Page 56 of The Locksmith's Promise

I crossed the family room easily enough, but by the time I passed his bedroom door, my breath escaped in sharp pants.

I didn’t bother checking the bathroom. When I got to my bedroom door, I paused and swallowed hard.

Making it this far had never been a guarantee of safety.

How many nights had I lain in bed, listening to him clean his gun? Certain he would walk into my room and finish me off like he so often threatened.

How many nights had I wished he would?

The noise in my head increased in volume as the barrage of memories flooded my brain. But as soon as my hand touched the doorknob, they slowed to include the close-up view of the dirty carpet as he pinned me down and pressed the burning tip of his cigar into my arm.

The hiss and snap of his belt whistling through the air and landing with a sharp crack, each one marked with his grunt of exertion.

A fuzzy recollection of Jenny spread across my bed, the one and only time she’d been in my house never mind my bedroom.

Was she crying?

The knife.

The blood pooling.

The hair stood up on the back of my neck.

Run.

I spun around with my heart in my throat and my fists raised to confront a flurry of dust particles spinning in the air.

Huffing out a small, self-deprecating laugh, I turned back to my door and grasped the doorknob. It was time to put those ghosts to rest.

I pushed the door open and gaped. There was not a single surface left unmarked. The walls were destroyed. My old bed, slashed to ribbons. And the contents of my closet spilled out onto the floor.

I could picture him doing it, screaming vitriol, spittle flying from his mouth.

I knew he hated me, but if I had any doubt, this visual montage provided proof.

And it shamed me to admit that truth twisted my guts even after all this time.

How had I deserved this?

Why did he turn on me when Mom turned on both of us?

Walking closer, I nudged the pile from my closet with my foot. Was there anything there worth saving?

My attention snapped to the closet floor.

How could I have forgotten for even a moment when this is what I came for?

Dropping to my knees, I felt along the musty carpet.

Please, please, please.

I closed my eyes to concentrate until I found the seam and drew back the edge of the carpet.

It was there.

Just where I left it.

I pulled the envelope toward me and opened it to check the contents.

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