“Was it the wave that hit you, or Nate?”
I lie motionless on the bed and blink up at the ceiling. “I’m not sure.”
“What you just told me, about Nate chasing after you, could be damaging if the investigators hear it. But if you think it was just the wave, you need to be clear about that.”
I shake my head on the pillow. “But I’m not sure. I honestly don’t remember what happened or what hit me. But, Becky ...” I meet her gaze directly. “I’m certain he’d never try to kill me. He has his faults but—”
The door opens, and Amanda walks in. “You’re awake.” She cheerfully kisses me on the cheek and sits down.
“Where’s Connor?” I ask.
“He ran into a friend from hockey. They’re still in the cafeteria.”
I try to relax, but it’s not easy.
Amanda leans close and speaks quietly in my ear. “Did Becky talk to you about Dad?”
She knows. I can’t bear it.
“Yes,” I reply, “but I’m sure he wouldn’t have done what they think he did.”
“How are you sure?” she asks. “I just ... I wanna know.”
I nod because I understand. She’s seeking reassurance, and I want, more than anything, to give it to her. “I know him,” I reply. “And he loves me.”
“But you went to see a lawyer about a divorce.”
The heartache in her voice breaks my heart too. “Yes, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about that.”
“But why? Don’t you love him anymore? Or is he bad, like they’re saying?”
I shake my head. “Dad has disappointed us lately, but that doesn’t make him a killer. I won’t believe that about him.”
“But the police searched our house, and they say they have proof.”
It sickens me to imagine strangers going through our personal belongings, and I still can’t believe Nate would ever do something like this.
“It has to be a mistake,” I tell her. “Believe me, sweetheart ... we’ll get to the bottom of it.”
“Will we?” she tearfully replies. “But what if you’re wrong? What if he’s found guilty and he goes to prison for the rest of his life?”
I honestly don’t know how to answer that.
Chapter Thirty
Nate
I’m awake inside a nightmare. Or maybe I’m on my way to hell.
I thought it was bad enough when LaPierre locked me into this concrete cell, but it’s worse now that the sun has gone down. There’s no light shining through the barred window, only a cold and bluish fluorescent glow from an overhead bulb in a cage. It’s deathly quiet except for another inmate hacking and coughing, occasionally spitting.
This is a hellish place, and I don’t belong here. I want to go home and get a second chance, but Sienna’s in the hospital. She’s bruised, broken, and battered. She’s on life support, and I might never see her again. She might die, and if that happens, I’ll never forgive myself. I might as well die too.
But this hell of mine can’t be any worse than what she went through when she was swept off the rocks and fought for survival in the raging, ice-cold ocean waves.
God ...I’m losing it again. My body shudders, and I fight not to sob, because no one has any sympathy here. Besides, I can’t be absolved. Nor can I change what I did. I asked for money again, even after I promised to stop putting the restaurant ahead of our family. That’s why she ran away from me, toward the waves.
I let out a loud, wretched sob.
