AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She was lying.
He wasn’t sure of too many things in his life, but he could bet the farm on this much: his partner had never lied to him before. And now she looked as if she was about to faint.
EIGHTEEN
DEGRAW
Kay drove herself home despite Elliot’s protests. She said she felt sick, and that wasn’t a lie; she didn’t have to fake it as an excuse to leave early. It felt as if the ground was moving, spinning out of control, and there was nothing she could hold on to for balance. She had to pause her argument with him and run to the bathroom to empty her stomach.
She came out of there patting her mouth with a tissue and touching the gray wall to steady herself. He was waiting for her with a worried look in his eyes.
“Let me drive you,” he said again. “I don’t mind if you throw up in my Interceptor. I’ve had perps do that before.” His attempt to lighten her mood was heartwarming, making her feel even worse for lying to him.
She avoided his gaze and gestured no with her hand, then stopped by her desk to pick up her keys. “I’ll be fine, Elliot. Must be something I ate. The sandwich I had for lunch was a little off.” One lie always invited more until a swarm of them would buzz in her mind, making everything worse.
“You could doze off on the way home, if—”
“No, Elliot, please.” Her voice was stern, colder than she’d wanted. “I’m sorry… I’m just not feeling well.”
Visibly confused, he lifted his hat and scratched the roots of his hair, staring after her as she exited the building. There would be some explaining to do at some point, only not right there and then.
She unlocked her SUV and climbed behind the wheel. The intense heat brought back her nausea, but she was finally alone. She could let the mask fall off.
Starting the engine, she allowed the tears that had been choking her to fall freely as she drove away from the precinct. Turning onto the main street, she saw the sheriff’s car approaching. She barely had time to put on her sunglasses before the two cars ran past each other, flashing their headlights in lieu of a greeting. A few unbearable minutes later, she was home.
She locked the door behind her and dropped the keys on the kitchen counter, then hobbled into the living room and let herself fall onto the couch. Her tears had dried, leaving room for panicked bewilderment.
DeGraw.
Now she understood why Jenna had nicknamed her secret boyfriend DeGraw.
Because his first name was Gavin. Like the pop singer whose best hits still played on the radio a decade or so after they’d hit the charts, inspiring Jenna’s nickname for him. Or maybe he had chosen it for himself.
But that wasn’t all of it. Jenna’s secret boyfriend’s full name was Gavin Sharp.
Just like Kay’s father. Exactly like him. Same name, same age.
For a brief, irrational moment, Kay wondered if the man could’ve been her father. Heart thumping in her chest, she shook her head as if the gesture could’ve helped her get rid of the stray, unwelcome thought that didn’t make any sense.
Her father couldn’t’ve been Jenna’s boyfriend because he was dead.
Only Jacob and she knew the truth about where her father was; everyone else thought he’d run away one night after nearly beating his wife to death, and was believed to be somewhere in Arizona.
Only he wasn’t.
His body was slowly rotting under the willow trees in Kay’s backyard. She lifted her gaze and looked outside. She could see their majestic crowns through the window, slowly moving with the summer breeze, undisturbed.
Still dizzy and nauseous, she stood and faltered into the kitchen. The walls were patched with putty and sanded, almost ready to be painted. Only a small section remained, marred by the scratches and dents accumulated over time from thrown objects and slammed fists during her father’s drunken rages. That section near the fridge still showed her mother’s bloodstains, although she’d done her best to clean it.
Without realizing it, Kay stood where she’d stood almost eighteen years ago, reliving the nightmare. She was thirteen, still going by Kathy at the time, before her father’s revolting lewdness had made the sound of her own name unbearable. Her brother was barely twelve. Their father was pinning their mother against the wall, strangling her with one hand and groping her with another, next to where the fridge used to be.
He’d slammed her head against the wall because there wasn’t any wine left in the house for him to drink.
“Gavin, please, no.”Her mother’s whimpers filled the empty room as if she was still there, falling to the ground under his fists.“I really don’t have anything left.”
Her words made him instantly angry as if her double rejection had fueled his rage and fanned the fire burning already inside him. He slammed Pearl against the wall, and she fell to the ground, seeming too weak to withstand his attack.
Kathy jumped to her feet and Jacob with her. They both rushed to their mother’s side, and Jacob tried to get his father’s attention away from his mother.
