Page 45 of Scarred Sunrise

Chapter 20

It was almost midnight,her eyes were gritty from lack of sleep, but she wanted to keep pushing as she read through what weren’t only scientific files, but also the personal files belonging to Rhea Winslow. The entire day had been long and exhausting, and they were only just beginning to pore through things.

“Is it likely she left her evil plans written down for us?” Liz asked Will who was chewing on red strawberry pencil sweets.

“Huh, that would be helpful, but nah, I doubt it. I’m running some programs to look for keywords though to try and speed this up.”

Aubrey walked in with coffee for them all except Ty, who drank tea, and sat next to Will. “Is there any chatter on the dark web or whatever you call it?”

“Nothing, it’s deathly silent which speaks volumes. It’s like the huge unnatural quiet you get before a tsunami. It makes me nervous.”

“Best get back to it then.” Ty had barely looked up since they’d begun working like a trojan to find what they needed.

Bending her head, she got to work. Two hours later her eyes scanned across an old picture that had her heart leaping. “Ty, look at this.”

He scooted towards her on his chair and looked over her shoulder. On the screen was a picture of John with Ty’s mum. They looked happy and in love, and for the first time, she wondered if John was the monster she’d painted him to be in her head. Meg spoke fondly of him, and he’d treated her well, for a man who’d essentially stolen her from the arms of another to appease a crazy woman. It was at that moment she realised why he seemed so familiar to her. He was the man she’d seen in the hospital the day Meg was taken. He had literally stolen her away from her mother. The realisation rocked her, leaving her with mixed emotions. He was Ty’s dad, yet to her he was a monster. Looking back at the picture she saw a man in love and that was a hard to handle.

“Wow, that’s so surreal, seeing them together.”

“They look happy.”

“Yes, they do, which makes it even harder to understand. If he loved my mum like it seems he does in this picture, then why leave?”

“They say it’s possible to be in love with two people at the same time.”

Ty said nothing but kept looking at the picture before peering closer. “Is that the black opal ring that Rhea wears now?”

Liz looked closer, zooming in on the grainy image. “Yes, it looks like it.”

“I guess it’s crazy to think that Rhea wouldn’t have paid my mum a visit at some stage. She would’ve wanted to warn her off in some way, probably took that when she did.”

Liz fought a yawn and failed. “Sorry.”

“No, I should take you home. It’s been a long day and us exhausting ourselves past sense won’t help.”

Will stretched and stood, hooking an arm around Aubrey. “We should get some sleep too.”

“Do you want to sleep here or go home?” Ty asked as they made it to the hallway.

“Home, I want to check in with Mateo and Dad.”

“No problem, let’s go.”

They were quiet in the car as he drove her home, pulling up to the house that she loved, the treehouse she’d played in still in the back garden. “You want to stay here? Save you going home.”

Ty looked surprised at her request. “Are you sure? What about Mateo?”

“We can get up before he does, so he doesn’t have the shock of seeing us in bed together.”

“If you’re sure, I’d love that.”

She linked her fingers with his as they walked to the front door. She let them in, turning off the alarm before relocking the door. The living room light was on which wasn’t a surprise; her father was an awful insomniac.

He was sitting in his favourite chair watching a boxing match repeat but looked up when they entered. “Hey, princess.”

She walked over and dropped a kiss to his stubbled cheek. “Hey, Dad.”

Her father looked behind her and nodded at Ty. He was taking it easy on him but she knew her father still had reservations about whether or not Ty was in it for the long haul or would bail on her.