Somewhere in Between (10 page)

She knew he said he would come over after school, since she didn't know if he had actually gone or not, but she didn't know if he still wanted to. She didn't know how he felt about her now. She'd told him she'd call him today, but she had no idea if a phone call from her was even wanted any longer. He probably hated her, no matter what anyone else would say.

So at four minutes before three, the ringing of her phone caused her to jump, and her heart to race. She nearly dropped the phone in her attempt to pick it up, and then again when she saw Elliot's face lighting up the screen. Swallowing hard, she readied herself for whatever he was going to say. Even it was to tell her goodbye. "Hello?"

            "Hi." Silence filled the air, building a tension that had never existed between them before. "I'm so sorry, Gemma," Elliot said without preamble. He couldn't bear the quiet anymore. "I never should have talked to my dad, I just saw him and couldn't help it and please don't hate me. Please, I just, I just…please!"

She could hear the desperation in his voice, the pain, and knew he'd needed this. This was Elliot's dad, someone she herself trusted. She knew, as a doctor he was bound by confidentiality in regards to his patients, and always respected that, and so if Elliot asked him to keep this private he would. But it was still getting passed knowing that someone else, someone else she looked up to, would know how damaged she was.

"I understand," she finally spoke, her voice cracking. "For as hard as this is for me, I know you have to be going through something too. I'm sorry for not realizing that last night."

He wasn't prepared to hear that. He'd played out an entire grovel session in his mind as the phone rang just so he could keep his friend. So to hear her tell him
she
was sorry for her judgment threw him for a loop. "Please don't apologise."

"I won't if you won't again," she bargained.

"Okay." He breathed out the weight of his guilt and glanced at the clock. "Have you gone to the police yet?"

"No," Gemma whispered. "I've barely left my room. I told my parents you were in school. Did you go?"

"No, my dad let me stay home. Last night… well today was rough." Sitting with his feet on the cold floor, he sighed. "Can I still go with you?"

A small smile graced her lips. "I'd like that," she answered. And then, she apologized one last time. "I'm sorry I didn't call you like I said I would."

"Don't even mention it." The hurt was still there, but he wasn't going to dwell on it. There was already too much going on to even think of letting more in. Besides, his pain was nothing compared to Gemma’s. "Let me just get cleaned up and I'll be right over, okay?"

She nodded though knew he couldn't see her. "Okay.

*LtB*

His shower was quick. And he didn't spend any time trying to fix his hair like he usually did, didn’t bother to even pay attention to it in the bathroom mirror. He simply ran his hand through it, threw on some clothes, and was gone. On his way out of the house, his mother gave him a long hug, still unaware of what had happened, and his father patted him on the back, telling him he was proud of him. He didn't understand what for but it didn't matter. He wasn’t willing to spend too much time dwelling on it at that moment.

Pulling up in front of Gemma's house, seeing Andrew Grady’s Tahoe in the driveway and Leighanna and her mom's cars there too, was surreal. More often than not, at three in the afternoon, Andrew and Caroline were at work, and Leighanna was out somewhere with Trent. He and Gemma always had her house to themselves. And the routine was always the same: homework then movies or mindless television until he had to be home for dinner or it got too dark. Her parents trusted them enough to know nothing was going on that they needed to be worried about.

But now, everything was changed. They were all changed.

He didn't like it one bit.

He didn't have to knock. The front door opened the moment he reached the porch. It was Gemma's dad who had been waiting for him. A lump formed in his throat. He wasn't entirely ready for this, hadn't thought out his apology all the way through quite yet. He didn't know how to atone for abandoning Gemma to the mercies of three horrifying monsters roaming the streets just a short distance from their homes. And he didn't know what reprimand the “Legal Eagle” would offer to him.

"Afternoon, Elliot," Andrew nodded, his expression unreadable.

"Good afternoon, sir." It didn't matter that Andrew Grady was out of his normal and intimidating uniform of a three piece suit, going for a jeans and a t-shirt this day. Elliot was still overwhelmed by the man. Always had been from the moment they first met, and knew he probably always would be. Andrew was a lawyer. He’d help put people away to jail as a
career
. "Is um, Gemma ready to go?"

At the sound of her name, Andrew's face fell, the carefully constructed emotionless mask lost to torment. "I don't think she's
ready
, I don't think I'm ready either to be honest with ya, but I know she wants to get this over with as soon as possible." Elliot nodded because he felt the same way. Talking about it, even just thinking about it made him want to throw up. "Thank you, Elliot. Thank you for finding my baby and bringing her home for me," Andrew whispered fiercely, his hands coming to rest on Elliot's shoulders in a firm but not painful grip. "I don't know what I'd do if… if….
Thank
you
, son."

He couldn't believe he was being thanked. It just didn't seem possible after what had happened. But not wanting to dwell, Elliott just nodded. Gemma‘s father didn't need to say anything more. Elliot completely understood. While he didn't have a child, and couldn't sympathize in that regard, he cared about Gemma more than anything, and to have something happen to her that took her away from him, it would crush him.

Just the thought of it had his heart racing violently.

Just then Gemma appeared at the door. She hugged her father tight, her eyes red and wet, and her face paler than it normally was. "We'll see you there, okay."

Andrew just nodded again, and after shaking Elliot's hand one more time, allowed Gemma to leave.

The drive to the police station started out quiet, save for the voice of the GPS giving instructions. The reason for the drive was creating tension so thick it was hard to see. But after a few more minutes passed, Gemma began to fidget and Elliot began to sweat.

"Do you… do you think they'll be able to find them?" Gemma asked, her fingers wearing small holes in her shirt.

"I hope so," was Elliot's reply. He'd asked that same question to his father several times during their initial talk. And each time Dalton merely looked at him with the same hope. "I got a really good look at them so, I hope so."

"Do you think they've done this before?" The words burned on her tongue. The idea made her insides twist and the meager water she’d managed earlier in the day desire to make a reappearance.

Now that was the question. On one hand, Elliot hoped they had, that these assholes were repeat offenders, so that there was a record of their crimes because someone else had been brave like Gemma to report them. On the other hand, just looking at the misery Gemma was living through; he didn't want anyone else to have to suffer the same, so he hoped the answer to her question was no. There was no winning in this regard. "I don't know."

Gemma sat back in the seat, trying to keep from thinking about the last time she was in this chair, only two days earlier. She had just been broken, and Elliot had saved her. She didn't look when she got in, but she wondered if she had bled onto the leather interior. He loved this car; it was his pride and joy gifted to him upon reaching sixteen. It may have been an older model Honda, but it meant everything to Elliot. She'd hate herself if she sullied it.

Closing her eyes, she tried to take deep breaths, tried to control the images that passed through her mind. She tried to picture a park filled with flowers. Not long after spring began and she'd barged into Elliot's life, he'd taken her to a park a little ways from their houses, located just beyond Todd Creek. It was a place he’d found one afternoon where you couldn’t hear any cars, only the sound of the wind and the birds. He told her it was a place he liked to go to get away from Christie when she became too overbearing. It was his safe haven, and now she was trying to use the memory as hers.

"How did you find this place?" she asks, the sound of awe filling her voice.

"Was walking with my dad a few years ago after fishing was a bust. We got separated when nature called," he laughs as her cheeks tint pink. He loves how easily she blushes, and how something as simple as human nature can make her face heat up. "I just started walking, and somehow ended up here. I figured I'd gone too far north of the river, so after committing to memory how to get here, turned around and found my dad not far from the river."

Gently she moves through the blooming flowers, careful not to crush any, to stilt their life from beginning. There are so many colors, so many vibrant bulbs that she feels blessed to see such a place exist. It's a comfort, after seeing so many browns and tans in Texas, to find reds and oranges and purples breathing through Colorado and Thornton. "It was a very lucky find."

He nods at her assessment. "Yeah, I think so too." His cheeks warm. "You're actually the first and only person I've told about this place, let alone shown."

"Really?" she questions with a smirk. She doesn't believe him. He's sweet and beautiful, and she knows just from the couple months at school so far how many girls like him. This would be the perfect place to woo one of them.

"Yeah, I uh, haven't even told Christie or Josh." He rubs the back of his neck, feeling awkward. "I've never trusted anyone enough to share this place with anyone else. I mean I’m sure others know about it, since there’s that trail over there, but every time I’ve come it’s been just me. And yeah, I’ll just shut up now."

"Thank you for sharing it with me," Gemma whispers.

"Thank you for just being you." He makes her smile with those words, before he bends down to pluck a flower from the ground, handing it to her.

"Thank you for finding me, Elliot." She still had her eyes closed, the flowers swaying and the sun warming perfectly in her memory.

His guilt at her appreciation kept him from responding right away. He still firmly believed if he hadn't been so stupid, Gemma never would have been in danger. After a deep breath, he reached to hold her hand in his. "Thank you for letting me."

After that, the drive was once again quiet.

He thought she was asleep as he pulled into the parking lot of the Broomfield Police Department. He thought she was until the car came to a stop and her grip on his hand tightened. Her eyes still didn't open, but she did turn her head his way.

"Do you remember the first time you took me to your park?" she asked, the picture of them laying among the flowers clear in her mind.

"Yeah," he answered, remembering how beautiful she had looked resting among the blooms. He didn't understand it then, but he just knew she looked so pretty with all the flowers around her. And she had managed to turn him into a babbling mess. Shaking his head he realized he should have paid better attention.

"That was one of the best days I can remember," she said finally opening her eyes.

It was for him too. And he understood what she was saying. "Don't let go of it. No matter how hard it gets, don't let that day go."

*LtB*

It
was
hard. Gemma's family arrived shortly after them, and as they made their way into the station, Gemma tried to run just before they reached the doors. But she had many people supporting her, and in the end, she met with a detective, a woman named Estrella Vasquez.

For two hours Gemma gave her statement, with Elliot diligently by her side. She told Detective Vasquez everything from lying about her plans, to thinking of the stupid zombie attacks she liked to read about, while walking toward the theater. When she got to the part where the men attacked her, she almost passed out from crying so hard. But Detective Vasquez was amazing. She held Gemma's hand, told her to take all the time she needed, and supported her. When it came time for Gemma to describe the men, Elliot was asked to leave. He would be meeting with Detective Vasquez's partner Detective Leo Thompson and would give the description of the men he saw, as well as his statement on the circumstances which lead to filing the report. They would then see if Gemma and Elliot had identified the same men.

After it was over, everyone was drained. Gemma's cheeks were stained with tears, and her family was struggling. Detective Vasquez, who insisted on being called Estrella, shook Gemma's hand. "We'll do everything we can. We have a lot to go on. The sketches and the DNA evidence is definitely a bonus. We'll check our databases, see if these guys are repeat offenders, and put out the descriptions. Not a lot of people tourist through this town this time of year, less attractions to focus on with the seasons already changed, so hopefully they're local. We’re also going to check out the security cameras at the mall, see if there are any near or at that exact location. I'll call you if anything comes up."

Back outside, Andrew pulled Gemma into a tight hug. She could hear him sniffle, and knew he was trying not to cry. It had to be difficult, not only being her father, but a lawyer too. She knew he wanted to find the guys himself, and his instincts in understanding the law were probably in overdrive. "We'll see you at home. Okay, kiddo?" he said, keeping his emotions from pouring forth. She just nodded against his chest. "Elliot, take care of my baby,” he called over Gemma’s shoulder, before looking back at her. “I love you, honey."