Page 26 of Then and Now (The Edge of Retaliation 3)
“Seriously, Joanne?” Patrick says to me, his face horrified.
“Two,” Tatum continues.
“He’s not joking, Patrick, I’d leave,” I warn.
Patrick gives me another look that screams vengeance, and then turns and storms off down the street. I exhale when he’s out of sight. I’m glad Tatum is defending me, but I won’t lie, the idea of him beating Patrick after the night we’ve had isn’t something I was looking forward to.
“You good?” Tatum asks.
Am I good?
God only knows.
10
CALLIE
“I looked up and she was on the side of the road, she met my eyes, and then she just stepped out. I couldn’t stop, even if I was watching, I wouldn’t have seen it coming. She wanted me to hit her,” I say to Mr. and Mrs. Yates, my hands clasped in front of me, my heart racing a million miles an hour. “I wasn’t drinking, and I wasn’t driving recklessly, I did look away, yes, but only for a second.”
Tanner gives me an encouraging nod, and I go on.
“When I was locked away, I made it my mission to find out what really happened to Celia, so when I got out, I started looking into it. I found out about Chase and thought it strange he disappeared. I dug deeper and found out that he was behind it all, but I didn’t know how. We managed to get him to confess and have brought him home to tell the truth,” I go on, not daring to tell them I broke into their house and stole Celia’s laptop to get that information.
“What exactly happened to her?” Mr. Yates asks, his voice so tight it’s alarming.
I look to Tanner but he nods at me again. He wants me to have the chance to tell the story, like I’ve always wanted, only now it doesn’t feel as relieving as I thought it would. It feels … horrible. I know when I go into further detail about what happened to Celia that night, they’re going to wish they never heard it. They’re going to wish they forever lived thinking I was the villain.
“I …” I say, hesitant.
“Just tell the story,” Mr. Yates growls.
I close my eyes, take a shaky breath and say, “Chase got in with the wrong crowd and started messing around with drugs. He owed some big people some big money, and they went after him for it. They got Celia and him, and they drugged him so he was helpless, then they …”
I stop—saying the words makes me sick to my stomach. I don’t want to ruin their lives forever; I don’t want them to see that image in their heads for the rest of their days.
“Just say it,” Mrs. Yates whispers, her head dropped as she stares at her hands that are clasped together so tightly they’re going white.
“They raped her.”
“They,” Mr. Yates says between gritted teeth. “How many?”
“Eight,” I whisper. “They raped her but that wasn’t all of it. She contracted HIV from it.”
Mr. Yates stands, his chair launching backward. “Where is Chase?”
“Dad,” Tanner says, standing too. “Believe me, I felt the same, but goin’ over there and doin’ somethin’ stupid won’t make this any better.”
“Where is he?” Mr. Yates roars.
I flinch and look over to Mrs. Yates, who is sobbing, her head down. My heart breaks into a thousand tiny pieces, and I feel like going over there and hugging her, telling her it’ll be okay, but I know damn well she doesn’t want to hear from me. She doesn’t want my comfort.
“Dad,” Tanner tries again.
“You won’t tell me I’ll find him myself.”
He reaches for his keys and storms out the door, slamming it so hard a picture frame falls off the wall and smashes onto the ground. I stand and rush over, dropping to my knees and picking up the pieces, tears burning my eyelids, vomit rising in my throat. One tear escapes, then two and three, and then a whole river of them stream down my face until my body is shaking and my vision is blurring. I grab at the pieces of glass, trying to pick them up, trying to clean up the broken mess that I will forever think is my fault.
“Callie,” Tanner says, “it’s okay, I’ll get it.”
I ignore him, shoving big shards into my hand so I can throw them away. One shard stabs into my skin, slicing it open, and I just cry harder as blood pools to the surface. I can hear Mrs. Yates sobbing now, loud broken sobs, and I want to claw my fucking ears off so I don’t have to hear that pained sound.
“Callie, stop,” Tanner orders, his voice firm, his big hand curling around my wrist and stopping me from moving any further. “You’re bleeding, stand up. I’ll clean the glass up.”
“I’m sorry,” I sob. “I’m sorry, Tanner.”
“It’s okay, come on.”
