I clench my eyes shut and will it all to just go the hell away. “Shit.”
The door closes but Vance is still in the room, I can hear his footsteps closing the distance between us. Then I feel the bed dip as he sits on it. I don’t open my eyes.
“Honey open your eyes.”
I don’t.
“Gracie…”
I open my eyes and the minute I see him, my bottom lip quivers. “If you’re here to brag,” I croak, “don’t bother.”
He narrows his eyes. “What kind of man do you think I am?”
That was a shitty thing to say, I know.
My lip keeps trembling and he sighs, kicking off his shoes and lying down beside me. He pulls me into his arms and I can’t hold back any longer. I lose it. Tears stream over and run down my cheeks and my entire body begins to tremble as racking sobs rip from my throat. Vance holds me, saying not a word. He doesn’t need to.
I cry for so hard and for so long, my body literally flops in exhaustion. Vance hasn’t moved during my outburst, he’s just held on to me and kept me close to his body. When my sobs subside, he shifts and looks down at me. “You doin’ okay?”
“I think so,” I rasp.
“I’m so sorry, Grace.”
I shake my head, but he continues.
“I was an asshole. I shouldn’t have treated you that way because of my own jealousy. I was a bad friend when you needed me to be a good one.”
“You’re here now,” I whisper into his chest. “That’s all that matters.”
“And I’ll be here for as long as you need me.”
I nod.
“Sleep, honey. You’re exhausted.”
“You won’t leave?” I croak.
“No,” he says softly. “I won’t leave.”
Thank God.
Chapter Thirty-one
York
“Boss?”
I look up from my laptop to see Mathew standing at my door. He’s another detective in this department, and I’ve had him on Raide’s case now for the past three days. “Tell me you’ve got good news?” I mutter.
“Better than good. We’ve got Dean.”
I sigh with relief. “Thank God for that. Is he in holding?”
“Yeah, you can see him when you’re ready. Boss, before you do, there’s something else.”
I stare at him with an expression that tells him to hurry the hell up.
“A girl came in after the story on the news last night, she said she had information she believed would help us.”
They’ve been running Raide’s face on the news for a few days now, but last night they did a big feature that included naming Dean as a new suspect.
“What does she want?”
“She says she was in a relationship with Dean a few years before he was with Kelly. She says … Boss, she says he beat and raped her.”
I flinch. “You’re serious?”
“Deadly. She’s in the waiting room.”
“Name?”
“Janet Liason.”
I stand. “Take her into a private room. I’ll talk with her now.”
He nods and disappears. My chest fills with hope. Something like this could be exactly what we need to clear Raide’s name. I finish my cup of coffee and pull out a notepad and recorder, then I head into the room she’s been placed in. I open the door and she looks up. She’s terrified, I can tell. Her face is pale and her eyes are wide. She’s a fairly average girl, with mousy brown hair and big green eyes.
“You must be Janet,” I say, shutting the door softly behind me. “My name is Detective Peterson, but you can just call me York.”
She forces a wobbly smile and I sit. “I’ve been told you have come forward with some information that might help a case of ours.”
She nods. “I—I’m really scared,” she croaks. “Will he … I mean … Will he hurt me if I tell?”
Fuck. “We’ll do whatever we have to to protect you, Janet. I promise.”
She nods. “I didn’t come in earlier, I know I should have but—”
“You weren’t ready,” I finish for her. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
She visibly swallows and looks up at me with broken green eyes. I’d like to kill Dean for the pain he’s left on her face.
“W-w-w-where do I start?” she stammers.
“From the beginning, I’m in no rush.”
“I met Dean at a friend’s house,” she begins. “He was charming and sweet and he noticed me. No one notices me, so I was instantly drawn to him. We chatted and he asked me on a date. I accepted. We began dating and after four months, I noticed he’d started to change. He got angry at me all the time, especially when I told him I wasn’t ready to”—her cheeks go pink—“you know.…”
“Yes, go on.”
“One night, he set up this big date for us. He took me to dinner, brought me jewelry and flowers, he even lit candles. It was beautiful. When we got home, he started pushing himself on me. When I refused, he got angry. He wanted to know what more I needed. He’d done everything right, so why the hell wasn’t I giving it up. We got into a fight and—” She swallows.