“I know,” she replied. “I screwed up.” Her voice got high, and I knew, even though I’d never heard that tone before, that she was crying.
“Hey,” I said gently. “Hey, it’s okay.”
“She’s really freaked out,” Morgan said, sniffling. “She lost hours, Trevor. Poof. She has no idea what happened.”
“Did she report it?” I asked, shaking my head as Bram started toward my truck. He spun on his heel and went inside the building instead. “Has she talked to anyone?”
“I don’t think so. She called and asked me to come, so we drove up here last night. She said she didn’t think she was hurt, but—”
I grimaced and consciously unwrapped my fist from where I’d been gripping the steering wheel. There were few things in my life that could make me completely lose it, and violence directed at women was one of them.
I didn’t understand it, I didn’t want to understand it, and just the thought of it made me see red.
“She needs to report it,” I said, opening my truck door when it began to feel like there was no air left in the cab. “She needs to go today.”
“I don’t know if she will,” Morgan mumbled after clearing her throat.
“What? Why?”
“Because,” Morgan snapped, then sighed heavily. “Just because.”
I shook my head in confusion but didn’t argue. Even if I thought she was doing the wrong thing, her sister’s decisions weren’t my business. I didn’t know Miranda. I’d heard plenty about her, but I hadn’t ever actually met her.
“I better go back inside,” Morgan said. “I don’t want them to wake up when I’m not there.”
“Okay.” I scrubbed a hand over my face, not sure what to do. “Call if you need anything.”
“Okay.”
“Seriously, Morgan,” I said. “If you need anything. I’m only a couple hours away.”
As soon as she hung up, I hopped out of my truck and stood for a minute in the cool morning air, trying to calm down.
Was it shitty that I was glad Morgan had called, even though I hated the reason for it? The fact that she and Etta were only a couple hours away made me almost jittery.
“What’s going on?” Bram called, walking out of the building as soon as he saw that I was off the phone.
I debated blowing him off, but only for a second.
“I was talking to Morgan.”
“Really?” he asked dubiously. “What’d she have to say?”
All of the cousins knew something had gone down between us, but I was pretty sure Ani hadn’t given them the details. Bram was her other half, though. I knew he’d heard the entire story.
“She’s in Bend,” I replied, nodding when his eyebrows shot up. “Something happened with her sister.”
“She broke her leg or she’s in a coma?” Bram asked, asking in his own ass-backwards way how bad the situation was.
“She woke up not remembering the night before,” I said quietly through my teeth.
“Oh, fuck,” he replied, instantly growing serious. “We need to go down there?”
“They have no idea what happened,” I answered, shaking my head.
“Did she report it?” His question didn’t surprise me, but I did find it a little ironic that reporting it was the first thought in both of our minds, while Morgan and her sister felt exactly the opposite.
“She’s not going to.”
“Why?” Bram asked, completely baffled.
“I’ve got no clue.” I started toward the front door but stopped before I made it to the sidewalk in front of the building.
“Man, why wouldn’t you report shit like that?” Bram asked, coming up beside me. “That makes no sense.”
“Agreed.” I flexed my hands, wishing I could hit something.
I couldn’t go inside. I couldn’t work all day wondering what was happening on that college campus. I couldn’t stay where I was, hours away from Morgan, knowing that she was with her sister who’d just been attacked.
Not only was she shouldering that responsibility alone, but she also had a two-year-old with her, and God only knew who had drugged her little sister.
“You heading over there?” Bram asked, reading my mind.
“She’s probably going to be pissed.”
“Who fucking cares,” Bram replied with a shrug. “At least you’ll be there if she needs ya.”
I paused and met his eyes.
“Hey, man,” he said, lifting his hands out in front of him. “No judgment. I kept going back after Anita dropped my ass. I know it’s not always as simple as it looks. She called you.”
“Ani told me to back off.”
“If I’d backed off, me and my woman wouldn’t be where we’re at now,” Bram said easily.
I nodded. “I’ll call you later.”
“I’ll do your job for you,” he called out as I walked back to the truck. “Just like fucking always.”
I flipped him off over my shoulder and left without another word.
Three hours later, I was checking into a hotel in Bend.
* * *
“What do you mean, you’re here?” Morgan asked tiredly when I called to find out exactly where they were.