Hunter
Four Hours Earlier
I pulled up to the station and parked in my designated spot before letting Jack out. He was so well trained that I didn’t need to put him on a leash, especially since I was walking in from the back and not through the public entrance of the station.
Our station wasn’t very big, considering Boggy Creek Valley was on the smaller side, but we did have twelve officers and now two K9 units, after Kyle got Cat.
I made my way through the office and had to stop a few times for folks to give Jack a friendly hello hug.
Once I got to the office I shared with Kyle, I walked in and shut the door behind me.
“Arabella off shopping with Brighton?” Kyle asked.
Nodding, I gave Jack a Kong filled with a peanut butter treat. Cat was passed out in her bed, clearly exhausted from what I guessed was a play session with some folks in the station.
“Okay, what do we know?” I asked as I sat down at my desk and powered up my laptop.
Kyle slid his chair over and put his laptop on my desk. “Well, like I told you earlier, the girl who was in the study group is named Sarah. The girl who found Arabella after the rape is Lori Dexter. Lori is actually a rape victim herself.”
I closed my eyes and mumbled, “Christ.”
Kyle continued, “She reported being raped by a guy her freshman year of college.”
I rubbed at the back of my neck. “Fuck. That poor girl.”
Kyle nodded. “From what Aiden told me, Arabella said Lori tried pretty hard to get her to report the rape, but she refused to. One of the reasons was because this jerk-off threatened both you and Arabella.”
I felt my brows pull in tight. “What do you mean, he threatened us?”
Scrubbing a hand down his face, Kyle said, “Dude, I’m not supposed to tell you.”
“Kyle…”
“But,” he went on, “I’m going to. Just don’t freak the fuck out, okay?”
All I did was give him one nod.
“He made it sound like his father could have you hurt. I’m pretty sure that’s another reason Arabella pushed you away. She didn’t want to see anything happen to you.”
I felt a sharp pain in my chest, and I fought to control the sudden feeling of nausea that hit me. Of course, Arabella would put my safety above herself. That was just who she was. “That motherfucker.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
We stared at the laptop for a few moments before I said, “Do you have Lori’s contact info?”
Kyle drew in a long, deep breath and then exhaled. “You know I do.”
“Give it to me.”
“Wait, Hunter, listen to me for just a second. I don’t think we should go running in, guns blazing. This woman has been through the same thing Arabella has, and she reported it. The case went to court and she was dragged through the wringer by the douchebag’s lawyer. The last thing she needs is for two men to come barging in asking her about a rape from nearly ten years ago.”
I sighed and nodded. Kyle was right. I needed to calm the hell down. “How did it turn out?”
“She won. Turns out a witness came forward after watching a video they’d taken on their phone. They were filming something from their apartment balcony, and inadvertently caught part of the rape on video.”
My eyes went wide. “Are you serious?”
“Yep. Guy’s still in jail.”
“Thank God that person took the video to the police.”
Kyle nodded. “So how do you think we should do this?”
I thought for a moment as I stared out the window. I turned back to Kyle. “We tell her the truth.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I call her, tell her who I am, give her a shortened version of what happened, and tell her I want to find this guy.”
Kyle let out a somber laugh. “Right. Okay, Hunter.”
“I’m dead serious, Kyle.”
His smile faded, and he leaned back in his chair and stared at me before he folded his arms over his chest. “You’re fucking kidding, right? She’s going to know why you want to find him, Hunter.”
I shrugged.
“What if she contacts Arabella?”
“I don’t think she would, but I’ll let her know Bella has no idea I’m trying to find the guy. I’ll tell her I just want to talk to him.”
Kyle let out gruff laugh.
“What’s her number?”
Sighing, he clicked a few buttons on his laptop and soon had Lori’s name and number pulled up. I picked up the telephone on my desk, knowing it would show up as Boggy Creek Valley Sheriff’s Office.
“This should be interesting,” Kyle mused. He glanced back at a still-sleeping Cat on her bed while I put the phone on speaker.
With each ring, my heart felt like it tumbled around in my chest. I tried to keep my breathing easy, but knowing I could possibly find out who’d raped Arabella had me fighting to stay calm.