Page 28 of Evidence of Us

“You got it,” Zeke says as we stand. When he leaves the room, I turn to everyone.

“I have an idea, but I need y’all to trust me,” I say with a smile.

Side by side, Zekeand I step out of the station, and the media swarm us. “Is there any update?” someone yells.

“There has been a development with a person of interest,” I say as the door opens behind us. “We believe we have the individual responsible for these heinous crimes. He is a troubled man, but harmless to the public… We ask that if anyone witnesses anything suspicious to contact authorities and to continuebeing vigilant while we continue to build our case against this cowardly man.”

“Were the victims raped?” A man shouts from the back.

“There weren’t any signs of sexual assault. We theorize that the perpetrator might be completely impotent, and that is a large source of his anger,” I say. “Although his actions are abhorrent and absolutely horrific, he is a sad and lonely man who is scared of females… when we have further information, we will give another update.”

Zeke and I walk around the media and go to my car before driving away.

“Ready for this?” Zeke asks me.

“Yes,” I say confidently.

A short while later, we stop in a parking lot next to a park. Zeke grabs my face and kisses me hard before I step out, and he drives away.

This is the part that scares me. I know Zeke is watching out for me, but that doesn’t change the fact that I feel seemingly alone right now. I step onto the trail and start walking, praying that Zeke gets to me in time.

I pull my phone out and put it to my ear so I can pretend like I am calling someone. I can hear footsteps behind me, so I feed him lies while he watches me from a distance.

“Hello,” I say, pretending to answer my phone. “What do you want? … No, I will come back to the car when I am ready. I just need a minute… No. Will you just back off? … Alright. Whatever.”

I pretend to smash the end button, but call Kevin before slipping my phone into my back pocket.

“Trouble in paradise, Detective Rowan?” Adam says from behind me. I stop and start to turn, but scream when he suddenly shoves me off the trail and into the woods.

This sorry son of a bitch is a terrible attacker, because I would lay his ass out right now. No wonder he had to sneak attack all of the women he killed because they all could have kicked his ass. He had to drug and weaken them so he didn’t have to fight them. Instead of fighting, I intentionally and dramatically fawn.

“Please don’t hurt me!” I whimper when he has me face down in the dirt. He is straddling my legs with his hips pressed against my ass and one hand on my back to keep me pinned.

“You thought you could trick me,” he says, pulling my phone out of my pocket. He lays it face up so I can see the call going with Kevin. I slowly pull my arms under me with my palms down. I cross my right ankle over my left and wait for him to lean forward. I know he is going to try to reach for my gun first. Right as he does, I push my upper half off the ground and twist my hips fast, throwing him off me. I pull my pistol and have it in his face before Zeke even gets to me. Adam freezes with his hands on my hips as he is in the process of trying to get me down again.

“Get your fucking hands up!” Zeke shouts as he rushes off the trail and down to us. Behind him are Geno and Parker.

“You lying bitch!” Adam growls, realizing I didn’t fawn like he thought I did.

“Pathetic,” I scoff. “Roll. Now.”

“I’ll fucking kill you, bitch! You’ll beg just like my whore sister did!” he screams, lunging for me. Instead of shooting him, I grab his wrist with my non-dominant hand and twist until he screams out in pain. Zeke takes my pistol so I can force him to roll. I easily get his hands behind his back, and Kevin saunters off the trail and over to us.

“You okay?” Kevin asks, handing me cuffs.

“Yeah,” I say, slapping them on and tightening them.

I get Adam onto his feet and hold onto the chain of his cuffs to pat him down. “Get your fucking hands off me, bitch,” he growls, pulling his head back and smashing it into mine. I immediately taste blood on my lip.

“You sure showed me, huh?” I laugh, wiping my lip before pushing him out of the woods and onto the trail, where the place is swarming with cops now. Parker takes Adam, and Zeke blocks my body with his so that no one can see me as he cups my chin. “You okay, Riss?” he asks, gently wiping the blood from my lip.

“Yeah,” I say, smiling.

“Did he try to assault you?” he asks, pointing to my now unbuttoned dress slacks.

“I don’t…” I start to say, but he stops me.

“Did he try to assault you?” he repeats when Kevin steps next to him.