The Unwanted

Chapter Thirteen

“Think it will work?”

They watched as the police led him away.

His name was Cory Larson and up until only an hour ago, Monica had thought he was her friend. He’d been the one she called to take her home, because she felt safe with him. They’d been study partners off and on for almost a year. They flirted with each other. She ate lunch and chatted with him all the time.

He’d been the one she called when she had nightmares. Because she trusted him.

And he’d been the one who paid some son-of-a-bitchin’ rent-a-cop to arrange her rape.

When Destin didn’t answer, Caleb bumped her shoulder with his and asked her a second time.

“Will what work?” she asked, frowning.

“What you did, telling him that shit to get him to talk.”

Destin gave him a sly smile. “Oh, I think he’s going to have nightmares anyway. Emotions and the subconscious are a fucked-up thing, Durand, don’t you know that? I went ahead and planted the seeds. Now he has to live with them. But he already gave the police the name of his partner that night. It’s enough to put weight on that one. Hopefully he’ll sing.” Then she shrugged. “If not…?”

They both sighed. If not, there was nothing else they could do. And if it didn’t work, she suspected Oz would find a way to get her own sort of justice. For Cory’s sake, he might be better off hoping he had his day in court. Jail would be kinder than anything Oz might do to him.

The crowd had finally dissipated.

Off to the side, Monica stood with her mother. Oz had her in awkward embrace and the two of them looked like they were trying to talk.

“You realize how much trouble she could have gotten the two of us in,” Caleb said quietly.

Destin nodded. “Yes.”

He skimmed a hand up her back, kept his touch light. And he was relieved when she didn’t back away. Instead she turned toward him and closed the distance between them, reaching up to touch his cheek. “I know what could have happened…and you stood more to lose than I did,” she said, stroking a thumb over his lip. “You need to let Jones know, in case this comes back to bite you.”

“Yeah.” He’d worry about that later. He had other things to worry about now.

Even as he was turning that over in his head and trying to figure it out, Destin said, “You know, I can’t blame her, not really. I like to think I would have been more careful, more in control…but if I had a way to track down somebody who’d assaulted my daughter, I’d have probably been all over that.”

Caleb said nothing. Because he understood as well.

Her gaze flicked his way, and once again, all those words passed between them. Unspoken, but understood.

Her throat worked as she swallowed and then she turned away. “You really think there are things there, don’t you?”

Curving a hand over her nape, he tried to figure out the right way to answer that. Was there a right way? A wrong way? “Do you know how you felt when you looked at the kid and just knew what the answer was? It’s the same way, Destin. The very same way. If you’d look, I think you’d see it. But you’re not ready to go there. You might never be. And that’s fine.” Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to her nape. “But I can understand what she did, because who knows…if I could have found who hurt you, I don’t know what lines I might have crossed.”

Destin’s body shuddered against his. “When it comes to those we care about, I guess we’re always willing to cross certain lines.”

“Care…” He caught her chin in his hand and tipped her head back. “Destin, do you think I’d do it because I care about you? Hell, I care about Oz, but I wouldn’t throw my life away for her. I care about a lot of people…but there’s only one person I’d give up everything for.”

Her lashes flickered.

Then she licked her lips and backed away. “Is this really the place?”

As she built the walls back around her heart, Caleb let his hand fall. With a tight smile, he said, “Perhaps not.”

Maybe there wasn’t going to be a place.