Page 219 of I’m The Worst

Police came today.

They were asking if anyone had talked to Emily’s ex recently.

That’s FOUR now, AJ.

Four women from OUR group whose abusers have disappeared.

Another text appears almost immediately.

Sarah

Isn’t that…weird?

These assholes spent YEARS getting away with everything.

Now they’re just…disappearing?

The detective wouldn’t tell us much, but he kept asking if the women had anything in common besides the support group.

A slow smile tugs at the corner of my mouth. I lock my phone and look over at him.

“You know…you could come with me sometime.”

“Where?” he asks.

“Group.”

“No.”

The answer comes so fast it makes me laugh. “You didn’t even think about it.”

“I did.”

“You answered in under a second.”

“Didn’t need longer.”

I reach across the center console until my fingers brush the back of his hand resting on the gearshift. He turns his hand over, lacing our fingers together.

“I’d rather get shot than sit in a circle talking about my feelings.”

He squeezes my hand before bringing it to his mouth and pressing a quick kiss against my knuckles.

“Apparently, the police showed up at group this week.”

His thumb stills against the back of my hand.

“That’s what Sarah was texting me about.” I scroll through the messages again. “It’s the fourth woman in our support group whose abuser has disappeared.”

I glance over. His eyes never leave the road. “I mean…don’t you think that’s a little weird?”

Silence.

“I join a support group for survivors of sexual assault and, suddenly, the men who spent years hiding behind money, lawyers, political connections, and powerful last names start vanishing?”

Another mile disappears beneath the tires.

“Some of these women spent decades trying to get someone to believe them.” I shake my head. “Police reports disappeared. Witnesses changed their stories. Cases got dismissed. Now, the same police department that’s ignored them for years is suddenly scrambling because the abusers are the ones going missing.”