Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Liam
Goddammit, this was taking too long. I heard sirens in this distance, but they were taking their sweet ass time getting here.
“You’re doing great, Mary. Just stay right there,” I said for the hundredth time.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I grabbed it. I’d already texted and called Jenna, but she hadn’t answered. I knew she never answered her phone when she was with patrons, but I wished she would’ve today.
My gut clenched at the name on the screen. Why the hell was Quint calling?
“Quint?”
“Hey, man. Are you with Jenna?”
Shit. My eyes flew to the library. “No. Why?”
“Addams is a useless ass, so I took it upon myself to read the reports on the rape case, including the victim’s and yours and Jenna’s.”
I grabbed the arm of a woman who’d been watching with morbid interest and pulled her closer. “Talk to her. Keep her calm and don’t let her move!” That would have to be good enough. Whatever Quint had read, I knew it wasn’t good.
I sprinted to the library, my heart in my throat.
“The things the rapist said to the victim… Nothing is definitive, but it fits the profile of him stalking Jenna.”
Motherfucker. And I fucking left her alone. “Tell me.”
“He was furious about another woman. Said that he’d been waiting for her and she’d ignored him, even talked about her being there with another man.”
“It fucking fits.”
“Liam, she called him insane and obsessed. Even after she was just brutally raped, she was worried about the other woman.”
I ran into the library, dodging around people coming out.
“Jenna!” I bellowed as I ran into the children’s section.
Let her yell at me for being too loud and embarrassing her.
I’d love to have a furious Jenna in my arms. As long as she was safe.
Why the fuck did I leave her alone? Why the fuck wasn’t she already running over, admonishing me for yelling in the library? “Jenna!”
Jim, the security guard I’d met this morning, hurried out from the back of the library. “Sorry I was gone so long,” he said. “I had to—”
A loud crash sounded from the construction area, and my heart stopped. I felt it in my gut. It was her.
Where the fuck was that gut instinct when I left her unprotected? When I failed her. I shouldn’t have needed Quint to tell me Jenna was in danger. I’m so sorry, Firefly.
Quint. He was still on the phone, barking for information. “Send police and an ambulance to the library!” I quickly gave him the address and hung up, sprinting through the library.
The door was locked, of course. I wanted to ram through it with all the fear and fury I felt, but I had to be smart.
Had to think like a soldier so I wouldn’t put her in greater danger.
Would the music playing inside be loud enough to mask the sound of the door frame breaking?
I was still assessing the lock when Jim caught up to me.
“Jenna’s in there and she’s in trouble.”
With a shaky hand, he yanked a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and read off the code.
“Give me two minutes, then come in,” I said, and thankfully he agreed without wasting any more time. There was no time to plan strategy, no room for errors.
I silently ran in—straight into a nightmare.
Jenna on the ground. A man on top of her.
I dragged him off and threw him to the ground.
“I’m here, Firefly. You’re safe now.”
I wrenched his arms behind his back, yanking them up until I felt them pop. The asshole grunted. It wasn’t enough. I wanted to tear them off his fucking body. He’d touched her with these hands. Hurt her.
Jenna moaned, and I risked a glance at her.
Fuck, she was fucking naked. Her pants and underwear were at her ankles, her shirt and bra pushed up over her chest, and she had fucking duct tape over her mouth, but my fierce warrior brandished a pair of pliers, still ready to fight the bastard.
“I’m right here, Firefly,” I said again, my voice and my heart cracking. “It’s okay; you’re safe.”
God, please be okay.
I held the fucker down with a knee on his back and his arms twisted behind him, and I grabbed his neck, turning him to see his face.
Blood streamed into beady black eyes. Snake Eyes—with his temple smashed to hell. Fuck yeah, Firefly.
Jenna curled up on herself, moaning, while Jim hovered nearby.
“She okay?” I asked as Jim took his shirt off and covered her with it.
“Yeah,” he said, but his voice shook.
“You’ll regret touching her,” I growled.
The motherfucker smiled at me. “She was worth it.”
I pulled his head back and bashed it into the ground with a satisfying crunch.
“Hands up! Police! Everyone’s hands up!”
“You’re lucky they’re here, asshole,” I muttered, raising the hand that wasn’t holding his.
I announced myself, keeping my eyes on Jenna. I was going to lose my shit if they tried to stop me from going to her. “Liam Lamonti, SAFD, off-duty. He was assaulting her.”
“He’s good, he’s with us,” a familiar voice said. Moose, thank God. And Penelope was kneeling next to Jenna. I’d never been so relieved to see my fellow firefighters.
Moose put a hand out to help me up, while a police officer took over with Snake Eyes.
“He likely raped the woman in Atteren Park last Sunday, too,” I said to ensure they took this fucker seriously.
“Quint filled us in.”
I relinquished him to the officer and finally hurried to Jenna.
Fuck. I should’ve done more than bash the bastard’s face into the ground.
Her swollen and bruised, tear-streaked, duct-taped face followed me as I kicked a fallen stepladder out of the way and fell to my knees next to her.
The motherfucker. “Firefly,” I croaked, nausea rolling through me.
She moaned, dropping the pliers and clawing frantically at the tape.
“Let me, Firefly.” I tried to gently move her hands, but she winced and went right back to tearing at it with shaky hands.
I loosened the adhesive with alcohol wipes Moose handed me and pulled it off as quickly as possible, leaving an angry red mark and revealing more finger-shaped bruises.
Jenna opened her mouth and gagged, and fuck, she had a fucking sock in there. I pulled it out, my heart shattering.
Jenna grabbed my arm and gagged again, kicking me into action.
I smoothed my other hand over her forehead and hair. Spots that didn’t look injured. “Open your mouth, Firefly. Let me see if there’s anything else.”
She clamped her mouth shut and shook her head, tears streaming down her face.
“Please.”
She opened her mouth and immediately retched.
I rolled her to her side and held her in place, smoothing back her hair as she puked with gut-wrenching heaves and sobs.
I murmured that I was here and she was safe, but it killed me that there was nothing else I could do.
I couldn’t move her yet without knowing if she was physically injured, nor did I know if she’d want to be in my arms right now. Not after...
Penelope draped her turnout coat over Jenna.
She startled at the contact, but at least it covered more than Jim’s T-shirt.
I motioned for Penelope to back away, but she settled onto the ground behind Jenna instead.
“It’s me, Penelope. You’re safe now, Jenna.
Liam and I are here with you, and we’re not going anywhere. ”
It felt like hours, but was probably only minutes later, when the body-wracking heaves became full-body shakes and Jenna gulped for breath.
The only slightly good thing was that by the time Jenna seemed aware again, the asshole had already been read his rights and taken out.
He’d started to say something to her, but it was cut off with a grunt, and she didn’t seem to notice.
More cops had been in and out too, but with Snake Eyes gone, and Jenna here with me, I only gave them a quick notice.
“That’s it, Firefly. You’re safe now. Breathe with me, nice and easy.” She dragged in a shaky breath and closed her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks, and I quickly swiped at my own tears. “I’m here, Firefly, and you’re safe.”
She looked up and held my gaze, breathing with me, and then, in the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen, her lips turned up with a hint of a smile. “I didn’t freeze. I hit him with pliers.”
The vise-like pressure on my heart eased a bit. I should’ve known she was stronger than anything he could do to her. “You were amazing, Firefly. I saw it, a huge gash right on his temple.”
“Save the sock. He raped that girl in the park. It has—” she broke off with a whimper. “It has…evidence on it.”
What the fuck? Did that mean what I thought it did? “Firefly…”
“I’m okay.”
I blinked hard, fighting back my tears. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”
Jenna reached for me, but she winced before she made contact. I grabbed her hand, and gently lowered it back to her side, keeping hold of her.
“Liam, you—”
“Where does it hurt?” I wasn’t letting her waste her energy with false reassurances I didn’t deserve.
“My shoulders.”
“Where else?” I braced for her answer. I still had no idea what injuries were hidden under the T-shirt and Penelope’s coat. All I knew was she was naked under there.
“N-Nothing too bad. He didn’t... You got here in time.”
Relief swept through me. I closed my eyes, letting my head drop down over her for a quick moment. Thank God. I had no doubt she was understating everything, but at least she wasn’t seriously injured. I’d help her work through all the rest.
“Did you pull down that ladder? Was that the crash I heard?”
She nodded.
“So smart. You bought yourself time and led me right to you.”
“Liam?”
“Yeah, Firefly?”
“I’m…my clothes, they aren’t on. But I really want to get up.”
I looked over at Penelope. “Is an ambulance ready?”
Jenna shook her head and squeezed my hand. “No, I’m okay. I just want to go home with you. To your house.” Her face crumpled. “Not mine. And not the hospital. Too many people.”
“I’m sorry, but we need to get you checked out. I’ll be with you the entire time.”
“Tiger,” Moose called from behind us.
Penelope looked at him for a moment, then back to Jenna. “The police need to talk to you, and you do need to go to the hospital. Liam will stay with you, and I can be the one to ride in the back with you, if you want.”
Jenna nodded. “I need my clothes,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “And I need to get up.”
So strong.
“Of course, Firefly. We’ll help you. Do you want your clothes back on, or do you want to wear mine?”
“Mine are okay,” she said, so damn shaky.
Moose and a cop held up rescue blankets for a privacy screen, and I helped Jenna get dressed.
I pulled her underwear and jeans on, then helped her sit up.
I fixed her bra and pulled her shirt down, but it was all so fucking hard to do when my hands were shaking and I was looking through tears.
I gently caressed the fist-shaped bruise blooming on her stomach and tried to ignore the finger-shaped marks on her thighs and breasts and the way she trembled at my touch.
“Don’t…don’t the cops need to see?”
“No one is seeing you,” I growled out before I softened my voice. “They’ll take pictures at the hospital. That will be enough.”
I sat next to her and gazed into her beautiful, tear-filled eyes. “Firefly, can I hug you?” It would break my heart—for her—if she said no, but I’d understand. We’d get there again.
“Yes, please.”
Thank God. I gently wrapped my arms around her, and she grabbed onto me and burrowed her face in my chest.
My Firefly.