Absolution (The Protectors 1)

“So do you have any questions about tomorrow?” Kyle asked as he closed the file in front of him and clasped his hands over it.

I shook my head. Testifying in front of the Grand Jury about Carrie’s murder would be easy compared to the day I would have to face Mateo in court and tell the world what he’d done. I’d just been relieved to learn that as soon as Mateo’s plea deal had been tossed out, he’d been re-arrested for Carrie’s murder before he could even walk out of the courtroom. But if the Grand Jury failed to hand down an indictment tomorrow, Mateo would be a free man.

“Well, if there’s nothing else…”

“What about Eduardo?” I asked.

Kyle shook his head. “Unfortunately, we don’t have enough to file charges against Eduardo and since the statute of limitations for what he did to you ran out several years ago, I’m afraid there’s not much we can do at this point.”

I shook my head. “It’s not right,” I said. “He shouldn’t get to keep profiting from what he did to me.”

Frustration went through me as I stood but the attorney put up his hand. “Wait, what do you mean by ‘keep profiting’”?

“He showed me once how much money he made in just one day from one of the videos he made of me. Those plus the pictures…those aren’t ever going to go away.”

“Jonas, did he post the videos and pictures on the Internet?”

I nodded. The knowledge that even now there were men out there getting off on watching me being raped over and over again made me feel ill. I expected Kyle to tell me how sorry he was that that had happened to me but to my surprise, he actually smiled and then reached for his phone.

“Distribution and possession of child pornography is a federal crime. There’s no statute of limitations,” he said excitedly.

“But I don’t have proof.”

“Your affidavit would be enough to get us a warrant. We can check his computers, his financials.”

I only half listened as he made a call to someone to discuss the next steps. My thoughts drifted back to where they’d been in the two days since I’d left Mace and Cole wrapped in each other’s arms in the old farmhouse. Mace had actually woken up as I’d crawled over his big body and I’d been forced to make up a lie about needing to take a shower and then starting breakfast. He’d looked at me with such contentment in his eyes that I’d leaned down and kissed him and told him to go back to sleep before I could change my mind. I’d gone into the bathroom long enough to turn the shower on while I tugged on my clothes.

By the time I’d come back out, Mace had rolled against Cole’s chest and had wrapped his arm around Cole’s waist. I’d wanted nothing more than to crawl back in between them and go back to sleep. Almost nothing. And it was that one thing that I did want more that had had me hurrying down the stairs, taking Mace’s car keys as well as all the cell phones and climbing into his car. The only thing I’d left behind were the guns and my sketchbook. I’d also left my watch behind since Cole had told me it was how Ronan had found us.

I’d known it wouldn’t take long for Mace and Cole to make it to the nearest town or even to a neighboring property, but I’d hoped the few hours lead I had on them would be enough time for me to connect with the District Attorney in Chicago who was handling Mateo’s case. Kyle had been thrilled to hear from me since he’d been looking for me for nearly a week. He’d taken care of the arrangements to fly me to Chicago and as soon as I’d arrived, I’d been swept off to a nondescript hotel on the outskirts of the city.

I’d half expected Mace and Cole to arrive at some point to try and drag me back out of harm’s way but when they hadn’t shown up last night, the self-doubt had started to trickle in and wreak havoc with my head. Maybe they hadn’t really meant what they’d said when they’d whispered their words of love to me. Maybe I was just too damaged and not worth the effort of having to deal with my hang-ups. Maybe they just needed each other…

Asking Cole to let me make love to him had been an impulse and as soon as I’d done it, I’d feared that I wouldn’t be able to make it perfect for him. When Mace had come into the room, I’d been torn between wanting him with us and wanting to force him to promise that he wouldn’t go after Mateo and Eduardo. But then I’d seen the loss in his eyes and I’d known that I’d take any moment I could have with him and Cole, because I’d already known at that point it could very well be my last. Because I’d already decided what I would have to do to make sure Mace didn’t lose any more of himself to the brutal world he’d relied on to stem the pain of losing his son.