Page 113 of Kept in the Dark

“What? No.”

Sara sighed. “One could only be so lucky.”

She was disappointed he hadn’t kicked the bucket, but then found herself on cloud nine knowing his body was slowly killing itself. She shouldn’t be so thrilled by the news, but she was.

That man had ruined her life in more ways than one and it was finally catching up with him. She couldn’t fathom why Hailey sounded so worried, but then again, Hailey hadn’t suffered the way Sara had.

Maybe vengeance was coming disguised as karma.

Gavin stared at her intently, curious about the call.

Hailey said, “We’re going to talk to him, and I thought you’d want to come.”

Rage boiled within her. Sara hated that Hailey was worried for David, that she still felt any type of love toward their father. The sharp pain of betrayal tore through her heart.

Sara stood, anger flooding her. “Talk to him about what, Hailey? How he set me up? How he ruined my life? Or how I would have to use makeup to cover bruises from him punching me or throwing me against a wall?”

She started pacing. “Right. Let’s just forget everything he did and sing kumbaya together. All of a sudden he has cancer and that somehow absolves him of his sins? Fuck that, Hailey.”

Hailey said through clenched teeth, “Nothing will ever absolve him of what he’s done to us, to you. I risked my life for you, Sara, so don’t question my loyalty. Me and Trey are going to see if he’ll confess. He’s stuck in a hospital bed and is likely dying. It might be a long shot, but we’re running out of options.”

“I don’t want to go near that bastard.” She slammed the phone closed.

Sara couldn’t believe all that was happening. She had been shocked when Gavin had read the text about Eli just a few hours ago. Despite the old chief ruining her life, he had been like family to her. And she couldn't completely discount his attempts to save her, even if he’d gone about, it the wrong way.

And now her father was in the hospital with cancer?

Sara walked back to the couch and sunk into it. Gavin stayed standing, peering out the window. With Ryan’s disappearance, Gavin was on edge. He wasn’t willing to let his guard down until Ryan was caught.

Sara couldn’t help but be on edge too, her anxiety mounting. She was vulnerable. And this time, there wasn’t anything she could do about it. That thought nearly crippled her. Over the past few days, she’d had to work hard to keep herself from panicking, something she had trained her body not to do.

“What was that about?” Gavin asked.

“My father has cancer and Hailey and Trey are going to use his deathbed to get him to talk.”

Gavin raised a brow. Like everyone else, he hadn’t expected that news. “Are you okay?”

Sara didn’t immediately answer. She thought about everything she had been through with her father. His torment and hatred for her.

All she’d ever wanted was for her father to love her, for him to notice her and be proud of her. She had been a free spirit and he thought she needed to be tamed. She could still feel the pounding of his fists on her body, the degrading words that passed his lips. He had tried to break her down, but she was too resilient. The drugs hadn’t killed her, so he had tried to bury her, and she had dug herself out of the dirt.

How ironic: he wanted her dead, but he was the one dying.

Before she could stop herself, she began laughing uncontrollably; shrieks and cries filling the room. Despite her best efforts to control them, all of her emotions and trauma came roaring to the surface. Tears formed at the edge of her eyes as she laughed and hunched over, wrapping her arms around her waist.

Was she finally having a psychotic break?

Gavin awkwardly sat down next to her, unsure of what was happening.

She finally caught her breath and wiped at the tears. “I’m sorry. I just…” She giggled again but focused enough to stop. “My dad was awful and I’m so glad he got what was coming to him.”

“Sara-” Gavin said.

She knew he was worried, but she wasn’t going to talk about it. At least not tonight.

“If I wasn’t a recovering alcoholic, I'd pop champagne.” Sara started laughing again before crying hysterically over all she’d endured.

The monster from her nightmares was finally going to die.

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