Page 35 of Watch Her Bleed
“He raped his little sister. You think he gives a fuck about a piece of paper?” Aurora asks.
“If you have one in place, it’s easier to get them put in jail should they break the terms of the order of protection,” the cop tells her. “I can include it in what I’m doing. Just him?”
“No. Rita and Paul Anderson,” she says. “Do I have to list a reason?”
“They’ll ask when you go to court either way,” he says. “Easier to have it on record now.”
“They’ve walked in on him assaulting me many times,” she says. “They help him corner me. All they’ll do is help him find a way to keep hurting me.”
“You’re very brave for coming forward, Aurora,” Aaron says.
“Someone remember to say that at my funeral when he fucking kills me,” she says flatly.
“Aaron, Detective Fairfield is on his way up now,” Jared says.
“Ah good. I was hoping it would be him,” he says. “Josh works with sex crimes. He will take good care of you”
“Mhmm,” she says, not believing him.
A few minutes later a man slightly older than me comes in. “Aaron,” he says. “I heard the call come through and I was already close by. What’s going on?”
We listen as he relays the information to the Detective. “I think we should say something,” Luca says.
“Say what?” Kaia asks, narrowing her eyes. The officer and the detective both look at me.
“So… I had a feeling that something about her family was off. I am part owner of Russo Group and her parents own a food distribution center. My Dad is a bit too invested in Aurora working for me, so we ran her background to make sure we weren’t about to get fucked by giving her access to company files.”
“I didn’t even think about that,” Aurora says.
“What did you find that made you so hesitant?” Josh asks.
“I don’t think I’m a felon, so there should be nothing,” Aurora says.
“That’s the thing that's weird,” I say. “Before the age of two, Aurora Anderson didn’t exist. Whatever documents she has, as far as her birth certificate and whatnot, are all signed by someone who was dead at the time of signing. Then I find out at the hospital that she’s had the same doctor her whole life and that doctor reports everything back to her parents.”
“Wait. What?” Aurora asks me.
“I don’t know what your parents said to you, but your mother never had a child twenty-four years ago,” I say. “There is absolutely no proof of your existence until two years old.”
“Not true,” Luca says. “Look at this.” He shows Milo his phone.
“She had a stillbirth,” he says.
“What?” Kaia asks.
“Rita had a stillbirth around the time Aurora was two years old,” I say.
“Then… who the fuck am I?” Aurora asks. “What the fuck. I just wanted to report the psycho stealing my underwear. God damnit.”
Aurora turns and I put my arms around her. “I don’t know what to say,” Kaia says.
“Alright,” Josh says. “This is getting into the territory that I’m going to have to include a few others.”
“What does that mean?” Aurora asks.
“It means we are going to figure out who you really are,” he says. “If all of this checks out, Rita and Paul have a lot to explain.”
Chapter Thirteen
