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And I’d do it again.
But not for it to end like this.
Not for it to end us.
“There’s a warrant out for Derek Baucom, and Senator Gentry Evans is a person of interest in a missing woman’s case.” She answered like a Sergeant, like a woman raised by two cops who knew exactly what not to say.
“And if the law doesn’t work this time either, you’re gonna do it?” A suitcase in our closet, I dropped it at her feet. “You’re gonna kill Gentry and Derek for what they did to me? To us?”
I stared into her purple eyes.
“Please don’t do this,” was all she kept saying.
I’ve loved Cade since we were nine years old. She was my best friend, and I could read her every thought. She was dying inside. Her heart, the one I cherish, I was killing it with my rage. Mine too. I felt it rip into shreds.
“You killing TJ killed us, too,” I sneered.
She expected this all along… and she did it anyway. She knew I’d never condone this.
Would I? That she’d go rogue and kill the rapist who hurt us both?
No. She chose revenge over our love, so I chose no forgiveness.
“It’s my job to protect people.” Her lips quivered. “They looked like me, dammit, almost all the victims, and I won’t let another woman get hurt. I’ll do whatever it takes to stop them.”
“Including more murder?” I dropped her shoes by the suitcase.
That image of her killing TJ. It kept strobing in my mind, disturbing my soul.
Yes, Cade can fight. She can defend herself. I love that about her. But kill? I couldn’t love that. I survived too much violence to condone it. Ever.
“Murder will never free you.” I confronted her. “It’ll only kill you too.”
Her stuff was piled on our bed. The suitcase lay open, ready, looking like an empty coffin, and I was dying inside, too. I towered over her, and usually, I’d pull her to me and hold her, and everything would be okay. We would be okay.
Not then.
“I’ll never understand why.” She stood silent, and fuck, it hurt so bad, but I kept going. “We were finally free of them. We were starting over.” It gripped my heart so hard. “Since we were eighteen, we had our dream. To get married. To have kids. To have a house by the ocean. Remember? I lived for our dream when I was sweating and throwing up and shaking so bad my fucking teeth hurt. All I lived for was you.”
That punched her chin. Turning toward the windows, she couldn’t look at me. But I invaded her space, trying to shove my pain into her heart.
“Now we’re right back in that night again, and that’s not justice… that’s hell.”
It started dripping through my veins: a new pain, another reason to run.
Our hope and love—I stared at her beautiful profile—and I couldn’t feel it anymore. I only felt its absence.
“Go ahead, Cade. Do it,” I seethed. “You’ve already killed our love. You might as well continue your killing spree.”
I was vicious, furious.
I couldn’t find reality in the horrible one that exploded into what had been our perfect week back together. It was supposed to become our perfect life because I was about to propose to her again. I wanted our kids to play on the beach. I wanted to cook her dinners. I wanted to sit on a porch and hold her hand, staring at every sunset until my final one with her.
But Gentry Evans ruined our lives just before I went down on one knee for her. Like everything else, he took that from us, too, accusing Cade of killing TJ. He loved destroying us all over again.
She fired back at Gentry that she knew his other crimes, that she’d end him too.
All the while, the ground opened under me, and my finally happy world disappeared beneath my feet.
