2. Vail

2

VAIL

It was never easy digging up a past I’d like to forget. It kept coming back though. Gil was still there with his menacing smile and words that hurt more than his hands did at times.

Lana waited for us inside our home, sitting at the dining table with a tablet in front of her she typed on. She had her phone out as well, probably to record what I was going to tell her.

Standing, she walked around the table to offer Hartley and me her hand. Her sleek straight auburn hair was almost to her shoulders. Blue eyes were framed with dark lashes and a pair of black-framed glasses. Freckles dusted across her cheeks and nose, slightly softening her appearance. A black pantsuit tapered in at the waist, accentuating her slender figure. She was only an inch or so taller than Hartley.

“Lana Saylor, nice to meet you both,” she said.

We introduced ourselves and took a seat at the table. Tahoe came over and sat down beside me so I could pet him.

“I’m going to record what you tell me, Vail,” Lana said, getting right to the point. “I hate to push, but the more I know, the more I can help not only Jordan, but you too.”

I nodded. “The cops tried to ask me questions at JJ’s house, but I wouldn’t talk to them.”

“Good, don’t without me or someone from my team with you. Now, tell me about your relationship with Gil. Start from the beginning.”

The beginning… I nearly laughed. “Gil and I met in college.” I remembered it like it was yesterday.

He was walking across campus with his attention on a paper he held, not looking where he was going. Two people had to dodge out of his way. I didn’t miss the way his arm that held the paper flexed with solid muscle or how his T-shirt sleeve wrapped around it. His dark brown hair ruffled on the summer breeze. Leaves rustled above as he walked beneath a tree.

I couldn’t resist seeing if he’d notice me, so I stepped into his path and waited. He was about two feet away when his head lifted, and his eyes met mine. They were nearly gold in the morning sun.

A smile graced his lips. “Did you think I was going to collide with you?”

“I was curious if you would.”

“I knew you were there.”

“Would you have stopped?”

“Maybe. Or maybe I would have stumbled into you on purpose.” He held out his hand. “Gil Cresswell.”

I shook his hand. “Vail Ayers.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Vail. And here I thought I wouldn’t meet an attractive man on the first day of class.”

“He charmed me from the start. We saw each other a lot. I’d never had a serious boyfriend before, so I wanted to take things slow, which Gil was fine with. As more time went on, the deeper I was drawn into his spell.”

“Did he try to control you?” Lana asked.

“Not at first. He isolated me from most of my friends, especially ones who didn’t run in our circle. I didn’t notice until we were living together, building a life. I had no friends left. No one I could talk to but him. I told myself I had to make new friends. This was before we started our own financial firm. There was a guy at the office who had always been nice to me, so when he asked if I wanted to get a drink with a bunch of them after work, I agreed. Gil had to work late on a project. It was the perfect time to build a friendship again. Gil knew who the guy was too. He’d met him when he visited me at work.”

That night…

When I got home and kicked off my shoes, a smile on my lips from having friends again, a fist landed on my cheek, knocking me into the door. I was so stunned; I couldn’t do more than breathe through the pain while I cradled my cheek. Gil started screaming at me, throwing accusationsmy way about me cheating on him. I tried to tell him I’d never do that and how much I loved him, but he hit me again, this time in the stomach.

It wasn’t enough for him. Gil gripped the back of my head, fisting my hair, and dragged me into the bedroom. I was shoved onto the bed, my clothes torn from my body.

“He hurt you,” Lana said, cutting through my memory.

I nodded. “He hit me.” Tears that had already welled in my eyes broke free, running down my cheeks. “He raped me.”

Hartley moved closer, so his chair touched mine. His arms came around me to hold me close. “I’m so sorry.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” I told him.

“If I would have known?—”

“You couldn’t have. I didn’t tell anyone.” I focused on Lana again. “I took the following week off work. Gil called in for me to say I’d gotten mugged. He spent the week showering me with gifts while I healed, telling me he loved me and how sorry he was. I believed him, but then it happened again.”

“And again,” Lana filled in.

“There were many times I ran and called the police when I was sure I was far enough away. But he knew them and would concoct stories that made them think I wasn’t telling the truth. That I didn’t know what was really happening at the time. It went on for years. We’d have months of no fighting where everything was good between us. We started our own firm; we bought a place together. Then something would set him off and it would start again. Cycles of happiness followed by beatings.”

“You eventually got away.”

“I reached a point where I had to break the cycle. He’d beaten me to where I couldn’t see out of one eye, then raped me repeatedly, my mind and body too broken to fight him. I retreated into myself to protect my mind since I couldn’t protect my body.”

A muffled sob came from Hartley as his tears soaked my shirt. I couldn’t even put my arm around him to remind him I was okay now. The past weighed me down to where I couldn’t move. Not even Tahoe’s whimper could get me to pet him.

“When I came around, Gil was asleep. I got up and stumbled toward the kitchen, grabbing my phone and wallet before slipping out the door. This time, I didn’t call anyone. I got a cab right outside of our condo, where the driver saw me and took me to the hospital. It needed to be documented. I had to get proof from multiple witnesses when he wasn’t there to influence them. The driver, the nurses, and doctor, then two officers who I hadn’t seen before. They believed me.”

I wiped my cheeks and pushed on. “Gil was arrested, and I could get a PFA.” Not that the protection from abuse was a guarantee he’d stay away. I knew it wasn’t. “I did everything I could to separate myself from him. My share of the firm we owned was sold, which infuriated him. He’d harass me when he could, where there was no solid proof he violated the PFA. Texts from numbers that weren’t his usual. He even told me if I went to the police, he’d make it worse. He knew how to get into my head. But I didn’t go back. I bought a house and moved on with my life. I should have left the city all together, but I loved it so much. To let him take more from me, I couldn’t do it.”

“He tried to come for you again,” Lana stated. “This time in front of your friends.”

“I didn’t doubt Gil always knew where I was and what I was doing. But that day, Cody, Milo, and Slater were there for a cooking lesson. We were eating outside, enjoying the food and weather.” Slater was the guitarist in Ruined it was like I gave more power to Gil. “Not like I used to.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I have friends and partners who care about me. Who will be there if I need them. I have a home with Jordan and Hartley, where there are guards who keep me safe.”

She tapped her phone screen a couple of times, then folded her hands on the table. “I’m done recording. Now I’m going to ask you a few more questions. These are for me to know the answer to, but I won’t be surprised if the police ask the same ones. Did you tell Jordan about Gil?”

“He knows.”

“Did you tell him to harm your ex?”

“No. I told him to stay away from him.”

“Do you think he listened to you?”

“I hope he did, but until I can talk to him, see his eyes, I won’t know for certain.”

“They’re going to try to paint Jordan as a lover out for revenge. The timeline of Gil’s disappearance and Jordan’s whereabouts proves he wasn’t there. I have him on camera here, with the two of you.”

I leaned forward, hope blooming in my chest, even though I knew the video time and date could have been changed. “So, he’s cleared?”

“He will be when I hand over the evidence, but I wanted to speak to you first. You will be questioned more, given your relationship with Jordan and your past relationship with Gil. I suggest joining me when I return to the station. Let’s get this out of the way so Jordan can come home.”

“Gil is still missing, right?”

“No one has seen him. You had someone tailing him, correct?”

“Yes.”

She slid a card toward me. “Call them right now and have them send me what they know. There’s no evidence to keep Jordan in prison besides Gil leaving a trail at his home. That’s what led to this. There were notes Gil had written about Jordan having him followed and how he was afraid. He also told this to the East Dremest police chief. Gil knew what he was doing by leading them to Jordan. The question is why.”

I slumped in my chair. “Because he doesn’t want me with him. He thinks if Jordan’s in jail, I’ll leave and be alone again.”

“That’s my thought too, and why I need your person’s surveillance information. I already contacted the man Jordan had on him. Can you also give me a list of places Gil used to visit when you were with him?”

I nodded, going through my memories of locations Gil liked to visit. I had to help in any way I could. And I wouldn’t know for certain if Jordan had anything to do with this until I spoke to him. I just had to hope he wouldn’t lie to me.