“And then again yesterday,” Derek adds, getting my attention.
“What?” Monroe asks.
My throat closes. Scout always has been the type of guy to keep his word. He was telling me the truth when he said she won’t be the same. He’s going to ruin my doll. That was the plan all along, though. To ruin Henley Greene and then leave what was left of her in the trash. Knowing no one would want such a dirty doll. But what Scout fails to realize is that I love my doll. I’ll fight him for her. And when I win, she’ll be mine. No matter what shape she’s in.
“Scout came to me for more yesterday,” Derek rushes out. “I tried to tell you.” His eyes narrow on me.
“He’s going to kill her,” Monroe grinds out. “Overdose, maybe. The Founders already expect her to be dead. All of Westbrook thinks she’s missing, so he’s going to finish her off.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
RYAN SCOUT
“HENLEY?” I YELL, entering her house. I run up the stairs taking them two at a time, running to her room. “Henley?”
I come to a stop as she swings open her bedroom door. I’m soaking fucking wet. It’s been pouring for the last few hours. She stands there, dressed in a T-shirt and a pair of lounge pants. She looks tired. Hungover. I wonder if she’s sore …
Lifting my hands, I run them through my hair to knock off the water that keeps running down my face. She stares at me silently while I catch my breath. My dark brows pull together, trying to decide how to come at this. I let out a deep breath, my eyes narrowing. If the bitch had just stayed at the damn table.
“Scout …”
“Henley,” I growl at her, deciding I’m just going to ask straight up instead of digging for information. “What the fuck is going on? I got a call. Dax has been arrested. They said they had a witness.” While on the way here, Law called and said he heard Monroe was officially taken into custody. Which is fucking insane. There’s nothing to prove he did it. When Law told me Henley was the witness, I had to act surprised and pretend I didn’t know a thing about it. “I … I don’t understand.”
She lowers her head.
“Hey.” I grip her chin softly and make her look up at me. “Talk to me. What’s going on? Did he hurt you?” I ask as if I care. She gave him her fucking virginity. I’m still fucking sour about that. Hell, that’s why I was fucking his secret girlfriend, Brenda.
“I did call the cops,” she softly says.
I let out a long sigh and pull her into my soaking body. She clings to me. “What happened, Hen?” I ask, kissing her hair. That familiar smell of watermelon lemonade making me hard.
She looks up at me, and I wipe a tear off her cheek. “He was there last night. At Death Valley.”
Good sign. She’s still saying it was Monroe. “Hen …”
“I saw him, Ryan. After you walked away from the table, I found him up on the second floor in the chapel. He was with Brenda Nash. And …” She trails off.
Well, she remembered more than I’d like her to, but so far, I’m not concerned like Steve is. “And what?”
“He had her pinned down.” My eyes widen like that’s a horrible thing for her to see. “She was trying to push him off her. She told him to stop …”
No, she didn’t. Those words never left Brenda’s mouth. “Wait.” I grab her arm and walk into her room, shutting the door behind me. Needing complete privacy for this conversation. “I told you, Henley. He was out of town.” She needs to just drop it completely. She’s obviously taking things she saw and adding her own narrative to it. I can convince her. She loves me. She’ll listen to me.
She shakes her head. “I’m telling you …”
“That he raped someone?” I snap.
She takes a step back from me.
“Jesus Christ.” I run my hands through my hair aggressively. She’s fucking serious. That she saw Monroe there. “This is serious.”
“I know.” She chokes out. “Why do you think …?”
“You have no clue what you’re talking about, Henley,” I argue but can’t tell her the truth. I just have to make her believe that she imagined the whole thing.
“I know what I saw!” she shouts “He raped her. Then he killed her.”
I glare down at her, trying to think of what to do. What to say to get her to change her mind. I decide to go with insanity. I throw my head back and laugh at her like the bitch is crazy.
I watch her face fall, and I can practically see her mind running with thoughts of doubt. Had she really seen what she thought? Just when I think I’ve managed to get through to her, she speaks. “He did it, Scout.”