“Yeah,” he breathed. “She’s on a new case.”
Lilliana moved to the chair next to him. She looked at the picture of Autumn when she graduated high school. A private investigator took the photo. Braeden hired him since he and Lilliana were forbidden to go anywhere near their daughter.
Autumn’s high school graduation was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life. She should have been celebrating the next step in her journey.
Except she’d gone on a darker route, not of her choosing. And it took a toll on her.
Lilli put the picture down and glanced back at Braeden. It was as if she could sense the dread he felt. “What is it?”
“Someone took the eyes from the victim and left them for the authorities to find.”
“Is Autumn alright?” Lilli’s tone was sharp, a mother bear trying to figure out if her child was in danger.
They both knew what Autumn went through during her kidnapping. And they’d witnessed her nightmares.
Braeden had been the first person on the scene. It was a wild goose chase when Autumn went missing since there were so many girls missing at the time. No one suspected a respected lawyer to be snatching girls. And destroy their lives in the process.
That was the first time Braeden had seen his daughter face to face.
His shoulders went up then down on his exhale. “She’s putting up a good front, but I think it bothers her more than she’s letting on.”
“Her nightmares haven’t abated.” There was a tremor in Lilli’s voice, “We need to see her.”
“I already suggested it, Lilli. She doesn’t want us there.”
“But—”
“Lilliana.” Braeden stood and wrapped his arms around his wife. Leaning his forehead against hers, he murmured, “We need to respect her wishes.”
“I wish she would reconsider.” Lilliana pushed away from him and looked out the window, “I want to tell her the truth.”
“Lilli…”
“She needs to know who her real parents are!”
They had this argument countless times since they found Autumn in that house of horrors. They all but adopted her since herfather, rejected the girl when she was found.
“Now isn’t the right time.”
“Will there ever be a right time, Braeden?” She turned to him. Her eyes breathed fire. “Do you know how much I regret allowing my brother to take her? I was so scared. And now…” She swallowed, “What if the wrong person tells her? She’ll never forgive us for keeping this from her.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
But what if it does?
As he held Lilli a second time and kissed the top of her head, he looked back outside at the calm ocean. The dark thought niggled at the back of his mind.
If someone unexpectedly did tell her, it would destroy their family.
The song “Monster” by Skillet pounded through the speakers of Cat Tails when Autumn arrived. She gave a slight nod to one bouncer and made her way down the hall. Autumn found the door she was looking for and knocked. Hererra stood before her dressed in black pants and a white wife-beater.
A cat-o’-nine-tails held loosely in his hand. The soft, braided strands of the flogger pointed toward the ground. “You ready?” He murmured as he took in the loose black tank and pants she wore.
“Yes, let’s get started.”
She flung off her clothes. Then, with her back to him, she walked over to the wall and reached up to hold on to the metal rings above her head.
Autumn closed her eyes and took a breath before the tails struck her back and flinched as they landed against her flesh. She ground her teeth together and tightened her hands around the rings, waiting for the next stroke.
