Page 19 of Broken Minds

Chapter Nine

Boredom had overtakenmy anger, so now I sat on my bed, my chin resting on my knees, as I did my best to not give in to my irritation. What the hell was Hayden doing? I felt as though he’d been gone forever.

The familiar whirr of the elevator made me look up. He was coming! Finally.

I jumped to my feet, eager to find out what he’d been doing. I hoped that since we’d fucked he’d be a little keener to let me in on his plans. Men thought with their dicks, and this was very much a case of “fool him twice,” but I’d do anything I could to get out of this fucking room and off this island.

The elevator doors slid open, and my stomach sank. Loretta stepped out, carrying a tray.

I scowled at her. “Where’s Hayden?”

“He’s busy.”

“Doing what?”

“That’s none of your goddamned business.”

Anger flared within me, but I held myself back. It had always been clear that there had never been any love lost between Loretta and me, but she seemed even spikier than normal. Did she have that damned Taser on her? I quickly ran my gaze up and down her body, trying to spot a telltale bulge, but all the clothing she wore were lose, and it was impossible to tell.

I suddenly realized I trusted Loretta even less than I trusted Hayden. I could almost predict how Hayden would react to things, but she was like a snake, ready to dart out of the undergrowth and strike.

She plonked the tray unceremoniously down on the table and straightened.

“He might be warming to you,” she spat, “but don’t think for a minute that I’ll ever let my guard down with you around.”

I remembered how I’d softened when I’d heard Loretta’s tragic story, and I tried to pull back some of that emotion.

“Hayden told me what happened to your daughter. I just wanted to say how sorry I am.”

Instead of calming her down, my words had the opposite effect.

“He didn’t have any right to tell you. That’s my business, not his, and certainly not yours. I don’t even want to hear you mention my girl, do you understand?”

It was different with Loretta. I could understand why Hayden had such a hatred for me, because of the lie I’d told, but nothing I’d done had gotten Loretta’s daughter killed. That had all been on my father.

“I wasn’t the one who killed her, Loretta. I understand it must be hard for you—”

“Hard? You have no fucking idea what’s hard. You try carrying a child inside you, watching her grow from a baby, to a toddler, to a young woman. To be so proud of her, and put your entire world in her happiness, only to have it all snatched away by some fucking bastard.”

My heart twisted, heat flaring to my face. “You’re right. I don’t know, but I still wasn’t the one who killed her.”

“Maybe not, but I know what type of person you are. You protected him—the man who raped and murdered my baby-girl. You’re evil, down to the core, and if I had anything to do with it, you’d be dead already. You have his genes, and they’re rotten. God forbid you ever have children of your own and pass them on to a new generation. They should die with you.”

The threat was unmistakable, and I took a step back, wanting to put more space between us. I glanced up into the corner of the room, hoping Hayden was watching.

My lie had all come out after my father had been arrested the second time, after he’d murdered Hayden’s mother. The police had been torn to shreds for letting him go the first time, and the press got hold of the fact that my mother had lied for him, and that I’d corroborated the story. Everyone knew, and the shame I felt at not only being related to a mass-murderer and rapist, but also at everyone knowing I’d lied to protect him, had been overwhelming. At my aunt’s house, I’d stopped speaking and withdrew into myself, not wanting to eat and certainly not wanting to go outside. The world had suddenly become a terrifying place, and I wanted no part in it. In a way, I almost understood the reason my mother had taken her own life. It had been a get out clause, and there had been plenty of times I’d considered doing the same thing. I was on the cusp of being a teenager, with all the issues that brought with it, and then I suddenly had more heartbreak and grief than I’d ever thought possible.

The only thing that had kept me going was my little brother. I understood exactly what he was going through, and I wasn’t going to abandon him when he needed me the most. He’d slip into bed with me at night and curl up against my back with his forehead pressed between my shoulder blades. He struggled with what had happened just as much as I did, and there was no way I was going to leave him without a big sister as well. I guessed that was why it hurt so much that he wanted nothing to do with me now. As soon as he’d turned about fourteen, he’d started to pull away from both me and our aunt, not really speaking to us and shutting himself away in his room. We’d both been really worried about him, but he refused to talk about it. Then, as soon as he got old enough, he announced he was changing his name and moving away, and he didn’t want us to contact him. It had felt like the last tie to my family slipped from my fingers. He’d been my reason to keep going, but I wasn’t enough for him to want to stay.

I tore my thoughts away from the past and tried to focus on my present. I wanted Loretta to leave, but I also wanted to know what Hayden was doing. It felt as though he’d been gone forever, and we’d left things in a strange place. I’d been all alone down here, and having someone to talk to was still a bonus in my mind, even if that particular person hated me.

“Please, can you just tell me what Hayden’s plans are?” I asked, trying to turn the topic away from Loretta’s daughter. “He said he needs to take me off the island, but doesn’t have a way of doing it yet. All I want to know is what to expect and how long it’s going to take.”

“He’s swimming out to the boat,” she snapped. “He might not even make it back.”

I blinked in surprise. “The boat? I thought the boat was gone.”

I wondered how much Loretta knew of what had happened, since she’d been sick during the events of the storm.

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