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“Well, I ate it anyway and when he was thrusting his tongue into my mouth with that foul breath of his, the ice cream came up.”
“What?” I leaned back. “You threw up on him?”
“Notonhim.” Faith lifted both her eyebrows. “It was like a projectile, spraying into his mouth, and then he started vomiting next to the bed himself.”
I covered my mouth and was speechless.
“I’m not sorry it happened because it gave me the seconds I needed to get inside the safe room and activate the lock like you taught me.”
“Thank God,” I said and hugged her. “Don’t ever let anyone tell you not to eat ice cream again.”
We hugged for a minute and cried quietly together before we dried our eyes.
“I spoke to the police, and we’re going to have to testify in court against him for what he did to you and me,” Faith said.
I nodded solemnly. “Niko can afford good lawyers, but so can I, and we’ll make sure he never hurts another woman again.”
Faith stretched her legs in front of her. “It’s getting cold; maybe we should head back down.”
I nodded and took her hand. “I’m sorry, Faith. If it wasn’t for me this would have never happened to you.”
“It’s not your fault,” she said and squeezed my hand.
“I feel like it is. I have horrible taste in men.”
“I don’t know.” Faith tilted her head. “Adam is different. He seems like a keeper.”
I gave her a small smile, and we both got up and brushed off the dirt from our pants before we headed back down the mountain.
“I feel better now that I told you.” Faith was in front and looked back over her shoulder. “I know you’re probably wondering why I didn’t tell you sooner, but you already had so much on your plate and I wanted to protect you.”
“Do Mom and Dad know?”
“No.”
“Are you going to tell them?”
“I think I have to. It’ll come out in court, and I want them to hear it from me and not some headline in a newspaper.”
“My lawyers said they’ll make sure the trial will be held behind closed doors,” I assured her.
“Still, details always get out; I think I should tell Mom and Dad.”
I sighed. “Yeah, it’s probably for the best.”
“They’re coming home tomorrow.”
“Good. That’s good,” I said, a bit distracted when some other hikers passed us and turned to stare.
Please don’t ask for an autograph,I thought and picked up the pace to get away from them.
They didn’t, and only half an hour later, Faith, Max, and I were in Logan’s car on our way back to Seattle. My head was full of messy emotions, ranging from shock to fury.
I was looking out the window thinking about all the ways I wanted to hurt Niko and wondering if I could arrange for someone to get to him in jail.
“Andrew and Derek are flying back in a few days. They have to get back to work. Do you want to swing by and say goodbye before they leave?”
“Maybe,” I said noncommittally. “I have some urgent things I have to do.”
And most of all, I need to talk to Adam.
