Page 21 of Three to Fall

She repeated the motion, and my heart swelled. “Do you know what that sign means?”

Every part of me prayed she did.

She nodded. She pressed her lips together, and at first, no sound came out.

But she was trying. Oh my God, she was trying.

I nodded encouragingly. “Mmmm.”

She screwed up her face in concentration and forced out the same sound.

But then her face fell, her eyes pooling with tears again.

“Oh hey!” I grabbed her and hugged her tight. “No tears! That was amazing! It’s been a really long time since you tried to talk. It probably won’t feel right at first. But it’ll get easier. I promise.”

She pushed me away and tried again, tapping her chin and making the Mmm sound. Frustration tightened each muscle in her little body until she hit out at the wall, her tiny fist barely making a sound but the agony in her eyes there all the same.

“Mommy,” I translated for her, making the sign again. My throat clogged up with emotion. “You called me Mommy.”

Hayley Jade grinned and nodded, clearly pleased to be understood.

While I just wanted to break down and cry. How could I leave her? How could I walk away and potentially never see her again? There was no guarantee I would find the proof the police would need to lock Josiah away. I was risking being stuck there forever.

But how could I stay, knowing that every minute I did put her and everyone else I loved in danger?

I made the sign for daughter. One I’d practiced so many times, just hoping I’d get to say it to her. I pointed at her.Daughter. And then at me.Mother.

She practiced both signs over and over, more and more pleased with herself each time we added in more family signs. Brother, father, grandmother, and grandfather.

When Rebel turned up with Remi and Madden, we researched the signs for aunt and cousin as well. I filled her in on everything that had happened while the kids excitedly babbled in signs, and my heart swelled at Remi and Hayley Jade actually trying to have a conversation. Madden, with way more energy and more limited attention span than our quiet girls, declared he wanted to go outside.

“How about the park?” Rebel asked but then quickly changed her mind when she saw the anxious expression on my face. “Oops! You know what? That’s closed. How about we go get the swing sets and the trampoline out of the storage shed?”

Remi screwed up her nose.

Rebel cocked her head at her eldest daughter. “No? How about a nature walk around the complex then?” She glanced at Madden. “Or a nature run for you because you have too much energy. We can go find some big sticks and build a fort!”

I wasn’t sure if Rebel or the kids were more excited by that idea. I got up to follow them, but Rebel stopped me.

“I’ll watch them. You rest. Today sounds like it was a lot.”

I nodded. “If you’re sure? I should check on Grayson. He’s hurt.”

She hugged me but then pulled back at arm’s length to study me. “It’ll get better. You know that, right? This isn’t going to be your life forever. I promise that.”

She was right. Because as soon as I could, I was leaving. Going back to Josiah. And putting an end to this once and for all.

Iwaved off Rebel and the kids, the two girls carrying bags Queenie had given them to fill with flowers, sticks, and rocks they might find while out wandering around the compound. Grayson’s car still sat in the parking lot beside the usual row of bikes and the club van, so I knew he had to be here somewhere.

I was fairly confident he wasn’t hanging out with Hawk and Hayden, who hadn’t surfaced from Hawk’s bedroom.

Queenie and I walked back inside together, shoulder to shoulder, and she squeezed my fingers. She didn’t say anything, it was just a silent show of support and affection.

I returned it, so grateful she was here. “Do you know where Grayson is?”

She pointed at Hayden’s room. “Pretty sure they took him in there.”

I thanked her and headed in that direction. I knocked, but there was no answer, which had kernels of worry beading in my belly. Those marks around his throat could have swollen in the time I’d been lying with Hayley Jade. I pushed the door openand breathed a sigh of relief when he was just asleep on the bed, his chest rising and falling regularly.

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