I almost choke on my assurance when she spits out, “Officer Packwood was so short with you because the man you killed was a police officer.”
“What?” I ask, equally shocked and terrified.
The air I’ve only just replenished my lungs with sucks back out when she shows me an identification card for a twenty-year veteran police officer at Ravenshoe PD. Although his face was concealed during a majority of his assault, I absorb it in great detail while endeavoring to push him off me after I came to the first time. The unique birthmark under his left eye is an obvious identifying mark.
I rake my fingers through my hair, certain this couldn’t possibly get any worse. When it gets out that I killed a police officer, I’ll be burned at the stake, and don’t get me started on what Maddox will face, or I’ll be tempted to end it all right now. My wish to live could hurt Maddox more than it would have if I had let the rapist kill me.
He’s been hurt enough.
He can’t face more controversy.
He’s barely holding on as it is.
But that doesn’t mean I can accept Agent Machini’s offer. I couldn’t hurt Maddox like that. I love him too much to deceive him this way. It would kill him.
When I say that to Agent Machini, she asks, “More than losing one of his siblings? Or worse, all of them?” My eyes bounce between hers, shocked and confused. She attempts to relieve it by saying, “Caidyn was found in a neighbor’s garage. He required resuscitation. It’s touch-and-go. They don’t know if he will make it through the night.”
I grant one final whimper to break through my lips before I emotionally shut down, the weight on my chest too immense to ignore. I thought Caidyn abandoned me, that he left me to face my demons alone because he was disappointed and angry at me. I didn’t even look for him when I came to. I just left him to die when all he’s ever done is look after me.
If that doesn’t prove I should have let my attacker kill me, I don’t know what will convince you. My family’s business took the life of my father, mother, and sister. Justine will never fully recover from her injuries, Sloane still has night terrors about her kidnapping, Maddox looks set to spend the rest of his life behind bars, and now Caidyn is fighting for his life.
This needs to stop.
I just have no clue how to end it without breaking the promises I made to Maddox.
My eyes float up from the floor when Agent Machini says, “Maddox wants this too, Demi. He’s tired. He can’t keep fighting as he has the past twelve months.”
I want to call her a liar, but the undeniable truth in her tone is proven without prejudice when she commences playing a surveillance image recording on her phone. It shows Maddox in the Warden’s office at Wallens Ridge, speaking with Dimitri.
My hand shoots up to clamp my mouth when Maddox asks Dimitri, “Can you get Demi out?”
Dimitri warns him that my removal from the family will be permanent, that once I’m out, I’ll never be able to get back in, but instead of shaking his head to announce he couldn’t handle that, he does the opposite. He nods.
After giving me a minute to absorb the facts, Agent Machini says, “They’re killing him, Demi. They’re breaking him down piece by piece. First with you, then Justine, and now Caidyn. They won’t stop until they’ve removed every last bit of good from him and manipulate him to replicate the very man heneverwanted to become, and they’re using you to do it.” She stares me dead set in the eyes when she asks, “How can you claim to love him only to sit by and watch him be hurt over and over again?”
“I do love him.”
“Then stop this from happening. Get him out of here before there’s nothing left to save.”
Salty blobs come close to rolling down my face when I blurt out in frustration, “I’ve tried! Nothing works—”
“Thiswillwork, Demi. I promise you it will. You’ve just got to be brave enough to try something new.”
Confident it couldn’t be anywhere near as easy as she’s implying, I ask, “How will Maddox believing I’m dead help him?”
My heart cracks when she replies, “Because we’ve reached the stage where we can only salvage scraps from the wreckage. There are no survivors. Can you not see that? They’ve got Maddox walking on eggshells now. Imagine how bad it will be when they put you away for murder.”
“Id-defendedmyself,” I correct, shocked about her forgetfulness. “I didn’t murder anyone.”
“That isn’t what is on the report being filed at the DA’s office as we speak. You had an excessive amount of oxycodone in your system when you shot and killed a police officer—”
“Who tried to rape me.”
“Then you attempt to conceal his murder by having your mobster family dispose of the body.”
“I-I didn’t ask Dimitri to do that.”
Agent Machini shrugs like our conversation isn’t half as serious as it is. “Do you think the courts will care about that minor detail? You were witnessed by a decorated officer being forcefully removed from a pharmaceutical chain two hours before you made an appointment with a doctor who’s being investigated for multiple malpractice suits—”
