Page 38 of The Final Storm
Her eyes scan the room, unsure of how to respond. “Well, you’re welcome to stay here. I think he’s through the worst of it.”
“Really?” My eyes light up.
“That’s just my opinion,” she shrugs. “Anything can change from moment to moment.”
“Thank you for all you’re doing. And Morgan?”
“She’s doing much better, but she’s not up to weight yet, and she can’t drink well on her own.”
My heart sinks. “I understand.”
She checks a few things on a list and gives me a tight smile. All she does is give us bad news, and it weighs on her. “If I see Lori or your other friend,” she says. “I’ll tell them to come find you.”
I drag the chair next to Morgan. “My husband? He’s off the ship right now.”
She tilts her head, scrunching her brows together. “No, the woman. She’s tan, dark hair, skittish. If I see her, would you like me to tell her to come back here?”
I squint at the nurse, confused. It takes a moment for her words to click into place. Only one other woman dares to visit this room. Her description could only be one person.
Fiery rage fills me.
Has she touched my baby? How many times had she been here?
The nurse clears her throat, holding her tablet against her chest. “Someone will be back shortly.”
I don’t respond, but I feel the red creep up my neck and my body trembles from her words.
“Are you alright?” she asks, one hand on the door handle to leave.
“Yes,” I snap. “In fact, if you see her, you tell her Rowan Rivera has been looking for her. You tell her where to find me.”
Chapter 15
Taken
Ithinkaboutmysister’s body in the water. Well, bones now, I suppose. Or did someone find her and bury her? What a terrible person I am for not knowing. I have a lot of time to think in this room, waiting for Lori, waiting for anyone, ready to face Cecilia.
My sister never took the swim, but that’s what it would look like. She’s grouped among the countless others who drank a tonic and drowned themselves at the will of the Assembly of the Eternal.
Not Cecilia, though. She didn’t die that day.
My sister died for her children, shielding them from her husband’s bullets. No one will ever know. Does it matter that so few people carry her truth? Her file somewhere reads,another blind follower of the AOE. Another one that got what was coming to her.
But that’s not what happened.
What happened to Cecilia?
Only Dean and I knew the truth of that day for so long, and he put her in the water so the secret would die with her. The farmhouse version of buried at sea, and no one attended the funeral. Did he say a few words? Did he care? I know the answer. He likely chucked her body from the dock without a thought. The chore benefited him and that’s how he would have seen it, a chore.
A checked box.
I shudder at the thought and hope I’m wrong. I’m angry, sitting in my rage, letting the past enrage me because I have nothing else to do but drown in it. Dean is capable of terrible things, but somewhere deep in what’s left of his soul, he loved us. He cared for my sister, right?
I stare at Luke and think about who he was before. The strong, handsome man I met last year. The one who kissed me in jest and sent me on my way to safety. The one who might have suspected I didn’t belong, but never said a word. The one who withstood months of pain to save morphine for others back on the island.
The door creaks open, and my heart jumps into my throat. I see Lori’s face come into view and I soften. “Lori… I… I’m so glad you’re here.” A twinge of disappointment hits me because it’s not Cecilia. I’m ready for that confrontation to happen.
“Jackie said he m-might make it,” she stutters.
