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“Should I go get Lulee’s purse?” I asked as I felt Saint come up behind me.
“I don’t know, baby,” he answered softly. “They might want her stuff untouched since…”
He couldn’t say the words, and I didn’t blame him. I wasn’t even sure if I’d ever be able to say the words out loud. While the Clarks’ terror might be over, our pain wasn’t. There was so much aftermath to contend with after the horror that we’d endured. We still had to officially tell our side of the story and pray that the police believed us, we still had to tell Lulee’s family that she was gone, and we still had to see Cree and Sarah through their injuries. There was also the ordeal of a trial if Donovan decided to be difficult. Granted, he might make a deal because California had the death penalty still, but no punishment was ever going to be good enough for us or our families, and that included the victims and families that had come before us.
“Saint…” I choked out, afraid that I wasn’t as strong as I thought I was.
I felt him pulling me in his arms. “I’m right here, Verity,” he promised against the top of my head. “I’m right here.”
I knew that we didn’t have much time before the officer that followed us back here urged us to hurry up, but that didn’t stop me from wrapping my arms around Saint’s waist and holding on for dear life. Adrenaline had given way to sorrow and concern, and I just needed Saint for a few more minutes. I knew that as soon as we got to the police station, they were going to separate us, and I had no idea what was going to happen after that. Granted, if I knew my parents like I was pretty sure that I did, they were going to insist on taking me home, and I had no idea when I’d be able to see Saint after that.
Pulling back to look up at him, I said, “My parents are going to make me go home with them.”
He cradled my face in his hands. “I know, baby,” he sighed. “I have a feeling that my parents are going to try to do the same.”
“Try?”
“I promised Cree that I’d go see him as soon as I can,” he said as he dropped his hands from my face, and I couldn’t believe that I’d forgotten how he was definitely going to need reconstructive surgery for his knee.
“I don’t know what to do,” I whispered brokenly. “I don’t know what we’re supposed to do next.”
“We’re going to do whatever we need to in order to get through this, Verity,” he said, and he’d said it with such conviction that it was hard not to believe him. “Even if we have to force our parents to give us space, so that we can do this together, then that’s what we’ll do, baby.” He reached out, then ran his hand up and down my arm. “You’re crazy if you think that I’m not going to be right by your side through whatever comes next.”
I nodded, wanting to believe him, before I let out a shaky breath. “I just need my purse,” I told him. “I don’t care about anything else.”
Saint glanced around the room before saying, “I have my wallet and phone already on me. I don’t need…yeah, I don’t need anything else.”
Walking over to the bed area, I grabbed my purse, opened it to make sure that I had everything that I needed in it, then hung it over my right shoulder, something so simple feeling so daunting.
“Ready?” Saint asked, eyeing me carefully from across the room.
I nodded. “Yeah, I…I am.”
The officer escorted us out of the cabin and back down the walkway towards the front of the resort. During our short trip to the room, more cops had shown up, and it really did look like a scene right out of a movie. I had no idea how far away the next town was, but when I saw the coroner’s van, it couldn’t have been too far away. Of course, time was lost to me right now, so I really had no idea how long it’d been since we’d first called the police.
My breath hitched, and my feet stopped working when I saw them loading Lulee into the van, the black bag taking her away from me forever.
“Baby…” Saint whispered as he pulled me into his arms.
When Officer Murphy noticed us, she walked over. She was the one that had questioned me earlier, and she seemed decent enough, but what did I know? I had defended Marilyn Clark when Lulee and Sarah had called her weird.
“I’ll need you to come with me, Ms. Mercer,” she said, not anything that I hadn’t been expecting.
“Can we ride together?” Saint asked her as he dropped his arms from around my shoulders.
She shook her head, something else that I’d been expecting. “Officer Neeley will be driving you back, Mr. Hendrix.”
Before I could go with Officer Murphy, Saint stepped in front of me, then taking my face in his hands again, he said, “I love you.” My eyes started to well up. “I love you, Verity.”
“I love you, too,” I whispered back, knowing that I probably always had.
“I will not leave the police station without you, understand?” His chocolate gaze was powerful enough to make me believe him. “Do not let your parents take you back with them until you see me.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
One final kiss on my forehead, then I was following Officer Murphy to her squad car, and Saint was following Officer Neeley to his.
The ride to the police station was only thirty minutes away, and it was easy to see that the Clarks had manipulated us from the very beginning by making us believe that we’d been out in the middle of nowhere. Sure, there’d been nothing on the way here, but going in the opposite direction, the next town had only been half an hour away.
