The Perfect Getaway, page 22
When I glanced out the door, I saw Nick headed up the walk. He’d seen me. He must’ve. I sucked in a breath, darting toward the bed. My chest rose and fell wildly, and I squeezed my eyes shut despite the tears.
I was sure I’d been caught. I would’ve bet anything he caught a glimpse of me at the door, but to my relief, he walked inside and climbed in bed without a word. I cried in silence, my back to him, until I heard the undeniable screams through the storm outside.
They’ve found her.
Chapter Forty-Four
Laura
PRESENT DAY
“Don’t you see? I did what I had to do to protect you. To protect all of us,” Megan said, her eyes wild with fear. I backed away from her, taking careful steps. I couldn’t believe it.
“She was…just a child,” I whispered, shaking my head in horror. “You were protecting yourself.”
“Maybe,” Megan said, her lips thin as she pressed them together. “But I was also protecting Brad. Your children.”
“My children’s father was just arrested for a murder you committed!” I cried.
“I didn’t want that. I wanted them to think she’d drowned. She’d been drinking. It was plausible. But you and Andy wouldn’t stop pushing, stop digging. If you’d stopped asking questions, no one would’ve been arrested,” she reasoned.
“You killed her so Nick wouldn’t leave you, but now you’ve just pushed us further together. How did you plan to keep us apart once Brad was in jail? Because if you didn’t, Emily died for nothing at all!” I put a hand to my stomach, sure I was going to get sick. My knees began to tremble under my weight.
“Nick will never be with you. I don’t want to hurt you, Laura. I’m going to tell Nick after this that we need to leave. He shouldn’t allow himself to be hurt by you anymore. Not after this.”
I shook my head furiously, the idea of losing Nick causing me to grab hold of the bed to keep myself standing. “Nick will never go for that.”
“He won’t have a choice,” she said firmly, crossing her arms. “Either we leave, you drop all contact with him and we all live out the rest of our lives safely and peacefully, or…” She glanced behind her. “Well, now that I’ve gotten the hang of this shutting someone up for good thing, I guess I could probably figure out how to do it again.”
“You’re threatening me?” I demanded, stepping backward. I looked to my left, then right, searching for a weapon. We were so incredibly alone.
“I don’t want that. I don’t want to hurt you, Laura. Honestly, I don’t. I never meant for this to happen. I didn’t want anyone to get in trouble. I just wanted Emily to keep the secret to herself. That was it. I didn’t mean for Brad to get arrested. I only planted the bracelet because you kept pushing for answers. You wanted someone to pin your guilt on for what you’d done to Emily—the way you’d treated her. I gave you that. You told me the police were coming. You said they’d search the huts for proof, and I had the proof they needed. I helped you!”
“No, Megan, you didn’t. I didn’t want your help. I wanted the guilty person to go to prison. Brad’s innocent,” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t let you do this.”
“Do you have any idea how hard it was to sneak away and plant that bracelet? Do you have any idea how much it hurts that no matter how good I was to Nick, deep down I knew he’d still choose you? Do you know how much it must’ve broken your husband’s heart to know you were with Nick that night? The way he was looking at you…it must’ve destroyed Brad. And don’t even get me started on Nick. Do you know how much you’ve hurt him? So many times, over and over. You just hurt people, Laura. It’s what you do. You’re the guilty one. You’re the one who deserves to pay for your crimes. We’re all victims of your crimes!”
I shook my head, the sting of her words undeniable. “No. No. I didn’t do this. I’m not perfect, but I didn’t do this. You have to tell the police the truth.”
“I can’t,” she said, taking a step toward me. She was still trying to reason with me, but there was an assertiveness now that hadn’t been there before. I imagined this was how Emily had seen her. My daughter’s last sight on Earth.
I thought then of how selfish I’d been. How right Megan was. How my secret had caused so much devastation. I wouldn’t let Brad go down for something I’d caused. I wouldn’t let anyone else suffer for my selfishness.
“Megan, you have to tell the cops. You can’t let this go on—”
“I didn’t mean to do it—”
“But you did it!”
“Because of you!” she screamed, taking another aggressive step toward me. “Because of your lies and because you couldn’t just be happy with one amazing man. You had to lead them both on. Do you have any idea how much Nick loves you? How much damage you’ve done to him? I’m the only one trying to fix it—”
“That’s not true—”
“You have no idea what is or isn’t true. You’ve only managed to bring him pain for years, and he puts on a brave face and pretends it’s all fine in order to protect you, but who’s protecting him? If you truly cared about him, you wouldn’t do this. I’m all he has.”
“That’s not true. He has me. He’s always had me. He had a daughter, but you killed her—”
“After you took her away. He was going to propose to you, and you asked to put her up for adoption—”
Tears blurred my vision. “That’s not true. We weren’t ready for a child! He agreed!”
“He didn’t. He never has. He never told me it was you, but he told me how much giving that baby up broke his heart. He told me how much he wanted to marry its mother.”
I shook my head. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be.
“He’s always gone with whatever you said because he loves you blindly, and you’ve been so selfish you never saw it.”
I moved to shove past her, trying to dart out of the room, but she grabbed hold of my hair, jerking me backward. I threw a hand to my scalp as I fell to the ground, my head connecting with the floor with a loud THWACK. “Let me go!”
She slapped a hand over my mouth, just as she had Emily’s, and I saw her eyes go dark as her hand slid up to cover my nose, too. She was going to kill me.
I fought back with all my strength, an even match for her as we struggled. I inhaled, my lungs screaming for air, but her hand blocked all chance of getting any. I twisted, freeing myself from her grasp and moved to crawl away. She grabbed hold of me again, sitting on my back as her hands wrapped around my neck. She planted them firmly over my nose and mouth again, pulling back. I heard my neck pop, and I froze. Was this how it ended?
“I don’t want to do this,” she whispered. “Please don’t make me.” Pleading. “It wasn’t supposed to go this way. I don’t want to hurt you.”
I wiggled, but she pulled back further. “You need to listen to me. You’re giving me no choice,” she warned.
I was trying, but the edges of my vision were growing dark and fuzzy. I tasted the salt of her skin. I felt my head growing heavy as I heard the door behind us closing. No. Opening.
A commotion.
Footsteps.
Oxygen.
Breathe.
Breathe.
“Let her go.”
The hand was off my lips. I gasped for air, my hands at my throat as I sucked in a breath and spun around, scooting away from my assailant with wild eyes.
Natasha was there. And Nick. Andy. Jaren. Manu. The police. An officer was pulling Megan backward. The sound in the room seemed to fade. Screaming. Crying. Breathing. So many people. I fought for air, so amazed at how easily it came, yet my head was still fuzzy.
I lay back against the wall, trying to breathe. Trying to understand.
“You’re okay,” Nick whispered, moving past Megan and toward me. An officer was on my other side, but I didn’t remember him approaching me.
“Get the doctor,” Manu called behind him. I couldn’t see to whom.
Natasha kneeled down beside me, her eyes full of tears. “Just breathe. We’re here.”
Just breathe.
I nodded.
I could do that.
I could breathe.
Chapter Forty-Five
Laura
ONE WEEK LATER
It was just Nick, Andy, and me. Walking alone along the shore. There was so much weight between us. So much we should’ve been saying. Instead, we moved in silence.
In the week since we returned from the island, Brad was released from police custody and Megan had been charged. From the hut next door, Natasha had heard the screams, gotten the police’s attention, and ultimately, saved my life.
Once in jail, Megan had revealed to them, as she had to me, how everything had gone so wrong. Her trial was still months away, but I didn’t see how she’d manage to get away with any of it.
Brad and I had agreed to separate. He could forgive me for cheating, for lying about so much, but he said he could never forgive me for believing he was capable of murder. For allowing him to be arrested.
I couldn’t say that I blamed him.
Still to this day, I wondered…did I really believe it? Or was it convenient for me? Was it easier for me to hope he had done such an awful thing than to consider coming clean, disrupting my life, and admitting what I never had to anyone, myself included? That I was, and always had been, in love with Nick.
Megan had been wrong about so much, but she’d pointed out something so crucial. I had let my selfishness hurt the people I cared about. The secrets I’d asked Natasha to keep, the pain I’d caused my husband, the rift in our relationship that had hurt my daughters, the pain of abandonment I’d caused Emily when she’d come to me looking for acceptance. For love. I’d been a selfish person, as we all are from time to time, but my selfishness came at the expense of so much. It was a flaw I was now completely aware of.
One I was working to change.
One I would change.
Brad was keeping the girls for the week while the three of us had flown down to Florida to say goodbye. The ocean made us feel closer to Emily.
To my daughter.
As her only living relatives, Nick and I were able to claim her ashes and, though we didn’t know her that well, I had to believe she’d want her final resting place to be at sea. Her life had been spent traveling, her love had been soaking up the world. Andy said she’d always wanted to retire somewhere warm.
We stopped at the water’s edge of our private beach access, all dressed in black. Against the bright and sunny backdrop, I’d guess we looked out of place. Something told me none of us would ever see the ocean as a happy place again.
I twisted the lid off the urn, pausing. I would’ve given anything to go back. To make a different decision. Any different decision along the path of horrible decisions I’d made. But I couldn’t. I could only go forward. Only make better choices from there. I turned the urn over, watching as some of the ashes began to fall away, dancing on the wind and carrying her out to sea. “Goodbye, Emily.”
I stopped, passing the urn to Nick, who did the same. “Goodbye,” he whispered before passing it to Andy.
Andy wore dark sunglasses to hide the tears that had been falling. He held on to the urn tightly, unable to turn it over as he continued to cry. We stood in silence. I would’ve stood there for a week if that was what it took. Andy had to be the final one to say goodbye, Nick and I had agreed on that.
After a while, he scooped his hand in the urn, pulling out the last handful and holding his fist in the air. I watched the last of her ashes blow into the air and then out over the vast blue.
“She would’ve liked this,” Andy said, sniffling. “All of this.”
“Yeah, she would’ve. She would’ve been glad you could come.”
Nick nodded, patting him on the back gently.
When we got home and every bit of truth had come out, Andy asked me if Emily really cared about him or if she’d been using him. I’d told him how much she cared about him. How much she hoped Nick and I would be okay with their relationship continuing. It brought him peace I could never give him in any other way and, because of that, it was the one secret I was content to keep the rest of my life. But as for the others, I was done. Over the past week, I’d revealed every secret I’d kept from anyone.
I told Brad the truth about everything. Told the girls about their sister. Told Nick that I loved him. That I was in love with him.
I had no idea what the future held. I was taking it a day at a time, but what I did know was that it would be filled with honesty.
Selflessness.
Friendships.
Appreciation.
I would take my life one beautiful day, one amazing second, at a time.
I would breathe each breath like it was my last. As we turned to walk away, Nick wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close.
When I’d told him I loved him, he’d said it back. Without a moment’s hesitation. As if he’d been waiting to say it his whole life. That was when I knew Megan had been right about Nick’s feelings, too.
With him by my side, I felt peace like I’d never known. It wouldn’t be perfect. We hadn’t even defined what it was yet. I was still married. We still had so much to figure out, but the one thing I knew—the one thing we’d agreed on was this: we would take each day as it came, each breath as we were given.
Unlike our daughter, we could still breathe. We could still feel pain and loss and love.
We’d been lucky in that way. Lucky enough to suffer. Lucky enough to live.
And, no matter what life threw at us, we’d never take it for granted again.
Chapter Forty-Six
TELL US ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE:
ISLA DEL AMOR changed our lives last summer. It gave us perspective where we desperately needed it. The owner, Manu, took amazing care of us, going above and beyond despite a few troublesome situations during our stay. We’d especially like to thank him for naming the spa after our late daughter, in her loving memory. When you go, be sure to visit Emily’s Isle, and know you’ll be taken great care of. We were. Thank you for everything, Manu.
-Nick and Laura London, ISLA DEL AMOR guests
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Acknowledgments
As always, I could fill an island with the gratitude I have for everyone who helped to make this book a reality.
First and foremost, to my amazing husband and beautiful little girl, thank you for being my biggest cheerleaders every step of the way. This journey would be a lot less fun without being able to celebrate each success with you.
To my beta reader, Emerald O’Brien, thank you for being the first set of eyes on this story. Thank you for helping me fine-tune what worked and clean up what didn’t. Special thanks for loving our favorite character as much as I do. ;)
To my immensely talented editor, Sarah West, thank you for your ability to find the story through the fog. I am so grateful for your insights and ideas.
To the proofreading team at My Brother’s Editor, thank you for your eagle eyes and for never failing to add value to my stories. I’m forever thankful to work with you.
To my loyal readers—thank you to each and every one of you who take the time to review my books, help spread the word, send me emails, contact me via Facebook, Instagram, or my website, and cheer me on from wherever you are—on the days when I doubt whether I’m good enough to do this, it’s your words of encouragement that keep me going. I could never do this without you. My success is your success—we have built this together. I am so grateful and humbled to have you reading my stories.
To Joy Westerfield, Sarah DeLong, and Shelly Reynolds, thank you for your constant support of my books. I could never say thank you enough for all that you do to help get new eyes on my stories. Please just know that I see you and I’ll never forget it.
Last but certainly not least, to you—the person reading this book. Thank you for supporting this crazy dreamer. Thank you for supporting literature. Thank you for being a reader. Whether this is your first Kiersten Modglin novel or your twenty-second, I hope that it kept you guessing and entertained every step of the way.
About the Author
Kiersten Modglin is an Amazon Top 30 bestselling author of award-winning psychological suspense novels and a member of International Thriller Writers. Kiersten lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband, daughter, and their two Boston Terriers: Cedric and Georgie. She is best known for her unpredictable suspense and her readers have dubbed her 'The Queen of Twists.' A Netflix addict, Shonda Rhimes super-fan, psychology fanatic, and indoor enthusiast, Kiersten enjoys rainy days spent with her nose in a book.
