Chapter Thirty-Two

 

 

 

 

 

Evan

 

 

 

 

“Fuck.” I slammed my hand into the dashboard and looked around the parking lot frantically. “It’s not here.”

The small motel was a dump. It looked like it had about twenty units total and I was pretty sure it was pay by the hour. The red paint on the siding was faded, missing chunks in certain sections, and there was old, junked out patio furniture next to the doors of some of the units. It definitely looked like a place drug users would happily hide out.

“Let’s go in and show the desk clerk the mugshot of Jarvis anyway,” Dominic suggested, pointing to the small office.

I nodded and waited as he turned the car around in the parking lot. Something behind the motel caught my eye, though, and I yelled for Dom to stop. He slammed on the brakes and I pointed to the dumpster behind the motel.

“The van.”

We both pushed out of the car at the same time, not bothering to move it from where it was currently in the middle of the parking lot, and I ran towards the dumpster. The van had obviously been put there with the intention of hiding it because it was only barely sticking out.

I jogged around to the back and the second the license plate came into view, I nodded at Dom.

“It’s the van.”

He had the phone to his ear almost instantly, calling for back-up and demanding that they come in quiet. We both took off in the direction of the office and I slammed the door open with so much force that the kid sitting behind it jumped about four feet.

“We need to you tell us if you’ve seen this guest.” I quickly brought up a picture of Jarvis and held up my phone for the clerk to see while Dom did the same with his badge. As the clerk studied it, I studied him.

He was just a kid, maybe twenty at the most, but he was aging horribly. I could tell he was a user by the pockmarks on his face and by how sunken in his eyes were. He was also currently coming down from a high.

“Um…” The kid hesitated and scratched the back of his neck. “Do you, uh, have a warrant?”

“Judging by that needle in the trashcan, right in plain sight, we don’t need one to arrest you,” Dom growled menacingly. The kid blanched and his eyes darted to where his drug paraphernalia was visible for us to see. “So you can give him up or we can take you in. You decide.”

The kid nodded his head slowly, almost infuriatingly so. “Yeah, I get it. He’s in room twelve in the back. Need a key?”

A patrol car showed up just as I was walking out with a keycard twenty seconds later and I pointed towards the small office.

“Make sure he doesn’t call and warn him.”

The officer nodded and went inside to do as I said. The second patrol officer who’d come with him was given the room number and instructed to wait for back up to tell them where we were. We were supposed to wait but Dom didn’t bother pointing that out. There was no way I wasn’t going in for Victoria right then.

As quietly as we could, Dom and I went around the back of the building. I ducked under the window and soundlessly moved so I was on one side of the door and my partner on the other. With our guns drawn, he held up the key in his free hand and nodded at me.

I gave him a nod back and watched as he counted down. On three, he slid the card in and slammed open the door so I could go in first. What I saw made my blood run cold.

A guy, one that looked familiar but I couldn’t place, was straddling Victoria’s unconscious body. She was completely clothed, although her shirt was pushed up and her pants were askew, like someone had started to take them off.

He was half naked, with his shirt gone and his fly open, and was in the middle of checking her pupils when he looked over at us.

“You mother fucker.” I surged forward and slammed my shoulder into his chest, knocking him back to the second bed.

Before he could react, I brought my left fist up, the one not holding the gun, and crashed it into his face. I did it again. And again. And would have done it again if it wasn’t for someone pulling me off him.

“He’s down, Ev, he’s down. Let patrol have him and come help me.” I turned to where Dominic was performing chest compressions on Victoria. “She’s not breathing.”

It felt like my own breath had been stolen with his words. I just stared at him, unsure of what to do, and didn’t snap out of it until my best friend yelled at me.

“Help me, Evan! Get over here and breathe for her!”

I made my limbs move, shaking out of the grip of whoever had pulled me off the other guy, and went to where my girlfriend was completely slack on the bed.

I’d just straightened her head when someone from behind us said, “A lot of heroin over here. Think it could be an overdose?”

Dominic and I looked at each other, both obviously thinking the same thing, and I nodded before looking the patrol officer who was putting handcuffs on the guy I’d knocked unconscious.

“Naloxone. Go to our car, get the first aid kit out of the trunk. There’s Naloxone in there. Hurry!”

“Does she have a pulse?” Dom asked and I felt her neck when he stopped compressions. I nodded when I felt the faint thumping, grateful for that because it meant the Naloxone, a drug that could reverse respiratory failure due to opiates, could be administered.

The officer made it back in with the bag and I dug through it until I could find the small bottle of liquid. With shaky hands, I unwrapped a syringe and suctioned the entire contents of the bottle into it. Once it was full, I made sure to eliminate any air inside and inhaled a deep breath.

Dominic continued compressions while I grabbed her arm and searched for a vein. I found one, feeling enraged when I saw she already had a puncture mark there, and didn’t hesitate to stick the needle into her skin.

Dom paused his movements and we both stared down at Victoria.

Looking at her broke my heart. Her face was bruised from abuse and pale from the lack of oxygen. Dried blood covered spots on her lips and her wrists were completely torn up. Even so, she was so damn beautiful.

The room was quiet around us as we all watched and waited. When her chest rose and fell twenty seconds later, I let my chin drop to my chest.

“There she goes,” Dominic whispered hoarsely. “Those are some good respirations.”

I nodded, bringing my eyes up to meet my best friend’s. “Thank you.”

He offered me a small smile and went back to monitoring Victoria. I allowed myself to look up but the guy I’d beaten the shit out of was nowhere to be found. I heard one of the officers mention that he had regained consciousness and had been taken out to a patrol car. Drugs and paraphernalia covered the dresser and I instinctively knew that the guy I’d walked in on was Zero.

“No,” Victoria murmured quietly, bringing my attention back to her. She curled the arm that I wasn’t holding back so it was against her chest and I watched her eyes try to flutter open.

“Victoria.” I leaned down so my lips were at her ear. “I’m here. You’re okay.”

It took several moments but her eyes finally opened, showing me that beautiful green color that I was addicted to. She stared up at me for a moment, blinking several times.

“Evan?”

I nodded and brought her hand up so I could kiss the back of it. “Yeah, baby. I’m right here.”

She shifted and Dom and I helped her get to a sitting position. The second she was up, she pressed herself into my chest and a sob escaped hers.

“Oh, Tor,” I whispered, feeling my own emotion bubble close to the surface. I wrapped my arms around her body and held her to me so tightly that I couldn’t be sure I wasn’t hurting her. “You’re okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Dominic’s hand touched my shoulder. “The ambulance is here. We need to get her to the hospital.”

He was right. Her breathing, which had been non-existent a few minutes ago, was the complete opposite. She was breathing so quickly that I had no idea how oxygen was actually making it into her lungs.

“Okay.” I shifted on the bed and Victoria’s grip on me tightened, like she was afraid for me to let her go. I moved to my feet and adjusted her so she was in my arms. I walked out of the gross motel room and a stretcher was already at the door, waiting for us. I laid Victoria onto the gurney and pressed my forehead to hers.

Her eyes were full of fear and I wanted to find Zero so I could hit him all over again.

“I’m not going anywhere, Tor, but you have to let them look at you, okay?”

“Okay,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”

I frowned as they put an oxygen mask over her face. “Why are you apologizing? It’s my fault you got pulled into this in the first place.”

“No.” Her voice was muffled and it wasn’t until she was loaded into the ambulance and I was sitting next to her that she pulled the mask off. “It was Morgan Widener, my lieutenant from Las Vegas. All of this is because of me.”

“It’s not. He has beef with us both.” I reached out and put her mask back on her face. “Everything is going to be okay.”

She nodded once and turned to look at the EMT, who was just getting ready to start her IV. Victoria gasped and wrenched herself away from the technician. If she hadn’t been strapped to the gurney, she would have rolled right off it.

“No!”

The EMT gave me a confused look and I shook my head at him before running a soothing hand across the top of Victoria’s head.

“Look at me, baby, not what’s going on over there.” When she did, I gave her a small, reassuring smile. “He’s not going to hurt you. I wouldn’t let him. It’s just an IV. We need to get fluids into you.”

Fear clouded her entire face but I saw the trust there, too. When she nodded, I did the same to the EMT and kept her attention focused on me while he got the IV going.

“I love you, Tor.”

She pulled her mask off again and nodded at me, her eyelids heavy. “I love you, too. I’m so tired, Evan.”

The ambulance came to a stop just as the words left her mouth and I hopped down so they could get her out of the back. She reached for my hand the second she could and didn’t let go as we walked inside.

“What have we got?” a doctor asked when we came to a stop in a small curtained off area.

“Victoria Jones, twenty-eight-years old, heroin overdose. Presented in respiratory failure and was given 1 milligram of Naloxone to counteract.”

He went on about her high blood pressure and shortness of breath but I just kept hearing the words “heroin overdose” over and over again.

Not only had she been just moments away from being violated in the worst way when we arrived- she was almost dead. A shiver ran down my spine at the thought of what could have happened.

“Do you know how much heroin you took, Ms. Jones?” The doctor gave her a disproving look and I wanted his face to be the second I punched that afternoon.

Victoria shook her head and looked at him with tired eyes. “He injected me twice. Once right after they’d taken me and again however long ago. He said…” She paused for a moment and it looked like she was trying to recall something. “This last time, he said that they gave me too much- twice as much as the first time. I don’t know how much that is, though.”

“The heroin she was forcibly injected with is likely laced with Vitratrope,” I told the doctor, making sure he saw and heard that I thought he was an asshole. He had the decency to look mildly ashamed before nodding.

“Let’s move her into a room for observation.” He went on about pushing saline to try and flush out the toxins, keeping her on oxygen, and running hourly EKGs to watch her heart rhythm. There were also talks of administering more Naloxone if the level of opiates in her system started to hinder her breathing again.

I waited until we were alone in her private room before clearing my throat and taking one of her hands in both of mine.

“Dominic is going to be here soon to take your statement.” I wet my lips and tried to swallow around the lump in my throat. Once I heard she’d been drugged twice, I knew I needed to ask. “Before he gets here, do we need…?” I cleared my throat. “Do we need a SANE nurse to come do an exam, sweetheart?”

Her eyes instantly filled with tears but she shook her head rapidly, rejecting the idea of a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner. “He recorded everything, said he was going to send it to you. The first time they gave me the drugs, I think he was going to and… God, Evan, I was going to let him. I couldn’t stop him. But he got a phone call and left me there. The next time I saw him was when the drugs were wearing off.”

I reached up to wipe the tears falling down her cheeks, careful not to dislodge the nasal cannula that was now giving her oxygen, and she just sniffled while shaking her head.

“It was like being drunk but indescribably better. All I wanted was for him to touch me and to say kind words. I would have laid in that bed while he did anything, just happy that he was touching me in some way. I feel so gross.”

Her words made me feel sick to my stomach but I pushed my own feelings back. She needed reassurance from me or the guilt was going to eat her alive.

“That’s what those drugs do, baby. You couldn’t have done anything about it. I’m proud of you for surviving all of that. You’re so damn strong.” I brought our hands to my face and pressed my lips to her knuckles. “I’ve never been more scared in my entire life.”

“Me either,” she admitted in a whisper. “Thank you for finding me.”

A knock on the door startled us both and I squeezed her hand before turning to look at it. “Come in.”

My best friend appeared, looking completely exhausted, but he offered Victoria a comforting smile.

“How are you feeling, Tori?”

“Like shit,” she replied with a groan. “My body hurts. Kind of like I caught a really bad flu and then got hit by a garbage truck the next day.”

“I’m not surprised after everything you’ve been through.” He took a seat at the edge of her bed and pulled out his phone. “If it’s okay with you, I’m going to record your statement.”

“That’s fine.”

Dominic thanked her and then let out a sigh. “So, let’s start with what I know. The man who was in the room with you was Morgan Widener. We’ve arrested him and he’ll be transported to the county lock up once his concussion watch is over.”

“Concussion watch?” Victoria gave him a look and Dom grinned while glancing over at me.

“Evan subdued him with his fists when we caught him with you in the motel room.”

She gave me a grateful smile but didn’t reply.

“We also apprehended Clayton Jarvis as he attempted to flee the premises on foot. The two of them seemed to have turned on each other so we’re getting all sorts of nice information.” He glanced over at me before refocusing on Victoria. “In the motel room, we recovered a half-pound of heroin that was laced with Vitratrope, otherwise known as Sludge. There was also a phone that was still recording video when we arrived. I had a chance to look at the footage, as well as some from earlier, and both Jarvis and Widener will end up with multiple assault and battery charges when it’s all said and done.”

“Evan.” She looked over at me and tightened her grip on my hand. “Don’t watch those videos.”

I wanted to tell her I wouldn’t, to give her that reassurance, but we both knew I was going to have to as the detective assigned to the case.

When I didn’t reply, her face fell and she nodded her head. “Okay.”

“Can you tell me everything you remember? Don’t leave anything out, not even for Evan’s sake, okay?”

And she did. I schooled my reactions so she couldn’t see the rage I felt inside. I wanted to find Widener and hit him again. I wished I’d fucking killed him earlier.

When she was done reliving her nightmare, she was completely exhausted. The Naloxone had worn off and the lingering effects of the heroin were still there. Dominic thanked her and slipped out of the room, leaving the two of us alone.

Her eyes were closed and her breathing deep as I slipped my fingers through her hair over and over. I studied her beautiful face and made a silent promise that I’d spend forever making sure nothing hurt her ever again.