He stroked my hair with one hand and held me tighter with his other arm.
“S… s… sorry. I’m a wuss,” I told him.
“You’re fine.”
“I’ll have it together in a second,” I said.
“Ava, you’re fine.”
I nodded.
I started deep breathing and he kept stroking my hair. After awhile I got the tears in check, wiped my face against his shirt and took one, last, deep breath.
“I gotta call Luke,” he said when I exhaled.
I nodded again.
“You know who did this to you?” Lee asked.
I answered immediately, “Noah.”
I knew my answer surprised him by the way his body went still.
Then he pulled back and, even in the dark (he was holding his flashlight behind my back), I could tell he was looking at me.
His hand came to my neck and his thumb stroked my jaw.
In an ultra soft voice, he asked, “You wanna tell me why your jeans are undone?”
I shook my head, his hand flexed against my neck and then I said, a hitch in my voice, “He kind of… touched me.”
The air in the room went static in a flash and just as quickly I felt it move with the fury rolling off Lee in waves, pounding against the walls and slamming back into the both of us.
“Let’s get you out of here,” he said, his voice tight.
He started to move to pick me up but I pulled away. “I’m okay now, I can walk.”
He nodded, guiding the way with the flashlight, holding my hand. He took me upstairs, to the bathroom and led me in.
Before he closed the door behind him, he said, “You need anything, call me. I’ll be right outside.”
I nodded again. He closed the door.
I stood at the sink, hands at the basin, avoiding looking in the mirror and listened very carefully. Therefore, as intended, I heard him make the call.
“Vance, you with Luke?” Pause. “Okay, I found Ava. She was taped to a support in her basement. Dexter did it. I want you here, Mace, Eddie and Hank, everyone you can get. She’s in bad shape, been beaten up but it’s worse,” he paused again. “Yeah, that’s it. She was dressed but her pants were undone. She says he touched her.” I closed my eyes tight at hearing these words coming from Lee. Somehow, hearing them made the whole thing seem more real. “I want the boys around when Luke finds out. I’ll give you five then I’m callin’ Luke,” Pause. “Yeah, out.”
At that I walked to the door and pulled it open. Lee was leaning against the wall in the hall. His head came up when the door opened.
“It wasn’t as bad as you think,” I told him.
“Ava, honey, get yourself cleaned up.”
I went into the hall and stood in front of him. “He didn’t rape me or anything.”
“Don’t talk now, we’ll talk later. You want me to help you clean up?”
I was getting panicked. “Lee, don’t tell Luke he touched me. It wasn’t that bad.”