Denise walked in, noting that only one light was turned on and it was over on the far side of the room. Meredith lay with her back facing the door, curled into the fetal position. Not wanting to scare the other woman, Denise cleared her throat and walked over so that they were facing each other.
“Holy mother of God,” she whispered, getting her first glimpse of the devastation that had been dealt to Meredith’s face.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Meredith asked, tears making her throat tight. It hurt to push the words out. She wasn’t sure if it was from where he’d shoved her face in the ground or where she had spent so much time screaming. All she knew was that she could still feel blood seeping from some of the wounds.
“I won’t lie to you, it is. You really need to see a doctor.”
Going to the bathroom that sat just off the room, Denise grabbed a washcloth and ran cold water over it. This gave her a little bit of time to compose herself. No matter how Tyler had tried to warn her, she couldn’t believe how bad Meredith’s face was. She folded the washcloth up in her hand and made her way back to the bed. Kneeling down, she began to clean the dried blood off of the tiny cuts marring the usually perfect skin. Tears pooled in her eyes as she gently ran the washcloth over her face. It broke her heart as tears slipped from Meredith’s eye lids, running down the dirt caked on her cheeks.
“I can’t believe I let this happen,” she whispered, a sob shaking her body.
Denise cautiously got on the bed, motioning for Meredith to sit up. Gingerly, she put her arm around the other woman, providing her as much comfort as she was allowed to. “You don’t let something like this happen. Someone evil does this to another.”
“I fought him,” she choked out, sobs erupting from her chest and wracking her shoulders.
“I bet you did,” Denise whispered. She couldn’t help the tears that came to her eyes. This was her friend, and she almost didn’t recognize her. It was the most horrible thing she had ever seen in her life.
Meredith held her hands out in front of her, and Denise saw the fingernails, most of them broken to the quick, stained with blood and dirt. There was evidence here, and it needed to be catalogued.
“I’m telling you this woman to woman. If I was in your situation, I’d see a doctor. There’s no shame in getting the person who did this to you.” She wanted so badly to shake her friend, to make her see that not getting checked out might as well be a death sentence. There was no telling what kind of damage had been done, not only externally, but internally as well – who knew what kind of diseases this man possibly carried.
“I feel like I asked for it,” she admitted, clearing her throat as it clogged with more emotion.
“Why? You were just doing a job.”
Meredith ran a shaky hand through her hair. “They all warned me off. Hell, Tyler told me if I went through with this he’d never be able to protect me. What did I do though? I kept at it. I kept pressing my luck. I asked for this.”
“Nobody asks for this. Nobody.” Denise had to make her see, make her agree to let the doctor come in. It was obvious that she did need medical help.
Reaching into her pants pocket, Meredith pulled out a dollar bill. “He threw this on me when he was done. He said it was for services rendered.”
Denise saw red. In that moment, she understood why others murdered. She understood the blind rage that made someone want to avenge a loved one. “You believe that and you’re a fool. You are a strong woman; you don’t let shit like this get you down. Allow a doctor to come here and nail this asshole to the wall, Meredith. Don’t let him do this to someone else.”
She shook her head. “I just don’t think I can.”
Trying another method, Denise tried to keep her tone calm. “If it was me or Mandy, what would you say?”
A grim determination finally formed in Meredith’s eyes and she set her jaw. “I’d tell you to fry the motherfucker.”
“Then what makes you any different? Let’s get him. If we can find out who he is, we can make sure he spends the rest of his life trying to get it up and not being able to.”
“What if the club kills him? That’s blood on my hands.” Meredith had no doubt that Tyler would gladly rip the man from limb to limb. He had all but said so in the time he had spent with her since this had all gone down.
Eyes glittering, Denise shook her head vehemently. “No, not at all. That’s a justified killing.”
Meredith saw the change come over the other woman. It was almost like she was seeing her for the first time. When they met, Denise had been mousy, so cut down by life. Now she was ready to kill to avenge another person’s honor. And not just any person. Hers. Someone who had tried to warn her off of all the changes she was making. Someone who was trying to protect her, only to end up getting hurt in the process. It was scary and amazing all at the same time.
“I don’t want anybody doing anything stupid. Especially you and Tyler, but I will consent to seeing a doctor. My ribs are killing me.”
If that’s what she wanted, then Denise would make it happen. “Let me go tell Tyler. We’ll get a doctor here as soon as possible.”
When Denise left, Meredith lay back down on the bed, her head spinning. She prayed she had made the right decision.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Meredith closed her eyes as the doctor performed a rape kit on her. She tried to transport herself to a time where she felt safe and secure. She realized it’d been a long time since she had felt that way for any long stretch, but it surprised her to realize she’d felt that way with Tyler every time they had been around one another.
The doctor raised her head from between Meredith’s spread thighs and snapped her gloves off. Straightening up, she grabbed a digital camera. “I’m done, Meredith. Now let me get some pictures of your injuries.”
It was obvious she was trying to be careful with her patient, but Meredith still felt as if she were on display. She tried not to wonder where this woman had gotten her MD, and it bothered her a bit that Tyler had greeted the woman with a hug. He didn’t greet people with hugs, and it had struck her as odd. The look that had passed between him and Ashley, the doctor, had made her inexplicably jealous. It spoke of nights spent together and secret liaisons. She didn’t like it one bit.
“Do you want me to let Tyler back in?” she asked as she powered down the camera and tucked it away in her bag.
Shaking her head, she mumbled, “No, I’d rather just get this over with if it’s okay?”
Ten minutes later she was putting her clothes back on and waiting for the doctor to tell her what to do.
“Now you can go take a shower. I’m going to leave some antibiotics and the morning-after pill with Tyler. I’ll also give him some pain pills and a few sleeping pills. Complete the round of antibiotics and take everything I’m giving you. I know you said he didn’t finish inside you, but you can’t ever be too cautious.”
Those words caused Meredith to shake. Pregnancy thanks to a rape. That would just be her luck. Or some disease there was no cure for. She had always been very discriminate with the men she slept with, almost to the point of being labeled a prude at times. Now she had this to deal with?
“I warn you to be careful with the pain and sleeping pills. If you need more, you will need to come see me again. Monitoring you closely will prevent you from developing a dependency on them. I do recommend that you take the sleeping pill, at least for a couple of days. Your body needs rest to heal, and you have a lot of healing to do. If you need the name of a counselor, I can recommend someone to you.”
Meredith knew the woman was doing her job, but she just wanted her to leave. This was all too much for her. It was too much information too fast. She wanted desperately to take the blanket from the bed and cocoon herself in it, shutting out the rest of the world for days. What had started out as a beautiful day when she had woken up that morning had turned into a complete nightmare. One that she wanted to wake up from but didn’t know if she ever would.
“I don’t think I’ll be needing that right now.” Her voice didn’t even sound like her own to her ears. It sounded like a different person was talking. The last thing she wanted to do was spill her guts to some stranger. It would be horrible, explaining to a stranger what that man had done to her. Telling Denise the one small detail she had was more painful than she had imagined. No way could she tell a stranger the entire story.
Ashley gave a small nod of acceptance. Not everyone was open to therapy, especially so soon after the attack, but it was still her job to let a patient know all of the available options. It would be up to the patient which option, if any, they decided to take. “I’ll leave all the information with Tyler. If you do need it in the future, at least you’ll have it. Is that okay?”
Meredith nodded, her mind racing a million miles a minute. How was she supposed to feel? What was she supposed to say? She wasn’t sure, and it felt like she should have at least a few of those answers – but she didn’t and she wondered if she ever would.
“Do you have any questions for me?” Ashley asked softly, carefully, almost like you would approach an animal that had been hurt.
“No, I just want to be left alone,” Meredith shook her head. She could taste it, the solitude she craved so desperately.
Ashley smiled sadly at her. “That’s not unusual, but please try not to isolate. I’ll leave you to take a shower. You’ll probably feel much better. Be sure and put Neosporin on those fingernails. Do you need some?”
She shook her head, her eyes glazing over. Just leave me alone. She wanted to shout. “No, Tyler has a first aid kit. I’m sure there’s some in there.”
“Then I’ll leave you alone. Remember if you need anything, call me.”
“Or have Tyler call you, right?” Meredith didn’t know why she was being so snarky, but this doctor really just hit her the wrong way.
Ashley couldn’t help her grin. Any little bit of spirit within this woman boded well for her future. “You’re very observant.”
“I’m a reporter.” Even that sounded like it came from a little kid who hadn’t gotten her way. It was filled with venom and brattiness.
“Tyler was my rebellion as a teenager. We’ve stayed friends. It’s not like that with us. There’s a lot of respect. It’s not like I wear his tattoo or his patch,” Ashley explained.
Meredith didn’t exactly know what that meant, but it made her happy. Dismissing the good doc, she went to the bathroom and closed the door.
Once inside, Meredith engaged the lock and turned around pressing her back against the door, sliding until she hit the ground. She was in shock, she supposed, not able to believe that this was in fact happening to her – had happened to her. She still hadn’t seen what she looked like. Tyler had kept her away from mirrors, and it scared her to know what she hadn’t seen. Would she be able to stomach what she saw? That ran through her mind. What if she didn’t look like herself anymore? Forcing her sore muscles to support her, she walked over to the bathroom mirror and gasped.
Her eye was swollen shut on one side – which she had figured, she was having trouble seeing but had made herself believe it was the low light in the bedroom. Her lips were cracked, there were scratches all over her face. Her nails that had been her pride and joy at the news station were completely wrecked. The manicure she had given herself a few days before – all nails a dark gray except for her ring nail a bright pink – was gone. It had made her smile every time she had looked down at it. Now the nail polish was chipped, in some cases no longer even there. For some reason, that depressed her more than anything. That was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back.
Turning the water on, she tried to squelch the tears that had begun spilling over her lashes. Steam rose in the bathroom and she reached for the cell phone she’d brought in with her. Sending a text to her manager, she asked for a leave of absence before getting into the shower. Letting the warm water wash over her body, she broke down again.
When Ashley shut the dorm room door behind her, she was met with three sets of anxious eyes. Holding up her hands, she warded off their questions.
“She’s fragile, barely holding it together, just like Denise told me before I went in there. You guys have got to be careful with her,” she warned, looking squarely and directly at Tyler. There was no way he knew just how close Meredith was to the edge, just how little it would take to push her over.
“Did she tell you anything?” Tyler asked.
If she hadn’t known him for as long as she had, she would be completely terrified. He made such an imposing figure, leaning against the wall, huge arms crossed over his chest. Dark eyes so serious, staring holes into her. Ashley, however, knew how to deal with him and refused to be intimidated.
“No, she’s very quiet about it. That’s kind of what worries me. I’m leaving you some sleeping and pain pills for her. You watch her with them. I don’t think she’s suicidal, but you never know how people are after something like this. That’s always a concern. If she spikes a fever or gets worse through the night, call me. I also suspect she has a mild concussion. Wake her up throughout the night and make sure she can answer a few simple questions. She should be able to, even on this medication. Anything strikes you as weird, call me, I mean it,” she stabbed Tyler with a look that dared him to ignore her.
They all nodded, and she handed the bag of pill bottles to Tyler. “In addition, make sure she takes every antibiotic in that bag. It will protect her from STD’s and any other virus the man may have been carrying. There’s also the morning-after pill in there, she needs to take it immediately after she takes a shower. I’ve also got her on a round of HIV medication. You called me in enough time that everything should be okay, but it’s imperative that she follow these recommendations. I told her all of this, but she wasn’t too impressed with me. I want you to reiterate.”
Tyler nodded. These were all things he hadn’t been in the right mind to think of. This was why he was glad he had called Ashley, because all of this was scaring the absolute shit out of him. “I’ll make sure she takes everything.”
She knew that he would.
“Everything she should take tonight, I have in that little container,” she indicated a clear pill bottle. “The rest, you should be able to figure out. Like I said, questions, call.”
“We got it.”
She grabbed all her stuff and turned to leave. Before she made it all the way out the door, she turned. “Be patient with her and try not to force her. Have her come to you. Denise, you talked her into seeing me, try to talk her into seeing a therapist. I have a feeling she’s going to need it.”
The officers sat around their conference table discussing club business.
“What are we going to do about Richard?” Liam asked, looking at all of the men he called ‘brother’.
“Well, we can’t just wait on him, we could be here forever.”
William turned to communications expert Steele. “Can we figure out where he stays?”
“It shouldn’t take too long. I hacked into his bank accounts the other day, and he’s paying AT&T so my money’s on the fact that he’s got an iPhone. That’s got a GPS on it.”
Liam grinned. “There’s an app for that.”
“That there is.” Steele grinned back. “There is one good thing about the technological boom. It makes my job easier.”
“Okay,” William boomed. “You find out where he is. We need to watch him a couple of days and get his pattern. We’ve got everybody on lockdown here, so we should be able to do it relatively easy. We get his pattern, and then we strike when he least expects it.”
Tyler cleared his throat. “If we find out for sure he’s behind Meredith’s rape, I want him.”
“I understand that, but this is club business,” William started.
“That wasn’t a request, Pres.,” Tyler interrupted.
Normally the president of the club wouldn’t deal with someone interrupting him and making demands, but Ty
ler was different. To put it mildly, pretty much everyone was just a little bit scared of the Native American with the wild look in his eyes.
“Duly noted.”
“So what do we do now?”
Liam answered. “Now boys, we just sit back and wait. He’s gonna hang himself, we just have to give him enough rope.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Richard Joyce knew he had to do something. Bookies were this close to putting out hits on him, but one in particular was willing to deal. He wanted a piece of property located on Highway 185 that belonged to the club. If he could get his hands on that land, he knew he would be able to wipe his slate clean and perhaps live another year. A plan had developed in his head. He could give the bookie a small piece of the land and then take the rest to sell for a profit. The overage would allow him to set up residence elsewhere and stay alive. He had to get this taken care of and the sooner the better. The bank would know sooner rather than later that he’d begun to skim off the top. Prominent citizens of Bowling Green were bound to start noticing their bank accounts becoming smaller. Amounts taken out weren’t exorbitant, but Richard knew that many of them kept a close watch on their accounts. His game was about to be up, and he knew it. Something had to happen, and it had to be now. When this started, he only thought it would be for a short while, he couldn’t keep this up.
Not for the first time he cursed his gambling habit. Something he had never been able to give up. Even with the club it had been bad – so bad that he probably still owed them dues – because he’d never been able to afford them when they were owed. He figured he had never learned one good lesson in his life, and this was probably how it was supposed to end up.
At his side, his phone rang and he answered, not sure of the number. It seemed like he was getting calls at all hours of the day from unknown numbers. It did no good to screen them, they just kept calling. He sighed as he answered.
“Yeah?”
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