Page 6 of Not Your Body

And Jasmine…

Would she die, too? Maybe she was already dead. Jade couldn’t move or think well enough to inquire about the girl… her sister’s best friend… maybemorethan her friend. Jade had felt the bond between them and saw how they looked at each other, but now… she may never know if her little sister was falling in love for the first time.

Becausetheydid this to her; faceless men who would walk free, like Jade’s attacker, because their victims couldn’t speak up. Jade’s assaulter had worn a mask. Maybe these men had as well and even if Jasmine came through, she wouldn’t be able to identify them.

It isn’t fair—it isn’t FUCKING FAIR!!

Jade’s vision swam as the tears returned, seeping slowly into her eyes, summoned not by theanguish—but therage.

A hard tremor coursed through Jade and an old emotion she’d spent nearly a decade trying to combat bubbled to the surface.Hate.

Raw, unadulteratedhate.

She didn’t resist it as before, but let it spread through her, pumping into her veins and stimulating her mind like an alternate entity. Anentitythat gave her strength—andpurpose.

I’ll find them. They don’t get to walk away. Not this time. Notagain.

“Ms. Palmer?”

Jade flinched and blinked quickly, pulling back the tears. A female doctor stood before her; face etched with sympathy.

“I’m so sorry for your loss and I know this isn’t a good time for you, but I need to speak to you about your sister.”

Jade slowly uncrossed her legs and let her feet drop to the floor. She nodded silently.

“I’m Dr. Rita Blane.” The woman sat in a chair close to Jade. “I examined your sister’s body when she was brought in.”

“How did she… die?” Jade whispered numbly. “Exactly…?”

“Internal injuries. She was… badly beaten.”

“And… raped?” Jade shuddered, staring at the floor.

Dr. Blane paused, then nodded. “Yes. We collected three separate semen deposits.”

Jade blinked as the waiting room tilted and swayed around her. “There were… three of them?”

“It appears so. And there was evidence of…”

The doctor seemed reluctant to relay the details to Jade so soon after Amy’s death and Jade didn’t want to hear the details. But sheneededto hear. She needed to knowexactlywhat the men did to Amy.

“Evidence of what?” Jade rasped. “I want to know.”

“Evidence of multiple… penetrations. Both vaginal and… anal. The points of penetration were badly torn. She was brutally raped.”

Brutally raped… by three men.

Three men walking around free.

Thinking they got away with it.

Hate boiled in Jade’s gut.

“And… Jasmine?” Jade whispered with a tightness to her voice. “Is she…?”

“She’s alive,” Dr. Blane confirmed. “She’s in a shallow coma, caused by the swelling in her brain. But she’s alive.”

“She was… raped, too?”

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