Page 49 of Getting the Grinder
“Yeah. Bruce was right; there was no way I was going to be able to convince her to testify when he couldn’t. But I had to try.”
“You were right to try. I don’t want anyone in my office who thinks of victims as case numbers. These are people. Abuse is a hard cycle to break.”
I rest my elbow on my desk and my chin on my hand. “I’ve been thinking about Libby. She works at a gas station. She has no family around here to help her.”
“We give victims contacts for local organizations that can help. There’s always a way out.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Joe Burris is the deputy working on this case. Call him if anything comes up, okay?”
“I will.”
“I’ll tell the bailiffs you need an escort to your car until this is resolved.”
“Okay.”
She leaves my office and I just sit there in silence for a few minutes, my concern growing. My light, happy mood is gone now.
I wish Leo was home. I’d call him and ask him to pick me up and bring me to his house. Even though I know this happens to assistant state attorneys regularly, it’s different when it’s happening to me. I saw the photos of the injuries Drake gave Libby. He’s already in trouble, so he has nothing to lose.
But Leo isn’t an option, and I don’t want to risk putting Suki and the girls in danger, so I call Dex.
Chapter Seventeen
Leo
* * *
Bash looks from me to Melina, then back to me, his brow furrowed.
“Why is she staring at you?”
“No clue.”
It’s a lie, obviously, but now’s not the time to tell Bash what’s going on with my knee.
Melina was waiting for me on the airport runway this morning, and she was pissed. Since I slipped out of the locker room last night, she couldn’t examine my knee before the road trip.
Every step I take hurts at this point, and I have to work hard to play it off like nothing hurts. She watches my every move, just waiting for me to slip up.
My team needed me tonight. We won 3–2, and I scored one of our goals. As I celebrated the goal with my teammates, I wondered if Mara was watching at home.
I can’t stop thinking about her. The sex was off the charts, but it was the time we spent in bed after that’s still swirling around in my head. We laughed and talked, not sleeping much, even when we tried.
She’s sexy as hell when she’s sharp and fierce, but when she’s soft and exposed, she’s even sexier. It was hard as hell to kiss her goodbye and leave this morning. And I’m on a six-day road trip, so it’s going to be a long wait until I can see her again.
Carter comes over to the locker room bench Bash and I are sitting on, wearing just a T-shirt and underwear.
“Denton has to get his sac stitched,” he says.
“Oh, fuck,” I say. “From that stick to his groin?”
He nods. “Lucien’s gonna fuck Tyler Hortman up when we play them next. Denton almost passed out when he saw how swollen his nuts are.”
“Yeah, can’t blame him.”
Denton’s a rookie, and he’s a hell of a nice kid. He’s nineteen, and he reminds me of myself at his age. There are two brothers in the league—Tyler Hortman and Tyson Hortman—and they play for different teams. Tyler’s a brawny enforcer, and Tyson’s a goalie.
