Page 85 of Kept in the Dark

Trey gave her back the photo and picked up the one he had set down. After a moment, he asked, “Were any of you going on vacation when your mother died?”

Hailey tilted her head and furrowed her brows. “No, we were about to head off to college, so she was doing last minute stuff to prepare for that.”

“Was your dad going on a business trip or coming back from one?”

Hailey shook her head in confusion. “No. Why?”

Trey slid the photo over to her and pointed to the upper left corner. “There are suitcases sitting near the front door. Why are they out if no one was leaving and no one was returning?”

Hailey studied the photo. “Those are definitely my mother’s.” After a moment, Hailey’s eyes widened. “She was leaving him, Trey.”

He nodded. “And your father wouldn’t take too kindly to that.”

“No, he wouldn’t. He would have been humiliated.” Hailey’s voice trailed off as she realized the likelihood that her father had killed her mother. She had seen first-hand the rage that overtook her father when he was disobeyed or disrespected. She couldn’t imagine how he would have reacted to her mother leaving him.

Morgan was finally standing up for herself after being manipulated, lied to, and abused by the man who claimed to love her. And she had died trying. And Sara was framed for it.

Hailey stood and started pacing, grief consuming her. After a moment, she stopped abruptly. “Do you really think he did it?”

“I uh-”

“Please, Trey. I can’t keep thinking in circles,” she said quietly.

He let out a breath and nodded slowly. “Yes, I think he killed her.”

Hailey squeezed her eyes shut. “We have to make sure he never sees the outside of a prison.”

Trey stood and wrapped her in an embrace. “Yeah, we do. But we have to find proof first.”

“This feels impossible,” she groaned.

“I know. Whoever helped investigate didn’t do their job. There's hardly any evidence, there’s no eye-witness statements, not even from you. It’s like they botched the investigation on purpose right along with Eli. And that thought scares me.”

Hailey didn’t want to believe the police would intentionally ruin a homicide investigation, but she knew better. There were countless stories of police deliberately derailing investigations for one reason or another. It was infuriating. She especially hated that it happened to her sister.

Hailey wanted to scream at the injustice of it all.

She buried her face in Trey’s chest, inhaling his scent. She wished time would stop. She felt safe in his arms but knew that tonight the nightmares would come back, and she’d have to face her monsters alone.

Trey kissed her crown. “We’re going to figure this out. I’m going to talk to the investigating officers, and I’ll likely have Internal Affairs open an investigation. If I.A. finds out they helped cover it up or botched the investigation, it would likely help get this case in front of a judge.”

She appreciated his dedication to her mother’s case, something he didn’t have to do.

Hailey lifted her head and studied Trey’s face. She loved him more than she cared to admit. Though she had come back to Auburndale full of anger toward this man, it had entirely melted away.

She didn’t dare tell him she was considering moving back so that they could rekindle their relationship. Well, likely not Auburndale because she wasn't sure she wanted to live in a place that held so much anguish, but somewhere close by.

She kissed him then, long and hard as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her close. His hands traced her figure and she found herself running her fingers through his hair. It was as if they were making up for lost time.

She allowed herself to get lost in his kiss, to forget reality. She wanted to stay in this moment forever.

“I love you, Hailey,” he said, “but I want to make sure this is right. I don’t want either of us getting hurt if things don’t work out again, especially with Trinity.”

She closed her eyes for a moment. “I love you too.”

He stilled, not expecting her response. She giggled. “I mean it, Trey. I love you.”

“So does this mean we’re done acting like we don’t like each other?”

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