She felt a little hope—and a lot of guilt. “Is he close by?”
“Nice place, just south of Tarpon.”
She buried her face in her hands and slumped over the table as she sobbed.
Mac reached across the table again and gently patted her arm.
“It’s okay, Clarisse. He’s got a lot of years left in him. He likes where he’s at. We can take you to see him when we get back.”
This time, she didn’t flinch away. When she finished crying a few minutes later, Sully offered her a roll of paper towels and she gratefully accepted it. She blew her nose and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I fell asleep. When I woke up, we were underway and I saw you guys on deck.” Her face reddened. “I didn’t mean to barge in like that. God, could I have messed up my life any worse?”
“Let’s back up,” Sully said. Mac sat back and let him handle the situation now that she’d calmed down. “Where did you come from?”
“I just spent a couple of days on buses from Columbus, Ohio.
What day is it?”
“Thursday night.”
“I left there on Tuesday morning, early.” She looked at the keys, which still lay on the table. Mac hadn’t pocketed them yet. “I guess that means I got here late last night or early this morning. I really lost track of time.”
“You didn’t have anyone in Columbus to stay with? Parents?
Friends?”
“My parents died in an accident a couple of years ago. My only friend Bryan didn’t run off, Raquel, she’s got a baby. I didn’t want to put her family at risk. He would have found me there anyway, probably the first place he looked.”
“Did you file charges?”
She nervously shredded the paper towel. “Yeah.” She snorted.
“They took my report. Fat lot of good that’ll do. We lived outside of Columbus, in Maxwell, close to Zanesville. He’s a cop there.
Computer division.”
“In Maxwell?”
“Yeah.”
Mac spoke up. “Well, kiddo, you absolutely ended up in the right place. Sully used to be a cop—” He stopped at her shocked, fearful expression. She pulled away from them and drew tight into the corner again, trying to melt into the bulkhead. “Whoa, what’s wrong?”
She anxiously shook her head. “I saw the looks on their faces. His dad is best friends with the police chief. Two of his cousins work there, too. I don’t hold any hopes of him going to trial. They put him on ‘paid administrative leave’ after they arrested him. That’s bullshit cop slang for they’ll lose my paperwork and give him a pass. Again.”
Her angry gaze fixed on Sully. “Cops always stick together. They did the first time, they will this time. When his cousins saw my black eye the last time, they’d both sort of smiled and turned the other way.” She snorted in disgust. “He told me they wouldn’t believe me if I pressed charges that time.”
Mac exchanged a look with Sully. “Clarisse, trust me, you’re safe with us,” Mac assured her.
She wouldn’t take her eyes off Sully. “No, thank you for the offer, but I’ll find somewhere to go when we return to port. I’m sorry I ruined your weekend.”
Sully slowly leaned back, trying to open a little space for her. Mac suspected he’d seen this before, the overwhelming fear and anxiety in a victim. “Clarisse,” he softly said, “I promise you, if your ex shows up, I’ll be the first to put a bullet in his brain if he tries to lay a finger on you.”
She burst into tears. “He said he’s going to kill me! He told me if I ever left him, he’d hunt me down and kill me and nobody would stop him or prove he did it! That he’d done it before and got away with it!”
Mac nudged Sully. Sully climbed out of the booth, out of Mac’s way. Mac changed places and sat next to her, drew her into his arms.
At first she resisted. Then she slumped against him and cried harder.
“It’s okay, honey,” Mac said. “I promise we won’t let him hurt you. I swear. We can take care of ourselves and protect you and keep you safe.”
After ten minutes, she cried herself to sleep in his arms. Sully sadly stared at her. “Fuck,” he whispered. “She’s out of her mind.”
“You would be, too,” Mac shot back.
“I didn’t mean she didn’t have a reason. She’s spent days on the run, in fear, looking over her shoulder. She’s past the point of exhaustion.”
Mac carefully brushed the hair away from her face. Fuck, if her face looked this bad, he wondered what other injuries she had.
As if reading his mind, Sully said, “Brant, she’s not Betsy. You can’t save her if she decides to go back.”
Mac set his jaw. “Save your goddamn psychology bullshit.” He carefully slipped out of the booth and gathered her into his arms. “Go open the V-berth cabin door, please.”
It was a tight squeeze, but Mac managed to tuck her into the bunk without whacking her head against the wall or hitting his own again.
Sully fetched a blanket for her from their cabin. Then they closed the door behind them and returned above decks. Mac closed the engine room hatch and checked the autopilot and radar. He’d only planned to be below for ten minutes, more than enough time to play. Fortunately, their path remained clear.
Still shirtless, he shivered as he disengaged the autopilot, punched new numbers into the GPS, and turned the boat around. Sully emerged from the cabin. Fully dressed, he carried a shirt and jacket for Mac.
“Thanks.” He took them and dressed.
“We going in?” Sully asked.
“Uh, yeah. Duh, I think we have to, don’t you? We need to get her to a doctor.”
Sully fell quiet for a moment. “You don’t know she’ll want to see a doctor. Or if she can afford it.”
“She has to!”
Sully eyed him, his voice calm and quiet. “Calm down and back down. Right now.”
Mac glared at him. “Don’t you dare fucking start with me. You can beat the shit out of me for this when we get home, but dammit, I’m not letting her walk off and get killed! Take it out of my money if you have to, but she’s going to see a fucking doctor and get checked out.”
Sully studied him for a long while. When he spoke, his voice sounded firm. “You’re talking back to me, slave. You realize you’re getting too emotionally involved with someone you don’t even know.
She’s an adult. Keep in mind she’ll probably be freaked out by what we do.”
Mac slumped in his chair as the full impact of Sully’s words slammed home. He reached for a lanyard hanging on a hook. From it dangled a small silver key. “I’m sorry, Master.” He waved him over.
“I know we’re still on the boat, but you’re right. I’m too emotional about this. You need to handle this.”
Sully leaned over so Mac could unlock the collar and remove it.
Then he cupped his hand around the back of Mac’s neck, touched his forehead to Mac’s and pressed a kiss to his lips. “We’re in agreement about protecting her,” Sully told him. “But we can’t overwhelm her.”
“I still want to go with her to get her stuff.”
“Let’s deal with that when it’s time. It’s too soon to decide that.”
“Please?”
“If it gets to that point, yes, I’ll let you.”
Mac hugged him, burying his face against Sully’s shoulder. Mac struggled not to think about Betsy, about how she’d looked when he’d found her, almost dead and beaten beyond recognition.
Sully whispered in his ear, “Just keep reminding yourself, she’s not Betsy. She’s Tad’s niece, and we’ll protect her. We won’t let anything happen to her, but you have to let me deal with this. Okay?”