Page 36 of My Protector Daddy

“But you didn’t, and now I find out from a man Trevor Butcher who claims you’re his girlfriend.”

“What? No ...” I rushed forward to touch Tommy, but he backed away from me. My hands fell to my sides, and I blew out air from my lips before shaking my head again. “I’m not ... We’re not dating ... We broke up after the incident and I didn’t just run off like it meant nothing.”

My voice cracked a bit as I tried to explain what happened. “I don’t remember what happened that night. I remember drinking and partying. There was a lot of music and bodies on the dance floor. It’s all hazy and the doctor at the hospital says they found a substance in my system after I got to the hospital. I don’t remember the complete accident; my memories are jumbled up.

“I’m pretty sure I drove that night, but after the accident happened and I came too, I was found in the passenger’s seat.”

Tears slid down my cheeks as I said the words, and I wiped them away before turning my back to him. “Now you know why I left Nashville and came back here. I was scared of telling you because I feared you wouldn’t understand. I feared it would change the way you look at me.

Tommy was quiet on his end, and I heard his steps as he walked over to me, then touched my shoulders. “I want to help you, Leah,” he said to me before I turned to him again. “But I need you to tell me everything that happened that night. I need to know everything because that’s the only way I can help.”

I nodded slowly, then filled my lungs with air, and steadied my shaky insides.

“There was a party at the Bowling Club,” I began once we sat at the table. He held my hands while I slowly articulated the memories of that night left in my head. The partying, the music, the alcohol, and Trevor’s offer of the white substance.

“I remember driving, and him asking me to slow down, but it gets blurry from there. I can’t remember if he made me pull over so he could drive, because we were both drunk that night, and Trevor had been using.

“The next thing I remember is the crash. There was another car involved, and the driver was injured by the airbags that protected us. I wanted to call 911, but I guess I didn’t. I don’t know what happened next, but I ended up in the hospital. The doctors said there were drugs in my system, something called Rohypnol.”

“The date rape drug,” Tommy murmured before his forehead formed tight crease lines.

“Did you take that drug?” he asked me.

“No, I didn’t … I didn’t take anything Trevor must have given it to me, but I had this drug in my system according to the hospital doctor.”

He pulled away from me and rose to his feet. “I think you were drugged that night, Leah,” he said before hurriedly taking out more envelopes from his pocket.

“The court order states your offense is the hit-and-run, and the illegal use of drugs. The second party was charged only with the illegal use of drugs and obstruction of justice. He confessed to the court that you were the driver that night and driving off even after the crash. In his statement, he says he took you to the hospital because you were pretty out of it, and he got scared.”

“Trevor’s statement?”

Confused, I rose to my feet and rushed to Tommy. “Did Trevor give a statement? It was all his idea not to respond to the warrant, to begin with. When I told him about it, he shut me out, so I got scared and I ran.”

“He threw you under the bus, Leah and I think he’s trying to blame the entire accident on you.”

Tommy’s words sent cold through me. My entire body froze with it, and the unsettling feeling clamping down on the pit of my stomach did not feel good. I had dreaded the day this incident would come back to haunt me, and now the day had finally come, I knew it would be disastrous.

Tommy

Gaininginformationaboutthecase was a bit tasking. Trevor had given me most of what I needed to know, although it was only one side of the entire story. He mentioned his statement in court, and the court-ordered warrant during our meeting, and I asked for more details.

Leah’s shock was obvious in her wide eyes and her pale cheeks.She had no idea.I can tell she’s scared. Her lower lip quivered, and her body tremor was visible.

“What do I do? I’m about to lose everything,” she complained, then buried her face in her hands. The hit-and-run was one case but evading the law and disobeying the court order was another. It proved her guilt if anything, and the prosecutor would hammer on that if she eventually showed up in court.

Leah suddenly raised her head and looked at me. “How did you find out though?”

“I met with a client today and turns out the woman he is trying to find is you …” I was beginning to suspect that this case was related to the near hit-and-run we experienced the other night, and the truck accident was connected somehow too.

I don’t know how long Trevor has been around here, but he must know Leah is in town. Why else would he be trying to find her here?

“Did you tell Trevor where you were going when you left Nashville?” I asked her.

Numerous thoughts dashed through my frazzled mind, and I kept trying to figure out what the next step was. If Leah turned herself in now, then she could be locked up without bail for running. I couldn’t stand the thought of her being locked away.

“I didn’t tell him anything. Only Danielle knew …”

“Does she know about the accident?”

---