Malcolm.
It was Malcolm.
Bile rose from my stomach, and I could not see any more. How could he do something so vile and disgusting? What kind of a monster was I married to? On another screen, I could make out Gregory, a young girl straddling him while another man whipped her. On the corner of the screen was a date stamp, name, and what I assumed was the age.
Malcolm and Gregory would not get away with this.
Rummaging through the drawers, I found a flash drive.
“Come on,” I whispered to nobody, slotting the drive into the USB port.. My hands visibly shook, and I had to grit my teeth to keep from throwing up right there.
I managed to transfer an hour of the footage, including the videos with Malcolm and Gregory. Even though it made me sick to have something like this in my possession, I knew I would need it someday. After labeling it a bogus case number,I slipped it into my filing cabinet with the several other flash drives. I would be able to get it when the time was right.
Logging off, I made sure to put everything back into place, including his clothing. I guessed his move to the guest room would have to wait. He could never know what I’d seen. After years of practicing law, I knew that timing was critical. You never went in with all guns blazing, and you never went at it alone. I would have to talk to Meredith. She would know what to do. But I couldn’t do it now.
I had no idea where they were holding these women, but I had a feeling it was at the club or close, from the sight of the red ribbons. They plagued me, and I had no idea why. I’d seen them before and not just when Malcolm and I fought about it or at the club in that girl’s hair. No, I saw those a long time ago. I just couldn’t place where.
ChapterTwenty-Four
Alyssa
Present Day
So that was my deep dark secret. The one that weighed on my shoulders like a boulder as I tried to push it up a hill like Sisyphus did, only to have it roll back down and crush me over and over again. The secret I couldn’t tell the world because of the shame I felt. Not just toward Malcolm but myself. What I’d seen made me feel dirty and ill. There was no way I could ever un-see it, and it tainted the way I saw the world. My whole life with Malcolm had been nothing but a lie.
This man was the father of my child. It scared me even to broach the subject with Gracie. What would she think of me questioning her? What if he’d done something to her too? I was good with people and picked up on things before anyone else did. My ability to foresee things gave me the winning edge in my work.
But this?
This, I had never imagined in a million years.
It was something I’d battled with for a long time. Why had I not seen the signs? Was I really that blind to all his flaws? Did love make one blind? What kind of wife took things at face value the way I had? What kind of mother was I? When Malcolm decided to partner with Gregory Evans on that club, I should have known something was off. But to me, it was merely another business venture.
My husband wasn’t the man in those recordings. He was always so genuine, so good, and so perfect. I guess there was no such thing. He’d fooled me pretty well. This was why Luke and I could not be together, no matter how hopeful he sometimes made me feel. I’d loved one man since I was a teenager, and he’d been my greatest downfall. I would never allow myself to be destroyed like that again.
This whole mess began with Mal, and I would make sure it ended with me. It was just Gracie and me, and I’d find a way for us to start over.
“There’s something I need to tell you, Luke.”
He looked over at me before glancing back at the road. Still, I knew all his attention was on me.
“There were things I discovered about Malcolm. Things that could have had him put away for a really long time. But I’m not ready to open up about it, not yet anyway.”
“Is that why…” He didn’t have to finish the sentence. I knew he meant me killing my husband.
Nodding, I pinched the bridge of my nose, leaning back against the headrest.
A part of me wished I could have said it all out loud, but some things needed to be processed internally first.
“Will you ever be ready to talk about it? It may help. You’ll never know until you try, right?”
“I’ll have to talk at some point. Right now, it’s just difficult. Maybe, I should have trusted the justice system back then. Turned Malcolm in with the information I had. But I didn’t trust that anyone would understand, much like I didn’t trust them enough to leave finding my daughter in their hands.”
It was irrational to put the blame on myself for what Malcolm had done. Even when he’d showed me who he was, I’d made excuses. I made excuses for him because I could not believe a man I’d known my whole life could turn out to be such a monster.
“I’d believe you, you know. You can trust me.”
I knew I could. But not with this, not yet, but I needed to get to my house. I needed the recording, and I would have to trust him with at least that bit of information.
