Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
He glanced over to see she’d lost all color in her cheeks. “Raven?”
She walked stiffly to the window, stopping near the broken glass on the floor. Coming up beside her, Remy placed a hand on her shoulder, and she flinched.
“Sorry,” she muttered. “You startled me.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
The police officer stood off to one side, his gaze narrowed, watching them intently.
She pointed toward the shattered glass with items laying among the shards. “That broken piece. It’s a collectible Caleb got me for my birthday. I think I was around fifteen. He gave me a Daenerys Targaryen Funko Pop. You know, from Game of Thrones. I loved the show and that present set a precedent for each birthday after. It was our special thing. Whatever I was into, Caleb managed to find a matching gift.”
“Who’s Caleb?” the cop asked, his phone out, finger hovering to type important notes.
Remy glared at him. “Her brother, Caleb Kane. Now let her get through this her way.”
“Officer Jones.” A familiar man in a sport jacket walked in and snapped at the younger cop who immediately clenched his jaw but straightened his shoulders. “I’ll take over.”
Remy breathed out a sigh of relief. “Detective Garrett Lewis. How are you?”
His old friend on the force shook his hand. “I heard your name over the police radio. I was in the neighborhood, so here I am.”
Remy was grateful. “Garrett, this is Raven Walsh. She’s renting the unit. Raven, this is an old friend of mine. Detective Lewis.”
Garrett treated Raven to an understanding smile that never failed to calm a victim.
“Hi, Detective.” She swallowed hard.
“Seems like you were explaining something when I walked in. Why don’t you go on?”
Remy put a hand on her lower back, keeping his touch light, to encourage her.
She nodded. “I was saying, my brother bought me that broken collectible.” She gestured to the blonde doll-like figure lying amid the glass. She tucked a strand of hair that had fallen from her ponytail behind her ear. “He also bought me the matching collection of Edgar Allan Poe Funko Pops when I got older and more into dark stories, and look.” She pointed to her nightstand, also covered with glass. “Poe’s head is broken off his body.”
“Shattering glass wouldn’t have done that damage,” Garrett muttered.
“Lance, on the other hand, would. And he has.” She spoke with deliberate precision, clearly forcing herself to keep it together and not show her panic.
“What do you mean, he has?” Garrett asked.
She rubbed both her arms with her hands. “He did the same thing to my first Funko. He broke Daenerys’ head and put it in my bed. He’d just seen The Godfather.”
Garrett met Remy’s gaze and he knew, without words, what his friend was thinking. No sane man would replicate the horse’s head scene in The Godfather.
“Caleb replaced the doll but the damage was done… at least in my mind. Lance liked to terrorize me.”
While Remy grasped both her cold hands in his, Garrett asked, “Who is Lance?”
“Her other brother. He’s Caleb’s twin and he’s a sociopath. He’s been doing time for attempted rape and assault but she got word from her brother he was getting out early.”
“I thought I had time before they let him out,” she said.
“Normally, the department of corrections calls the victim and gives them a heads-up,” Garrett said. “As long as they’ve registered their information with the state.”
She nodded. “But I wasn’t the victim, my roommate was. I was the star witness.” She spun to face him. “Emily! Someone needs to make sure she knows about Lance.”
“Maybe someone already did.” Garrett made notes in his cell phone. “Look, I need to find out if Lance has been released before we can question him.”
Remy set his jaw then spoke. “If he hasn’t been let out yet, then he sent one of his minions.” He explained to Garrett how Lance had kept an eye on Raven until she’d moved here.
“We’ll make sure she’s okay,” Garrett promised.
A knock sounded on the bedroom door. “Forensics,” a redheaded woman said, walking inside the room with her bag and kit.
“We need to let her do her job. Raven, do you have some place to stay?” Garrett asked.
“She’s staying with me,” Remy said in a definitive tone that brooked no argument. If Raven wanted to fight him, she’d discover his stubborn side. When it came to her safety, he wouldn’t give in.
* * *
Remy led her outside the bedroom of horrors that she’d never be comfortable in again. Once in her family room, she could catch her breath. Actually, she’d begun to breathe the minute she’d heard Remy’s voice.
She looked around the apartment like she’d never seen the place before.
“We’re leaving town,” Remy said.
She blinked, startled out of her thoughts. “What? No.”
Her words surprised her. For years, she’d told herself when Lance was released, she’d run, so she was shocked to discover, at the mention of doing just that, her spine straightened and she shook her head.