“What happened?” He glanced at me as he helped Hollis into a sitting position.
Immediately, my gaze went to where Gil had been, only to find the room empty. Glancing around, there was no way he could have got past me into the kitchen.Where the fuck is he?I did a sweep of the house, only to find it empty. How had he managed to disappear unnoticed? When I returned to the living room, Finn had helped Hollis up onto the couch. She had her hand on the back of her head, and when she pulled it away, I could see blood.
“Shit, are you okay?” I stepped towards them.
Hollis’s face was pale. “I don’t feel great.”
I frowned. Everything had happened so quickly, I had no idea how Hollis was bleeding.
“When you went for Gil, Hollis got caught in the middle. It all happened so quickly. I think she fell and hit her head on the coffee table.”
“I’m sorry. Fuck!” I scrubbed a hand down my face. The last thing on earth I wanted to do was hurt the woman I loved. I wanted to protect her. At least, that was what I thought I was doing.
“I think I’m going to be sick…”
Our attention turned back to Hollis straight away, and I frantically looked around to see if I could find anything to help her.
“Let me call an ambulance.” Finn reached for his phone.
She shook her head, wincing as she did so. “No. I don’t want any fuss.”
“What if you’ve got a concussion or something? We should get you checked out.” I knelt down in front of her and took her hands, trying to convince her she needed help.
“Call Laura,” Hollis managed. “And can I have a glass of water?”
I bolted to the kitchen, getting back in record time, and held the glass out for her. Her hands shook as she cradled it in between them. Finn was on the phone, talking to our neighbour who was a nurse at the local medical practice.
“Thanks, I really appreciate that. And I’m sorry again for calling you this late.” He ended the call. “She’ll be here as soon as she can.”
An uneasy silence descended between the three of us, the air heavy.
“I’m sorry,” Hollis said finally, her voice sounding thin and weak.
“What the hell do you have to be sorry for? You didn’t ask him to come here,” Finn demanded. “The guy is clearly unhinged. I’m just sorry we couldn’t have stopped him sooner.”
Hollis clapped a hand to her mouth. “I never changed my phone number,” she murmured, her eyes glassy as she looked at me. “I got so caught up in everything, inus,that I never got around to it. He would have tracked it again. How could I be so stupid?”
“You’re not, Princess. He’s a prick. I thought that when I met him the first time, and my opinion definitely hasn’t changed.” I folded my arms across my chest even though I wanted to hold Hollis.
There was another knock on the door. I exchanged a glance with Finn, both of us thinking the same thing: that Gil had come back.
“I’ll go.” I went to the door, grateful that when I opened it, Laura stood there and not Gil. “Hey, Laura. Thanks for coming. Hollis is in the living room.”
Laura went straight to Hollis, and Finn stepped away.He joined me standing in the centre of the room, almost mirroring my posture. The two women spoke quietly, and Laura ran her hands over the back of Hollis’s head before getting her to turn, so she could examine it. I could see matted blood in her hair, but there didn’t seem to be any active bleeding. Hopefully, whatever had happened wouldn’t end up being too serious. I hated the fact that Gil had managed to get away without properly facing up to whathe’ddone to Hollis in the past. If I knew where he was…
When a third knock on the door sounded, Finn and I looked at each other and frowned. Who could it be this time? Maybe Laura had called for someone to help out? Finn shrugged and went to the hallway. This time, when he came back, his face was ashen. Behind him were two police officers.
“Jason Dillon?” The taller of the two moved towards me.
“Er, yes…” I hesitated, wondering what was about to happen.
“We have reason to believe that an incident happened here this evening, and I’m arresting you on suspicion of actual bodily harm. You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say…” The rest of his words got lost as the pounding started in my ears, blocking them out.
The second policeman pulled my arms behind my back and fastened a pair of handcuffs around my wrists. I twisted around in his grip as he tightened his hold on me.
“What’s going on?” Hollis cried, her eyes wide and glassy with tears.
“I wish I knew,” I choked out, humiliation creeping over me. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. Sure,I’d had a few warnings from the police when I was younger, over trivial offences. I’d never been in any serious trouble.
