Page 115 of The Complete Truth Duet
“That was not the plan, Drew.”
“What plan?” He swung a hand out and pointed down the hall to Savannah’s bedroom. “You have shit all over every fucking plan we’ve ever made. Currently, we got a woman who has you tied up in so many damn knots you’re unrecognizable anymore. I thought she was good for you at first, but now, she’s got you so off-kilter you can’t even think straight.” He sucked in a deep breath and gripped my shoulder, giving it a rough squeeze. “I know you’ve been dreaming about this. And I know I promised you that you could have your moment with him. For Lisa. But, brother, this shit’s gotta end. We found him. Now, let’s finish him.”
He was so right.
It had been four years.
Four years of searching for answers.
Four years of bleeding myself dry emotionally and physically.
Four years of burning in the flames of hell.
Those two months spent drowning in Cora, feeling like myself again, thinking more than minute to minute were the only reason I was still able to function.
There was nothing I wouldn’t do to get back to that.
Not even sacrificing the very same revenge that had brought me to her door.
I extended a hand his way. “I want Cora to be priority one. You have a shot. You take it. As long as we can keep her out of his reach. I’ll deal.”
He grinned, taking my hand. “Now, that actually sounds like a plan we can make stick.” He pulled me in for a quick back pat, and before he released me, he did what Drew did best: He made me want to laugh and then feed him my fist again. “I can’t believe you were trying to get me to watch you jerk your dick. You know I don’t swing like that.”
I barked a laugh and gave him a hard push. “Get the fuck out of my apartment.”
He backed away with his arms spread wide. “Nice place, by the way.”
“You still staying at the hotel with her?”
“Yep.” He rubbed his hands together. “Saving up my rewards points for a nice little vacation when this is finally over. I’m thinking Brazil. Topless beaches and all.”
“A job will get you there faster.”
He twisted his lips. “Psshh, who needs a job when you got a rich best friend who owes you for saving his future wife’s ass a time or seven hundred?”
A few months back, hearing him say something like that would have sent me into a tailspin. Now though? It gave me hope that maybe walking out of this with her wasn’t as impossible as I’d once thought.
“How’s she doing?”
His smile fell. “You want truth or lie?”
Truth or lie. Those simple words made pain detonate in my chest. Christ, he really had been hanging out with her. And damn, it made me jealous.
“Truth.”
He shook his head. “Not good. Not good at all. She knows I’m lying about the fire. I dribbled her some stuff tonight and I think it made her feel better. But she misses you and blames herself.”
“Shit,” I breathed, pinching the bridge of my nose while guilt rotted my gut.
“But we’re gonna fix this. Thomas first. Then we can worry about the full-body cast that woman is going to put you in for faking your own death.” He winked.
Cora
The morning after I was released, I got a call from a social worker asking if she could swing by the hotel and pick up River’s things. After the fire, the kid didn’t own much, so I went to the mall and picked up a few things I’d thought she would like. She’d probably hate them all. But it made me feel better. The social worker also informed me that she was allowed to have her phone. I nearly burst into tears at that news. They wouldn’t let me see her, but at least we’d been able to talk.
River called me each night and I could tell by the tone of her voice it was because she missed me.
But in the mornings, I knew she only called because she was worried about me.
It was no secret that mornings were hard for me. That first blink when I’d slip from blissful lala land into consciousness, remembering where I was as an avalanche of hellish memories hit me like they were happening the very first time.
Day after day, every time the sun rose, that moment of realization was agony.
But if I wanted to get my daughter back, I couldn’t wallow in self-pity. I had to get up and make things happen.
River was not wrong. Seven hundred and fifty dollars didn’t get you much when it came to housing in the city. Though, on the outskirts, it got me a two-bedroom quasi-piece-of-shit house that included water.
Drew and I were picking up the keys late that afternoon when I got a call from the group home letting me know the case against me had been dropped and I could come get River anytime I would like. I shrieked and my new landlord looked at me like he was already regretting his decision to give me the house. I could not have cared less how crazy he thought I was though. My girl was coming home.
