CJ’s fingers tightened on the neck of the bottle. She hesitated a fraction of a second. He’d been her and Shelley’s savior so many times.
Her hero.
More of a father than her biological father had ever dreamed of being.
And then she stopped thinking at all.
She drew back and swung the bottle with all her might. She slammed it into the side of his head.
He staggered back.
The bottle crashed on the marble floor.
And then she ran like hell.
She’d almost made it to the front door when she heard him crying her name.
Hurry!
She fumbled with the locks. Wrenched the door open and burst out onto the porch. She opened her mouth to scream—
Strong arms caught her.
Braddock.
“You okay?”
“Edward!” She turned to see if he was coming. “He killed Shelley! And the others.”
Braddock pulled her to the side of the open door. Cops rushed up the steps, poured through the entry.
She swayed. Braddock steadied her.
How could this be real?
“He can’t hurt you anymore.”
She turned to Braddock. Collapsed in his arms and closed her eyes against the reality.
Was it possible that the nightmare was finally over?
Chapter Fifty-Nine
815 Wheeler Avenue
Huntsville Police Department, 5:00 p.m.
“Are you sure you have to do this?”
CJ looked into Braddock’s worried eyes. He didn’t want her to talk to Edward. But she had to. She had to ask him why.
All the books necessary to research electrical wiring, police procedures, surgical procedures—every detail essential to carrying out the murders—were in his personal library. Between the room he’d prepared for her, which was way, way over the line, deep into the obsession zone, and the items they’d discovered in his home, like the Taser and Shelley’s cell phone, as well as cameras he’d obviously at one time had in her attic, and dozens of videos of her all through the years, they had sufficient evidence to go forward with charges for all the murders.
Possibly even his mother’s. Considering all that he’d said to CJ, an order had been issued to exhume his mother’s body and take a closer look at her cause of death.
But Edward refused to talk. He hadn’t uttered a single word since CJ had run out of his house.
She, Braddock, and Cooper had pieced together a theory. Edward had intended to make her his wife—the one he’d deemed his perfectmate. Shelley had interfered once too often for his liking and he’d gotten her out of the way.
