Page 17 of Perilous Healing

Even though it goes against my own self-preservation, I reach out and cover her hand with mine. The action doesn’t go unnoticed by the others, but Bianca doesn’t flinch. It’s as though she can’t even feel the touch.

Sheriff Vick continues, “I’m not sure why he’s here or who killed him, but if there’s even the possibility of a crime syndicate setup up shop in Hope Springs, I want to know about it.”

“We can definitely get you some answers, Sheriff,” Elijah says as he takes the offered manila folder.

“I would appreciate it.” He sighs. “These last few years have been stressful. I think I may need to retire soon.” He smiles, then leaves the office.

As soon as the door shuts behind him, all eyes shift to Bianca.

“Is there something we need to know?” Lance asks.

Bianca doesn’t respond. She’s so pale I worry she might pass out, and her eyes are still staring straight ahead, her breathing faster than it should be.

“Bianca.” I say her name, hoping to break through.

She shifts her gaze to me, green eyes wide and terrified. “He can’t be alive, Silas. I killed him.”

Chapter6

Bianca

“I’m sorry, who did you kill?” Michael asks.

“What’s the name of the crime boss the sheriff mentioned?” Silas asks, releasing my hand. I hate that he let me go. His touch kept me grounded as I mull over the fact that the very thing I’ve been afraid of is happening right before my eyes.

Why are they coming for me now?

Elijah opens the folder and checks it. “Lucian Culvers. That guy was bad news. I remember hearing about him back when the military was looking for intel on his overseas operations.”

The name is acid to my ears, searing me from the inside.

“What’s going on here?” Lance asks, looking from me to Silas. I keep waiting for Silas to start spilling my secrets, but even after everything, he’s waiting for me to confess. For me to speak the truths I’ve been running from for decades.

I would love to keep the secrets longer. Forever, really. But if the fight is here and my entire team is involved, I can’t keep them in the dark. Even if it means they send me packing. Which they honestly should do. If I’m here, I’ll only bring danger to their doorsteps.

“Lucian Culvers was my father.” Just speaking the words makes my stomach burn. I want to vomit, scream, cry, and run away. But I can’t do any of it. Iwon’tdo it. Not anymore.

“This guy?” Elijah asks, tapping the folder. “This guy who ran drugs, money, guns, and people all over the world? The same Culvers who took out nearly an entire team of Navy SEALs sent to stop him?”

“Yes,” I reply, unwilling to look at Silas.

“The same one who held you captive?” Lance asks Silas.

A muscle in his jaw tightens. “One and the same,” Silas replies.

Lance leans back against a desk and crosses his arms. “Rescuing Michael was not the first time you two had met.”

It’s not a question, and even though we didn’t outright deny it, our secret still counts as a lie. “No, it wasn’t. I first met Silas when he rescued me from a death sentence at my father’s camp in the jungles of Cambodia.”

“I’m sorry—what?” Michael demands, his temper flaring.

“Michael,” Lance starts.

“No, don’tMichaelme. They lied. I want the whole truth. All of it. Now. What does your dad have to do with our dead guy, and why are they here now?”

“On my seventeenth birthday, my father discovered that my mother was planning to run away with me. He killed her for it, and I witnessed the whole thing. As soon as I could, I stole money and ran, then paid someone to erase me from existence and turn me into Bianca Theodore.”

There’s so much more to the story that I’m leaving out. Darkness that I can’t bear to speak out loud. Not ever. It will suffocate me if I let it, and speaking it aloud will surely release pain I’ve kept buried for as long as possible.

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