Page 80 of Don’t Open Your Eyes

It took every ounce of restraint to keep her rage from spilling over and screaming at Chase. But she couldn’t risk it. He’d manipulated his way into her life, and then tried to kill her daughter. He was capable of anything. She had to pretend that she didn’t know. But he must have realized that once Scarlett was awake, she would tell Annabelle all about him. Was he going to hurt her now? She had to stall. Think, think. “Chase, why are you telling me this now about my son? And why did you go through the effort of hiring our company and getting to know me first? I don’t understand.”

“I wanted to make sure you were a good person before I told you. I love Lucas. Just because I found out he’s not my biological son doesn’t change the way I feel about him. But I didn’t feel right not looking into it. I mean, he has a right to the truth, as much as it pains me.”

How could she believe a word he said, knowing what she knew now. What kind of crazy person had she let into her life? Maybe the reason he was drawn to all those stories about psychopaths was because he was one.

She saw a flash of lights before she heard the siren. Gripping the seat, she did her best to appear unaware of what was about to happen. Chase adjusted the rearview mirror, looking behind him. “Was I speeding?”

He pulled over to the side of the road and two police cars pulled up behind them. An officer got out, approached the car, and indicated Chase should put his window down.

“What’s wrong, Officer?” Chase asked.

“Please step out of the car, sir.”

“What did I do?”

“Out of the car.”

Chase opened his door and stepped out. Immediately the officer handcuffed him. Annabelle jumped out of her side and stood watching.

“Chase Sommers, you are under arrest for Evading Responsibility, Assault in the Second Degree with a Motor Vehicle, and Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree.”

Annabelle’s fear was suddenly replaced with rage and she stormed over to the other side of the car and stood in front of Chase. “You hurt my daughter, you son of a bitch. How could you? I trusted you!”

“Annabelle, wait—”

She rushed toward the second police car, and the officer opened the door so that she could get in. “Are you okay, ma’am?”

She nodded.

“I’ll take you back to the hospital now.”

Annabelle was shaking as the implications of what she’d just learned hit her. The important thing was that Scarlett was safe now. But what if Chase was telling the truth about his son, and he was really her son? Had her son been living with a monster all these years?

Annabelle

James jumped up from his chair when Annabelle walked into the hospital room.

“I’ve been so worried! Where were you?” His eyes widened when he saw Detective Stanton walking in behind her.

“I’m fine.” She looked over at Scarlett and back at James. She didn’t want to frighten her daughter. “You’re awake. How are you feeling, honey?”

“Okay.”

“Detective Stanton wants to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?”

Scarlett nodded. The detective approached the bed and held out his phone. “Is this the man who you met at the café?”

“Yes, that’s him.”

“Can you tell me what happened after you met him?”

Scarlett looked up at the ceiling for a moment. “He knew my name. I realized he must have been pretending to be Ben. He had messaged me to meet him there on the same text chain we’d been using all along. So I guess I was never really talking to my brother. I freaked out and left, and he chased me. That’s the last thing I remember.”

“Chase Sommers is the man you believe was texting you?”

“I guess, if it wasn’t my brother.”

“Why were you using WhatsApp instead of regular text?”