He shrugs his jacket off and tosses it over a chair, saying, “No.”
I watch Declan as he moves aimlessly around the suite as worriment nags me.
“Declan?”
“Yeah,” he calls out when he wanders into the bedroom, and I follow him.
“Something doesn’t feel right.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s never not said when he’d be coming back.”
“Maybe he just forgot.”
“No. This doesn’t feel right to me.”
He runs his hands down my arms and scoops my hands up in his. “Darling . . .”
“Declan, something is wrong here, and I don’t trust it,” I say as a surge of fear takes over me. My hands start shaking. “Can you drive me by his house?”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, but my gut is telling me that something is happening here that I don’t know about,” I tell him in a tremoring voice, panging in terror.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Either you take me or I’ll go on my own. You can’t stop me and you know it.”
“Elizabeth, no.”
“Why are you fighting me on this?”
“I just don’t think it’s safe,” he says, and I plead, “You promised me you would bend. I need you to bend.”
He releases a deep breath. “Okay.”
Declan grabs the keys, and I rush out the door.
He drives with a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel.
“Why are you so tense?”
He doesn’t speak, only reaches over to hold my hand, which does nothing for my anxiety. I stare at him as we pull into the neighborhood, and there’s a look in his eyes I’ve never seen before. My stomach holds the weight of a thousand pounds, and I want to scream at the top of my lungs to drive faster!
The moment he pulls onto Fairview, I see the sign.
I never knew the twist of fate that day held for me. But when I look back, I should’ve known. It was too much. Too much freedom. The words were too strong. The feelings were too intense. The truth was all around me, but I was too consumed with my dream come true to realize the evil nemesis that couldn’t just let me be. If I would’ve paid better attention, I would’ve said more to him. I would’ve made sure he knew every beat of my heart, the depths in which I’ve always loved him, and how utterly perfect I’ve always thought he was. He was selfish though, and I can’t blame him. Because looking back, I know he wanted to see my smile, pure and true, for one last time. There’s no way I could’ve given him that if I knew what was coming.
I sling open the door before Declan stops the car and run up to the now vacant house. In an utter panic, I yank on the front door, and when that doesn’t budge, I peer into the windows. My heart snaps loose inside of my chest and falls into the depths of fiery hell. Once again, I’m faced with the stench of tragedy.
“Where is he?” I scream out as Declan walks up the circle drive. “Where is he?”
“Baby, please.”
He reaches for me, but it isn’t his touch I want so I slap his hand away, seething, “Don’t fucking touch me!”
He reeks of guilt.
“Tell me where he is!”
He stares at me with pity. “He’s gone.”
“Where?”
“Let’s get back in the car.”
“NO!”
I can’t move.
I can’t breathe.
All I can do is stand here, a bleeding mess as every part of what makes me human blisters in monumental agony. They grow, filling with the acid of heartache only to pop and sear me from the inside out.
“You knew,” I accuse bitterly, my hands fisting at my sides. “You knew, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“You unimaginable bastard!” I shriek, slapping him across his face, and he takes it. I slap him again, and then hammer my fists against his chest, causing him to stumble back.
He doesn’t fight me as I yell at him through my tears, “How could you?”
Another searing slap.
“Are you done hitting me?”
“No!” I spit out as I ram my palm into his shoulder, and that’s when he grabs ahold of my wrist.
“How could you not tell me?”
He jerks my wrist, forcing me into his arms, but I don’t want his embrace—I want my dad.
I fight against his hold, but he dominates my strength and forces me back down the driveway and into the car. Shock riddles my system as I stare at the For Sale sign in the front yard.
Declan gets into the car and speaks in an even and controlled tone. “I am so sorry, baby.”
The salt of my pain eats away at my flesh when I turn to face him. “I need answers.”
“He got caught,” he confesses.
“No, he didn’t,” I cry, unwilling to believe him.
“They allowed him to have this one last day with you while they emptied the house.”
“No.”
“He’s gone.”