A/N Sorry for the delay! Christmas and starting school again kept me very busy. But here it is! I hope you like it...
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Chapter 4
Nick needed time to cool off before going back to work. His girlfriend had just entered the room, pretending that nothing had happened between her and Tom Wilkins when those roses told him the complete opposite. And she was trying so hard to hide it by throwing them into the trashcan as soon as she read the card, probably afraid to get busted. But it was too late. Nick had gotten there before her and since he knew he hadn't sent his girlfriend flowers, he wanted to know who they were from.
Then he did the math. Amanda had been alone with the senator for over an hour and they came back at different times as if trying to hide something. Amanda had then been too quick to get out of there. Why else would she act like that? The older man had a reputation that he could get anyone to drop their panties, and now it had worked on his girlfriend too. She didn't even have the decency to follow and explain herself, not that he was dying to see her anyways. His fist connected with the wall and he winced at the pain shooting through his knuckles.
"What did that wall do to you?" Fin asked behind him, making him turn around, his hand holding his bruised knuckles.
"I just needed to hit something and that wall was close."
Though what he really wanted to see his fist connecting with was Tom Wilkins' face. The guy had had a thing for Amanda since they first met and Nick had just laughed about it, thinking he had nothing to worry about. He'd even pushed her into his arms to tease her, but now the joke was on him.
"Come on Nick, whatever the card said, do you really think Amanda would sleep with a jerk like that?" Fin tried to reason with him. They all knew that Nick had some anger issues and had been forced to take a class to deal with it.
"I know that she has an issue with authority figures and what her track record with men looks like," Nick said with a sigh. Perhaps he should just be pissed at Wilkins, though, for seducing his girlfriend, but the betrayal still hurt so he didn't know if he was ready to forgive her quite yet.
"You haven't talked to her yet," Fin pointed out. "Hear what she has to say before you judge her."
"Something happened between them, I'm sure of it. She's not acting like herself. There's something she's hiding," Nick said and looked at the older detective. He couldn't ignore that feeling in the pit of your stomach.
"Then talk to her tonight. If you don't, this will affect work. I mean you almost broke your hand, beating up the wall," Fin cracked a crooked smile and the two detectives remained silent for a few moments as the advice sunk into Nick's mind. "Now come on, we have a job to do."
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The car ride over to the hospital was done in silence. Amanda could feel that her boss wanted to talk about how she acted that morning, but they both knew that the blonde wouldn't answer any question the brunette had. Perhaps going to work this morning was a big mistake, but being alone with her thoughts wasn't an option either. When they arrived to the hospital they were directed to the rape victim and Olivia took the lead.
"Evelyn? My name is Detective Benson and this is Detective Rollins and we're from the Special Victims Unit. We'd like to ask you some questions if that's okay with you? "
The girl looked at the two agents, her eyes red and swollen from crying, her make up smudged around her eyes. For a moment it seemed like she wasn't going to answer, but after removing a few loose strands of hair from her face she opened her mouth.
"It all happened so fast," she whispered so quietly they really had to strain their ears to hear what she was saying. "I was alone in the cart first… Then these guys entered and I didn't want to pay them any attention. They were laughing and shoving each other so I kept my eyes on the window so they wouldn't notice me or talk to me." She paused, trying to gather herself enough to continue. Inhaling a shaky breath, she chose to go on. "But one of them did. I tried to ignore his comments, but that just made things worse." She shook her head and buried her face in her hands, sobbing. "I should've just talk to them."
Amanda watched the woman intently, swallowing hard. "This wasn't your fault," she tried to tell the girl and a part of her was trying to tell herself that too, even if she didn't believe it. "You talking to them probably wouldn't have made any difference."
The girl looked up again, her doe eyes meeting Amanda's.
"Did you get a good look at him?" Olivia cut in.
The girl furrowed her eyebrows as she thought for a second. "They were white, around 20 years old I think. Two of them were very tall." She closed her eyes as she tried to remember something more. "There was a tiger tattoo… And one had a scar on his cheek…" Another pause. "I don't remember anything else," she sighed apologetically.
"You did great," Olivia encouraged. "I promise we will do everything to find the guys who did this."
The two detectives left the room, heading out of the hospital. They were quiet all the way to the car and Amanda knew this would be a long day.
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Amanda was exhausted when she finally entered her apartment. They hadn't solved the case, but someone was in custody at least so hopefully they had caught the right guy and he might tell on the others.
The girl needed some justice and the detectives were as determined as ever.
Dropping her purse by the side of the door, she locked the door and put the safety on. She just wanted to take a long bath and get her mind off everything. Nick hadn't even bothered talking to her since she received the flowers so she knew for sure that he was still pissed.
Perhaps she should just tell him the truth, but it was humiliating. She never wanted to say those words out loud. Turning around toward her kitchen something made her stop in her tracks. More flowers. He had been to her apartment, or he was still there. By instinct she grabbed the gun from her purse and held it in front of her as she slowly started walking through her apartment, her heart beating faster.
"I'm hurt, Amanda," a too familiar voice said from the darkness just before a light was turned on and she recognized Tom Wilkins' face.
The gun was held steady, aimed at him, even if she felt broken inside. "Get out," she said through her teeth, hoping her voice didn't tremble too much. "Or I swear to God I will shoot you in the head."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," he shook his head at her and stood up, making Amanda almost pull the trigger. "If anything happens to me they're going to find a video of you and I on my computer." The man was calm as he talked, not at all afraid to be staring down the barrel och a gun.
A video? She wasn't sure if he was bluffing and what on earth she would find on it, but she guessed the video didn't look good for her.
"What do you want?" She asked instead, swallowing hard. She wouldn't let him do anything more to her.
"Isn't it obvious, Amanda?" He hummed and stood in front of her, reaching for the gun and pulling it from her hands. "Did you like the flowers I sent you?" His hand went up to caress her cheek and shove a strand of hair behind her ear.
A chill crept down Amanda's back, like a spider. For a moment she was frozen in place which allowed him to take her gun, her safety net.
"I really enjoyed last night and I knew I just had to see you again," he whispered into her ear, making her finally take a step back.
"You have to leave," she said, her voice smaller than she'd ever heard it before. A video. There was a video of the two of them that could be released if she did anything to him. Where would he send it? Her squad? The press? They would probably have a field day if a sex tape with the senator came out.
"You know I can't leave until I get what I want," he hummed and took a step forward again.
"I have a boyfriend," she said quickly, even if she wasn't sure that was still true. Did Nick still want to be with her? "He's coming here tonight." That last part was definitely a lie, but she needed the older man to leave.
"That detective guy?" He laughed at her and grabbed her wrist. "We both know that he's gonna be tired of you soon. I can give you everything he can't."
Perhaps it is true what people say... Guys want what they can't have. Tom Wilkins could get any woman he liked, but still he kept pursuing the one who hated his guts. The older man had already gotten what he wanted and he knew she wouldn't tell so why continue?
"Leave." She said again, this time more firmly.
The hand that met her cheek took her by surprise and made her fall backwards as she tried to regain her focus. The pain that followed was nothing to the sudden fear taking over her body. Quickly she moved backwards and against her better judgement threw up her leg, kicking his leg hard. The moment of pain gave her a chance to get up on her feet and run toward her bedroom where she knew she could lock herself inside. But her hair was quickly yanked backwards so that her back was up against him. There was something sharp pressed against her throat and she didn't even dare to swallow.
"If you keep fighting like that, I'll be forced to send that video to your detective friend."
"Please..." she whispered.
"Oh, I love when they beg," he purred into her ear and sucked her earlobe into his mouth, making bile rise in her throat.
But he probably didn't realize something. He just told her there were more of them, more like her... Of course there would be more women he assaulted, sexual predators like him didn't stop at just one.
His tongue moved across her cheek and she was sure she was going to throw up any moment now. The hand that wasn't holding the knife moved up to touch her breast and she squirmed as much as the sharp blade allowed. What if she threw her head back? That would make him release his grip, but also send that video. She shuddered at the thought.
A sudden knock on the door startled her, but also filled her with hope again. Surely Tom would leave now that someone was here to see her. But he didn't move. Instead he put a large hand over her mouth to keep her from yelling out for help. There was no way he could explain this situation. Right?
His eyes seemed to darken slightly, warning her not to say a word. He wasn't even going to let her open and get rid of him.
"Amanda, I know you're in there. I'm not going to leave until you open the door," he said and Amanda could hear that the man was angry.
Tom didn't seem to know what he should do, but he backed her away toward the couch and made her sit down. When his hand disappeared from her mouth, she was prepared to scream, but the butt of her own gun was slammed against the side of her head, making her slump against her seat.
She could barely move and her mind felt foggy, as if she was drifting into unconsciousness. The senator stood up and she could hear him shuffle around the room, but she didn't know what he was planning. Her vision was blackened and she was struggling to keep herself awake. He had left the room for a second because everything was quiet, but then he came back and the television was turned on, possibly to drown out her own voice if she ever tried to scream. Right now she felt like her head was going to blow up and all she wanted was some sleep.
At last the door was opened. "Hey... Nick right?" Tom said, barely audible over the noise from the TV. His voice was a lot friendlier than he'd sounded moments before. "Sorry, you had to wait."
Nick was quiet for a while and Amanda just wanted to call out for him, but she couldn't for the world find her voice. "I wanted to talk to Amanda, but I can see she already has company," he finally said.
Shit.
He was pissed.
Amanda tried to call out for him, but all that came out was quiet groans that probably didn't reach the door. She needed to tell him that nothing was going on between them; that she didn't want any of that. It was embarrassing that a detective like herself found herself in this situation and couldn't fight her way out of it.
"I'm sorry, man, we're a little busy right now. I'm just about to join her in the shower," he chuckled slightly and Amanda tried to move away from where she was now lying on the floor, to crawl toward the door. Surely Nick must see through his bullshit? There was no way he could believe that she would willingly sleep with a slime-bag like Tom Wilkins who would brag about his conquests.
"Yeah, I guess I'll see her tomorrow," Nick said and the blonde knew he had to fight hard not to punch Tom's smug look off his face.
The door was quickly closed and Amanda's hope was gone. She knew that nothing could save her from what was about to happen now.
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A/N This does not look good. Now I'm wondering how graphic I should make the rape? Would you be uncomfortable if I described it or should I skip through it quickly? Please review and tell me what you think!
