Chapter 3

My blood seemed to stop flowing. I sat rigid on the bench, staring at him coldly.

The officer couldn't take any more. She slammed her hand on the desk and pointed at Anthony.

"What kind of brother are you? Your sister was nearly strangled to death, and you're standing here brushing it off?!"

The motel owner quickly told them what had happened. Arthur's confusion turned to anger.

He clenched his fists and lunged forward as if he wanted to hit the man.

But Daisy grabbed him from behind and held on tight. "Arthur, don't do anything crazy. What if it messes up the band's show?"

I dug my nails into my palms. The pain was the only thing keeping me together.

Daisy glanced at me. When she spoke, her voice was soft but pointed.

"Funny coincidence, isn't it? Irene asks if we'd regret it, and that same night, something happens?"

Arthur stopped dead.

Every eye in the room turned to me, full of suspicion.

The man pinned to the floor seemed to think he'd found a lifeline. He shouted over everyone else.

"She came on to me and said she wanted some excitement! Then the second I touched her, she demanded money. When I refused, she stabbed me!"

Then he yelled, "The bitch set me up! I'm the victim here!"

Daisy put on her understanding act again. "Irene's always wanted your attention. When people are desperate, they do irrational things. Don't be too hard on her."

Arthur's hands were shaking.

He slowly turned toward me, shock and doubt filling his eyes.

When he finally spoke, his voice was much quieter. "Irene, what really happened?"

He looked at me as if he were begging me to deny it so he could believe me.

But that one moment of doubt was enough to show me everything.

Tears streamed down my face. My voice shook so badly I could barely speak. "Arthur, you'd rather believe a drunk who broke into my room to rob me than believe me?"

He glanced at the people murmuring around us and the man still yelling on the floor. Then, without a word, he looked away from me.

That silence was crueler than any accusation.

Daisy stepped forward, playing the impartial judge. "He doesn't look like a bad guy. And Irene wasn't actually hurt. Why don't we just let it go and settle this privately? Making a big deal of it would be bad for the band."

Just like that, she casually wrote off a violent assault as a "misunderstanding."

"Doesn't look like a bad guy." Those words hit me like a slap across the face.

A stagehand lugging an equipment case stepped forward.

"I didn't want to get involved, but I can't just stand here and watch this..."

He held up his phone and showed everyone a video.

While testing equipment in a corner, he'd caught the man on video. It clearly showed him sneaking up and prying open my door.

Anthony stared at me, stunned, and a flicker of guilt crossed his face.

The officer remained stone-faced as she ordered her colleagues to take the attacker into custody.

I signed the last form and stood up. My legs were so weak I almost fell.

Arthur reached out to steady me. "Irene..."

The officer pushed his hand away. "Please don't touch her. Let her calm down first."

I turned away too, refusing to look at him again. Arthur's eyes went red. "Irene, are you mad at me?"

Daisy stepped in right on cue. "Okay, okay. Irene, you must be so shaken up. Why don't you come back to the hotel tonight and swap rooms with me?"

"No way!"

Once again, all three of them said it at once.

Arthur looked worried sick, but it was Daisy he was worried about. "Irene almost got hurt there. You're so pretty. You'd be walking right into the lion's den."

"Yeah, you can't go to a place like that alone. We'd be worried sick." Anthony stopped short.

Then he seemed to remember that I'd just come from that exact place.

"You shouldn't go back there either. It's too sketchy."

To Daisy, he'd said, "We'd be worried sick," his voice soft with affection, as if he couldn't bear the thought.

To me, he'd said, "You shouldn't go back there either," like he was warning a subordinate who kept making extra work for him.

I said, "Okay," and nothing more. Then I turned and walked away.

Some differences sound petty when you say them out loud, but swallowing them hurts.