Read And Then He Kissed Me Online
Authors: Kim Amos
He lifted her up, placing her roughly on the bike. “We’re getting you out of here,” he said. Over the motorcycle’s rumble, he could hear police sirens. They’d be here soon, and they could deal with Hunter. In the meantime, he was taking the woman he loved away from this mess.
But she clutched his wrists, her hands clawing into his flesh.
“No,” she insisted. “If those are sirens, we’re going back to the house with the police.”
Kieran stared at her. “Why? They can handle that kid.”
“Because I want to document what happened. I want to be at the scene. He’s sick, Kieran. This kid needs help. Serious help.”
“He’s not a kid—he’s practically an adult,” Kieran growled. “And he doesn’t need help. He needs to be behind bars.”
“The courts can decide that,” Audrey said. “In the meantime, we are going back. I’ll run once to save my life—but I’ll be damned if I run twice. From anything.”
The sirens were close now, and he could see the police lights approaching, casting eerie shadows through the trees. He drove the bike to the side of the road a ways, and let the squad cars race by. He and Audrey coughed at the cloud of dark dust they kicked up.
“Go,” Audrey insisted. His heart collapsed on itself. The woman he loved had defeated her stalker and was going back to
confront
him. He swore in that moment she was made of iron and stone.
She was a lion roaring through life, and he wondered how he could ever keep her safe. How could he ever keep her from being hurt?
And then he realized he couldn’t. She would fight when she needed to fight. She would swing her sword when she had to, and that was part of what he would always love about her. She didn’t need him to ride in and save her.
She just needed to know he was there when the battle was over.
And by God, he would be there. Always. Every day.
He kicked the bike into gear, and raced after the police.
When they’re not looking,
he thought,
I’ll punch that little stalker in the face.
H
unter was still out cold in the hallway. He was sprawled on the floor, his head tilted to one side. Audrey realized she’d sprinted for two miles, cutting through yards and bushes to try to lose him in case he chased her, and here she could have just stayed in the foyer, waiting for the police by the phone. Hunter hadn’t moved.
“Do we need to call in a rape kit?” the stocky one, Officer Reynolds, asked. His partner, Officer Collins, tall and with wire-rimmed glasses, kept anxious eyes on her, waiting for a reply. She shook her head. Next to her, Kieran exhaled audibly.
“I’m all right,” she said, taking his hand. Kieran was a tower of barely contained fury. She knew he wanted to dunk Hunter in the lake and possibly smash his skull against the fireplace’s fieldstones for what she’d been through tonight. But she wasn’t about to let the cops show up and have Hunter mislead them about what had happened. “I couldn’t let them find this scene and not explain,” she said to him, letting her tired eyes find his storming ones, letting the warmth from his strong hand flow into her. She was still shivering, still afraid of what would happen when Hunter actually woke up, but by God she was done running.
“I’m here,” Kieran said, his voice so low it rumbled at the base of her spine. It was exactly what she needed to hear to help her stand up straighter and face Hunter.
“He’s a minor,” Audrey said to the cops, “so you’ll need to phone his parents.”
“Thanks,” Reynolds said. Collins slapped Hunter’s face to try and wake him. Audrey didn’t hate the sharp sound it made.
Hunter bolted awake with a grunt. “What?” he yelled, standing to his feet. He was confused and panicked—not a good combination. Audrey felt sweat break out on her forehead.
“Hey, easy there,” Reynolds said. “Settle down. We need to ask you some questions.” Audrey had told them the abbreviated version of events as they’d approached the house. The police hadn’t drawn their weapons when they’d entered, but she’d seen their hands tensing over their holsters. She’d explained where she’d left Hunter, but they’d made her and Kieran wait outside until they were given the all-clear. That was when she’d come back in to find him still passed out.
“That bitch hurt me!” Hunter cried, pointing at Audrey. He held a trembling hand to his head. A visible egg-sized lump had already formed just underneath his hair.
Reynolds called for medical assistance on his walkie-talkie. Collins stood near Hunter, his lean figure towering over the teenager, hands on his hips. “What’s your name, son?”
Hunter glared at the cop. “Screw you.”
Audrey closed her eyes. Hunter wasn’t doing himself any favors, and it was a reminder that he was still just a high-school kid. Albeit a sick and dangerous one.
“She brought me out here to seduce me,” Hunter said, glaring at Audrey. “Don’t believe anything she says.”
“This lady has already cooperated with us by telling us her name,” Collins said, “and I suggest you do the same.”
“Hunter Haglund,” he said, never taking his eyes off Audrey. There was so much hate and anger there, Audrey shivered. But she wouldn’t back away from him.
“How did Ms. Tanner come to be here, Hunter? Did she drive? Because I don’t see a car out there.”
“She made me drive her here. She
made
me do it.”
The cop nodded, and jotted something down. Audrey hated the lies, hated Hunter’s brutal tone, but she stayed silent, and clutched Kieran’s hand for strength.
“And she made you pour that wine there, too? Two glasses’ worth?”
“She poured it,” Hunter said. “She poured it for
me
.”
“My fingerprints and DNA aren’t on either of those glasses,” Audrey said calmly.
“Fuck you,” Hunter spat.
“Enough with that language, Hunter,” Collins said. “We’re going to have a civil conversation here. No more swearing.”
“Fuck you,” he repeated defiantly.
Collins took a breath. “Okay, Hunter. Let me ask you this: This man here”—he motioned at Kieran—“was looking for Ms. Tanner tonight and says he found her running on the dirt road out here. See how her dress is torn and her shoes are all muddy? How do you think she got that way?”
“She ran away after hitting me with the fireplace poker. End of story.”
“She says her purse and phone are missing. Any idea where those are?”
“No.”
“She also says she was drugged. Any chance you know about that?”
“She’s a psycho. Aren’t you
listening
? She hurt
me
. Not the other way around.”
“So if we had a look around, we wouldn’t find any rags with traces of chloroform on them, or anything belonging to Ms. Tanner here, like her purse, would we?”
Hunter hesitated. “No.”
“Good, so how about we poke around and you sit tight.”
“You need a warrant for that. Don’t think I haven’t seen all the cop shows.”
“We don’t need a warrant to search your car, Hunter. We’ve got probable cause for days, so Officer Reynolds is going to go out and take a look inside of it, and he’ll let you know what he finds.”
Hunter paled visibly. “You can’t do that.”
Collins stood to his full height. He towered over Hunter. “Trust me—we can and will.”
Hunter narrowed his eyes. “You don’t touch. My.
Shit.
”
“It’s too late for that, son.”
Hunter’s face contorted with rage. “Yeah, but it’s not too late for this,” he said, and slammed his fist into Collins’s face. The officer’s glasses went flying across the room, landing with a clatter on the hardwood floor.
Kieran pushed Audrey behind him instinctively. Reynolds leapt on top of Hunter to pin him to the floor, wrestling with plastic handcuffs at the same time. Hunter kicked and bucked with manic strength. Reynolds got an elbow to the eye and shouted with pain. Hunter jumped to his feet, sweating and swearing.
For a horrified moment, Audrey wondered if she was going to have to defend herself all over again. Adrenaline surged, readying her for the fight. She clenched her fists. She would punch him in the balls repeatedly if she had to.
But then Kieran waded in, his eyes burning with fury. He kicked out Hunter’s feet, and then pinned him to the ground by the neck. Hunter gave a strangled cry as Reynolds entered the fray again, cuffing Hunter’s hands behind his back.
Collins turned to Audrey, rubbing his jaw. “Werr ned you to cerm durn to the staton,” he said. “Gerve a statmurnt.”
Audrey nodded. “All right.”
Collins retrieved his glasses as Hunter was led out of the room, handcuffed. She felt no victory at the sight of the troubled teenager. A tight grief clutched at her chest. She wondered suddenly what had happened to Hunter to make him this way. What had gone wrong?
Her only comfort was Kieran, who wrapped his strong arms around her. His chest pulled in ragged breaths as he held her close. “Almost there,” he said. “Just one more stop and then we can get you home.”
Audrey nodded. “Let’s do this, then,” she said, drawing strength from Kieran’s spicy, warm smell, and the way he stared at her as if she were a thing he was worried would break.
No one had ever stared at her that way.
I’m stronger than you think,
she wanted to tell him.
Instead, she placed her hand in his, and walked back into the darkness, ready for whatever was next.
A
udrey sat on the edge of the exam table, hands folded in her lap. Underneath her, clean white paper crinkled. This could be a normal check-up, she thought. The only thing that would hint that it wasn’t was the way her dress was ripped in several places from running through the woods. And maybe the way her flats were coated with a thin layer of gravelly mud. And perhaps how pale she was—at least when she’d looked at herself in the mirror a few minutes ago.
She studied the poster of the human body on the exam room wall, at all the interconnected muscles and bones and organs, and wished Kieran could have come in with her. She wanted his strong shoulder pressed against hers as she chatted with her doctor. She had insisted on coming to the clinic after she’d given her statement at the police station. A quick Google search had revealed that chloroform leaves the body quickly, and she wanted to make sure she documented traces of the chemical in her system before it was all gone.
Thankfully, the town’s urgent care clinic had been able to take urine and blood samples immediately.
Audrey hoped she would never need to use them, but she’d made up her mind at least to
get
them after a pot-bellied lawyer in a well-made navy suit had showed up at the police station. Hunter’s lawyer, in fact. He was there even before Hunter’s parents. He’d waved a hand when Hunter started to defend himself, and silenced the teenager with one word: “Enough.”
After that, Hunter didn’t talk at all.
Audrey knew they would need these lab results if she pressed charges against Hunter. She was barely employed and didn’t know what kind of legal counsel she could even afford. Not that she wanted to sue anyone. She just wanted Hunter to get help. Even after what had happened, she prayed he’d get the right medication and counseling.
Even if he did, she knew that this night would still stay with her for a long time. If she was lucky, it would heal over with time, scarring thickly enough so it didn’t smart every time she glanced at it.
But she also knew that other parts of this night would remain, too—and those she wanted to keep close. The picture of Kieran racing down the road, hell-bent over his bike to save her; his massive torso stepping between her and Hunter when things got chaotic at the cabin; the leather of his motorcycle jacket creaking every time he reached out to touch her at the police station; the nostrils of his smooth, aquiline nose flaring at the more difficult questions they’d asked.
Did he force himself on you?
No.
Did he penetrate you in any way?
No.
Did he harm you physically?
Yes.
She’d heard the sharp intake of Kieran’s breath when she’d showed the officers the bruises on her arm, from where Hunter had grabbed her on the bridge.
She could put away this event, she knew, if she had Kieran’s strength mingling with her own, like smoke and fog twisting together on a damp night. She needed his contradictions, maddening as they could be. But only Kieran could be tender enough to care for her, and rough enough to fight for her. Only Kieran could whisper fragments of poetry to her and then shout at the police to go find her. She’d heard how he’d called officers to her home when she hadn’t shown up at the Asparagus Festival, and she was beyond grateful. She
was
going to be there, she’d told him.