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Eagerly, I type in the number from the piece of paper and hit the green call button. I hold the phone to my ear and suck in a calming breath. I’m not the nervous type, never have been, but for some reason, there is an anxious feeling that washes over me as I wait for the person to pick up the phone. The phone rings exactly four times.
With each ring, my patience draws thinner, and dread weasels its way up my spine. Then the ringing stops.
“Hello,” a familiar gruff voice filters through the speaker, “Fallon, are you there?” I almost drop the sleek device, barely stopping it from sliding out of my hand.
No, this can’t be. It can’t be him.
Pulling the phone away from my ear, I look at it instead, as if that would explain why Victoria’s father kidnapped Fallon and sent her to the auction for me to buy. Before I do something stupid like talk to him, I hang up the phone and slip it back into my pocket.
All I can do is stare at the floor—shock coursing through my veins. I’ve expected all kinds of people behind this, but not him. I know he hates my guts, but Timothy is not the kind of guy capable of something like this… or so I thought.
My mind is spinning as I try to form a plausible explanation. Victoria’s father loved her. He was a good dad, an outstanding citizen. How could he do this? Kidnapping? Sending a woman to an auction? A woman who looks like his dead daughter, no less.
Regardless of how this happened, one thing is clear. This is bad.
Really fucking bad.“I’m going to give her some antibiotics and morphine through the IV for now. I’ll probably do this for the next few days to keep her comfortable, then we can switch to oral medicine. I don’t see any injuries that will require surgery, but the amount of superficial trauma is so extensive that it will take her awhile to recover,” Doc. Schwarz explains. “She is also dehydrated and malnourished. I’ll leave some supplements for when she wakes up.”
“So, she is going to be out for a while longer?” I ask the doctor while he cleans the final few wounds. He has been here for over an hour, examining and cleaning every cut and bruise.
“For her sake, I hope, yes. The longer she is out of it, the quicker she can heal. The physical trauma in itself is a lot, but the mind is going to be the biggest burden. Your bones and skin can heal, but what’s done to you, the things you remember…”
I know what he’s referring to. The fact that she was obviously raped, repeatedly. Like I said before, putting a bullet in her head would be doing her a favor.
Fallon has been sitting on a chair in the corner of the room, watching the doctor take care of her friend. She watches him meticulously as if to make sure he’s not doing anything wrong.
“What about those cuts on her legs? Won’t you stitch them up?” I switch gears.
“It’s too late. Stitches have to be done within twenty-four hours of the injury. These seem to be older, and the skin is already healing itself. At this point, it’s better to just keep the wound clean and let her body do the rest.”
“Oh.” Fallon lowers her head.
“I told you, Doctor Schwarz is one of the best in the city. Julie is in good hands.”
“Her scarring will be very visible since it wasn’t stitched up, but that’s something she can have revised later. Right now, we’ll just make sure she doesn’t get an infection, so she can recover and get back on her feet.”
“Thanks, doc.” I watch him pack up all of his stuff.
I walk him out to the door and hand him a wad of cash before sending him off. When I get back to the guest room, Fallon is sitting on the edge of the bed, holding Julie’s hand. The floor creaks as I walk in, and she looks to where I’m standing.
“What kind of doctor is he that he doesn’t even ask how this happened or demands we take her to the hospital and call the police?”
“The kind that is paid handsomely and told not to ask questions.”
Fallon shakes her head in disbelief, her eyes dropping back down to Julie’s hand. “Did you call the number?”
“I did.” I nod, taking a seat on the chair Fallon sat in moments ago. My chest tightens. “I know who has your sister.”
That has her interest peaked. Her head snaps up and her eyes connect with mine—the purest blue, soft like little waves that crest against the shore.
So trusting and kind. I can’t let her down. Not just because I don’t want to but because I already let another woman down once before.
