Free Keep Me: A HERO Novella by Leighton Del Mia Page A

gun.
    Cataline bolts out of her chair. “What are you doing here?”
    “Melinda called me.” I look past her to see files and papers spread out on the table’s surface. “What’s this about?”
    “Nothing, Cal—”
    “I’m her boyfriend,” I tell the officers.
    “Calvin Parish?”
    I clear my throat. The way he says it is as though he’s going to follow it up with, “You’re under arrest for . . .”
    “Yes. That’s me.”
    Cataline throws herself into my body suddenly, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Please let me handle this. Please, Calvin.”
    I grip her upper arms and pull her off to step around her. “What’s going on?”
    “There’s no reason to be alarmed, Mr. Parish. We just needed to review Miss Ford’s statement.”
    “Statement?”
    “After the Cartel released me, I had to give a statement,” Cataline says. “You know this.”
    I nod that I do, even though I didn’t. “Why is it necessary to review it now?”
    “Well, Mr. Parish, I don’t know how familiar you are with the situation, but back when Cataline was, er, abducted, Hero took out quite a few members of the Cartel—including their leader.”
    “Right,” I say.
    “Basically, he hit them where it hurt and knocked them off their feet. However—”
    “They’re back,” Cataline says.
    “A new leader has risen in Carlos’s place. We’re not sure of the details yet, just that they’re forming again. Now, we don’t think anyone has reason to worry. They’ve made no indication that they’ll be returning to New Rhone. The FBI just informed us that anyone involved in the case should be notified and that we needed to review their reports in case they have any new information.”
    “Which I don’t,” Cataline says. She leans over and begins gathering up the papers, but I catch her forearm. She looks up at me with big, blue eyes. “You don’t want to know, Calvin. Just let it go.”
    I pull the top page to me by its corner.
    “Sir, if she doesn’t want you to—”
    I silence him with a glare and look at Cataline. “Whatever this is, I need to read it. Understand?”
    She swallows, nods, and looks away. “That’s the transcript from when I gave my statement.”
    The officers seem concerned, but everyone falls away the moment I start reading. It begins suddenly with Cataline explaining she’d been drugged most of the time and this was one of the only things she could recall in any detail.
    “Guy Fowler locked handcuffs around my wrists, chained me to the wall, whipped me while Carlos watched, and then took my pants down.”
    “Just so we’re clear, you’re identifying Guy Fowler and Carlos Riviera as your kidnappers. We’ll need a verbal answer, please, Miss Ford.”
    “Yes.”
    “Were they angry with you? What were they after?”
    “I don’t know exactly. I only knew I was bait for Hero.”
    “Did they have other captives?”
    “Not that I know of. They asked me some intimate questions too. I think maybe they had other plans for me once they killed Hero.”
    “Did they say why they were trying to get to him?”
    “Never.”
    “All right. Let’s proceed. What happened after he removed your pants?”
    I want to look away, but my eyes won’t stop reading. Whomever she’s speaking to, they want details. I know from those details, and because I can sense Cataline’s nervous energy behind me, that this is more than a story fabricated by her.
    “Mr. Parish—”
    “Shh,” I say. My fingers twitch with the urge to reach through the paper and rip Guy’s arms off. Finally, I have to stop. “What the fuck?”
    “Calvin—”
    “Did he . . . ?” My hands thrust into my hair. “How could you keep this from me?”
    “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.” She grabs my arm with both hands and tries to pull me away from the table, but I can’t bring myself to face her. “I thought of you the whole time,” she says.
    I shrug her off and leave the room, slamming the door behind me. My feet