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Authors: Mimi Harper

Tags: #Itzy, #Kickass.to

The Damaged One (10 page)

BOOK: The Damaged One
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Chapter
Twenty-two

 

 

“You knew about me, knew that I was looking for her.”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you call me when she died?”

“I wanted to.” She leaned back against the wall, her eyes suddenly a world away. “I was under investigation.”

“That boyfriend thought you said something to make her do it.”

“Yes.” She rubbed her arms, as though suddenly cold. “He harassed the cops until they started asking the right questions.”

“And what were those?”

Toby shrugged. “They suspected that I was seeing Jackie outside of our regular sessions. I think they originally thought there was some sort of sexual thing going on.”

Augustus snorted. “Just like the cops to overlook the obvious.”

That got her spine up. Toby jerked away from the wall, stepping into the middle of the room with her chin lifted in defiance. “What I did was not technically wrong.”

“You were treating her outside of the proper guidelines. How is that not wrong
?”

“I was helping her.”

“You could have made it worse.”

It was her turn to throw fingers around. She pointed in his direction, jabbing at the air in front of her. “You have no idea what was going on.”

“And whose decision was that?”

“Jackie’s.”

Augustus shook his head, taking a few steps toward her, but stopping halfway there. “You should have called me the moment she told you her real name.”

“Why? So you could rush in and be her knight in shining armor? Like that had worked before.”

Augustus had never wanted to hit someone as much as he wanted to hit Toby in that moment. His hands were sore from the tight fist he had kept them in for the last little bit. He purposely flexed them, holding them up where Toby could clearly see them. She flinched, but she didn’t move away from him. Instead, she took a step forward.

“Jackie needed help. She needed someone impartial who could listen to her and tell her the truth. She didn’t need to be coddled.”

“I didn’t coddle her.”

“You loved her. You were wracked with guilt about what had happened to her. In your own way, you were enabling her.”

“No,” he shoved his hand into the space between them, coming close to touching her chest. “Don’t start with all that psychologist bullshit.”

“Then what do you want me to say? You want me to lie to you?”

“I want to know what you said to her that night.”

“Augustus, it wasn’t anything I said. It was her meeting. She did all the talking.”

“I don’t believe you,” he said bluntly. “I don’t think a perfectly happy girl would just walk out of a bar and shoot herself up with a lethal dose of heroin.”

“But that’s exactly what happened.”

“But it did!” he cried, slapping his hands on the counter beside her still open computer. “And I need to know why.”

“Augustus, please
—”

“Did you know who her dealer was?”

Toby turned away, but before she did, he could see the truth in her eyes. He chased after her, grabbed her by the back of the neck and forced her to turn. He pressed her back against the refrigerator, trying to ignore the pain he saw in her eyes when he jerked her arms above her head.

“You know.”

“You aren’t going to prove anything by going after the dealer. It’s not going to bring her back.”

“But you know.”

She shook her head, her eyes falling from his face as tears slowly slid over the curves of her cheeks. “Please, Augustus. He wouldn’t have hurt her. He doesn’t even sell heroin. Just pills and a little coke.”

“Tell me,” he hissed, his lips close to her ear. “Tell me who the fuck he is.”

She shook her head again, the tears falling faster. “He didn’t do it. She got it somewhere else.”

“How do you know?”

She looked up at him then, defiance a shadow in her eyes. “Because he loved her.”

A memory ran through Augustus’ mind. A tall, thin bartender who insisted he had told her she was too good for Kaleb. What was his name?

“Toad.”

Toby’s eyes widened. “Augustus, you don’t understand
—”

He shoved her wrists hard against the refrigerator, making her squeal with pain. “Damn you,” he whispered in her ear. “You could have saved my sister. You could have kept her away from that asshole with just one simple phone call. This is on you.”

And then he let her go.

Augustus went to the bed and collected his keys and phone from the bedside table. His shoes were tucked under the couch. He snatched it all up and headed for the door. He didn’t even look back, didn’t check to see if she was still standing there. He had what he had wanted. Everything else had simply been icing on the cake.

But she wasn’t done.

“You know why she called me there that night?”

Her voice was thin, broken. But there was something in it, something that made him stop.

“Why?”

“She was sober. She knew she had a lot of work to do, but she was sober and she was dealing with her past.”

“Yeah?” He turned, saw Toby still leaning against the refrigerator, absently rubbing her wrist. “So?”

“She called me because she wanted to say goodbye. She was going home.”

 

~~~

Follow Toby and Augustus in
THE DAMAGED ONE (Part Two)

BOOK: The Damaged One
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