Page 215 of I Never Stopped Loving You

“It takes about two to three hours. The chamber gets to almost 1800 degrees. Any fragments like bones or teeth are put in a cremulator to be ground into a sand-like texture. I didn’t put his body with the teeth remains. I pulled one of the other bodies of an unclaimed Jane Doe and put his teeth and bones in with hers.”

“Who the fuck are you?” I ask, stunned.

She just smiles at me before relaxing against Jeremy. She’s acting as if we’re discussing what she did for fun over the weekend, instead of disposing of a corpse.

“I’m just a girl who watched way too many crime TV shows, listened to all the crime podcasts, and loves it when bad people get what they deserve. After what Willow told me about her dad, I knew that man deserved every fucking thing that he got. I’m proud of you for shooting him, babe,” she says, looking at Willow, and I watch the smallest smile lift on Willow’s lips.

“And none of this bothers you?” I genuinely ask.

“Nope. Death is death. It doesn’t bother me. Only if it was deserved or not. And James Parker deserved to die,” she says confidently.

My stomach drops when I glance at Jeremy. He knows everything. Not every name, but he knows that I’ve been hunting down scum like James for years and have been enacting my own vigilante justice on them. So, how much did he tell her?

“Before you ask, Jeremy didn’t tell me much else. But judging by the tools you have down there, and the fact it’s like a fucked-up torture maze, I’m assuming James wasn’t the first?” she asks, and my mouth goes dry. I haven’t even had a chance to talk to Willow about this.

“I wanted to be able to talk to Willow alone first, but I guess we’re all in this together now,” I say as I run a hand over my face.

I can feel Willow press herself closer to my side. Her scent and the warmth from her body calm me and help me gain control of my nerves before I tell them everything.

“I realized a long time ago I had demons. A darkness inside of me that I couldn’t quite figure out how to handle. For years, I struggled with it, especially while searching for her. When I started shadowing at my father’s firm, I found my purpose, a way to satiate my demons. I’ve always hated anyone who even lays a finger on their loved ones, especially the ones who managed to get away with it. My father has helped so many men get the charges dropped. I hated him, but I realized I could use this to my advantage.”

I glance at Willow to see her reaction, but she looks calm. How the hell is this conversation real?

“I’ve been hunting them down since I was eighteen. I’d torture them, making them see what they did using photos from the crime scenes, medical reports, and any other evidence I could get my hands on. I’d end up killing them and disposing of their bodies before moving on to the next one. When I bought this place four years ago, it was specifically for the hidden labyrinth. It wasn’t on any blueprints, except the original ones drawn up by the one who built and owned this place the longest. I found the blueprints at an estate sale they held here, and I watched the house until it went on the market. I found James shortly after that and kept him here.”

“Why?” Jenna asks.

“Because I knew one day I’d find Willow, and she deserved to get her revenge on that monster. I wanted her to be able to end him if she wanted, if not, I would somehow let her get her closure before I killed him,” I say, glancing at Willow.

“Aww. That's so romantic…In a horrifyingly fucked up way, but still romantic,” Jenna laughs.

“How many others were there?” Willow asks.

“Fifty-four total. James was going to be fifty-five.”

“Damn. You really went all out with the vigilante justice. And you knew the whole time?” Jenna asks Jeremy.

“No…I only found out recently about that part of his life.”

“What the hell? How?” she asks, shocked.

“Listen, I knew he had his demons, but I never asked. If he felt like he could or needed to tell me, he would. But it wasn’t necessary. I accepted his secrets and just let him know I was here if he ever needed me. He does the same for me,” Jeremy defends himself.

We sit in silence for a few moments, letting the truth of everything sink in. My demons are all out in the open now, and my anxiety is rising as I wait for any of them to say a single thing.

“So what do we do now?” Willow finally asks.

“What do you mean?” I ask. Is this too much? Is she going to leave?

“Like, am I going to move in here? Or now that the thing with him is over, did you want to move?”

“Do you want to live together, Little Rabbit?” I ask, taking her hands gently in mine. “If you want to move, we’ll move. I’ll go anywhere as long as it’s with you.”

“Honestly, as fucked up as it is, I don’t want to move. I love this house. I love the river out back. Now, don’t judge me, but I love it that this is also where I was able to end him. He can’t hurt me anymore,” she says.

Without another word, I wrap my hand around the back of her neck, pulling her to me and crushing her lips against mine.

“You are fucking amazing, you know that, right?” I whisper against her lips. She laughs before pulling away.