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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: CICELY

I reluctantly walk away from Chrome and slide into the back seat of Bishop’s sports car. I don’t dare turn back. Not only because I can’t bear to let him see how sad I am, but because every time I look at him, the pain intensifies. Obviously, he doesn’t feel the same connection, so why do I keep letting him hurt me? I scoff at myself. We'd no longer have songs if there were a way to turn off feelings.

Lily and I have Margo tucked in between us, leaving Frodo to act as a chauffeur. She’s shivering, even though Frodo has the heat on full blast. I focus my attention on the young girl and forget about Chrome.

“You did well,” I assure her.

“She’s right. It’s hard to let yourself go limp like you did. Your default reaction is to keep your feet planted and try to pull away,” Lily adds.

“I was so scared,” she whispers. I see Frodo glance back at us via the rearview mirror. His jaw twitches in anger.

“I know. We all were. But we’re safe now,” I remind her.

She glances at me. “You were scared?”

“Of course.”

“You didn’t act scared.”

“We’ve both received training to help us not give in to the fear if we find ourselves in that situation,” Lily explains.

Margo frowns at her. “Why would you get training for something like that? And, where can I get this training?” she adds as an afterthought.

“My family is very wealthy,” Lily explains. “I’ve always been at risk of kidnapping. My father made sure I took self-defense courses as well as training for the possibility of abduction. I also carry around items that I can use to protect myself. Which I lost when I dropped my bag,” Lily mutters.

Frodo chuckles and hands Lily’s purse to her. “Marco found it in the parking lot.”

Lily grins at him and takes the bag. She opens it to show Margo all the items we used to defend her and ourselves. “Luckily, Cicely still had her set on her. We need to replace your items,” she reminds me.

“Where can I get these?” Margo asks.

I share a look with Lily. Some of the items in our arsenal aren’t perfectly legal. While we can legally carry mace, the bearer must be over eighteen, even though we’ve been carrying these items since we were younger than Margo.

“That’s something you need to talk to your dad about,” I tell her. “Although, after today, you might want to ask him to sign you up for self-defense classes.”

Margo nods. “You’re right. I need to learn to defend myself.”

I see the resolve on her face, and while I’m proud that she’s staying tough and wants to learn self-defense, the necessity saddens me. The amount of fear women carry as they go about their day is crippling. Men have no respect for the courage women exhibit daily as they brave an inhospitable world. They don’t understand the complex battle plans women have developed over the years to protect themselves.

We find Dr. Kemper and Lisa outside waiting for us when we arrive at the hospital.

“Daddy!” Margo cries out as she rushes into her father’s open arms.

“Oh, baby, I’m so happy to see you,” Dr. Kemper says, clutching his daughter as tears pour down his face. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”

“There’s nothing you could have done,” Lily assures him. “Those men ambushed us and took you out too fast.”

“Thank you for taking care of my little girl. She’s the most important thing in my world,” Dr. Kemper says. I catch a grimace crossing Lisa’s face, but she schools her expression as she wraps her arms around her father and daughter.

“Are you both okay?” Lisa asks Lily and me.

“We’re fine. No damage done,” I assure her.

“What happened? What did those men want?” Dr. Kemper asks.

“They wanted to use me to get to Sammy,” Margo says.

“What? Why?”

I shrug. “My guess? Someone wants to stop Sammy from testifying against the priest who hurt his sister. His congregation attacked Sammy once, maybe they’re moving on to more extreme measures.”

Dr. Kemper shakes his head. “What is this world coming to? The congregation should praise Sammy for protecting his sister, not vilify him. Is Sammy safe?”

I nod. “Chrome and his men are keeping him protected. They helped rescue us today, along with Lily’s brothers.”

“Lily and Cicely protected me,” Margo says, keeping her arms still around her father’s neck as she turns to look at us. “They fought off the men until the others came to rescue us.”

Dr. Kemper stares at us in surprise. I shrug.

“We’ve taken self-defense courses,” Lily explains.

“I want to take them, too,” Margo says.

Kemper frowns at his daughter. “You want to take self-defense classes?”

“It’s a good idea,” I chime in. “Better to have the knowledge and skills than not.” I want to point out how violence against women continues to increase and that 1 in 5 women will experience rape. This doesn’t include the dangers young women face in a world where human trafficking is on the rise. No sense scaring Margo more than she already is after today.

Kemper looks at me, and then Lily nods in agreement. His shoulders sag, and a sadness crosses his features, but he nods. “You’re right. It is a good skill to have. I’ll get her signed up. Thank you for everything you did, but I want to get Margo home. How about a hot bath and pizza?”

Margo grins at her dad.

“I thought we were going out to dinner?” Lisa asks. She flinches when Kemper stares at her in disbelief. “I just think maybe she could use a distraction.”

“I think I’d rather have pizza,” Margo says.

“Then pizza it is!” Lisa says with a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Why don’t you both head home, and I’ll be there soon. I need to close up my office.”

Dr. Kemper leans and kisses Lisa before carrying his daughter to his car. He glances around the parking lot as if he’s expecting a second attack.

Frodo opens the door for us, but Lisa waves him off. “I need to make a phone call. You go ahead.”

Shrugging, he follows Lily and me inside. We take the elevator to my floor, and I lead the way back to the ICU. Using my badge, we enter the wing. Giving the nurse on duty a wave, I lead Lily and Frodo into Jane Doe’s room.

Frodo gasps when he sees the woman lying comatose. He rushes over and takes her hand. Tears run down his face as he strokes her hair.

“Is this your aunt?” I ask him, even though his reaction already tells me it is.

“Yes. My god, what did those bastards do to you?”

“Are you her next of kin, or do you know who is?”

“I am. It’s just us now. Beverly was my mom’s best friend, more like a sister to her. She never had any kids, but saw me as her nephew. Said she liked playing aunt rather than being a parent herself. When my parents died, she became my rock. It’s why I’ve been looking for her. She’d never have disappeared for so long without calling. I’ve been out of town on business for the past three weeks and only just got back into town. I was going over to her house when Bishop called me.”

“I have the number of the detective working on her case. He’s an asshole. He doesn’t seem to care about your aunt or the other woman.”

“Give me his number, and I’ll call him later. I want to spend some time with my aunt.”

“Maybe you should spend the night at my place tonight?” Lily asks me.

“Thank you! I was going to ask if you didn’t offer. I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

“Did you want to leave now?”

“In a minute. I want to talk with whoever is guarding Mode. Let them know what happened today. They’ve likely already gotten word, but just in case.”

I exit Jane Doe’s room and duck into Mode’s, only to find it empty. Retreating into the hall, I approach the nurse on duty. “Michelle, what happened to the patient room in this room?”

“He left. His friends gave him a ride home about thirty minutes ago.”

“He woke up?”

She nods. “Not long after you left. The on-call released him quickly. Likely because the guy was already getting dressed and would have walked out regardless.”

“Oh, that’s great,” I say as my heart sinks. Mode was my last contact with Chrome. I’ll likely never see Chrome again without Mode being in my care. Not if Chrome’s brisk dismissal indicates how little he cares about whether or not I remain in his life.

Pushing down the pain, I find Lily. “I’m ready to go whenever you are.”