CHAPTER 7

VALESKA

At the station, my commander was thrilled when John told him that the troubling Prison Boss was back in his cell at last.

At first, he was doubtful and sent two officers to confirm this information, if truly Dante Cross was in his cell or faking it.

When they came back, they happily repeated the same thing with an extra info.

“Dante Cross is back in his cell, sitting obediently on his bed, silently.”

That made my commander and other officers sigh out in relief, as they turned all their attention back on me, celebrating me for saving the day.

“You’re indeed a hero, Miss Cathaway. I will see to it that you get extremely rewarded for this. Thank you,” Commander Donald appreciated and worshiped me.

Scarlet, who was watching from the corner way behind, was as mad as a hornet, seeing the rookie cop shine once again, overshadowing her.

I know for a fact she hoping Dante would lunge at me like he did to her. But her wish didn’t come true.

In fact, I wished it came true.

I wish that man killed me right there when I stopped running. But he didn’t.

Instead, he chose to obey me and head to his cell, like I’m the only one who can tell him what to do.

So now he knows how to listen after what he did to me?!

When I begged him to stop, did he listen?!

I cried, begged, pleaded with that man to not do it, but… ARGH!

“Valeska, are you okay?” John called, placing a hand on my shoulder where I sat.

I had zoned out unknowingly, and everyone had been talking, thinking I was actually listening to them.

Only John knew I wasn’t here, and immediately touched me.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I lied, giving him a light smile.

He returned the gesture and said, extending his hand to me, “Come, I’ll take you home. You need to rest.”

“Yeah. Thank you, John.”

With his assistance, I left the station for the car, getting escorted by my commander who was talking to me about how my presence at the station is very important to everyone, and how he hopes I can recover as soon as possible and return to work.

By work, he means Dante.

I haven’t gotten any assignment like patrol, answering emergency call, chasing after criminals or even arresting one… My job has been Dante Cross, and it sickens me to the core.

I came here to pursue my dream job, not to watch over a monster.

And now that I think about that sudden obedience from him back there, I can’t help but sense a hidden agenda behind it.

“Was he trying to lure me back to my duty so he can…”

My mind flashed to that horrible night and how he stared hungrily at me with his cock still twitching and getting rock hard.

He’s not done with me. He wants to ruin me all over again.

No, I need to do something to save myself as soon as possible.

I don’t want him near me again!

“Miss Cathaway, are you listening?”

“Huh?” My eyes popped, seeing John and my commander looking at me in surprise.

I zoned out again.

I’m losing it.

John, who was very worried about me, told the commander that he needed to take me back so I could rest.

My commander agreed, wishing me a quick recovery.

I smiled lightly at his words, before getting into the police car with John's assistance, sitting at the backseat with my head falling back.

When John got into the driver's seat and drove away, I finally felt free, away from my nightmare.

I gave out a big sigh and turned to look at the window, watching all the buildings passing by.

That’s when John spoke, his voice soft and gentle, “Val… what happened back there?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, still looking outside.

John went on, talking about my reaction at the prison block when we were approaching the yard.

“I saw the fear in your eyes, Val. You didn’t want to see Dante Cross. It looked like you were scared to see him,” he said, making my heart skip.

I didn’t say a word but hummed, listening to him point out more details he spotted during that terrifying moment.

“You couldn’t even stand when he stood before you. You were trembling, you… you looked so terrified. Tell me Val… Did he do anything to you? Please, tell me,” John requested, his guts on the right track, sensing something fishy.

I lifted my eyes and saw him stealing a few glances at me from the rearview mirror, as many questions ran through my mind, daring me to open my mouth and tell him the horror I went through.

I can’t.

I will break all over again, cry, and still fail to speak.

If John gets to know the truth, he’ll be sad and maybe he’ll want to get me justice by telling our commander. But with the corrupt things I’ve seen so far in that place, the best my commander might say is,”Just take it like that, Cathaway. As long as it keeps him under control, we don’t mind.”

If a whole station commander can be scared of someone like Dante Cross, then justice is nothing but a word that doesn’t exist for the innocent.

“Don’t make me laugh, John,” I chuckled, hiding my fear.

“Yes, I did look scared back there. But that’s because of the noises around me. Have you forgotten that I’m sick?” I arched my brow, crossing my arms while looking at him from the mirror.

“I was irritated and it felt like everything was spinning in my head.”

“What about when…”

“I was weak to stand up straight, John. That’s why the wheelchair was brought, remember?”

“Oh,” he uttered, innocently facing the wheel.

“Yeah, this has nothing to do with that psycho. I just couldn’t stand for long that’s why my legs gave out,” I lied, looking back outside, as I cursed myself within for being such a coward.

I don’t deserve to be called a hero.

I’m a failure, a coward.

Silence soon crept in between us, and all I could think about was my home.

That’s my safe ground.

But just as John was taking a quick turn into the other lane, my eyes immediately caught a familiar face, stepping out of a hair salon with a woman.

“Steve?” My heart sank deeply, as I saw my boyfriend holding the hands of a blonde-haired lady, being so loving towards her.

“This cannot be happening. Steve found another girl?” I was struck, watching him get into a cab with this woman, as my own ride drove further away, taking them out of my sight.

I couldn't believe this. Steve dumped me!

I thought he only blocked me out of anger. I can’t believe he’d do this to me!

My heart was shaking and crumbling piece by piece. But a part of me didn’t want to jump into conclusions yet until I’ve gotten the real truth to this.

“What if that lady is a relative? I can only find out when I get back to that salon,” I planned, holding my sweater tight.

John soon dropped me home and left for the office.

As soon as he was gone, I called over a cab, got inside, and made my way down to that very salon.

I haven’t been there before, but I have walked past there many times.

Stepping inside, I was attended to by a kind lady who looked ten years older than me, and took that opportunity to ask her about Steve.

When she saw his picture, she immediately alerted the other hair dresser, saying, “That’s our store’s most romantic customer, Steve.”

“Oh, romantic you say?” I smiled, but inside my heart, I was battling not to scream.

They all confirmed this, describing him as the romantic Casanova of their salon, who comes in with different women like it’s raining season.

I was lost for words but still managed to ask, “For how long, please?”

“Why do you care, sugar? Don’t tell us you’re among the fishes he has been catching?”

They began laughing, while I sat there frozen, broken, and angry inside.

That’s when one of the girls snapped her finger and said, “I know you. You’re the badass lady who took down that robber from the news!”

When she said that, the others became stunned and stared at me, as I nodded in confirmation, adding an important detail so they’d take me seriously, “And I’m now a cop.”

“That’s dope!” The lady smiled, while the others couldn't laugh anymore, cooperating at once.

“You don’t have to be scared, Ladies. I only came to gather information on Steve. And like you said… Yeah… I’m among the fishes he’s been seeing. Only difference is that he didn’t get to fry me like the others.”

The ladies went silent, as they all sat down, ready to comply.

“Tell me everything you know about Steve. Everything, please.”

.

I was on the road in a different cab, tightening my fist with rage after everything that I heard.

Steve, whom I thought was the sweetest man to ever come my way, turned out to be the king of perverts!

I got a full ear from the women at the salon, and everything they said was enough to kill me.

Steve has been bringing in different ladies for over a year, even before I came to Solace Bay.

He would bring most of them to the salon because he created a bond with the women, and it was where he found most of his targets.

Steve who always acted like one who has never had sex in his life, has been sleeping with all these girls.

Use, dump, move to the next like women are pages to be turned over…

What broke me more was that on the day of his birthday, while I was on the verge of death at Dante’s hands, Steve was out on a salon date with another woman, whom he took over to a hotel to sleep with!

He was already enjoying himself but acted like I ruined our relationship by not showing up!

He didn’t block me out of anger for thinking I was running away from him. He blocked me because he was tired of waiting to get me in bed.

He saw me as a difficult person to get through, that’s why he closed the page on me!

And now that I know the truth… “We’re here, ma’am,” The cab driver said, parking right in front of Steve’s apartment.