Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 62923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
They reached their destination nearly twenty minutes early, Remi realized, when Ryder pulled the Jeep into the driveway of a three-story log cabin, tucked away in the serenity of the woodland. It was both beautiful and peaceful. Remi looked around, easily seeing Veronica searching for wounded animals to rescue or simply exploring the forest that surrounded the house.
He had no idea how he was going to tell Veronica’s sister what he had to tell her…to show her, but also had a feeling Veronica would offer some guidance along the way. At least, he hoped she would. Mildred Polydoro, her sister, knew that Eric had murdered Veronica. She was even aware of the horrendous way her sister died, but none of the notes they’d found at either of Peterman’s houses revealed the whereabouts of her body. Mildred deserved to know. Jeremy’s mom had told Remi that the family wanted what all families did—the opportunity to give their loved one a proper burial and have a place to go visit.
He could give the family their peace.
“Who lives here?” Ryder asked as he reached for Gilley and gently placed her in her carrier in the backseat. The ugly bitch didn’t make a sound or threaten her claws once as Ryder tucked her in. If Remi had tried, she would have hissed and screamed like a banshee and left claw marks that wouldn’t have healed for weeks.
“Mildred Polydoro. She’s Veronica’s older sister—the one that I ran into that night at Mystic Mary’s house.” He turned and looked at Ryder. “She needs to know where Veronica is. She deserves that much peace, at least.”
“Do you know?” Ryder asked with a frown. They’d never really discussed it, so he was clearly surprised that Remi knew where the body was located.
“Afraid so,” Remi answered. “Do you want to stay in the Jeep with Gilley? This could get…uncomfortable.”
“Absolutely not,” Ryder answered quickly. “I’m always with you, babe.”
“Let’s do this, then,” Remi whispered. As he opened the door and stepped out, his stomach felt queasy. The next few minutes were going to be horrible.
After a few soft knocks to the front door, Mildred opened it just far enough for her to peek outside. A heavy chain prevented it from opening further. Remi took a step back, shocked at how much she resembled her baby sister, Veronica. He guessed he’d been so out of it that first night that he hadn’t noticed. She was an older, more serious version of rat girl.
“May I help you?” she asked quietly, her eyes nervously darting between the two men like she expected them to whip out a knife and try to hack her to pieces. As she continued to look at them, though, realization dawned on her. “Wait…I know you,” she said to Remi. “I saw you at Mary’s house and…and I’ve seen you on the news, as well. You helped them find the man that killed my sister, didn’t you?”
Remi felt himself blush. He’d hated that his face had gotten onto the news. It had put him in an unfortunate position—people either hated or loved him, either thought he was gifted or crazy. There was absolutely no in between.
“Actually, your sister helped me help them,” Remi answered, feeling like a fool. No matter how many times this happened to him, he suspected he’d always feel weird. “I’m thankful she used me to stop Eric before he could hurt anyone else.”
Mildred slammed the door, yanked the chain away, opened it back up, and launched herself into Remi’s arms. “Thank you so much! I may not have gotten the answers I wanted, but it helped so damn much to know that Veronica still exists on…on some level, and that she was able to help stop Peterman. I knew it was him all along, but the police wouldn’t listen to me. He was too wealthy and popular to be capable of such things. They all thought that about his son, too. Fucking fools,” she spat.
She pulled away from Remi, but kept her hand locked with his. “Is she happy now? Please tell me she has some happiness…wherever she is.”
Remi smiled; this was the easy part. “Yes, she very happy. She’s with Gary. I can honestly tell you that they are at peace and with one another.”
Tears glistened in her eyes. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much knowing that means to me. She was such a sweet girl.” The tears started falling. “I miss her so damn much, you know? There’s…there’s not even a place for me to go so I can be near her. There’s so much I want to tell her, so many things I should have said before it was too late.”
Ryder cleared his throat. His nervousness was palpable. Remi knew he constantly worried about him and how hard his gift had turned out to be.