Page 126 of Unbroken

Jade had asked me after we’d found her what I would do. If—or she, a little more optimistic than myself, said when—we found him, and I was given the opportunity, what would I want to do. If I’d ever given any thought to revenge or retaliation. I had, but not with any seriousness since two years before. At the beginning, right when I’d escaped, it was cathartic to think about doing to that nameless, faceless man what he did to me. Or worse.

And I thought I’d completely moved on from it, but those thoughts had crept back just as he had.

“I’d find some way to remind him of me. I’d want him to live the rest of his miserable life with the knowledge that although he tried, he never broke me.”

That’s what I’d told her, and I was completely serious, too. I wasn’t a particularly violent person, but given the opportunity, I wouldn’t hesitate to dole out the punishment he was fucking due.

Contemplating all the creative ways I could execute that promise and ingrain that reminder permanently on his skin, I jumped when my phone vibrated next to me.

Marie: Call me when you can. Not super urgent.

Marie: Just found a few things you’ll both want to know about.

She’d sent both texts to the group she’d created with me and Devon. Slamming my journal shut, I hopped off the bed so quickly I startled Stormy and Tato, who were curled up next to me.

I threw open the door and immediately heard the sound of the electric saw humming in the garage below. Devon had been down there for an hour working on his latest project. And when I pushed through the metal gate, the image I was greeted with was reminiscent of what I’d witnessed the first time I’d stepped into the garage.

Devon was shirtless and slick with sweat. His tattoos were glistening, light wash jeans were sitting lower on his hips, and I took a second to save the mental image of him in his element.

He spotted me a second later. He finished the cut he was making and turned off the saw, chucking his safety glasses next to the wood.

“Hey, sweetheart. What’s up?”

“Marie texted. She wants us to call her. She said it’s not super urgent, but I don’t want to wait.”

“Of course, do you want to go inside or?—?”

I shook my head and rounded the workbench as Devon fished his phone out of his back pocket. “Out here is good. You can keep working after we talk to her.”

Devon started dialing and reached for me, but I was too high-strung to stand in place. I gave him an apologetic smile and started pacing.

Marie answered on the third ring. “Hello, Devon.”

“Hi, Marie,” Devon responded, but I stayed silent.

“I won’t take up too much of your time,” Marie said. “But I just found a few things you should know about. First, I’m going to send you a list of names. It’s employees, volunteers, and visitors that ever entered the hospital where your mom was staying in Houston. It’s a list Blakely’s seen before, but I think it’s worth her looking over again. You should look at it as well. We’ll cross-reference who you might recognize. I’m also putting togetherany photos I can get my hands on and reviewing any security camera footage I can locate.”

“We’ll start looking at them as soon as you send us the list,” Devon agreed. I came to stand beside him, chewing awkwardly on my thumbnail and rolling my ChapStick back and forth in my other hand.

“Is there anything else?” I asked urgently.

The nervous energy thrumming through me wasn’t ebbing. It was becoming increasingly hard to ignore it.

Marie didn’t skip a beat. “It’s your sister Sydney’s boyfriend. It’s unrelated to your case, as far as I can tell, but my first step is almost always to research family members. And I know you had a special interest in him because of his interest in Blakely and her case. Although your parents are right assholes, Blakely, I don’t believe they have anything to do with this. The only family member to turn up something strange was Sydney because of her new boyfriend.”

Devon tensed next to me, and the muscles in his neck jumped. My hand landed on his forearm, which I gave a reassuring squeeze. “He’s taught in three other states before coming here,” Marie continued. “His most recent restraining order just lapsed. One of his previous students took it out on him.”

Devon’s hand tightened around the phone, and he managed to ground out, “A restraining order?” through his anger.

“Unfortunately, yes. Her entire family was murdered, and he harassed her so much about the tragedy that she had no choice. He wouldn’t leave her alone, calling and texting, wanting her story for a paper he was writing. It looks like he mostly picks young women who don’t have many family members or a support system, so he can easily manipulate them. Now, this is all conjecture, but based on his MO, I’m assuming he got to Sydney because he couldn’t get to Blakely. That was his way in.”

I mumbled several curses under my breath and immediately pulled out my phone. My text to Sydney was simple: call me.

“Thank you, Marie. Is there anything else?” Devon’s voicewas eerily calm, and he glanced over my shoulder at Sydney’s response, letting me know she would call me soon.

“Not yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as I have something. Expect that list of names and the other documents I gathered for Julian tomorrow.”

She hung up without a goodbye, just in time for Sydney’s name to appear on my phone. Devon tossed his phone to the side and reached for mine, which I happily gave him.

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