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Page 16 of Until Presley (Happily Ever Alpha World)

I don’t know how long I sit there, but when the nausea finally subsides and I can breathe without the ache in my chest, Ham lifts me into his arms and carries me out to the living room.

The agents are still here, and I try to speak, but my throat hurts too much.

I rinsed my mouth, but I didn’t brush my teeth.

Ham keeps me cradled on his lap as he sits back down on the sofa.

“What does this mean?” Ham asks the agents.

“We don’t know. How do you know these women?” Agent Brownley asks me. He’s tall with gray hair, a bit on the skinny side, and wears glasses. Like Agent Harkness, he’s dressed in a black suit, but Harkness is blond.

Agent Harkness hands the photos to Ham, and I can’t stop the fresh set of tears from falling. I take the pictures from him and riffle through them. Memories flash through my mind.

“This one used to hang out with my stepsister, Clara, when we were freshman,” I say, holding up her picture.

“She left midterm. Everyone thought she flunked out because she partied more than studied.” She was curvy and tall.

I don’t mention the time she cornered me in the commons and punched me when I tried to stand up to her.

“These two went to boarding school with Clara and me. They came to visit her in Miami during our senior year, after running into her in Ft. Lauderdale over spring break.”

My gut clenches when I look at the last picture. This girl hurt me worse than the others.

“This one wasn’t a friend of mine.” I shift off Ham’s lap, but he holds me tight to his side. He can sense that I’m in pain. “This one slept with my boyfriend when I was at NSU Guy Harvey. She also assaulted me.”

Ham’s arms flex around me, and I look up, thinking these men must think I had something to do with this.

“I would never hurt her, though,” I say quietly. “I filed a restraining order against her. When she was expelled, I never saw her again. I did run into my ex once in Miami before I moved here, but we don’t talk anymore.”

“Tell us about the assault?” the agents ask, and I take a deep breath.

Several times, Ham has asked me about the scar, but I haven’t told him exactly what happened. He felt it once while tracing my tattoo. I had the scar covered with a large shark, swimming through an underwater scene. It matched the one Leah had, but hers had dolphins instead. That’s when it hits me.

“Oh my God. Someone killed all these women and then killed Leah.”

The pain in my heart is almost too much. I lean forward and start to hyperventilate. A bag is pushed into my hand, and I breathe in and out of it.

“May I call you Presley?” one of the agents asks me, but I can’t look up to see which one. My mind is racing, trying to understand what this all means.

Ham

A s I watch Presley lose her shit, I’m doing everything I can to control the rage boiling through my blood.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. What have you done to stop this person? How did he get Leah? Is Presley in danger?” I spew out all the questions in one breath.

Presley turns to me with wild eyes before they roll back, and she passes out.

I hold her to me and look at my mom. “Call an ambulance. Call Walker too, please.”

“I’ll take care of it.” She rushes out of the room.

“This interview is over until we get Presley taken care of.” I don’t even want to think about the amount of danger she’s in.

When the EMTs arrive, they decide to take her in, and I ride in the back of the ambulance with her. I’m not leaving her side, especially if she’s in danger.

The short ride over to Stock Island, where the hospital is located, takes no time at all. As we rush inside, a nurse blocks me and directs me to wait in the lobby.

“I’m not fucking leaving her.” I start to argue, but Walker holds me back.

I’m so glad he got here as fast as he did, or I’d be dealing with security right now. The special agents walk in and flash their badges at the nurse.

“He’s with her, and we want him in there as soon as you stabilize her.”

A n hour later, after lots of pacing, they finally call me back.

A nurse leads me to her room. Presley is lying on the bed, looking so small.

Her shoulders shake as she cries. I walk right over and climb into bed with her, wrapping my body around hers.

The nurse tries to tell me to get out of the bed, but I hold a hand up to stop her.

“You want her calm. Look.” I point at Presley, who turns and wraps around me too.

“Okay.” The nurse leaves, and we lie there for a while before a doctor walks in.

“Miss Blanchard,” he starts but stops when he sees me.

“You can talk in front of him,” she says against my chest, not pulling away.

“You’re free to go. I have a prescription for you for some sleeping pills, and I gave you a shot to help with the anxiety.

If you have another attack, I’d go see a specialist. I’ll give you some referrals.

” He turns to look at me. “She’ll need to take one pill to help her stay calm and let her sleep. ”

“Okay.”

The doctor excuses himself, and we wait for the nurse to come back with the discharge papers.

Thirty minutes later, I carry her out to the lobby, where the agents are waiting with Walker.

“Presley, we aren’t sure if you are in danger, but we’d like you to keep an eye out. We’d like to talk to you more, if you are up to it.”

“She’s not up to it,” I answer for her, and she holds me tighter, letting me know she agrees. “Let’s go, Walker.”

I follow behind him as he leads us to his truck. I climb into the back with her and buckle her into the seat. She clings to me. By the time we get home, she’s asleep against my chest.

“Should I ask?”

“Not right now. I don’t know everything. When I do, I’ll tell you. Presley isn’t ready for us to go over everything again, but needless to say, there are several bodies around my girl.”

“Fuck,” Walker says as he pulls away.