Page 33 of One More Betrayal

I’m still absorbing how he didn’t get mad at me for wrecking his truck. I’m not talking about a small scratch on the bumper. I’m not sure the bumper was even still attached to the truck when I last saw it.

“Two state police officers came in to ask you a few questions about the accident,” Troy tells me.

My smile vanishes. A tidal wave of fear obscuring it, wiping it away. Kellan’s normally difficult-to-read expression is gone, and the one he is wearing sends a jolt of panic through me.

I’m not surprised I had a flashback when I saw the male cop. In a way, he reminded me of Lincoln, my late husband’s younger brother. Something about the way Lincoln looked at me and the way my husband seemed meaner whenever they got into an argument always left me feeling unsettled around that brother.

Not that he had ever done anything to warrant a flashback.

“Did something happen in your past that has to do with the police?” Troy asks.

“Troy!” The slap of his name from Kellan startles me. The reprimanding tone I recognize, but it isn’t the same harsh one I’d heard countless times from my husband. It’s the tone Granny used when I was a kid and did something I knew she wouldn’t approve of.

My gaze drops to the IV in the back of my hand.

“Jess, one of the officers is female,” Kellan says. “Would you be more comfortable if you just spoke with her?”

Would I?

None of the officers who came to the house were females. My husband hadn’t approved of women on the police force. But…but plenty of the prison guards were female. With…with a few exceptions, they were no better than the men.

The idea of talking to anyone in a police uniform worsens the throbbing in my head, but I don’t have a choice. And the more I refuse to talk to them, the more questions they’ll have about why that’s the case. Besides, it shouldn’t take long. There’s not much to tell.

If they have to ask me questions, it must mean the deer survived. I didn’t hit it. Its poor body wasn’t found at the scene of the accident. A small amount of relief bounds through me.

“Okay,” I say, knowing I don’t have a choice, and praying the officer doesn’t recognize me from my past life. “I’ll talk to the female officer. But I meant what I said earlier. I don’t want to stay here. I want to go home. I want to see Bailey.” I want to make sure she’s still okay.

“I’m so sorry about your truck,” I tell Troy and the image of the bent and twisted metal flashes in my head.

My body stiffens, automatically bracing for the blow.

The punch to my stomach.

The foot to my back.

The gun to my head.

My body shakes again and my vision swims in and out. I’m an 8.9 magnitude earthquake. Every part of me is unstable. Every part of me is at risk of crumpling under its force.

A warm hand rests on my cheek. “Hey, Jess. It’ll be okay. It wasn’t your fault.” Troy’s soothing deep voice makes its way through my shattered thoughts, reminding me I’m here with him. I’m not reliving my past. “It’s just a truck. It’s you I’m more worried about.”

“I’m going to get the female trooper,” Kellan says, “so you can get this over with.”

“And then I want to go home,” I tell Troy.

“I’ll talk to Samuel and see what we can do about that. But I’ll do that after you’ve spoken with the state trooper. I’m not leaving your side while you talk to her unless you want me to go.” He weaves his fingers with mine.

His firm touch roots me to the spot, making me feel safe and secure against the storm battling inside me and the one I’m about to face.

Please tell me the officers didn’t recognize me. Please tell me my secret’s still safe.

I tighten my hold on his hand. “No, please stay.”

The room door opens, and the female officer enters. She wasn’t the one who triggered the flashback. That dubious honor goes to her partner.

The woman is nothing like the prison guards who lorded over me. She’s shorter than I’d expected. And younger. Maybe only twenty-five or twenty-six years old. She has seen things, but they haven’t hardened her yet. She gives me a brief but compassionate smile.

But I still can’t relax. All I need is for her to recognize me, and my secret will no longer be hidden.

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