Page 43 of Protecting Charity

“On who?”

“Herself?”

The side of her car had black streaks of paint mixed in with the fresh blue paint that had just dried that day. Three large dents added to the crunched metal along the car’s side that seemed out of place. I pointed and silently questioned him.

“Her.”

I shook my head and moved to the front of the car where she had connected with the pole. A perfect indentation where the vehicle struck it sat in the middle, smashing in the radiator, engine, and headlights.

“Fuck,bella.”

She must have hit the pole reasonably hard to bring the damage all the way into the engine compartment. My God, how did she walk away from this with barely a scratch? How did not a single bullet hit her? How was I not mourning her death right now? Just the thought of her sitting scared in the car had my blood boiling. I clenched my fists until my knuckles popped, then stepped away from the destruction.

“What are we going to do about the car?”

Nico looked at me from the other side just as he kicked a tire. “Nothing we can do. It’s totaled. We can’t exactly call it into the insurance. They are going to want a police report and with all the bullet holes in it… it’s just better to not even try. Plus, with Agent Harding sniffing around, I’d say it’s better to not give him more ammo, so to speak.”

The tow truck driver handed me papers pointing to the places I needed to sign. I took it from him, scratched my signature with his near-empty pen, then handed it back. “Thanks.” I gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder, and he left.

Nico and I walked back inside, seeing as there was nothing for us to do out here now, and found ourselves walking up to the opened bedroom door.

No shouting, no sounds of breaking objects, not even crying. Just the sound of running water coming from the bathroom.

Luca sat on the sofa, his elbows resting on his knees, staring at the amber liquid he was swirling in his cup.

“Have you checked on her?”

He glanced up from his swirling trance and scoffed. “Yeah, good luck with that.” A look of contempt tipped his upper lip.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nico asked.

“It means she’s not accepting visitation. Is that the correct lingo for you to understand?”

“Luca, don’t fight with us. We are all out of our minds right now. We want to rip this prick’s head off just the same as you.”

I ignored their banter and walked into the bathroom to find it foggy like I just stepped foot into the goddamn Exorcist. Charity sat on the marble floor of the shower with the water flowing over her curled-up body. She had her knees to her chest, her arms wrapped around them with her chin resting atop, and her eyes closed.

Her face was blank, no emotion, no expression, almost as if she were daydreaming. “Did you know the hot water never goes away in this house?”

I sat down beside the glass shower door and leaned against the wall while resting my forearms on my bent knees. “He has one of those tankless water heaters.”

“Oh.” Her pink skin proved just how hot the water was. “Max, promise me something, would you?” I caught sight of her emerald eyes as she opened them and looked at me, waiting for my response.

“Anything.”

She took a deep breath, then moved closer to the glass enclosure where I sat. “If, for some reason, this person gets me, and I die… promise me you’ll do everything you can to find Josh and Allie, even if it’s so you can bury their bodies.”

I scrunched my brows together and gave her a look she deserved. “You are being absurd.” She was scaring me, to be accurate. She looked close to breaking, and I didn’t want to see what would happen to her should she do so.

“That may be, but promise me.”

“I promise.”

“Thank you.”

“Max?”

“Yeah?”

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