Motorcycle Girl: Book Two

Chapter 7: Run

"N-Nathan." She murmurs.

"Yes amour?"

"I t-think I am g-going to j-jail."

I swear, for a second, I'm completely convinced that my heart stopped beating.

"What do you mean?" Adelaide demands. "Odeletta Juileta, what do you mean?"

Everyone starts questioning her at once, shooting a million questions a second.

She pulls her hand away from mine and hides it.

"Shut up!" I shout at everyone. They silence right away. "Asking her a million things at once won't solve anything!"

She's shaking so bad.

Gabe lets out a slow breath.

She's sobbing again, and she's starting to hyperventilate.

When I touch her and she pulls away, I ignore her, grab her small body, and pull her into my lap.

She squirms around for a only a moment, trying to escape me, but when I push her head into my chest, any self control that she regained since I got here is lost, and I feel my blue button down getting wet on my shoulder. Her arms are locked around my neck and she just cries. I rest my chin on her shoulder and rub her back, breathing steady breaths. She starts following me again, crying.

After another half hour, she calms.

"Mon amour," I begin. "Look at me, darling."

She starts shaking her head in my shoulder.

"Please?" I ask softly.

She hesitates for a moment, and then slowly, she lifts her head off of my shoulder.

When my eyes lock on her face, I feel my entire body heat up with rage.

She has a black eye and a busted lip.

"I'll fucking kill him." Josh seethes. "Who the fuck-what-"

I brush my thumb along the bruise. Her eyes are red and she looks like she's been crying for weeks.

"Oh no." I murmur, shoving my feelings to the side to focus on her. "What did he do to you?" I whisper. "What happened, Odeletta?"

She sniffles, looking down at our joined laps. She fiddles with her fingers.

"You were right." She says, large tears slipping down her cheeks. "He tried to force himself on me." She wipes away her tears, wincing when her hand presses against the bruise. "And he almost did. He almost did Nathan...you're right, I'm not strong enough." Her bottom lip quivers. "But...but he almost did, and I just...I lost it. I beat the hell out of him! I-I didn't slam him into anything or something but I was punching him and kicking him and, and I kicked him in the head. You know, like that roundhouse kick they do the movies? I got him in the temple. He was already bleeding in the face. I think he had a broken nose and two black eyes." She sniffles, her voice breaking. "And when I kicked him in the head, he slammed into the brick wall because we were in the alley separating my work and the parking garage. He hit the wall hard and when he fell, he was bleeding so much, and-and I called 911 and then ran away! I'm going to prison! I'm going to go to prison!"

Annalise, who was a just in England and is now looking for a job as a Judge here, speaks up.

"No you're not, Odette. It was self defense. Was he fighting back the whole time? Obviously, considering your face. Any judge would take a look at that case, if there is even a case to begin with, and put that guy behind bars."

"But I-he was bleeding!" She starts sobbing again, burying her head in her hands. Gabe crouches down next to me. He puts his hand on her shoulder.

"He doesn't have a case." He says. "I've handled tons of cases like this, Odette. He doesn't have a case. He was harassing you for eight months. You reported it to the police."