Tucker dropped to the floor before her and wrapped her in his arms.
“I am going to find him, and I am going to make him pay,” Tucker promised her. He held her in his arms long after she stopped crying. She just lay there, lost in her thoughts, shutting the world out the way she knew best.
Finally, Tucker raised his eyes to Alison, who was just sitting there, looking equally as lost as Lucy did.
“I know I have no right to ask you to do anything,” he began. “I know that you owe me nothing. But I am begging you. Come back to River Springs and let help me put this animal away forever.”
“What if you can’t?” Alison replied, as she blinked back the tears that were dancing in her eyes.
“I promise you, I will not let him walk away this time,” Tucker promised her. “Please.”
“Ali,” David said, as he reached out and took her hand. “He is right. If you are ever to have peace, you need to make him pay.”
“But I am afraid,” Alison replied. “You don’t know what he is like, neither of you do. What I went through was nothing compared to what happened to Lucy. Nobody wanted to help her, why would they want to help me?”
“That’s not true,” David insisted, sounding a little hurt.
“I’m sorry,” she said, as she reached up and softly touched his face. “I know you want to help me. I know you want to protect me. But you are not the police. You can’t lock him up.”
“But I am,” Tucker said from where he was sitting on the floor with Lucy. “And I am going to make him pay.
He looked down at Lucy and softly stroked her face.
“I mean it,” he promised her. “I will finish this.”
She looked up at Tucker, and he gave her a reassuring smile.
“Okay,” Alison said from the sofa, as Tucker and Lucy looked towards her. “I will go back. But you need to promise me, that this is going to happen.”
“I promise,” Tucker replied. “One way or another, Trent McAlister is going to pay.”
They drove back to River Springs in separate cars. Tucker thought it would be better for Lucy to have the couple of hours drive to clear her mind. Also, he believed it would give David and Alison some time to talk as well.
Lucy slept for most of the journey back. Tucker knew she was struggling, and he wished more than anything there was something he could say do to make things easier for her.
It was early evening when they reached the hospital. Alison had agreed to go to the emergency room with David to have herself checked over by a doctor.
Tucker took Lucy to see her father. She was still very quiet as they rode up in the elevator together.
“Are you sure you’re ready to see the Chief?” Tucker asked, as the elevator came to a stop.
“I need to see him,” Lucy replied in a quiet voice. “I need to know he is okay.”
“If you’re sure,” Tucker said as the doors of the elevator opened, and he reached down to take her hand.
When he did, Lucy looked up at him and smiled. It was the first time she had smiled since the day before they had left the city.
As they stepped off the elevator, Lucy froze. Tucker looked at her then followed her gaze and realised what had stopped her.
Riley was standing at the nurse’s desk, reading through some files. Lucy hadn’t seen him since the day he came to her father’s house.
“You don’t have to go down there if you don’t want to,” Tucker said, as he squeezed her hand.
“No,” Lucy said, as she forced a smile. “I’m okay. I want to see my dad.”
As they began to walk, Riley looked up, and his eyes met Lucy’s. He froze for a moment; then he gave her a sad smile before he turned and walked away in the other direction.
Lucy looked up at Tucker, and he too gave her a smile. Lucy was glad he was with her. He had become the one thing that seemed to keep her grounded.
When they reached her father’s room, Lucy stopped outside the door.
“What are you going to tell him?” Tucker asked Lucy, as he too stopped.
“I don’t know,” Lucy replied with a deep breath. “The truth, I guess.”
“Is that what you want?” Tucker asked.
“No,” she replied honestly. “I know it will just make him worry more, but I promised him that I would stop shutting him out. So I don’t see what else I can do.”
“I guess you’re right,” Tucker sighed.
Lucy took another deep breath and opened the door. She was pleased to see her father sitting out in his armchair once again, and this time, he seemed to be in better form than the last time she was there.
“Hey, Peanut,” he said the moment he saw her walking through the door to his room. “How was New York?”
“Not so good,” Lucy replied, as she sat down next to him. “There is something I need to tell you.”
Lucy told her father everything. About meeting Trent in the bar, to him being outside Alison’s apartment in New York.
“This time, I will kill him,” Tom growled when Lucy finished telling him everything. “I will put a bullet between his eyes.”
“And what would that do?” Lucy asked. “What would I do without you?”
“You will always have me,” he replied, as he grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly and repeated. “You will always have me.”
“But I won’t, not if you do something stupid,” Lucy reasoned with him. “I know you want to make everything right this time. But what I need is for you to concentrate on getting yourself better, and back on your feet.”
“But, Peanut…” Tom replied, but Lucy stopped him.
“Please,” she said, as she looked from her father to Tucker. “I need you both to promise me. Promise me that neither of you will do anything that will cause me to lose you.”
“Lucy,” Tucker said, as he glanced at Tom, then back to her.
“Promise me,” she pushed him.
“I promise,” Tucker replied. “But there is something I need to talk to your dad about.”
“Oh!” Tom exclaimed, as he sat straighter in his chair.
“I think I have a way of making McAlister pay,” Tucker said as he sat down on the edge of Tom’s bed. “And I don’t just mean for what he did to Alison, I mean for Lucy, too.”
“I’m listening,” Tom said, as he sat forward.
Tucker told him his plan, as Lucy sat and listened to them discuss it.
After a few minutes, she just switched off and got lost in her own thoughts.
All through the years she had been afraid of coming back here because she knew she would have to face her past. It had never occurred to her that her past would somehow become her present, but it had.
Whether she liked it or not, she knew that if she was ever going to have a future, she needed to face the past and put it to rest once and for all.
Chapter 30
“Do you really think that you can do what you said?” Lucy asked, as she lay in Tucker’s arms in the darkness of her room.
All the information Tucker had given her that night was still running through her head, and she was finding it hard to fall asleep. There was just so much to take in.
When they got back from the hospital earlier that night, Tucker sat Alison and David down and told them exactly what his plan was, for dealing with Trent.
“I am going to bring him up on a number of charges,” Tucker explained to an anxious David and Alison. “First, there is the assault and attempted rape of Alison. We can also charge him with unlawful entry.”
“What about what he did to Lucy?” Alison asked as she glanced over to Lucy and gave her a smile. “He should pay for what he did to her.”
“I agree,” Tucker replied. “And he will.”
“Isn’t there a statute of limitations on rape?” David asked nervously, as glanced at Lucy. “I’m sorry Lucy, I just need it all clear in my head.
“There is,” Tucker replied. “And in the case of April, Trent’s other victim, the statute of
limitations has expired.”
“Why hasn’t it for me?” Lucy asked, still confused by all the legal stuff.
“Because he didn’t just rape you,” Tucker replied. “He broke your jaw. He bit you, over and over, some leaving scars on your body. That’s first-degree rape, making it a class A Felony. There is no statute of limitations on that.”
“But no one believed me nine years ago,” Lucy said, still unsure of what was different now. “Why will they believe me now?”
“Because it’s no longer just your word against his,” Tucker replied. “You have Alison and April to back up your story.”
Lucy thought it all sounded so simple, but as she lay there in the darkness of her room, she felt a little less confident.
“I do,” Tucker replied, as he held her close. “I wouldn’t give you false hope. Trent is going away for a long time.”
“I can’t believe that after all this time,” Lucy said, as she lifted her head and looked at Tucker. “It’s nearly over.”
“It is,” Tucker replied with a smile, and Lucy returned it, but then her smile faded. “What’s wrong?”
“You still need to find him,” she said, as reality brought her back down to earth with a bang. “What if you can’t? He knows were Alison lives. Maybe he followed her to my apartment. Maybe he followed us. I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched. Maybe it wasn’t all in my mind.”
“We will catch him, Sweet Girl,” Tucker assured her as he pressed his lips to her forehead. “I promise you that.”
“I believe you,” Lucy replied, as she softly pressed her lips to his before she rested her head against his chest once again.
“You know,” Tucker said, and Lucy could hear the nervous edge in his voice. “With Trent locked away, maybe you might consider staying in River Springs.”
“Tucker,” Lucy sighed, as she pushed up in the bed. “I thought we talked about this.”
“We did, and I haven’t changed my mind,” Tucker said, as he too sat up. “I am just saying, now you have a choice, that’s all. I am just putting it out there.”
“No, Tucker,” Lucy snapped abruptly, as she climbed out of bed. “I don’t have a choice. Do you think the only reason I don’t want to be here, is because of him?”
“I just thought…” Tucker said, confused by her sudden anger.
“When I came to this town,” Lucy continued. “I was a quiet, shy girl. The girls in the school treated me like crap, the boys made fun of me. When I was raped, everyone rallied around Trent. The six foot four monster that held me down and raped me. Nobody but you and my dad cared about me. How could you think I could ever want to live here? Maybe someday raise a family here? I want to know that if I ever have a daughter, that she is just as important as some asshole jock. But in this town, she won’t be.”
“I’m sorry, Lucy,” Tucker said, as he moved to get out of bed. “I didn’t think.”
“Just…” she said, as she held up her hand and stopped him before he got to her. “Just give me some space.”
Lucy turned and walked out of the room, and down the stairs. When she reached the kitchen, she leaned on the edge of the sink and stared out of the window.
She regretted losing her temper with Tucker, but she just couldn’t imagine that there would ever be a time that she would want to live in River Springs.
Lucy wished she could give him the answers he wanted, but she just couldn’t. Now she was scared that Tucker was agreeing to come to New York with her because of some misguided duty, or the belief that someday she would agree to come back. When she didn’t, eventually he would resent her for it.
She closed her eyes and blew out a deep, frustrated breath.
“I’m sorry,” Tucker said suddenly from behind her as he slipped his arms around her waist and drew her to him.
“It’s me that should be sorry,” Lucy sighed, as she leaned back against him and closed her eyes once again. “You have always been there for me. Even when I treated you like you were invisible. I have no right to take my frustrations out on you.”
“You can yell at me,” Tucker said, as he rested his cheek against her hair. “Shout, scream, whatever you need to do, but I will never stop loving you. I will never give up on you.”
“How do you know you won’t hate living in New York?” Lucy asked, as she turned in his arms until she was looking up at him. “How do you know you won’t resent me for making you give up your life here?”
“Because that’s what we do for the one we love,” Tucker said with a smile, as he brushed the hair back from her face. “Love means we do what it takes to be with them. I don’t care where I live, Lucy, as long as I am living with you.”
Lucy smiled, as she leaned up on her tippy toes, and kissed him softly on the lips.
“Take me back to bed,” she breathed against his lips.
“You took the words out of my mouth,” Tucker growled against her lips.
He scooped her up into his arms and hurried towards the stairs as Lucy giggled and tried her best to be quiet, so as not to wake David and Alison.
“Are you girls ready for this?” Tucker asked, as he pulled his car into his parking space at the station. He looked over at Lucy, and she gave him a smile that she really wasn’t feeling inside.
Inside, she was beyond scared. She had been here before. She walked into the station, covered in cuts and bruises, knowing everyone was watching her. It had been the hardest day of her life.
But this time, she wasn’t doing it alone. She had Tucker and Alison, and she would have April too.
Tucker had called April the day before, and she had agreed that she would meet them at the station to give her statement. Lucy was surprised she had, but Tucker assured her that April has happy to help.
“Lucy,” Tucker said, and Lucy realised he was still waiting on her reply.
“I’m ready,” she said, and gave him a smile. She knew that she needed to do this. She needed to make Trent pay.
As the four of them walked into the station, Tucker instinctively took Lucy’s hand. She knew he was just as afraid as she was. He had made her a promise that Lucy knew he might not be able to keep, no matter how much he wanted to.
When they walked through the door, April was already waiting for them, and Lucy introduced her to Alison.
“I am sorry for what has happened to you,” April said as she hugged Alison.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Alison said, as April release her. “We are all in this together.”
Tucker took them to a conference room down the hallway.
“If you want to make yourself comfortable,” he said, as he remained by the door. “I will be right back.”
He returned ten minutes later, and Lucy noticed Tucker had changed into his uniform. She gave him a questioning look.
“We need to keep this professional,” Tucker explained. He also had Hugh Bowman was with him. The minute he saw Lucy, he blushed a little. Lucy knew that he regretted not pursuing things with Trent back then.
“Good to see you again, Lucy,” he said, as he took a seat across the table from her. “It’s been a long time.”
“It has,” Lucy replied, as she remembered the morning he came to her house and told her father they weren’t charging Trent.
“How have you been?” He asked, as he nervously shuffled through his paperwork.
“Oh, you know,” Lucy replied, not taking her eyes from his. “Okay considering.”
“I know,” he said, as he looked down at his paperwork again. “I know there is nothing I can say to make it right, but for what it’s worth, I am sorry.”
“If you’re really sorry,” Lucy replied. “You will make sure he pays this time.”
“I will,” he nodded and gave her a nervous smile. “Now, let’s get this done.”
Two hours later, the three girls left the police station, all feeling emotionally drained, but full of determination.
They walked back to the car park togeth
er and stopped at April’s car.
“Thank you so much for agreeing to do this,” Lucy said, as April hugged her tightly and for the first time in forever, Lucy didn’t think about the fact she was letting somebody other than her dad, Alison and now Tucker, touch her. Maybe she was finally getting better, or maybe she saw April as more than just someone else. “I know it has been so hard for you too.”
“All that matters now is that he pays,” April replied. “Doesn’t matter who it’s for, as long as he goes to prison.
“We are going to order some take out later at my dad’s,” Lucy said, as she took her hands. “And maybe have a couple of bottles of wine. I would love it if you could join us. Tonight is about being with friends.”
“I would love that,” April said with a warm, genuine smile. “Thank you, Lucy, for everything.”
“That’s what friends are for,” Lucy replied, as she hugged her once again. April said her goodbyes and climbed into her car.
“She is a sweet girl,” Alison said, as they watched her drive out of the car park. “It’s good to see you with more friends.”
“She was always my friend,” Lucy replied with a sad smile. “I just didn’t know it.”
“Come on,” Tucker said, as he took Lucy’s hand. “I promised the Chief I would go straight to the hospital when we were done here.”
“Okay,” Lucy said, as she followed Tucker to their car.
Twenty minutes later, they were stepping onto the elevator in the hospital. Lucy just wanted to see her dad, and she wanted all this over.
Tucker held her hand as they rode up in the elevator, and Lucy knew he was wishing that it was all over too.
As the doors opened, Lucy went to step off, but she stopped when she found herself face to face with Riley.
“Hi,” he said, as his eyes met hers.
“Hey,” she replied, and she could feel Tucker hold her hand a little tighter. She glanced at him and gave him a smile that told him; she was okay.
“How have you been?” Riley asked cautiously.
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