Page 61 of Afflicted

Anderson regards me critically from behind his ridiculously large desk. “What the hell was she doing out there in a storm?”

I shrug, determined to keep my face neutral. “I don’t know. I know she was a swimmer. With everything that happened she probably just wanted to have a moment to herself. Do something that made her happy.”

“With everything that happened I think it’s more likely she did this to herself.” Anderson sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. “Poor kid. I had a daughter her age once, a long time ago.”

“Right.” My fingers are clenched together so hard they hurt. “And I doubt you’d want anyone to assume your daughter tried to end her own life just because she’d had a hard time recently.”

Anderson exhales heavily. “Now come on, I know you have a bit of a jones for this girl, but King, you can’t let that cloud your judgment.”

“My judgment?” I scoff. “My judgment that tells me you’ll take her off if there’s even a hint of a mental health issue?”

“I never said I’d do that.”

My shoulders jerk up in a defiant shrug. “So tell me you won’t do that then.”

He exhales heavily, caging his fingers in front of him. “King, we’re not equipped to-”

“You know what this looks like to me?” I cut him off, leaning on the table, sneering down at him. “It looks to me like you just want to eliminate a problem. Girl gets raped on your watch and suddenly you have to take her off because she’s mentally ill.”

Anderson bares his fangs at me. “How fucking dare you.”

“How fucking dare I? How fucking dare you hire officers with a known history of sexual assault.”

“How the hell do you know about that?” He rises to his feet. “Those files aren’t meant to be for you.”

“The files you asked me to dig into? Those files?”

Anderson jerks an accusatory finger in my direction. “You were given strict instructions on what to look for, and staff history was not on that list.”

“So you knew what our friend Braun had been up to then?” My vision starts to seep red. “You knew he’d spent 15 years in prison for raping three sixteen year old girls all the way back in the 50s?” I point a finger at the door. “You put all these people in danger having someone like that work for you.”

Anderson’s nostrils flare, the muscles in his jaw feathering wildly. But I’m not done. No one is taking Juliet off. No one’s touching a hair on my girl’s head.

“Now, if you think you’re going to cover this up, you are sorely fucking mistaken. And don’t think taking me out is going to end your problems either.”

“You think I’m just going to kill anyone who opposes me?”

“Considering you’ll kill off a human who simply slipped and fell in a fucking pond, I wouldn’t put it past you.” I throw a thumb drive on the desk. “I sent one just like that to Boston, minus the proof you knew about Braun. But there’s one with that information in a safe place.” I point my finger at him. “You threaten to end any more humans because of your sloppy morals, I’ll send that one as well.”

“This is blackmail, King.”

I slam my fist into his ridiculous cherrywood desk. “This is ensuring we do everything we can to protect the people we’re tasked with protecting.”

I turn and storm from the office. I’m still in shock, I’m floating through clouds of misery and overwhelming rage. I’m furious with myself. I should have seen the signs. I lost my best friend this way, all those years ago. And I didn’t see it in this girl I tell myself I care about. A laugh and pretty flushed cheeks made me think everything was fine. I left her sitting in the rain, and she went off to drown herself.

I growl out a breath through gritted teeth, raking my hand through my hair. How do I protect her? How do I bring her back from this awful precipice she’s teetering on?

If they find out it was a suicide attempt, they’ll take her off. They’ll shoot her like an old dog. The thought has me stumbling, my hand slamming into the wall of the building beside me as I try to steady myself.

I won’t let anyone hurt her. No one.

The rain is still falling as I make my way to the clinic, hurrying down the long hallway to her room. She’s lying there, asleep, tubes in her nose. Her hands are curled slightly at her sides.

I sit beside her and hold her hand. I have to stop myself from clutching it to my chest.

She’s been unconscious since I pulled her mostly-dead body from the water. I clench my eyes shut as I remember running back with her in my arms, screaming at her to stay alive. I wasn’t going to let her die. I was so overcome I nearly forced my blood down her throat to turn her.

Because there’s no fucking way I’m living without her.

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