Ch 15- "Rescue me..."

"Ow..." Paige muttered the next morning as she sat up slowly in bed.
"Good morning sunshine," Dylan replied as he came through the door with breakfast.
"Oh my God, my head feels like I was hit by a truck."
"Well...close. Instead you tried to stand up to Dean."
"I did what?" she asked skeptically.
"You did," Craig said as he entered the conversation.
"Why would I do that?"
"Yeah...that's what we wanna know."
All the sudden it all came back to her. The club, the drinks, Dean hitting on Ash, Dean hitting Ash, the guys trying to spring him, and then she tried to turn the tables on him...unsuccessfully.
"I guess I was trying to keep Ashley from getting hurt. I mean I'm already fucked up because of him...Ashley didn't need to be too," she said softly.
"I was trying to help you. I knew the risks involved. I was doing it for you Paige...I wanted to."
"You don't know Ash, you don't know. You'd have nightmares for weeks, every time you saw a shadow, you'd duck and cover. Every time Sean tried to touch you, even if it's just holding your hand, you'd get scared that he would go farther than that. You'd hate the dark. You'd hate yourself and wonder if you deserved it...you don't need all that Ash. You have a great life. Why try to do something that would follow you for the rest of your life?"
"Because I wanted to. You didn't deserve it either Paige. What made you think that you did? You didn't...nobody deserves that Paige. Nobody," Ashley spoke up, angry that Paige felt it was her fault.
"You weren't there Ashley!! You weren't at that party!! I was acting like a slut...I was dressed like a slut. I deserved whatever I got...plain and simple. That's what I get for lying and breaking my date with Spinner," she said as she turned to him and saw that he was bright red.
"Spin?" Craig asked.
"You know that I would never hit you Paige. But today's the first day that I want to," he said as he walked out.
"What the hell does that mean?" Lisa asked.
"I dunno..." Paige trailed off.

"Honeybee?"
He acknowledged her, but didn't turn around.
"Why did you say that today?"
"Say what?"
"That you're a slut."
"Because that's how I feel. Why else would Dean want to keep doing this to me? Because he knows he can."
"But not because you let him!!" he yelled at her. "Damn it!! You didn't do this!! He did...you said no and he kept going!! It doesn't matter what the fuck you were wearing!!! Why can't you get that?" he asked as he turned to finally face her.
"I don't know," she said softly looking down at the ground.
He sighed and crossed the three feet between them and hugged her and smoothed her hair.
"I don't know why I'm so screwed up. I don't know why I think that it's my fault. I went through all that counseling years ago...I...I don't know what else to say."
"You don't have to say anything else. Just stop saying it's your fault. It's not and you know it. Ashley was trying to help you out so we could capture Dean. We almost did after he hit you, but then he jumped in his car."
"I'm sorry..."
"It's ok."
"No, it's not. You almost had him but now you don't. Because I got in the way."
"No actually, I think it might be ok. There must have been witnesses that saw this...we can still get him."
"Do you think so?"
He looked at her hopeful face and kissed her softly. "I know we can," he whispered in her ear.

"Officer Curry," Lisa said as she stepped into the police station.
The young attendant at the front desk looked at her blankly and didn't move.
"Hello?? Officer Curry please!" she said again exasperated.
"Officer Curry? Hold on, let me get him," he said as he got up slowly.
"Come on!! Don't we pay you with our tax dollars!!??" she yelled after him.
"Excuse me, how can I help you?" Officer Curry's voice came.
"Umm...my name's Lisa Winthrop. I was wondering if a man was brought in here any time in the recent past."
"What's your interest in this?"
"Well, last night at The Groove, there was this guy and he was in the parking lot and hitting people and stuff."
"Hitting people? Young lady, that's hardly grounds for someone to be taken in here," he said amused as he turned to walk away.
"Really?? Because you had one of my friends in here not too long ago because of the same thing. Only you said he was disturbing the peace and charged with assault and battery. The difference would be..." she trailed off uncertain.
"Those are two different things."
"No they're not! Spinner was attacking the same guy from last night that was hitting Ashley and trying to take her home against her will. The same who hit Paige repeatedly in the parking lot. How is that not disturbing the peace and assault and battery? Because to me...they sound like the same damned thing."
"We had a complaint from the owner of that facility where we picked your friend up..."
"And now you have a complaint from a witness and a citizen of this town. I suggest you do something. Otherwise, your doing a pretty shitty job of protecting this town. Maybe you should think about a different career??" she said as she cocked her head at him before walking out.

Paige reached over and grabbed the trilling phone off the holder before it could wake up Spinner and whispered her hushed greeting.
"Is this Paige Michaelchuck?" a unfamiliar voice said.
"Yes," she replied hesitantly.
"We need you to come to the police station. We need a statement from you about the incident from last night."
"What are you talking about?" she asked confused.
"This is Officer Grant from the station. We had a citizen and a witness come in today and complained about events that happened at The Groove last night and they gave us your name."
"Ok...I can be there."
She hung up and stared at the phone. Someone went into the station today about last night?? How weird was that? Wouldn't someone call last night? And furthermore, why are they taking action now?? She shrugged off her questions, picked up her purse, scribbled a note and almost empty house.

"Now Paige, can you recount the events from last night?" Officer Grant asked her the tiny room, tape whirring away in the tape recorder.
"Well, my friend Ashley had too much to drink almost fell off a chair. All the sudden Dean Roberts was there and 'swept her off her feet' I guess you could say. They danced a little bit and then they went outside. He was trying to get her into his car and she kept saying no and he kept pulling on her arm. Eventually, he started hitting her. I was outside by then with a few of my girlfriends and saw what was happening. I saw Craig, Spinner making a move to help her but I thought I could help. I mean we have a history so I thought that maybe I could distract him. Instead he started hitting me and pushed Ashley to the ground. Craig punched him and before he could get another one in, Dean punched in the stomach and knocked Spinner against the wall and sped off in his car."
"Okay...now you said that you were outside with a few of your girlfriends. Can you give me their full names and Craig and Spinner's full names?"
"Umm...I was outside with Lisa Winthrop and Hazel Brooks. Craig's name is Craig Manning and Spinner's name is Gavin Mason."
"Uh-huh," Grant nodded.
"What would your history with Dean Roberts be?" he questioned.
Paige hesitated at first and then sighed as she started. "A few years ago, I was a freshmen in high school, I met Dean at soccer game. He invited me to a party that next night and I accepted. We ended up upstairs and in mind, I thought that we were just going to make out. Nothing big, just some kissing. He ended up raping me that night. I told him no, millions of times and he didn't listen. He just kept going. Then when I came back here a few weeks ago, we ran into each other at a club. He was drunk and forced me to dance with him. I obliged, to try to make him leave me alone, and he ended up shoving me in his car and taking me to his place. He abused me all night long and then left me at my doorstep the next morning," she said softly. This was the first time she had told anyone what had happened with Dean, except for Lisa that is, and it was uncomfortable and awkward for her.
"Abused you how?"
"Physically and sexually," she said not meeting his eyes.
"Did you report this?"
"No. This is the first time I told anyone besides Lisa and Spinner."
"You didn't do anything when he did this to you?" the officer's voice raised in volume and when Paige looked up, she was surprised to see the twenty-something officer's face harden in anger. "Paige...too many people have this happen to them and don't report it. Now we have assholes that walk around scott-free waiting for the next girl to come along that he can have some fun with."
"Ok..." she trailed off, surprised by the conviction in Grants voice.
"My wife was raped a little while ago before we got married," he shared as he saw Paige's confused expression.
"Oh," she replied as she started to understand why the officer was so angry.
"Yeah, that guy is still walking around somewhere. We weren't able to catch him. But this guy, he's done it to you more than once. He tried it with your friend. He needs to get taken down."
"What are you saying?" she finally asked.
"I'm saying that next time anything happens, if you see him, talk to him, or anything, you alert me. I'll help you nab this guy."
"Are you serious?" she asked.
"Deadly."
Paige stood up, shaking his hand offering her profound gratitude and left after he gave her his extension number. The world just felt so different now with at least one member of the law on her side. At least someone believed her and wanted to help. Not much, but it was a start.