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Back Tell Me to Fight Save as PDF
Chapters (43)
  1. Cover
  2. About Tell me to Fight Book 5
  3. Praise for Charlotte Byrd
  4. Don’t Miss Out!
  5. Also by Charlotte Byrd
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. Connect with Charlotte Byrd
  42. Also by Charlotte Byrd
  43. About Charlotte Byrd

At some point, Josephine takes me into her arms, kisses my head, and tells me that everything is going to be okay.

The police don’t give me a lot of time to rest before they come at me with their questions.

Josephine and Wallace walked in on me standing with the gun pointed at Owen after I had already shot him. No one here knows who he is and, for a moment, I debate whether they should.

“Oh, no, what did he do to you?” Josephine asks, tugging at the blanket around my neck and looking at the bruises.

I drop it to the floor and show them everything.

There’s no point in hiding it.

If I lie or try to protect him, they are going to arrest me.

They document my bruises. They take pictures and make notes.

There are a lot more than I even thought I had.

There are those around my neck where he tried to strangle me.

There are those on my arms where he pinned me down.

There are those on my legs when I fought back.

There is even a visible mark on my cheek from when he slapped me and my nose started to bleed.

I describe what happened in as much detail as I can.

There are some parts of the attack that I don’t quite remember the order of but everything else is crystal clear.

“I wanted to freeze but then he would’ve gotten what he wanted,” I say at the end. “And I couldn’t let him do that to me.”

The detectives are cold and unresponsive but at least Josephine and Wallace believe me.

“And how did he know you were here?” one of the police officers asks.

“He knew that I came to Palm Springs to find my mother. I had her address and he saw it.”

“And he’s your boyfriend?”

I shake my head. “He’s my brother,” I say quietly. There’s an audible gasp at that revelation.

“But he knew for a long time that we weren’t really related. Something I only found out recently.”

There is so much more to say and so much more to keep to myself.

But it’s not Owen I want to protect.

It’s Nicholas.

Owen has made his bed. He tried to rape me, he promised to kill my real mother and her family.

But the more I tell them about why we’re here, the more likely they are to find our connection to Nicholas.

“And what is your attacker’s name?” one of them asks and then I freeze.

28

Olive

When I make a decision…

The police officer asks me for Owen’s name again. And then again. And again.