Page 92 of Dance for Me

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Things didn’t seem much brighter when she surfaced again.

The lights were dimmed, the blinds drawn tightly shut, and Braun wasn’t beside her. Her heart hitched at the thought she might have chased him away with her reaction to the news she wouldn’t dance again.

She whimpered pitifully, clawing at the sheet for the call button just out of reach. Her fingers brushed the edge of the plastic box, but she couldn’t quite get a hold on it. She stretched, her abdominal muscles weeping as they shifted.

“Shouldn’t be doing that,” a gruff voice chastised from the doorway.

Alarmed, her eyes shot to the door and the enormous man filling it. Light from the corridor behind the huge form turned him into a seething black shadow. He took a step forward, and the low light of the room caught his features.

Dressed all in black, Atticus looked more dangerous than ever. He wasn’t a man to be toyed with when he was like this, because he wasn’t the big gentle giant from Avalon she’d come to know. Dominant, yes, but this persona was another level. “Do you need something, little miss?”

Bodie shook her head slowly, unsure how to deal with this side of him.

“Mind if I pull up a chair? Braun won’t be long. Made him go clean up and change his clothes, get something to eat. Not gonna do you any good if he ends up in a bed next to you, is he?” Atticus pulled the chair around so it faced her, then dropped into it. His gaze studied her, his full mouth turning down at the corners to match his scowl. “Don’t guess they’ve told you a lot about what’s been going on while you’ve been doped up on morphine.”

Another head shake was all she could manage.

“Understandable. The world’s a lot different to how you left it, Bodie. Braun thinks you’ve got the balls to deal with it, and it happens I agree with him.” Atticus propped his boot on his knee, rubbed his finger over his lip. “Do you think you’ve got the balls to handle what I’ve got to tell you?”

Bodie swallowed. “Yes.”

“You sure? Braun will have my head if he comes back and you’re having a mental breakdown.” Green eyes locked on hers, assessing every emotion running through her head.

God knew what he read there because she couldn’t identify them.

“I can take it.” Her voice was quiet, thick. Sleep and nerves clogged her throat. “I’m not weak.”

“Known that for a long time, sweetheart. Understand the reasons why you feel you have to be strong all the time now I know the family you come from. Do you know it was your parents who did this?” He gestured to her broken form with a firm hand.

She nodded.

“Good. Braun mentioned you haven’t said anything about the attack, so I had to wonder. I don’t know if this will distress you or bring a sense of relief, Boadicea, but both your parents were killed the night of the attack.” His tone was gentle, but he offered no apology, no condolences. Maybe he knew she didn’t need them.

“H-How?” No, there was no distress. Not a single ounce of regret or grief for the people who raised her. But relief? Oh God, yes. Wave upon wave of it, sweeping her up. Years of anxiety fell away in a moment.

“What can you tell me about Alicia?”

“Alicia? She’s my sister. Four years younger than me. She was paralyzed from the waist down when she was ten. An accident.” One that was going to haunt her for the rest of her life, apparently. “I haven’t seen her in over ten years. She hates me as much as Abraham and Diane did, so there wasn’t any reason to stay in contact with her. Not that they’d have let me.”

Atticus nodded slowly. “Your parents abused her, Bodie. She’s been their punching bag for years. If anything went wrong with the illegal businesses they were running or they were just in a bad mood, she took the brunt of it. Alicia’s been talking to the police and she’s told them everything, including their plans to kill you. The only reason she’s still alive is the money the disability cheques brought in.”

Bodie’s lip trembled. “I’m sorry for that. I don’t see—”

“They walked into their house after they’d beaten you to death—or so they thought. Covered in your blood, laughing. Celebrating your death. If you have any thoughts of sympathy for them, don’t. They were high on the rush of thinking you were dead, and your father started on Alicia.”

Maybe she was wrong, thinking she could handle this. Whatever he said next was going to shred her, she could tell from the look in his eyes. Today was the day she’d have to rebuild her entire world from the scorched earth beneath her feet.

“She shot and killed them both, then called the police. I’ve kept in touch with the detectives who are in charge of the case, and who have taken yours on as well due to the connection. Alicia’s cooperated with them from the start, and everything she’s said adds up. It doesn’t appear like any charges will be brought against her.” He reached out and took her hand. “She asked one of the detectives if he’d seen you yet. She asked if he would tell you that she loves you, and she misses you. She’d like to see you, Bodie.”

Do not cry. Stay strong. “W-Where did she get a gun from?”

“Abraham had stashes around the house in case retribution from people he pissed off came back to bite his ass at home. Alicia feared for her safety; she took one and hid it in a pocket in her wheelchair. By all accounts, she’s as smart as her big sister. Maybe not quite as temperamental.”

Bodie squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t need to imagine what kind of abuse her baby sister had suffered all these years—she’d experienced it herself firsthand. Her heart snapped in two for what Alicia must have gone through; at least Bodie had been able to walk away from it when she was old enough, to an extent. “Where is she now? Is she okay?”

“She was discharged from hospital yesterday. She’s going to be fine, Bodie.”

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