Page 29 of Until Presley

I feel the cool washcloth against my face and finally manage to look up. Ham is wrapped around me, holding me together, while Flo stands at the sink, rinsing the cloth under the water. I choke and turn back to the toilet.

“I know them all,” I cry, my voice breaking as I continue to dry heave, my stomach empty.

I don’t know how long I sit there, but when the nausea finally subsides and I can breathe without the ache in my chest, Hamlifts me into his arms and carries me out to the living room. The agents are still here, and I try to speak, but my throat hurts too much. I rinsed my mouth, but I didn’t brush my teeth. Ham keeps me cradled on his lap as he sits back down on the sofa.

“What does this mean?” Ham asks the agents.

“We don’t know. How do you know these women?” Agent Brownley asks me. He’s tall with gray hair, a bit on the skinny side, and wears glasses. Like Agent Harkness, he’s dressed in a black suit, but Harkness is blond.

Agent Harkness hands the photos to Ham, and I can’t stop the fresh set of tears from falling. I take the pictures from him and riffle through them. Memories flash through my mind.

“This one used to hang out with my stepsister, Clara, when we were freshman,” I say, holding up her picture. “She left midterm. Everyone thought she flunked out because she partied more than studied.” She was curvy and tall. I don’t mention the time she cornered me in the commons and punched me when I tried to stand up to her.

“These two went to boarding school with Clara and me. They came to visit her in Miami during our senior year, after running into her in Ft. Lauderdale over spring break.”

My gut clenches when I look at the last picture. This girl hurt me worse than the others.

“This one wasn’t a friend of mine.” I shift off Ham’s lap, but he holds me tight to his side. He can sense that I’m in pain. “This one slept with my boyfriend when I was at NSU Guy Harvey. She also assaulted me.”

Ham’s arms flex around me, and I look up, thinking these men must think I had something to do with this.

“I would never hurt her, though,” I say quietly. “I filed a restraining order against her. When she was expelled, I never saw her again. I did run into my ex once in Miami before I moved here, but we don’t talk anymore.”

“Tell us about the assault?” the agents ask, and I take a deep breath.

Several times, Ham has asked me about the scar, but I haven’t told him exactly what happened. He felt it once while tracing my tattoo. I had the scar covered with a large shark, swimming through an underwater scene. It matched the one Leah had, but hers had dolphins instead. That’s when it hits me.

“Oh my God. Someone killed all these women and then killed Leah.”

The pain in my heart is almost too much. I lean forward and start to hyperventilate. A bag is pushed into my hand, and I breathe in and out of it.

“May I call you Presley?” one of the agents asks me, but I can’t look up to see which one. My mind is racing, trying to understand what this all means.

Ham

As I watch Presley lose her shit, I’m doing everything I can to control the rage boiling through my blood.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. What have you done to stop this person? How did he get Leah? Is Presley in danger?” I spew out all the questions in one breath.

Presley turns to me with wild eyes before they roll back, and she passes out.

I hold her to me and look at my mom. “Call an ambulance. Call Walker too, please.”

“I’ll take care of it.” She rushes out of the room.

“This interview is over until we get Presley taken care of.” I don’t even want to think about the amount of danger she’s in.

When the EMTs arrive, they decide to take her in, and I ride in the back of the ambulance with her. I’m not leaving her side, especially if she’s in danger.

The short ride over to Stock Island, where the hospital is located, takes no time at all. As we rush inside, a nurse blocks me and directs me to wait in the lobby.

“I’m not fucking leaving her.” I start to argue, but Walker holds me back.

I’m so glad he got here as fast as he did, or I’d be dealing with security right now. The special agents walk in and flash their badges at the nurse.

“He’s with her, and we want him in there as soon as you stabilize her.”

An hour later, after lots of pacing, they finally call me back. A nurse leads me to her room. Presley is lying on the bed, looking so small. Her shoulders shake as she cries. I walk right over and climb into bed with her, wrapping my body around hers. The nurse tries to tell me to get out of the bed, but I hold a hand up to stop her.

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