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“He’s at the hospital. He was alive when I got to him. Barely. He told me to grab the box. He really wanted to know if he was going to be an uncle.”
The flames grow higher behind us, and I can feel the heat of them on my skin.
“I’m thrilled, Mable. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”
“Me too, Adrian.” I press my cheek against his shoulder and sigh. “Me too.”
“I need to tell you something, something that I’m not sure that you’ll forgive me for, but I don’t want to do it here.” I lean away and stare at him. I couldn’t have heard him right. “Okay…” I’m not sure what to say to that. He opens the passenger side door for me and helps me inside. I wince when a low throb begins to pulse in my cheek from when that man hit me.
He jumps into the driver’s seat and speeds away from the fire, the burning blaze destroying any evidence.
“I’m worried about Otello!” I gasp, sitting straight, then press my hand to my cheek when my move my lips too much. “How is he? Is he dead? He’s dead because of me, isn’t he?”
“No, no, he’s in the hospital. It was touch and go but they think he will make a full recovery.”
I sag in the seat. “That’s a relief.”
“I’m taking you to the doctor next to make sure you’re okay.”
“I need ice. I’m fine.”
We fall into an uncomfortable silence. The tension is high and it’s making it hard to breathe. “What’s going on, Dri? What aren’t you telling me?”
“What do you remember about the day of your family’s accident?”
I pinch my brows together. “I don’t know why you need—’
“I want to know, Sweetness.”
My head begins to pulse, a headache building from this experience and from having to relive something I hate thinking about. “I haven’t thought of that day in a very a long time. I don’t really know. I can’t remember.”
“Just think, please,” he begs, his voice strained as he breaks the speed limit.
“Okay,” I whisper, taking his hand in mine, then close my eyes, thinking back to that day. Everything is blurry. “I think I see an SUV. I can’t tell if it was something I imagined in my dreams or not.”
“And before that? What about before you think you saw the SUV?”
I sigh, annoyed having to do this. “I don’t know, Dri. Nothing. I remember nothing.” Then an image forms, a point of view from upstairs. “My dad answered the door, and a man was standing there. I don’t know who… but he warned him.” I open my eyes when the memory slams into place. “He warned him and told us we needed to leave because someone went to prison, but I can’t…” I release a sharp breath, rubbing my temples because no matter how hard I try I can’t remember. “I can’t remember anything else. I wish I could tell you. but I can’t.”
A few moments of awkward silence goes by before he speaks.
“Your father was the lawyer for my family, and he defended one of our own, who was guilty, but the other guy deserved a worse punishment. And your dad won the case. The man in prison put your family’s name on a hitlist. Who you saw at your door, was my father. He warned your dad about the hitlist and told him to leave.”.
“Your father?” the confusion is clear in my voice, but it all makes sense. “You were the one who pulled me from the car. Your eyes. I knew I knew your eyes. You! You’re the reason why my parents are dead?”
“No, yes. No. We warned him, but we didn’t know he was already being followed. It was too late. We got to you too late. I blame myself every day. I think if I was quicker, if I would have gotten there sooner, if your father never worked for us, then your parents might be alive. I’m sorry, Mable. I’m so sorry."
I lean in and whisper. “You saved me.”
“No! I ruined—”
I press my finger against his lips, silencing him. “You saved me. You tried. You warned him. You aren’t to blame for my father’s decisions. Okay? I don’t blame you, but I’m happy to know how we’re connected. I knew that I knew those eyes.”
They stalked my dreams.
And they forever will.
Epilogue
