Chapter 14
Fourteen
Poppy
“How’s your eye?” I asked as I stood next to Patrick, examining the bruise.
I winced as I looked at it, hating that I was the one who had given it to him.
He’d caught me by surprise last night while I was making dinner, and the touch of his hand on my waist triggered a reaction that I couldn’t control.
I had been so used to Dale doing that to me that I didn’t even think before I swung around and punched him.
“I’m fine. Please stop worrying about it. Besides, it’s nice to know that your aim is better than your cousin’s. Now I’ll have something new to make fun of him for.”
I hadn’t heard from Gage or Julie, but we all agreed that I would call if we needed anything.
Otherwise, we would give each other space.
It was best for everyone if we let things between the guys settle a bit before spending any more time together.
The last thing I wanted was for a fight to come between them, especially this close to Christmas.
I wanted to keep whatever peace I could, which meant giving Gage time to process the news that something had happened between Patrick and me.
I sat on the couch and stared out the window, watching the snow fall while he sat beside me, resting as he closed his eyes.
It was a calm day, which was nice, given that we seemed to have missed the brutal storm predicted to hit Silver Falls a few days ago.
I hadn’t kept up with the news to see if there had been any changes, but I was thankful that I could still leave town if I needed to.
With the way things were going between Patrick and Gage, I was starting to worry that I would.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door, spurring Travis into action as he barked and howled at it. Patrick got up and opened the door, glancing nervously at me as two police officers stood outside.
“May I help you?” Pat asked, keeping the door open enough for me to hear the conversation without allowing them to see me.
“We are looking for Poppy Grant. We have a source that confirmed she was staying here.”
Patrick nodded and stepped to the side as I stood up. I lowered my hands to my sides to keep from fidgeting as I walked over and joined them.
“That’s me,” I said softly, trying to force myself not to appear weak.
The two officers exchanged a look before one nodded, and the other looked at me with a solemn expression.
“Mrs. Grant, your husband is dead. We regret to inform you that we found his body last night in a vehicle registered to him that had washed ashore in the river.”
I gasped, not even attempting to fake a reaction. My hands clasped over my mouth as tears stung my eyes. While I knew that I had killed Dale, it felt very different to hear someone else say the words.
“What?” I stammered as I struggled to stay composed. Out of all of the times to have an emotional breakdown over what had happened, this was the absolute worst time for one. “What are you talking about?”
Patrick moved out of the way, inviting the officers inside before closing the door behind them. The female officer approached me calmly, her face soft and comforting.
“We were called out to investigate a car that had washed ashore in the river,” she explained again.
“Inside the car, we found the body of Dale Hudson. Silver Falls Police Department had been made aware of a missing person alert from Coyote Creek when Sheriff Hudson hadn’t been seen in a few days.
I’m very sorry to deliver this news to you. ”
I shook my head as I felt my legs tremble before I dropped to the ground and cried.
I wasn’t necessarily crying over Dale or the fact that I had murdered him.
I was crying because it was real. Not only had I killed him, I also stopped the cycle of abuse from ever happening again.
I was finally free, and there was nothing he could do to hurt me anymore.
But that didn’t make me feel any better about knowing that I had taken a life.
The police officer knelt beside me and offered me her hand as Patrick helped me to my feet. I had forgotten that I hadn’t done anything to hide the bruises on my neck from where Dale tried to strangle me, but the second the officer spotted them, I felt the tension in the room shift.
She immediately stood up, her hand flew to her holster, and she looked between Patrick and me as if that would give her the answer she was looking for.
“It’s not what you think,” I explained, letting my fingers trail over the bruises as I sniffled. “He didn’t do this to me.”
“Would you like to tell me who did?” the officer asked politely, still side-eying Patrick.
He took a cautious step back, making sure to give me enough space so it didn’t look like he was controlling me, without being too far in case I needed him.
I knew she was probably also questioning the black eye he was sporting, thanks to me.
I knew this was my chance to give them my side of the story. If I wanted them to rule me out as a person of interest, I needed to make sure they knew what exactly I had been running from the night I escaped Dale.
“My husband,” I replied, looking the female officer in the eyes.
“Sheriff Hudson constantly abused me during the six months we were married. I tried several times to leave him and asked for a divorce, but he refused. The last attack happened several nights ago. I left town and came here. I’ve been staying with my ex—now current boyfriend, since then. ”
I paused for a moment, looking at Patrick before I continued.
“His black eye is from me,” I admitted, nodding to Pat. “He startled me, and my instinct was to protect myself, so I punched him.”
A look of understanding flashed across the female cop’s face as she pressed her mouth into a soft smile and gave me a single nod.
“Did you ever go to the police to file a restraining order or to report the abuse?” the male officer asked.
I nodded and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
“I tried everything I could think of, but I’m sure you can understand how difficult it was to convince anyone in a small town that their beloved sheriff was abusing his wife. I wasn’t able to get the assistance or protection that I needed, so I left.”
“When was the last time you saw your husband?” the male officer pressed as he pulled out a notepad and jotted down something.
“He was still inside the house when I left Saturday night. I don’t know what happened after that. I got a phone call earlier from Detective Gibson of the Coyote Creek Sheriff’s Department, stating they were trying to locate him.”
“We spoke with Detective Gibson as well,” the female officer confirmed. “It was how we received the information about your whereabouts. We contacted them once we identified the body, since there was a missing person alert.”
“So, what happens now?” Patrick asked, wrapping a protective arm around me as I leaned into him.
“The body has been taken to the local morgue, where they will perform a full autopsy at the request of the medical examiner. After that is complete, you can discuss transportation options with the funeral home if you would like to have his body transported back to Coyote Creek for burial,” the male officer explained as he put his notepad and pen away before pulling a business card out of his pocket.
“This is the information for the funeral home in Silver Falls.”
Patrick took the card and put it in his pocket without letting go of me.
“Would you like to file a police report for the attack that happened the night you left?” the female officer asked as she looked from me to the male officer.
“With Silver Falls, or do you mean back in Coyote Creek?”
“In Silver Falls.”
“Is it necessary? I mean, it’s not like they can do anything to him now.”
“It’s absolutely your decision. But I’ve learned that it’s never too late to say something. Just because we can’t arrest him for what he did doesn’t mean we have to ignore what happened. People deserve to know the truth about who he was and what he was capable of.”
There was something that felt off about what she was asking, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was.
I studied her for a few minutes until I recognized the look in her eye.
The sadness that clouded her blue eyes as she struggled to hide it from me.
It was the same look I had after he hit me the first time. It never went away.
“You didn’t get to report yours,” I whispered.
She shook her head and pressed her lips together.
“I wish I would have, because maybe if I would have told someone what was happening, they would have stopped him. Instead, I packed my bags and moved to Silver Falls, leaving Coyote Creek behind.”
My heart skipped a beat as I processed her words. Dale had hurt her, too.
“You weren’t the first woman he put his hands on, but you will be the last. I didn’t have the courage to report it when it happened to me, but I would like to help you do what I couldn’t.”
“Okay. Tell me what we need to do,” I said, as a wave of emotions washed over me.