9. Everly
9
Everly
I woke slowly, caught somewhere between imagination and reality. For a moment, I wondered if it was all a dream. The attack, the hotel… Rhett.
My eyes blinked open, and it hit me: I was really here.
The sheets felt impossibly soft against my skin, and the faint scent of luxury—some mix of fresh linen and expensive wood polish—lingered in the air. I sat up, taking in the room, and my stomach tightened. Rhett was gone. His scent was still here, though, lingering on the bed, and he’d left a note on the nightstand.
I picked it up, reading his scrawled handwriting. I meant what I said. Order whatever you want and stay as long as you want. You’re safe here. - R
Safe. The word felt loaded. I’d never felt less safe than I had last night. But then, in the aftermath, Rhett was there. Protecting me, helping me, taking charge like it was second nature.
I was still beyond confused about it all. Why on earth did he help me? The guy utterly despised me. He’d made that very clear. Especially now that he’d admitted that he was the one who broke into my old dorm, smashed up my laptop, and left that threatening message on the mirror.
I let out a shaky breath, leaning back against the plush headboard.
Rhett Sinclair . What the hell was I supposed to think of him now? He was infuriating, arrogant, and an absolute asshole most of the time. And yet, he’d stepped up to take care of me when I needed it. He’d supported me when my entire world felt like it was collapsing, even stayed with me until I fell asleep last night. And damn, if he wasn’t the hottest guy I’d ever met…
Stop!
My head dropped back against the headboard as I groaned softly. What was wrong with me? One second I was mentally cursing him out for being such a prick, and the next I was thinking about his stupidly sharp jawline and those intense eyes of his.
Then again, none of that really mattered, because I had much bigger things to grapple with. The events of last night were still raw, sitting heavy in my chest like a cold stone.
The break-in. The man, who I was still certain was Jake. The way he’d pinned me down...
My hand trembled slightly as I dragged it through my hair. The terror from last night was rushing back now, making my skin crawl, but mixed in with it was something darker.
Guilt.
It was stupid—ridiculous even—but I couldn’t shake the thought. Did I somehow manifest the attack with my fantasies?
I hated myself for even thinking it. I’d always had these fantasies. The things I’d never dare say out loud. They were nothing like the horrible reality of last night, and yet some twisted part of me still couldn’t help but wonder.
I groaned and pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes, as if I could physically block it all out. It wasn’t my fault. I knew that. But knowing it and believing it were two very different things, weren’t they?
I exhaled shakily and lowered my hands, forcing myself to focus on the present. I was still here in one piece, still breathing, and for now, I was safe. Whatever Rhett’s reasons, he’d made damn sure of that.
I looked over at the clock on the other nightstand. It was 1:08 p.m.
“Damn,” I muttered. I’d slept half the day away.
Today was Thursday, which meant I had a two-hour lecture in the morning; one I’d obviously missed by now. That was okay, though. The professor always posted her lecture recordings online, so I could catch up later.
I picked up my phone and saw a voicemail notification. It was the detective I’d spoken to last night, letting me know I could come into Havenport PD anytime today to give my formal statement about last night.
Now was as good a time as any.
After I’d showered and dressed, I headed to the police department and picked up my temporary visitor badge at the front desk. A young officer greeted me and escorted me down a hallway to an interview room.
Detective Harris, the one I’d spoken with last night, entered a few moments later. “Ms. Marlowe. Thanks for coming in. How are you feeling?”
I clasped my hands tightly in my lap. “My mouth hurts like hell, but I’m still alive.”
He gave me a faint smile. “I know this can’t be easy, but it’s important that we get a detailed account from you about what happened last night. We can go as slow as you want, and if it starts to hurt too much to talk, we can take a break until you’re ready to continue.”
“Thanks.”
“Before we begin your statement, I wanted to let you know what we’ve discovered so far.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Did you find the guy?”
Please tell me you found Jake lurking in the bushes outside Ashcroft with a bite mark on his arm, I silently prayed.
Harris shook his head. “No, unfortunately not. But here’s the good news—we found a partial fingerprint on the side of your desk. It’s in blood, so we’re assuming it’s from the man who attacked you.”
“It could be Rhett’s fingerprint, couldn’t it? Seeing as the two of them fought.”
“We already asked him to come in earlier and submit a print profile, and it wasn’t a match, so I’m quite confident that it belongs to your attacker.”
My heart soared. This was it! Real proof that could undeniably tie Jake to what happened last night.
If he was charged, people would finally realize what a criminal asshole he was. Julia might even feel emboldened enough to come forward with her own story about him.
“Here’s the bad news,” Harris went on, lips thinning. “The print doesn’t match anyone who’s already in the database. Without any suspects, that leaves us at a standstill. But it’s still positive news overall, because it means we have solid evidence to tie to any suspects who might come up during our investigation.”
As he spoke, I swallowed hard, conflict roiling in my belly. I desperately wanted to tell him to look at Jake as a suspect, but I knew if I did that, Rhett would absolutely hate me—more than he already did, that is—and I felt a strange sense of loyalty to him after all he’d done to help me.
On the other hand, this was my big chance to show the world who Jake really was. To add to that, I felt like I had a duty to other women at this point. Jake had already attacked one woman that I knew of, and now he’d tried to do it to me too.
If I failed to speak up when I had the opportunity handed to me on a silver platter, and he later went on to attack someone else, I’d feel responsible, because I could’ve done something to prevent it and chose to stay silent instead.
Sorry, Rhett. My loyalty to my fellow women trumped whatever weird, twisted loyalty I felt to him. Besides, I was doing him a big favor by not turning him in for breaking into my old dorm and smashing my laptop, so in the end, we could probably call it even.
I took a deep breath and steadied myself. “I think I might know who it was,” I murmured.
Harris lifted his brows, leaning forward. “Who?”
“Just to be clear, I don’t have any proof that it was him,” I said, lifting a palm. “Like I said last night, I didn’t actually see anything. But I have a feeling it could be my ex-boyfriend.”
“What makes you think that?”
“We broke up on really bad terms, and he’s sort of threatened me before,” I said. “I say ‘sort of’ because he never says anything directly. Just vague stuff. Also, he’s in a secret society that seems to have a lot of influence at Hollingsworth. So I bet he could’ve found someone to hack the keycard lock system on campus. That would explain how he got in without breaking anything.”
Harris tilted his head. “Can you elaborate on the vague threats you mentioned?”
I pulled out my phone and showed him the most recent text from Jake. Think you’re safe here, cunt? Think again. Just fucking wait and see what happens. By the time I’m done you’ll be begging me to stop, but I won’t.
Harris stared at the screen, lips pursed. Then he handed it back to me. “You’re right. This guy is definitely worth looking into. Can you give me his details?”
Once I’d provided them, I leaned forward in my seat, hands twisting nervously on my lap. “Does this mean you’ll bring him in?” I asked.
Harris nodded. “Yes. We’ll see if his prints match the partial we found. We can also check him for that bite mark you mentioned.”
I breathed a quiet sigh of relief and leaned back again.
After my admission about Jake, I still had to give a full statement about last night, but I felt much more confident about everything now that I knew the police would officially investigate him.
We wrapped up about an hour later, and as I walked out of the station, the chill of the day hit me. I’d done what I needed to do, but the weight of it all hadn’t lifted yet. It probably wouldn’t for a long time.
I headed to Hollingsworth to take out a book from the library, and then I caught up with Tessa, Bree, and Sloane at a quiet boba tea café on the edge of campus. They were furious and scared for me after I filled them in on what happened last night, but those negative emotions soon transformed into elated victory when I told them about the bloody fingerprint left on my desk.
Like me, the girls couldn’t wait for Jake to be taken down.
After the catchup, I headed back to my hotel suite and slumped on the gigantic bed, letting out a sigh of relief that the day was finally over. My phone started vibrating a moment later, and I rolled over to see that a private number was calling me.
Figuring it was the police calling with another update, I answered, heart thumping with anticipation. “Hello?”
“Hi, Everly.”
My stomach instantly began to churn. It was Jake.
“I’m hanging up,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Wait. I think you’ll want to hear this.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine,” I said. I quickly switched the call to speakerphone and pressed ‘record’ on my voice memo app. “What do you want? Are you calling to apologize for breaking in last night?”
“I know what you’re doing, Ev, so you might as well stop recording me,” he said smoothly. “Anyway, I heard what happened to you, and I wanted to make sure you’re doing okay.”
“Bullshit,” I hissed. “I know it was you.”
He sighed. “I know you believe that. That’s actually how I heard about it—the police got in touch with me and asked me to come in for an interview.”
I smiled thinly, even though he couldn’t see me. “The second they take your prints and lift your sleeve to see that bite mark, they’ll know it was you.”
“Here’s the thing, though. They already cleared me.”
My stomach dropped. “What?”
“They already cleared me, so I don’t have to come in,” he replied. “And if they change their minds about that, they’ll need to go through my lawyers, and that’ll take a long, long time to muddle through.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m in Boston right now,” he said. “I took a train here last night with my girlfriend. She has some family and friends here, so we decided to visit until Monday. We left so late at night because she had to work late, but it was still a while before that awful man broke into your dorm and assaulted you.”
“ Boston ?” I clenched my jaw. “I thought New York was your alibi.”
“What? Why would I be in New York?”
“Never mind,” I muttered. I must’ve misremembered what Rhett told me about Jake last night. I could’ve sworn he said New York—Manhattan, specifically—but I’d gone through a lot recently, and the stress was probably affecting my memory.
“Anyway,” Jake said. “I was more than happy to share my location data with the police. It clearly shows me leaving Havenport on the 9:15 train and arriving in Boston an hour later. It also confirmed that I’ve been here ever since. Plus, they spoke to Maya, and she’s told them the truth too—that I’ve been with her the entire time.”
Anger spiked in my gut. “Let me guess. You paid this Maya girl to catch the train to Boston with your phone in her bag, so you could fake the location data, and then you drove up there after you attacked me in my dorm,” I said. “Tell me—how much are you paying Maya for such a service?”
“You sound like a conspiracy theorist, babe. But I forgive you for it. I know that what you went through was an awful experience. You’re obviously still very shaken.”
“Fuck you,” I seethed. “The police aren’t stupid. They’ll realize you could’ve faked this alibi, and your print profile will confirm it. The bite mark, too.”
“I didn’t fake anything. But for argument’s sake, even if I did , the print and bite mark don’t mean a thing,” he said breezily.
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. I’ve already been very cooperative with the police, but if they continue to push me by trying to poke holes in my alibi, I’ll have to get my lawyers involved. And like I said a minute ago, that will drag things out for a long time. I probably wouldn’t have to go into the station for at least a month.”
I sneered. “That might be long enough for the bite mark on your wrist to heal, but you can’t wait out the fingerprint issue,” I said in a low voice. “That evidence is there forever, so you’re screwed. Unless you burn your prints off with acid or cut your fingers right off. And we both know you’re too much of a coward for that.”
“You know what really sucks?” Jake asked, apropos of nothing.
I narrowed my eyes. “What?”
“You wouldn’t believe how often evidence goes missing from police stations. Sometimes physical files disappear because someone misplaces them or accidentally tosses them in a shredder. Also, databases can get hacked, and digital evidence can be deleted forever,” he said. “Shocking, isn’t it? I really hope it doesn’t happen in your case, because that would be terrible. ”
“So you’re admitting that you’ll pay someone to get rid of the fingerprint evidence before the cops have a chance to bring you in?”
Jake feigned a shocked intake of breath. “No, of course not! I’m just telling you what I heard and saying I hope it doesn’t happen. Honestly, I’m rooting for the cops to catch the guy as soon as possible.”
“Fuck you.”
He let out a heavy sigh. “Like I said before, I understand why you’re so paranoid about me. I’ve said some really nasty things to you in the past, and I’m sorry for that. But they weren’t threats, babe. I was just being an asshole.”
“Stop calling me babe!” I shouted, rage rising in my chest like magma.
“Calm down. You sound nuts.”
I sucked in a deep breath. “Listen to me, Jake,” I said in a low voice. “I’m going to make sure you go down for this shit if it’s the last thing I ever do.”
He sighed again. “I’m really starting to worry about your mental health, Evvy. Maybe you should see a therapist,” he said. “I can come with you, if you like. It might make it easier. I’m willing to pay for the sessions, too. I know money’s very tight for you.”
“Fuck off.”
“I’m serious, Ev. Let’s drop all this animosity and help each other out. I really miss you,” he said in a soft, wheedling tone. “If you forgive me for all the past stuff, I’m willing to forgive you too.”
“ You’re willing to forgive me ?” I said scornfully.
“Yes. For all these wild accusations,” Jake replied. “I’m willing to let it go because I know how good we are together. You know it too, don’t you?”
“No,” I snapped. “You’re a fucking monster.”
“Oh, come on. Don’t be such a drama queen.”
“Like I said before: fuck off .”
He ignored me. “You know, you’re depriving yourself of so many good things by ending it with me. I mean, when you were my girlfriend, you practically had the world at your feet,” he prattled on. “Think about it. Access, money, opportunities your parents could never give you… it’s all here with me, and you know it.”
I rolled my eyes again. “I know what you’re trying to do, but you can’t buy my silence or compliance,” I said in an acid tone. “Also, what about this new girlfriend of yours? Do you think she’d be happy to hear you saying all this shit?”
“Maya is just a rebound. She knows that. You’re the real deal, babe,” he said. “So come on. Let’s do it. Let’s bury the hatchet and get back together.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am. So what do you think?”
“Honestly, Jake?” I said through gritted teeth, finger hovering over the end-call button. “I think I’d rather fucking die. ”