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I pull the items out of the envelope, and I smile. It's Beau's mother. I don't know who she's smiling at; maybe it's Bain, but I can see the love shining in her piercing green eyes, so like her son's. I've only seen her once while looking through those files on Bain's computer. This picture is close up and so much clearer. She was a true beauty. I wonder what made her leave her husband and son.
When I look at the second picture in the stack, my smile drops as I try to figure out what I'm looking at. It's a naked woman chained to a wall; bruises litter her thin body.What the fuck?The more I flip the pictures, the worse it gets with the woman, until finally, in the last picture, the woman lies on her back. What used to be beautiful, vibrant green eyes are now dull and staring blankly at the camera. Blood runs from her nose and mouth.
Beau's mother never left… She's dead.
I turn the book over in my hand, still shocked at what I’ve just uncovered. When I stare at the all-too-familiar cover, a chill comes over me. I feel like I was meant to find these. It's almost like I've always been fated to be in the Huntley's lives and see this. I'm so lost in thought that I never hear him enter, not until his voice startles me. "The Notebook was Chloe's favorite."
Thirty
"Bain…"
"I see you're snooping again," he says with an amused chuckle.
"Is this why you didn't want me in here? Because you didn't want me to find these?" I hold the pictures up in my hand.
A pained expression crosses his face when he glances at the photos, but then quickly looks away. "Not really. I honestly thought I had them hidden well."
"So, if not these, then what?" I ask earnestly.What else could he be hiding?
Bain holds his hand out, wanting me to give him the pictures, but I pull them away further. "What are you hiding, Bain?"
There's a tick in his jaw; he's getting pissed. "I'm nothiding anything, Ryan. Your mother and I just like our privacy, is all."
I scoff, "My mother has never kept me from her bedroom."
"Yeah, well, that's probably because she kept her sex life away from her home and you." He lifts his hand again. "Now, give me those pictures."
His menacing voice should be warning enough, but I keep pushing. "No. Tell me…did you kill her? Did you kill your own wife?" I hold the last picture of his wife in front of his face for him to look at, but he turns his head.
"No…"
"Then—why would you have these?" My face screws up in disgust.
"They were there,hidden, as a reminder of a very real threat." In a flash, he snatches the photos and envelope out of my hand and holds them to his chest as though he's keeping them safe from me.
"What are you talking about, Bain? What kind of threat?" I raise my voice as frustration explodes from me, "Stop being so fucking vague and just tell me!"
"Ryan? What's wrong, sweetie?" My mother's weak voice can barely be heard coming from the other room, and I glare at my stepfather for making me raise my voice at him.
When he goes to walk toward the bedroom, I grab his arm and stop him. "We are not done talking about this, Bain!" I say low and through clenched teeth.
"I am done talking, Ryan. Don't you see? I'm trying to protect all of you! Can't you just leave it be and trust me, for fuck's sake?" He yanks his arm from my hand and leaves me standing here, staring at his retreating form.
He may think we are done talking about this, but he can't expect me not to have questions after seeing what I saw in those photos. If he didn't kill his wife, then why play it off as though she just left them? Did he ever call the police?
Poor Beau! He thinks his mother doesn't love him anymore, and that's why she left. I can't keep this from him, but it's not something that I can tell him over the phone, either.
Curling my hands into fists, I make up my mind and spin on my heel, walking out of their suite of rooms as I head to my own. I'll never get the truth out of Bain, so there is no reason to stay any longer. It's time I leave this house and all the secrets it contains because, quite frankly, whatever those secrets are, I'm not sure I really want to know anymore.
Beau is waiting for me in California. I am going to fly to him, and we will start a new life far away from here. We will return someday, of course. After all, Beau will have to take over the company. But until then, I want to live in sweet bliss with the man I love.
"I'm sorry, Mom, but I can't stay any longer. I pray that I will get to see you again…"
A large sign with my name is on display as I come down the escalators at the airport. It's the first thing I see because it'sthat big. My eyes then land on a smiling Marine in his fatigues. My heart sputters at seeing Beau in his uniform, and for a brief moment, I remain transfixed. Luckily, I come out of it just as I get to the bottom. Otherwise, I would have made a fool of myself by tripping where the escalator ends.
As soon as I step off, I take off, running to get to him. He drops the sign, and that's when I see the dozen roses in his other hand. He holds onto them as he catches me and crashes his mouth to mine. The whole scene is cliché, but now I know what all those women feel like in the movies.
We stand here making out for a few minutes, neither wanting to pull away. It isn't until I hear a little girl giggle at us, "Look, Mommy, they are making a baby!"
