Page 88 of Estranged Heart
“You have no proof, and you’ll never get any either. You’ll disappear and so will this whole investigation. Silas and I will get another chance to mend what you broke . . .”
“You’re delusional,” I spit. “You’re the one who broke your relationship. You alone. You thought a new heart would fix everything, but the issues in your marriage went beyond Silas being sick.”
“Shut up.” She waves the gun around, reaching for the back of her neck. “I’m done hearing you talk. You know nothing about me and my marriage. Nothing.”
“Put a bullet in his head already and let’s be done with it,” the guy behind me says.
“No,” she says, steadying her hand. “Death is too easy. I want him to experience what his husband went through but fully alert and oriented. I want him to feel us cutting his body to pieces until the very fucking end.”
This woman has completely lost her mind. They say love will make you crazy but that’s not what this is. No, this is anger and jealousy. This is too vile to come from a good place, and that’s what love is. She thought she had it with Silas but their wholerelationship was based on control and manipulation. “You think you can keep getting away with this? Silas knows what you did. The cops know. It’s too late for you.”
“Silas isn’t fully oriented and he’s on a lot of pain meds. He doesn’t know what’s real right now and it won’t be the first time I make him see things my way over everyone else’s.” Her eyes are wild and she smirks. “And as for the cop . . . well . . . let’s just say he won’t be a problem either. Time for you to go to sleep now.”
A needle presses to my skin and I shove back my elbow, hitting the man behind me in the face. He drops the needle, and I move my head before Stacey slams her finger on the trigger, shooting her friend in the head instead of me.
“Fuck.” Her eyes widen, and as she aims the gun at me again, I bulldoze her in the stomach. The gun crashes to the ground and she curls in on herself, slowly reaching for it. I get to my feet and the heel of my shoe slams against her fingers.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Bending down to retrieve the gun, I keep my eyes on her every move and that’s when I hear footsteps behind me. My eyes widen and cold air creeps up the back of my neck. A hard object is slammed over my head and I crumple to the ground, vision burning as I try to make out the other person in my house.
“You had one job,” the deep voice says. “And here I am cleaning up after you again.”
The man’s face comes more into focus and my next breath catches in my throat as he smiles at me.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Pena,” Officer Robinson says. “It’s all going to be okay now. You’ll be joining your husband very soon, and we’ll be making several new clients very happy with the gift you’re about to give them.”
Pressing a foot to my chest, the asshole cop bends lower to shove a needle in my neck and then my whole world goes dark.
Twenty-nine
Silas
I keep coming in and out of consciousness, feeling worse each time I open my eyes. Elijah’s words pierce my heart whenever I replay them in my head, and as I fully come to, I can no longer convince myself it was all a dream. He accused Stacey of murder but the Stacey I know wouldn’t be capable of such a thing. Would she? He was so sure in his sharp, angry tone, and that’s when all the nightmares flash through my mind. One after another.
I’m back in the woods. On that table. Shaking and cold on a concrete floor with all my clothes off and bones aching. My white shirt is ripped and bloody. Except it isn’t mine. It’s. . . My chest constricts. I feel like my heart is splitting down the center. It’s not my heart. It was never supposed to be mine.
I’ve known who it belonged to all along but didn’t want it to be true, for different reasons than this. My breaths come outuneven and I’m spiraling out of control. No. She wouldn’t do this. Why would she? How could she?
My worst fears have come to life. Those were never bad dreams, were they? I knew they felt real for a reason. In each event that was happening, I was Landon and he was me. A sinking feeling comes over me and my breaths come out harsher than before. I grab at my throat, ripping at the cannula, and several hands stop me.
“Mr. Adams. Can you hear me? Tell us what’s wrong?”
Everything. All of it. Nothing will ever be okay again.
“It hurts,” I cry out. “It all hurts.” The excruciating pain spreads like weeds, tangling up inside me and strangling my insides.
“Tell us where you feel the pain.”
I grasp at my chest, tears hanging from my eyes, and cold air stabs at my skin as they yank off my gown. Machines beep from every direction and so many voices bounce around me. So many blurry faces look down at me, hands pricking me with needles and attaching a cuff to my arm. I lie here, still and aching. It’s a bone deep pain not even meds can soothe.
“Elijah,” I call out. “Where’s Elijah?” I can still smell him. Every part of him lingers in this small room and on my body.
“Who’s Elijah, sweetheart?” one of the nurses says, her cold hand like ice on my hot skin.
“The man who was here before,” I rasp. My throat burns every time I speak and the whole room is spinning out of control. He was here, wasn’t he? Maybe it was a dream? Oh, please let it be a dream. His accusing eyes felt too real, boring deep into my memory and putting me in a chokehold. Then he asked if what we had was even real. It was to me. All my days spent with Elijah felt like main events while everything else felt like small details that filled in the small gaps.
“I’m not sure, hun, but I need you to breathe for me, okay. Take a deep breath and relax.”
I do as she says, inhaling deep and exhaling until I feel my lungs are being flooded with too much air too fast. A large weight settles on my chest, so heavy and crushing. The room grows distant and I stick my hand out trying to grab onto anything I can while I slip away again to a place where nothing but darkness surrounds me.
