He lets out a long sigh and pulls me to his chest, hugging me tightly. His clothes wet from the rain instantly soak my T-shirt and lounge pants. I grip the material in my hands, the water running through my fingers while I cling to him. Tears burn my eyes.
“What happened, Hen?” he asks before kissing my hair.
I look up at him, and he removes his right arm from around me so he can wipe the tears off my cheek. “He was there last night. At Death Valley.”
“Hen …”
“I saw him, Ryan. After you walked away from the table, I found him on the second floor in the chapel. He was with Brenda Nash. And …” I trail off, my throat closing up on me.
“And what?” he urges.
“He had her pinned down.” His eyes widen. “She was trying to push him off her. She told him to stop …”
“Wait.” He grabs my arm and walks into my room, shutting the door behind us as if no one else in this house needs to hear what I’m saying. But it doesn’t matter. We’re here alone. My father is away on a business trip for the weekend, and my brother is at college. The staff has all gone to bed for the evening. “I told you, Henley. He was out of town.”
I shake my head and argue. “I’m telling you …”
“That he raped someone?” he snaps.
I take a step back from him, swallowing nervously.
“Jesus Christ.” He lifts his arms and runs both hands through his hair again aggressively, knocking off more water in the process. “This is serious.”
“I know,” I choke out. “Why do you think …?”
“You have no clue what you’re talking about, Henley.”
“I know what I saw!” I shout, getting irritated. Tired of him not believing me. “He raped her. Then he killed her.”
His green eyes look down at me, and I hold in a breath. I think he’s about to yell at me again, but then he throws his head back and starts laughing.
I blink, confused as to how this is funny. A woman is dead.
He continues to laugh at me while I just stand here like an idiot with doubt flooding my mind. Had I seen him actually kill her? Were they role-playing? Some people are into that kind of thing. I push the thought out of my mind as quickly as it entered. It’s not right. To justify what he did. He raped her, and he killed her. I saw it.
I try to ignore the tightness in my chest and lick my dry lips. “He did it, Scout.”
His laughter comes to a stop, and he straightens his shoulders. “No, he didn’t. You were drunk. Fucked up. You were confused …”
“It wasn’t a mistake,” I growl. “I know what I saw.” How can he not believe me? Why would I make this up? Dax is my friend too, but that doesn’t excuse what he did.
He steps into me, his body towering over mine. “You’re wrong. And you’re going to tell the police that. Retract your statement. Tell them you made a mistake.”
He can’t be serious. “I will not.”
He grabs my shirt, yanking me forward. “Scout!” Spinning us around, he shoves my back into the closed bedroom door, making it rattle. My body begins to tremble, and I suck in a breath as he pushes into me, pinning me in place.
A muscle tightens in his sharp jaw, and he takes in a deep breath as if to calm his temper. “If you do this, there will be consequences.”
My body relaxes against him at his words. Finally. “Good. He deserves …”
“I think you misunderstood what I said.” Letting go of my shirt, he runs his hands up my chest to wrap them both around my neck. I lean up on my tiptoes, and my hands grip his arms, trying to fight him off when he takes away my air. “For you, Henley. Not Monroe.” Letting go of me, he takes a step back.
I rub my neck, looking up at him. “He’s going to pay for what he did, Scout.”
He fists his hands as if he’s thinking about wrapping them around my neck again when he finally nods. “You made your decision.” Ripping open the door, he runs out of the house as fast as he entered.
I begin to dry heave. I didn’t heed the warning and refused to retract my statement. Instead, I testified. I’ll be the one thrown into the inferno. They’ve already taken that oath. And the four of them keep their promises.
I guess a part of me knew that I’d lose them. But I thought Dax Monroe would get punished for his crimes. Instead, now I’ll be the one to suffer.
_______________
No one has spoken a word since we left the courthouse. My father types away on his cell next to me while my brother sits across from us in the limo, staring at me. Waiting to see if I’m going to break down again like I did before.