Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 120176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
I gave her a look. “You really think either of us could get any sleep in an inn around here?”
Her mouth flattened, and her shoulders dropped dramatically. “We’ll need coffee then.”
I drove to a nearby gas station, filling up the tank. Mara went inside, but came out and met me as I was going in. She had a bag of food hanging from her arm and her hands were filled with two coffee cups. She raised one. “For you.”
I nodded. “Thank you. I’m going to take a quick piss.”
“I got water as well. Gatorade.”
“Thanks. Here.” I turned and hit the unlock button.
“Thanks.”
I moved past but turned and walked backwards. She did the same, watching me and for a moment, both of us paused. There was no one else here, except one gas attendant inside. We were in the middle of fucking nowhere, had gone through what we went through, and she never broke down. Not once. She stayed and she fought for me. She’d been my anchor when every part of me wanted to go back and finish the job with Carrington. Then she took care of me, thinking ahead, fighting back in her way, and she was there for Angela. She stayed for Angela, the whole time when we went to the police station.
Mara was the one who talked Angela into pressing charges now, not later.
She did that, and even though Mara was saying she did that for me and for Angela, there’d been something about her, like she was too familiar with the whole process.
The thought hadn’t fully formed in my head until now, but it’d been there. In the back of my mind, ruminating. Now I couldn’t let it go.
She saw the question in my eyes. Her chin lifted. Her face cleared of all exhaustion. She knew something was coming from me, and my God, but she wasn’t even flinching. She was facing it head-on.
“That ever happen to you? What he did to Angela, or what I thought he’d done to her?”
She blinked, once. A stricken look flashed in her gaze, but then it was gone after she blinked a second time. “Once, yeah. When I was too young to know anything.”
Everything in my body clenched up. She’d been hurt, and I hadn’t known her then. It was still there. It still hung over her. She was still carrying it.
“What happened?”
She lowered her head, shaking it, slowly. Her fingers tightened around the coffee cups, but then she looked back up, and a whole different expression was there. It looked deep, tortured. “I don’t carry emotional scars from what the guy did. I went to therapy, worked that out of me, but it’s what my mom did that hurt the worst.”
“What’d she do?”
“She made it about her. It’s what she always does.” She rolled her eyes, before looking away. “Can you hit the unlock button again?”
She started walking back, and I hit the button. I waited until she got inside.
Until she got comfortable, turned to face me, and I hit the lock button back again.
People were precious and Mara, I was realizing how precious she was.
Maybe more than she wanted to know.
40
MARA
We got to Cruz’s house so late. Or hella early in the morning.
After he parked, I got out, my bag in hand and circled the truck, but he took it from me. We gave each other a long look, but no words were shared. He carried both our bags inside.
Atwater, Barclay, and a couple other guys were up, all sitting on the couch and doing nothing.
Cruz had opened the door for me. I went in first, but he came around me, his hand touching the small of my back. “What are you guys doing?”
Atwater had bags under his eyes. His hair looked as if he’d been running his hand through it. “Waiting on Labrowski. He was supposed to let us know if everything was okay.”
Barclay was on his phone. “And we’re supposed to let him know when you got here.”
Atwater asked, “What’s going on? I’ve never seen Labrowski act like he did this morning. He let out a yell or something, woke half of us up. Tore out of here and yelled that we needed to let him know when you got back. That’s it. Radio silence until you just walked in. You’ve been at the beach until now?”
Cruz’s mouth tightened, and he started to shake his head. His hand rested more firmly on my back, urging me forward a little bit. “Give him some time. If he comes back, he’s not going to want to talk to anyone, but guys, he might not come back till later today. Best thing, go to bed.”
“What the fuck!” Barclay shot up to his feet, staring at his phone before he showed his screen. “Carrington was arrested by Outpost. It’s–”
One of the other guys shoved up too. “It’s all over my social media. It’s saying sexual assault.”