Page 87 of The Fire Walker
“When I first moved here, it was against my parents’ wishes. Even though I was legally old enough, I pretty much ran away. Packed up in the middle of the night andleft.”
“Jessie, please,” he argued, but I dug my fingernails into the skin of hishand.
“I was broke and living on the street, so I tried to get in with some rich kids, and I got in all right. I manipulated one particular guy to the point he was paying my rent, buying me clothes,food...”
“Nate?” heasked.
Nodding, I continued, “What I did was horrible. Fucking disgusting. I used the excuse that I was desperate, but I was a horribleperson.”
“You’re nothorrible.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “When he found out I was playing him and had no intentions of putting out, he snapped. We had a date arranged at his place, and I went over, not suspecting a thing. He lured me in and attackedme.”
Dee hissed through his teeth. Was he pissed at Nate or me? In a way, it was my fault, I’d driven Nate to do what he did next, but at the end of the day, he made the choice to act on it, notme.
“He beat me until I could hardly scream and was moments away from...” My voice broke at the memory. Nate over me, my throbbing head, blood everywhere, his hands trying to tear the clothing from my bruised body. “His father walked in before... before he could... I don’t know what he was doing there, but it could’ve been so muchworse.”
“What happened? Did he getarrested?”
“No. They paid me off to keep my mouth shut, and I got a restraining order against Nate. The Barnes’ are a pretty well-off family in New York. They have people who know people if you get my meaning. Money buys a lot of things, but for the rich, it buys a hell of a lot of silence. They made me sign a non-disclosure statement, a full-oncontract.”
His expression darkened even further, and I was desperate to know what he wasthinking.
“I was barely twenty, Dee. I was alone and terrified,” I reasoned, eyeswide.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “I’ll never understand how it felt, but I getit.”
“I haven’t seen or heard from Nate since. Not until I turned my cell phone back on yesterday. I thought that was done. Just a horriblememory.”
“Yesterday?”
“After I left you to go toCouch.”
“What the fuck?” He hissed. “Jessie, the detective who spoke to me said they had evidence he’d been stalking you. He must have been watching you yesterday. Followed you to thecafe.”
“What?” My blood ran cold. “But the restrainingorder...”
“That wouldn’t have stoppedhim.”
“It ran out yesterday... Of course, how could I forget? That was why he... He knew I couldn’t do anything about it. Thecontract...”
“Jessie, it’s okay,” Dee said, edging closer. “He’s been arrested. He violated the order, so it’s still valid. The cops have plenty of evidence. If you wanna press charges, you can. By the sounds of it, they have a strong case against him. More than any high and mighty New York lawyer type canbury.”
I sighed in relief, sinking back into my pillow. He was locked up. He couldn’t get me anyway, not while Dee was here. Dee would protect me. “Turns out rich kids are more screwed up than regular people,” I saidwryly.
“Money doesn’t buyhappiness.”
“No, but it gets a roof over yourhead.”
“Your apartment?” heasked.
“I brought it with their hush money.” I rolled my eyes. “You might think I was greedy for taking it, but I had nothing. It was better than living on the street, so I took it and tried to make a better life for myself. Without having to worry about rent, I was free to do other things. To be a betterperson.”
“Like interning atGalaxy.”
“Yeah, likethat.”
Dee hesitated, his brow furrowed. “What about yourparents?”
