Chapter 2
CHAPTER
TWO
Mindy
I just want to go home, barricade myself inside, and then get into my shower and scrub my skin raw. Despite the shower I just took, I still feel dirty and disgusting, like anyone who sees me will know what happened to me.
Is that normal? Hell if I know, but for me, Clark might as well have branded a huge scarlet letter on my cheek. How do I get past what he did? Where do I even begin?
Everything is swirling around in my head as I leave the bathroom, only to stop short when I see two female police officers standing by the door.
“Miss Ferguson?” the redheaded cop asks. At my nod, she says, “I’m Officer Pate and this is Officer Abrams. We need to get a statement from you as to what happened.”
Cruz starts to leave the room and I reach out to grab his hand. “Stay. Please,” I plead.
Part of me feels terrible that I’m putting him in this position, but I know that even though he said something about being on parole, he’s a good guy.
It’s a gut thing for me and despite the fact that I totally screwed up with regard to Clark, I’m never wrong.
Clark just had excellent camouflage. He better hope that the cops get him before my brother finds out, because I know Brock will cheerfully smile in his mugshot while being booked for Clark’s murder.
“If you’re sure,” he murmurs. “I don’t mind waiting outside until they’re finished.”
“No, because some of the stuff you’ll know since you… since you stopped it from going even further,” I stammer.
“Then I’ll stay,” he replies. “Let’s get you comfortable. Can she have something else to eat or can I order something for her?” he asks Jaye, who’s now standing like an overprotective mother hen.
“Yes, you can order something if you’d like, just give them my name and I’ll be glad to bring it back to you. Are y’all going to need to talk to us as well?” she asks Officer Pate. When the cop nods, she says, “We’ll be out at the nurse’s station until you’re ready for us.”
It soon becomes obvious that the two officers have done this type of interrogation before. Their questions are invasive, but said kindly, and I tell them everything I remember from the evening before up to and including when Cruz woke me up, then what happened after that.
Then it’s Cruz’s turn and I see their gazes harden when he mentions he’s on parole, which pisses me off.
He doesn’t take offense, instead he explains what happened and my heart breaks for what he went through.
I make a mental note to ask Jolie if the man that Dex works for can get the attorney he uses on Cruz’s case so he can be exonerated.
“Y’all need to stop glaring at him,” I spit out.
“This man’s past isn’t in question, and as far as I’m concerned, he kept me from being gang raped because it sounds like Clark invited some of his buddies over to ‘party’.
If you’re going to act this way, then we’re going to stop talking until I get an attorney and you can talk to us through them. ”
I’m not kidding either. Cruz isn’t at fault here, that no-good, lying piece of shit is! And I won’t allow these two cops to berate the man who saved me from further harm to be denigrated any further.
“It’s okay, Mindy, I’m used to it,” Cruz says.
“No, no it’s not! You saved me from further harm or worse!” My voice is now shrill and I feel myself unraveling as the enormity of everything that happened comes crashing down around my head. “Dammit, I need Jolie.”
“Then I’ll call her, although I suspect she’s probably in the waiting room even though I told her you’d reach out when you were ready,” Cruz replies.
“Miss Ferguson, I apologize,” Officer Pate interjects.
“It’s not me you should be apologizing to,” I sneer. “Did you ever consider that whatever has him on parole was a mistake? Not everyone who goes to prison is guilty.”
Officer Pate flushes and her eyes drop to her notes.
“I know, and I apologize to you as well, Mr. Dempsey. From everything y’all have said, you did everything right when you saw Miss Ferguson was in a horrible situation.
We have your contact information, so if there’s anything else we need, we’ll reach out.
I’ll leave my card for you in case you remember something.
I can’t predict the future, of course, but I don’t think the DA is going to have any problem taking this case to trial.
You did well, Mindy, by fighting the way you did.
So many women don’t and even though you were obviously drugged, something inside made you fight.
We also have a victim’s advocate who will reach out as she has information regarding therapists and that sort of thing. ”
“Thank you,” I murmur, my anger now spent. I just want to go home, even though it was violated. Still, I can take out my angst on cleaning, which I plan to do as soon as the door is closed and locked behind me.
“Jolie, I love you, but I can’t do this right now,” I plead as she stands in front of me, her tears steadily streaming down her face. “I promise, it’s probably as bad as you think, but I just want to go inside and sleep for a little while. I’ll call you.”
“M-m-mindy,” she stammers. “Please don’t shut me out.”
“I’m not,” I lie, causing her brow to furrow.
We’ve known each other long enough that we know when the other is lying through their teeth.
Because as much as I need her, the shame and feeling of pure ick is making me keep her at arm’s length right now.
Hopefully, it won’t be for too long, because I really do need her. I won’t survive without Jolie.
Cruz, who hasn’t said a word since we arrived back at our duplex and found Jolie and Dex still there, nods at me and says, “Let me know if you need anything, Mindy. Anything at all.”
“I will,” I lie again. This one is smoother rolling off my lips, but it’s no less a lie than the one I told Jolie. Looking at Jolie I state, “Don’t say a word to Brock.”
“But he’s your brother,” she whimpers, wringing her hands.
“I can’t have him going after that man and ending up in a striped jumpsuit, Jolie. That might be more than I can handle right now.”
I mean, I feel like I’m about to collapse completely, and I honestly don’t know what has kept me standing.
Maybe I’m trying to prove to myself that I’ve got this, even though inside, I’m curled up in a ball in a corner of my mind, wailing and gnashing my teeth.
Or perhaps, I just want all of them to leave.
Whatever the reason is, I need to be alone to process everything, even though I honestly don’t remember much from the night before.
Just flashes and glimpses, but it’s enough that part of me is glad I don’t have full knowledge of everything that happened.