Page 15 of Fracture

Karli took a step toward him and crossed her arms. She chewed her lip. “I didn’t realize. Should we not go?”

“She needs to face it. She needs to feel safe in her home again.”

Karli thought for a second, then nodded. “You’re right. I agree. We’ll wait for you before we go in, though.”

“I’ll be right behind you.” He started to walk away, then realized he had Lorelei’s things. “Do you want to take these?”

Karli reached for the crutches. “She’ll need these, but we’ll figure the rest out when we get there. Maybe bring her bag up so she can decide what to take to Niagara Falls and what to leave here?”

Vinnie nodded, then jogged toward his SUV. Cade pulled away, but when Vinnie made it to the street, Cade was waiting for Vinnie to follow him to Lorelei’s apartment.

Vinnie turned up the radio and tried to push away his guilt. What he did was unforgivable. Lorelei deserved better. He would ask if she wanted to stay with Karli with the knowledge he’d been inappropriate with her. She probably would. He’d accept it, even though he’d hate it.

Vinnie parked next to Cade in the parking lot outside Lorelei’s apartment. It was hard to believe it’d been less than a week since he first set eyes on the building. Old brick, a dozen stories tall, and full of dark secrets he never imagined.

Vinnie met the others on the sidewalk with Lorelei’s bag slung over his shoulder. Karli was talking to Lorelei, so he nodded at Cade, and the four of them moved toward the building.

At the door, Adam and Raina were waiting for them. Hugs were exchanged between the women, then their group of six went inside.

The three women led the way down the hallway. Cade and Adam talked, following right behind the women. Vinnie walked along at the end, separate from the rest of them. He wasn’t a part of their group before, and he wouldn’t be for long. Especially after what he confessed. Lorelei would get her memory back and not need him. Not want him in her life. There was no reason to get deeper in with the others.

Karli unlocked Lorelei’s door and let everyone in. The chatter quieted as soon as they were inside the apartment.

Once Vinnie made it in, he understood why.

The couch where he found Lorelei was still covered in blood. The discarded bandages and supplies the paramedics used littered the floor. It was obvious something bad happened in that space.

“Lore,” Karli breathed.

Lorelei looked at her cousin. She drew a breath, one that everyone else in the room echoed, and closed her eyes. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Karli and Raina led Lorelei to the bedroom. Cade and Adam looked at the blood and the rest of the apartment, then turned to Vinnie.

“Thank you, again, for finding her. Looking at this, and knowing the condition you found her in, we were close to losing her,” Adam said.

“I’m glad it didn’t come to that.” Vinnie wasn’t a hero. He was just lucky he got to her in time.

“So are we,” Cade agreed.

The three men started picking up the trash in the living room. Adam seemed to know his way around the apartment, retrieving a trash can and bags without having to search for anything.

“What should we do about the couch?” Cade asked, looking between Adam and Vinnie for an answer.

Vinnie shrugged.

“The Lorelei I know would probably say clean it. Keep it as a reminder of what she survived. You can’t stop her,” Adam said, chuckling.

“She’s not like her cousin,” Cade said. “Karli would demand it was gone. She wouldn’t want the smallest reminder.”

“Like living in the apartment where Tonya was killed?” Adam asked.

Cade nodded.

Vinnie didn’t know the details of the story, but he knew enough to understand Tonya was the woman murdered because she was mistaken for Karli.

“I can’t even imagine. Raina’s the same. She’d say burn it,” Adam said.

Cade laughed. “That sounds like a good plan to me. But I guess we need to ask her.”

---