Page 7

Chapter

Six

TARA

“ Y ou’re mine now,” Dean whispers in my ear.

My eyes fly open, my chest heaves, and bile creeps up my throat.

Hot tears prick my eyes but I squeeze them closed, refusing to let them fall.

I start out at a hundred and count backwards.

As I open my eyes, I notice that the sky is just beginning to lighten.

Then I look down and see that I’m clinging to Gabe’s arm like a child clutching their parents when they are scared.

I want to lay here and overanalyze everything that happened last night, but that’s not who I am anymore.

Nothing I found out last night changes the mission I’m on, and I can’t find Ned or whoever the fuck is running this group from Gabe’s bed.

It’s time for this reunion to come to an end.

Gabe has always been a deep sleeper, and I pray that what I used to see as a flaw hasn’t changed.

Slowly, I move his arm and listen for any indication that he is waking up.

When he lets out another low snore, I slide out of the bed, pull on my clothes, and leave the room without looking back.

I find Reaper where I left him, lying on the floor by the dining room table.

I grab my weapons, click my tongue, and open the back door.

Reaper runs outside to do his business, which, yes, I pick up and dispose of in Gabe’s outside trash can.

The walk back to my truck doesn’t take long.

As I pull out and head back toward Hawk’s Bend, the sun is just peaking above the horizon.

Reaper is happily eating his breakfast in the back seat from his travel bowl.

After plugging my phone into the car charger, I call Elio.

“What did you learn?” He asks, sleep still clinging to his voice.

I have no doubt that I woke him up, but like every other time, he never complains when I call at odd hours of the day.

“Not much. It seems like Dean was helping someone stalk my brother’s new girlfriend. She killed him in self-defense. I never got around to asking why his body was buried or who had been leaving the flowers.” My stomach growls, but I ignore the pain of hunger.

I’ll eat when I’m safely away from this town.

“Where does Demon fit into this?” I hear the sound of coffee brewing in the background, and I would kill for a cup.

“Don’t know for sure. He was some help to Reed when Ali, his girlfriend, was being stalked. For some reason, Demon agreed to help Gabe look for me. I assume that’s the alert you got on my name. It was Gabe this whole time looking for me,” I say, hitting my turn signal to go out around a slow driver.

“Any news on Ned?”

“They didn’t even know that someone else was involved that night. I’m only guessing here, but I suspect when people around Ned started to disappear, he got scared and went underground. If I remember correctly, he said something that night about his girlfriend and a pregnancy scare they were going through. Maybe if we find her, we can locate him.”

When I first woke up in Ava and Elio’s house, my memory of that night was fuzzy, and there were moments that I couldn’t remember.

But things have become clearer over the months, and I’ve remembered everything.

Elio sighs, “It’s worth a shot. Why don’t you let me?—”

“No, Elio. I’ve told you I have to find them myself. I’m sure that with one phone call, you would know everything there is to know about him. Hell, you would probably be able to tell me where he is hiding right now, but?—”

“You have to do it,” Elio says, cutting me off.

“I know. Just remember that you aren’t alone in this.”

“Ask her how far away she is so I know when to start breakfast,” Ava asks in the background.

“I just started the drive, but you guys go ahead and eat. I’ll be there soon,” I say in place of goodbye and hang up.

Elio has spent a year begging me to allow him or for one of his guys to help me track down these fuckers, but I’ve refused.

I need to do this for myself, by myself, but there is one major flaw.

I’m supposed to be dead, meaning that I can’t go walking through town asking questions, can I?

I mean, I could. I could walk straight into the college or hell, even call up Lilly and start asking all the questions that would lead me to Ned.

But then that would cause questions about what happened and where I’ve been, and I don’t want to answer those.

There is also the major plot detail of Lilly lying about me that night.

I hadn’t known Lilly lied before last night, but now that I know, I can’t stop thinking about it.

Why would she do that?

She seemed nice, and we were on our way to becoming friends.

What changed? Or did I misread her the same way I misread that whole night?

My mind replays every interaction I had with Lilly leading up to that night until I’m sure my initial perspective about her was right.

She’s a good person.

This means that something happened that night, and I need to know what it is.

I hit my hazard flashers and pull off onto the shoulder of the road.

Reaching behind me, I grab my backpack and pull out my laptop.

I fire it up and connect it to my mobile hotspot.

I start by searching for Lilly on all the social media platforms young people have these days.

I strike out with each one besides Facebook.

Her profile is set to private, so I can’t see anything but her profile picture, but that gives me a lead.

Her picture is of her with an adorable little girl.

I never knew she had a daughter and the little girl clearly belongs to her.

Switching gears, I search Lilly Harris and scroll through all the results until my eyes land on what I’m looking for, a birth announcement.

There is no mention of the father in the announcement.

I pick up my cell phone right as a police siren filters in through my opened window.

I hurriedly click off the birth announcement and bring up Google Maps.

Looking up, I watch the officer step out of the police car parked right behind me.

This is why I don’t fucking like driving during the day.

“Coricare,” I tell Reaper, and he lays down instantly, but his eyes track the officer as he walks up to my window.

“Is everything alright here, Miss?”

I turn, and the first thing I read is his nameplate, Lemmons.

That name causes a dark, unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“Yes, of course. I got turned around and thought it was best that I pull over to recheck my directions again.” My voice stays calm despite my wildly beating heart.

“Where are you heading?” Officer Lemmons places his hand against the roof of my truck and leans closer to my window.

“Haywood.” The name of the town I was in last week rolls off my tongue easily.

It’s four hours away, and I know for certain that if I follow this road for another ten miles and turn right onto the interstate, it’s a straight shot.

“I could have sworn there was a turn-off somewhere around here and worried I missed it.”

His eyes bounce to Reaper in the backseat quickly before returning to me.

“Nope, it’s about another ten-minute drive up the road on the right.”

I sigh in fake relief.

“Oh, that’s great. Thank you for stopping to check on me.” I shut the laptop and place my phone on top of it before straightening up in the seat.

“Have a great day.”

“Not so fast. It’s protocol that I at least run your name. You know, to make sure that you aren’t running from the law.” His brown eyes narrow on my face, and a smirk almost exactly like one I’ve seen before pulls at his lips.

“Of course. No problem,” I say, pulling the man’s wallet I use out of my jeans pocket.

I hand over the ID I have.

I watch him walk back to his car and slide inside.

While I’m uncomfortable right now, it’s not because I’m worried about what will come up when he runs the name.

This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with the police.

While the name on the ID isn’t mine, it will come back with my picture and a clean record.

Vance is good at what he does, and I’ve never had any issues before.

Five minutes later, Officer Lemmons is back beside my door.

“Everything is clear. Have a good day, Tammy.” He glances once more toward Reaper before heading back to his car.

I slowly pull out onto the road and make sure to keep my foot off the gas pedal.

Officer Lemmons stays parked on the side of the road for another minute before pulling a U-turn and heading back the way he came.

I grab my phone and call Vance.

“What’s up, Tara?” From the noise in the background, he is still at home because I can hear a baby crying and cartoons blaring.

“I need a number for Lilly Harris. Normally, I would do this, but I’ve already had one run-in with the local police and don’t want to risk another.”

“Everything okay?” Vance asks, sounding just like an older brother would.

“Yeah, you know, small-town cops. They see someone sitting on the side of the road and they have to stop and run their names.” Reaper let out a low growl, letting me know that he didn’t like Officer Lemmons either.

“Glad you’re okay. I’ll get you the number as soon as I get Junior to stop fussing.”

“Thanks and good luck.” I hang up on him, laughing at the walking contradiction he is.

Vance can hack any computer and find information that the CIA doesn’t want us to know, but he can’t figure out how to entertain his two children.

I turn on the radio and hit play on my playlist. Letting the sound of Sam Riggs push away the memories of what I did last night as much as possible.

But the memories of Gabe have never truly left me, and I don’t think they ever will.

Maybe once this is over and everyone who hurt me is dead, I’ll be able to finally think about my future again.

I have a new lead, Lilly Harris, and hopefully, with her help, I’ll be closer to ending this.

By the time I pull up and park behind Elio’s blue Mustang, I have a solid plan for Lilly Harris.

I grab my stuff, let Reacher out of the car, and walk around to the gate that leads into the backyard.

I open it and watch Reaper take off, running through the grass.

He deserves some time to just be a dog today, plus I’m safe here.

“I’m home,” I say, pushing open the back door into the mudroom.

I hang up my leather jacket and unlace my boots before taking them off.

I hear Ava singing along with the radio in the kitchen.

“Where’s Elio?”

“He took his bike into town, saying he had some things to work on at the hospital. How was your visit?” Ava asks, turning the music down so we don’t have to scream at each other.

“Insightful, to say the least.” I walk over and pour myself a cup of coffee.

The pot is full, and the coffee maker is still making the noise it always does when it has just finished.

I quickly kiss Ava’s cheek and sit down on a bar stool at the island.

“Want to talk about it?” Ava pulls a plate piled high with biscuits smothered in gravy, two fried eggs, and bacon out of the microwave.

I take a sip of my coffee and moan at the bitter taste.

“Not really,” I say, cutting the egg and shoving a piece into my mouth after she places it in front of me.

Ava leans her elbows on the counter and stares at me.

I meant it when I said she stepped into the mother role a year ago.

Growing up, my egg donor was absent most of the time, but when she was around, she never looked at me like Ava is right now, with worry in her eyes.

No, Valarie always looked at me with pure hatred.

It was no secret that I ruined her life.

Even though I wasn’t the one who told her to start sleeping with a random guy she met at the bar or the one to suggest getting knocked up so he would leave his wife.

But the blame for those choices rested solely on my shoulders.

Once Valarie realized my sperm donor was never coming back, she decided to ignore me like he was doing to her.

At first, it wasn’t so bad, so what, she never spoke to me, at least she never hit me or let me go hungry.

But that all changed when I was thirteen.

One night, Valarie came home a complete mess.

She was drunk and crying.

She was the worst I had ever seen her in my whole life.

When I tried to walk past her, she grabbed a fist full of my hair and threw me to the floor.

Before I knew what was happening, she was on top of me, hitting me in the face and screaming that my father killed himself.

She said it was all my fault, that if I had never been born, he would have still been with her and that he would still be alive.

I lay there in shock until she finally grew tired and passed out right on top of me.

That night changed everything.

She basically disappeared.

Literally, she left and didn’t return for three months.

That pattern stayed the same until I turned eighteen and moved out.

It was hard at first. I was only thirteen and had no clue what to do.

I quickly learned that she wasn’t coming back, and I had to figure out a way to survive on my own.

I don’t know what made her continue to pay the electricity and water bill, or even if she knew she was paying it, but they never got cut off.

The only thing that I had to worry about was food.

Luckily, I got breakfast and lunch free from the school.

For dinner, I would ration what we had, and when I ran out, I started babysitting for money.

I didn’t have any friends, so no one noticed that she wasn’t around.

I always told the school that Valarie was sick and couldn’t attend parent-teacher meetings.

I never got into trouble and ensured that I looked perfect so no one would suspect she wasn’t taking care of me.

It got easier when I turned sixteen and was able to get a job.

I had to beg Valarie to stay long enough for me to get my permit when I was fifteen and my license when I was sixteen.

I didn’t have a car, but I needed an ID to get a job.

When she heard I got a job, she started demanding money, which I gave her because the first time I said no, she ended up breaking my arm.

She took me to the doctor’s, told them a story about me falling, and they believed her.

When she put on her perfect mom performance everyone bought it.

I saved enough money that when I turned eighteen, I was able to afford a very small, run-down studio apartment in town.

I didn’t tell Valarie I was leaving.

I just packed my stuff and left.

She tracked me down, but I told her that if she ever contacted me again, I was going to tell everyone who would listen what happened.

I kept proof of every time she hit me in the form of pictures and a journal.

Would that be enough?

I had no clue, but it worked.

She left me alone from that point on.

It took me three years to work up the courage to look up my father, Mitchell Black.

That’s when I found out I had an older brother.

His name was Reed, and he was eight years older than me.

Then, it took me another two years to work up the courage to show up at Reed’s house.

“Tara,” Ava says my name, and I shake my head to clear away all thoughts of Valarie, Mitchell, and Reed.

“Sorry I didn’t get much sleep last night.” I take another bite of food, hoping Ava doesn’t notice the slight tremor in my hands.

“I asked how you were feeling after seeing Gabe?” Ava’s eyes are on my hand.

I sit the fork down and place my hands in my lap.

“Ava, can we just not talk about this right now? I’m exhausted and want to sleep for days. Please.” I look up and plead with my eyes for her to let this go.

“Sure, love. Finish your breakfast and head upstairs,” Ava says, reaching over and patting my hand.

After eating everything on my plate and drinking my coffee, I pull Ava in for a hug and head upstairs to my room—the same room I’ve slept in since the first time I woke up in this house.

I am tired, but I’m not going to sleep.

Sitting on my bed, I copy the number Vance sent me into a new blank message.

Me

I know the truth about that night, Lilly.

I know that Tara Pope didn’t leave the bar alone.

I keep the message simple and short.

The thought of causing Lilly any distress doesn’t sit well with me, but this is the only way I know how to find out what the hell happened.

If I have to scare her a little in order for her to tell me the truth, then I will deal with the disgusting feeling.

While Dean might have gotten the justice he deserves—even if I didn’t deliver it—Ned Lemmons is still out there breathing, and I can’t wait any longer to rectify that.