Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 68006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
My body goes numb once more. “What?”
“He refers to a friend in this letter.”
“I know.”
“Kelly, let’s go sit down.”
My legs crumple, and Leif steadies me as we walk to the couch. He sits down and pulls me into his lap.
Being so close to Leif, having him care for me, normally gives me so much comfort. Comfort I’ve never had in my life. This time, all I can feel is fear. Fear about what he’s going to tell me.
“Baby, I need you to listen to me.”
I nod. “All right.”
“Brindley… She’s gone, Kelly.”
I furrow my brow. “Did she go home? That’s odd. We just saw her earlier.”
“No, Kelly. She didn’t go home. Brindley is dead,”
My heart stops. I can’t move. Have I stopped living? I feel no heartbeat. I take no breath. I can’t move. I can’t speak. I can’t unclench my hand around Leif’s arm.
Brindley’s my friend? The friend The Dark One referred to in the letter?
Brindley and I aren’t friends. We were never friends. I’m not friends with any women from the island. I’m not friends with…anyone.
But of course The Dark One would mean a woman from the island.
Of course The Dark One—
Murdered. Brindley. Murdered. Is my heart beating? Am I alive? Or did The Dark One come for me?
Numbness.
My breath…
I don’t know where I am or who I am or what I am.
I know only Leif.
“The letter…” The words come out of my mouth in a hushed whisper.
“Yes. Clearly he was referring to Brindley.”
Then I can’t speak. Again, I can’t move. Am I still living? Is my heart still working?
I treated Brindley so badly, and now…
I’ll never be able to make it up to her.
Worse than that… This is my fault. She’s dead because of me.
“Baby…”
I don’t reply.
“Kelly, baby, what can I do for you? What do you need?”
I open my mouth, willing my voice to work. “My fault.”
“How can you say that?”
Tears well in my eyes. “It’s always my fault, Leif. Everything. I was a bad girl. That’s why I got locked in the closet.”
His eyes widen. “Locked in the closet? Kelly, baby, what are you talking about?”
“I’ll never be able to make it up to her.”
“Make what up to whom?”
“Brindley. I treated her badly. Now… Because of me… Lock me in the closet, Leif.”
“Kelly, I will never lock you in any closet.”
“But it’s what I deserve. Please.”
He grips my shoulders, shakes me. “You get ahold of yourself right now, Kelly Taylor. You listen to me. None of this is your fault. And I will never lock you in any closet. No one will ever lock you in any closet as long as I live. Do you hear me?”
I don’t reply.
He shakes me again. “Do you fucking hear me?”
10
LEIF
Her lips part, but she says nothing.
“Kelly, please…” I stop shaking her. I don’t think it’s helping.
Her eyes are glazed over, and tears well in the bottom of them. She seems to be focusing on something in the distance, but the only thing in the distance is the wall.
Someone in Kelly’s past locked her in a closet. Most likely her bitch mother, Racine. I’m so full of rage right now I can hardly contain myself, but I need to stay calm for Kelly. But how the hell do I stay calm? I just learned more about the abuse endured by the woman I love during her childhood, and I just witnessed a horrific crime perpetrated on an innocent young girl.
How the fuck am I supposed to stay calm?
I rise, cradling Kelly in my arms like a child. I walk to my bedroom and put her back in bed.
I kiss her forehead. “Try to sleep, baby. You’re safe here.”
“Closet…” she murmurs.
I kiss her forehead again. “Never. No one will ever put you in the closet again.”
“Bad girl…”
“No. You were never a bad girl, Kelly. And now you’re a grown woman. A wonderful beautiful woman. A woman I love.”
The words came out on their own, but I can’t bring myself to regret them. She may not return my feelings, but I needed to say it.
Her eyes widen slightly, but I’m not sure she grasps what I just said. She seems to be reliving her past. She’s exhausted and frightened, and I just told her that Brindley is dead.
She closes her eyes.
I kiss her soft forehead for the third time.
I leave the bedroom, closing the door, and I call Reid.
“Yeah, Leif?” he says breathlessly.
“Is Powers with you?”
“No, I assumed he was still with you. I’ve been trying like hell to get up to Brindley’s apartment but the cops aren’t letting me. They won’t let anyone else go up until forensics gets here, and I’m about ready to roll some heads. I’m so fucking pissed, Leif. I hired the best people out there. Can you get back there?”
“I can’t leave Kelly. I’ll explain everything in the morning. In the meantime, Powers is probably still passed out in Brindley’s apartment.”