Page 35 of Finish Line

The last time I saw her, she had clothes on. So many emotions course through me right now. Horror at what happened to her. Guilt that I couldn’t save her. But mostly love. I’ll stand by her no matter what.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you. Go ahead.” I wipe a tear away.

“It’s all right. He beat her so badly that every inch of her skin was mottled with bruises or covered in cuts and scrapes. She had several broken ribs, a nasty concussion, and a fractured orbital bone. And those were just the obvious injuries. The nurse at the hospital wanted to do a rape kit, but Shelby refused.”

Mav turns white. “I’m going to be sick.”

He takes off for his room, leaving the subject of the rape kit floating in the air.

Dom jumps up and paces. “After what we did… After everything she endured… She has to hate us.”

“She’s hurt because you had doubts and didn’t talk about it, but I’m sure she doesn’t blame you for anything,” Cin explains. “You weren’t in control of your actions.”

“If that’s the truth, why isn’t she here?” Dom groans.

It’s quiet for a minute as Mav shuffles into the room, wiping his hand across his mouth.

Cin looks down at the floor. “Long story short, Patty and I fucked up. She had no patience when it came to Shelby getting better. She wanted everything perfect for the family’s first Christmas together, especially since she was still upset when we didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving because we were looking for Shelby.”

Cin swallows and wipes away a few tears. “As for myself, I was too caught up in remembering how quickly she recovered the last time she was with Roger. In my head, I equated the two situations as the same thing, despite being able to see how bad off she was this time.”

She turns to look at Hannah, then me. “Hannah and Cam both made me understand how fucked up that was. But it was too little too late. Nobody was listening or was willing to understand what she went through. She apologized, said she didn’t want to ruin Christmas and that we’d be better off if she wasn’t there. But she let us know she’s safe. And, while she won’t tell us where she’s staying, she reached out to let us know she’s okay.”

Hannah straightens up. “None of you understand what it was like in that basement. Cam and I were only there for a couple of weeks at most. She was there for over a month. Based on what she looked like, we still only know the tip of the iceberg of what he did to her this time. Roger is a complete and utter psycho. He would hold entire conversations with himself or a wall.”

Luke, Mav, and Dom look confused.

“When he took Shelby, he said his name was Randell, Roger’s twin brother,” Nick says.

“But he didn’t have a brother,” Luke says, as if it’s the obvious answer.

“You’re right.” Nick pushes up his glasses. “At first, I did some research on dissociative identity disorder or DID. Those with DID have multiple, distinct personalities. Various identities control a person’s behavior at different times. They act and think independently of each other. The more I researched, the more I knew it wasn’t what he had. I believe it was a red herring to stop me from looking for him.”

“Makes sense.” Luke rubs his temples.

“I still don’t understand how he pulled this off by himself,” Mav says.

Frank gives the guys and Hannah drinks. “He wasn’t by himself. We found Evan’s body in the cabin Shelby escaped from. He was naked and stabbed with a worn-down stick.”

Nick lowers his head like he can’t look at us.

It’s like the world’s most silent pin drops at the bomb Frank just released. We understand what he’s implying. The rape kit.

“Why haven’t you said anything until now?” Cin demands angrily, tears springing to her eyes.

“I was hoping Shelby would bring it up.” Nick shrugs. “And without proof one way or the other, either by a test or her word, I wasn’t going to push it.”

Mav swallows thickly, asking the question the rest of us are too scared to. “Are you saying Evan might have done something to her?”

“I’m not sure, but it appears that way,” Nick says.

Dom punches the wall. “Why was Evan there in the first place?”

“Evan is—was—Roger’s cousin. Remember, we found that out from Carrie at the pool party at my house,” Nick reminds us.

“Why didn’t you force him to tell you where Roger was keeping her?” Dom yells as he paces the room.

“Dom, you’re angry, but a lot was going on,” Frank says.

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