Gentleman Sinner(87)

Callum shakes his head. ‘He’s on remand.’

‘Then who?’

‘I don’t know.’

I grit my teeth and return to Penny, covering her body. ‘We need to get her in a bed.’

‘I didn’t want to move her until you got here,’ Callum explains. ‘I didn’t know whether she was hurt.’ He slips his arms under her and lifts her from the floor, and I rise with him, keeping the blankets in place.

‘She’s hurt,’ I mumble, sticking to Callum’s side as he leads the way back to the main house. I look at Theo as I pass, unable to soften my scowl. ‘But you can’t see the most damaging injuries.’

Theo winces, pain sharpening the lines of his face as he drops his head back and looks to the ceiling. I get no pleasure from the reaction my cold, hard fact draws from him. He said she was safe here. He was wrong.

I follow Callum through the house, and once he has Penny settled in the very same bed where I last tended to her a few weeks ago, I go to scrub my hands. Callum disappears and returns only a minute later, carrying a wealth of medical supplies. I move over to the bed and push the blanket back from her legs with my elbows. ‘You need to arrange for someone to get her some emergency contraceptive as a precaution.’ Lacking stirrups, I gently ease Penny’s legs back. ‘Can you help, please?’ I ask Callum, looking across to him. He’s watching me spreading Penny’s legs, a little horrified. ‘Callum?’

‘Yes.’ He shakes himself back to life and hurries over. ‘Where do you want me?’

‘Hold her legs back by the knees,’ I instruct, letting him replace my hands with his. ‘Like that.’

‘Got her,’ he confirms, looking up to Penny’s face rather than what’s staring him in the face. ‘What are you doing?’ he asks.

‘An internal exam to check for damage.’ I inspect the bruising around her inner thighs, a collection of small dots from fingers gripping harshly. ‘Bastard,’ I breathe, collecting a speculum from the table and pulling it from the protective wrapping. Grabbing the torch, I flip it on as I inch forward, trying to figure the best angle without the help of a proper examination chair. ‘Penny, I’m just going to take a peek at you. I won’t hurt you, I promise. It just might be a little uncomfortable.’ I look up to her oblivious, sleeping face. She’s dead to the world, so I get on with assessing her. ‘There’s no semen,’ I say to myself. ‘He probably used a condom. A little blood, but nothing too major.’ I gently pull the speculum free and nod for Callum to release her legs. He’s quick to cover Penny’s dignity, arranging the blanket around her bottom half. I set down my instruments and pull off the gloves.

Like I’ve been trained, I check under her nails for any sign that she might have fought her attacker. There’s nothing. ‘I should sit with her and keep an eye on her until she comes round.’ I take a seat in the chair next to the bed and settle in for the evening. It could be hours before she regains consciousness, but she mustn’t be alone when she does.

Callum moves awkwardly towards the makeshift medical table and starts to collect my supplies, probably just trying to busy himself with nothing else to say. ‘Leave them,’ I tell him without taking my eyes off Penny. ‘I might need them again. And you should still get that emergency pill. I didn’t see any signs of semen, but it’s better to be safe.’ I hear a despondent sigh. It’s a strange sound from such a big man.

‘Izzy,’ he starts, the sound of his feet approaching. ‘No one—’

The door swings open, and I lift my head to find Theo looking no less stressed than when I left him downstairs with the aftermath of my filthy look. ‘How is she?’ he asks.

‘Alive,’ I spit curtly.

‘I’ll leave you two to it.’ Callum is out of the room like a shot, wanting to avoid the wretched atmosphere. I watch his back disappear and the door close behind him, and then return my attention to Penny.

‘Izzy, I never—’ Theo starts.

‘Don’t,’ I cut him off, not looking at him. ‘Don’t tell me how bad you feel, Theo. This place is supposed to be safe. She was supposed to be safe. The poor woman has been through enough.’

‘No one has ever crossed the line here, Izzy. No one has dared.’

‘Who dares now?’ I ask, shifting my blank eyes across to him. ‘Who dares to come into Theo Kane’s club and do this?’ My hand shoots out towards an unconscious Penny.

‘I won’t rest until I find out.’ His nostrils flare, the danger I know he’s capable of flashing in his cobalt eyes.

‘The man in the alley,’ I begin.

‘He’s on remand.’

‘You can be sure of that?’

‘Andy’s checking.’

‘I’ll take that as a no.’

His big shoulders drop, and his gaze falls to the floor. Guilt is consuming him, yet I can’t find the graciousness to even try to ease him. It doesn’t matter that my attempts would be in vain. He blames himself, and with a lack of anyone else to blame at the moment, I can’t help but blame him, too.

‘She should be in a hospital,’ I mutter, knowing I’m wasting my breath. ‘And the police should be called.’