by H K Christie
Martina leaned forward. “Tippin, for now I’m going to speak for Selena. She has explained to me everything that’s happened. What she’s told me is that she was there because she had been made aware of the assault on the woman and she wanted to go and try to stop it. Before she could reach the young woman, she was accosted by Detective Grayson. As you can see in the video. And you can also see it’s likely the only reason he let her go was that two other people approached. One of the men is actually dating Selena and the other one is the person who attacked her roommate.”
Lieutenant Tippin eyed Selena again. “Martina, if we didn’t go as far back as we do, I’d be hesitant to act. But since I know you, I know you wouldn’t have brought this to me if you didn’t think we could make a case,—which based on the video we can, if it’s not thrown out due to the nature of how it was obtained. Either way, I went ahead and began assembling a team to go out to the fraternity tonight. They are en route as we speak. Hopefully, we’ll catch the perp and get a chance to question Detective Grayson. For now, we’re playing this as an anonymous tip. At a minimum, a visit by the police will usually shut down the party. There is no question underaged drinking is going on—there always is. We don’t usually get involved with university matters, but because of our anonymous tip that campus police is covering up illegal activity, we’ll go in. I think it’s best that both of you go back to the dorm, pack up your things, and go home. And for the love of all that is holy, stay away from the Delta Kappa Alpha house. Not just tonight, but in the future too.”
Martina tipped her chin. “Noted.” She turned to Selena. “You’re done with your finals, right, Selena?”
Selena nodded and a spark of energy ignited within her. If Lieutenant Tippin’s team was successful, it would have all been worth it.
“All right, ladies, well, I’m gonna get to it. Martina, don’t be a stranger. Selena, pleasure to meet you. I’ll keep you posted.”
Martina grinned. “Thanks, Tippin. I owe you one.”
“Yes, you do.” He gave her a wink and shook Martina’s hand before showing them the door.
18
Despite Lieutenant Tippin’s suggestion to get out of town early that morning, Selena decided to get some sleep before hitting the road. Martina had offered to stay with her in case she wanted extra security, but Selena told her she’d be fine. And yet, Martina had insisted, commandeering the sofa in the living room. Selena knew better than to argue.
After a fitful five hours of sleep and a nice hot shower, Selena finished stuffing her suitcase with all the clothes and items she’d need over winter break. She pressed down on the carryon with all her weight as she forced it to zip shut. She lifted the suitcase from the bed and dropped it on the floor with a thud.
From the living room, Martina called out, “All packed?”
“Yep.” She rolled the suitcase into the living room, where she sat on the couch with her cell phone in hand.
“What time is he coming over?” Martina asked.
“In about twenty minutes.”
“Do you want me to … Oh hold on.”
Selena strolled over to the fridge while Martina took a call in the other room. She pulled out the last container of strawberry yogurt and grabbed a spoon from the drawer before sitting herself down at the table. Despite her nerves, her stomach was growling for sustenance. As she ate, she contemplated how she’d now finished her first semester at college and conducted her first unofficial investigation. Now, if she could not lose her first not-a-psycho-boyfriend, that would be great.
Selena tossed the container in the recycling and rinsed the spoon in the sink. The closer it grew to Brendon’s arrival, the more jittered her nerves became.
“Good news!”
Selena swiveled around. “Yeah?”
“I just got off the phone with Lieutenant Tippin. They arrested the attacker in the video, but Detective Grayson wasn’t at the frat when Tippin’s team arrived. He’s not sure an inquiry into Grayson will go anywhere—being in law enforcement and all—but the young man who sexually assaulted the woman is in jail and she’s at a local hospital. You couldn’t see on the camera, but she was lying on the ground farther back on the side of the house. Apparently, she has a heart condition. If the police hadn’t found her when they busted the party, she may have died.”
“Oh my god.”
“Selena, that’s because of you. We still need to discuss your methods … but you saved a young woman’s life. You should be proud. Also, because of the incident, it’s likely the fraternity will lose its charter and get shut down.”
“That’s great!” Selena couldn’t believe it. Her operation had paid off, in large part to Martina and her connections at the SFPD, but still. It made her realize that her path toward investigations was the right one for her. If felt amazing to be able to help that woman. She only wished she’d been able to get there before she’d been attacked. At least there was now one less predator on the streets.
A knock on her door made her heart nearly jump out of her chest.
Martina said, “I’ll take your stuff down to the car and give you two a little privacy.”
“Thanks.”
Martina grabbed the handle of Selena’s carry on suitcase and strolled over to the door. She let Brendon in on her way out, mouthing good luck to Selena as she shut the door behind her.
Selena forced a smile at him. “Hi.”
“Hey.”
She stood frozen. “You wanna sit?”
“Sure.”
Selena sat stiffly on the sofa. Brendon sat on the other end. There were no smiles. No shining eyes.
Time to be brave. “How are you?”
Brendon met her gaze. “I’m okay. Confused. What are all these things I’m hearing?”
“What are you hearing?”
“Tyler says you attacked him. You were sneaking around the frat when you said you were studying. You lied to me.”
Selena couldn’t argue with that. She had lied to him. He just didn’t realize how many times. She knew now was the time to come clean with him and to be completely honest. If they were to continue dating, she figured she owed him that much. Although, she knew this may be the end for the two of them. The truth didn’t make her sound great.
“I’ll explain everything.” She went on to tell him the whole story about Dee, Tyler, running into him in the hall, the other women in her support group, her stakeout, and the current status of the case based on Tippin’s latest update.
His cheeks were red. Was that anger in his eyes? “You used me to get into the frat house and obtain evidence against Tyler and the other frat brothers, who you assumed were assaulting women at the frat?”
“I didn’t ‘use’ you. I mean, I …”
“You used me. That was why the change of heart. Why you came to my room that night. Not that you liked me. You didn’t want to date me at all until you saw me as being useful.”
She shook her head furiously. “That’s not true. I really like you. I just also knew that you could help me get into the frat. One has nothing to do with the other. All the stuff I told you about the bad break up and not being ready to date was true. I was … I was attacked by my last boyfriend. I haven’t dated anyone since. I didn’t want to date anyone until I met you. You have to believe me.”
“I’m not sure what to believe, Selena. What else did you lie to me about?”
“That’s everything, I swear.” Selena put her hand on his arm and looked him in the eyes. “I really like you.”
He glanced down at her hand. “I don’t know, Selena. I need to think about all of this.” He shook her hand off his arm and stood.
Selena stared as he began walking out. Walking out on her. She didn’t know how to make him stay. She didn’t know how to make up for what she’d done.
He reached the door and stopped. “You know, I really liked you, Selena. I would’ve never thought you were using me.”
Liked. Past tense. She hurried over to him. “I’m s
o sorry. Maybe we can start over?”
“I need some time to think about this.”
Her heart fell to the floor. “Okay.”
He opened the door and walked out.
Selena stood in the doorway and watched him walk down the hall to his room. She supposed it could’ve been worse. He could’ve physically hurt her. Wow, way to set the bar high. I guess this is one way to test someone to determine if they’re an abuser. There was no question he would’ve lashed out if he’d been a bad guy. He hadn’t. Brendon was a good guy and she’d hurt him. She closed the door and slumped into the couch. Way to go, Selena.
19
Christmas morning, Selena and her stepsister, Zoey, sat on the floor in front of the brightly lit tree munching on sugar cookies as they retrieved gifts out of their stockings while Martina and her dad took photos of the two of them acting like little kids. She and Zoey compared the matching necklaces that Santa had given them. A gold cursive Z for Zoey and an S for Selena. The two young women turned around and sang, “Thank you, Santa!”
Her dad winked at the two of them.
Although Zoey, a sophomore at Oregon University studying computer science, was a year older than Selena, they had become fast friends when they’d met the year before. Both loved clothes, fashion, and makeup. Selena loved having a sister to hang out with when they were both home from school in addition to her best friend from high school, Alida.
There was a knock on their front door. Martina said, “I’ll get it.”
Selena paid no mind as she and Zoey set down their now-empty stockings and decided to sing and dance along to “Jingle Bell Rock” in their matching Christmas pajamas. They laughed and sang. By the last chorus they had fallen down on the couch, doubled over in laughter.
Martina called out, “Selena, you have a visitor.” Selena turned to look up and her mouth dropped open. She hurried off the couch and smoothed out her pajama set, which was decorated with cheerful snowmen. “Uh. Hi, Brendon.”
He shifted awkwardly in the doorway of the living room. “Hi. Can we talk?”
Martina turned to Brendon and gave him a friendly smile. “You can use the dining room.”
Selena had no idea Brendon was coming over. They hadn’t spoken since that Friday morning before break. She had feared that he had completely lost interest in her and never wanted to speak to her again. She texted him twice, but then gave up. She hadn’t blamed him. Now he was here in her house and she was wearing snowman pajamas and no makeup. Eek. Thank god she was wearing a bra.
He sat across from her in the dining room. “I like your pajamas.”
Was he flirting? “Thanks. Um, what are you doing here?”
“I wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and I wanted to tell you that I thought about what you told me. I now see that everything you did was for a good cause. I was hurt and I was angry when I found out that you used me.” Selena tried to protest, but he stopped her. “Let me finish, please. And I thought about what you said about maybe starting over. Not from scratch, but with a clean slate. I would like to try to do that. What do you think?”
Selena nodded with a smile. “I would like that.” Christmas was definitely now her favorite holiday. She used to dread it before, due to the depressing nature and lack of cheer. But between last year, when she’d been reunited with her dad, and this one, it was the best time of the year, for sure.
Brendon’s smile faded. “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Tyler called me looking for a roommate. Apparently, they’re shutting down the frat because of all the allegations. And by the way, that friendship is officially over. I always knew he wasn’t exactly a great guy, but I had no idea he was capable of such terrible things. I believe you and Dee. I’m not interested in associating with him or anyone like him, ever again.”
She’d done it. The frat was shut down. She refrained from jumping up and down, instead she slid out of her chair and hurried over to him. She bent over and lightly kissed him on the lips. “Merry Christmas.”
He beamed up at her. “Merry Christmas.”
From behind, they heard a, “Everything okay in here?”
Selena turned around and met her dad’s gaze. Even though she was almost nineteen years old, he was still the protective father.
“We’re okay, Dad. Oh, and this is Brendon. Brendon this is my dad, Charlie.”
Brendon scooted the chair back and stood up. He extended his hand. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
Selena’s dad grinned. “You can call me Charlie.”
Martina and Zoey appeared in the entry to the dining room. So much for romance.
Martina said, “We are about to have brunch. Brendon, we’d love for you join us.”
She put her hand on Brendon’s shoulder. “Please stay. You drove all the way here.”
Brendon nodded. “I’d like that. Thank you.”
Selena said, “Great, I’m going to change out of my pajamas, and give a quick call to Dee to tell her the good news that the frat is shut down, and then I’ll be right back.”
Brendon eyed Charlie and Martina. “Is there anything I can help with?”
“Sure, come with me.” Martina waved her hand toward him as she headed back to the kitchen.
Selena smiled before she turned and ran to her bedroom to change into actual clothes, brush her hair, put on some lip gloss, and share the goods news with Dee. Another great Christmas and a major victory, even though she hadn’t succeeded in taking down Tyler or Detective Grayson. She may not be able to take all the predators off the street, but she’d taken off a few. That meant a few less victims and that would have to be enough, at least for today.
A note from H.K. Christie
Yes, I know, another super light book by H.K. Christie! Ha. Not so much. Although, I do hope you found it enjoyable. My hope was to entertain as well as raise awareness. Violence against women is something that has been tolerated, overlooked, downplayed and frankly, been happening for far too long. It is horrific how frequent it occurs.
Early readers asked me about some of the statistics mentioned in the book and I thought maybe other readers may be wondering the same thing. The short answer is yes all of them are accurate (at least according to my internet sources). The long answer:
Yes. One in five women will be a victim of sexual assault in their lifetime. Other sources say it is closer to one in four, due to the fact many woman don’t report their assault for many of the reasons discussed in the book.
Yes. It’s true that the highest number of sexual assaults occur on college campuses between the months of August and November.
Also, yes. If you spray pepper spray in the mouth of an attacker it will have a greater possibility for incapacitating them (Note, I haven’t personally tried this, but it was a tip given to me by a police officer I interviewed).
During my research, I also found a tremendous amount of organizations providing support for victims of sexual assault and violence ranging from counseling to legal help to survivor stories.
If you have been assaulted or would like to learn more, you can visit rainn.org today and receive a wide range of information and support.
If you have been assaulted, please know, you are not alone. It was not your fault and no it doesn’t matter what you were wearing or where you were or if you were consuming alcohol or recreational drugs. If you didn’t consent, it was assault.
Thank you!
Thank you for reading One In Five! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it. If you did, I would greatly appreciate if you could post a short review.
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Also by H.K. Christie
The Selena Bailey Novella Series
If you enjoyed, One In Five, pre-order the third book in the series, On The Rise, today!
Not Like Her, Book 1
One In Five, Book 2
On The Rise, Book 3
The Unbreakable Series
The Unbreakable Series is a heart-warming women's fiction series, inspired by true events. If you like journeys of self-discovery, wounded heroines, and laugh-or-cry moments, you'll love the Unbreakable series.
We Can’t Be Broken, Book 0
Where I’m Supposed To Be, Book 1
Change of Plans, Book 2
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About the Author
H.K. Christie is the author of compelling stories featuring unbreakable women.
When not working on her latest novel, she can be found eating, drinking, hiking, or playing with her new 9 year old rescue pup, Mr. Buddy Founders.
She is a native and current resident of the San Francisco Bay Area and a two time graduate of Saint Mary’s College of California.
Author H.K. Christie
Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank my Super Elite Level beta readers: Juliann Brown & Jennifer Jarrett. Thank you for the continued encouragement, support, and invaluable feedback. Thank you!
