Page 46 of Safe Haven

Becca’s brows lift. “Right?” She frowns. “Not everyone wants to go party and not everyone needs a giant group of friends to feel satisfied and fulfilled with their life.”

I notice she doesn’t mention anything about the being single part, but I know not everyone is interested in finding someone. I didn’t think I was.

“When your sister called, did she give you any information about where she was or who she was with?” Maddox redirects the conversation, so I fuse my lips and let him guide Becca’s explanation.

“Where?” Becca shakes her head. “No, but I don’t think they took her far.” She leans to one side, pulling her phone from the pocket of her jeans. “I still have the number, but I’m not sure it will be useful. I tried to look it up, but it seems like it was probably a burner.” She rattles off the number, then also recites her sister’s cell number. Maddox asks for her sister’s address, full name and date of birth, where she goes to school, and if Becca knows any of her friends’ names and numbers.

I’m surprised at the amount of information Becca has compiled. She really did plan to take Trevor and everyone else involved down all on her own.

“How many times did you call the Memphis police about Trevor?” Maddox asks a question I’m not sure I want to hear the answer to.

Because I’m sure it was more times than I did.

“Dozens. Not that it did me any fucking good.” Becca slumps back in her chair, looking tired and beaten down. “That department is a fucking joke.” Her lips flatten into a thin line. “It’s almost as useless as their missing persons unit.” She shakes her head, eyes lifting to the ceiling. “They pretended to look for Amanda for maybe a week, but then pretty much acted like she was just a runaway. I blew their fucking phones up trying to get them to take this seriously, but they just stopped answering my calls.”

Maddox’s eyes come to me.

I pull in a deep breath. “I called a few times, but I was too scared to do more.” I glance Maddox’s way, uncertain how much information I should share with this woman. When he gives me a barely perceptible nod, I continue. “Trevor was abusive, so when I left, I walked away with virtually nothing.”

I hesitate. I’ve held onto the secrets for so long knowing if I shared them, it could be the end of life as I knew it. Or just life in general. Maddox is the only person I’ve told, but technically Alaskan Security knows now, and I feel like Becca has a right to know too. So, I take a deep breath and tell her my story.

About how Trevor targeted me a lot like he did her sister. How he was so charming and kind and generous in the beginning andI ate up his attention, oblivious to what was happening. I tell her about how he set up the clothing store, claiming it would be my business. How he bought me a dog, and a big beautiful house, and paid for an extravagant wedding.

Then I tell her about how the abuse started slowly—little digs at the weight I gained or how I wasn’t dressing well enough or that my hair looked bad. I explain how that grew into having things taken from me—my car, my phone, my dog. How he held those things over my head. Used them against me to get what he wanted.

And then the physical violence started.

I almost go into a trance recounting some of my most painful memories. Admitting how much I allowed. How much I looked past. How long I lingered, knowing things could get worse if I left.

I was right. I just didn’t know they wouldn’t only get worse for me.

When I’m done, Becca is absolutely fuming, her small frame practically vibrating with anger. “We have to figure out a way to take these fuckers down.”

Rubbing my lips together, I prepare to offer her the last secret I have. Admitting it will make me vulnerable. If we’re wrong, and Becca and all she’s claiming is a bullshit story concocted to get me to let down my guard, then Trevor will be one step closer to finding me.

But we are where we are because I wasn’t willing to take a risk. Wasn’t willing to stick my neck out. And now Becca’s sister is suffering for it.

“I think I have what we need to make that happen.”

Becca goes still. “What do you have?”

“I knew leaving Trevor would be a risk. I felt the only way I could ensure my safety was to have leverage. A bargaining chip I could use to save my skin if it ever came down to that.”

It wasn’t a well-thought-out plan. I’d done it in the heat of the moment as I was scrambling to figure out how to get away. My face throbbing from his latest punch, I’d thrown a few important items into a bag and called the number on the card one of the customers from the clothing store had given me when she’d seen right through my layers of foundation and primer.

And then I saw his laptop.

I don’t know why he left it that day, and I don’t know what possessed me to try to unlock it. But I do know Trevor Hawthorne III is a narcissist and an idiot, because his computer’s password was 1GovernorHawthorne—a version of the vanity plate he already owned in preparation for his future.

Once I was in, I knew what I had to do.

“Before I left, I copied everything on his computer to a flash drive and took it with me. It has proof of what he’s been doing.” I know she’s going to be excited, but there’s a problem and Becca needs to know it. “If we can ever find someone from the Memphis PD who’s not in his pocket, I’ll be more than happy to hand it over.”

FIFTEEN

MADDOX

“I THINK BECCA wanted to punch me in the face.”

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