She Can Hide (She Can Series) by Melinda Leigh Page A

effects? Do I need to go back to the hospital?”
    Brooke stopped her pacing and dropped to the edge of her chair, facing Abby. “No. People do die from GHB ingestion, but not this long afterward. You’re fine. The body processes the drug quickly. After twelve hours there’s no sign of it, though you might feel like crap for a couple of days, which you did. In fact, it’s way too late for a lab test to find any trace of it in your blood by now.”
    “You should see your doctor, though.” The chief’s voice went tight. “You’re missing two hours. Do you think there’s a possibility that you were raped?”
    Abby stared at the salt-streaked leather toes of her boots. Too many horrific thoughts raced through her mind. She couldn’t process all the sickening possibilities. Two hours was a long time. What else had the person responsible done to her? Had she been raped? She hadn’t had sex in so long, surely her body would have noticed. There would have been signs of sexual activity, right?
    The muffled ring of a telephone sounded through the closed door, but her body was silent. She remembered her trip to the ER. Other than the bump on the head, she’d had a few bruises from her escape from the vehicle. Most of those had seemed to be in logical places, considering she’d somersaulted in the empty car and shimmied out a window.
    Abby’s cheeks heated. She stared down at her clenched hands as she forced an answer through a constricted throat. “I don’t think so. I was wearing multiple layers of running clothes, and they all seemed undisturbed. But let’s be honest. It’s been four days. There’s no way to be a hundred percent sure, is there?” She lifted her chin, looking from Brooke’s furious expression to the controlled police chief and finally settling on Ethan. Anger, compassion, and frustration played over his face. “But we do know for sure that someone poisoned me, drove me out to the creek, put me in the driver’s seat, and rolled my car into the water.”
    And that was more than enough to freak her out.
    “That’s our working hypothesis.” Ethan didn’t blink. His jaw was clamped, the cords of his neck as tight as bridge cables.
    His visible tension was nothing compared to the fear boiling inside Abby. “Someone tried to kill me.”
    Again.

CHAPTER TEN
    The accident file was officially relabeled ATTEMPTED HOMICIDE .
    Ethan watched Abby process the news and arrive at the conclusion he and the chief had already drawn. Pity and anger churned in his gut.
    Abby was silent. Disbelief and shock glazed her eyes. Her hands clenched into tight fists on her knees, and her gaze strayed to the door, as if she couldn’t wait to get out of the chief’s office. Which was the opposite reaction he’d expect from a normal person who’d just discovered she’d almost been a murder victim.
    “What else are you doing?” Brooke’s eyes pinned him to the wall. “What about the school’s security cameras?”
    Ethan nodded. “I reviewed all the school’s security tapes. Unfortunately, the cameras don’t cover the entire parking lot, only the building exits, the main halls, and a few other strategic spots. We have footage of Abby leaving the building along with kids and teachers. I’m going to ask you both to review a few screenshots and see if you notice anything out of the ordinary.”
    Abby rearranged her face into a composed mask. Too composed. Why wasn’t she freaking out? Wouldn’t most women be crying if they’d thought they might have been raped?
    She cleared her throat and straightened her spine. She might be reining in her emotions, but Ethan could see the distress deep in her eyes. “Can I use this computer? I need to check on the status of an inmate at Greenville.”
    “Oooo-kay,” Ethan said, his turn to be stunned. “Want to tell us what’s going on?”
    She gave him a nearly imperceptible shake of her head. Her face was bloodless, the skin on her face stretched tight.