Page 88 of Snowbound with the Santas

Further hell breaks loose as Nick pummels Ashton into the snow, delivering blow after blow until the two nearby guards drag him off. Ashton lies in the snow in a daze, clearly taken off guard, and I watch with a heavy heart as Nick is also dragged off by security, snarling obscenities at Ashton’s crumpled form.

“Thosemen are the ones who were taking care of you?” Mom reaches for my arm. “Those monsters kidnapped you, didn’t they? Oh, you don’t have to say anything, dear, I can tell. Nowonder you’re in such a daze. To be locked up for weeks at the mercy of men like that. You really do pick them, don’t you? First, Ashton and his terrible lies and?—”

“Enough!” I snap, withdrawing from her completely.

She can say what she wants about me, but those men? The ones I’ve come to care for and love? I can’t stand it. Just listening to her makes my skin itch like my bones want to jump out.

“Those men are some of the best men I have ever known, do you understand? They are kind and decent, and they have saved my life. They didn’t know me and they’ve shown me more kindness than anyone else I’ve ever met.”

“Rayne,” Uncle Cecil says, but I silence him with a glare.

“Don’t. I don’t know why Frankie attacked you, but I know he had a damn good reason.”

“You’re stressed,” Mom says hurriedly. “You’ve been caught up in?—”

“No!” This has dissolved into insane confusion, and as Ashton climbs to his feet looking as smug as all heck, something inside me snaps. “Ashton is telling the truth. I was driving that night.”

Ashton’s face goes blank, and my mother chokes.

“Rayne! Don’t you say such things!”

“It’s true.” Silence falls. “He drugged me so I didn’t know what I was doing, but it’s the truth. I was driving that night. Ikilledthose people. And I am done running away from it.”

33

FRANKIE

“Are you feeling proud of yourself right now?” Nick asks, pacing back and forth in front of the bars.

The cell that security dropped us into clearly wasn’t built for three bulky men, but we make it work. We don’t exactly have a choice.

I used to be in the adjacent cell but ten minutes ago, a guard appeared and moved me into the same one as Nick and Archer. Archer sits on the floor with his back against the wall and one knee raised. One arm crosses his knee and his hand rhythmically forms a fist then relaxes. I sit on the slab that’s supposed to serve as a bed and bounce one leg up and down.

“Can you blame me?” I finally reply to Nick. “The second I saw his face I just…” Trailing off, I lift my hands to my temples and rub firmly. “Jerked me right back, that’s all.”

“Besides, you’re one to talk.” Archer speaks up. “You ended up in here right alongside us.”

Nick pauses his pacing and rolls his eyes. “True. I guess it was the same thing. Or, no, it’s not the same thing because you two acted like animals attacking him like that. At least I had a more immediate reason.”

“Are you saying we should be over it?” I snap, lifting my head. “That I should be able to look that asshole in the eye and just walk it off?”

“No.” Nick sighs deeply and resumes his pacing. “That’s not what I’m saying. It’s just, Rayne is now out there all by herself with that prick and—Rayne!”

The heavy door to the security cells swing open and to our surprise, Rayne walks through. She is flanked by two security officers. Just as I consider that she is here for a visit, they unlock the second cell and shove her inside.

“Hey,” Nick snaps, and he grabs the bars between the cells. “Don’t shove her like that!”

The guard sends Nick a blank stare as he slams the cell door closed. The lock clicks into place and they both leave. Rayne immediately hurries to the bars and places her hands over the top of Nick’s.

“Oh, my God, are you guys okay?” she asks breathlessly.

“Us?” Archer climbs to his feet. “What about you? Why the hell have they stuck you in here with us?”

Rayne chews on her lower lip and then slowly sinks down onto the raised slab. Her shoulders fall forward, and she rakes her hands through her hair. “I confessed.”

“You confessed?” I repeat, swiveling around to get a better look at her.

She lifts her head and nods. “Aston was already telling people, and I felt like I was losing control of everything again. Especially since you guys were taken away. So I just told the truth about the crash and that I was driving. They want to hold me here until they can contact the relevant authorities to deal with me.”

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