Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 146666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 587(@250wpm)___ 489(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 587(@250wpm)___ 489(@300wpm)
She forced herself to relax. She guessed she could see that as a step forward.
But she wanted more.
57
Hack was going to be so mad when he found out what she was doing.
If he found out. Because there was no reason for him to know, right?
No reason . . . except you’re a blabbermouth.
She groaned as she parked her car outside the duplex where Matthew had lived. It was still a run-down shithole. She wondered if it had new tenants. There was a beat-up old van sitting in the driveway, so she couldn’t just walk in.
Probably not a good idea anyway. Since that’s where he’d . . . where he’d . . . oh God. She was going to be sick.
Why had she thought it would be a good idea to come here?
Had she really thought this would give her the closure she was searching for? Because so far, all she felt was ill.
She’d come back to Billings for several reasons. To reconnect with Cash. Epic failure. To explain to Aidan about her stalker and get his take on it. Also a bit of a failure. To get over what Matthew had done to her and move on.
Rape. He raped you.
The front door of the duplex opened and a balding guy stood in the doorway. There were stains on his sleeveless shirt which was strange attire in this weather. His gut hung out over his pants which were falling down. He grabbed at them, pulling them up as he glared at her. “What do you want?”
“Oh, um. Nothing.”
He squinted at her. “You here for a fix?”
“A fix?” Was he talking about drugs? “N-no. I just . . . I knew someone who used to live here.”
“Well, they ain’t here now. I’ve lived here for years. You want to come in?”
That was odd. She shook her head. “N-no, thank you.”
Turning, she fumbled with the door, thanking God that she hadn’t locked it. As she got in, she saw him moving toward her, a cunning look on his face.
Crap. Shit.
Get out of here, Greer.
She locked the doors and raced off.
What did she think would happen? That she’d go there and magically she’d be all better? Hack had been called into the hospital for emergency surgery. It was meant to be their day together. Not that she minded. But if he’d been with her . . . she wouldn’t be doing something idiotic.
Like heading to where it happened.
Where her life changed.
She stopped in front of the restaurant, taking it in. It looked abandoned. Back then, it had been a front for what was going on out the back.
Closing her eyes, she tried to access those memories. She couldn’t see them anymore. It was like she’d erased them after the trauma of the rape and beating.
She’d never told anyone what had happened . . . mostly because she had no idea. None. All she knew was that she must have seen something terrible. Because when Matthew discovered her there, he’d beaten and raped her.
It’s not my fault.
It’s his fault. He was evil.
She exited the car before she could talk herself out of it. She had to know. She had to remember what she’d done that had caused him to hurt her like that. To turn on her.
Of course, she knew she was acting irrationally. That there was no guarantee she’d remember what had happened. But she had a feeling that those memories were locked down in her own brain.
She just needed the key to unlock them.
She knew that something had taken place here, in the back room.
All she had to do was fight her own brain to access the memories.
She moved to the front door of the restaurant, but it was boarded up. The same with the windows. Greer glanced to the side of the building, swallowing heavily.
All right. She guessed she was really doing this. She moved to the alleyway at the side. She’d followed Matthew down here. She’d thought he’d been cheating on her.
If only.
She would have been lucky if that had been the case. She walked past garbage and a pile of old blankets. She moved around to the back of the restaurant.
Searching around, she found a few loose boards. Pulling at them, she heaved for breath. She might need to take up running or something.
A splinter pierced her skin, and she whimpered. “Ouch. Ouchie. Damn it.” She drew the splinter out, then sucked up the blood. “That sucks.”
But no injury was going to stop her.
Finally, she managed to get the boards free enough that she could climb through. She sneezed as dust hit her nose.
There was a noise in the corner. A scrabbling. Probably rats.
Shoot. She hated rats. And there were likely spiders in here.
Plus, it was dark.
This had been a really stupid idea. She glanced around, her panic growing. She moved forward, pulling out her phone so she could use the flashlight on it.