Chapter 37
SAVANNAH
The four of us jostle in one of the security team’s SUVs as we drive over another pothole.
Hunter insisted on driving, and the rest of us just settled in without argument—Luke in the passenger seat, and Rory and me in the back.
Rory decided that we didn’t need space between us and moved me to the middle seat.
The drive up north has been quieter than a monastery. They’ve made it clear that they’re not happy about this impromptu trip.
“You don’t have to do this,” Luke grumbles.
“I know,” I sigh, resting my head on Rory’s shoulder.
“We can get answers another way,” Hunter adds.
“He may not play along,” Rory states.
Rolling my eyes, I sit up. “I know.” Making eye contact with each of them, I make sure they’re listening. “Look, this is my choice. I know what I’m doing, and I know the risks.”
Luke rubs a hand on his face. “I don’t like this.”
“You don’t have to like it,” I snap then wince, feeling guilty. My voice turns soft. “I need your support.”
Luke sighs, turning in his seat to look back at me. “You have it. Always.”
We make it to Green Haven and go through security quickly. Rio Flores and Special Agent Asher Dawson are already there, sitting in the waiting room.
Asher talks to a guard as Rio stands to greet us, then he gives me a knowing look. “You didn’t have to agree to let the FBI listen. You’ve already done more than enough to further their investigation.”
He has a point, but holding a grudge against the entire FBI because of one bad apple isn’t going to do anything for me.
“I want answers, and I figured, why not help the FBI along the way?”
Rio nods, accepting my reasoning. “It’ll just be me and Agent Dawson listening.”
“And us,” Hunter adds.
Luke reaches for my hand. “I still think you should let one of us go in with you.”
Turning to Luke, I repeat what I told him earlier. “We’ve been over this. If you’re in there with me, he won’t talk.”
Luke searches my face, I’m sure looking for the slightest sign of doubt, but he won’t find any. His shoulders drop. “At the first sign of distress, I’m pulling you out of there.”
Leaning my head from side to side, I reply, “Or I can just stand up and walk out with my own two feet.”
“Savannah…” Luke chastises.
Cracking a smile, I cup the side of his face. “I know. Thank you for looking out for me.” Dropping my hold on Luke, I turn back to Rio. “I’m ready.”
Rio leads me to the door where a prison guard waits to escort me inside.
“It’s good to see you again, Savannah.”
Hearing my name, I pause. It takes me a moment, but I finally recognize the man and note again how his hair is over-styled with gel.
I bet he single-handedly keeps the local cosmetic store in business.
“You too, Brad,” I respond.
He leads me to the booth, and I take a seat, waiting for John. I feel Brad standing close behind me—too close, making me feel uncomfortable.
Brad clears his throat. “I’m sure your dad will be happy to see you again. He was distraught with the way you left things last time.”
I don’t turn around to give him my response. “He’s not my dad.”
“You should respect him as such,” Brad objects.
His comment makes my body freeze. Slowly, I turn my head and find Brad sneering down at me. The door on the other side of the glass creaks open, and Brad finally breaks his gaze and steps back. Fortifying my mental walls, I twist back around to the clank of chains.
John impatiently takes a seat on the stool with an eerily wide smile on his face. We pick up the corded phones at the same time. “My Daisy. My prodigal daughter returns ready to cast aside her worldly possessions.”
“I came for answers,” I correct him.
John’s light dims momentarily. “You’ll see reason soon enough.”
Not wasting time, I get right to the point. “Why did you give the code we wrote to Shawn Winthrop?”
John’s mouth tightens as he attempts to smooth out his expression. When he finally gets his emotions under control, his megawatt smile is back. “Why does it matter?”
“I need this, J—” I cut myself off when his eyes start to narrow. Swallowing my pride for just a moment, I correct myself. “Dad.”
Satisfied, John answers, “My disciple needed some help. He’s not as tech savvy as you and me.”
My face pinches in while I contemplate. “You mean the copycat serial killer.”
“If that’s what you want to call him, sure. The copycat.” He uses his fingers on one hand to make air quotes around the word “copycat”.
With that mystery solved, I continue. “Is the copycat the one who keeps leaving me gifts, or is it some other crazed fan?”
John still smiles like a clown and gives me a simple shrug.
“He gave me gold daisy earrings and a necklace,” I inform him.
John’s eye twitches.
I’d bet a big amount of money that he knew about the gifts, but not what they were.
“Dad?” I prompt him.
I hate giving him that title, but I’ll do it for now if it means this nightmare will end.
John sits up straight. “I’m guessing, yes.”
Done with the games, I grit my teeth. As I respond, my volume increases. “I don’t have time for guesses. I have a stalker out there leaving me bleach in a flask like we’re having afternoon tea!”
“He gave you…” John blinks several times, looking me over. “Are you no longer clean?”
All I can do is gawk in his direction.
He leans forward, placing a hand on the counter and rising to his feet. “Have you been defiled?”
I shake my head. “That’s not what’s important right now.”
John slams a hand on the glass. “Answer me!” My mouth falls open, but not a sound comes out. My heart races in my chest. “Do I need to perform an exam?”
The exams.
I’ve spent years forgetting what those were like.
I can’t think about them right now.
Needing to de-escalate the situation, I try to calm him with a soothing tone. “John, please, listen to me.”
“Don’t call me that! I am your father!” He drops the receiver, backing away as he points his finger at me. “Your garden has been unlocked. I can’t believe you gave your most precious gift away.”
I raise my voice so he can hear what I have to say. “Virginity does not determine value. I’m worth more than a small piece of tissue in my body.”
He slashes his hands through the air as he shakes his head. “You’ve ruined everything!”
Guards rush toward John, and the door on my side slams open as a few bodies rush inside.
Jeremy Milton strolls forward. “Why do you insist on having these meetings without me present?”
John makes eye contact with Milton and frowns. “You.”
Milton waves his hands at the rest of us. “Get out. Nothing said from this moment forward is usable. My client is far too upset.”
An arm engulfs my shoulders and guides me away, and two more bodies flank me. I have zero doubt about who the three people are.
My eyes are glued to my feet as everything finally hits me. What was said, what was implied, and what John reminded me about.
“She’s not staying around to answer any questions.”
“Go.”
The two statements are muffled, like I’m underwater and barely able to hear what’s going on around me.
I feel my body being moved from place to place and my feet complying with whoever has taken the lead.
I finally register where I am when there’s a light squeeze around my hand. Blinking, I look down. Rory’s thumb is tracing patterns on the back of my hand. My eyes take in my surroundings. I’m in the SUV with Hunter, Rory, and Luke. We’ve left the prison.
I’m here. I’m okay. I’m not a teenager anymore.
John Bartlett will never touch me again.
My chest suddenly feels lighter, and the faintest smile graces my mouth as I look around at my three men.
Breaking the silence, I say, “Well. That was…interesting.”
Nothing.
I try again. “I guess one good thing that came of this is that we know my stalker and copycat are the same. Now we only have to look for one person instead of two.”
Crickets.
My lungs fill with a deep breath, and my tone softens. “Thank you for coming with me. I really appreciate it. I couldn’t have done that without the three of you by my side.”
Speaking to me, Luke turns in the passenger seat. “What exam was John talking about?”
“Oh. That. Umm…” I want to tell them, but finding the words is more difficult than I would like.
Rory tucks my hair behind my ear. My eyes flick up and connect with Hunter’s through the rearview mirror.
“Please don’t make us dig,” Luke pleads.
“I won’t. It’s just…” Pushing the air from my lungs, I waffle back and forth in my mind.
Rory angles his body toward me. “What?”
Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I rub the side of my neck. “Promise you won’t see me differently.”
Luke squints, confused by my request. “Why would we?”
Exhaling, my eyes fall to my lap, and I say out loud something I’ve told myself many times. “I’m more than the trauma I’ve endured in my life.”
Rory uses a finger to guide my face toward him. “We know that.”
A brief moment of fear claws at my lungs. “There’s a difference between knowing and feeling. When you feel the truth, your actions reflect that.”
“Trust us.” Hunter’s words strike me like a command sprinkled with tenderness.
Facing forward, I stare out the windshield at the road as I explain. “When I became a woman, there was something else that John would do.” Clearing my throat, I expound. “My period wasn’t regular. Turns out, stress can mess with a woman’s cycle, and at the time, I was very stressed.”
“That’s common sense,” Luke interjects.
I nod. “When my period didn’t come on time, John would perform…vaginal exams to make sure my hymen was still intact.”
The silence in the car lasts for less than a millisecond.
Rory explodes. “He would what?”
Luke turns toward the front and hits the dashboard. “I’ll fucking kill him.”
“Get in line,” Hunter says to Luke.
Rory stares at the back of the passenger seat in front of him. His eyes move back and forth like he’s trying to decipher a code. “What kind of father does that to his own daughter?”
“One that’s truly fucked in the head,” Luke growls.
Placing a hand on Luke’s back, I reassure him. “I’m okay now. I promise.”
“We know you’re okay,” Rory explains, then motions to the three of them, “but we’re not.”
A wave of peace washes over me, and my hand grips my shirt over my chest. “I…I don’t know what to say. I’m s—”
Hunter interrupts with an edge of warning in his tone. “Don’t you dare apologize. The actions of someone else are never your fault.”
They’re defending me. They care. They’re angry for me, not at me.
“I love you. All of you.” It feels good to let those words out of my soul. It’s been a long time since I said them to someone besides Blake.
Luke whirls in my direction. He reaches for me, grasping my face and pulling me close as he leans toward me. “Say that again.”
The three words come easier this time. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Trouble.”
Luke closes the small gap between us, and our mouths meet. It’s not a hurried kiss. It’s full of energy and dedication. A chill spreads across my skin as the motion of Luke’s lips make my heart race. Then he pulls away, placing a tender kiss on my forehead.
Rory guides me back into his arms and growls in my ear, “I’m gonna need you to repeat that, Dream Girl, but I need you to be naked when you do.”
“I can do that,” I agree, then Rory drags his teeth over my lobe. My eyes close, and a small sigh escapes me.
“Someone grab the wheel,” Hunter instructs.
My eyes snap open, and I watch as Hunter turns on the cruise control and unfastens his seatbelt. “Are you crazy?”
“Take the wheel,” Hunter directs to Luke, who obliges.
“You’re going to crash the car,” I protest, but no one listens.
Hunter let’s go of the steering wheel as Luke takes hold. Hunter leans his seat as far as it’ll go and slides into the back seat. As he does that, Luke and Rory also change seats. Luke skates into the driver’s seat, and Rory moves to the front seat, making room for Hunter in the back.
“Just a friendly game of musical chairs,” Rory jokes, but he’s not wrong.
I have no idea how they were able to accomplish that without crashing the car or injuring themselves. It’s like they practiced it.
Hunter pulls me into his lap, forcing my knees on either side of his thighs. Our chests push against each other as we pant. “Say it.”
My mouth opens, but I’m still a bit shocked at the way they all maneuvered in the car.
“Please,” Hunter begs. “I need you to say it again. I need to hear it every morning and every night.”
My heart melts.
“I love you.” My arms encircle his neck as I lean into his body and whisper to him, “I love you. I love you. I love you.”
“My Heartbreaker. I love you too.” Hunter traps me in his embrace, and there’s no other place I’d rather be.