Page 9 of Grave Kisses (Graveyard of Hearts Collection #1)

“Yeah. Let’s do it,” Marcus says, patting my leg and unwrapping his arms from around me.

When I stand up, they do too. I go down the hallway to Alan’s bedroom, and the entire room smells like him.

It’s comforting in the saddest way. I push the feelings aside and go to his closet.

In the back, I move the boxes from in front of the panel before pulling it open.

The reason I am the only one who can open this is because it takes a handprint.

I lay my hand on the scanner, and the lock immediately disengages.

I never thought I would have to do this, and it feels wrong to snoop through his stuff, but this stuff is saved for a reason.

Inside, there are various items like the deed to the house, registration for the vehicles, and a few business documents, but it’s the box at the bottom of the safe that catches my attention.

When I pick it up, I see that it has my name on it.

I look through everything else before taking the box to the front porch.

I can’t relax in there, and I know this box is important.

It means that he knew that I would have to get in there one day when he was not able to.

Marcus and Bellamy sit with me as I set the box on my lap and pull the lid off. On top is a picture of him and me at my college graduation. Under it is an envelope with my name on it. I set those aside, and there are several USB drives.

“I feel like I should open the envelope first,” I say.

“It was on top, so I’d say probably,” Bellamy says. I sigh and pick it back up.

Kendra,

My sweet girl… If you are reading this, then I have passed away.

I wish I could be there to hold you through the grief.

I know you are trying to bottle it up, but don’t.

You’ve worked too hard to free yourself from your own mind to go back to that place.

The truth is, I’ve known for months that I am dying.

I know it is just a matter of time before my heart gives out, but I don’t want you to have to grieve me before I am gone.

Part of it is selfishness because I don’t ever want to see you hurting like you were when I first took you in.

I know you have probably already questioned if there was anything you could’ve done differently to save me, but you couldn’t.

I knew my fate, which is why I am writing this.

I made sure everything was in order exactly how I wanted it, so life would be easier for you when my time does come.

First things first. Marcus is going to be an asshole for a while.

It’s inevitable. He’s too much like his dad.

Bellamy is his voice of reason, so just stick it out until he pulls his head out of his ass.

They’re both wonderful men who I am confident will take care of you.

Before you try to shut them out, understand they’re more stubborn than you.

Which says a lot, really. No offense! I’d be lying if I said I’m not sitting here hoping you’ll marry one of those boys one day.

(Or both. I don’t judge.) But even as just friends, they will take care of you just the same as Martin or I would.

Next, Archer… There is a lot I haven’t told you, or anyone, really.

I protected him when I shouldn’t have. I tried so hard to help him, but what he did to you was the final straw.

Kimberly was Archer’s older sister by a year.

She was sweet and sassy, just like you… The truth is, Archer killed her.

More specifically, he brutalized her and then killed her.

I found her body in the shed when I returned from a trip, and that image will forever be burned into my mind.

I think the most frightening part was the fact that she had sat there all weekend, and he was sitting in the house like nothing had happened, while his sister’s mutilated body was sitting outside.

He freely admitted to it and said there was nothing I could do, but I didn’t want to believe it.

I had already lost her and my wife, so losing him was too much.

I never spoke up about his confession (although, he was on drugs.

So, who knows if I got the full truth), and her case went cold…

I’m telling you this because you are about to inherit everything.

I am making sure to leave his trust because I know you will sign it over to him.

This means he inherits something, and he legally cannot come after you for anything.

To add to that, there are signed adoption papers in the safe.

Sign them and give them to Jesse. She knows all of this and will ensure that he has no case.

I’d like to think he wouldn’t come after you otherwise, but he might.

Be prepared for that. He is pure evil, Kendra.

Never trust him. In this box are flash drives that contain all of the proof that you need to get justice for yourself, if you want.

I don’t think I need to explain exactly what I mean by that, but the house had cameras at the time of your attack.

Watch with care, and don’t try to do it alone.

I love you so much, Kendra. No matter where you are in life, I am there too. No matter what happens, know that I am proud of you. I wish I could hug you while you read this, but find solace in knowing that I am taking every moment I can to say goodbye.

Love you always,

Dad.

P.S. We both know you like dark humor, so here is an interesting fact… Did you know people shit themselves when they die? Now you can say that even when I’m dead, I still give a shit! If you don’t laugh at my shitty joke, I’ll haunt you!

I laugh as tears roll down my cheeks. He was always so goofy, and this is what I needed. This is closure, even though it hurts. Marcus and Bellamy are also laughing through tears.

“I can’t believe he signed out his death note like that,” Marcus says, wiping his face.

“Shit, I can,” Bellamy says. “He was morbid.”

“It hurts, but I’m glad I got this,” I say. “God, he was such a dork.”

“I can imagine his silly ass giggling as he wrote that,” Bellamy says, and I laugh. I can imagine it too. I do not doubt that he did it intentionally.

“I’m just going to get this over with,” I say as I stand with the box. “Y’all don’t have to see this if it is what I think it is.”

“He literally told you not to do it alone,” Marcus says, standing and taking the box from me. “Come on.”

Bellamy stands, and we all go inside and back to Alan’s office. Marcus sits and pulls me into his lap as Bellamy sifts through the drives. “They’re numbered, so we will start with one,” he says. I look over at Bellamy, slightly shocked, but Bellamy just grins.

They get everything situated and the computer powered on before pulling up the contents of the drive.

It has one video, and Marcus opens it. We are immediately met with security camera footage of the living room.

The three people who assaulted me that night are sitting on the couch.

Archer is in the middle, drinking a beer.

Thomas and Tyler are on either side. The doorbell rings, and they all chuckle.

“Fuck,” I sigh when the door comes open and it’s me. You can see it all over my face that I know it’s a setup. I was stupid for going there in the first place, but that doesn’t mean I deserved it.

We end up muting the video and speeding it up so I don’t have to see the details of everything.

Most of the flash drives are much of the same thing, but from different angles.

The last file is a simple spreadsheet with names, dates, and locations.

At the top, and in bright red letters, Alan put “potential kills.”

“Yeah. This needs to go to the cops,” Marcus says.

“There are… a lot of names on here,” I say. “Initially, I’d like to reject the idea of turning him in for what he did because it means someone else is seeing that video, but… If he might have done something to even one of these people… Their family deserves answers.”

“I agree,” Bellamy says. “I obviously won’t try and force you to do anything, but this is far bigger than I expected.”

“Uhm… Okay. I’m going to box up everything from the safe,” I say, and I stand up. “And probably in here too. You two don’t have to stay. I can just drive his truck back to my place.”

“Ah. Here’s a box,” Bellamy says, ignoring me and picking up a box from the corner chair. “I’ll start on the safe if you two want to sort through things in here.”

“Bellamy,” I say with a heavy sigh.

“We should probably take his computer too. Really, anything that we don’t want Archer getting his hands on,” Marcus says. “The cops will take all of this, though.”

“Are you two ignoring me?” I ask.

“Sorry, I don’t speak bullshit,” Bellamy says. “Were you saying something?”

“Asshole,” I laugh. “No one is obligated to stay just because…”

“We are helping,” Marcus says with finality.

“How can I even be sure you are serious?” I snap at him. “You are like a fucking light switch, going from hating my guts to sitting me in your lap and rocking me while I melt down.”

“I’m here because I want to be, Kendra,” he says softly.

“You haven’t even apologized!” I yell at him. “You called me a whore, Marcus.”

Marcus stands up and takes a few steps forward before bringing himself down to his knees. “What are you doing?” I ask.

“Come here, Kendra,” he says, holding his hands out for me to take. This giant man is on his knees with a ten-thousand-dollar suit on, and I am hesitating? When I take his hands, he pulls me to stand in front of him.

“Marcus, stop. Just…”

“Kendra, I’m sorry. There is absolutely no excuse for how I acted toward you.

You were trying to do right by Alan, and I made everything harder for you.

I will do whatever it takes to make it up to you,” Marcus says softly.

“I’m awful at apologies, and I’ve spent a lot of time avoiding them. I can’t do that with you.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Because you deserve the man Alan knew I could be when he wrote that letter,” he tells me. “I will live up to what he promised you.”

“Just because Alan wanted something to happen doesn’t mean…”

“It means I owe it to him to try,” Marcus says. “I am choosing to dive headfirst and trust that he knew us well enough to make that judgment.”

“What does that even mean?” I ask.

“It means I am loyal to you, Kendra. You aren’t getting rid of me,” Marcus says, kissing the backs of my hands.

“Let’s start by getting everything sorted here,” I say. “And then we can talk about diving. Okay?”

“Okay,” he says with the sweetest smile.