that was part of the way I coped, I realized. I clung to the good in others, and with Billy, I clung so tight he’d become an extension of me.
Like the therapist had said, I needed to confront him in order to let go.
I’d advised Conor to stop running away, and there I’d gone, running away from the pain too.
That was what made this so hard.
He listened to my thoughts, his expression breaking apart for me.
But it was time.
“Who sent me to you that day?” he finally asked me.
I sucked a breath in as hot tears fell down my cheeks. “You did.”
He nodded sorrowfully. That little boy was not the older man capable of doing those horrible things to me. I’d finally accepted it.
Billy smiled at me peacefully. I smiled back, taking him in one last time.
Then he faded before my eyes, vanishing into the quiet night.
When Conor found me, I was shivering and cold and still staring at the spot Billy had stood in.
“Dove.” He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his chest.
I cried into him, gripping him to me with all my strength.
“It’s okay now, dove. It’s okay,” he crooned. “Don’t you feel it? Everything is going to be different now.”
I did.
I felt it.
The truth was setting everyone free.
Locke
He slid his shirt back on.
Locke needed that tub so badly. The cold water wouldn’t do. It had to be frozen or from the arctic.
He paused briefly as he buttoned up his shirt, thinking of that goddamn girl.
Shit.
How could he have forgotten he’d tied up a girl in his apartment? Those knots he’d tied were tight. He liked seeing them around her wrists. They were probably chafed by now. That thought hardened Locke. He was such a sick fuck.
She’d probably gotten that duct tape off her mouth, too. Which meant she was currently screaming up a storm.
She had a serious filthy mouth.
She probably thought someone was going to hear her. She didn’t know Locke owned that apartment building. No one was going to say a word.
Locke didn’t know what to do. He stood in Jem’s bar, wavering now, not wanting to stare at the guy, either. It was getting more and more awkward between them.
Jem was watching Locke carefully, but at the same time he wasn’t meeting his eye. The tension was crippling, and usually that didn’t bother Locke much, but this time…well, this time it was personal.
Locke didn’t want to think back at that time. It’d haunted him enough over the years, but…
“Part of what I said when I was a kid was true,” he said aloud as he reached the top of his shirt. “Some faces I didn’t remember. They were blurry. I think I was so scared I couldn’t process my terror at the same time I was processing everything around me. But…that changed a while ago.”
Jem was watching him now, hands still tight around the shotgun.
“I saw those steel doors open, and for some reason they reminded me of open arms, kind of like they were saying, ‘hey, come on in.’ I hovered there like a wimp, but then I thought…what would Jem say when he found out I was in this hole? Maybe he’d start to finally like me. So, I stepped down. I was cold and scared but determined. I felt…brave.”
Locke went still, remembering. “And then I reached the bottom, and I felt something tight in my chest. I grew scared again. I realized something wasn’t right about a hole in the ground. I turned around, looked up, felt my body grow hot with the urge to run and…there was your face staring down at me. I yelled to wait, but you slammed the doors down on me.”
He finally looked at him.
Jem’s eyes were red and raw. Tears slid down his face. He was holding the gun tight, but not in a menacing way. He was holding it tight to expel the terror he was currently feeling.
“For so long I knew it belonged to a boy,” Locke said quietly. “I didn’t know if it was Dom or you. I…spent so many late nights trying to figure out whose face I saw.”
Jem looked down, shame burning his cheeks. “I’m sorry,” he rasped out. “I’m sorry, Max. I…I had no choice.”
Locke figured that out ages ago. Jem was a mischievous little shit of a kid, but his heart wasn’t so cold he’d willingly let his friend suffer.
“You were my friend?” Locke found himself asking curiously.