Allie took off ten minutes ago. I tried to convince her to let me give her a ride but as soon as Dom released her, she took off straight for her Audi with barely a backward glance.
I was tempted to go after her. I don’t know what the hell came over me but seeing her like that, in the line of fire, I’ve never been so fucking scared in my life. My girl was in danger. My girl.
Fuck all the bullshit with her and Julio. Fuck the fact that she ghosted me. She’s mine. She ran off tonight but as soon as I get Dom settled, she and I are going to have words.
It’s just the three of us now. Dom, me, and my pops. We’re sitting in Dominique’s Escalade but I’m in the driver’s seat. No way am I letting him drive himself home tonight. Dom gave my dad a recount of what happened, and one thing for sure is heads are going to roll Monday morning when my dad gets to his office. He assures Dominique that all of the officers will face consequences. I’m almost positive the first asshole on scene will lose his badge. You can’t be a racist prick on my dad’s force. He has zero tolerance for that shit.
“You boys going to be alright tonight?” my dad asks.
“Yeah. I’ll drive Dom home and crash at his place. What were you doing here, anyway?” I ask him.
Color is coming back to his face. He seems a little more like himself. “Allie called me. She was freaked out. I guess there was some dude outside and she didn’t feel comfortable leaving the diner by herself.”
A stab of pain hits me in the gut when I realize she was afraid and she called him. Not me. But before I say anything, my pops curses.
I flick my gaze toward him, and he asks, “Are you two close with her?”
We both shake our heads. “Used to be. We don’t talk anymore,” I tell him.
He frowns but I have no idea why. What does he care whether or not I talk to Allie?
“What’s that mean exactly?” he asks.
I shrug, not wanting to get into it with him. Allie and I were on the outs but after tonight, I plan to rectify that. “Nothing. It’s whatever.”
His frown deepens and his eyes flicker with disappointment. “That girl’s been through hell,” he says.
Anger rises up inside me. “How would you know?”
He scrubs a hand over his face, and I know he’s going to give me some non-answer. Hell, no. Not this time. If he knows something about my girl, I should know it, too. “Pops, how do you know Allie?”
His mouth tightens. He’s quiet for a minute so I press again. “If something’s going on, I should know. You have to tell me.”
“The night of your game. The one your mother and I came to watch you play in…” he hesitates.
“Yeah? What about it?” I remember that he’d stepped out to make a phone call and then left shortly after. Mom said a case came up or some shit.
“She was assaulted in the parking lot.”
Wait. What?
My chest seizes and my mouth drops open. “What do you mean, assaulted?” Was that why she wasn’t at my game? She’d been hurt? Fuck. She’d been hurt and I’d been a complete asshole. No wonder she didn’t message me back.
His face hardens. “I don’t want you spreading rumors about this girl, feel me?”
Dread settles deep in my stomach. “What kind of assault are we talking about here?” There’s only one that would warrant his tone, and I need him to confirm it.
“We believe she was raped.”
I suck in a breath. And then I fucking explode. “What? Are you fucking kidding me right now?” I jump out of the driver’s seat and start pacing in front of the car, unable to remain still.
My dad and Dom both get out after me.
“Fuck.” Then his words settle over me and I whirl on him. “What do you mean you think?” Either someone is raped or they aren’t. There isn’t really a gray area here.
“She wouldn’t consent to the rape kit. She told the nurses she was raped upon arrival and it was clear she’d been when I found her. She was—” He shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter. But she told the nurses about the assault when we got there. I rode in the ambulance with her. She had all the signs of a rape victim. Torn clothes. Bruises. All of it. But before the nurses could start the kit, some woman in a suit stormed in and tore out of there with her like she was on a mission. When me and another officer tried to confront her, she shut us down. The girl’s a minor. We couldn’t question her without parental consent and they weren’t giving it.”
I pull at my hair and resume my pacing. “And she was okay with that?” Goddammit. This is so much worse than I thought. Raped? Fuck. I iced her out and she’d been raped.
She’d been in trouble today and she’d called Dom. Not me. I fucked up. She’s been hurt and I royally fucked up.
My dad lifts his shoulders and releases a weary exhale. “I don’t know. She was in shock. She shut down. I can’t say I blame her.” He shakes his head. “Whoever hurt her made sure to leave their mark. I can’t fault her for calling you when she saw a man outside.” He directs that statement to Dom, and I notice his eyes are no longer distant. Instead, they’re alight with remembered fury.
“The guy who hurt her?”
Pops shakes his head. “Still out there.”
Fuck.
