Colin raised his eyebrows and gave his head a quick shake. “I hope you can find some way to enjoy the rest of your cruise, even a little bit.” He met her eyes and grimaced. “Shit thing to have happen on a vacation. Are you here with a partner?”
“My fiancée. She’s beating herself up for letting me go to the restroom alone.”
“She sounds a lot like my hubby. He blames himself if I stub my toe.” He gave her a quick grin. “‘Course I blame myself if he stubshisso…”
“I know we won’t be going back to the casino,” she said, giving him a wry smile.
“Neither will I,” Colin told her, then reached to pat her hand. “Louise, you are extraordinarily brave. Talking to me like this so soon after such a horrifying incident takes tremendous courage. I hope the security officers can nab this bastard.”
He mentioned Joshua’s offer to chat with her, and she willingly accepted Joshua’s phone number. “Just send him a text if you’d like to talk. He’s a sweet, kind, gentle guy. You’ll feel better after you talk with him.” He leaned toward her and smiled. “I knowIalways do!”
A few minutes later, he emerged from the office and indicated the door behind him as he fell into a nearby chair. “You need to get her to the ship’s physician.” He sighed and shook his head. “I doubt he’ll find much. It’s been too long, and she told me she washed after she regained consciousness, so we’re pretty much screwed for obtaining any physical evidence. Still, the rape kit may be partially intact, so maybe the doctor can use it to do some swabs that’ll be helpful. The clothes she wore are in her cabin on the closet floor.” He shrugged. “You can give them to the FBI and hope they can get them to a lab in time to collect any evidence they might provide.” He glanced at the two security officers. “We’ve got about seventy-two hours to collect DNA evidence, and time’s a-wastin’.”
Sinclair turned to his fellow officer. “Rob, would you take her to the doc?”
Dodson nodded and moved to enter the small anteroom where Louise Stamford waited.
Colin rose when she entered, accompanied by Officer Dodson. Colin held out his hand, and when Louise took it, he pressed her hand between his two large palms. “Officer Dodson will escort you to the ship’s physician, Louise. Then he’ll walk you back to your cabin. Please get in touch with my husband to set up a time for you to chat. And get in touch with these gentlemen if you remember anything more about last night. I’ll also be available to chat, so feel free to ask for me.” He tightened his hand slightly. “And Louise? When Officer Dodson returns you to your cabin, remember to point out the clothing you wore last night to preserve it for evidence gathering.”
She smiled and nodded. “You were very kind, Colin. Thank you. Please tell your husband that I will text him sometime today.”
“You won’t be sorry,” Colin told her. “I may be biased, but I think he’s a great guy. And I know he’s a world-class therapist.”
Colin shook Louise Stamford’s hand, then turned to Blake Sinclair. “Give him an evidence bag.” Sinclair complied, and then Dodson and Ms Samford left. Colin stared after them momentarily, then scowled and hissed a disgusted noise. “Fucking hell! We’ll be lucky to get a damned thing from any of this!” He glanced at Sinclair. “Any security video in that casino?”
“Only in the casino itself, not in any of the backroom areas where it happened.”
Colin grimaced and rose. “OK, Blake. Where’s your computer?” When Sinclair pointed to the desk, Colin sat down behind it. “You got Word on this thing?” When Sinclair pointed to Word’s icon, Colin booted it up and began to type. “I’m giving you a list,” he said. “This is everything you need to do in the event of a sexual assault, and you need to do them inthisorder.” He typed furiously for several minutes, then leaned away from the desk. “This will apply whether the victim is male or female. Same steps. Same order.” He gave Sinclair a disgusted look. “And for god’s sake, get a new rape kit! Jesus, Blake! Get several! I know for a fact that sexual assault is the number one crime on cruise ships. You need to be prepared!”
Sinclair nodded. “I’ll request it, Colin. But that’s all I can do.”
Colin got to his feet with a weary sigh. “Let’s just check out the crime scene before any more evidence is destroyed.”
CHAPTERNINE
EAGLES
It was nearly eleven a.m. when Colin returned to their stateroom. He opened the door and walked in, then traced the sound of the voices coming from David and Nate’s suite until he reached their bedroom. He saw Joshua, David, and Nate sitting on the balcony and greeted them with a smile. “Anyone home?” he called out, and in seconds, Joshua had flown across the room and into his arms. “Colin!” he cried, clutching his husband to his chest. “MyYedid, are you all right?”
Colin’s arms closed around him in a grip so tight that Joshua could scarcely breathe. There was a sorrow in his embrace that signaled the need for the kind of comfort that only Joshua could provide. Colin’s arms, usually steady and strong, shuddered as they clutched his husband close, and his face pressed itself to Joshua’s neck, communicating a rare vulnerability as he sought to anchor himself in his husband’s loving presence.
“My boy,” he whispered into Joshua’s hair. “My beautiful boy.” The emotional cost of today’s interview had drawn him to this moment. Had drawn him to seek healing in the arms of the one person he knew could restore his peace. His rock. His oak. Their embrace symbolized not just their physical closeness but an emotional union that ran too deep for words.
Nate moved to enter the stateroom, but David grabbed his arm. He drew Nate back onto the balcony and closed the curtain behind him. “Let’s give them a minute,” he said.
“You think Colin’s OK?”
“I think Colin’s fine,” David told him. “But that had to be a tough interview, and he’s not used to it anymore. Just give him a few minutes with Josh.”
In the stateroom, Colin still rocked Joshua in his arms. His breath, which had quavered in his chest, slowly relaxed into a regular rhythm. “Jesus,” he breathed out, turning his face to kiss Joshua’s cheek, then he inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of his skin… his clothing. “You smell like you,” he murmured.
“I don’t smell like sugar cookies?”
Colin smiled. “That’s only after you use that damned vanilla shower gel.” He leaned back and met Joshua’s eyes. “How thefuckdid I manage to do that for ten fuckingyears?”
“Yousuffered,” Joshua told him. “You suffered every day. I watched it. Every day, I watched you grieve, and it nearly broke my heart. I’d go home and cry because it hurt me so badly.”
Colin nodded, then cradled Joshua’s cheek in his palm. “Thank you,grá mo chroí.”
