Page 8 of Merciless Protector

Her eyebrow arched. “Psychopaths can.” She touched my hand. “Wait here.”

I didn’t want to believe that a psychopath had stolen my virginity. I just couldn’t. Moreover, I waited, knowing the woman was going to check out my story. At least my name and if I’d been reported missing before deciding what they were going to do with me.

It was hours later when I’d been taken to a hospital. I declined a rape kit, and the officer and nurse were trying to convince me otherwise. All of that was forgotten when my mom came in.

The floodgate opened on my tears. I might have been twenty-four or twenty-five if my birthday had passed. I’d forgotten to ask the date as I repeatedly told the story and gave descriptions of all the people I’d come into contact with during my captivity.

Instead, I cried like a baby as Mom’s safe arms enveloped me. I said sorry to her as many times as she said sorry to me.

“I was trying to protect Tabby,” I said.

“I know, baby. I’m just glad you're safe,” Mom soothingly said while rubbing circles on my back.

The annoying officer interrupted our reunion. “I hope you will encourage your daughter to do a rape kit.”

It was the bottle of cold water thrown between Mom and me. I hadn’t wanted her to find out like this.

Mom swiftly pulled back and held me at arm’s length. “Are you okay, Tayla Serena James?”

I knew that voice. It was used when I wasn’t to tell a lie. Not that I’d told her many of those over the years.

“I’m fine.” Her eyes narrowed and carried the heavy weight of skepticism. “Really, I’m fine. I don’t need a kit.”

“I know you think you know this guy. But according to you, you knew him less than an hour. How can you be sure?” asked the female officer whom I’d first spoken to.

“Not here,” I snapped, glaring at the officer. I wasn’t a teenager that needed to be set straight by a parent.

“Please give us a moment,” Mom said to the officer and the nurse, who gratefully had remained silent. She understood the HIPPA rules that said my medical history was my business.

“Okay. I’ll come by later,” the officer said. My only response was a pointed stare.

The nurse added, “I’ll be at the nurses’ station if you need me.”

I nodded at her and only turned back to Mom when we were the only ones in the room.

Mom’s eyes were filled with unshed tears. She was trying to be strong for me. “I’m okay, seriously. Better to have happened to me and not Tabby.”

Then I flung myself back in her arms. No way would I burden her with the details of my captivity that I wanted to forget. So, as she held me and we cried, I folded those memories over and over in my head like a sheet of paper and threw them in a mental box with all the shielding I could.

The next time I opened that box would only be to recount my story to a jury when they got that bastard Ruin. That was my mission.

But the first thing I would do was search for any information about Shawn, the man I would forever call my savior. He’d been the light in the darkness that had surrounded me.

6

MATT

It had been three long months since I’d been perp-walked out of that industrial compound and away from Tayla. What should have been in and out of prison turned out very differently. Instead of taking me to the secluded area where prisoners who were in danger of being killed inside like cops turned criminals, I’d been taken to gen pop, cell block C.

In other words, I’d been forsaken by the FBI. It had been a risk, me going into an op not sanctioned by top brass or anyone for that matter. But I hadn’t thought they’d completely leave me inside. I hadn’t done a day when I’d been arrested during the takedown of the kingpin. In fact, this time, I hadn’t been formally charged at all. By law, I should have been taken to county jail, not prison, and formally charged with some crime. But here I was. And my three-month stay hadn’t been a cakewalk.

A clang sounded at the front of my cell. The guard holding a baton. “Stanton, you have a visitor.”

I might have stood there for a minute like a deer in headlights only because I hadn’t expected anyone. As per my instructions, if on the off chance I ended up in jail, no one, including my sister or her in-laws, was to contact me. I couldn’t risk any of them being tied to my criminal persona.

“Come on now,” the guard spat.

A quick glance at my cellmate found him as curious as me. I turned back and walked up to the bars. They were opened, and I was let out. The guard pointed, as I hadn’t done this before and didn’t know where to go. I headed in that direction with him behind me. Hoots and hollers followed me as I walked down the stairs and then to the end of the block.

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