49. Chapter 49 #2
Small points to where bruises peek from beneath the sleeves of my hospital gown, then to my throat. “He hurt you. I read your chart, Mr. Palmer. You have bruises and marks all over your body. That’s not what partners do to each other. I assure you—”
“I don’t want your assurances, Detective. I want you to release Cameron, right now.” Now to the lie. “Everything you see, everything that’s happened between us was consensual.”
“You…” He grits his teeth. His fists are clenched and I get the feeling he wants to punch me. “Mr. Palmer, with all due respect, that’s fear talking. I’m sure the rape kit will show—”
“There will be no rape kit,” I interrupt him again. I love how much it pisses him off. “There’s no need for a rape kit, because there was no rape.”
A lie. He knows it, catches the slight hitch of my breath as I say the words.
There definitely was rape. Not lately, but at the beginning, Cameron did rape me.
He fucked me when I begged him to stop, and that’s still not okay, but things have changed since then.
Our relationship has changed. I have changed.
“What you’re going to do now, Detective, is let Cameron go.
You have no proof he’s done anything illegal.
” I want to add that Cameron is innocent, but I doubt I’d be able to say that with a straight face.
“This situation is just another example of your harassment of my partner, and his lawyer will definitely add it to the civil lawsuit he’s filed against you.
I bet Internal Affairs would also be interested in this unhealthy obsession you have with my boyfriend.
And those documents you faked to get him in trouble.
He could have been killed, do you realize that? ”
Small snaps. He leans in and snarls straight into my face.
“Listen.” I grimace as spittle lands on my cheeks.
“Matthews is a sick bastard who’s guilty as fuck.
His buddies are trafficking guns and drugs and people, and he doesn’t do shit about it.
He’s a terrible fucking person and you’re going to testify against him, so that I can lock him away for good. You’re going to tell me the truth, or…”
“Or what, Detective?” My heart is beating so strongly it’s a wonder it doesn’t shatter my rib cage. I can’t fight Small off. If he wanted to, he could really hurt me. Except he can’t.
We’re in the middle of a freaking hospital. The way my heart rate is spiking has probably already alerted someone, and the button to call the nurse is within easy reach. I bet there’s also a deputy standing outside my door. Small can’t lay a finger on me, and he knows it.
“You’re making a mistake.” He backs away, suddenly eerily calm. “I wanted to do this by the book, but there are other options. Ways to save the taxpayers money.”
Blood freezes in my veins. Is he suggesting what I think he’s suggesting? “You can’t hurt him! You’re a cop.”
“Thanks to your boyfriend, I won’t be one for much longer.
I tried to do the right thing, you know?
To catch the bad guys. But no one in this godforsaken city cares about the victims. No one cares about kids catching stray bullets during shootouts.
No one even cares about the men and women who are kidnapped and raped over and over and then disposed of when their bodies give out.
That’s your fate, by the way. Matthews is using you, you’re just too stupid to see it.
Once he gets bored, you’ll end up in some filthy whorehouse getting literally fucked to death along with dozens of other people you could have saved if you JUST TALKED! ”
“I…”
He’s not wrong. He’s a desperate, dangerous man on the verge of a mental breakdown, but he’s not wrong. I could help.
The memory of the girl getting tortured at Indulgence flashes before my eyes. Her screams ring in my ears. Her desperate begging. She just wanted to go home. God. She was so young. And all those other slaves. Did any of them actually choose to be there, or were they all kidnapping victims like me?
The cops must know about the club. There’s no way they don’t. It might be exclusive, but it’s not exactly hidden away in a magical world. With so many people visiting, the police would have heard at least rumors. Yet the club still operates. People still get hurt. They die.
It’s exactly what Small is fighting against. He’s on the right side. I should be there with him.
Except that would mean betraying Cameron, and I simply can’t do that.
I can’t.
This is no longer on Cameron’s conscience. It’s on mine, and it will sit there forever, but I choose Cameron. I’ll always choose him.
I press the button to summon the nurse. “I’m done talking to you,” I say, wishing my voice wasn’t shaking. “Keep your hands off my boyfriend.”
The light in Small’s eyes dies along with the last remnants of his hope. “So be it. We’ll meet again, Mr. Palmer. Once I’m done with Matthews, you and I are going to have a long chat.”
Chill crawls up my spine. He can’t hurt me, I keep repeating to myself, but my lizard brain is screaming danger. “Are you threatening me, Detective?”
Small just stares at me, his eyes empty.
The nurse rushes in, eyes blazing. She opens her mouth to yell at Small, but he raises his hands. “I’m already leaving.”
She crosses her arms in front of her chest. Her glare would wither lesser beings to ashes. “Good,” she says primly. “No more interviews until Mr. Palmer is feeling better.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
Small glances at me over his shoulder as he steps through the door, and that look chills me to the bone. Fuck. Fucking fuck. He can’t hurt Cameron, right? “I need a phone.”