“Is it done?” he asks, his tone deep.
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
I look up and see the lit sign of the gas station and a twenty-four-hour grocery store behind it.
“Headed home,” I answer.
“A woman was attacked two weeks ago. Guy broke into her house in the middle of the night and left her barely alive. He was released today on a technicality.”
No other words need to be said. I feel JW’s eyes on me, and I know he’ll be on board.
My molars grind together as I grit out, “Text me the address.”
Hanging up, I look over to JW. “We’ve got another stop to make.”
REMI
I WALK AROUND TO THE back of the house to the fake plant sitting beside the end of the stone steps. Lifting the pot, I grab the key from beneath it. The door creaks as I push it open. Setting the key down on the kitchen counter, I quickly walk across the room and head for the stairs. I’m late for a conference call with one of my clients, so I need to hurry. The only reason I’m here is because Lynn borrowed my favorite boots last week, and I want to wear them for my date tonight.
I smile as I pass by a picture Beverly hung on the wall of Lynn and me at graduation. We were both so happy that day, giddy with excitement of starting the next phase of our lives.
I get to the bottom of the steps and stop when I think I hear something. Turning my head to the side, I listen carefully. When I don’t hear anything, I shrug and continue on. I’m halfway up the stairs, when I hear it again. I know I heard a soft squeak.
Lynn is staying with her parents while her apartment building is being renovated. She and her mom are in Kentucky for the week visiting Beverly’s aunt. Phillip, Lynn’s dad, couldn’t go with them because of a business trip. He’s not supposed to be here, but I guess he could have returned early. His car wasn’t in the driveway.
I listen again for the sound and wonder if I should just call Lynn to find out if her dad came back early. Maybe he caught a cab from the airport. No other sounds reach my ears, and I begin to wonder
if I’m just hearing things.
At the top of the steps, I pause and look down the hallway. Something compels me to turn left toward Lynn’s parent’s room, instead of turning right toward Lynn’s. Shivers creep up my spine the closer I get to the door. A whisper in the back of my mind tells me to back away. To grab my boots and leave, but my feet carry me forward.
The door is cracked open an inch, and I lay my hand against it. I frown when I hear something on the other side. It almost sounds like a… whimper.
When my hand goes to my back pocket and don’t feel my phone, I silently curse myself. It’s in the cup holder in my car. I look back down the hallway, and debate on just leaving.
Yes! Leave! My brain shouts.
That’s not what I do though. I don’t know why I push open the door. I don’t know why I just stand there and watch the horror that’s happening on the bed. I’m frozen. In shock. I don’t scream. I don’t run. I’m held in place, unable to move. Unable to make a sound. My stomach revolts and twists at the sight. My mind screams and pleas with me to move.
The door taps the wall, and the man jerks his head up. He’s not frozen. As soon as he sees me standing there, my mouth open and face drained of color, he bolts off the little girl on the bed and rushes at me.
He’s halfway across the room when my body starts working again. I turn and start running down the hall to the stairs. Right as I take the first step, my hair is caught, and I stumble as I’m yanked back.
“What in the fuck are you doing here, Remi?” Phillip growls as he wrenches me around to face him.
What in the hell do I say to him? It doesn’t matter why I’m here. The fact is, I am, and I just caught him raping a little girl. My best friend’s father, the man who’s taken us for ice cream, the one who would sit at pretend tea parties, the one who taught Lynn and me to swim, and the one who would chase us around pretending to be a monster, making us giggle. Except, he really is a monster.
I cry out when he shakes me by the grip he has in my hair. I try to pull away, digging my nails into his hand, but it’s no use.
“Let me go!” I scream, fear skittering through my body.
An evil smile slips over his face and it scares the shit out of me. I’m pulled by my hair across the hall and shoved against the wall by his bedroom door. Hot breath hits my face when he steps closer. My hands drop from trying to pry his away, and I push on his chest. It’s then that I remember he’s naked.
His other hand grips my throat and squeezes. “You know,” he starts, before dipping his eyes to the front of my shirt and licks his lips. It’s hot out today, so I’m in a tank top. “I’ve always thought you were a pretty girl and wondered what you would taste like. Especially when you were little.”
When his body presses against mine, bile rises up my throat. I claw at his chest, and he hisses out a breath. Leaning back, the hand leaves my hair and a second later, pain radiates across my cheek. My head whips to the side with the force, and I’m left feeling dizzy. There’s a metallic taste in my mouth, and I swallow the blood.