Gavin and Demi pull up and jump out of his truck.
“What happened? Is she okay?” Demi is rife with worry.
“She needs someone.”
Demi rushes in, but Gavin gives a puzzled look to the loot I’m ready to haul away. They’re both dressed to the nines, a rarity for Gavin, the lake’s favorite lumberjack. They must have been out enjoying a nice dinner. That’s all I want to do with Kennedy right now. Enjoy a good meal, enjoy her company without the shadow of doubt creeping up in the back of my mind.
“She said she didn’t want them.” I motion to the records. “Do you?”
“Nope.” He flexes a dry smile. “I have the originals. Zoey wanted to expand the collection. I told her it wouldn’t be the same.”
“It’s not. She’s not the same either. She’s taking this pretty hard.” I leave out her attempt at seduction. I’m sure the rejection didn’t help.
“Thanks for showing up, man. How are things with Ken? Did you nail that bastard that’s screwing with her?”
The polygraph bounces through my mind, settles in and stays a while.
“Not yet.”
“Get to it.” He offers a light sock to my arm. “Get this crap in the past, and let’s get you two in the future. We should go out sometime. Just the four of us.”
“I’d love that. We’d love that.” That grin tries to break free on my face again, but that damn polygraph has it stifled.
His demeanor darkens. “What’s wrong?” Gavin and I spent several grueling weeks tied to the hip last summer, trying to get Demi free of the nightmare that ensnared her. And we did.
“Nothing’s wrong—yet.” I give him a light sock back. “Take care of your sister, would you? Let her know she can take some time off if she needs it. She’s lucky she has you. Not everyone has a sibling they can count on.”
Solomon’s face pops up without warning.
I take off and find Kennedy and her girlfriends sitting on the deck of the cabin, and I take in a full breath as I get out of the car.
Stay calm. This will all work out fine. She’s probably right. Keith is a sociopath. Once she aces her polygraph, we’ll be at an impasse—we’ll call in the head doctors and take it from there.
I give a friendly wave as I make my way up the steps, and Kennedy smiles the smile of a stranger. It’s funny how you think you know someone, you would bet your life and then, bam—you discover what they’re capable of.
But I can’t hold it against her.
After all, she doesn’t know me—Solomon flashes through my mind again—or what I’m capable of.
Testimony
Kennedy
There are nota whole lot of things that can throw me for a loop. At an early age my mother taught me to be prepared for whatever life might hurl my way. She warned it would launch so hard so fast at times that it would feel as if hellfire were raging against me. This is one of those storms. Hellfire is coming at me hard and fast.
Charlie, Reese, and Melanie have all gathered around like chicks to a mother hen—albeit a mentally fragile mother hen at the moment. Although, they do like to point out my kick-ass capabilities and happily inflate my ego with howawesome, and pretty, and smart I am!I’m almost sick of myself after the bizarre pep talk that’s been taking place. It’s as if they know it’s bad, and, in an effort to shield me from exactly how bad things are, they’ve placed me in a bubble that floats precariously into the sky. Just one pinprick of reality, and I’ll splatter all over the sidewalk of truth.
Honestly, they have no clue the level of despair I’m feeling. I made the mistake of sending a mass text telling them I was in a funk, and they all believe it’s the sex tapes that have me down. Yes, the thought of my nether regions lighting up a big screen—my orgasms playing out like a touchdown on game day to a bunch of frat boys huddled over a bowl of chips makes me want to hurl, but it’s Keith and his promise of a polygraph that has me anxious. Each hour that drifts by, I wonder if Caleb has received the results. If he knows things I wish he wouldn’t. I’m not breathing a word of this to anyone. I’m just glad I had the girls here with me today to ease the pain, even if they were clueless as to how bad things were about to get for me.
Caleb arrives a little after dark. My stomach churns in knots as the girls whimper how gorgeous he is. A Calebgasm takes place sans Reese’s participation. She’s still very much enjoying her Acegasms, thank you very much.
“We’d better head out,” she rallies Mel and Charlie to their feet.
We’ve been here for hours—at his place. The girls wanted to head to the Poison Barrel, but that’s too public for me and next door my mother has adopted a very large ear. To say the least, she’s terrified for me. I’ve never seen her so sick with worry, which in itself is worrisome. I wanted to shake that sick look off her face.Is this so much worse than what we went through before?I wanted to shout at her frightened expression.Is this so much more terrible than what you had me do? You have trained me. You made me who I am. I am the exact representation of who you are—a manifestation of your darkest hour, playing out on a loop because I can’t figure out how to escape the monster that I’ve become.
“Hello?” Charlie waves her hand over my face, and I startle.
I glance past her shoulder and find Caleb already inside speaking to Reese and Mel at the door.
