Fatal Exposure - By Gail Barrett Page 0,80
the trash. Keeping one eye on her mother, she dodged the people crowding the food court and hurried to catch up.
She reached her a minute later. “Mom, wait!” she called.
Her mother came to a stop. She turned, causing people to swerve around them, her gaze connecting with Brynn’s. Her face paled. Her eyes turned tortured, filled with something that looked a lot like remorse. “Brynn...”
Brynn didn’t trust herself to answer. Her belly churning, she stood in the busy corridor, facing the woman who’d had the power to save her—and failed.
“It...it’s true, then?” her mother asked.
“Yes, it’s true.”
Her mouth twisted. Pain racked her bloated face, her expression turning even more stricken now. “I thought I knew him. That he was a good, generous man. I couldn’t imagine him doing those despicable things to you. I didn’t think he would ever hurt a child.”
“I tried to tell you. You didn’t believe me.”
“I thought... He was so good with kids. So generous. I didn’t know.”
“You should have. You should have believed me instead of him.”
“But you liked him at first. It wasn’t until later, after we were married...”
“When he started abusing me.”
Her mother blanched. And Brynn took a long, hard look at the woman who’d raised her, knowing her world was crumpling apart. She’d based her life on a lie.
Brynn turned away. Then she headed down the corridor, past the pizza store, past a gift shop, hardly caring where she went. Her mother now knew the truth. She had to face the reality of her actions and suffer the guilt. She’d enabled an evil man to prey on defenseless kids.
Her own feelings in turmoil, Brynn wove her way through the crowd. Should she forgive her mother? Did she even want to see her again? Everything inside her rebelled against the thought. The pain was too deep, the betrayal too horrific, the shock of seeing her again too fresh. Maybe someday...or maybe not. Right now she didn’t know.
And what about Parker? Should she forgive his deceit? She had every right to be mad at him. He’d lied to her about her stepfather—a betrayal that truly hurt.
But people made mistakes. He’d had good cause to suspect her at first. And she knew deep down she could trust him. He’d proven it time and again.
Yet did she want to forgive him? She resumed walking, that thought disquieting her even more. Because frankly, she felt safer holding on to her anger, that righteous indignation that had sustained her for all these years. It felt familiar, secure. If she let it go, if she stopped thinking of herself as a victim and forgave Parker, she lost the barrier protecting her heart.
And that made her vulnerable, the feeling she dreaded most. Because once she dropped that emotional shield, Parker would see the woman inside—with all her flaws. And he might not like who he found.
She reached the elevators and pushed the button, her thoughts swirling from Parker and her mother to the accusation Haley had hurled at her. But as much as it wounded her pride to admit it, her friend was right. She was hiding behind her work. Her photos weren’t only about the runaways; they were about her. They’d always been about her—her fear, her vulnerability, her shame. Not that what she did wasn’t important; she thoroughly believed in her cause. But she’d hidden behind those photos, taking refuge in her anonymity, afraid to need, afraid to trust, afraid to subject herself to betrayal again.
The elevator arrived. She stepped inside, then watched the numbers flash as it climbed to Parker’s floor. So now she had to decide—to cling to the anger or stop blaming Parker and make herself vulnerable by taking a risk on love.
The elevator bounced to a stop. The doors slid open, and she headed to Parker’s hall. She rounded the corner, the sudden commotion bringing her to a standstill. Police officers swarmed the corridor. Doctors ran past, barking orders and talking on phones. Nurses huddled in groups in doorways and near their stations, their eyes startled, their hands covering their mouths. The PA blared overhead.
“Watch out!” a doctor said, knocking into her as he hurried past.
Clutching her sling, Brynn flattened herself to the wall, still trying to process the hectic scene. What on earth was going on? Has something happened to Parker? Fear jolting through her, she started toward his room to find out.
“Get out of the way,” someone shouted behind her. “Let the police by.”
She ducked into a doorway to let them pass.