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I nodded. “Yes.”
“I guided you back to your dream when you fell asleep with Jade. That’s what you were remembering—what you were dreaming about when you ended up with your hands around her neck.”
I nodded.
“So you weren’t strangling her, Talon.”
“I know I wasn’t. I would never hurt her. But the fact is, despite that in my dreams it wasn’t Jade who I was strangling, in reality, it was.”
Dr. Carmichael nodded. “But at least now we know it wasn’t her you wanted to hurt.”
That did little to console me. “What if it happens again?”
“I don’t think it will, now that we’re starting to work through it. But if you’re scared that it might, just don’t fall asleep with her. Until you’re sure.”
I closed my eyes a moment. “That’s pretty much what I had decided anyway.”
“Now tell me about this man you were strangling. You say you knew him.”
“Yes.” My heart pounded.
“Is it someone from your time in the military?”
Oh, if only. People expected military personnel to have posttraumatic-stress disorder, expected them to have problems coping. If only it were that simple.
“No, it wasn’t someone from the military.”
“Then who was it?”
This was it, the moment of truth. The time of reckoning. Time to spill my guts.
“He was a man, one of three men, actually. He kidnapped me, beat me…molested—”
No, that wasn’t a strong enough word, and I had vowed to be honest, to get through this no matter how hard it was on me.
I cleared my throat. “He… He…raped me.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “When I was ten.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Jade
“Hello, Wendy,” I said to the receiver. “This is Jade Roberts again from Snow Creek.”
A heavy sigh whooshed through the phone line and into my ears. “What can I do for you, Jade?”
“You can tell me about the relationship between Larry Wade and Daphne Steel.”
Silence for a few moments. Then, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I have reason to believe that Larry Wade and Daphne Steel were half brother and sister.”
And again, silence.
“Look, Wendy, I know you don’t want to get involved in this, but I care about the Steels.”
“You’re just doing Larry’s dirty work.”
“Yes and no. I’m researching them for him for classified reasons, but as you know, I have my own agenda.”
