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Colby is dead. I glance down at him and relief washes over me. The adrenaline blows through my body and out, loosening my joints. I exhale sharply, as if the world itself has just fallen from my shoulders. Deep breaths soon turn to ragged panting. Everything is catching up with me, the nightmare I was living has finally come to an end.
My tormentor is gone.
I am free.
36
Halle
“Halle, are you okay? Are you hurt?”
Chase’s voice hums through my head as if I’m stuck on the inside, looking out into a brand-new world. My ears work fine. My limbs move. My heart is beating fast, but it’s beating. My breathing is even again. Everything is within normal parameters as the police sirens wail louder and louder. I hear tires screeching outside.
“I think I’m okay,” I manage, still sitting on the floor. I look over my shoulder again. Colby is still there, still dead. It’s finally quiet in the center of my soul where he’s been screaming and clawing at me for so many years. My abuser, my tormentor, is finally gone.
Chase kneels down beside me and carefully measures me from head to toe, surprisingly calm in light of what just happened. “Are you in any pain?” he asks.
“Everywhere. It hurts everywhere,” I reply. “Ever since I was tased.”
“We need a paramedic in here!” Chase calls out as armed SWAT officers and cops swarm the house from both the front and the back.
I stare at Eric as he calmly and slowly puts his gun on the floor, then raises his hands in the air while the officers cautiously approach him. “Colby Nash is dead,” he tells them. I recognize Charlie Drucker as he rushes into the room and stops to stare at the scene before him. “I had no choice,” Eric adds. “He was going to kill Halle.”
“I know, buddy,” Charlie sighs. “It’s alright. I get it.”
“Self-defense,” Eric says.
And any sane human being on this earth would agree. It doesn’t wipe away the guilt dripping from his voice or the realization of what he did. Something switched off inside of Eric. The minute he learned I’m pregnant, his whole demeanor shifted. His entire frame darkened, and I could see him staring at Colby with a new intent, his blue eyes the sharpest sapphire. I could almost hear the hatred in his head.
The next few minutes unfold like a dream of sorts.
Chase holds me close, and I lose myself in his embrace. I welcome his strength around me, my rock keeping me safe, reminding me that I am loved and protected. They saved me. They paid a hefty price in the process, but the Danson brothers saved me and my kids. They kept their promise, despite the twists and turns that almost tore us apart.
“You’re gonna be okay,” he says after the paramedics check me.
“She still needs to go to the hospital to make sure the baby’s okay,” one of the emergency responders says.
I nod slowly. “Yes, please. I need to know everything’s all good.”
Around us, the detectives and federal agents mill about, discussing the situation and the scene in front of them. I catch snippets of the conversation along with the occasional contribution from Chase. He liaises with Charlie as the whole team agrees on the final story to be told to the judge and the press.
It was self-defense. Eric had no choice. As for everything that happened on the way over here, it will work itself out before the investigation is over. With Colby dead, there’s no need for a trial, no need for the prosecution to pursue this further.
“They can focus on Harriet Nash, instead,” Charlie says at one point.
Chase gives him a wry smile. “You’re gonna be so happy when you find the present we left you in her office.”
“What present?”
“We wanted to make sure we covered every base before we came here,” Chase replies.
I’m holding an ice pack up to my cheek. It’ll bruise and swell some more by morning, but the paramedic said nothing appeared broken.
“Mama!” I hear Luna’s voice outside.
Instantly, I head for the door. They won’t let my children come in because of Colby, so I rush out into the front yard, ignoring every cop and crime scene investigator as I spot Luna and Sammy waiting on the sidewalk, next to a black-and-white. Wyatt is with them, smiling warmly as he sees me coming.
Tears stream down my cheeks as I take my babies in my arms and hold them close, showering them with all the love I have. My heart sings as I feel their warm skin on my lips, as I breathe them in and thank the heavens for keeping them safe.
