Page 8 of Ariana's Hero

Scared as the memories keep hitting me again and again. Remembering the terror when I woke up in the trunk. The paralyzing fear as I lay in there, trying to dredge up the courage to press that green button. Leaping from the car, half-sure I was about to be killed or captured.

Every time I move, the aches and shooting pains are a reminder of how close I came to unknown horror. I could have been assaulted, trafficked, killed—

“Ari.” Cash’s soothing voice breaks in. “If you’re not ready, you don’t have to do this right now.”

“It would be better if she did,” one of the officers says—I can’t remember his name—Kade? Kody? Kane?

“Not if she isn’t ready,” Cash snaps. Then his voice gentles, and he lightly touches my arm. “Ari. Hun. You don’t have to do anything. You can talk to them now, or it can be later. It’s up to you.”

What I wantis for tonight to have never happened.

Barring that, I want to keep sitting here with Cash, listening to him talk, and notthinking about anything else.

But I’m sure I’m not the only woman Sean has done this to. Which means I need to suck it up and tell the police everything.

“It’s okay,” I say, meeting his concerned gaze. His eyes have darkened from their usual light hazel to a tarnished bronze. “I need to tell them. Even if I don’t want to.”

Cash frowns, his strong features all shadows and angles. He rakes his hand through his dark brown hair, the same tell of frustration he’s had ever since we met in high school. “Just remember, you can take as many breaks as you need.”

He pauses, glancing at the younger officer—Kane, nowI remember—and his tone roughens. “She’s been through a lot tonight. Take it easy.”

The older of the two officers dips his chin at Cash. Then he focuses on me, his gaze softening. “Okay, Miss Quinn. I understand this is difficult. If you could just start at the beginning, tell us everything you can think of, and we’ll go back to ask any additional questions at the end.”

I can do this. But why is my heart pounding so fast?

I can do this. It’s just like telling a story. The hard part is over.

Staring at my lap, I begin.

“It all started when I was out with my friend Thea.”

At first hesitant, my voice grows stronger as I recall the impetus for the date. How I let Thea convince me that online dating was a good idea. “It’s not her fault,” I add quickly. “She had no idea. Neither did I. I thought it would be safe.”

Then I tell them about messaging with Sean, first on the app, then over the phone. How he seemed normal, nice, and non-threatening. That’s when I bark out a short laugh. “I guess I’m not a very good judge of character, am I?”

I keep it together pretty well as I talk about the beginning of the date. About how I was surprised because he didn’t look like his photo, but I’d heard of that happening a lot online.

The younger officer breaks in. “How similar was the photo to his actual appearance?”

“Pretty similar. Close enough that I didn’t doubt it was Sean. I thought it was just an old photo,” I answer, thinking back. “I didn’t think it was a different person. But I guess… it could have been.”

And now I feel even more foolish. Why didn’t I check? Ask to see his ID? Or just leave? Why did I have to stick out the date when there were so many red flags?

“I was so stupid,” I blurt out. “The date wasn’t going well; I should have just left. But I wanted to tell Thea that I went through with it.”

“It’s not stupid,” Cash murmurs, one hand coming to the back of my neck and rubbing gently. “Not at all.”

I’m not sure I believe him.

Pushing on, I tell them about the drink at dinner, how I thought it was presumptuous to have my drink ordered already. “I should have insisted on ordering something else right away. But I wanted to be polite. So I drank some of it, and then I got a replacement when he went to the bathroom.”

As I explain about the dummy drink, how I asked the bartender to make sure it looked just like the original, Officer Troy looks at me soberly and says, “You only had part of the drugged drink. If you had finished the entire thing, you wouldn’t have woken up in the trunk. The drug would have lasted a lot longer.”

What he’s not saying is I wouldn’t have hada chance to escape.

My fingers convulse around Cash’s as a shudder runs through me.God.

But the story isn’t done, and it’s only going to get harder.

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