“I don’t know. I don’t… know.”

Melanie turned off the water and wrapped Nikki in every towel in the hotel bathroom.

She opened the door and Gabe jerked away from the wall he’d been leaning against. He met Melanie’s eyes, a question in his gaze. She shook her head slightly. He then looked at Nikki, and both hands clenched into hard fists.

“Why is he here?” Nikki asked dully.

“He’s going to help me take care of you,” Melanie said. “Gabe, Nikki is cold. Can you go down to the restaurant and order her some hot soup and some cocoa.” She rubbed Nikki’s back. “Does that sound good?”

Nikki nodded.

“I’ll just call room service,” Gabe said.

Melanie gave him a stern look. There was no way she was going to help Nikki dress in front of a man. Not even Gabe. “Go down to the restaurant—”

“Right,” he said, and after one last heart-sick glance at Nikki, he left the two of them alone.

Melanie dried Nikki’s hair with a towel, and then dug through her huge overnight bag for warm, comfortable clothes. She ended up dressing Nikki in her workout clothes because most of Nikki’s wardrobe was far from comfortable. She then swaddled her in blankets and sat on the bed beside her, easing Nikki down until she was lying on her side with her head in Melanie’s lap. They’d sat the same way many times before. It broke Melanie’s heart that this was such a familiar scene between them.

Melanie stroked Nikki’s long damp hair gently and said, “Tell me.”

Without embellishment Nikki told her about being alone and bored in the hotel room. About calling that UFC fighter she’d met on the plane. How he showed her a good time on the town. And not such a good time in his hotel room. She left out a lot of details, claiming that she couldn’t remember everything. She had a lot of holes in her childhood memories as well. Her psychiatrist’s prognosis stated that Nikki’s mind had learned to blot out the most disturbing occurrences in her life, past and present. Occasionally her greatest horrors plagued her in nightmares, but she’d been doing well since Melanie had taken under her wing. And now this.

Melanie was still broken hearted for Nikki, but her rage toward Dick Bailey was nearly choking her.

“Did he rape you, Nikki?” Melanie asked.

Nikki nodded, her lower lip trembling.

“When did it happen?”

“Friday night.”

“What have you been doing since then?” Melanie asked.

“Praying for you to come get me.” Nikki sobbed and turned her face into Melanie’s lap.

Melanie cradled her head, stroking her hair to soothe her. “I’m here now,” she said. “I’m here.”

When Nikki settled down again, Melanie asked, “Why didn’t you answer your phone, hon? I tried calling and texting, but you never answered.”

“I left my phone here because I was mad at you and then after he finished with me…”

Her shaking intensified, and Melanie squeezed her shoulder. “It’s okay. Just breathe. Take deep breaths.”

After a moment she quieted. “I got lost, Mel. I couldn’t remember the name of this place, so I used your credit card and stayed in some scary hotel near where he dropped me off. I just couldn’t stand feeling so filthy inside. I had to get clean.” Nikki glanced up at her, her brows crumpled with remorse. “I’m sorry I used your credit card again.”

“It’s fine.” She tried smoothing Nikki’s troubled brow with her fingertips. “Don’t worry about it.”

“From that other hotel, I tried to call you, but couldn’t remember your number. I kept dialing some Chinese take-out place in Wichita.” She actually chuckled. “Stop cawing us, wady,” she said in a very bad attempt at a Chinese accent. “I awedy tell you dey no Mewanie here. I didn’t know what to do. I was freaking out. And then I got really tired. I must have slept for an entire day in the grossest bed in New Orleans.”

“Isn’t the hotel name on your key card?” Melanie asked.

She shook her head. “No. Just a logo. I looked in the phone book, but none of the names sounded familiar. And I asked the hotel maid, but she didn’t speak English and refused to look at me. I think because of the bruises. So I called a cab and described the place to the driver as best I could remember. I told him I was willing look at every hotel in the city until we found it. He knew the place I was talking about right away and brought me here.”

“You must have been scared. I know what it feels like to be lost. I hate that feeling.”

Nikki snuggled deeper into Melanie’s lap.

“Have you gone to the police and reported what happened?”

Nikki shook her head.

“The hospital?”

She shook her head again. “I don’t want to. Please don’t make me.”

“Nikki, I know you’re distraught right now, but you can’t let him get away with this. You need to go to the police.”

“But Dick Bailey is above the law,” she whispered. “That’s what he said while he was hurting me. You’re just a little slut and deserve to be fucked like one.” Her voice turned deeper and Melanie knew Nikki was repeating words she could hear in her head. “You better shut up and take it or I’m really going to hurt you. That’s it. Say please. I love when you beg. Beg for it, cunt. Beg.” Nikki winced as if someone were striking her. She cried out and covered her head with her arm.

Melanie drew her closer and rocked her. She needed just a minute to crumble, just a second to let the tears fall. Just one moment to be weak so afterward she could be the champion Nikki needed her to be.

“Don’t cry, Mel,” Nikki pleaded, her hand clenched in Melanie’s shirt. “Please don’t cry. Anything but that.”

Melanie wiped at her tears and she plastered a wavering smile on her face. She held Nikki’s sad blue gaze with her own.

“He’s not going to hurt you or anyone else again,” Melanie said as evenly as she could, hoping to convey strength. “Put your shoes on, Nikki. We’re going to the police station.”

She shook her head and buried her face in Melanie’s lap again. “I don’t want anyone else to know what happened,” she said, her words muffled.

Melanie rubbed her back reassuringly, but she wouldn’t make Nikki do anything against her will. She’d been forced enough, and Melanie refused to be one more tyrant in her life.

“I know you’re scared, hon,” Melanie said, “but I’m here with you now, okay? You can count on me. I’ve got you.”

Nikki lay across Melanie’s lap, staring unblinking into space. She was considering her options, Melanie guessed, and Melanie let her take the time she needed to gather her strength. No matter how strong Melanie was, she couldn’t do this for Nikki. Nikki had to do it herself. When Gabe returned with several kinds of soup and a carafe of cocoa, Nikki rose from Melanie’s lap and without another word put on her shoes.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“There’s no physical evidence,” the officer said to Melanie. “No witnesses. We questioned him and he denies everything. Said it was all consensual. So it boils down to her word against his. She can press charges and we can arrest him, but he’ll be out in days. I have to be honest here—even if he did do it, unless he confesses, he won’t be convicted. There’s no evidence anywhere on her body.”

What he meant was that they hadn’t been able to get a semen sample. There was plenty of evidence as far as Melanie was concerned.

“What about her bruises? And the trauma to her vagina?”

“A night of rough consensual sex could explain all of it.”

“Can’t you beat a confession out of him?” Melanie said, completely exasperated. Where was the justice in the world?

“Then it would be coercion and he’d definitely walk away a free man.”

“At least he’d be limping,” Melanie said.

The officer chuckled, but Melanie wasn’t joking.

“I’d love to go vigilante on this prick,” he said, “but I have to be on the side of law and the law says—“