Page 46 of Secrets Within Us

She looked me deep in the eyes and the outdoor lights made her eyes glow with golden fire as she tried to find the lie in my words, but there were none.

Finally, she just nodded her head and sighed, “Then I guess I’d rather just get it over with and then we can go back—” She broke off at the end.

“Home.” I finished for her. “I want you to come back home with me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Without reservation. Remember.”

She leaned forward again and let her lips brush over mine softly, “I love you.” She whispered. “I don’t know why I had to endure such hell to find such peace with you, but I won’t say I’m not glad to be where I am right now, regardless of how I got here.”

“I could say the same exact thing, Hadley, the same fucking thing.”

The door to the courtyard opened up and Boyd popped his head out, “Uh- sorry to interrupt, but we’re getting ready to go if you’d like to go with us.”

“Now or never Bambina.”

Chapter 16 - Hadley

Breathe

Isat in the back of a police cruiser for the second time in the same day, but my hands were uncuffed and Kip held them in my lap from where he sat next to me. Police cars formed a convoy and headed towards the crime scene to carry out further investigations based on the information I had given them. I felt exhausted and sick just from driving towards the house I had escaped from.

When we pulled into the driveway, I took a deep breath and Kip squeezed my hands as I looked out the window at the modern house in the woods that had held me captive for six days.

I had to see it through.

I nodded to him curtly, granting him the permission he had been seeking. In response, he opened his door and extended a hand to help me out, while Sheriff Boyd, Agent Harvey, and their team members also disembarked from their vehicles.

Agent Harvey walked up to me and looked me in the eye with respect instead of accusation like she had when she’d first walked into the interrogation room. Tim walked up behind her and lent his silent support as I prepared myself to rip open every wound that had just started to close.

She spoke up first, commanding the scene, “I have to ask that no one touch anything inside of the home, our crime scene team will touch anything that we need to with gloves so we can keep evidence accurate. Are you ready to lead us through there, Hadley?”

I swallowed and licked my dry lips as I looked over across the dark lawn to the spot where the flood lamps illuminated the grave I’d spent so much time in. A chill passed through my body, and Kip wrapped his arms around me and kissed my hair.

“He cannot hurt you anymore. I won’t let him.”

I smiled sadly up at him and then nodded my head and Agent Harvey led the way to the front door. She and Boyd walked in first, and we followed.

I instantly felt my body stiffen as I stepped over the threshold. We stood in the living room in silence for a moment as everyone looked around, seeing the space with fresh eyes since the truth came out.

Boyd couldn’t tear his eyes away from the closet behind the door, and Harvey was staring longingly at the bookcase.

However, I couldn’t look away from the crimson stain on the carpet in the middle of the room where I had taken the life of the man who had tortured me when he tried to permanently end my life.

I remembered the way the knife had slid in my hand as it plunged into his chest for the first time from the sweat on my palms.

I remembered the noises that escaped his throat as it violently leaked blood out onto us both as he struggled to breathe.

I remembered the smell of his life leaving his body.

Kip’s body was coiled tight next to me and his grip on my hand was iron-tight as he fought his own emotions to be there with me. “Hey,” I said, tearing my eyes away from the stain to look up at the man who had stolen my heart in such a short time. “You don’t have to stay if it’s too much for you. I’m sure this must bring back memories for you—”

“Stop.” He commanded. “I’m irate because of what you went through here, not because of anything else. I’m here for you, and I’m not leaving.”

“Okay.” I loosened my hold on his hand and hated the way it felt empty as soon as it let go. Stepping around the yellow place markers outlining the stain, I walked towards the bookshelf and Agent Harvey as Kip reluctantly let me step out of his embrace. I stood next to her and pointed to the shelf halfway up on the end. “The screw on the outside board.” I waited for her crime scene man to step forward and raise his glove-covered hand toward where I was talking about. I nodded when his hand touched the hole. “Push it in.”

He did and there was a deafening click as the entire unit moved and he pulled it open, revealing a set of concrete stairs illuminated by an eerie green light dangling from a socket in the ceiling.

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