Page 64 of Grave Kisses
“I didn’t earn…” Archer starts to say.
“Shut up, Archer,” I mutter before pulling myself up. Everyone laughs when Bellamy snatches me up and pulls me into his lap to squeeze in a hug. “Bell! Jesus!”
“I missed you so much,” he says, kissing me.
“I missed you, too,” I say.
“Why did you tell him to shut up?” Bellamy asks me.
“Because he keeps trying to convince me not to forgive him,” I say. “He sat down there with me, and every single second was spent taking care of me, protecting me, and making sure I kept hope. All while being violently raped and tied up like an animal for weeks on end. I think he has been punished enough. I’m not going to change my mind, and now he is stuck with me forever.”
“Come here,” Marcus says. I turn and let him pull me into his lap. I curl up, and he holds me against his chest.
“So… I do have a few questions for you,” Andre says to Archer. “First, Jeff had claimed that you killed his wife, and he found her after a week. What do you know about that?”
“I didn’t know he had a wife,” Archer says. “When did she die?”
“He claimed it was roughly two weeks after the fire,” Andre says. “Now, she did in fact die just like all of the others did. I found the files on the bodies found on the property, but he had the files way messed up. The way shit is handled here is ridiculous, but… that’s a rant I won’t go on right now… Just by looking at you, I do believe you.”
“How many bodies were on the property?” Archer asks. “Also, how were they placed without Dad knowing?”
“He didn’t go to the back parts of the property. No one did, really,” I say.
“So, from what I am gathering, the department's lack of recordkeeping allowed Jeff to get away with this. He was the lead detective, so he didn’t have anyone checking behind him. He essentially didn’t have a supervisor to report to and even made his own salary. I guess that he was going to pin everything on you, Archer, or on Alan. If it weren’t for Alan having the wherewithal to give Kendra that tracker, he would have gotten away with it. No one would have thought to look here.”
“How did you get in contact with Tina?” I ask Archer.
“She found me,” Archer says. “It kinda fucked me up for a minute, considering she was hitting on me.”
“Oh, that would be weird,” Julie laughs. “Like this bitch has lost her mind.”
“I didn’t know what to think, honestly. I called her Kendra, and she never corrected me,” Archer says. “She was involved with Jeff for longer than I knew her.”
“Did you fuck her?” Marcus asks.
“Tina? No,” Archer says. “She tried a few times. She made up some sob story that he was hurting her, so I protected her from him. She portrayed to everyone that we were together, but I just felt… obligated, almost.”
“Wait,” I say. “How long did you know her?”
“Uh… about two years,” Archer says.
“Honestly,” Mom says. “I could have sworn y’all were together.”
“I don’t think I ever remember you reciprocating her affection, though,” Dad says.
“No, I just let her do whatever,” Archer says. “I got her off drugs, and it helped, but she was so… Manipulative. I didn’t really know the full extent of it until she tricked me into coming here.”
“There are so many parts to this that we will never understand because she is dead,” I say. “Also, seeing myself get shot in the head was…”
“Fucked up,” Archer says, and I nod.
“So… Let’s go kill this fucker,” Bellamy says, patting my leg. Marcus stands me up, and both of my men take my hands as we make our way back down to the basement.
We find that Jeff is tied up like Archer and I were. I can’t help but laugh because he is stripped naked. “So, who is doing the honors?” Chrissy asks.
“I think Archer should,” I say. “For himself, and for Kimberly.”
“And for you,” Archer says, taking the pistol from Marcus.
