Crash and Burn by Allison Brennan, Laura Griffin Page A

she was shouting at me from a distance. Everything sounded like it was in a tunnel, you know? But it had to have been a dream, it couldn’t have happened…”
    “What couldn’t have happened, Valerie?”
    “It jumped. You know how in dreams you kind of go from place to place and you don’t know how you got there?”
    Scarlet didn’t. She never remembered her dreams. She only woke up with emotions. Pleasure. Anger. Fear. But she nodded to encourage Valerie to continue.
    “And I was on the beach, but it was like I was looking outside in. And then I was in a bedroom, and someone tucked me into bed. I thought it was Tessa, but whoever did it kissed me on the mouth and told me to stay put. Chase. It had to be Chase. I know his kiss. And then it jumped and there was all the blood. And Richie. And I was naked.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t remember being raped. Nothing. But I’m sore in places I shouldn’t be, and all I want to do is stand in the shower all day. I hate them. I hate not knowing. I hate thinking that my dreams are nothing… or that they mean something.”
    She was crying again, and Scarlet said, “Your mother is coming to stay with you, right?”
    “She’ll be here this afternoon to take me home.”
    “Good.” Scarlet considered Valerie’s dream—or memories. “I want you to think about the beach.”
    “No,” Valerie said. “Something awful happened. I know it.”
    Had Bishop not told her about Juan? Maybe hypnosis would work, because she had some memories of Friday night. But the drugs themselves would have distorted what she thought she saw, and Scarlet doubted any of it would be admissible in court.
    But it might give Bishop a direction to follow.
    “I hit Chase,” she suddenly said. “Over and over. What if he raped me? He’s my boyfriend. We’ve had sex before, maybe it doesn’t count—”
    “Valerie, he drugged you. Remember what I said yesterday? It doesn’t matter if you would have had sex with him, if he drugged you against your will, then he doesn’t get a free pass, got it?” Unfortunately, too many of these types of cases never made it to trial. Victims were still vilified by the defense, and the prosecution only wanted clear, easy-to-sell cases for the jury.
    The presence of date rape drugs would help Valerie in any prosecution—if they could prove who raped her.
    There was a knock on Valerie’s door. The girl jumped, and Scarlet said, “I’ll answer it.”
    She looked through the peephole. At first she didn’t recognize the tousled-haired guy, then she saw that it was Chase Flores, from Valerie’s photos. Dammit! She needed to detain him for Bishop, but how?
    “Valerie?” Chase said through the door.
    Scarlet walked back to Valerie. “The police have been looking for Chase. I need to get him inside, where I can cuff him. Can you answer the door?” Scarlet was afraid Chase would bolt if he saw her.
    Valerie nodded, though her eyes were skittish. “Chase?” she said through the door.
    “Thank God. I’ve been so worried.”
    She opened the door. Scarlet stayed out of sight, but where she could intervene if Chase turned violent.
    “What do you want?” Valerie asked.
    From Scarlet’s vantage point, she couldn’t clearly see Chase, but what she did see suggested that he hadn’t slept at all since Friday. Yet he wasn’t in the same clothes he’d had on at the bar.
    “I was so worried about you, Val.”
    He put his hand up to reach for her, and Valerie flinched. “Don’t touch me!”
    “Val, don’t you remember? I—”
    “Stay away from me. How could you?” Valerie backed away from the door.
    Scarlet stepped out of her hiding spot, concerned about Valerie’s safety, though Chase looked to be on the verge of tears just like the girl. “Mr. Flores, you need—”
    Before she couldn’t finish her sentence, he bolted.
    Scarlet ran after him. While she was fit and ran half-marathons several times a year, Chase was a twenty-two year old young