Bare It All

When they finished, Pepper still wasn’t happy. “You can’t drive, not with your arm in that sling still.”

“Reese’ll pick me up.” He glanced at Reese.

“Certainly, as long as Pepper understands that I’m an innocent bystander.”

Appeased, Pepper asked, “How long will you be gone tomorrow?”

“Could be a few hours, could be all day.” Logan hugged her with his good arm. “Depends on the questions they ask and the answers we have to give. Usually, the D.A. does the interview, and I.A. will watch on a live video feed. When the D.A. is done, I.A. might have additional questions.”

“In that case...” Pepper glanced at Alice. “We could bump our shopping trip up to tomorrow. What do you say? Are you free?”

Since she set her own hours, it wouldn’t be a problem. But was she ready for that yet?

Pepper swayed her by saying, “God knows I need some new clothes now that I’m not playing the wallflower anymore, and shopping will help keep my mind off things.”

“All right, then.”

Reese started to object, but Logan jumped in first. “Great idea.”

Plans were made around Alice, and before she knew it, everything was arranged.

It struck her that she’d not only let Reese into her life, but Rowdy, Logan and Pepper, too. Reese and his friends swept her along with their camaraderie, their openness and caring.

She hadn’t known any of them long, but they’d had such an impact on her, she already knew she didn’t want to lose them. As usual, though, much was out of her hands. Everything would change once they learned of her past.

And with two detectives involved, how could she keep her secrets buried?

* * *

HALFWAY HOME, the rain slowed to a soft drizzle. In the seat beside Reese, Alice looked drowsy, almost languid. Hopefully relaxed.

It pleased him that she and Pepper had gotten along, but he worried about them being out and about alone together.

Logan, without knowing of their plans, had actually encouraged them.

With any luck, Rowdy would be available to keep an eye on things. He’d check with him later—when Alice wouldn’t know.

“What are you thinking?” she asked. “You’re so quiet.”

“I was wondering about this shopping trip of yours.”

She smiled toward him. “I haven’t shopped with another woman in a long time.” As if distracted, she fussed with the hem on her dress, now wrinkled from the rain. “My sister and I used to go out together a lot. The last time we shopped, it was for her prom dress.”

With Alice, it was often what she didn’t say that gave him pause. “Your mother didn’t go?”

“Not that time. She and my dad were on a business trip. My sister had decided not to go to prom so Mom didn’t think she’d be missing anything. Then Amy got asked by a special boy, and we had to scramble to get things together. It was pretty wonderful, and she looked so beautiful that night.”

It was hard to imagine dark secrets in the soft, caring picture Alice presented. “You’re older than her?”

“By six years.”

“So you two weren’t close?”

Hesitation hung in the air between them. “Despite the age difference, we used to be.” She turned away to stare out the window at the sodden landscape. “I don’t see her very often now.”

He wanted to ask why but didn’t. “Your parents?”

She held silent.

“You can tell me, you know.”

More time passed. Reese heard the shushing of tires on wet pavement, the lazy, rhythmic slicking of the windshield wipers.

He heard his own heartbeat in his ears.

Shifting around to face him, Alice curled her legs up on the seat, rested her cheek against the back, folded her arms around her waist.

She let out a breath.

Reese felt her watching him, and he knew she was measuring her words.

“My family is pretty wonderful. Supportive and caring. Smart and friendly.”

Like Alice.

“Mom is a teacher, Dad an architect. Amy is still in college. She’s going to be a nurse.”

To Reese that sounded nice enough, much like a typical middle-class family. “So why don’t you see them more often?”

“Because I love them.” Her voice thickened with emotion, breaking his heart. “A lot.”

Though he couldn’t imagine anyone not loving Alice, he had to ask. “They don’t feel the same?”

“After I was kidnapped, things changed.” She corrected that with a shake of her head. “That is, I changed. They were thrilled when I returned, but it had been so long....” Her voice trailed off. “I wasn’t the same person anymore.”

To a captive, a day could feel like a week, a week like a month. Reese prayed that Alice had been rescued sooner than that. “You were still a daughter, a sister. I’m sure they—”

“Loved me? Yes.” Expression stark, she looked away. “But he kept me for over a year.”

Shock rolled over Reese, cramping his guts, locking his jaw. “Jesus,” he whispered, wishing he could somehow change the reality of what she’d suffered.

“I didn’t think I’d ever get away.” She hugged herself, chin down, her voice breaking. “I thought that was my life.”

Knowing how the memory still hurt her left Reese hurting, too. She’d survived, and she said she hadn’t been raped. What could a kidnapper possibly have wanted with her?