Chapter 36 #2
I stumbled, two hands reaching out and catching me by the arms. "Just hold on a second, please!"
"Get your hands off of me!" I croaked, struggling to back out of his grip, "Don't touch me!" My voice was basically nonexistent, but he heard the words loud and clear.
After stepping out of his grasp, I turned to look at the man who stopped me.
Officer Long stared at me with wide eyes, his brows furrowed in confusion. "Are you okay? Why– What fucking happened?!"
"What do you mean? This is your fault!" I knew I was beginning to shout and was well aware that there were many eyes on us, but this asshole was one of the people responsible for putting Rhys behind bars and tearing my life apart from the ground up.
I wanted to give him a piece of my mind and rip him a new one, but every word out of my mouth burned through my throat like cheap vodka.
Regret flickered across his hazel eyes, shifting to anger when they landed on my neck, "I won't let him get away with this. I– I had no idea. I promise, Sloane. You have my word."
I laughed, wincing from the pain. "I think you've done enough, Long. Your word means nothing to me."
"My arrest was clean, Sloane. You have to know that."
I did. Kind of. Sammy planted the drugs, but I still didn't trust this man. "I can't trust anyone in this fucking building. Just– Just let me go." Tears streamed freely down my face.
He held his hands up in a gesture of peace, "He's gonna come after you.
He's in his office, but no one can keep him there.
" He paused, looking back in the direction I'd just fled from.
"I've never seen him like this." Long's voice trailed off, his fingers spearing through his black hair as he turned to face me again, "At least let me escort you out of the building. "
"I'm not leaving. I have to go to IA. Zoey is there. I have Stu's confession on tape."
His brows furrowed again, "Sloane. Massachusetts is a two-party consent state. It's inadmissible if he didn't know you were recording. You– You're a lawyer, you know that."
Long was right.
I knew that going into this. But I didn’t care. One way or another, I was blowing his life up through work or through the media.
"I don't care," I forced out. "Even if it's not admissible, I'll go to the fucking news station. I will make people believe me! They will see him for the monster that he is!"
Officer Long took a step toward me, and I flinched away.
He froze, holding his hands up, "Please, listen to me.
You do whatever you want with that. But we need to find your sister, okay?
There are cameras with audio right outside his office.
I'll– I can testify. I saw what he did to you.
We need to go now. I don't know what will happen if he comes out of his office. "
I took a deep breath, my lungs screaming in protest. Everything fucking hurts. "Why should I trust you?"
His expression softened. "My sister was a domestic abuse survivor. I– The second I drove off with Rhys in my car, I knew something was off. I could see it on Stu's face. I'm– It's bad enough that I didn't let myself believe you. I can't apologize enough for that. But I can help now. If you let me."
Long extended his hand to me, smiling softly. "Please. Let's go to Lucas's office and get this sorted so Rhys and Stu can trade places. Don't give up now."
I hesitated, not sure what to believe. It felt like I couldn't trust my brain right now.
But he seemed genuine enough, and at this point, what did I have to lose?
He smiled again when I offered a stiff nod.
I took a step, swaying on my feet a little before his hands reached out to steady me. "How long has it been since you’ve slept?"
"I don't know. Thirty hours, maybe? Maybe longer. I haven't been keeping track."
"Come on, let's get you over to IA."
It was a short walk through the building to get to Lucas's office, but every corner we rounded, or every set of footsteps behind us, accelerated my heart rate like Stu was waiting to get me alone.
I shuddered at the thought. Officer Long swung Lucas's door open without knocking.
Zoey whipped around, gasping when her eyes landed on my neck. "Aaron, I swear to God. If you don't arrest him right now, I'm gonna kill him. And then turn in my resignation." She rushed over, her hands framing my face.
"Are you okay?" Her eyes roamed my face frantically. "Jesus Christ."
She touched the bruises on my neck tenderly, her jaw twitching with rage when I winced in pain. "I'm gonna murder this son of a bitch!"
Lucas stood from his place behind his desk, walking over to Long and me. "Did– Stu did this?"
"I saw it," Long confirmed, ignoring the way Zoey narrowed her eyes in his direction.
Despite the gravity of the situation, my heart swelled at her protectiveness.
"Aaron," Zoey warned, looking at her boss. "I'm not kidding. If this doesn't get taken care of, I'm walking."
"Rhys," I chimed in weakly, my eyelids heavy with pure exhaustion, my voice raspy, "Can we get Rhys?"
"I need to get Chief Moore first. Him first, then Rhys," Lucas reassured, his hands resting on my shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Sloane."
Tears filled my eyes. "Just help me. That's all I need."
He nodded, then jerked his head toward the door. A silent command for Officer Long to follow him out of his office. "Stay here."
I looked over at Sammy, who cowered in the corner, his face still flushed pink. "Your mom?"
"She'll be out within the hour. Don't even have to post bail.” He smiled softly at my sister. "Thank you."
I felt myself relax a little. Even if Rhys wasn't out yet, there was a small victory that came from this.
"Come sit," Zoey said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me toward a chair away from the door. "What happened?"
I sank into the chair, my heart rate slowly returning to a normal rhythm as the adrenaline worked its way out of my system.
"I pushed him. I knew I shouldn't have, but–" I shook my head, looking over at my sister.
"He's just so delusional. Like, he actually thought I would come back to him after all of this.
So I called him crazy. And a few other things.
Then… this." I gestured to my sore neck.
"Something just snapped. I was tired of being afraid.
Tired of walking on eggshells only to break every single one of them anyway. Might as well go out swinging."
"After your neck heals, I'm gonna punch you."
I laughed, then winced at the pain. "Why?"
"I specifically told you to be careful, Sloane!" Zoey rolled her eyes, perched on the edge of Lucas's desk while she looked down at me. "You okay?"
"I'll be fine."
It felt like a promise I was capable of keeping this time. There was enough evidence to warrant a restraining order against Stu; Long saw what he did, and Lucas believed me.
For the first time since I met Stu, I felt hopeful for a quiet future. Rhys would come home, we'd sleep for ten days, and then go back to my routine of kicking ass in the world of law and not being afraid to walk somewhere.
The room grew quiet, Zoey sensing that I was barely holding onto consciousness, and Sammy was probably anxious to get out of there.
Just as I started to drift off, the door was shoved open, Lucas standing in the threshold as he took a head count.
"He's gone," Lucas panted, his chest heaving like he'd run here from Stu's office.
My eyes snapped open. "What do you mean?"
"He's gone. Security has him leaving right after Long stopped you in the hallway. He's gone. I thought maybe he came here, but he just... left."
Zoey stood, immediately slipping into protective older-sister mode. "Find him!"
"Obviously, Zo," he deadpanned, walking around his desk to grab his radio.
I stood, my head spinning. I was exhausted, I hadn't eaten, and the man who just tried to take my life was gone.
The words I tried to speak came out jumbled and slurred as my knees gave out, and the world around me faded to black.