“Woah, woah, calm down.” Williams put a hand on my chest. He turned to Miller and snatched the garment, placing it on the counter. I couldn’t catch all of what was said but I got the gist. “…ever lost…child?” Miller shook his head, eyes wide. “Then shut…fuck up….shit you don’t…clue about.” The next thing I knew he dug into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone. I watched as he paced the floor during the call, but I couldn’t catch much of what was said on his end. Finally, he looked to Miller. “Feds….lead…ring…Texas…not here…” He turned back, facing me. “I’m sorry about all this, Tanner. We’ll be leaving now.” He rubbed a fist on his chest saying sorry and pointed toward the door.
I didn’t give them the courtesy of showing them out and Archie didn’t even acknowledge their departure. Apparently, we were both done with this shit.
I just breathed an internal sigh of relief. Tyler had come through. I could rest easy now knowing the trail for Gia would turn to Texas.
Gia was truly free now. She didn’t need me to protect her anymore.
And with all that, my day went from bad to awful to just fuck it all.
So, I grabbed the bottle of Maker’s and poured myself another glass.
To their credit, Betty and Hal sat there and listened to every last bit of my story. I knew that I had no proof but my scars. The only thing that would remain on my body as a reminder of what happened to me. The rest I’d carry with me in my mind for quite some time. But like the physical had healed, someday I prayed the emotional would too.
I pointed to the scar forming under my right eyebrow. “This is where he pushed me two days before I left. I landed over the tub and my forehead hit the porcelain. I probably should have gotten stitches, but Angelo wouldn’t have allowed a trip to the ER.” I then lifted my shirt, showing them my ribcage. “This is where my ribs were broken. The bruise never quite healed right and it’s permanently discolored.” I pulled down the sleeve of my shirt and showed them the puncture wound on my left shoulder. “This is where he threw one of my Louboutins at me, and the heel caught.”
The two of them looked positively ashen. Speechless. Probably because I was sitting there telling this story with a face solid as a statue. Because that’s the only way I could tell it. Visually. It was the least broken part of me. If I allowed myself to truly feel the pain and the fear that Angelo put into me, the mental torture, I would crumble. There was only so much that the mind could handle before it broke.
“I can’t let him raise this child. I can’t let him find me. Or Tanner.” I looked pointedly at Hal. “Tanner is a good man. I know what you think about him but, let me tell you, I know monsters and Tanner is the sweetest, kindest, most gentle man I’ve ever met. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Well, not unless he had to. That was what was so amazing about Tanner. He was strong, protective, masculine, and he could be dangerous, if he wanted to be, but he always kept himself in check. “People don’t understand him because they don’t speak his language, but I do. Pain and brokenness is our common voice.”
And it was in that moment I realized I’d made a terrible mistake. I’d just walked away from what could possibly be the best thing that had ever happened to me.
Fate had brought Tanner and I together. Two people who were absolutely broken from our past. He understood my pain as much as I understood his. We wouldn’t tear each other down. No, we could rebuild our lives, just like Tanner had hoped. One piece at a time. Brick by brick.
Hal leaned his elbows on the table and put his head in his palms. After a few minutes he looked up at me, the wrinkles on his skin looking even more prominent. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry. I…I…”
“You what?” I asked him. Spit it out, Hal.
“I already notified the sheriff. As soon as I saw you there.” He truly looked sorrowful. His head went back to his hands and now the poor man was actually crying.
“Is it a bad thing that Deputy Miller said he’d call the number on the hotline if things panned out?” Hal finally managed to squeak out. “Things won’t pan out, right? I didn’t want no reward...I just…I just wanted to do the right thing. It’s not a bad thing, right?”
As in the deputy that was seeing Tanner’s wife?
My jaw dropped and I stared at him. “Yes, Hal. That is a very, very bad thing.”
An hour later and I was frantic, driving back down the two-lane highway toward Tanner’s home in Hal’s truck. Betty didn’t think it was wise to be seen in that Chevy anymore, because Hal had given the cops the make and model, along with the plates. I had to hand it to her, she thought quick on her feet.
I’d tried texting him saying we needed to talk and that it was urgent. He wouldn’t return any of my texts. I tried calling him via Betty’s phone, to the number on his business website via an interpreter, just in case he didn’t want to speak to me. I even tried Tyler and couldn’t reach him that way either.
So, I’d had no other choice. I had to get him out of there.
My phone rang, Tyler calling. “Any luck?” I asked her.
“No, he’s still not answering.”
“Tyler, I’m sorry, I…” Tears threatened my vision and I quickly blinked them away.
“He should have told you sooner. And you shouldn’t have given up on him. I’m pissed at both of you.” She sighed. “But I get why you did what you did.”
“Well, I’m heading back.”
“Gia, that’s a stupid plan. You need to wait it out. If your husband shows up and tries to break in, Tanner’s gonna greet him with a bullet to the chest. My brother has that place locked up tighter than Fort Knox. He’s got sensors all over that perimeter that light up, shake the bed, you name it. He spent a fortune getting that house specially automated for his needs. If anyone comes within fifty yards, he’ll know it. He’s got wicked good aim. Even if he’s piss-ass wasted.”
“The sensors aren’t working right,” I said, cringing.
“Wait, what?” she snapped at me.
“The storm shorted almost all of them out. He ordered new ones, but they haven’t been delivered yet.”
“So, you’re telling me my Deaf, drunk-as-shit brother is a sitting duck in that house?” Her voice rose to a chilling level, nearly causing my insides to turn to liquid.
More tears threatened my eyes. “Yes,” I croaked out. “It’s why I’m going back.” I thought I could get to Hal in time. I was wrong. I also thought leaving was for the best, but now the thought of something happening to Tanner, never seeing him again, was ripping my heart out.
“Fuck, G,” she groaned.
“He’s got Archie though, right?” I mean, Archie would bark. Tanner would see him going ballistic.
“Tanner won’t hear him barking if he’s passed out. The bed sensor is what wakes him. Archie may paw him awake if he’s in the room. And that’s if they don’t put a bullet in Archie the minute he makes the first yelp.”
Panic seized my chest. I hadn’t even thought about that. My husband killed Hope. He wouldn’t think twice about shooting the dog. No, not Archie. Not Tanner. “Fuck.” I wanted to scream. “I’m going as fast as I can, Tyler,” I said as I went around a sharp bend. God, these roads were no joke. It was easy to see how Alex veered off so easily.