The water continued to drain. Then all was silent.
He waited, unsure of where she was or what she expected of him. Unable to wait longer, when images of her slim body trembling filled his mind’s eye, he went out, through the hall to her bedroom. She wasn’t there, but the adjoining bathroom door was ajar. Knocking softly, he called her name. When she didn’t answer, he cautiously opened the door.
She was sitting on the rim of the tub, her hands clasping its porcelain lip on either side of her hips. She wore a soft, white, knee-length nightgown with a scooped neck and long sleeves. Her bangs were damp and brushed to the side, while the rest of her hair fell over one shoulder, not quite reaching her breasts.
Jared felt as though he’d been punched in the gut. He swallowed hard, then swallowed again when she looked up at him. Her eyes were glazed, and when she spoke, her voice trembled.
“We found her crumpled up in a phone booth. She wouldn’t respond to Will or to me. It was like she refused to make the connection between what she used to be and what she’d become. Sammy was a stranger. He managed to get through to her enough so we could get her into the car and to the hospital.”
She paused, swallowed, looked unseeingly at the tiles on the floor while her knuckles went white. “I held her hand in the car. It was so cold and lifeless. We hadn’t seen any marks on her at first, but there in the car I could see marks around her wrists, rope burns.” Her voice grew weaker. “And she was filthy—her hair, her face, her hands and feet—but her robe was immaculate.” Her voice fell to a whisper. “No wonder. She hadn’t worn the robe for three days. The entire time they’d kept her naked—tied to the bed—her hands over her head—” she faltered and flinched, “her legs spread.”
Pressing her own together, she closed her eyes and tucked her chin to her chest. Her arms began to shake at the elbows.
Lowering himself beside her, Jared drew her against him. Her fingers closed convulsively on handfuls of his sweater, and if they took several chest hairs with them, he didn’t care. The tweaking was a welcome pain.
“They raped her, Jared,” she told him in a tormented voice that was only slightly muffled by his throat. “They raped her over and over again. Two men. Taking turns. She was raw and bleeding inside, but that must have turned them on more. They kept her tied to that bed.”
Swallowing a moan, Jared held her tighter.
“The doctor said she was bruised all over. Black and blue marks, teeth marks on her breasts and her stomach. They untied her long enough to turn her over, then they abused her that way until they turned her again.” She gasped for air and wailed, “What kinds of men are we dealing with? What kinds of animals could do something like that?”
“Animals don’t,” Jared said angrily. “That’s the interesting part. Animals don’t hurt others of their species that way. Only men do. They even take pleasure in the pain they inflict.”
“But why? Why Megan? What did she ever do to deserve that kind of pain? All she ever wanted in life was a small measure of financial security. She didn’t ask for the world. She certainly didn’t ask for wealth. She married Will because she was in love. What did she do so wrong?”
“I don’t know, babe,” he said, working to get a handle on his anger. It wouldn’t help Savannah any. She needed soothing. Rubbing his jaw against her hair, he inhaled her sweet, clean smell and said gently, “Some things happen without any reason at all.”
“They got the money. They knew they’d get the money. Why did they have to put their filthy hands on Megan?”
He didn’t answer. There were no answers to give, and he knew Savannah knew that. The best he could do was to hold her tightly and let her vent the anger and pain and frustration that festered inside.
“I should have done more,” she murmured. “If I’d known what they were doing to her, I’d have brought in every law enforcement agency in the state.”
“They brutally raped her. That has to tell you what they’re capable of. If you’d openly brought in the law after they’d warned against it, they’d have killed her.”
“I’ve been telling myself that, but I’m not sure there’s much difference between rape like that and murder. You didn’t see Megan’s face, Jared. It was awful—not a bruise in sight, but it was totally changed. Like she’d been hollowed from the inside out. Like something inside her had died.”
“She’s not dead, Savannah. You have to remember that. She’s not dead. She’ll heal. There are counselors who’ll help, psychiatrists.”
“She was practically catatonic.”
“She can be treated.”
“It was awful. She looked at Will as though it hurt to see him. She looked at me the same way. Do you know how that felt?” She gave an anguished cry. “Talk about setting off a guilt trip!”
Taking her face in one hand, Jared turned it up to his. “Not guilt. There’s no reason at all for that. You did your best. You made decisions based on the information you had. It’s easy enough in hindsight to say what you should have done, but given the same situation again, you’d have to do the same thing. There’s nothing you could have done differently. The risk would have been too great.”
“If I’d known—”
“No. Nothing differently.” His voice was at the same time firm, but gentle and pleading like his eyes. “Savannah, you tried. You had people working with you and none of them told you to do anything but what you did. It wasn’t like you were going against orders, or even advice.” He paused. “Have you spoken with your boss?”
She gave a single nod against his hand. “He’s not thrilled. He was hoping we’d rescue both Megan and the money.”
“How did he hope you’d do that?”
“He didn’t say.”
Jared swore. “Politicians are assholes. So concerned about the next election that they lose sight of what they’re elected to do. So what was he doing while this rescue was taking place? He was probably in some woman’s bed, screwing her wild.”
