He grins. “An hour ago, but I messaged Landon to open up so we could have a lie in. But you weren’t there when I woke up.”
I press my body flush against his. “I’m sorry. I wanted to make you some eggs but then I panicked in case you drank a protein shake instead.”
He glances around the kitchen. “Where are the eggs?”
I duck my head. “In the bin. I kind of burnt them.”
He chuckles, wrapping his arms around me. “I’ll make you breakfast next time.”
“You want to stay again?” I ask, surprised.
“Why did you say it like that?”
I shrug. “Because most men would be put off by the pink and glitter in my room. You aren’t exactly the type who seems to be okay with those things.”
“They’re you. I like you. And no offence, sweetheart, but a bed is a bed. I couldn’t care less what’s on the cover.”
Warmth fills my chest and I lean up, pressing my lips to his. “You are amazing.”
Before he can answer, my phone blares with a call and I grab it from the counter. My brows pull together at the unknown number. It’s the same area code but no one I’m familiar with.
Drew tenses. “Who is it?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper before answering the call. “Hello?”
“Miss Carter, it’s PC Megan Brown.”
I straighten, my hands shaking. Megan is the officer who interviewed me at the hospital the night Scott hurt me. She had been the one to recommend counselling and gave me details on victim support, one I didn’t take her up on.
“Hi,” I whisper.
Is this it? Is this the moment she will tell me she found him?
“I have an update about the case. Are you free to talk?”
“I am,” I tell her, letting Drew pull me against his chest. He runs his hand down my arm, soothing me.
“Amber Cooper woke up yesterday and had her sister bring in the photo of who she believes to be Scott Taylor. We would like you to come in and see if you can identify the man in the picture. Are you free this morning?”
“Um, I am,” I croak out. “Is Amber okay?”
“From what her sister said, she still has a way to go regarding recovery. We will be interviewing her in the next week or so if this turns out to be the man we are looking for.”
I hadn’t heard from April for a few days, but I’m happy her sister is awake and doing okay.
“I just need to finish getting dressed, then I can drop by?”
“That’s perfect. Just ask for me when you hit reception. They’ll call for me.”
“Okay, thank you.”
I end the call and turn in Drew’s arms. “Amber woke up and told April where to find the picture.”
“This is good news, right?”
“What if it’s not the same person? What if I’m getting my hopes up? Before, I just wanted to forget everything that happened. But now…”
“But now?”
“Now I have something to compare it to. What he did was wrong. It wasn’t me. I didn’t do anything wrong. It wasn’t because I was weird or a freak. It wasn’t because of me.”
For so long, I have blamed myself for that entire night. Not anymore. And if it is Scott messing with me and my loved ones, I want to make sure they get him.
He cups the back of my neck, pulling me against his chest. “It was never your fault.”
“I know that now,” I breathe into shirt, trying to hold back the tears, but it’s useless.
“And you aren’t weird or a freak. Never say that again,” he orders, his voice rough.
I pull back, swiping the tear that rolls down my cheek. “I need to get ready and go. And call Mum to come and get me. After the crash, I don’t want to…” I pause, fighting back the memories. “I can’t drive my car. Not yet.”
“I’m taking you. If you want to call your mum to come, we can pick her up on the way, but I’m not leaving you.”
I hiccup. “You aren’t leaving me?”
His expression softens. “No, babe, I’m not.”
Tears burst free and I rush at him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “I didn’t want to be needy or clingy but I really want you with me.”
“I’d be there even if you didn’t,” he assures me. “You shouldn’t be alone.”
“I think I more than really, really like you,” I blubber.
*** *** ***
Pressing my face into Drew’s jacket, I inhale sharply. His muscles tense beneath me as he wraps an arm over my shoulder. Mum is just as tense, her fingers tightening around mine.
It’s Scott— if that is even his name.
The beautiful redhead next to him is Amber and she looks happy and so in love in the picture. Scott’s smile is charming, giving her the same wonder-filled expression he used to give me, like he can’t believe he met the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. It had all been a lie, like an actor playing a part. He played the game and he played it well.
For what feels like months, I have been praying this had been a misunderstanding and he hadn’t hurt anyone else. But he had, and the same foolishness I felt each time I thought of him, increases tenfold.
When PC Brown slid the photo toward me, I saw the very thing I had been blind to the entire time we were together. It was beyond the charm and sweet words. He had hidden it so well and if I didn’t know now to look for it, I would never have seen it. There was a narcissistic man consumed with darkness. A sadist who picked his prey by their kindness and vulnerability.
Seeing him, even if it had only been a photo, had brought back all the memories that have haunted me since that night. I saw the tightness in his eyes, the clenching of his jaw. Everything assaulted me from the feel of his hands on me to how rough he had been inside of me.
I whimper, closing my eyes as I try to breathe through it all.
“Do you have any idea who he is now?” Mum asks.
I turn to face PC Brown, wanting to know the answer myself. I can’t move out of Drew’s arms though, needing his comfort. This has been harder than I realised.
PC Brown sits forward and from her blank expression and the flicker of her gaze, I know it isn’t going to be good news. “I’m afraid not.”
“How are you going to find out? Surely there has to be someone who knows him.”
“That’s the next thing I’d like to discuss,” she explains, turning to me. “We want to do a press release. We will post this picture and ask for anyone who recognises him or thinks they do, to call in.”
“Will I be mentioned?”
“No. It will remain anonymous and be read as, ‘in regard to an assault charge’ or something along those lines. This is our last shot at finding him.”
I chew on my thumbnail. “And the notes and flowers; do you think they are from him too?”
“I’m not sure until we bring him,” she admits. “I’ll be straight with you; I didn’t think we would get this far in the case. I’ve been searching every avenue and coming up with nothing.”
That isn’t exactly true. Landon had mentioned Drew’s dad, Silas, finding a little information. We just aren’t sure if it was useful yet.