She was starting to get nervous. Janet Benning was nothing if not straightforward. Why was she questioning her instead of just telling her?
“I . . .” Her mom considered her and then let out a resigned sigh. “Do you remember going out to a club last night?”
“A club?” At that, pictures flashed in Cora’s brain. Her friends at the table. Lines of tequila shots in front of them. Dancing. “Oh God, did I drink too much? Is that why I’m here?”
Something flickered through her mom’s eyes—pain. “Coraline . . .”
That sent true fear rushing through Cora. Her mom was as tough as they came. The fact that she looked to be bracing for something sent Cora’s stomach flipping over. “Mom, tell me what’s going on. Now.”
Janet took Cora’s hand and pressed it between hers. For a second, her eyes went shiny like she was going to cry, but then she pulled it back and took a breath. “Honey, last night someone drugged your drink.”
“What?”
“We have the two men in custody, baby.” She pressed her lips together as if trying to maintain her composure and shook her head. “And I’m so sorry to be the one to tell you this, but we found you at their house. We’re not sure what happened, but we’re pretty sure they . . . took advantage of you.”
Everything left in Cora’s stomach threatened to come up. She’d been drugged. Raped?
The idea terrified her to her core, but as the words settled over her, worked their way through the fog in her brain, they didn’t seem to make sense. For some reason, they didn’t feel like truth. She could feel the aches in her body, but something was off.
Her mom was talking again but Cora had closed her eyes, trying to make sense of it, trying to grab on to memories. Parts of her day were coming back to her like torn pieces of photographs blowing in a breeze. She grasped for them.
She’d gotten up to clean the house. She’d had a lazy day, but she’d been excited. She’d danced around the house to music while vacuuming. What had she
been so excited about?
She played through the scenes in her head, trying to fill in the blank spots. In her head, she could see herself cleaning, pulling out her clothes. Nice clothes.
Date clothes.
“I had a date,” she blurted.
She opened her eyes and found her mom had been talking and tears were now officially in her eyes. Janet stopped whatever she’d been saying and blinked. “You remember?”
“Yes.” She pressed a hand to her forehead, rubbed. She’d had a date. With Ren. And Hayes. Two men. Oh, shit. She looked at her mom. “Wait, are the men you arrested Ren and Hayes?”
Her mother’s expression hardened. “They won’t ever bother you again, baby. I swear to you—”
“Oh, God. No. They didn’t.” Shit. Shit. Shit. “They wouldn’t—”
Her mom’s eyes turned empathetic. “I’m sorry, honey. I know you were working with them. I’m sure you would’ve never suspected. But you don’t know people. And Hayes Fox has a history—”
Oh, no. Oh, fuck. Cora sat up taller, trying to get the pounding in her head to subside enough so that she could make sense to her mother. “No, Mom. No. They wouldn’t have done this. I—”
Ugh. How was she supposed to say what she needed to say to her mother?
“Cora, you’re confused and probably in some sort of shock and the drugs—”
“No,” she said more firmly, cutting her off. “I’m not in shock. I remember. I went home with Hayes and Fox. Of my own free will. I—I was out with both of them.”
Her mom blinked like Cora had clapped in front of her face. Then her stunned expression smoothed into a firm one. “Coraline, I don’t know what you think you know, but you tested positive for a date rape drug. And the officers found a cup at the house from the bar that had traces of the drug.”
Cora shook her head. That didn’t make any sense. But her memory was in patches. She had a big black spot in it. She remembered getting to Hayes and Ren’s place. She remembered kissing in the kitchen. They’d ended up in the bedroom. They’d had amazing sex. Some of the details were fuzzy but she remembered that much.
A drink from the bar?
Another thought occurred to her. “How did someone find me? Did the guys call for help?”
Janet was in full frown now. “No. A tip came in. Someone at the bar recognized Hayes Fox and said he saw him drop something into your drink. He texted a pic of Fox offering you the drink. Officers were sent to the house.”