Page 61 of Deadly Secrets
“If I could put him away, that would do a lot.”
“You have an opportunity for that, if the man who broke into your car the other night really is the man from your childhood. Does it frighten you that he may be targeting you again?”
Of course! “I’m trying not to focus on that.”
“Understood. If you need to talk about that fear at any point, I’m happy to listen. Again, been there, experienced that.”
“I’m mostly trying to distract myself with everything else.”
“Everything else?”
Roman. Shooting lessons. Focusing on The Reverend’s next group of innocent people. Plus, she had Conrad Flynn waiting for her inside her purse. “A little escapism never hurts, right?”
Emma held up a hand in a high-five gesture. “Amen, sister.”
Brooke gently slapped it and they both stood. “Thank you for this. I appreciate it more than you know.”
“You’re not alone when facing your demons. Please remember that. I see you, who you are today and who you were at ten. I understand what you’re going through.”
Brooke’s brain cramped and she was suddenly ten again.
A hand reached to move the scarf from her face. It was coming closer, closer…”I see you.”
She plopped back down on the couch, her butt hitting hard and her hands flying out to brace against the fabric as the killer’s voice echoed in her ears.
“Brooke? Dr. Heaton?”
Brooke blinked. Emma’s hands were on her upper arms, her face in front of Brooke’s. “Did you have another flashback?”
“He knew I was there,” she whispered. “In the trunk.”
She was torn between trying to see more of the big hand moving closer to her face and never wanting to again. “His hand. He reached for me. He said,‘I see you’.”
“He can’t hurt you now. You’re not that little girl anymore. I’m here with you. Did you see anything else?”
A heavy chain was wrapped around her lungs, keeping them immobile. Closing her eyes, she let the memory hover close again. Moonlight on the gold cross, the wink of the all-seeing eye, the big hand coming down over her face.
“You can’t hide from me, Brooke. Your mother tried to keep you from me, but you’re going to help me get what I want.”
Brooke gasped, eyes flying open. Now her chest heaved, the chain dissolving. She sucked in sharp breaths, Emma’s hands anchoring her to the couch.
Your mother tried to keep you from me…
Her mother? Herrealmother?
Fingers trembling, she wiped them across her face, clearing imaginary cobwebs. Her throat felt tight, her tongue thick. “He said my mother tried to keep me from him.”
Emma released her grip on Brooke, sitting beside her. “Brooke, was the man your father?”
Brooke shook her head, not sure of anything. “Maybe it’s not real. My imagination is just running wild.”
“Is that what you believe?”
Brooke clasped her hands in her lap. She no longer knew what to believe.
Roman let Brooke into the house. “We should talk about what happened.”
She dumped her purse on the breakfast bar, the romance novel in her hand, and headed for the den. “Not yet. I need to process.”
