Page 43 of Justice

Her dad looks shocked to see me. “Elle, I didn’t know you were pregnant.”

I tilt my head to the side, slightly confused. What did he think the party his daughter was going to for?

“I’m sure you didn’t, since your daughter was a bitch to me after she found out I was—by no fault of my own, by the way.” I paste on a fake smile, pissed off.

He stutters, “I don’t appreciate?—”

I interrupt him. “I sincerely hope you find her and nothing bad has happened to her. Her mouth does tend to run.”

I slam the door in his face, loving the shocked look that was staring back at me.

My dad and mom both look floored at what I just did.

But damn it felt good.

“He was always super creepy, so I have no sympathy toward him,” I point out.

But from the look on my dad’s face, the second I uttered the word creepy, I made a big mistake.

“What the fuck did he do?” My eyes widen when Christopher comes in from the back door that is closest to the guest house we were staying in.

I sigh, rubbing my face. “He never touched me, but it just seemed that he was always too friendly and he would stare a lot. I just didn’t like the vibes he gave off.”

Christopher stares at me for a few seconds before he lets it go. “Ready to go? I finished the last of the laundry.”

He won’t let me lift a finger, sending me to my parents’. It feels good that people love and care about me.

“Yes.” I smile and I hug my mom and dad once more, giving them both kisses on the cheek.

I wave back at them one last time before pulling out of the driveway, feeling kind of sad now. It was one thing moving to the guest house, but to be completely in my own house? It is just right down the drive but still, it’s a big step for me.

Before we reach his parents’ house, I can see ours. There’s no grass in the driveway from all of the yard work they had to do to prepare the foundation of the house.

It’s a beautiful dark brick house with black pillars in front of the three-story home. Huge square windows at the front of the house are open, a chandelier hanging from the third-story hallway visible from out here.

The tin roof is black to match the pillars, and so is the porch and the railings.

It’s like a grunge farmhouse, and I fell in love with it after we got the designs drawn up.

Christopher pulls into our driveway, and I can tell he is thinking about something.But I already have an idea of what happened.He parks the car and turns to face me, his expression serious. "Elle, there's something I need to tell you.”

I feel a knot forming in my stomach, already suspecting what he's about to say. "It's about Joanne and her friends, isn't it?"

He nods grimly. "We overheard them talking outside the clubhouse with some of the football players from school. Those guys they were with… they were there that night in the woods. They left you there."

My breath catches in my throat, a wave of nausea washing over me. Memories of that awful night flash through my mind, the pain, the fear, the helplessness.

"What did you do?" I ask quietly, looking down at my hands and studying them before he tilts my chin up so I face him.

Christopher clenches his jaw, a muscle ticking in his cheek. "We haven’t done anything yet, they’re in the basement.” He cups my cheek. “Let me get justice for you.”

I know if I tell him that I really didn’t want him to then he would support my choice.

But I grew up in this life, and I know this is the life that I will live.

“I understand, baby. You do what you need to do, but most of all, we need to keep our baby safe from whoever this is.”

Christopher

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