A heavy pause. “We got an area.”
I close my eyes. It’s not enough. “Not exact?”
“No.”
Failure again.
“Eli,” Deck’s voice softens through the speaker. “We will find him.”
I look at Eli, at the man curled into Finn, at the terror Adrian dragged right back into our home.
“He’s not hiding,” I whisper to Deck.
Adrian isn’t running. He isn’t hiding anymore.
Adrian is hunting.
And this time, my boy is the prey.
23
Eli
A knock at the door pulls our attention toward it. Deck had arrived not long after the call.
Thirty minutes later, a courier hands CJ a plain paper folder. Now it sits on the coffee table, and I stare at it. A cold pressure builds behind my ribs. Opening it feels like stepping back into a life I barely survived.
Barely moving. Barely breathing.
After CJ signed for it, I finally left the bedroom I had returned to after the call and curled into his side. No one says a word. They wait for me.
I sit up and take a deep breath. I don’t know what’s in here, and given we now know Adrian is behind everything, this isn’t going to be a pleasant ride.
I open the folder. Photographs. Every single one is of me. My stomach drops as I pull out the first one.
I’m asleep in the bed Adrian and I shared. Dark, finger-shaped bruises ring my throat. Shadows sit beneath my eyes. Dried blood clings above my eyebrow.
Dinner was late.
Second photo: I’m in the shower, naked and unconscious. Blood forms a halo around my head as it mixes with the water and drains away.
I was late home.
Third photo: My fingernails are torn because I fought him. My lip is split.
I had said no to sex.
Fourth photo: I’m lying in a pool of blood beside the coffee table, the glass cracked from my head hitting it.
I had argued back.
Fifth photo: I’m slumped in the car seat, unconscious. Blood runs out of my nose, and dark drips stain my shirt.
I had embarrassed him in front of his friends.
I place each one on the table for them to see, and reach for another. And another. And another.
Finn makes a small sound as he looks at the photos. I glance up and watch Deck pull him onto his lap: a comfort for Finn, but also a comfort for Deck.
