Page 43 of Best Laid Plans

She laughed. It was empty, hoarse, painful. "Yes, Anson, he did. Pete left me in the cell with him for thirty minutes. Longest thirty minutes of my life. A racist rapist. A half-black girl who was a quarter of his size."

"Pete's a lot of things, but he wouldn't do something like that."

"So, not only am I lying about stealin', but I'm also lying about having injuries. Would you like to see my medical records? The photos? Because my lawyer has them."

I couldn't believe it. "If that's the case, why the fuck didn't your lawyer get Pete in front of a judge in handcuffs?"

"Because I didn't want the burden of a trial."

"Emmett Bodine got you out. You seemed close to Beau, his son. You want to tell me how you knew Beau's daddy?"

"No, I won't talk to you about Emmett."

"You must be somethin' special to him."

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. All the fire I'd seen earlier had been tamped down. Her eyes were blank. They had no feelings, no emotions.

"Pete had no choice but to let me go. A, he had no evidence against me. None at all. He couldn't prove he found your grandma's jewelry in my apartment. And him just saying he did wasn't good enough for the ADA. B, since he committed an illegal act by leaving me in a locked cell with a known sex offender, he was at risk of losing his job. C, I needed to get to a doctor, so Pete had no choice but to release me."

I stared at her. I couldn't form words. I couldn't understand what she was saying. This was not the story Pete had told me.

"So, fuck you, Anson, for standing there feeling righteous. Even if I did steal from you—did you think the right punishment was leaving an eighteen-year-old to be sexually assaulted by Raymond Carre?" Nova looked just about ready to break into two.

"I don't understand," I hissed.

She rolled her eyes. "What's there to understand?"

Raymond Carre was a rapist. He went to jail for raping a fifteen-year-old girl a couple of years after Nova left. He was still in Reidsville Prison, serving twenty-five to life without a chance of parole.

"Did he rape you?" Fear jangled my nerves.

"No."

I felt relief pour through me.

I immediately controlled myself. Nova was a thief and a liar. I couldn't just take her word for it. I knew Pete, had known him my whole life. He was an asshole at times, but he'd never put his job at risk. It was too important to him. And he wouldn't knowingly hurt someone physically.

She scoffed when she saw my expression. "Wondering who to believe, your precious Pete or me?"

"Sugar, I've known Pete a whole lot longer than I've known you." She looked so sincere that a part of me was sure she was telling the truth. But the man who'd had his heart broken seven years ago wasn't quite ready to walk into a trap again.

"You said you had broken ribs? How did you get those?"

"How do you think? Carre tried to rape me. I fought him, and he beat the crap out of me."

I shook my head. "This makes no sense."

"Why?"

"Pete would never do that."

"Even if the great Anson Larue asked him to?" she sneered.

"I never asked him to do that. I never would. And Pete's a lot of things, but he's not that," I barked at her.

She folded her arms. "Fine. Anything else you want to talk about? ‘Cause I'm tired and need to get some sleep."

"I would never have wanted you to be…hurt in that way."

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