But there was no answer. All they could hear was the cop calling for an ambulance on her radio.
That’s when everything shifted. A new kind of fear filled Hayes. Not fear of what was going to happen to him. He already knew how that would go. But a to-his-marrow terror that something had happened to her. Cora. Cora, who had been curled in his arms only a few minutes before. Cora, who had belly-laughed on their bed after they’d all made love. Cora, who he’d told he’d keep safe tonight.
He jumped up from the couch, adrenaline and a single-minded need to see her filling him. “He asked you what’s wrong?”
The cop went on alert. “Sir, I need you to sit down.”
“No, tell us she’s okay.” He stepped forward. “Let me see her—”
But that was the last he got out. The sudden movement had snapped the cop into action. In one quick second, the Taser was off his belt and aimed. Pain like Hayes had never felt lit him up and he went to the ground like a felled tree, his knees landing hard and his body jerking.
He only vaguely registered the female cop still calling Cora’s name. And Ren calling his. Then he was on the ground, unable to move, and cuffs were being put on him.
Cuffs went on Ren, too.
And after only a few months of freedom, Hayes was back in a cop car on his way to the station, where he was going to be charged with rape.
TWENTY-SIX
Boom. Boom. Boom. Cora winced. Someone was punching her in the head. That had to be what was happening because she couldn’t open her eyes for the sharp pain pounding through her skull. She groaned, wishing that whoever it was would just knock her the fuck out.
Stop.
“Coraline? Can you hear me?”
Don’t call me Coraline. No one got to call her that except her mother. But the words came out as a mumble.
A warm hand pressed over her arm and squeezed. “Sweetheart, can you try to open your eyes? Please. You’re okay. It’s going to be okay. I’m here.”
Mom? The thought registered, cleared a little of the fog. What the hell was her mom doing here in her bed? Cora tried to lift her hand to her head, anything to stop the pounding, but her fingers got tangled in something.
“Easy, baby. They’ve got you hooked up to a few things.”
Hooked up to a few things? Cora attempted to open her eyes, but the bright white light that broke through her vision was like an ice pick to her eye sockets. “Shit. Bright.”
Her voice was sticky in her throat. Clogged.
There was a flicking sound and the lights went down. “Sorry. Is that better?”
Her mom’s hand returned to Cora’s arm. Cora cracked her eyelids open again, finding a softer, dimmer level of light. She blinked, trying to adjust and breathe through the pounding headache and the wave of nausea. God, what the hell had happened?
Worst. Hangover. Ever.
Her vision cleared, the woman leaning over her coming into view. Her mom, bare-faced and in street clothes, eyes red-rimmed. She gave a brief, tense smile. “There you are.”
Cora blinked a few more times, trying to figure out where she was and why her mom was here. “What’s going on?”
“You’re okay,” she said again, voice a little quivery. “You’re at the hospital. But you’re going to be all right.”
That thought arrowed right through the hazy state in her brain. Her muscles stiffened. “Hospital?” She glanced around, now recognizing the bare, clinical walls, the machine she was attached to, the thin sheets against her skin. Panic started to creep in. “What happened?”
Janet sat on the edge of the bed and offered Cora a little paper cup of water.
Cora pushed herself up on the pillows and sipped, the ice water harsh against her dry throat but welcome.
Once Cora had taken another swallow, the lines around her mother’s eyes deepened. “Do you remember anything, sweetheart? I know you’re groggy, but try to think. It’s Sunday. Do you remember anything about yesterday?”
Cora frowned, her brain trying to connect thoughts, make sense of the world in which she’d awakened. It was Sunday. What had she done yesterday? Her head was pounding too hard to concentrate. “I’m not sure. I think I cleaned house yesterday morning? Can’t you just tell me? Did I crash my car or something?”