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“Why not?” Danny asked.

“Conflicting accounts, gaps in evidence... I haven’t gone through the entire case to explain how it got dropped,” Ruiz said.

“But she knew it was him.” Danny shook her head.

“Yes, she did. She said someone put something in her drink at a bar. She remembered Jeffries’s face and that he’d threatened her job if she told anyone.”

“He threatened me, too. Only I didn’t remember his face.” She looked at Ruiz. “If I had, Melanie wouldn’t have had to go through what happened to me.”

Jacques hated seeing the devastation in Danny’s eyes. He wanted to put his fist through the wall. No, he wanted to put his fist through Jeffries’s face. The man had assaulted two women, threatened them and had gone on with his career, getting promoted all the while Danny and Melanie had struggled to get on with their lives.

“What now?” Caleb asked.

“We continue investigating,” Ruiz said. “We find Jeffries and bring him in for questioning, reopen Melanie’s case, dig deeper into Danny’s and pull in the shooting in Louisiana.”

“If they couldn’t press charges in Melanie’s case, they’ll never be able to press charges in mine. I don’t remember my attacker’s face.” Danny lifted her hands and let them drop to her sides. “She remembered, but it was her word against his. We don’t even have enough evidence to convict him of hiring Mercer to shoot Sarley and run us over.”

Ruiz’s lips pressed together. “We have to continue investigating.”

“Investigations aren’t convictions,” Jacques said.

“No,” Ruiz said. “But through investigations, we find concrete evidence that will lead to convictions.”

Danny squared her shoulders. “I want to add my statement to this case. I’ll try to remember as much as I can. I want it documented.”

Ruiz nodded. “I’ll take it when we get you somewhere safer.”

Remy’s cell phone chirped. “That’s Collins. Our transportation is pulling around to the north entrance. We need to be ready when he gives the word.”

Jacques reached for Danny’s hand. “Let’s grab our bags.”

She let him lead her down the hallway to the room they’d shared. He cleared it before allowing her to enter.

Once inside, Jacques stuffed his things into his go-bag and watched as Danny folded the skirt she’d worn the day before. Every movement was slow and methodical, as if she were in a trance, packing one item at a time until everything was in the bag. Then she stood staring at the bag.

He stepped up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and gently pulled her close. “That was a lot to digest,” he said softly.

She nodded and then shook her head. “I thought I’d feel different than this knowing who it was.”

“What did you expect?” he asked.

“Relief, a sense of closure,” she answered. “I thought finally knowing who the enemy is would stop me being afraid of everyone else.”

“And is that not how you feel?” He turned her to face him.

“I’m relieved that I finally know, yes.” She rested her hands against his chest. “But I’m so angry. Angry that he’s gotten away with what he did to me for so long. Angry that he did it to someone else. And angry that he’s been living his best life while Melanie and I have had to relearn how to live our own.”

“You need to give yourself time to process it all,” he said.

She stared up at him. “You’re always so calm and reassuring.”

He chuckled. “I wanted to punch a wall a few minutes ago.”

“Now, that I can relate to.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his chest. “If only I could have remembered more than just his voice. I still have no memory of his face. I always wondered if my mind erased the memory because it was too traumatic.”

“Ketamine can do things to your mind.” He brushed a strand of her hair back behind her ear.

“About last night,” she leaned back and looked up into his eyes, “I didn’t make love with you to prove I was getting over my aversion to men.”