I glanced at it, then tucked it into my pocket.
“Memorize my cell number,” he said.
“I will.”
His hand reached for the car door. Then he turned back toward me and looked me over from head to toe.
“Not surprised at all,” he said with a genuine smile. “Knowing where the apple came from.”
His smile faded, and his face hardened again. “Don’t tell anybody about this meeting,” he said. “Harlow can’t know.”
I nodded.
Then he stepped out and shut the door behind him.
I watched him hurry back to his SUV and drive off.
The forest closed in around me.
Trees stood tall like silent witnesses. Leaves rattled in the wind, red and yellow fall colors catching the light.
It was profoundly beautiful.
I sat there, alone, trying to understand what hell I’d just been pulled back into.
The man who attacked my mom and my grandma was back. The man who’d ruined our lives. Who stole months, maybe years, from my mom’s life. He took that time from me and my siblings. Time we never got back. Who knew how long she might have lived without those months, rotting in jail?
And now he was back, teaming up with that other monster, Thomas Harlow. Like dung beetle buddies, rolling around in the same pile of shit together.
They wanted to finish what they’d started back then. And now my grandma wasn’t able to continue the fight or win the final battle.
But she didn’t have to.
I was here.
A grown-ass man, ready to do what I couldn’t back then.
It was almost funny watching Detective Nolan offer to fight for us. I knew his intentions were real. His compassion too. Especially when it came to my grandma and the rest of my family.
But after everything that happened, how the hell could I trust him to handle the situation? This world wasn’t built for good cops fighting the good fight anymore. Life had beaten that lesson into me early.
So, if Nolan thought I’d sit back and wait while Harlow or Myers played with my family, he was wrong.
I would find this bastard myself. By any means necessary. Then Nolan could do what he needed to do—ride in like a knight in shining armor and make sure Myers was treated like the monster he was. No deals. No favors. None of that shit. He would rot behind bars like my mom did.
Justice finally served.
Of course, that didn’t mean a happy ending, not after what happened to Mom. But, God, with Myers rotting in prison, we could all sleep a little better at night.
My phone rang.
Dad.
“Hey,” he said. “Did you go to the store or something?” His voice sounded fake. Too friendly. Like it should’ve followed with“I’m so sorry for everything I’ve done to you and your mom.”Which, of course, it never would.
“No,” I said. “I realized I’d left the steroid cream at my place.” My eyes flicked to the dashboard clock. It made sense. My small, shitty apartment wasn’t far.
“So I went to get it. Lila really needs it. I’m on my way back.”
