I reopened my eyes.
“Did you leave that way?”
She stared at me.
Then she said so low I could barely hear her, “No.”
Oh God, no.
Please, God, no.
“Did someone touch you like you didn’t want?” I asked.
“Yes,” she whispered. “No,” she went on. “Yes, but they didn’t…they…” She shook her head. “I got away.”
“So you haven’t been raped?”
Her face crumpled, and I wrapped my hand around the back of her head and pushed it in my neck, my heart pumping again, the blood singing, thick and hot.
“No, but they…hurt me,” she said softly.
I held her tighter.
“I have to tell your father.”
Her body jerked and she pulled away. “No!”
“Tatie, honey, listen to me.” I framed her face with my hands. “I have to tell your dad.”
“No! He’ll be mad at me.”
Her voice was rising, and I pulled her face closer to mine.
“Honey, listen, shh, just listen, okay? Okay?” She nodded so I went on, “He has to know. We have to call the police. We need to get you to the hospital.”
She shook her head in my hands fervently.
“Listen to me.” I held her tighter, trying to do it gently. “They aren’t allowed to touch you like you don’t want. Baby, they’re not. Something has to be done.”
“No,” she whispered.
“Tatie—”
The door opened.
“Fuck me, this again? My girl drove fuckin’ drunk?” Buck growled, and both Tatiana and I looked up at him.
Tatiana’s body froze against mine but mine froze right along with hers.
This was because Buck was staring at his daughter, and I knew, looking at him, that I’d never seen the snake.
Now, I was seeing the snake.
“Gear!” he roared and disappeared from the doorway.
Oh no!
I forced Tatiana to face me. “Hang tight for me, sweetie. Okay? Hang tight. I’ll be right back.”
Then I let her go, got up and raced from the room.
“Locke! Get your ass down here!” Buck thundered from the foot of the stairs, so I headed to him.
I dashed around him when he started stalking back to his bedroom.
I put my hands to his chest and pushed, but he kept moving, forcing me backwards, his face tight, his muscles under my hands like steel.
He didn’t look at me, just kept moving.
“Buck, honey, listen to me. We have to call the police,” I told him.
“Fuck that,” he snarled.
I pushed harder at him, trying and failing to plant my feet.
“Buck, we need to take her to the hospital. We need to take care of Tatie.”
“Get your hands off me, babe.”
“Buck! Please! We have to—”
I didn’t finish.
He stopped, wrapped his hands around my upper arms, picked me up and threw me aside.
I hit the wall of the hall with such force, the blow to my shoulder caused pain to radiate out, up and down.
Everywhere.
It hurt so much and was such a shock, I stood there, leaning against the wall, my other hand to it for added support as I stared after Buck, who didn’t break another stride and disappeared into his room.
I blinked my shock away and this took a while.
So long, Buck was out of the room wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt over the jeans he already had on as well as socks. He was carrying his boots. Gear was down the stairs and standing in the hall in his cutoff sweats.
“Dressed. Now,” Buck barked.
Gear stared at him half a beat, then raced back up the stairs.
Buck stopped in the door to the bathroom.
“Who?” He continued to bark.
“Dad—” Tatiana whimpered.
Buck leaned forward and bellowed, “Who?”
“Those guys who go to ASU,” she whispered.
“Gear know ’em?” Buck asked.
“Yes, but, Dad—”
Buck moved from the doorway, came to me, lifted a finger to point it in my face and his body followed so his face was behind his hand and his furious eyes were locked on mine.
“You call the cops, Toots, I break your fuckin’ neck.”
I stared at the space he used to be in, but he was gone, disappeared right before my eyes.
It wasn’t five minutes before I heard the roar of a Harley and I looked out the front windows to watch Buck, followed by Gear in his Nova, tearing down the drive.
I pulled in a deep breath.
Then I pulled in another one.
After letting go of the third, I hurried to the bathroom.
* * *
I jerked awake when Tatiana was gently pulled out of my arms.
It was light, just dawn, and I shifted to see Buck settling his daughter against his big frame. He was on top of the covers. He still had his boots on. There was blood on his shirt and on his hands, especially around the knuckles.
I knew what that meant.
Earlier, after I soothingly talked her into letting me take pictures of her with my phone, I’d cleaned up Tatiana and got ice for her eye and her lip. I held her as she held the ice to her face and slowly, stiltedly told me about the three boys who attacked her.