Naked (9 page)

***

Hours later, she was sitting in the police station. She’d already given a verbal report to three or four different officers. She’d had to tell them the truth—that she’d been raped by Jayson and that Elijah knew about it.

She explained that Elijah had been defending her, thinking she was in danger when he saw Jayson cornering her in the restaurant. And in fact, she had felt threatened by Jayson at the time.

What was going to come of her statements, she didn’t know.

She was sitting in a small room, feeling like she was guilty of something. She’d been waiting for over an hour when one of the detectives she’d spoken with knocked and came back inside the room.

“Are you okay? Do you need some water?” he asked.

“I’m okay,” she said. “I just want to go home.”

“And where is home?”

She didn’t answer. “I’m not sure right now.”

The detective sat down. “How well do you know Elijah?” he asked.

She thought about it. “I guess not very well.”

“He’s been traveling under a fake identity,” he said. “Calling himself Jake Daniels, which is actually his brother’s name. Were you aware of that?”

She shook her head almost imperceptibly. She had known a part of that story, just not all of it.

“And were you aware that he’s been incarcerated previously?”

“No,” she said, her insides feeling as though they were filling with ice water.

“Well, he has been. A few times, starting at a very young age. This last time, he went to jail for over a year for grand larceny. Leaving Massachusetts, he is also now in violation of his parole.”

“I didn’t know any of that. All I know is that he picked me up when my car was broken down, and he drove me to Florida. He never hurt me or did anything inappropriate.”

“Until he beat that man a few hours ago,” the detective said.

She looked down at the table. “That’s right.”

“Well, you’re free to go, ma’am. You haven’t done anything wrong, that I can see. We’ve alerted the Boston police about your claims against Jayson Reynolds, and you can take the matter up with them if and when you return.”

“Okay,” she said. “And what about Elijah?”

The detective glared at her, his eyes narrowing. “You’re very concerned about him, I see.” He breathed out heavily through his nostrils and flipped open his manila folder. “As of tomorrow, he’ll be shipped back to Massachusetts to deal with his parole violation, and likely they’ll handle the charges against Mister Reynolds as well.”

“Thank you for telling me,” she said.

“Mister Reynolds, just so you know, has been released from the hospital already, having sustained only superficial injuries. As far as I know, he’s now returning to Boston as well.”

Caelyn’s mouth was dry and she was shaking. “I understand,” she whispered.

“Good luck, ma’am,” he said, rising from his chair and opening the door for her to leave.

When she left the police station, there was nobody waiting for her. Nowhere to go. Although, she remembered she still had her room at the Seaside Motel. She would have to stay there tonight, as she certainly wasn’t going to be welcome at Kenzie’s home after what had happened at the restaurant.

And then what? Caelyn thought.

They were bringing Elijah back to Massachusetts because of what he’d done to protect her.

And she realized that she wanted to be there for Elijah. Whatever that meant.

There was only one way to get home. She had no money for a flight. She had no options left.

Without bothering to debate it internally, Caelyn pulled out her cell phone and dialed the one number she didn’t want to dial.

“Hello, Mom?” she said into the phone. “It’s me. I have something I need to tell you.”