I pulled into the driveway and stared at the front door.
It was closed, but the glass windows on either side of the door had been boarded up.
This was obviously where she’d been assaulted.
Anger once again rose in my chest, and I stared at it for long moments.
Dory got off the back of the bike and slid to the ground, pulling off the purple helmet as she did.
Placing it on the back seat where her ass had previously occupied, she started toward the front door.
“No,” I called to her. “Let me go look first.”
She shot me a look over her shoulder, but I shrugged it off.
“It’s happenin’, darlin’,” I said. “I’m going to make sure that it’s clear before you get in there poking around.”
She stayed out on the porch while I made a round of the house.
The place was cute.
Way cuter than I would’ve thought she could find in a town as small as Accident, Florida.
Something in which I found an answer to moments later when I went back out on the porch to hear her soft voice saying, “I can’t believe it, either. I mean, this is the nicest neighborhood in Accident. How does this happen?”
“I’ll bet it was the little shit on the corner,” someone, a woman, said. “The thug that lives there was in jail.
“Wake didn’t do this,” came Dory’s soft reply. Always so soft. Even in anger like it was now. “He may have just gotten out of jail, but he’s the one who saved me.”
That was news to me.
“Baby,” I called as I headed back into the foyer to find an elderly couple on the porch. “You can come inside now.”
“You her young man?” the woman asked.
“The one that’s left her living by herself for the last four and a half months?” The male of the pair narrowed his eyes on me.
Dory’s lips twitched as she headed toward me. “Gladys, Fred. This is my husband, Bram. He’s been away for the last four and a half months.”
Liar.
“Nice to meet you,” I said to them both. “Thank you for taking care of her while I was away.”
“You’re welcome.” Gladys beamed.
“Well, it’s been a really hard day for her, so I’m gonna get her in bed,” I said. “Thank you for checking on her, though.”
After saying our goodbyes, we went inside of the house to find it cold and empty.
The place was great on the outside, but the inside was sparse, denoting it a BNB, and definitely not a place where someone lived often.
She walked to the couch and took a seat, her breath leaving her upon hitting the soft cushions.
“What guy were you talking about when I came out there?” I asked.
She looked at me stubbornly. “He didn’t do it.”
I took the seat at the coffee table and said, “I think I, of all people, know better than to say anything about anyone’s actions. How about you tell me exactly what happened, so I can have some idea of what’s going on right now.”