Page 21 of Still Her

“Eli… locked me in here with him,” I finish with a hiccup.

Jack stiffens. I can feel by his frame that he’s trying not to knee-jerk, to just focus on me. After I feel him take a few deep breaths, he gently leans arm-length away, but doesn’t let go of me. I steal a glance at Josh who is looking between the two of us in confusion. When Jack looks down at me, I can see the war in his eyes. Fury is battling it out with worry and concern.

“Did he… what did he do to you?”

“He didn’t do anything,” I say, shaking my head. “But he wants to…”

“Josh, stay here with her while I go fucking kill our agent,” Jack growls with clenched teeth, shifting his weight in the direction of the door.

“No! No, Jack you can’t. He can’t know I told you. He’s going to ruin you guys!” I grab on to his jacket.

“Mayzie, what are you talking about?” Josh takes a step forward.

“Eli locked me in here with him, and he said some things. He didn’t touch me but he kept looking at me with thatlook, and telling me he wanted us to getcloser; that he wanted me tofeel goodwith him. And then he said that if I wanted what’s best for the band, I wouldn’t say anything to you,” I finish, looking back to Jack.

“Josh,” Jack rumbles, his jaw still clenched, “can you go upstairs and get Ron? And lay eyes on that fuck-rag?

“On it,” Josh disappears around the door, and Jack takes me back in his arms.

“It’s going to be okay, sweetheart,” he says kissing my cheek and wrapping me in a hug.

I nod and sigh into his chest.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Josh returns with Ron, and my handbag. While we had waited, Jack told me how he ran into Eli just before finding me and how he’d put on a hell of a show, acting like he had no idea where I could be. According to Ron, he had taken off to get on his jet back to L.A, mentioning something about meetings in the morning which means he had to have left right after talking to Jack. Fucking convenient, and fucking cowardly.

As the three of them deliberate what to do, I zone out, with my cheek resting against Jack’s chest while he keeps his arms around me, locked at the wrist behind my back. Their voices sound like I’m hearing them from underwater, and I pick up only pieces of the conversation.

I don’t care what he said to her, we should call the police.

Can they even do anything? You heard what she said; he gave her nothing to file against him.

Alright guys, think. Is there anyone that we know that could tell us what to do and not run their mouth?

My sister’s husband. He’s a lawyer. Hardcore.

Get him on the phone.

I feel one of Jack’s arms leave my body to reach in his back pocket, bringing me out of my oblivious bubble. He calls Mike, Sarah’s husband, and asks what steps we should take. He double majored in criminal justice and pre-law before becoming a corporate lawyer, so he would be the first person Jack thought of. Mike tells us that despite what Eli said to me, to go to the police anyway and file a report so that it’s at the very least on record, and then to call him when we finish there. Ron, Jack and I leave and meet an SUV by the back entrance, and head to the nearest police station. Ron walks in with a briefcase full of NDA’s, and persuades an officer to let us go in through the back.

We sit in three chairs opposite of the hottest female cop I’ve ever seen. Her dark hair is shorn close to her head on both sides but long on top with bangs that sweep across her forehead, drawing attention to piercing blue eyes behind thick black lashes and beautiful bright white teeth. She looks as if she’d have no problem putting Eli in a choke hold if he were in front of her right now, and that thought inspires me. I feel better as I talk to her, telling her everything he said and how I felt. She makes me want to reach inside myself and pull out thetough as nailsversion of me I know is in there somewhere.

As suspected, there wasn’t much they could do. It was a one-on-one encounter with no witnesses, and Eli chose his words so carefully that they could’ve fallen under more than one context.Sick, twisted, manipulative douchebag.

“Oh yeah, I can see what he’s doing,” she says in an affirming tone as she stops writing to nod her head and look around at the three of us, “but a report on paper can’t account for innuendos, or just plain putting out a vibe that makes a person feel threatened.”

But we all know what the fuck he’s doing, and I think the beautiful, no-nonsense Officer Collins does too, because she hands me her card before we leave.

“I’ve never known suchbehavior to come from Eli, but it’s not unheard of for some of the bigwigs in the industry to engage in shit like this,” Ron fumes as he looks out of the window of the SUV. “They get so rich and successful that they tend to think the rules don’t apply to them. They can buy their way out of trouble, they can buy silence, or make anyone bend to their will by reminding them of what they can do to them or their careers in the industry.”

A breath blows out of him like a typhoon before he turns to look at us. “If I knew, I swear, I would’ve never –,”

“We know, Ron,” Jack assures him, his head resting against his hand, his other arm around my shoulders. “It’s alright. But maybe we should meet with the other guys in the morning?”

“You got it,” Ron agrees, turning back around.

When we get back to the hotel, the dogs greet us in our room. Jack takes out his cell and calls Mike again to fill him in on what happened at the police station, while I go into the bathroom, ditching my adorable yet killer shoes on the way. I’ve calmed down quite a bit since Eli cornered me. I’ve reached some combined state of tired, freaked out, and calm.

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