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Chapter Twenty-Two
Mace
“I got it.”
I dropped the box I had been searching through. “What?” I demanded.
Imogen looked up from the piece of paper in her hand. There was a smudge of dirt on her cheek, and her hair was piled on top of her head. We had been half an hour late getting to the storage unit today because I couldn’t let her out of the house without reminding her who she belonged to.
Twice.
“I found the report.” Imogen held it out to me. “It’s dated two days after Kent raped me.”
I grabbed the paper from her and skimmed it over. “Holy fuck, Imogen.” This was it. This was the paper that was going to help prove that Kent had raped Imogen and that she had killed him out of self-defense.
We had only been sorting through the boxes for an hour until she found it.
“It was in the box with a bunch of trolls.”
I lowered the paper and stared at Imogen. “Ah, yes, the perfect place to store documents.”
She dug back into the box and pulled out a plastic, sealed bag with a pair of underwear in them. “No,” she gasped.
“Babe.” My heart pounded in my chest. “Is that the underwear you were wearing that day?”
She opened her mouth and tipped her head to the side. “I honestly can’t tell you, but I have to assume it is.”
If those were the underwear she had worn when Kent raped her, and we also had the medical report confirming she was raped, Imogen and I were almost as good as off the hook. “I don’t know how long DNA can last, but I’m fucking hopeful Kent left his on that underwear. They tried to screw me over a shoe; well, we’re going to fuck him up with a pair of underwear.”
“We have to get this to Pam as soon as we can.” Imogen jumped up and clapped her hands together. “I can’t believe we actually found what we were looking for.”
I couldn’t believe it either, but I knew if we were going to find it, it would happen because Imogen was helping.
We put all the boxes and totes back into the storage unit and headed to Janet’s room.
“Well?” Janet asked when we walked. “You must have found something because it’s not even lunchtime yet.”
Imogen smiled broadly and held up the paper. She had the bag with the underwear in her pocket, but she must not have felt like showing that off. “This is what we were looking for.”
“I can’t believe we found it, Janet, but I am thankful you kept it all these years.”
Janet smiled sadly. “I wish you never had to go through that, child, but I am glad that I can at least help a little after all these years.”
I knew Imogen could never truly forgive Janet for everything she had done to her, but she did still love her. She just knew to keep her walls up and only give her the parts of her that she wanted to.
Knowing Imogen, though, she would give a lot of herself.
“Me, too, but I think everything is going to be all right now. I can go back to Jackson, and Mace doesn’t have to worry about going to prison.” She squeezed my hand, and a huge smile spread across her lips. “Everything is going to be okay.”
“Well, then, you two better get back to Sacramento. Your lawyer is going to need that paper.” Janet smiled sadly.
“Oh, uh, we’re actually not going to head back until tomorrow.” Imogen glanced up at me. “Mace has our house rented through tomorrow, so I was hoping we could maybe spend the rest of the day with you.”
Imogen had talked about wanting to stay till tomorrow if I was okay with it, and I was. I didn’t know she wanted to spend the day with Janet, though.
“Oh,” Janet said softly. “You don’t want to spend your day with me. There is so much to do in San Diego that is more fun than sitting around here with me.”
Imogen tsked and shook her head. “I’m a small-town girl now who doesn’t need all the craziness of a big city. We can have lunch with you, and I think I saw that there is bingo this afternoon in the entertainment area.”
