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He looks at me, but his gaze is more vacant than I’ve ever seen. “Josh?” I don’t know what to say to him right now. I should know how to help him.
“Emmy, you shouldn’t have seen them. You weren’t meant to see them. I should be protecting you from all of this.”
I pull him over to the couch and push him down. Climbing on top of him, I hold his face in my hands, so he has to look at me.
“This is not your fault, Josh. You are protecting me. Where do you think I would be right now if you never found me?”
“I should have protected you from that ever happening. You didn’t deserve to endure that… You should never have been there.” Josh wraps his arms around my back, pulling my body against his.
“Nobody deserves to live what I went through. But I survived. I’m still here. I know I don’t always handle things great… I know I have issues. But I need you to tell me what’s going on. I can’t be kept in the dark, Josh.”
“It’s not a burden I want you to carry, Emmy.”
“We don’t lie to each other, remember? We don’t keep secrets. It’s you and me, against the world, Josh.”
He stares at me without saying a word for what seems like hours, but in actuality, is probably only minutes. Looking over the pile of papers on the desk, he shakes his head no. He doesn’t want to tell me.
“The pictures came from a warehouse Sam and I went to the other day. We had a lead on where Jones was hiding out. When we got there, all that we saw were three bodies and a wall of photos. A whole wall… covered in photos of you.”
“How would he get those pictures? Some of them are from years ago.”
“I don’t know. That’s not all. Jones has been sending emails. Every day. Graphic messages of what he wants to do to you when he finds you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t want you to worry. I’m going to find this arsehole, Em. I will make sure he never gets his hands on you.”
“I wish I knew what he wanted with me. I don’t recall ever meeting him. I don’t remember Trent ever mentioning anyone by that name. Maybe Trent’s brother would know something. What if I called him?”
“I don’t think he knows anything, Em. I’ve had guys following him for the past few weeks. He lives a mundane life with his wife and kids. Goes to work, goes home, takes his kids to soccer on weekends.”
“I only met him a few times during the first year I dated Trent. After that, I never saw him again. It’s worth a try, right? We know there is no real warrant for me. Somebody went to great efforts to cover up Trent’s death, to make it look like he left town. I’m not a suspect, right?”
“Em, there’s something else Sam just found. That whole marriage paperwork you signed… it was fake. You were never legally married.”
“I wasn’t…? So, hypothetically, if I wanted to get married today, I could?” I ask him. Visions of running off and marrying Josh play on repeat in my mind. Would he want to marry me? I know he’s mentioned it before… but is he serious? Could I just ask him, instead of waiting for him to pop the question?
