Vicious Carousel (Suncoast Society #25)(7)

The doctor looked up from the laptop on a rolling stand, where he was taking notes. “But you said she was in a consensual BDSM relationship?”

This was what Betsy had feared. Not being believed. Being discredited because of that.

Worse, now her friends were at risk of being outed for standing up for her.

Bill spoke up. “It started out as consensual, but the man is an abusive predator. No one knew that when she first met him. He didn’t have a record, as far as we knew. But once he started isolating Betsy from her support network, the consensual part of their relationship quickly turned into nonconsensual abuse.”

The doctor tapped a few more notes into his computer. “And you know this…how?”

She sensed a change come over Bill. “She’s a personal friend of ours. And in our group of friends, we take care of our own. None of us could do anything to help her until she reached out and asked for help. Just like any other victim of domestic violence. So if you think you’re going to discount her injuries because of her personal interests, doctor, then you’d best get me an administrator here right now to speak with about reassigning her to another on-call physician who will focus on her physical care and not her personal life.”

The doctor, who didn’t even look like he was thirty, swallowed nervously and shoved his glasses back up his nose with one finger. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to insinuate anything, detective.”

Bill gave him a curt nod. “Good.” He glanced at Ted, who sat in the corner with his arms crossed over his chest. “Anything you want to add to what I just said, counsellor?”

“Nope. You said it better than I could.” Ted smiled. “And as a licensed mental health counsellor, that is my professional opinion.”





When the deputy arrived to take her initial report, Betsy was relieved to see it was a woman. Bill and Gabe stepped outside with the officer for a moment to talk first, while Ted stood and took Gabe’s place by her bed.

“I feel bad Nolan and Kenny are going to be put out by this,” she said. “I’m afraid for them.”

Ted gently held her hand, patting it comfortingly. “Don’t worry. They’re Tilly-approved.”

He smiled, and she tried to return it despite the pain. They’d put stitches in the cut over her left eye, and everything hurt worse than before, especially the wounds on her foot from the chain.

“I wish I’d listened to her to take more time,” she softly said. “She asked me when I told her about it if it was what I really wanted, if I didn’t want to wait a little longer. I should have listened to her. I thought it was the smart move because my lease was almost up. I thought it made sense to—”

“Don’t even go there,” Ted warned her. “It happened, and now it’s over. You’re safe now.”

“He could have killed me and my parents wouldn’t have ever known it. Just dumped my body somewhere. None of you would have even known it.”

“You’re going to need to approach your parents at some point and talk to them.”

“I can’t. He said they hate me. That they’re disgusted by me. He made sure of that the first time I said I wanted to talk to him about breaking up.”

“Wait,” Ted said. “Did you actually talk to your parents?”

“I heard him talking to them on the phone. He’d switched into one of his sweet, loving moods and smoothed things over with me. Convinced me to play. Then he tied me up and gagged me and called them and I had to sit and listen to him telling them about us. And he sent them pictures.”

“But you didn’t actually hear their responses? Did he have them on speakerphone or something?”

“I…” She stared at Ted. “No.”

“He told you he sent them pictures of you, but did your parents actually say anything?”

“I…” She swallowed, despite the pain. “No,” she softly said, not daring to allow hope to break through.

“Okay,” he said, patting her hand again. “For starters, let’s get you healed up and settled in at Nolan and Kenny’s. I don’t specialize in domestic abuse work, but I know a couple of counsellors who do, who are also kink-friendly. I’ll ask around to see if anyone can fit you in for a couple of sessions.”

Fear filled her. “Can you come with me?”

“I’m your friend. I’ll help you with the initial consult with them, if you want, but I really shouldn’t be part of your treatment plan. If we can’t find someone to help you, yes, I’ll try to work with you as much as I can. But I have a professional line I have to be careful not to cross since you’re also my friend. Understand?”

She nodded.

“As your friend, however, I will volunteer to help you talk to your parents, if you want me to.”

She nodded.

“Where do they live?”

“They moved to Virginia a couple of years ago. My dad works for a defense contractor. They moved their facility from Tampa up there.”

“Not to get your hopes up, but there’s a good chance Jack never even talked to your parents that night. He might have cut you off from them, but that all might have been faked on his end that night.”

“I hope so.” She didn’t dare hope, though. Not really.