Rebel Roused (Untamed #5) (13 page)

“We got a call about a disturbance here?” A bulky male police officer and his female counterpart strode between us.

The woman looked at my father, then down on the floor where Jack lay moaning. “Mayor McKinley, what happened here? Who beat this man?”

My father’s eyes were locked on mine when he lifted his finger and pointed at Dare. “He did it, officers.”

I turned around and reached for him, but Dare was back by the door, already holding out his wrists for the cop to cuff him.

“NO!” Shaking my head, I started toward him, but the policeman stepped in to block my way.

“I’m sorry, miss, you cannot interfere with an arrest.”

“He was protecting me!” I cried, not taking my eyes off Dare. But he was staring at the ground, refusing to meet my gaze. Oh, god. Why wasn’t he looking at me? “I just need a moment with him.” I looked up at the officer, pleading with my eyes.

He shook his head.

“You should be arresting THAT GUY—” I pointed at Jackson who was still on the floor, getting looked over by a paramedic. “—because he was trying to kill me. Dare saved my life! You can’t arrest him. You can’t take him away from me—”

“We’ll be happy to take your statement at the station later tonight.”

I opened my mouth again, but Pierce’s arm closed around my shoulders. “Don’t make it worse,” he whispered in my ear. “Just cooperate and let them do their jobs, Reagan. We’ll get this sorted out. I promise.”

Dare still hadn’t glanced my way. Not even as he was being led outside to a waiting police car.

“Pierce, you’ve got to help him.
Please
.” Panic rose within my chest, threatening to choke me. “He saved my life. But he has a record and Jack’s dad is a senator…they’re not going to listen to Dare. He’s going to get totally screwed by the system. I can’t—” My words cut off as my throat closed. I had to swallow and force the rest through. “I can’t lose him.
Please
.”

If Dare even still wanted me. What if he’d changed his mind after hearing about the baby? What if that was why he wouldn’t meet my eyes, just to let me know that he was okay, that
we
were okay. I’d kept my deepest, darkest secret from him. And he’d just found out I couldn’t have kids, after we’d spent countless nights lying in bed and talking about the future. My heart was breaking at the thought, and his had to be, too. But just because I couldn’t have kids didn’t mean that he couldn’t. He could find someone else…

Oh, god.

Why wouldn’t he look at me?!

“Just tell the police what happened,” Pierce said to me. “Dare will do the same. It’ll be both of your words against Jack’s. I’m sure he’ll be released by tomorrow morning. Maybe even later tonight.” He squeezed my shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Reagan. Justice will be served.”

But when I glanced across the room at my father talking to some officers, I knew that justice couldn’t ever be guaranteed when he was involved.

eighteen

S
itting in a cell, wondering whether the hell I was going to get out of here anytime soon was torture. I’d told the police what happened. Play-by-play. Several times. And they’d come back at me with charges that I’d attacked the senator’s son unprovoked.

Fucking hell.

Just when our lives were coming together, I had to go and screw it all to hell. I couldn’t believe I’d fucked up like this. Beating the shit out of Jackson had felt good. Too good. And that stupid mistake had landed me here. Possibly for a long time if the senator and mayor had their way.

As soon as the cops had shown up, I’d known it was over. That I was going to pay. I couldn’t even look at Ree, couldn’t stand to see the disappointment I knew had to be in her eyes. I’d fucked everything up—our past, our present, and definitely our future.

A door clanged open down the hall, then an expensive suit strode into sight and stopped in front of my cell. Great. Ree’s fucking brother.

“Fuck off,” I said before he could even open his mouth.

“And good evening to you, too,” Pierce said. “It must’ve been your charm that first caught my little sister’s eye.”

“If you’re here to finish off your father’s dirty work, you don’t need to talk to me. Go spin your story, tell your lies to the cops, but just leave me the fuck alone.”

Pierce laughed. “Ah! You are like a breath of fresh air. No wonder Reagan loves you. Tell me, before we get down to business, do you happen to have a sister?”

I was off the bench, my arm through the bars, and had him by his tie before he could even blink.

He cocked an eyebrow at me. “All I have to do is call ‘
Officer!
’ and you’ll have even more problems on your plate. You sure you want that? I’m here to help you.”

I released him, and wrapped my hands around the bars. “I don’t need your kind of help.”

Pierce shrugged. “Jack was released almost immediately, given that he’s Senator Fitzgerald’s son. I could have you out in an hour so you could go home to Reagan tonight.”

“No, thanks,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ll do this on my own. I don’t want to owe anything to anybody named McKinley.”

Pierce looked at me for a moment, quirked his head, then said, “Don’t you owe your life to Reagan?”

I sat back down on the bench. Hard. Yes, I did owe my life to her. And I didn’t want her to see me like this. I’d told the police to not let her in if she came by—because I knew she would come, but I just couldn’t bear for her to see me behind bars.

I was not my father’s son. I didn’t want to turn into the bastard, and I especially didn’t want Ree to see me as him, as a monster, as some rageaholic. Not to mention, I refused to pull her into this mess. She didn’t need her name getting dragged through the mud for a second time today. Besides, the truth was on my side in this case. The truth had to count for something.

Though, in my experience with the bluebloods of Reagan’s world, truth was not a fixed black or white thing. It was malleable, shaped to benefit the rich and powerful.

And I was neither.

God, I was fucked.

“Let me help you, Dare. For Reagan,” Pierce said. “Let me see what I can do.”

“And what am I going to owe you? I’ve seen how your world works. Nothing is ever easy. Nothing comes free.”

“Just my sister’s happiness.” Pierce started walking back down the hall toward the front desk. “After everything she’s been through, she deserves that in spades.”

Ree’s happiness.

That was all I wanted, too.

nineteen

H
e didn’t come home.

I waited all night, pacing in front of the door, willing him to walk through it, flinching at every little noise. Being alone, I was reliving everything that had happened at Rex’s and all that had followed. People’s voices out on the street as they walked by sent my heart hammering.

What if Daren sent his men? What if Jackson was out for payback? What if Dare wasn’t coming back?

If I’d been smart, I would have taken Pierce up on his offer and crashed with him last night. But I was so sure Dare would be released, and I didn’t know what was going on with him, where we stood, since he’d been acting so strange once the police arrived. The last thing I wanted was to have him come home to an empty house. I didn’t want him to doubt me for a moment.

But he didn’t come home.

Unable to wait another second, I caught a cab to the precinct. I had no idea what their hours were, and I didn’t really care. Officers had to be on duty 24/7, so they had to be open even at five in the morning.

And they couldn’t keep Dare locked up for much longer. Could they?

I’d given my statement last night. I was sure the doorman must have given his. He’d seen Jackson attack me and had been the one who’d gotten my parents and called the cops in the first place. There was no way they could make any charges stick no matter who the hell Jack’s father happened to be.

Though, with my father having his hands in this mess, nothing was certain. He’d probably dug out all the stuff he had on Dare and offered it to the cops. But none of that had any bearing on the truth of what happened, and I was going to explain that to whoever would listen. I’d scream it from the roof of the police station if I had to.

After the cab dropped me off, I hurried into the building.

A young cop with kind brown eyes looked up at me from the front desk. “Can I help you, miss?”

God, I hoped so.

“I’m here to see Dare Wilde.”

“Name?” He typed something into his computer and watched the screen.

“Reagan McKinley.”

His eyes flicked to my face, surprise filling his features. Then he glanced at his screen again, and started to slowly shake his head. “I’m sorry, Miss McKinley. He’s…not able to have any visitors right now.”

I clenched my fists, fighting the urge to start screaming that they had to let me in, that I needed to see him. Instead, I took a deep breath and said, “When can I come back to see him?”

He looked at me again, his eyebrows lifting to meet in the middle. “I’m sorry. We’ve been given instructions that he is not to see anyone but his lawyer.”

Translation:
He doesn’t want to see you, Reagan.

The air flew out of my lungs like I’d been punched in the gut.

So that was it. I was damaged goods and he didn’t want me anymore. That had been the reason he wouldn’t look at me last night. Pain cracked my soul, working its way through me in jagged jolts with every beat of my breaking heart. I pressed a hand to my chest, unable to stop the tears. I stumbled back, and the officer came around the desk to lead me over to a bench.

“You okay?”

No. Not in the least. Everything was falling apart. How could this be happening?

“Miss?” The policeman handed me a cup of water and lowered himself down next to me. “For what it’s worth, your parents should be put away for what they did to you. It’s reprehensible.”

“Huh?” I glanced up at him, certain that he couldn’t be talking about what he was clearly talking about. How would he know? Behind him, several other cops were looking our way with sympathetic looks on their faces.

He must have noticed my confusion, because he pulled out his phone and typed something into it. “It’s the biggest story of the day,” he said, holding it out to me.

Shit. There it was. Right on The New York Times webpage. A picture of my father and one of me under the headline Governor-Elect Has Explaining To Do—Buried 15 Year Old Daughter’s Rape, Forced Abortion. There was a detailed article about the entire sordid event that I was certain would be plastered all over newsstands today.

Well, I’d wanted to stop hiding—I guess sometimes you got exactly what you asked for.

I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

Some tiny part of me was relieved, but mostly I just felt numb. All I wanted was peace. And Dare.

“Is he okay?” I said to the officer. “Dare? Is he…are you going to release him today?”

“He’s fine, but I don’t know any details regarding his case. I’m sorry.”

“Isn’t there anything you can do? Anything at all?” I was desperate. “Is there any way I can see him? Please?”

He shook his head. “I really can’t help you. I truly am sorry, Miss McKinley.”

Shit.

I drew in a slow, shaky breath, not wanting to face all the crap that was sure to come following the revelations of the article, and not sure where to go now. What to do.

I needed to know where I stood with Dare, but that wasn’t going to happen until he was released. Which meant I needed to see Pierce and find a way to get him out as soon as possible.

But, first, there was something else that I could do. That I
needed
to do. Something that was seven years overdue.

I stood up, cleared my throat, and turned to the officer. “Actually, there
is
something you can help me with.” My pulse raced as I spoke. “I want to file a report. Against Jackson Fitzgerald.” And then I uttered the words I’d been so afraid to say for seven long, painful years. “For rape.”