Page 66 of Redemption in the Dark (The Righteous 5)
The pulse pounded a little harder in his veins at the word rape. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand and knew that if this man weren’t already dead, he’d have hunted the guy down and killed him.
“How old were you?”
“When I killed him, or the first night he came to my room?”
“I guess both.”
“He wasn’t my real father. I know that. I…I don’t know who my parents are or even how I ended up in their care, but this man was the closest thing I had to one. The earliest I can remember is when I was six, I think. Everything before that is very hazy, like a really out-of-focus movie that I can’t seem to tune in. The abuse started not long after I arrived, and I shoved him down the stairs after he left my room when I was eight.” She sighed. “How had I forgotten that?”
“It was your mind’s way of protecting itself. It was trying to shield you from the memories, but the abuse has been coming out of you in other ways ever since.”
She leaned her elbow on the door frame and stared out the window.
“Yeah, it really has.” Her voice trailed off. “Did I hear you right? Do you call your Hummer, Hummer?”
“What else am I going to call it?”
“So, you name a random spider in a dank tunnel you never use as Bob, but your vehicle you can’t bother naming?”
“I didn’t see a reason to name the vehicle,” he said, not really believing that this was the conversation they were having after what just happened.
“It’s disrespectful. You name something you like. By not naming your Hummer, you’re saying you don’t like it.”
“Fine, what do you want to call the Hummer?
Maeve smiled and then tapped her chin for a moment.
“How about we call it AJ,” she said, all the joking gone from her face.
“AJ?”
“Yeah, the first letter is the beginning of your sister’s name, and the second letter is the beginning of your friend’s name. Lost, but never forgotten. AJ. Your cousin was the one that mentioned his name. Anyway, yeah…if you hate it, I can come up with another one.”
He stared into her eyes so long that he had to swerve to stay on the road. He barely missed a ditch. He didn’t know what to say. It was simple and perfect. Clearing his throat, he managed to push the emotion aside.
“I really like it. I’ll change it when we stop.”
“Listen, we need to talk about something else,” Maeve said. He took a deep breath. From her tone, he wasn’t sure he was ready to hear this next bit of information.
“Okay, what do you want to talk about?”
“This vehicle.”
That was not what he was expecting. He looked around at the inside. “Again, with the Hummer?”
“You’re part of The Righteous, aren’t you?”
He stopped breathing. His head whipped in her direction as she slowly looked over at him. “How do you know that name?”
“Because apparently, we’ve been keeping a secret from one another. One that would’ve been really helpful if we’d shared from the beginning.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I wanted to go to Arizona when you asked on our way to your place because it’s where Morry is. She’s the one that helped me to stop cutting and overindulging. Well not overindulging most of the time. I’ve lived with her for the last three years after she found me in some club getting blackout drunk and dancing half naked on a table. I’ve no idea why she chose me to save, but she did.”
He stared into her eyes and wanted to kiss Morry for helping Maeve. He gripped her hand a little tighter and knew he was already in too deep, so he continued driving.
“You look like there is more,” he said, and she sighed.
