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“Can I ask why?” Her chest rises and falls.
“Of course you can,” I answer for him. “You can ask whatever you need.”
“Because you accepted blame for something I don’t think you did.”
“At that point,” she answers with her eyes glassy, “I thought I must have…I overheard something and it—”
“What did you overhear?” Carter asks before I can get the question out.
“I overheard something—” Her gaze drops and I tell her it’s all right.
“Hey, hey,” I murmur and reach over, cupping her jaw in my hand. “It’s okay,” I console her. Her hands reach up to grab my wrists.
“It doesn’t feel okay.”
“It’s better than okay, my sweet girl. We’re ending this and every piece of this today.”
“You promise?” she questions, hope in her eyes that reminds me of all the times she looked up at me, wanting me to be her hero when I’m nothing more than a villain.
“I promise,” I tell her and I lean forward, planting a gentle kiss on her lips. She molds her lips to mine and clings to me. I don’t want to break the bond but I must.
As my heart pounds in my chest and I pull away, her eyes stay closed longer, as if she doesn’t want that moment to end.
“You overheard what? From who?” Carter asks as I sit back in my seat.
Braelynn breathes out slowly, not looking at Carter but staring at the desk as if it’s replaying a memory. “Nate was on the front porch and he said…he said something like ‘You’re sure it is Braelynn? I don’t want to be the one to do it this time.’”
“Sure what was you?” Carter asks and confusion deepens the crease in his forehead.
Braelynn shakes her head. “I don’t know. It sounded like he was saying I sent something. That someone was sure I sent something. I didn’t send anything to anyone,” she blurts out the words, her voice raising higher and higher. “He said the bitch sent it.”
“The bitch he referred to might have been the cop?” I question, looking at Carter who nods along with me. “The cop sent him something about Braelynn?”
“Probably the warrant for her arrest,” Carter comes to the conclusion.
“What?” Braelynn questions.
She glances between the two of us and her grip on my hand gets tighter. “I assumed I was the woman he was talking about. He did say my name.”
“Is it possible the conversation was about someone else who mentioned you?” Carter asks, and Braelynn’s expression makes it obvious she’s thinking back on it all.
“Nate’s been working with the cops.”
“Oh my God,” she breathes, her eyes widening.
“He’s the one who set you up. He could have been talking about the cop he was working with.”
“Can you remember exactly what he said?”
She shakes her head, her breathing intensifying. “I don’t think I want to think about it.” My poor girl is spiraling and I can’t watch it happen. Nate’s hurt her enough for this life. No more. He doesn’t get to keep hurting her like this. That’s the thing about abuse. Even when the abuser’s gone, the pain stays in the memories.
“Okay then. It’s done. Braelynn it’s done,” Carter says at the same time that I tell her, “You don’t need to answer anything else. It’s over Braelynn.”
“It doesn’t matter what exactly he said. We know enough of the pieces,” Carter says with finality.
Her hands tremble in mine and I hold her while Carter gets her a drink. The glass clinks in the background while I tell her repeatedly that it’s all right. Whiskey, of course, which she only stares at a second before she gulps it down.
“I think I can offer you something that will end it all for you,” I add as I stare deep into her eyes, knowing this is something I would want but also knowing I’m fucked in the head and she isn’t me. She isn’t damaged and brutal like I am. “Real closure and justice.”
