AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Did your dad save you?”
Nodding, she cleared her throat. “Dad had to choose between saving me or saving Mom.”
“Oh fuck.” The enormity of that decision was like a massive boulder on my chest.
“He chose me.” Her chin trembled. “Mom drowned before Dad could get her back onto Rhino.”
A tear spilled over her cheek.
I pulled her against my chest and crushed her body to mine. I wanted to say more, to offer comfort or rage on her behalf, but the words tangled in my throat.
She sucked in a wobbly breath. “I can still see their faces.”
I rubbed my hand over her bare back. “The police never found the killers, did they? That’s why you hate us.”
She eased back with her chin dimpling and tears swimming in her eyes. “I grew up without a mom, and I was angry about that. But I was wrong.”
“Not all cops are bad. Sometimes we?—”
“It wasn’t their fault.” Her swimming tears made her amber irises look like pure honey. “Just before Dad died, he told me that he’d killed those two men.”
I blinked at her.
“I didn’t know. I swear. All this time, I’ve been searching for those bastards and hating cops like you because Mom’s killers were never found.” She clenched her fists. “He could have told me. I would have still loved him, you know. His actions were justified.”
I swallowed a swell of emotions. Indiana and I had both spent years chasing ghosts from our pasts.
“I didn’t think Dad and I had any secrets between us.” She ran her knuckle beneath her eye.
I thumbed a tear from her cheek. “I didn’t know him for very long, but I’m sure his guilt would have crushed him.”
“It did. That’s why he drank. To drown out his memories.”
I nodded. I knew exactly what it was like to want to drown memories.
I pulled her to my chest again, and as she wrapped her arms around me, her hot tears dripped onto my shoulder.
She sucked in a massive shaky breath and pulled back from me. “Sorry.”
I squeezed her hand. “There’s no need to be sorry. What you went through was horrendous for anyone, let alone a kid.”
My thoughts jerked to Wesley and what he’d witnessed. I searched the vegetation around us, expecting Wesley’s ghost to be glaring at me from amongst the field of green.
“Thank you for telling me. That means the world to me.”
She shrugged, and I had the feeling she wanted to elaborate on her apology.
She didn’t need to apologize for anything. Her actions were driven by what she saw and the lies she’d been told.
It was so similar to Wesley’s reasoning that my heart skidded to a stop.
Indiana drank the last of her water, then looked at the bottle like its emptiness surprised her. It was the trigger I needed.
If we don’t find water, we could die on this fucking island.
“Come on, let’s keep moving.” I helped her to stand, and she wrapped her arms around me.
I squeezed her to my body, feeling her warmth. Feeling her vulnerability. Something so raw wrapped around my heart and I knew I would do anything for this amazing woman.
