“No, I can do it,” Avery says with a determined expression. “Shane will be with me.”
Arya glances again at Shane and then at Avery. “Is it all right if I tell him everything that happened?”
Avery nods. “Yeah, we tell each other the things. All the things.” Her voice sounds less slurred, but she still seems high as a kite.
“Shane Moran,” Arya says softly, while looking him over. “Can you keep your shit together and not freak her out more?”
Shane’s expression turns black. “Of course.”
“When I came in, she was naked from the waist down, and he was on top of her. She needs a rape kit.”
For a moment, we’re all completely silent and still. I expect Shane to explode, but he looks more shellshocked than angry. I think he assumed that since Avery was mostly dressed, Casanova hadn’t had a chance to rape her. I know I did.
Casanova had them a long time, though.Hours.I don’t know what happened to Arya either.
Avery breaks the silence. “He was getting ready to.” She shoves her hair off her forehead as though it itches.“He had it out. I felt it.” She shudders. “But he didn’t have time to put it inside. Because Arya came in and attacked him.” Avery reaches out and squeezes Arya’s hand.“Thanks for not leaving me. I was too out of it. I couldn’t save myself.”
“Yes, you did,” Arya says firmly. “It took both of us, remember?” Arya turns to look at Shane. “Avery has a bloody knife in her pocket that she sliced him with. That should probably go into evidence as well. But if you don’t want to give it to them, at least don’t let some unsuspecting nurse slice her fingers open while she’s helping Avery into a gown.”
“You cut him, huh, Ave? Good girl.” Shane’s head turns to watch the paramedics wheel Casanova’s stretcher to an ambulance.
“Hold onto Avery for me, Arya.”
Shane beckons me, and we step aside. His voice is low as he says, “Once they get him to the hospital, there will be no way to get to him. He’ll be handcuffed to a bed with a cop in the room. If we want him, now is the time.”
“I feel you,” I whisper. “But it can’t be done successfully tonight. We will get to him. In jail or out.”
Shane’s eyes narrow. “I want to be there.”
“Yeah, me too. Maybe we’ll be lucky, and he’ll convince a jury he’s innocent.”
Shane closes his eyes a minute, struggling with the thought of letting him out of our grasp.
Leaning forward, I whisper. “Besides, we should let them patch him up, so he’ll recover enough to really experience what life has in store. One good punch tonight would kill him. Quick death. No suffering. That’s not how it should happen.”
Deadly green eyes open and look at me. “You’re right.” He rubs his jaw and then watches with a glare as the ambulance doors close, and Casanova disappears.
“Avery’s been through too much this past month,” Shane says. “Now a rape exam… I don’t know.”
“She’ll be all right. These girls are warriors. They cut him deep. He had to run for his life in a panic. When she’s upset, remind her. There are victims in that tunnel, but she’s not one of them.”
Shane’s jaw clenches. “Yeah.” He blows out a breath through pursed lips. “You kept your head, and found them. I owe you. A blood debt.”
I shrug. “She’s yours, so family.”
His head turns to look at the women. “And Arya? Is that permanent?”
I nod. “For as long as she can stand it.”
“Good.”
* * *
ARYA
For once,I sleep soundly for seven straight hours and then drift in and out for another two. Erik and I climbed in bed after a long hot shower, so when I finally push his heavy arm off of me to sit up, I chuckle at the wild bends in his hair and the snarled feel of my own.
When I smooth his waves, he reaches up to take my arm. Drawing my wrist down over his face, he kisses the inside of my forearm.
