Bonnie’s scream filled the air the moment his body fell between us.
“Oh my God!” She repeated the words over and over again, rubbing at the blood that covered her face as if she could wipe it all away and erase this from her mind. “Calvin, are you…oh my God!”
“She’s a mess. Get her out of here.” Virgil’s voice was strong behind me. He was in charge. Capable. Unaffected while I couldn’t look away. Squeaker’s wasn’t the first dead body I’d ever seen, but this was different. I couldn’t say how yet, but in that moment, I knew I was different too.
“Cal, get her the fuck outta here. Maisie too. I’ll handle the cleanup. Go.”
I nodded and wrapped an arm around Bonnie’s waist, tugging her around Squeaker’s lifeless body. “Come on, Bonnie. Let’s get you home.”
She nodded and kept nodding, her gaze glued to some spot far in the distance as if she’d checked out the here and now.
“My God,” she whispered every few seconds like it was the only phrase keeping her tethered to the earth.
Colby pulled open the door when I tapped on it and Maisie’s scream turned the entire dining room silent. “What the fuck happened?”
“Really Maisie? Didn’t you just graduate college?” My sarcastic tone was enough to snap her out of the daze that had her staring at Bonnie’s blood splattered face. And clothes.
“Shut up, Calvin.” She stepped forward and Bonnie gasped and jumped, terrified.
“Just lead the way out,” I told her a little too harshly. “The back way. Please.”
Maisie nodded and turned away from us, straightening her spine and squaring her shoulders as if ready for battle. On four-inch heels, the raven-haired general led us to a back staircase that meant a long walk to the parking garage, but it also meant no one would see any of us in this condition.
“Level C?”
“Yep.”
Bonnie stopped and slammed her eyes shut. “Oh no! Oh no, no, no! No! No! No!”
“Bonnie!” I grabbed her shoulders and shook her until her hazel eyes met mine, but they were glazed, unfocused. She was still high and in shock.
“Bonnie, listen to the sound of my voice.”
“No.” she shook her head, and I could see the terror in her eyes as her mind replayed the last ten minutes on an endless loop. “No, no. No!”
“Bonnie!” I gave her cheek a firm smack and pressed her back against the cool concrete wall of the stairwell, using my size to shield her from Maisie. “Look at me.”
She shook her head, eyes clenched so tight it had to hurt.
“Bonnie, it’s me, Calvin. Look at me.” She shook her head again. “It’s okay if you’re afraid of me. Just look at me and tell me that.” It gutted me to think that one act might have made her afraid of me, but she was safe and that was what mattered.
She gasped, the outrage sparking flakes of gold in her hazel eyes. “I’m not afraid of you.”
“Good. We need to have a long talk. Later. For now, are you all right?”
Her eyes slammed shut again and she shook her head. “No.”
“Okay. Now we’re getting somewhere. You’re in shock. You’re not thinking clearly. Hang on to me. Follow me.”
“No.”
“Yes,” I told her and grabbed her face until I could see every thread of green and gold woven into amber brown. The moment was tense. Her breath hitched, bringing her curves up against my hard, tense body. “Follow me and do what I tell you to. Got it?”
She nodded and licked her lips. “Got it.”
Her easy compliance told me she was still affected, so I put her hand in mine and kept it there until she was in the passenger seat of my car with the seatbelt strapped across her chest. By the time we made it back to Ashby Manor, Bonnie’s muttering had died down along with her rocking.
“Come on, let’s get you showered and caffeinated. In that order.”
She nodded and rocked, and I sighed. It wasn’t just heartbreaking to see a girl like Bonnie so low, it was a stark reminder of my own past. I helped her out of the car and took her to my place.
For coffee and an overdue conversation.
***
“Nice coffee pot. Fancy too.” Bonnie’s words came out soft across the kitchen table, but I heard the sarcasm. And the judgment. It was hard to be offended by a woman wearing an oversized robe with the sleeves rolled up half a dozen times.
“So unlike the thirty-dollar plug and play coffee pot you drank from growing up?” Her family didn’t have the kind of money that mine did, but Bonnie’s family was squarely upper middle class. Rich enough to be snobs but not rich enough to say ‘fuck you’ to the world.
“Touché.” Her lips curled into a grin for just a quick moment before she slammed her eyes shut again.