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“He disappeared?”
“Yeah. When I tried to call him, it didn’t go through. I thought something had happened to him and was frantic. I started calling hospitals. I called the police. They said he had to be missing twenty-four hours. I didn’t know anyone who he worked with. So I decided to drive by his house. I thought perhaps it might have a clue. Imagine my shock when I saw two older people there.”
“What?”
“Yeah. Turns out it wasn’t Steven’s house at all. They’d been on an extended holiday in Florida. I still wasn’t getting it. I went to the police station and filed a missing person’s report. And they couldn’t find the man I described. There was nothing about him. They were giving me these strange looks and asking if there was anything else I wanted to tell them.” She ran a shaky hand over her face.
“You didn’t tell them about the house?”
“Not then. I didn’t want them to think badly of him. I, um, I went back to the motel and I had to pay for another week. That’s when my credit card declined. It was a Saturday, so I couldn’t contact the bank.”
Fuck. That fucker.
“I had some cash on me, so I paid for the next night and I figured I’d talk to my bank on Monday. Imagine my surprise when I went to the bank and found that my credit card was maxed out. I was down to my last forty dollars. I was so confused. I went to the house we’d bought. Surely I owned part of that, right? When I called the real estate agent, she had no idea what I was talking about.”
“He took the money from your grandma’s house.”
“I lost everything. There was nothing left. And I just . . . I got so mad. I figured there would have to be some way for the cops to trace him. Maybe they could use my phone or I don’t know. I don’t understand techy stuff. I called the police station and told them he was no longer a missing person and that I wanted to report a con man.”
“Did they send someone out to you?”
“No. They said to come in. So I grabbed my stuff because I knew I wasn’t coming back to this motel. As I was coming out of the bathroom . . . that’s . . . that’s when he attacked me.”
27
“What?” Raid asked.
“I don’t know how he knew what I was going to do. . . was he listening to my call? Did he have the room bugged? I honestly thought he’d be long gone.” She leaned forward and rested her face in his lap. “I can’t talk about it. I can’t.”
What? What the fuck else happened?
“Baby? Hannah, I’m going to pull you onto my lap now.” She didn’t protest as he lifted her, holding her tight against him as she shook. “You can tell me all of it, baby. There’s nothing that you can’t ever tell me.”
“I know. It’s just so hard.” She buried her face in his chest.
“What happened?”
“He . . . he slammed me against the wall, and before I could scream or anything, he had his arm across my throat. I couldn’t breathe. I tried to claw at his arm, but he grabbed my hands in a crushing grip.”
“Fuck. That motherfucker.”
“I didn’t even get a chance to ask him anything. To ask him why. I was just trying to survive. He told me that he knew I was going to go to the cops and that I’d better not. Because if I did, he’d have to hurt me.”
What the fuck?
Why the hell had she told him that she was safe? She should have gone to Jake with this straight away.
“I was struggling for air, barely conscious. But I’m sure he said he’d like to have a reason to come back and play with me. Which didn’t make a lot of sense to me. He let go of my hands, but I was too weak to fight back as he . . . as he tore off my clothes. He didn’t . . . he didn’t rape me. But he . . . he touched me. And then he . . . he touched himself. He got off on hurting me.”
Raid could barely hold back his furious howl.
That bastard had touched his girl. His baby. That was completely unacceptable.
He was shocked that Steven would’ve stuck around to ensure that she didn’t go to the police. Surely, there was more risk in doing that?
He’d fully intended to kill this motherfucker before.
Now, he wanted to do it slowly and painfully. He wanted to take his time so that this guy experienced every bit of pain and fear that his girl had. Only he wanted that multiplied by a hundred.
“I woke up on the floor of the motel. I was so scared.”
