Page 98 of Whispers and Wildfire

“Will you stop shutting me out?” I snapped.

She whirled on me, slamming the fridge door. “I’m scared, okay? I’m fucking terrified.”

“Of what?”

“Him. He’s still out there.”

“Who’s him? What are you talking about?”

She was breathing hard, and the fear in her eyes almost broke me. I closed the distance between us, wrapped my arms around her, and hauled her against me, heedless of the ache in my ribs.

“What happened?” I asked, my voice soft. “Who hurt you?”

For a second, she was stiff, and I expected her to shove me away. But her body softened, relaxing as I gently rubbed her back.

“It’s a long story,” she whispered.

“We’ve got time.” I squeezed her, then took her hands and led her to the couch. “Tell me.”

She followed without protest and sat down next to me. I waited for a moment while she fiddled with her hands.

Finally, she spoke. “It was eleven years ago, when I lived in LA. I was abducted outside my apartment.”

“Holy shit, Mel.”

“He grabbed me from behind and choked me out. Then he injected me with something that kept me unconscious for a while. It was late, so no one saw anything. When I woke up, I was so out of it, it’s hard to remember what actually happened. But I was tied up and in the trunk of a car.”

She stopped talking, her eyes downcast. I took her hand, twining our fingers together, and waited for her to continue.

“Eventually, the car stopped, and someone opened the trunk. He started talking to me, telling me he was going to untie my feet so I could walk and how he wasn’t going to hurt me. Then he asked if I’d be good if he untied me. I remember nodding that I would.

“He cut the tape from my ankles and helped me out of the trunk. He was wearing a mask so I couldn’t see his face, but I’ll never forget his voice. It was soft, like he was talking to apet or a child. He took my hands and started to lead me away from the car. There was another one parked there. It was like he was going to switch vehicles.”

She paused again, and I squeezed her hand. She squeezed back.

“Honestly, I don’t remember a lot about what happened after that. It’s all a blur. I just knew I couldn’t let him take me anywhere else. So I started fighting. I kicked him and hit him even though my hands were still tied. I must have managed to kick him in the balls because he fell to the ground. So I kicked him again, hoping to knock him out. And then I ran.”

I pulled her against me, and she settled her head on my chest. She took a deep breath, and her body seemed to relax. Anger simmered deep inside me. I wanted to find whoever had done that to her and rip him to pieces.

“Luckily, I ran in the right direction and got to a road. A car pulled over and of course they freaked out when they saw I was tied up. They called 911 and stayed with me until the police got there.”

“I take it they didn’t find the guy.”

“No. Never. It all happened so fast, I didn’t have a lot of details. I couldn’t even remember the color of the car, and I didn’t see what he looked like. There was some trace evidence, but it didn’t lead them anywhere.”

I kept my arms around her and let out a long breath. “So that’s why you punched me in the face that day.”

She nodded against my chest. “See? You can hardly blame me.”

“Actually, I’m kinda proud of you.”

Pulling away slightly, she looked up at me. “Why?”

“It was a badass move. If I’d been trying to grab you from behind, you probably would have stopped me.”

Her mouth turned up in a smile. “Thanks.”

I tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Is that why you couldn’t sleep?”

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