-RORY-
“You gonna be okay, man?” Matt leaned over the arm of the plush seat on his private jet.
What could I say? Fuck no. The woman I love is in trouble, fighting for her life, and the last image she has of me is bare ass naked in a hotel room with her sister, thinking we’d just done the nasty.
Fuck no, I’m not okay, man. I may never be okay again.
“Yeah,” I finally answered with a heavy sigh.
“Hey, thanks for letting us use your plane,” Leif said.
Matt sat back in his seat. “It’s not mine, it’s the company’s.”
“Well, thanks anyway,” Leif said. “It’ll save us a ton of time.”
“It was a no brainer,” Matt said. “You guys need to get to Hindley as fast as possible.”
I stared at Matt Davis. I didn’t want to like him, but right now he was my savior for letting us use Sonora’s company jet to get back to Austin. I was in agony, being so far away from Hindley, knowing she was hurt and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
“Hey,” Leif said. “She’s going to be okay.”
“How do you know?” I was damn near tears.
“Dana said she came out of surgery and she’s going to be fine, just in a lot of pain.”
“What the fuck is a cutter anyway?” I asked. “Have either of you ever even heard of it before?”
“Yeah,” Matt answered. “I knew a girl in high school who was a cutter.”
“I can’t believe she would purposely hurt herself,” I mumbled to myself.
“Sometimes, the mental pain and anguish we endure gets to be too much and we have to find something else to make us forget, something that will ease our suffering,” Matt said. “For you, it was sex, drugs, and alcohol. For Hindley, it’s cutting.”
I shrugged, shaking my head. “How could I not have known this?”
“Dana said no one but her and Hindley’s parents have known about her cutting all these years,” Leif answered.
“Yeah, but I mean, I’ve seen every part of her body, and I’ve never once seen scars anywhere.”
“I don’t know, man. That’s just what Dana said.”
“What else did she say?” I was trying not to be pissed that Dana had called Leif instead of me. “What made Hindley go off the deep end like this? Something had to have happened.”
Leif’s eyes cut to Matt and they shared an unspoken thought.
“What is it?” I asked.
Leif drew in a deep breath, letting out a long sigh. “You know about the tapes, right?” he asked.
Tapes? What the fuck was he talking about? Hindley’s tapes? No way. No one knew about those.
“What tapes?” I asked, trying to play dumb. I wasn’t about to share Hindley’s secrets with anyone, no matter how much she was hurting. I’d betrayed her too much already.
“The videos that guy took of her in her apartment on hidden cameras when she was in college,” Leif said.
I wouldn’t confirm or deny my knowledge of Hindley’s secret. “What about them?” I tried to calm myself from wanting to choke Leif to find out what he knew.
“Well, apparently there were other videos that no one knew existed.” Leif’s eyes darted between Matt and me. “No one except Hindley.”
Oh, shit. Had those tapes gotten out?
“The guy apparently drugged Hindley, raped her, and recorded all of it,” Leif said.
“That motherfucker.” I searched for a bag. I was going to be sick.
“Shit.” Matt sagged back in his chair.
“I know,” Leif said. “Did you know about them, Rory?”
“Yes.”
“Seriously?” Matt asked.
“Well, apparently you and the Dallas Police were the only ones who knew about them until sometime this week,” Leif said.
Then it hit me like a bat between the eyes. “Oh, fuck!” I jumped to my feet. “They’re out there, the videos. They’re out on the Internet, aren’t they?” I raked my hands viciously through my hair.
Leif dropped his head to his hands and nodded.
“What the fuck are we going to do now?” My heart raced and my palms broke out with sweat as I thought about Hindley discovering the videos out on the Internet, her sitting at home all alone with no one to console her because I’d been a complete douche. I knew her. She was strong, but she would never recover from this. Not alone. “What is taking this plane so goddamn long?” I paced the small cabin. “Can’t this motherfucker fly any faster!”
“It’s worse than that, Rory,” Leif said.
“What?” I shouted. “How the fuck could it get worse?”
He stared past me at nothing in particular.
“Just say it,” I demanded.
Leif took in a deep breath and turned to face me. “Someone took the footage, cut it up, and turned it into what looks a lot like a porno movie, including music and sounds.”
Oh. Fuck.
I collapsed into the seat and I covered my face with my hands, trying to block out all the images.
This was beyond bad. There were no words for how horrible this situation was.
I drew in deep breaths, trying to slow my breathing to keep from hyperventilating. “Who the fuck would do that?” I shouted. “Who in the fuck would do something so sick and perverted?”
“The police are investigating the leak,” Leif answered. “They may never find out though.”
“How did she find out?” My thoughts were reeling from the discovery. “Did she see the video out on the Internet? Please God, tell me no.”
“No,” Leif assured me. “Dana said Hindley’s parents came over to her condo earlier today and broke the news to her.”
I slammed the arm of the seat with my fist. “Damn it. I should have been there.”
“Dude, don’t be so hard on yourself,” Leif said. “None of us could have known this would happen.”
“Yeah, but I should have been there with her when they broke the news. None of this shit would have happened. She wouldn’t be sitting in a hospital room cut up and bleeding right now if I had been there to protect her.”
“Look, Dana and Hindley’s parents already feel awful.”
“Well, fuck, they should. How could they have let her just walk away after dumping that kind of news on her if they knew she’d cut herself before? They should have seen this coming. I mean, it doesn’t take a—”
“Stop, Rory!”
I flinched at the sound of Leif’s booming voice still echoing through the plane.
Then he was in front of me, his finger waving frantically in my face. “I don’t want to hear you say a fucking word to Dana or to Hindley’s parents about this when we get there, you got it? They already feel like shit and they don’t need your sorry ass dumping on them too.”
I sat back at his reprimand. He was right. I was the last person to judge anyone’s actions, least of all Hindley’s best friend and parents. “Look, I’m sorry, man. I don’t know what to do.” I threw my hands up. “I feel like shit.”
“Why?” Matt asked.
“Because I love her, more than anything. More than my own life. When she hurts, I hurt. It’s excruciating not being there with her.” I rubbed my eyes at the sting of the tears welling up.
“We’ll be there soon, man, it will be all right.” Matt reached out and patted my knee.
For the first time since I’d known Matt, I saw in him what Hindley had all along. He was a good man. All this time I’d been too blinded by fear, self-loathing, and jealousy to allow myself to really get to know him as a person. I needed good friends in my life. People like Matt Davis.
“Thanks, man.” I gave him a half smile. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” He reclined in his seat.
“For being such a douche bag in the beginning. For calling your product douche water.”
He laughed. “It’s all good, Rory.”
The atmosphere in the plane shifted, becoming lighter. I could finally breathe again.
“Hey, dude.” Leif shook my shoulder.
I turned to find a grave expression marring his face.
“What is it, Leif?” I was right back in panic mode again.
“You know they’re investigating that employee from the hotel for drugging your food, right?”
“Yeah, Paloma told me. Actually, it was her research team that found out the truth.”
“Well, that wasn’t the end of the story.”
I sat up. “What else is there?”
“Someone paid him to give you the drugs.”
“Who?”
“Geneva.”
“I knew it!” I jumped out of my seat. “I knew that fucking bitch had done something. She hates Hindley so much. All this shit is her fault. God, if I saw her right now…” I clenched my fists trying to control my fury as I brooded around the small space, fighting off the urge to punch something, or someone.
“Calm down, dude,” Leif said. “Getting upset isn’t going to help anything.”
“How the fuck can you say that? That little bitch is the sole reason I’m not with Hindley. She and I have been apart for two weeks because that psycho bitch hates her so much. And now, Hindley hates me and probably won’t even let me into her fucking hospital room.”
“That’s not true,” Leif said.
“How the fuck do you know?”
“Dana said her parents told Hindley earlier today that it was Geneva who gave you the drugs. Apparently, Geneva confessed everything to them last night.”
“And so what, Geneva’s cleared of all wrongdoing?”
“No, not that.”
“Then what?”
“Hindley gets it.”
“Hindley gets what?”
“She understands now that the guy who cussed her out in front of God and half the hotel, and supposedly slept with her sister, wasn’t really you.”
“What are you saying? She believes me?”
“I don’t know if she believes you, but Dana said she at least wanted to talk to you after her parents told her that it was Geneva who drugged you.”
I stormed toward Leif, placing my hands on the arms of his recliner. “Are you fucking with me, man? Because if you are, I swear to God, I will beat the shit out of you right here, right now.”
“No, I’m not fucking with you.” He chuckled. “Dana said Hindley realized that the drug had made you act so crazy. Geneva admitted that you two had never slept together.”
“I knew it!” I shouted again. “There is no fucking way I would have ever slept with that skank.” I fell back into my seat, scrubbing my face with my hands, feeling a fraction of relief from the guilt and shame that had been running rampant through me for the past two weeks.
I hadn’t slept with Geneva. In the back of my mind, I’d always known that, but now Hindley knew it too. I couldn’t remember feeling happier in all my life.
“So what made Geneva cave and tell the truth?”
“Dana wasn’t sure, but she thinks her husband made her. Dana said he kicked her out of their house.”
“Good. She deserves a hell of a lot worse than that. Did Hindley’s parents take her in?”
“Hell, no,” Leif said. “They’re super pissed at Geneva. Especially now. Caroline told Dana that Geneva had crossed a line and she wasn’t entirely sure she’d ever forgive her. Especially after what’s happened with Hindley.”
I was happy to hear that news. At least Hindley wouldn’t have to put up with her parents acting like assholes too.
“So, Dana said she’s done this before, Hindley, I mean?” I asked.
“Yeah, apparently after the guy’s trial years ago, when she saw all the videos in court, it kind of started this whole cutting thing into motion.”
“God, that’s sick,” Matt choked out.
I’d forgotten he was even with us.
“How could anyone do that to another human being?” he mumbled, obviously picturing Hindley’s torture like the rest of us.
“So, you knew about the rape?” Leif looked over at me.
I nodded.
“I guess you’re the only person she told. She must really love you, man.”
“Do you think she’ll forgive me though?”
“I think, right now, you need to focus on her health and safety and well-being. If you can do that, I think it would be a good start for her.”
And that right there was why I loved Leif. He could break it down in simple terms, terms I could understand and follow.
“You’re right,” I agreed. “It’s about Hindley. I’ll do whatever I can to make sure she’s taken care of.”
“Even if that means she doesn’t want to see you?”
I held up my hand. “Don’t. I can’t go there right now, man.”
“I understand.” He wrapped his hand around my shoulder and gave me a reassuring squeeze.
A voice boomed over the PA system of the plane. “Gentlemen, we’ll be touching down in Austin in twenty minutes. Please find your way back to your seats and buckle in, if you haven’t already.”
My heart raced with the anticipation of seeing Hindley again. I didn’t care what she looked like or what state she was in, as long as I could see her, maybe even hold her, I knew we’d be all right.