Page 86 of The Survivor

And, as a consumer of true crime content, I couldn’t be mad about it.

“I hope they do Madison and Ashley justice,” I said as we watched the trailer. “And make him out to be the small, ugly man he really was.”

I watched as my own face flashed across the screen, something that I had never gotten used to; whether it was about my attacks or my books, it always felt strange.

“I’m dubious about it since they didn’t ask to speak to me,” Wells said.

He wouldn’t have talked to them anyway. Most active-duty cops had the same mentality. It was usually only the retired ones who ended up talking about their old cases, living their old glory days.

For guys like Wells, there were other bad guys to catch. They didn’t have time to waste talking to filmmakers.

“Or me,” I said, changing the channel.

I wouldn’t watch it.

I refused to waste a single moment of my life on that anymore.

I wouldn’t pretend it didn’t still impact my life. I always locked the doors, put the security system on, used the shopping cart as a barrier as I was getting my son in the car at the store. Little things. And, yeah, I had to drive an SUV because car trunks just… brought back bad memories.

Other than that, though, it was behind me.

I believed that trauma, like grief, never really shrank.

Life just grew bigger around it.

And my life was ever-expanding.

Thanks to Wells.

And the love we found in each other.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com