Page 95 of Reacher
“No. My god, no. We can’t.”
“If you don’t help me, then I’m going to struggle on my own. I’ll probably fall down the stairs, and hurt myself further. Reacher will be pissed at you for not preventing that.”
Tori stared at me. “Wow… you’re just going to push the guilt button immediately?”
I shrugged carefully.
“I could remind you that you massively owe me, for stealing your rape drugs.”
She looked a little like I’d just slapped her.
“Jesus. Fine, but I’m throwing you under the bus when they get pissed.”
“And they definitely will.”We turned to find Has-Been behind us, and he looked disapprovingly at both of us.
“Heard all of that, huh?” He nodded at me.
“You know I need to see this for myself, after what he did to me.” He nodded again.
“Tori, you’re relieved of duty, darlin’. I’ll take her down.”
Wow. I hadn’t expected his support, especially not if it could bring Reacher’s fury down on him too.
“Really?”
He heaved a heavy sigh. “He’ll want to hit someone for this, so I might as well make it easy for him. He won’t hit a woman, so he’d end up with no outlet.”
“That doesn’t seem fair.”
He shrugged, staring at me.
“How am I going to help you without touching you, is my only question?”
“Ally can’t walk without help,” Tori interjected helpfully.
“I fucking can. I just… I can’t move fast.”
Has-Been nodded again, those platinum blond dreads moving each time he did.
“I’ll walk in front of you, so you can grab a shoulder or something if you need help. If you lose your balance on the stairs, I’ll break your fall.”
It sounded like a plan, so we left Tori, who stayed right where she was, looking awkward and worried all at once.
“Be careful,” her hissed words followed us down the hall. I felt guilty for dragging Has-Been into this, but I hadn’t lied though. I needed to see what happened with Raoul. I needed to know he was stopped for good.
Walking was getting easier, and Has-Been’s plan of walking behind him, so I could lean on him if needed, was working well. We made it to the bottom of the basement stairs, and that’s when I realised I could hear Raoul’s screams of pain. They chilled me inside, and I stumbled, a gasp leaving my lips. Somehow Has-Been knew, or heard, or was prepared, because he turned, and caught my arm.
“You okay? I can get you back out of here if you like.”
I took a breath and held it for a second, shaking my head. I had to do this.
“Please, Has-Been.”
He nodded, looking wary. “I’m gonna take a look first, just to make sure it’s uh… you might not wanna see…”
“I have to see, Has. I have to know.”
His shoulders dropped, and he sighed.
