I went to her, kneeling in front of her. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head, eyes still wide. She was clearly in shock.
“Come on. We have to get out of here.”
“Gage?”
“It’s me. You’re safe.”
“How are you here?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“I’ll tell you in the car. Come on. Get what you need and let’s leave.”
She stood up like a zombie, following my lead. She shoved some clothing into a bag, grabbed some papers and folders and her computer, and put it all on top of the clothes. I zipped her bag, hefted it up, and we left the room. Kuzma lay bleeding on the carpet, dead or soon to be dead.
We went down the hall and stopped outside of my room. “Wait here,” I said. I opened the door and went inside. She followed me in, frowning.
“Were you staying here?”
I nodded. I threw my stuff into my bag. I checked that my gun was loaded before slipping it into the waist of my jeans. Two minutes later, we were hustling back down the hall. We got into the elevator and rode it down.
“What’s happening, Gage?”
“I’ll explain soon. We just have to hurry.”
I needed to make sure that we could get clear of the hotel room. I didn’t know if Kuzma had backup or not. He was supposed to, but Kuzma was known to break the rules when he felt like it. I was hoping that he figured this was an easy job and didn’t bother bringing reinforcements.
We got out at the lobby and hustled to the left. We went out a side exit and hurried out toward my car.
Nobody else was around. I threw open the door, got the bags inside, and got her settled. I went around the other side, got behind the wheel, and started the engine.
We pulled out into traffic and were clear.
I didn’t know if Kuzma was alone or not, but it didn’t matter. For the time being, we were safe. I kept an eye on my rearview mirror, taking back streets and running red lights where I could, but nobody was following me. I was absolutely sure of that at least.
“He tried to rape me.”
Her voice cut open the silence. I blinked, surprised at how it effected me. “I know,” I said.
“He was going to do it. I mean, he almost did.”
“But he didn’t.”
“I know. Because of you.” She looked at me sideways. “Why were you there?”
“I knew they were planning something for you. My boss ordered me to do it, but I think that was just a test.”
“So you stayed near me?”
I nodded once. “Took a room just a few doors down, just in case.”
“You were protecting me.”
“Something like that.”
“Why?” she whispered.
“You know why, Sadie. I told you already. I won’t let those bastards hurt you, not ever.”
She chewed on her lip. “I told you go leave me and never come back.”
“I don’t always listen.”
“Thank you.”
“Yeah,” I grunted. “Sure.”
I pulled up out front of my place. We climbed out and I helped her inside. She went quiet again and I could see that faraway look in her eyes, that look people get when they’re haunted by something fucked up that they did. I had that look a few times in my life and knew what it meant very, very well.
She wasn’t going to be okay for a little while. Maybe in the morning she’d be back to herself on the surface, but that moment of terror and powerlessness was going to live inside of her forever. She’d always be scarred by what Kuzma did to her, and it may never heal right.
The best she could hope for was some scarring. Maybe the wound would heal and she’d come out the other side tougher and stronger. Sure, it would always be there, that scar, but she would survive it.
I was going to try and help her the best that I knew how.
My place was small, a little house outside of the main town. I tossed our bags in the corner and turned on the lights.
“We’ll be safe here tonight,” I said. “Kuzma probably wouldn’t have reported in until the morning anyway.”
“Okay,” she answered.
“You can have my bedroom. I’ll be out here.”
She looked away. “Can I take a bath? I just feel disgusting.”
“Of course.”
I led her back into the bathroom. “Thanks,” she said and turned on the water. I left to grab her some fresh towels.
When I came back, she was naked. She looked over her shoulder at me and stepped into the tub.
“Sit in here with me,” she said.
“Okay.” I tried not to stare at her. My cock was fucking hard and I knew that was totally fucked up. The girl had almost been raped an hour ago, she wasn’t thinking about sex.