Page 191 of Trust No One

Chapter Seventy-One

Raine

Saturday, October 24, 2026, 9:00 p.m.

Using my flashlight app, I rushed to Molly’s room. By a miracle, the girl still slept. My hand trembled as I tugged her blanket up close to her chin. Slowly, I backed out of the room. I left the door ajar.

In the bathroom, the light caught my reflection—my lip smeared with Pete’s blood and mine, the faint outline of a bruise darkening my cheek, my red-rimmed eyes.

A shuddering breath escaped.

At the sink, I drew in deep breaths. My hands trembled as I rinsed out a washcloth, pressed it to my face and to the rising bruises on my neck. My breath hitched. For a moment panic blocked my next inhalation.

Instead of surrendering, I focused on the facts, not the emotions.

Pete had attacked me in the courthouse as my divorce from Ken was being finalized.

I’d landed in the hospital, and Ken had come to my rescue.

I’d returned to Hale House. And Ken had followed, restaking a claim in my life.

I’d refused him again.

And Pete had gotten out of jail and found me within days.

Ken was behind all this.

What kind of deal had he struck with Pete?

Downstairs, the back door opened and closed. Steady footsteps. Ken.

My keys were in my purse on the island. I could get both and escape, but that would mean leaving Molly. And I wouldn’t do that. If I woke the child and carried her downstairs, her weight would slow me down and make grabbing keys and running to my car more difficult.

I snatched the gun from the nightstand in my bedroom, removed the bullets from the top dresser drawer, and loaded the chamber. I tucked it in my waistband at the base of my spine.

Drawing in a breath, I moved steadily down the back staircase. Ken stood at the kitchen sink, washing blood from his hands.

“Where’s Pete?” Easy to sound concerned and rattled.

He was breathing hard. “He won’t bother you anymore.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He grabbed a paper towel and dried his hands as he crossed to me. He touched his fingertips to the marks on my neck. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. You saved me.”

He brushed back a strand of hair from my face. “I almost didn’t.”

I moved away from him to the sink. Blood stained the porcelain. I filled a glass with water and drank. “How did you know?”

“Guys like that fall through the cracks.”

Especially when someone widened the gaps. “Yeah.”

“Let me stay the night. I’ll take the couch. But you and Molly shouldn’t be here alone.”

I faced him. “No. There’s no need for that. I’ll be okay.”