Page 42 of Prohibited

The thought of her head going under water made her tremble, made her stomach clench and unclench with a tight, animal fear. “What do you mean, a bath?”

“In the basin,” Lindsay said. “I’ll fill it with warm water. I’m afraid you’re probably used to something fancier, but I always like to take a bath when I’m… distressed. It helps.”

“Distressed.” Evie laughed. She couldn’t help herself. “Okay. Okay, I’ll have a bath.”

Truthfully, she didn’t know what she would do if he hadn’t appeared. She was still shaken to her core, but he was something warm and good to anchor herself to.

“You’ll have to stand. Do you think you can?” She nodded again and she allowed him to help her stand, though she was vaguely aware that it was a struggle for him to do so because he had to carefully straighten the hinge on his leg brace. With his hands on her shoulders, he guided her toward the metal bin. Looking at it made her body tighten. She stopped and swallowed hard, not sure if she could even look at the thing, let alone get into it.

“I’ll pour warm water over you.” It was a gentle promise of comfort, one that made her feel a touch better.

She swallowed. “Okay.”

Lindsay gently guided her the rest of the way to the basin and held her hand while she stepped in. It was just big enough for her to sit in. Not the sort of bath she’d ever had to use before the War or since. Growing up in wealth and prosperity, they had always had fine bathtubs and easily accessible water.

Evie hunched over in the basin and hugged her legs against her chest. Rested her cheek against her knees. The sound of running water behind her.

It occurred to her only vaguely that she felt absolutely no bashfulness about her nudity with him in the room, or about the fact that he was here, giving her a bath. Perhaps that was a testament to the gentleness of his presence. Or perhaps that was a testament to how unhinged Alex was.

“Just a little to start,” Lindsay said above her. And then a small trickle of pleasantly warm water down her back. Though she knew it was coming, it still made her jolt. “A little more.” And then a bigger splash of warm water.A blissfully comforting sensation. She settled in again, tucked into a small bundle, and waited for more water to come. He didn’t splash her, didn’t dump water over her. He spread it over her gently until the basin was nearly full.

Then, he knelt next to her with a bar of soap in his hand.

“May I?” he said, face neutral. Nothing lecherous about him.

After a moment of hesitation, she nodded. His handsome, freckled hands both dipped into the water, one holding a small hand towel, and one holding the bar of soap. He scrubbed them together until he produced a lather.

Then he began to gently wash her with his hand tucked into the soapy cloth.

Evie let out a breath and felt a knot untie at the center of her. Though it was, by all standards, one of the worst baths she’d ever had, it was also the best. She had not been forced to go so long without the simple comfort of hygiene since she was in France.

The air was thick with tension and unspoken things. Evie’s mind reeled through the horror of Alex holding her under the water, causing her muscles to bunch so tightly that they hurt. His words before he shoved her under the water came back to her again and again: because you killed our brother. Their brother? Were Alex and Ryan brothers?

“I didn’t know,” she said at last, voice hoarse as she stared down into the water. “I can’t make anyone believeme, but I didn’t know. He promised he wasn’t going to kill anyone.”

Lindsay’s hands fell still, and both sat in total stillness and silence for moments that stretched into eternity.

“Walter Stanley,” Lindsay said at last.

“Yes,” Evie whispered.

“What did he ask you to do?”

She swallowed hard and didn’t dare look at him. She didn’t think she could stand to see the look on his face.

“A robbery,” she said. “He made it sound like a simple robbery.” She lifted water in her hands, splashed it onto her face, pushed her hair back. “I– I know I shouldn’t have been involved in the first place. But he made it sound so… he made it sound like it wasn’t a big deal. I should have known. He has a way of talking people into things. Lies. Manipulation. But I didn’t think he’d go that far. Involving me in a– a murder.” Her voice hitched.

“I didn’t know. I really didn’t know. Walter didn’t pull the trigger. Walter told me that when they showed up to the rendezvous, I was to get out of the car like I was meeting them. So they got out of the car and came toward me. Happy to see me. And then one of Walter’s guys, he rode with me in the back seat. He told me to stay right where I was. I thought it was strange. And then leaned out of the car. He had a gun. It was so loud.”

She covered her eyes now and shook her head.

“I didn’t know,” she repeated.

“I believe you,” Lindsay said at last. She risked a glance at him. It made her heart ache to see how his eyesglittered. He looked away from her and went back to pouring pitchers of water over her body.

“But I don’t know if Ryan and Alex will.”

“They’re brothers?” She hugged her knees tightly, pressing her cheek into them, trying to erase the memory of the shotgun blast and that poor man screaming, clutching his leg. Blood on his hands. Blood everywhere. Fear in his eyes.