Page 46 of In Another Lifetime

Without waiting, I headed for the basement door. I didn’t look to see if he followed. I knew he would. He might not believe me, but his curiosity wouldn’t leave me hanging.

Like a reassuring mantra, his heavy footfalls sounded on the wooden stair treads behind me. I didn’t pause as my feet hit the unfinished cement floor. Immediately, I headed into the laundry room and the small cubby hole near the dryer I wasn’t even sure he knew about. Pushing aside the loose plywood over the small space, I showed him the firebox hidden there.

“What the hell?” Dayton breathed.

“I thought I had a garden-variety stalker. Just… Well, some guy getting his kicks from sending me creepy letters. It was only ever letters. At least until the end. I was scared at first then annoyed, but I didn’t take it seriously. It was stupid. Monumentally stupid. But, your case was all-consuming and dangerous. I knew any problems at home might throw you off and put your life in danger. So… Well, you know what happened. I always tried to make everything perfect at home. Never cause any waves. Make it a sanctuary so you had no worries. That fight, that last morning, was the first time we’d argued in over a year.”

He had no idea of the stress that had welled up inside me over that year.

I pointed at the box. “You should call Anderson. Have her read through it with you. The key code on the box is your birthdate. You know how I, um, how Melonie was. There’s a log-journal along with the letters. It notes where and when they were received, thoughts on them…” I shrugged. “Melonie and her stalker are the only ones to touch them, as far as I know. If he didn’t wear gloves, that is. They weren’t mailed. Her prints should be the only ones on the box itself.”

My feelings were so visceral inside me, and it was difficult to speak about my other self in third person.

“How do you know about this?”

“You know how. I told you. You just don’t believe me.” I stepped back, moving toward the stairs. “Once you’re done with that evidence, maybe you should take a look into me, Vale Corin,” I said, anger entering my tone for the first time. I’d lain so much proof in front of him, let things slip multiple times over the past weeks, too. “Do more than the cursory background check you probably already did. Look into the accident I was in—you’ve seen the evidence of that on my body. You know it’s real. Maybe, when you check into that, you’ll learn a thing or two.”

“Vale.”

“I’m leaving, going home just like you said.”

“Vale!” He took a step toward me. I backed a few steps up the stairs. I couldn’t let him touch me, in desperation or in anger. I’d shatter.

“Just read that. Those letters should give you some of the answers you so desperately want. You know it was Dutch. I could give you exact details of the murder, and I will, if you ask. You know his handwriting. There’s blood, I think, on the edge of one of the envelopes. His DNA is on file from when it was needed for him to be excluded as a suspect in one of the murders you worked on.”

“How…?”

“Come on, Dayton. Don’t make me say it again.”

“Why did you wait five years?” he asked suddenly, his pain slicing me. “If I was to believe you, why did you wait five fucking years?”

“What was I supposed to do? I spent over a year trying to recover from the accident this body endured. And then what? I walk up to a man who’s grieving his murdered wife—a wife whose murderer was never caught—and say, guess what? After I was murdered, I walked into another body because that girl didn’t want to stay. Still, I worked for five hard years to get close to you again. I couldn’t stay away. I love you.” I shook my head. “Once I was here… I don’t… I don’t think I was ever going to tell you. When I got close to you again, I knew there was no way to tell you. This morning proves that. And no matter what you think, I didn’t tell Brennan. He does have abilities. He can see things other people don’t.”

Dayton didn’t say a word. The tic if his jaw was the only movement in the utter stillness of the basement, the tension so strong it was deafening. That was the only answer I needed. That was the death knell. The end. Done and dusted. I might as well have given in and just died five years ago.

No, no, that wasn’t right. I still had a purpose here. I thought it was to return to Dayton. It wasn’t. Not only that, anyway. My destiny was to avenge myself—to avenge Melonie Windsor. Whether that was with Dayton’s help or with Kale and his Ghosts of Vengeance, I did have a mission. And I’d finish it.

Twenty-Six

Vale

From my living room, I saw Anderson show up a half hour later with a couple plain clothed officers, I assumed were other detectives. A pair of uniforms and a forensics team showed up, too.

Staying out of sight, I covertly watched and waited. I hoped Dayton would understand and he’d come to me. Maybe time and evidence would shine a light of clarity that he couldn’t refute.

It seemed like forever before they all left the house, Dayton included. He never looked my way. With his head down and shoulders slightly slumped, I saw the weight dragging him down, he was right back in the thick of the past. He nodded as Anderson spoke to him, and then the entire group was gone.

Not even a minute later, my brother’s armored SUV pulled into Day’s driveway, and Brennan got into it.

“He’s coming over here to get you, too,” Planny told me. He’d been on watchdog duty since relieving Biter in the wee hours of the morning.

“How do you know? You haven’t even…”

I trailed off as he tapped a spot behind his ear.

“We all have subdural coms. Can’t talk back through it, but the team can relay messages and track members through the device. Kale let me know a few minutes ago that you’d be heading to the club with Brennan. He’s already talked to Dayton, too—ostensibly about Dayton’s little brother. But your man knows where you’ll be.”

“He’s not…” I swallowed, trying to get rid of the sawdust from the words. “He’s not my man.”

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