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I heard Thatcher’s voice, but there was a humming in my ears, making everything else fade away. Just before I reached the door, there was a loud crash, the sound of glass breaking, as if the house were coming down, followed by a roar. King stepped around me as I stood, frozen in my spot.
He opened the door and motioned for me to go outside. Another crash, and I winced. He was going to destroy the place.
“NOOO!” Storm’s shout filled the house.
“Let’s go before he brings that crazy shit this way and I have to hurt him,” Thatcher said, nudging my shoulder to move.
I forced one foot in front of the other.
I sat in the back of the Escalade, staring at the house with my hands clasped tightly in my lap. I’d walked out. Left. Yet I had never felt more raw and vulnerable in my life. The fear I’d struggled with when this all began with Storm was that I would lose my edge. It had gotten me through this life so far.
I had been right to worry. It was no longer there.
King closed the driver’s door and glanced back at me. “I’ll come back later and check on him,” he told me.
I could only nod. The one time I’d had a conversation with King, it was with us pointing guns at each other. This man had tracked me for months, making sure I hadn’t lied about Roger. It was odd, having him be the one who had come to get me.
He started the engine, and we pulled out of the driveway.
“I believe you killed Roger,” King said.
I turned to look at the back of his head, but I didn’t respond. It was about time, but that really wasn’t one of my concerns anymore. Whatever the man wanted to believe, he could believe.
“Only because Maeme told Rumor what he had done to you and she railed his ass,” Thatcher said, throwing what looked like a sneer in King’s direction. But Thatcher’s expressions were never easy to read.
“Rumor wants to meet you—that is, if you’re sticking around long enough,” King said.
I stared out the window. If I were staying. If Storm truly loved me. If this perfect world I’d foolishly believed in hadn’t just been a house of mirrors, then I would want to meet her too. Possibly have a new friend.
I knew we’d be leaving soon. We couldn’t stay here now. Taking Dovie from the life she’d started to make here was just more misery to add to all this ugliness. We had both gotten a taste of having a family and security. This was all my fault. I hadn’t listened to my gut. I had let my heart call the shots.
• Twenty-Four •
“Whatever it was that caused him to do the things he did must have been caused by some powerful emotion.”
Briar
Either Dovie wasn’t as heartbroken about this as I’d thought she would be or she was being strong for me. I was leaning toward the latter. I wanted to reassure her, but talking at all seemed to be too much for me just yet.
I sat on the bed in the bedroom Maeme had given me and stared at the wall. I had been doing this since I had woken up this morning. I couldn’t find the strength to get out of bed.
I had decisions to make and plans to figure out. This was all so complicated, and my head was weary from the brokenness inside of me. My phone rang, and I tensed, afraid to look over at it. Pepper’s name was on the screen. I guessed Storm wasn’t screening my calls, or perhaps he was. I didn’t know how it worked. Pepper had called this number instead of Dovie’s, so that must mean something.
Picking it up, I touched Answer, then placed it to my ear.
“Hello?” My voice sounded foreign to me. It was hollow and hoarse, as if I’d been screaming all night.
“Did you get any sleep?” she asked in a gentle tone.
“Eventually,” I replied.
It had taken me hours to fall asleep. I cried until there were no more tears, and then I had fallen asleep, wishing that I would wake up and it would have all been a bad dream.
“I tried Dovie’s phone first, and it went straight to voice mail, so I thought I’d try this one. Do you feel comfortable talking on it?”
I shrugged, although she couldn’t see me. Did it really matter anymore?
“It’s fine.”
“I know you want to figure things out and need time to work through it all, but I will come get y’all. It can’t be easy, being in the thick of the family while you’re hurting.”
I thought about it. Going to Miami. Staying with Pepper. Working at the bar and getting enough money to get us an apartment. We no longer had to run … thanks to Storm. Dovie could get a job. I’d find her a school. Get health insurance for us both. Start a new life.
