“I’m sure you hate me,” she rushed on.
“Hate is a strong word,” I replied. I almost needed a stronger word, but I knew she was a pawn in all this as much as I was. Or had been. Was she still being played? I had no idea, nor was I willing to find out.
I was no longer a pawn in the evil game that was created around me. I was my own person with my own choices.
“I’ll take that. For now,” Lynn said. “I won’t push the subject. I know how hard it is to be pushed from one family into a marriage.”
“Who says we are even married?” I asked. Would it really matter if she thought I wasn’t married?
“I just gathered,” she answered slowly. “So you…you two aren’t, then?”
“Does it matter?” I huffed out. “I’m stuck here, one way or another.”
I wasn’t stuck here, far from it. Although, I’d rather be nowhere else but right where I was. I couldn’t see myself being anywhere else, either.
“I guess not. No,” she said, her voice almost sad. “Figured he’d…you know, get it all over and done with quickly. There are threats out there against you.”
“Yeah, I do know that,” I said with an eye roll. “We almost both died not all that long ago.”
“That’s what Kent had said,” Lynn replied. “I was hoping that’d stop Aaron.”
“It seems that nothing will stop him,” I stated. “But it wasn’t him. It was someone else.”
“How do you figure that out?” Lynn asked, generally concerned.
“Just a gut feeling is all,” I shrugged. “The danger is far from over, though.”
“It will never be over,” Lynn mused out loud. “Aaron will stop at nothing. He may no longer want you dead, at least not now that he has a way in for him getting money.”
“Where are you?” I asked, my voice filling with concern. Hopefully, she’d tell me or at least give me a hint.
I didn’t want to see her, but I knew that Zachariah had questions. I did too, but would she really tell either of us the truth? Would she even tell us anything at all?
“Somewhere safe,” was all she gave me. “No one will find me, just like I need. I can’t keep living a life of lies.” She was one to talk. Lies surrounded her.
I couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. “We all live a life of lies. That’s what thisfamilyis about.”
“They mean well,” Lynn said, her voice growing colder. “It’s better that way anyhow. Too many secrets. Too many truths that get twisted the wrong way. Racheal is a product of that.”
“Yeah, well…” I trailed off, not sure what to say. Was there anything I could say? I didn’t really think so.
“Have you found anything in those journals?” Lynn asked hurriedly.
“No,” I answered shortly.
“Keep looking. Sometimes, you just have to lookdeeperinto them,” she answered before pausing for a moment.
“Before I go, please don’t forget that Cody is capable of doing things no one expects out of him,” Lynn was quick to say. She seemed to be in a hurry now to get off the phone with me. “He’s…he’s a man on a mission. He won’t stop. Neither of them will.”
“Right now, they are the least of my concerns,” I stated. “I know things that they wouldn’t want the public to find out.”
A lie. But one that could certainly keep me alive a bit longer. They were only two men out of many that wanted me dead for some odd reason. A reason that I hoped to find out someday.
“They aren’t going to be scared of you or what you think you know of them,” Lynn said, slightly amused. “Just be careful that they don’t find out that you think that way. It will only make them come at you harder.”
“Oh, but that’s what I want. Can’t you see?” I asked. “I want them to come after me. I want them to try to kill me off. I just want this—whatever this may be—to end once and for all. I’m done running from the past. I’m done trying to pretend to me someone I’m not. I’m just done with everything.
“I once thought that you were different, you know,” I mused, letting my words flow. “I once thought I was different. I thought it was all my fault that I was kidnapped and that Becca was murdered right beside me. I thought that I was a pawn. I may be a pawn to an extent, but I’m done. Finished.
“I won’t let anyone tell me what I can’t do. I won’t fear for my life. I have no life to fear. I have nothing to live for. I want to look death in the face with open arms and get this storm over with.”
“What about Zachariah? Wouldn’t he keep you safe?” Lynn asked.
“Oh, he will.”
With that, I hung up the phone before falling to the floor as tears of relief fell from my eyes. I felt better getting all of that off my chest once and for all.
So now, it was time to figure out whose fault it truly was.
