Page 50 of Monsters

“Yes, it’s storming out, and he was standing on my porch in the rain.”

“Was there an exchange?”

“If you call throwing a rock through the glass French doors an exchange, then yes.”

Kinross exhaled heavily. There was hurried movement on his end. “Shit!” He sounded angry. “And about our conversation earlier?” he asked.

I wanted to put everything in email, the memories too difficult to verbalize. But he expected immediate answers, and after what had just happened, it was time to reveal the truth.

Falling onto the chaise, I stared out into the darkness, the trees still swaying violently and scratching against the windows. For the next forty minutes, I told Detective Kinross about the time at the cabin. He asked a few questions when I informed him about the escalating situation at the Carter house. He wanted to know the name of the boyfriend, but the boys never mentioned his name. Failing to acknowledge his name was their way of dealing with their reality. He remained silent when I informed how Mason assaulted me that day. He cursed through the cell when I revealed how Mason had branded me with the tip of his knife.

“This changes everything, Gemma.”

It was the first time he had called by my given name. There was now a sense of familiarity between us.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”

“Why didn’t you? You placed yourself in danger by not saying anything.”

“It was a catch-22 situation, but now I see I had it all wrong. I thought if I kept quiet Mason would leave me alone. He’d see that I wasn’t a threat. But he wasn’t playing along because his intent was to always find and hurt me.”

“You don’t need to protect him, Gemma. You owe him nothing.”

“I don’t care about Mason, Detective Kinross. I care about Lucas. I don’t want anything happening to him.”

“Right now, my priority is you. What you’ve told me tonight makes our hunt for him all the more urgent.”

“I thought there was supposed to be a police drive-by?”

“There was,” he replied bitterly, apparently unimpressed with the Maine State Police. “Don’t worry, Gemma. I’ll have the whole station marking the perimeter by the end of this phone call.”

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