Chapter 25 #2
Ethan towed her behind the barn and around to the patch of woods where she and Dax had found her little flock her first morning there.
Memories burst forward, bringing tears to her eyes.
That was the first time she’d witnessed his compassion, his kindness.
He’d taken charge and hadn’t just fixed a problem but had showed her patience and a willingness to help her help herself.
How had she fallen so fast for someone she’d known for such a short amount of time?
And now she might not get a chance to ever tell him exactly how strong those feelings were. Regret washed in, weighing down each step. She’d searched her entire life for a man like Dax only to lose him before she really had him.
At least she’d gotten a chance to stare love in the face, to feel its impact and to experience what all those damn songs were written about. That’s what she’d hold on to until the very end. But if she had anything to say about it, the end wouldn’t be today.
“Hurry up,” Ethan snapped, yanking her under the thick cover of trees.
She kept her mouth shut and followed behind him, mindful of her surroundings. The sound of the river gurgling downstream echoed ahead. Fear gripped her stomach, but she refused to show it. Refused to walk calmly to her execution.
“Are you going to do the same thing to me as you did to Garrison? Throw me in a river and hope everyone thinks I just slipped, fell in and hit my head? This time you can’t make some stupid claim you’re doing it to save someone. You’re a murderer. Nothing more.”
Ethan stopped and squeezed her arm so hard she yelped. “I’m not a murderer! I protected your mother. I loved her!”
Surprise number two was enough to make her stumble forward. “I don’t understand.”
He growled, yanking him toward her. “Chip didn’t want us going after his sister.
Told us all the time she wasn’t up for grabs.
Then she got all starry-eyed over Garrison.
He thought it was hilarious. Laughing behind her back whenever Chip wasn’t around.
Acting like a clown. I told him to cool it.
To leave her alone. She was so sweet, so innocent.
He took all of that from her, and when I found him on top of her in the woods, I lost it. ”
He took a second to compose himself, inhaling deep breaths of air.
Her stomach dropped. “How did he take her innocence?”
Working his jaw back and forth, he snorted.
“What do you think? He was on her, his pants around his damn ankles. She was crying. Yelling at him to stop. Telling him she wasn’t ready.
But he wouldn’t listen. So, I hit him—hard enough to knock him out.
There was so much blood. It got all over Mindy and Chip.
We didn’t know what to do so we threw him in the river. He deserved worse.”
Vanessa pressed a hand to her mouth. Bile shot up her throat as the image of the blood-splattered shirt she’d found in her mother’s room rushed back.
She’d dreamed a thousand dreams over the years about her father.
The type of man he was. What kind of job he’d had or hobbies he’d loved.
She’d made excuses for why he hadn’t tried to find her.
Never had she imagined he’d been a monster.
Never thought her conception was a result of something so horrific.
“Not so chatty now, are you?” Ethan said, hauling her forward again.
“Chip and I were terrified you’d look like him.
That you’d be a constant reminder of what we did, and that eventually that would bring out the truth.
We never thought you’d come back to town and wreak havoc on our lives.
Asking a million questions like a damn dog with a bone. ”
Some of those questions came back with the force of a raging rapid. She tripped over her feet to keep up with him. “Mrs. Steele said my mom and Garrison spent time together. That they were at the beginning of a relationship when he died. Are you sure you saw what you think you saw?”
Maybe it was wishful thinking, but she’d believed the story she’d heard from Mrs. Steele. Could picture the two teenagers figuring out how to make things work despite her uncle’s protests. Something that at the time probably seemed unsurmountable to two kids.
Red splotches invaded his cheeks. “You’re lying. They weren’t together and never had plans to be. He took advantage of her, and Chip and I stopped him.”
“No,” she said, inching closer to the drop-off to the river. Ethan wouldn’t shoot her—couldn’t if he wanted to make her death look like a drowning. If she ran, he’d easily overtake her. She had no weapon. Only one way of escape remained. “You and Chip killed him.”
“Enough!” he yelled, causing birds to fly from the trees. “Let’s get this over with.”
She took another step back and her foot slipped on the slick grass. “What? No hammer to smash in my skull?”
Shaking his head, he released her arm, lifting his hand as if to slam it across her face.
Not waiting for the strike, she shoved his chest and threw him off balance. She held her breath and leapt into the frigid water.
Ethan’s shouts sounded from above her seconds before a gunshot erupted, a bullet ripping into water beside her.
She dove deeper into the murky river. Rapids gushed over her head and sucked her under. Her lungs screamed, her throat burning for air, but she stayed submerged and prayed for a miracle.