Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Ryan
The toilet flush reverberated in my ears after I threw up for the second time that afternoon.
I leaned back from my knees and sat on the bathroom floor, pressing my cheek against the cool tile wall.
I had only gotten through the police files.
There were still more documents Rick had sent over, but after reading Raven’s testimony of what happened, I ran for the bathroom, everything I’d eaten that day making a gruesome return.
Blood rushed in my ears as I hauled my ass off the floor and to the shower.
Steam clouded the room after I turned on the water as hot as I could stand it.
Maybe I could burn the images from my mind.
Right before I stepped into the scalding water, I double checked the security camera feed.
There had been nothing out of the ordinary in either location since I’d talked to Raven. At least she was safe.
The water sluiced down my back and loosened some of the tension in my shoulders. I focused on steadying my breaths as the horror of the words I’d read played back through my mind.
My uncle. Jeffrey Mitchell. The uncle that I thought died in a car crash when I was eleven had actually died at the hands of the woman I was in love with. The uncle who was the only person in my family who seemed to actually care about me as a child. The uncle I had missed ever since he died.
When I read the file I couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe that he tried to hurt Raven. He hid his demons better than Dad who didn’t give a fuck who saw. And Raven. My Raven was confident and didn’t take shit, but she was a killer?
Not that he didn't deserve it after what he tried to do to her, though.
My heart cracked further as I thought back to Raven’s words all those years ago, transcribed and then sealed away and never read again.
Except they had been read. By me. I didn’t regret it, though.
I ached for everything she had been through, and finding out it was at the hands of the one person I admired tore through my chest like fire.
The scent of cedar and vanilla filled the shower as I lathered my hair, my stomach still churning.
Reading the recount of what happened painted the sequence of events perfectly in my mind.
Raven’s love of books must have also rendered her a storyteller.
The words she told the police depicted the scene as though it were in a book, but was it the truth?
The police didn’t believe her. She wasn’t arrested for a crime since she had bruises all over her body and didn’t have a record.
They had no evidence the murder was premeditated.
She said she’d been walking downtown in the large city I assumed she grew up in—the same one on her college application—when she was attacked. Two men, one of whom was Jeff, began following her, and once she turned onto a less populated street, they grabbed her.
She fought, though. She fought them with everything she had as the unknown man held her for my uncle.
Just before the point of no return, Raven said she mustered every ounce of strength she had and kicked the guy restraining her in the balls.
She lunged at Jeff, grabbing the knife she noticed at his belt.
Before he knew what was happening, she buried the blade to the hilt in his chest. She said she didn’t think twice before yanking it free and dragging the sharp edge across his throat, spraying my uncle’s blood all over her body.
Realization dawned on me. That’s why Raven carried a knife.
She’d pulled a knife on me during the interview.
At the time, I had been intrigued by it, but I had written it off as Raven just being careful.
Alone in an office with a strange man would warrant having a weapon, but another thought nagged at me.
Why was Raven so quick to play with me while I was Zander? She should’ve blocked my number when I texted her since there was clearly someone still out there. If she was as scared as she acted, she wouldn’t have entertained me at all.
Shaking the water from my hair, not knowing what to believe, I stepped from the shower and couldn’t help but wonder about the second man. Was he someone I knew? He was with my uncle, so there was a possibility he ran in my father’s circle.
As Jeff bled out on the street, the other man told Raven she would never sleep in comfort again, because he would always be watching and waiting for the perfect time to strike.
Then he disappeared. She said she hadn’t heard from him since, but in my gut I knew he was following her the night she thought it was me.
I wouldn’t be able to sleep until I knew who he was and made sure he never bothered her again.
I reached for my phone on the vanity and swiped it open to the camera app that was still pulled up. Everything was still fine, but I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.
I didn’t know if I could follow through with the Halloween plans.
Telling Raven I knew what happened was the only viable option, but then I would inevitably have to tell her about Rick.
I was under no assumption that if I told her she would stay, and would have a restraining order in place before I could blink.
I wouldn’t blame her. I’d invaded her privacy, but even when I hired Rick I knew I would stop at nothing to ensure she was safe.
That was before. Before I’d fallen for her and before I found out she killed Jeff.
At first, I thought this would be a sex thing, but I quickly realized it was never going to be only that.
I’d never planned to settle down with anyone in my life, but then Raven stepped all over those plans with her black stilettos.
Now, she’d thrown a wrench into those plans too.
The minutes ticked by. The time I was supposed to show up at Raven’s office grew closer.
Yet, I hadn’t left the couch. After my shower I sat down and couldn’t muster the strength or will to read the rest of the files Rick sent.
I’d wasted hours staring at the camera feeds and rolling my thoughts around in my head, warring with myself over what I was going to do.
I watched Raven leave her office to go to her parents’ to hand out candy, and nervously waited for her to return.
I didn’t text her. I couldn’t trust myself to not spill everything as soon as I saw her name displayed on my phone screen.
I told myself over and over that tonight was just like any other night.
Raven had years of Halloweens since that night and nothing happened.
Tonight was no different despite my newfound knowledge. She was fine.
I glanced back to the phone as Raven stepped into the camera’s view at her office.
I released a heavy breath, and my hands shook with relief at visible confirmation of her safety.
Although, maybe she didn’t need anyone else to protect her.
The phone vibrated in my hand as the camera feed disappeared, and the incoming call screen replaced it.
Mom was written above the answer and decline icons.
Panic tore through me. Mom hadn’t called me in years. Why would she be calling now? I let the vibrations continue until the last minute when I finally decided to answer. I swiped the screen and tapped the speaker button.
“Hello?” I said in barely a whisper.
Silence stretched between the lines for a few seconds before Mom finally answered in a choked voice. “Ryan.”
I immediately knew something was wrong. I hadn’t heard her speak in that tone often. Unease washed over me at what was going to be the second hysterical call I’d gotten in one day. “Why are you calling? What’s going on?”
“Ryan. It’s your father. I’m so sorry,” her voice cracked.
Did he finally die or something? I shook my head in disappointment at that being the first thought to run through my mind at her words. “What about him?”
“He…” A sob cut off her voice.
“Just tell me what’s going on, Mom.” I sighed.
She sniffled and drew in a breath. “Ryan, your father is on his way to you.”
My stomach dropped. What the fuck?
“Why? What the hell does he want with me? He made it crystal clear that he wanted nothing to do with me years ago.”
“I know. It’s not anything good. I’m not involved in your father’s private dealings, Ryan,” she admitted.
“I’m just his wife. It’s my job to sit by the pool while he works and to look pretty on his arm at social events.
I just wanted to warn you. He wasn’t happy when he left this morning, and I’ve been sick with worry all day. ”
My blood boiled in my veins. “He left this morning, and you’re just now telling me?
It’s eight o’clock at night. He’s probably already here.
” Rage tinted my vision at her audacity.
“Why bother, Mom? You never bothered when he hurt me before. Why the hell are you bothering to give me a head’s up now? You don’t give a fuck about me.”
“Ryan, I’m scared!” she yelled. “It’s no excuse, but I’ve always been terrified of your father.
If he finds out I made this call, things won’t be good for me.
I acted how he told me to so I could protect you.
As long as everything was smooth between him and me, he didn’t really care what you did when you were a child. ”
The anger ebbed a fraction. “What do you mean?”
“I did what I had to do to make sure you weren’t in his line of sight.
That meant ignoring you myself. I hated it every day, and I wanted to die, but I kept going because of you.
When you were struggling and came back from college, the help we gave you was because I begged and pleaded with your father until he gave in,” she admitted.
“When you got upset and left, there wasn’t anything I could do to convince him to keep paying for your therapy.
I tried. He forbade me to give you a cent or anything else because you were the one walking out on him. Not the other way around.”
The guilt punched me in the stomach. “Mom…” My voice trailed off. I didn’t have words. My brain wasn’t processing what I was hearing.
“You don’t have to say anything, Ryan. I don't even care if you hate me for it. I did what I had to. You’re successful, and I’m proud of you.
That doesn’t matter right now, though. I have no idea what he’s going to do.
He got a call this morning and lost it. He wouldn’t go into any detail with me, but I overheard him say something about coming to find you. ”
Mom started to cry again, and the desire to comfort her overwhelmed me. “Mom, it’s all right. I’ll be fine. I can protect myself from him. You don’t have to worry about me. You just need to be safe yourself, all right?”
“Okay. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for everything.”
“We will talk about it later, maybe. Right now, I’ve got some other stuff going on. I’ve gotta go, but I’ll call you when I can.”
Her agreement came in a whisper. “And Mom, call me if he does something to you.”
She assured me she would, and I ended the call. I was almost half an hour late to meet Raven. I jumped up from the couch and tapped into the security feed as I grabbed my keys.
I stopped short of the doorknob, the keys clanging to the floor. My heart skipped as I stared at the phone screen. “Fuck!” I yelled to the empty apartment, loud enough to be heard outside in the parking lot.
I watched in horror as a man walked into the camera’s view and went right into Raven’s office.