But all she did was shrug.
“You guys ready to go?”
I nodded at Cecilia’s question, then felt her ease us out of the driveway. I wanted to press the questions. I wanted to pull out of her what was wrong. But I didn’t want to do it in front of my stepmother. Rae wasn’t okay, though. And I had a feeling it had something to do with last night.
I watched as Rae gazed out the window. She watched the world pass us by as she sank heavier and heavier into the leather seats of the car. She didn’t speak. Not one fucking word. And I desperately wanted to ask her what the hell happened after I left last night. I called Cecilia to come get me around midnight, and D.J. was still there. Her mother and D.J. had still been downstairs, going back and forth at one another. It was like they never stopped. She’d say one thing and he’d clap back. He’d say something wrong and she’d chew him out for it. It made me sick, leaving Rae in that kind of environment last night. I almost had a mind to ask Cecilia if she could come back with us.
But I figured that might’ve been crossing a line with Rae’s mom.
Had D.J. done something to her? Said something to her? Because if he had, he was done. If he’d touched her, or berated her, or said anything to her that wasn’t a compliment or asking her how she was, that asshole was dead meat. I didn't care that he was decades older than me. I didn’t care that Rae’s mother would probably hate me for it. The only thing I cared about right now was Rae’s well-being.
And her being wasn’t well at all.
Calm down, Clint. Focus.
I drew in deep breaths as I held Rae’s hand. She didn’t move. Didn’t budge. She kept her eyes trained out the window and she didn’t move her hand. She didn’t flip it over so I could lace our fingers together. She didn’t scoot closer to me so we could cuddle. She just leaned against the door. Heavily. Like she wanted to burst out and run away.
“All right, you two. We’re here.”
I softly squeezed Rae’s hand. “Ready to get out?”
Rae ripped her hand away from mine and pressed out of the car. And after catching Cecilia’s worried stare in the rearview mirror, I quickly followed behind her. The deal was for my stepmom to wait in the parking lot for us so we could make the quickest getaway possible. That, and I didn’t want her worrying over my shoulder while I answered questions and did a lineup. If anything, I wanted to be there for Rae. I wanted to support her and help her through this. And I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do that with my stepmother looming over my shoulder.
“Rae. Rae. Stop. You’re walking—stop!”
I gripped her arm and spun her around just outside the precinct doors.
She sighed. “What?”
I furrowed my brow. “You haven’t said a damn thing all morning. What’s going on?”
“I just want to get this over with.”
“You want to try not lying to me this time?”
She bit down on her lower lip. “Can we talk about it after we get this over with?”
I nodded. “I’ll take that.”
I slipped my hand into hers and away we went. We walked into the police station and checked in with the front desk. And I felt her holding my hand tighter than ever before. I slipped my arm around her as an officer came out, ushering us back into a room. There was a table with a photo album of pictures. A harsh light beamed down onto the laminated pages. I looked over at Rae before we walked over, my eyes fluttering over the pictures in front of us.
And before the officer could even tell us what the fuck was happening, I saw it.
Rae nodded. “That’s the car.”
The officer stepped up to the table. “Can you point to it?”
I pressed down onto the picture. “That one. That’s the car that ran me off the road.”
The officer nodded. “And you’re sure of this?”
Rae snapped her eyes up. “I’ll never forget what that car looked like.”
I shook my head. “Neither will I. That’s the car. Both of us are sure.”
The officer grinned. “All right. Follow me. Time for the lineup before we ask you both some questions.”
Rae clung to me as we were ushered into another room. Beside us was the officer who greeted us in the first room. And on the other side of us was a man who looked like a detective. We stood in front of a window that peered into a room, with something that looked like a height chart plastered onto the back wall.