Page 41 of Rampant

“Did you?” His attention landed on my arms.

I studied our joined hands. “It’s not what you think. I tried to get away from Zach, but he kept me high on ecstasy half the time.” I blinked rapidly. “I convinced myself he was you, and…”

He squeezed my hand. “I’m listening.”

Turning my head, I gazed out the window at the cloudless sky, too ashamed to face him. “He snapped after I cried out your name.” I untangled our hands and slowly lifted my shirt.

Rafe stood, bringing my attention back to him. His jaw twitched and his green eyes went so dark, I was glad his anger wasn’t directed at me. “Hedid that to you?” Fury drenched his words, flooded the space between us with an oath of retribution.

Closing my eyes, I nodded. “Afterward, I…I lost my mind and locked myself in the bathroom, broke the mirror and…I just wanted him to stop.”

Without warning, he pulled me from the chair and into the shelter of his arms. One hand tangled in my hair as the other held me to his shaking body. “He’ll never hurt you again.”

Standing on tiptoes, I clutched his shirt and burrowed into the crook of his shoulder. “I wasn’t the only one he hurt. He wrecked your life, Rafe. We both did, and I am so, so sorry. I know I need to turn him in but—”

“Stop.” He pulled back and framed my face in his hands. “If it’s forgiveness you’re asking for, you’ve got it. Fuck, Alex, I’ll never forget the sight of you in that hospital bed. If I’d known, there’s no way in hell I would have left you there.” He drew in a deep breath. “But none of it matters as much as you being able to heal from all of this. You were only fifteen, way too fucking young to be held accountable for a decision your rapist coerced you into making.”

Hot tears slipped from my eyes, dripping down my face in relief. In the deepest and darkest crevices of my being, I’d never believed he’d be able to forgive me. A lump of anxiety formed in my throat, and I swallowed, but it only crashed into the pit of my stomach. His forgiveness wouldn’t keep me safe from Zach’s madness…wouldn’t keephimsafe.

“He’ll come after us both. He’s insane and jealous—”

“You need to turn him in, Alex.” His hands fell from my face. “Zach belongs in jail. Fuck,Ibelong in jail. We’re gonna do something about it, regardless of what your piece-of-shit father has to say.”

My gaze darted through the window where trees obscured the bane of my existence. Those plans were terrifying—they involved getting into a boat again. They involved coming forward. I wasn’t sure which I dreaded more. “I won’t tell them what you did. If you want me to talk to the police, then you staying out of jail is my stipulation.”

“I won’t argue with that. I’d rather be here protecting you than sitting in a jail cell, so I guess we’d better get our stories straight.”

I glanced at her in the passenger seat. The pallor of her skin worried me. So did the way she wrung her hands in her lap. She’d barely said two words since we’d left the island, except to insist on going to the sheriff’s department here in Dante’s Pass instead of filing the report in Portland. The boat ride had thoroughly rattled her, and I dreaded the trip back to the cabin. By the end of the day, I feared she’d hate my guts for making her go.

“The sheriff isn’t my biggest fan, Alex. He’s got everyone around here believing I’m a threat. I doubt he’ll hear you out.”

“Then Iwantto talk to him. This isn’t just about turning Zach in. I want to clear your name too.”

Overturning a prison sentence wasn’t going to happen by filing a police report, but I didn’t want to disappoint her. “I’m not even sure which law enforcement agency holds jurisdiction. Zach kidnapped you from the island, crossed county lines, and you ended up in a hospital near Mt. Hood.”

“The police don’t know he took me from your island, Rafe. I told them I pushed my car into the river before going to that cabin on my own.”

“He held you in a cabin?”

“An isolated place in the middle of nowhere. I wouldn’t even know how to get there. He said it belonged to a friend.”

I cursed under my breath. “So what are we going to say then?”

Her brows furrowed in thought. “The truth with a few alterations. I’ll tell them Zach kidnapped me. You drugged me, so I have no memory of you and Jax pushing my car into the river. I’ll blame that on him too.”

“I drugged you?”

“When you took me,” she said quietly.

“And here you are sitting next to me in a fucking car.” I shook my head, unable to grasp how she could use the word “safe” and my name in the same sentence. “What will you tell them when they ask why you’re spending time with your convicted rapist?”

“The truth. You’re innocent. I lied eight years ago, under the threat of Zach, and I came to you because I’m scared and want to make this right.” She bit her lip and gazed out the window at the small-town businesses lining the main drag. I didn’t agree with her about the innocence part, not in relation to the past few weeks, but I let it go for now. No good would come from arguing the point to death. Neither of us said a word until I pulled into the parking lot of the sheriff’s department.

“You ready?” I asked.

With a nod, she pulled on the passenger door handle. I got out, rounded the car, and without thinking I placed my hand on the small of her back. We entered the brick building and found it deserted, save for the deputy manning the front window. I didn’t recognize him, so I assumed he’d come to Dante’s Pass after I left. I’d blown out of town before my graduation cap had time to hit the ground.

“I need to report a crime,” she told the guy on the other side of the glass. I hung back, marveling at her strength as she told the deputy about the nature of the crime she wanted to report. He took her information before rising to get the sheriff.

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