CAROLINE PICKED UP the hotel phone at nine-thirty that evening and dialed the number Lily had sent to Josh’s cell. They’d tried once earlier—after they’d shared a shower and pizza—but they’d reached Helena and Ashford’s answering machine.
“Hello?” a soft, female voice said.
Her pulse quickened. “Helena? Please don’t hang up,” she said quickly as Josh sat down on the bed next to her. “This is Caroline. We met on your trip to Forever and I stopped by today with Josh Summers. We’d like to meet with you. Sit down and talk to you. At our hotel or—”
“I can’t come meet you,” Helena whispered urgently. “Not tonight.”
Josh leaned in to hear and she tilted the phone. “What about tomorrow?” she asked as footsteps sounded in the background. “I just want to offer you a way out if you want it. Someone to talk to—”
“Why?”
Her voice was so low that Caroline almost missed the word. “Because your friend, Noah Tager, he was there for me when I needed help. He stood up for me. He tried to save me. And as soon as I knew I wasn’t alone . . . I fought back.”
Caroline closed her eyes. She could still picture the first time Noah had fallen in step beside her while she walked across the base. At first she’d thought she’d misjudged him. He’d seemed like one of the good guys and now she’d have to fight him off too. And probably lose given his tall, muscular frame. He’d win, just like Dustin had won, even if she fought.
But then Noah had stopped by the bathroom door and murmured I’ll walk you back when you’re done. He won’t get to you while I’m standing here.
“You’re not alone,” Caroline said to the woman on the other line.
“You can’t help me.”
The whisper shot through the phone and Caroline’s stomach dropped. “Just don’t hang up,” she said. “Please, Helena.”
“Who are you talking to?” a man’s deep baritone asked. He didn’t raise his voice. But he didn’t need to. The sound carried. And Caroline recognized the implied threat in his seemingly harmless words.
“Someone from the club,” Helena answered quickly. “About a tennis match.”
Oh no, lies are never a good sign. . .
“At nine-thirty at night?” he said.
“An emergency,” Helena called, her voice slightly muffled as if she’d partially covered the receiver.
“Who is it?” he asked, his tone low and threaded with steel. “Who are you talking to?”
Helena hesitated. Caroline heard the unsteady hiss of breath and she knew the woman on the other end of the line had waited too long.
“Hang up.” The man’s words were barely audible through the phone.
“Yes,” Helena said. And then, “I’m sorry, I—”
“Hang up,” he barked.
Caroline waited for the line to go dead, her chest rising and falling with one trembling breath after another. Tension rippled through her. But instead she heard a shuffling. A tap as if the phone had been dropped, or maybe placed somewhere?
She looked over at Josh. His brow was furrowed and his expression focused. He glanced over at her and mouthed the words we listen.
But Caroline wasn’t sure she wanted to hear what came next. What if—
“Get on the bed,” the deep male voice said.
Caroline covered the receiver. If they weren’t silent, they would give her away. And if Helena had been trying to prove a point, if she wanted to show them once and for all that her husband wasn’t hurting her, then they might be here for a while. But if she was reaching out and asking for help . . .
A chill ran down her spine. She realized that being able to empathize with Helena didn’t necessarily make her the best person for this mission. But they were here now and they would find a way to deliver whatever she needed.
“I’ll be right there,” Helena called, her tone bright and cheerful.
Caroline drew her lower lip between her teeth. If they’d made a mistake coming down here—
“Now!” The male voice—presumably Helena’s husband—boomed through the hotel receiver.
And Caroline jumped, nearly dropping the phone. Josh wrapped his arm around her and held her to his side. The phone remained between them, cradled in her grasp. She heard footsteps, followed by a rustling. Sheets? Discarded clothes?
And then a soft moan.
“No, Ash,” Helena murmured. “Not right now. I’m not ready.”
“You don’t say no,” he growled. Ashford—her husband—Caroline thought as she mentally assigned the name to the baritone.
“Please,” Helena said. “Just let me—”
“You don’t say no, baby. Not to me,” her husband said. “Now lie down on the bed.”
He’s going to rape her. Right now. While we listen. . .
It didn’t matter that he was her husband. The fact that Helena had trusted him once upon a time only made it worse. She’d made promises to him.
But that doesn’t strip away her right to say no.
“I’m calling the police,” Josh murmured, his voice a low growl. He stood and withdrew his cell from the front pocket of his jeans. He moved toward the bathroom and stepped inside to place the call. But he kept the door open and his gaze fixed on her.
Josh returned, his cell in hand, and leaned down to her ear. “The police are on their way. We should meet them. They will need our statements.”
She nodded. But she knew the cops would require more than that. She’s seen the size of Ashford’s house. They would need proof if Helena had any hope of breaking free from a man like that. And Caroline guessed Helena had known that from the beginning. She couldn’t run from her husband. Helena had to fight. And for that, she needed hard evidence.
She grabbed Josh’s phone and pressed buttons until she found the one she needed.
Record.
JOSH GLANCED AT the clock on the nightstand. A matter of minutes had passed since he’d hung up with the local cops, but they had to go soon and meet the police. Shit, he wanted to leave Caroline behind, but he would need help getting Helena away from that place. And he didn’t want Caroline to be alone.
Talk about a trigger. This one is a fucking nightmare.
If he’d known their little road trip would end with them listening to a woman’s husband taking her against her will, he would have demanded that Noah, Dominic—anyone else—go on this mission. He’d honestly thought they’d get here, hit the roadblock they’d met today—Helena turning them away at the door—and head back to Forever.
“Caroline?” he murmured. He ran his hand down her arm and took his cell. The sounds on the other line had stopped. He ended the recording, pocketed the phone, and reached for her hand. “We need to go.”
“OK.” She stood and took his hand. And then glanced at her backpack, resting beside the hotel bed. “I should get my—”
“No guns,” he said. “We called in the cavalry. Let them bring the firepower. We don’t want questions about permits that we can’t answer.”
“You’re right,” she said slowly. “But I could bring the bag and leave it in the car. Just in case.”
“No.” He drew her toward the door. “Trust me on this.”
He led her to the elevator bank and down to the garage where they’d parked his truck. Guiding her into the passenger seat, he fastened her belt. Then he climbed in and drove as fast as he could to Helena’s gated community. He offered the wide-eyed night security guard a rushed explanation. But as soon as he said he was with the cops, the guard waved them through.
“Wait here,” Josh said as they pulled up in front. The lights were on in the entry and he saw Ashford standing in the doorway talking to a pair of uniformed policemen.
One look and Josh wanted to take aim at Asshole Ashford’s face. He wanted to leave bloodstains on the man’s silk bathrobe. Helena’s husband probably worked out. There had to be a gym somewhere in his enormous house. But Josh could still take him.
Right here on your freaking perfect lawn, asshole.
He approached the front door. “Evening, officers. Josh Summers. I’m the one who placed the call.”
“My wife’s not home tonight,” Ashford said sharply. “I don’t know what kind of prank you’re trying to pull here, but I’ll say good-night now.”
Ashford moved to close the door, but Josh said, “I don’t think so.”
He held out his phone and pressed play on the recording. Helena’s pleading filled the quiet.
“Where did you get that?” Ashford demanded.
The officers’ eyes widened at the man in the bathrobe that probably cost half their salary. And Josh looked too, just in time to see a fist swing at his face.