“Well, a man is here claiming to be your brother-in-law, but you know how?—”
“Turn the camera around,” Hannah says, cutting Tara off. After a second, she says, “Yeah, that’s him. Tara, you can tell him everything. I’ve already told him my side of the story.”
“It’s not just him here. My brother, his friend, and my…” Tara looks at me and says, “Marito. Are you okay with them hearing?”
“Your Marito? It looks like we have a lot more to talk about. I don’t mind you sharing my story. Call me later,” Hannah says, and then the sound of the call disconnecting comes next.
Carlos, who has been silent throughout the phone call, finally speaks, and this time, he looks at me. “I didn’t know that congratulations were in order. My apologies. Mrs. Mariano, now that you have Hannah’s permission. Will you please tell me how you saved her?”
I look at Tara, who is smiling up at me, with my heart trying to beat out of my chest.Mrs. Mariano.I love the sound of that so fucking much.
Chapter
Thirteen
TARA
Shutting my eyes, I transport myself back in time, and then I open them back up. “I met Hannah almost seven months ago. I was following a lead and was in a town six hours away from here, Sparrow Ridge. It was the middle of the night on a dark, gravel road outside of the town. I was headed to a farm that someone told me Dean’s girlfriend’s uncle owned. Hannah was literally crawling out of a cornfield and onto the road.
“I slammed on my breaks and just barely avoided her. She was a mess, physically and emotionally. Thankfully, on this trip, Elio came with me because he was doing business with someone there. I put Hannah in my truck and sped back to the house we were staying in. On the way, the only thing I got out of her was her name. Once we made it back to the house, Hannah freaked out at the sight of Elio.” I stop and take a breath, having to push the sound of Hannah’s screams and sobs away.
A large hand comes down my shoulders, and I almost jump out of my skin. Looking over, I find that Gabe has squatted down next to the chair and is watching me. I give him a reassuring smile before turning back to Carlos. “It took me hours to calm her enough to let me clean her up. I couldn’t tell where the bloodwas coming from at first, but I soon found out. She had multiple cuts on her back that I quickly identified as the result of someone using a knife on her.
“But there were also little scrapes that I guessed came from the environment. When Hannah wouldn’t allow me to remove any clothing, I knew what happened to her. I shared my story with her, which made her open up to me. She broke down and told me about her stepfather and what he had been doing to her for years. She told me that, that night, she had enough and started to fight with all her might. She didn’t care if she was killed; in fact, she wanted to die if that meant the abuse stopped.”
Carlos’s eyes turn cold. His face hasn’t given much away about his emotional state, but now it’s easy to see his anger. His body is starting to vibrate with what I assume is the effort it is taking not to lose his cool. “Do you want me to continue?” I ask, not wanting to push this man over the edge—not because I’m scared of him, but because I don’t want to have to try to get blood out of my brother’s carpet.
“Yes,” Carlos says, his voice just as strained as his muscles.
“Hannah finally agreed to allow Elio in the room to check out her wounds. He patched her up, determining that she didn’t need to go to the hospital. He had to stitch a couple of the wounds up, but he had everything he needed. He started her on some antibiotics, gave her the morning-after pill, and gave her something for her nerves. I stayed with her until she fell asleep.
“That night, something inside of me changed. I decided that I was going to start helping people like Hannah and me. I spoke with Elio about it, and he said he would back me up with whatever I wanted. The next morning, I started asking Hannah all about Peter. I never lied to her, not once. I told her what I planned on doing. I also asked her what she wanted to do now that she was free of his control over her. She explained that shejust wanted to disappear for a little while. Elio told her he would help her do that.”
“So far, your story is the same as what Elio and Hannah told me. Now tell me where Peter is.” Carlos runs his hands down his face and briefly closes his eyes. “I’ve asked Hannah, but she?—”
“She never wanted to know what happened in the end. All she asked me was if he was ever coming back, and when I told her no, she cried in my arms.” I look over my shoulder toward Reed and ask, “Can you get me a glass of water, please?”
Reed nods and exits the room. “It was easy to find Peter Harold. It was even easier to get him to meet me,” I say, then pause to accept the water from Reed when he returns. After getting a drink, I set the cup on the coffee table. “I did have help setting everything up, seeing as that was the first time I had ever done something like that. Vance was the one who helped me. I followed Peter for a week, learning his schedule and the types of women he liked to cheat on Hannah’s mother with.
“I changed my appearance and inserted myself right into his path. Within seconds, he started to hit on me. It was easy to slip something into his food the night my plan came together. Once Peter was nice and relaxed, I tied him up. I waited until he came too and told him exactly why he was in this situation. After a few broken bones and knives stuck in the right places, Peter confessed to everything. From abusing Hannah for the past two years to the videos he made of the assaults.”
“Videos,” Carlos yells right before he jumps up. Reed, Jessie, and Gabe move instantly, but I hold up my hands to stop them because Carlos isn’t about to come after me. “Hannah never said anything about videos.”
“I don’t think she ever knew,” I say, watching Carlos angrily run his hands through his hair.
“Why didn’t she come to me?”
I sit forward in the chair and reach out my hand toward Carlos. “That I don’t know. All I can do is speak from my own personal experience. If Elio and Ava hadn’t found me, I’m not sure I would have ever told anyone what happened to me that night.”
Carlos paces for a few more minutes, but no one says anything while he does it. Finally, he sits back down and nods for me to continue. “Once I had all the information I needed from Peter, I put a bullet in between his eyes. This is where Vance comes into the story. I called him once it was done, and he came over to help me dispose of the body. We loaded Peter into Vance’s SUV and drove to a place Vance picked out. We dumped him into a grave and poured a mixture of chemicals over his body.”
“I want the location,” Carlos says, and I shrug.
“Vance might be able to tell you where it is, but I can assure you that nothing of Peter is left behind. You will be surprised what the right mixture of chemicals will do to the human body. Bones and all,” I say.
“What about the videos?” Carlos asks.
“Peter kept them hidden in his remote cabin in the woods. I found them and destroyed them.” I finally sit back and relax in the chair.
