Cora’s skin prickled. “Who sent in the pic?”
“Why does that matter?”
“It matters. Who was it? A bartender? Did they give a name?”
“It was anonymous.”
“Of course it was.” Cora’s heart was pounding so hard against her ribs the machine next to her started to sound like it was going to short out.
Her mom’s gaze jumped to the machine. “I need you to calm down, Coraline. I think the drugs are still mixing up your brain. You wouldn’t go home with two men you hardly knew. I’ve taught you better. You’re smarter than that. And I know it’s scary to consider that—”
Cora clamped her hand over her mom’s. “I need to talk to the guys.”
“What? You most certainly will not. You’re not going within a mile of those disgusting excuses—”
“No, Mom. Listen. Someone’s setting them up. Like the last time when Hayes went to prison. I’ve been working with them because of a hacker. This is just the next step. They’re doing it to him again.”
Her mother stood at that, her hackles raised. “I promise you, Coraline. I don’t know what line of bullshit those men fed you, but Hayes Fox is a criminal. He got off because he had a good lawyer and too much money. You should’ve seen the marks on the woman he raped. And you have some of those same marks on you.”
Heat flooded Cora’s cheeks. The night was coming back to her in bits and pieces but she could feel the tenderness of her backside, could see the faint bruises on her wrists, and had an idea how all that had happened. “Mom, please. I need you to trust me on this. You said I was smart. Act like you believe it. I swear to you these men are good men. They would’ve had no reason to drug me. I wanted to be there. I wanted the things that happened to happen. I don’t know how the drug got in my drink, but I would bet my life on the fact that it wasn’t put there by one of them.”
Janet crossed her arms, her expression tired. “I’m going to call for the nurse. They need to check you out while you’re awake. And you need more sleep.”
Before Cora had a chance to respond, her mom stepped outside the door. A minute later she could hear the conversation drifting to her. Words like confused and in denial were clear enough. Cora pulled wires off her body, sending the machine into a fit.
The nurse rushed in. “Ma’am, I need you to—”
“I need to check out.”
The nurse, a broad woman with a tight bun, looked unmoved. “We can’t do that until the doctor comes by and gives the go-ahead. He’ll be making rounds in the next two hours. I need you to just relax for now. We can get you something—”
“I want to check out.”
“You can’t—”
“Yes, I can. I can do that—what’s it called? That AMA thing. Please get someone who can make that happen. I’m fine. I have a headache, but I wasn’t raped. I’m not in denial. And I sure as hell don’t need more sleep. I’ve slept enough.”
The nurse’s expression conveyed her frustration, and Janet looked ready to physically hold Cora back. But Cora knew enough to know that they couldn’t hold her unless they thought she was a danger to herself or someone else. She could leave “Against Medical Advice” if she signed a form. Sometimes it was a benefit to have been a cop’s kid and have heard all her mother’s shop talk.
So after a tense few minutes of trying to negotiate, the nurse strode off to get the forms.
Cora’s mother was red in the face by the end of the exchange. “You need to stay. This is ridiculous. The drugs are making you act irrational.”
“I’m not being irrational.” Cora found a bag her mom had apparently brought up to the hospital with fresh clothes. She tugged on the yoga pants and T-shirt. She could feel her mom watching her. Angry. But worried, too.
And that’s when it registered that her mom truly believed this. She wasn’t trying to be a pain in the ass. She thought Cora had been drugged and raped and was now going off the deep end. She didn’t have access to all the information Cora had. So with a sigh, Cora walked over to her and put her hands on her shoulders.
“Mom, listen to me. You said it yourself. You’ve trained me to be smart about these things. To be cautious. Paranoid, even. I’ve been on the lookout for dangerous men all my life. Do you think I would’ve gone home with two guys who I didn’t absolutely, one hundred percent trust? Do you think if I truly believed I’d been raped that I wouldn’t be the first in line to throw the book at these guys?”
Janet shook her head. “Baby, you’re young and naive. Men will take advantage of you. You can’t know everything about people . . .”
“No, I can’t.” Cora put her arms at her sides. “And you can’t either. But I can promise you, I know enough. And if you and the police aren’t going to help figure out who really did this, who’s really setting up Hayes, then I’m going to have to find out myself.” She took a deep breath. She couldn’t even think about Ren and Hayes being behind bars right now. She couldn’t let that image sink in. “You taught me that not everyone or everything is as it seems on the surface. And what you’re doing right now is just looking at the surface, at the obvious thing. Why in God’s name would Hayes put himself at risk so publicly again when he just got out of prison?”
She frowned. “Poor impulse control.”
“Ha—if you knew him, you’d realize how far from the truth that is. And if they had this grand plan, why come out with me and my friends? Why create all those witnesses? I would’ve gone out with just them.”
“Witnesses said that you were drunk. That helps their case to pin this on your behavior.”