She comes to a stop and disappears out of my periphery. “Wait. What?”
She jogs to catch up.
I stop because suddenly my breaths come so fast that I think I might be dying. I need to tell somebody. She has told me everything about her, and at this point, I need to do the same. I’m tired of carrying this all alone. I’m tired of trying to keep it together for everyone.
“My dad. Mr. William Moore himself,” I say.
Her gaze flicks all around us. We are in the middle of nowhere now. The nearest barracks are a good half mile away. “Your dad is the ‘Where there’s a Will, there’s a way’ guy?” She frowns at the ground. “I hate those signs,” she says with vehemence and then instantly covers her mouth. “Sorry.”
It’s enough to get me to crack a smile and huff a little laugh. “Me too.”
“Shit. Yourdad.” She frowns, her gaze drifting to the side, probably putting pieces together. “Why would he do this?”
My breath comes out long and slow. “Because I’m trying to take his son away.”
“Lincoln.” It comes out in a disbelieving whisper.
The muscles in my jaw tick as I clench my teeth.
She steps forward and lowers her chin. “I knew he stayed with you. I knew you were close. I guess I just assumed …” She tucks her hands tight around her body. “Nathaniel. Why do you want full custody of Lincoln?”
“Will beats him,” I say flatly. I’m tired of hiding his violence from the world. I will tell everybody. My career be damned.
“No,” she gasps.
“I’ve been trying to get custody for years. I tried once before and it almost ruined my entire career. He slandered me. I lost everything. If it weren’t for Kate and Jared and a few patents, I don’t know where I’d be now.”
“So he’s just destroying years of hard work because he wants to keep Lincoln? Or is this a power thing? It always is with guys like that.” She mumbles the last part to herself.
“He thinks I’ll share his dirty little secrets. I don’t even care about what he did to me, you know? I just want Lincoln to be safe, to not have to live in fear all the time. To never know what sort of mood he might be in or if this will be the night he goes off.”
Her fists ball at her sides as my words pour out.
When I stop myself, she asks, “Nathaniel. Did he hurt you? When you lived with him?”
I hold her gaze but don’t respond. It’s a given.
“That sick, twisted—” She stops and begins to pace. “He can’t get away with this.”
“He owns half the town. More. Trust me. I’ve been battling him for so long I’ve seen the power he yields.”
“All this destruction?” she asks. “Ruining hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment just to send you a message?”
“Yes. This is his MO. He sees me having success or getting too close to Lincoln and he steps in. Lincoln has been staying with me more and more and he doesn’t like it.”
“This is such bullshit! He can’t just get away with this.”
All at once, white lights radiates from within her. Like a bright spotlight flicked on internally.
Her need for justice is heartwarming but her getting upset like this isn’t going to help. I reach toward her, but as always, she steps back with a shake of her head.
“Julia. I’ve dealt with him my whole life. I’ll figure this out.”
“No. No it’s not okay.” She presses her hands to her forehead and stumbles back. “He beats children. He’s a monster. And you won’t figure it out.” When I frown she adds, “Wewill. This is no longer your burden to carry alone. You accepted me as this—” She gestures down to her body and only seems to then notice that she is radiating like I’ve never seen.
The light grows brighter and the heat hits me.
“Julia.” I keep my voice light but glance around to make sure there isn’t anybody nearby.
