Overcome

by Evans, A. K.

  Just before bed, I sent a text to Cruz.

  I’m all moved in. Operation Celebration is a go!!

  He responded a minute later.

  Happy to hear it. Out hoping to catch a bad guy, so I can’t call. I’ll reach out tomorrow.

  Me: Ok, be safe. Good night, Cruz.

  Cruz: Night, Princess.

  I didn’t understand where the nickname came from, but it made me smile. I liked that Cruz’s impression of me was a good one. I hoped as time went on he’d continue to only see the good or, at the very least, when bad stuff trickled in, the good would always outweigh it.

  It was late Thursday morning and I was on my way back to my office. I had just met with Grant at Colvert’s to discuss my plan for WAAR. Grant trusted my judgement and agreed to my proposal.

  “This is all great, Lexi,” he praised after I’d set everything out in front of him and explained it all. “I think this is going to do well and really get the center the funding we’ll need to continue to provide crucial services to sexual assault victims.”

  “Thanks, Grant. If you want me to proceed with this, I can get started right away. We just need to get some paperwork signed first. I purposely left the rest of my day today and all day tomorrow free in hopes that you’d be happy with this and I could start pushing this out to potential donors immediately.”

  “I can’t thank you enough for this. WAAR is going to help so many people. I don’t even know how to tell you how much this will mean to my family if it’s a success. I’m already beyond thankful that you’ve decided to come on board to help ensure that beyond getting funding we’ll get the word out that there’s a valuable resource out there for those who need it.”

  Grant was so excited about the opening of the rape crisis center and it made me proud to know I was going to be part of such a worthy cause. We spent the remainder of our meeting going over some additional details and completing the necessary paperwork.

  WAAR would have medical professionals on staff to evaluate and treat those in emergency situations and there’d be several individuals on hand to accompany victims to the hospital if they needed to go. There would be counselors there to provide one-on-one therapy sessions to anyone who needed it for as long as they needed it. Nobody would need to worry about having insurance to cover the costs associated with any of the services they’d receive through the center. Qualified staff members would be on hand to help support any individual who wanted to report their abuse. The choice to report would remain with the victim, but if they chose to report it there would be someone there with them through the process. Someone who believed them.

  One of the biggest fears that so many sexual assault survivors have is that nobody will believe them if they choose to report it. They blame themselves in many cases for what happened to them and that is another reason they choose to remain silent. Sadly, I knew this first-hand because I blamed myself for a long time.

  The part of the center that I was most excited about was the group therapy sessions that would be offered. Not a single individual would be forced or required to be involved in the group therapy, but it would be offered for those that wanted it. I felt this was particularly important because, except for Dr. Lane, I was alone. I wasn’t comfortable talking to my family or friends about it in the beginning because of my own shame and embarrassment. I liked to think if I had an easily accessible resource that would have allowed me to connect with women who went through something similar, I would have taken advantage of it. Dr. Lane had mentioned survivor groups to me, but there weren’t any that were relatively close to where I lived.

  The group therapy sessions would allow survivors to speak to the group and tell their story. They could share anything they wanted about what they experienced, how they felt, what their fears were, or anything else that helped them to cope. It got me thinking that it would be great for those who were further along in their recovery who wanted to help others to share their stories of healing and success so that those who felt hopeless would see that it does get better.

  At the end of our meeting, I told Grant I’d head back to my office and I’d reach out to him tomorrow once I had everything in motion. We left Colvert’s and I was now pulling into the lot outside my office.

  I parked my car and was getting my things out of the backseat when I heard, “There you are.”

  I jumped and turned to see Cruz walking toward me. Seeing him there filled me with relief and I knew it was because I had worried about him from the moment he told me he was out trying to catch bad guys.

  “Cruz,” I called. “You scared me. What are you doing here?”

  “Didn’t mean to sneak up on you. I felt bad I couldn’t call you last night and properly congratulate you, so I figured I’d stop by today and do it in person.”

  Well, that was sweet of him.

  I closed my car door and hit the button to lock the doors before I looked back up at Cruz. I was thrown slightly off-kilter. I hadn’t expected him to be here and now that he was I was surprised at how good it was to see him again.

  “So, are you going to show me the place?”

  I grinned up at him and said, “Sure. Follow me.”

  Cruz walked beside me as we made our way to my office. I opened the door and we stepped inside. While Cruz closed the door behind us, I set my things down.

  “This is it,” I exclaimed as I held my arms out to the sides. “It’s not much. I’ve got this common space, my private office, a bathroom, my necessary furniture, a few accent pieces that give it a little flare, and me.”

  “It’s nice,” Cruz stated as he looked around the space. I noticed he wasn’t necessarily looking at the furniture and décor. He was looking at the walls, the ceiling, and the windows.

  “I mean, I know it’s nothing like the office you work in, but it’s all I really need and I got it at an affordable price. The only downside is the shady business next door; I think they’re running a meth lab out of there or something. It’s definitely drug-related because there are way too many shifty characters going in and out all day.”

  Cruz’s stopped inspecting the place, spun around toward me, his body tense, and practically exploded, “What did you just say?”

  I held his eyes a moment before I burst out laughing. Cruz visibly relaxed as I fought to get my hysterics under control. “You should have seen your face,” I managed to get out through my laughter.

  “That was not cool, Lexi. Joking about cancelling a date is one thing, but joking about something like that where your safety is concerned is not funny.”

  I rolled my eyes and challenged, “Do you really think I’d move into a place where something like that was going on right next door?”

  He shook his head in disbelief at me, but he was smirking so I knew he wasn’t angry. He even mumbled under his breath, “Smartass.” Then, he changed topics. “Late start this morning, then?”

  “No, I actually had another meeting with Grant earlier at Colvert’s.”

  His brows pulled together and he wondered, “If you’ve got this new office space now, why wouldn’t you meet here?”

  Check mate.

  I wondered if I should tell him the real reason. It took me a minute, but I finally decided I wouldn’t reveal everything. Instead, I’d give him something and see how he responded.

  “I don’t know Grant that well and I thought it would be better to meet in a public place where it’s less likely something bad could happen.”

  “Considering he knows your brother, I’m guessing he wouldn’t hurt you. That said, it’s kind of a waste for you to have this space and not be able to use it. If you’d like, I can certainly get some surveillance equipment installed here.”

  “I appreciate that and I’m definitely interested, but I’m going to need to hold off. I just spent a ton of money on my rent and security deposit plus most of this furniture. I’m going to need some time to save up first.”

  “We can work something out for you,” he started. “I’ll g
et the equipment you need here figured out and I can come in and install it myself to save you some money. We can work out a payment plan for the equipment if you’d like. Don’t take a chance with your safety.”

  “Really?” I asked. “You’d do that for me?”

  “Lexi, I’d do a lot more than that for you.”

  I swallowed hard and tried to ignore the intention in his tone. To avoid it even more, I asked, “How would it help, though?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, if I have a client come in for a meeting, it’s not like having a security system here would do anything in the event they tried to attack me, right?”

  Cruz nonchalantly answered, “We’ll set up surveillance monitoring. I can install cameras that’ll go to a live feed. We can monitor everything from the office.”

  “You guys do that?”

  He nodded. “For some clients, we do.”

  “How does it work? Would someone be watching my office all the time? And what does that cost? It can’t be cheap.”

  “You’d be able to turn the monitoring off if you ever wanted the privacy, but it would always be there for you to turn on whenever you felt it was needed. I personally think you should do it. I know it’d make me feel a lot better,” he shared.

  I asked again, “What do you think this will cost me?”

  Cruz shrugged his shoulders and looked around the space. “I don’t know. Let me get back to the office and look at your options. Are you going to be here for a while?”

  I nodded and clarified, “The rest of the day. I got the go-ahead from Grant on my campaign proposal on the rape crisis center, so I’m going to be working on that for the next two days.”

  “Alright. I’ve got a stop to make after I leave here. When I’m done with that, I’m going to go the office, figure out what I need, and then I’ll be back. Does that work for you?”

  “What about your case? Wait! Did you catch the bad guys last night?”

  I watched as his expression went hard and he clenched his jaw. “No, we didn’t. There was a development in the case, which is why I was working later last night, but we haven’t gotten anyone yet.”

  “I’m sorry. Why don’t you focus on that for now and we can figure out my stuff afterward?” I suggested.

  Cruz took a few steps toward me and spoke softly, “I can’t do that, Lexi.”

  There was something in his eyes I couldn’t read. He looked distracted. “What is it, Cruz?”

  “My case, Lexi. I didn’t want to tell you about this, but I think you should know. And it’s not like it hasn’t been in the news. A week ago, I got word from the police department that five young women had gone missing over the course of the last three weeks. Last night, we got word that another woman went missing. We believe we’ve got a sex-trafficking ring on our hands.”

  I gasped.

  “Are you joking?” I asked.

  I felt myself begin to panic.

  Cruz shook his head and cautioned, “This isn’t something I’d ever joke about. Given that these cases are local and you are very close to the age range of the women being targeted, I’d really like to make sure you’ve got round-the-clock surveillance here at your office. Not to mention that if your home doesn’t have surveillance, it’d be a wise idea to have it there as well.”

  My eyes welled with tears as I thought about the women who were taken. I was raped once and it changed my life. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what life would be like for these women.

  “Are you going to get them back?” I rasped, my voice sounding nothing like my own.

  “I promise I’m doing everything I can to make that happen. If I’m going to be able to focus on that, though, I can’t be worrying about you the way that I have been for the last week.”

  I brought my hand up to cover my mouth, hoping I could stop myself from completely breaking down into tears. It was useless because at the same time Cruz lifted his hand to the side of my throat and slid his hand around the back of my neck. He pulled me toward him and as he did I didn’t feel any anxiety about him touching me, but anxiety over the looming threat. As soon as my forehead hit his chest, I gripped his shirt in my hands and took deep breaths trying to calm myself down.

  Cruz gently squeezed the back of my neck with one hand as the other ran up and down my back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t tell you this to upset you, Lexi.”

  I needed to say something to him and reassure him that I was glad I knew what was going on, but I didn’t want to leave the comfort of his arms where I felt safer than I had in years. Keeping my body pressed to his, I tilted my head back and revealed, “I’m grateful you told me.”

  He tightened his arms around me and asked, “Will you let me do what I’ve got to do to get you set up with security and surveillance here?”

  I nodded.

  “What about your home?”

  I shook my head and advised, “I don’t have anything there either.”

  “I’ll go get what you need here and come back to install it. After, if you are ok with it, I’ll follow you back to your place so I can check it out and see what you’ll need there. Will you let me do that?”

  Cruz.

  In my apartment.

  Other than my brothers and my father, no man had ever been there. But when Cruz asked to come there, I didn’t have any doubts about it.

  “Yes.”

  I felt his body relax before he asked, “If I let you go now and leave, are you going to be ok?”

  I dropped my forehead to his chest again and took a deep breath. Just as I was about to step back and pull away, I felt Cruz press his lips to the top of my head.

  I didn’t want that. I didn’t want his lips kissing the top of my head. I wanted them kissing mine.

  I kept my hands pressed to his chest and looked back up at him. His eyes were searching my face. I did the same until my gaze settled on his lips. I believed he was about to lean in to kiss me when my phone rang pulling us both out of the moment.

  Reluctantly, I stepped out of Cruz’s embrace and moved to get my phone. I looked down and saw that Nikki was calling. I would call her back.

  “It’s Nikki. I can call her back,” I started as I walked back toward him. “Sorry about my meltdown a minute ago. I’m alright now and will be fine until you get back.”

  Cruz’s shook his head and said, “Don’t worry about it. It’s not exactly easy stuff for anyone to hear. I’ve been doing this for quite a few years now and these kinds of cases are still a tough pill for me to swallow. All we can do is work hard to make sure we get these women back quickly and safely and then get them the help they need.”

  “And now they’ll have WAAR here to help them.”

  “That’s right,” he began. “Well, congratulations again on the place. I’m going to head out now, but I’ll be back soon. If you need anything in the meantime, don’t hesitate to call me.”

  “Thanks again, Cruz. I appreciate you taking the time to do this for me.”

  “You’re welcome, Lexi. See you in a little bit.”

  At that, Cruz left my office. I waited a whole three seconds before I freaked out and ran back over to my phone. I needed Nikki’s advice. So, I tapped on my screen and held the phone to my ear. When Nikki greeted me, I began to fret, “You aren’t going to believe what almost just happened to me.”

  “What?” she shot back, slightly panicked.

  “If you hadn’t called, I would have kissed Cruz.”

  “Tell me everything,” she ordered.

  I did. I told her everything. I also told her that he was coming back to my office and that he’d be going to my apartment afterward. Nikki, as was always a seemingly effortless task for her, talked me through all my worries about what might happen with Cruz. I knew I was nowhere near ready to take any big steps, but there was that small piece of me that wanted the comfort of Cruz’s kisses. It was the part of me that could still feel the one he pressed to my head moments ago, making me realize I wanted more fro
m him.

  And there was that part of my heart that hoped Cruz wanted to give that to me.

  I walked into my brother’s office feeling like I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.

  “Hey, Levi. You got a minute?”

  “Sure, Cruz. What’s up?”

  I sat down in the chair on the opposite side of his desk and announced, “I just got back from visiting Detective Baines. The WPD got a report early this morning of another missing woman.”

  Levi sat up a little straighter and clarified, “This is in addition to the one who went missing last night?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Fuck,” he muttered.

  “I’m going to get all of the information over to Dom and Lorenzo before I go, but I can’t work on this case today.”

  Levi’s brows pulled together. He knew something wasn’t right because I never removed myself from a case like this. “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “It’s Lexi.”

  My brother grinned at me. “Is it finally your turn?” he joked, knowing I’d given him and Zane a hard time when they started dating Elle and Emme.

  I took a deep breath.

  “I’d like for it to be, but she’s not exactly interested right now and wants to focus on her career. That said, there’s definitely an attraction on both ends.”

  “So, if it’s not about that, what’s happening with Lexi?”

  “She just signed a lease on a new office space not far from here. I stopped over there this morning before I met with Baines. She doesn’t have any security or surveillance there and actually scheduled a meeting with a client today at Colvert’s because she doesn’t like the idea of being in her office alone with someone she doesn’t know well.”

  “You want to get her set up?”

  I nodded and went on, “At her apartment, too. She’s right in the age range of the women being taken. Add that to the fact that the case I just learned about this afternoon is one that occurred at the Windsor Mall, which isn’t far from her office, and I’m not alright leaving her without any protection.”

  Levi didn’t hesitate and ordered, “Get her squared away with everything she needs. She’s Elle’s friend and will soon be your girl. I don’t want any money for anything; just get her covered. Make sure you update Lorenzo and Dom before you leave. I might bring another guy in on this case. It’s growing too quickly.”