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He stared at me. "Eva spoke to you about that?"
"Is that so surprising?"
Owen shook his head. "She never really talked to me about what happened. . . . All she ever said was that Phillip didn't hurt Salina, but obviously that wasn't true. I assumed she'd blocked most of it out, that it was just too traumatic for her to realize or remember what Phillip had done to Salina. So I eventually gave up trying to get her to talk about it. I didn't want to bring it up over and over and have her constantly be haunted by that night. "
I didn't tell him that Eva had been too scared of the water elemental and her threats to confide in her big brother. That was Eva's part of the story to tell - not mine.
I leaned forward. "I believe Eva. She's telling the truth about what happened - and so is Kincaid, like it or not. "
Owen didn't say anything, but he shook his head again, and I could see the same weariness in his eyes I had last night.
"Think about it, Owen," I said before he could speak, before he could stick up for Salina again. "Forget your feelings for Salina and really think about things. You walked in and found Kincaid beating Salina. No one's disputing that. But he was, what, fifteen then? Still a scrawny kid. And Salina was the same age as you, right? About nineteen, four years older than Kincaid?"
He nodded, confirming the information in Fletcher's file.
"So Salina was older. Not only that, she had elemental magic. Even if Kincaid had tried to rape her, why would he attack her in the bathroom, of all places? With Eva only a few feet away in the tub, a tub with all that water in it? Why didn't Salina use her water magic to fight him off? Why did she insist you beat him to death instead?"
Owen didn't say anything, but I could see him thinking back and struggling to review everything with an objective eye. He sat there, working through it all. I leaned back in my side of the booth and kept quiet, wanting him to draw his own conclusions - the right ones this time.
"It could have happened the way you think it did," he finally said. "Maybe Phillip didn't try to rape Salina. But why were they fighting? Why was he beating her? What did she do to him that was so terrible? Because he would have killed her if I hadn't come back when I did. "
Now it was time to rip the scabs off all the old wounds - no matter how much it was going to hurt Owen.
I drew in a breath. "They were fighting because Salina was torturing Eva with her water magic. Salina was using her power to hold Eva down under the water in the bathtub. She was drowning Eva again and again. "
All around us, everything went on as usual. The other diners talked and laughed; the waitstaff hurried from one table to another; Sophia dished up plate after plate of food; the chatter of the customers and the clink-clink-clink of dishes and silverware sounded; and the air smelled of hot grease mixed with smoky spices.
Yes, the world went on just like it had before. But for Owen, everything had changed.
For a moment, he was absolutely still, as if frozen to where he sat. Then, everything happened at once. All the color drained out of my lover's face, his eyes bulged, and he let out a strangled gasp.
"No - no way. That's just not possible - "
"That wasn't the first night it happened," I said, cutting him off, being brutal, like I had to be right now. "The torture had been going on for weeks. Kincaid finally figured out what Salina was doing to Eva. That's why he told you he was sick, so he could go back home and catch her in the act. He was trying to protect Eva. "
Owen flinched, like I'd just zapped him with a stun gun. I reached over and took his hand, trying to bring him the same comfort he had me earlier.
"It's not your fault," I said. "None of this is your fault. Salina fooled everyone. "
"But if what you're saying is true . . . "
His voice trailed off, and he couldn't get the words out. That sick, stricken look filled his face again, and I knew he was thinking of what Eva had suffered.
I squeezed his hand. "I know . . . I know this is a lot to take in. "
Owen stared at me, but his eyes were dark and distant, and I could tell that he was lost in his memories. Thinking about various facts, clues from that time that might support - or undermine - what I'd just revealed. "I was so sure Salina was telling the truth. It seemed so obvious at the time. But if she wasn't . . . if what you're saying is true . . . Eva . . . Phillip . . . all these years I've blamed him. . . . "
His voice trailed off, and guilt tightened his features at the thought of what he'd done to Kincaid, of how he'd almost beaten his best friend to death because of Salina's lies.
I let him sit there for a minute, thinking about everything. I would have liked to put my arms around him and tell him that everything was going to be okay, but that would have been a lie. The past was done, and we all had to live with the consequences of it. The only thing we could change was the future.
"What if I can prove it to you?" I asked. "One way or the other, who's lying and who's telling the truth. I think I can give you that. "
What I hadn't told him was that there was one more person involved in this drama. There had to be. From what I'd seen, Salina had been just as crazy about Owen back then as she was now. She wouldn't have just abandoned him for no reason. No, someone had forced Salina to leave Ashland, and I didn't think it was Kincaid - but I was betting that the casino boss knew exactly who it was.
"How are you going to do that?" Owen finally asked, still staring off into space. "How are you going to give me answers? You weren't even there when it happened. "
I squeezed his hand again. "You'll see. But you'll have to trust me. Do you think you can do that?"
