Where did you get those?” Lehi demanded. “Leandra, how did she get those?”

“I found them in Leandra’s room.”

“How dare you!” Leandra shouted.

None of their exchange made any sense to me. But I listened, wanting desperately to know what Aspen had discovered.

“I wasn’t going to do anything with them, not yet anyway. I was saving them until I could figure out the truth. But now you’ve shown the depths of your vile nature. And you’ve forced my hand. Forced me to reveal the evil nature in this room. In the two of you.”

“Give those to me!” Lehi shouted.

“Even if you managed to pry them away from me, it doesn’t matter because I have others. So many others. You must have practiced writing these quite a bit . . . had to get his handwriting just right, hmmm? Was it you, dear husband of mine? Or was it your first wife?”

“Shut your mouth, you wicked girl,” Leandra screeched again.

“I know you’re involved, you witch. Or these wouldn’t have been in your room!”

“You sneaky girl, you wretched, wretched thing,” Leandra screamed.

“You let her go,” Aspen demanded. “Give me the keys to your truck. And you let her go.”

“Or what?” Lehi said through clenched teeth.

“Or I’ll tell the prophet.”

All movement in the room came to a halt.

“I’ll tell the prophet,” Aspen repeated, “and you’ll be gone. You’ll never see any of us, any of your children ever again. Your home, your business, everything you hold dear. Gone. In an instant.”

“You can’t prove anything,” Leandra cried out.

“The proof is right here.” The papers crinkled in her hands. “All I have to do is say the word. Don’t force me to reveal this, Lehi. Because I will. You know I will.”

The room grew silent as Lehi considered Aspen’s threat. I prayed it would work and that I’d escape the Cluff house alive.

“Wait,” Rebecca whispered. “What . . . what are those? Is that—”

“Silence!” Lehi shouted and keys jingled. “Take her away.” His words were rushed, sounding almost as if he were . . . frightened?

Aspen snatched the keys from his hand before Lehi continued. “But when you return, all of those papers, every single one, will be given to me.”

Aspen nodded. “Understood.”

“And if I ever find another, you’ll be the one who’s gone forever. Do you understand? I. Will. Kill. You.”

I inhaled sharply at Lehi’s threat, unable to imagine what he could have possibly done. I had to know. I just had to.

Aspen’s arms looped through mine as she hoisted me from the floor by my underarms. My legs were too weak to stand, my vision was blurry, and the metallic smell of blood overwhelmed my senses.

“Someone help me,” Aspen snarled. “Now!”

Rebecca joined Aspen and wrapped her arm around my waist, supporting my weight.

“I’m sorry, Brinley,” she whispered. “So, so sorry.”

“Porter Hammond. You know who he is?” Aspen asked.

“Yes. I met him months ago.”