Page 2 of Saving Trinity
Her whimper was all the confirmation I needed. “Fuck!” I yelled, slamming my fists against the wall. My chest heaved, and my arms trembled with the restraint it took to not tear my entire fucking bathroom apart. Hanging my head between my shoulders, I forced myself to breathe slow and deep. In for five, out for seven. Over and over and fucking over again.
“Where is he now?” I asked her, thankful my voice was calm again.
“He went out,” she said, her voice trembling. “I’m at my sister’s. Her husband is here. But I can’t stay here, Jimmie.”
I slicked my long, dark hair back from my face and blew out a harsh breath. “I need you to go to the hospital, Trinity. One where he doesn’t have access as a doctor. And I need you to have a rape kit done, okay? He’s not getting away with this. Can you do that?”
“I can’t leave Wyatt,” she said, her voice cracking.
“Leave him with your sister, baby. He doesn’t need to know any of this, you hear me? He’s just a kid. Our trauma never touches him,” I reminded her. She sniffled. “Do you have a friend who can take you? You have to get to the hospital.”
“I can call Derek,” she said softly. “Zac has never liked him, so I think I’m safe with him.”
Derek, Derek, Derek. I wracked my brain, trying to remember who Derek was, but I was coming up blank. “Who’s Derek?”
“He was Wyatt’s daycare teacher,” she reminded me.
Oh. Him. He was a good guy. I’d only ever met him once, and that was when Trinity was buried under so much homework, she asked if I could pick Wyatt up from daycare and bring him to see her at the library before I brought him back here for my visitation time. Wyatt had been almost one at the time.
Derek was a muscular guy who hit the gym a lot, had a good sense of humor, and he hit on me the first time he met me.
“Get Derek to take you,” I told her. “As soon as I finish my shower, I’ll grab Dylan and Byron, and we’ll hit the road. You’re not leaving without your things.”
“Jimmie—” she whispered, her voice wobbling.
“No arguments, Trinity. You and Wyatt need your things. We’ll do things the legal way; I promise. I’ll get a police officer on the scene. Zac can’t touch you again, you hear me? Just do not go anywhere alone. Promise me.”
“I promise,” she swore. “Please hurry, Jimmie. I’m… I’m terrified.”
My heart clenched all while anger burned through my veins on her and our son’s behalf. “I’m coming as fast as possible, baby.”
Chapter Two
Trinity
My heart lurched into my throat when a light knock sounded on the front door. My arms tightened around Wyatt, who was asleep in my arms. I hadn’t been able to let go of him since I’d escaped from Zac’s house except to call Jimmie. I’d been terrified Jimmie wouldn’t come through for us, but I should’ve known better. Even when we were merely kids trying to make it through college, he’d been there every single time I’d needed him.
I shouldn’t have expected things to be different just because we were a few years older. He was an exceptional dad and a great friend—one I’d put into the friend-zone as soon as I’d found out I was pregnant with Wyatt. I’d needed to get my act together fast, and I couldn’t keep having the fling I was having with Jimmie. Being a few states away from him helped to end things, even if it hurt.
Because I’d started falling for him. But I knew Jimmie wasn’t ready to settle down back then. And now, we were completely different people.
“Easy,” Carla said softly, reaching out to place her hand on my shoulder. “Brandon is going to answer the door. If it’s Zac, he’ll send Zac on his way. I promise. You’re safe here.”
I didn’t feel safe there. I wanted to get as far away from here as I could, and the only way I knew to do that was for Jimmie to come get me and take me to his farm in the smallest town I’d ever visited. Where the nearest city was forty-five minutes away. In the town Jimmie lived in, everyone knew everyone else. It was a very tight-knit community, and I also knew his family—his found family—lived there, too.
Wyatt would be safe. And I could find safety among them, too. They weren’t the type to alienate anyone in need.
“It’s Derek,” Brandon said, coming into the living room with my best friend following behind him. Derek didn’t even bother smiling at me as our eyes met. My lips trembled, and a tear ran down my cheek. When I’d called him, telling him I needed him to pick me up from my sister’s and take me to the hospital, he’d simply said okay. But now that he was looking at me—at the bruise on my cheek, my split lip, the way I was hunched over my little boy as if I could protect him, I knew he knew.
He knew what’d happened to me.
“Here,” Carla said quietly, leaning over to gently take Wyatt from my arms. I didn’t want to let him go, but with great effort, I managed to. “We’ll take him to bed with us and put him right in the middle, okay?”
Sniffling, I nodded, then leaned over to press my lips to his unruly, copper hair. Derek reached out to grab my hand in his as soon as I was on my feet, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Come on,” he said softly. “We’ve got a bit of a drive ahead of us, so we need to go.”
Swallowing thickly, I nodded, then grabbed my wallet and phone. Derek kept me pinned to his side as he led me to his truck, and when I winced, hissing a breath through my teeth as I tried to lift my leg, he simply gripped my hips and lifted me into the cab before shutting the door.
I immediately hit the lock, terrified Zac would spring out of some bush and snatch me right back out and drag me back home with him.
