Tripp by Irish Winters

Author:Irish Winters [Winters, Irish]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Windy Days Press
Published: 2021-05-17T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Three

Tripp watched Ashley suffer through whatever was troubling her. He’d seen plenty of frightened people before. She was that pretty fox in a trap, with no way out but to chew its foot off. So, he gave her a way forward. “I’m not pushing. Whenever you’re ready.”

Besides, he already knew what she’d gone through. A woman didn’t survive an assault like she had Friday night without a few night terrors.

When her head came up, two bright, shining orbs of teary self-recrimination stabbed his heart. But he also read guilt in those pretty eyes. Which pissed him off. She wasn’t guilty for what happened Friday night, damn it. It was bad enough that society blamed females for the heinous crimes committed against them, and the automatic guilt they assumed. That damned scarlet letter A. She didn’t need to blame herself.

He’d heard the lies and outright bullshit before. If they hadn’t been in the wrong place at the wrong time, they wouldn’t have been raped. They shouldn’t have gone to their favorite restaurant or bar alone. They shouldn’t have smiled at the wrong guy. They were out at the wrong time of day or night or week. Their skirts were too short, their hair too long, or their walk too suggestive. Their hips too wide, their breasts too voluptuous or too small or what-the-fuck-ever.

But the worst one yet, spoken by mothers and fathers, police officers, counselors, and judges alike: ‘Boys will be boys.’ And a boatload of other male-privileged bullshit that allegedly defined women in general—not the fuckin’ creeps who violated them. That was what created repeat offenders, the juveniles who’d bragged about assaulting females, then got off on reduced plea-bargained sentences, only to do it again as adults.

“Maybe someday,” Ashley answered, her voice so damned timid, it hurt his heart.

Once again, a deep, raging primal need to exact bloody, heart-rending revenge on her Friday night aggressor all over again filled Tripp’s being. To avenge Abdul Ikram, another lost soul who’d never stood a chance in this world where ‘might made right’. Thugs and bullies everywhere used innocents for their own vile agendas. Whether to overthrow governments or just to prove they were bigger and meaner, it was the same ugly story. The world was full of predators. All that stood between them and innocent lambs were highly-trained shepherds like Tripp. Which was why he hunted at night.

Yet Ashley wasn’t as helpless as she believed. Yes, something had frightened her tonight. She may even have scared herself, like she said. But she’d been magnificent when she’d walked up and slapped that stupid health notice in his face this morning. What the hell happened since then? Was it him? Had he scared her that badly? Just by standing up for himself?

He had to know. “Where’d you go to college?”

She made a funny sound in the back of her throat, like she couldn’t swallow. Or she was choking.

When she didn’t answer, he told her what he could. “That’s all Jameson and I wanted to talk with you about earlier, kiddo.

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