She had to find a way to convince him to help her.
If she didn't, she would undergo this surgery, and then another and another, the ring would keep taking from her until there was nothing left. Convincing this scared young man to help her was the only thing that was going to save her life, his life, and the lives of all the other innocent men and women the ring had trafficked.
May7th
12:19 P.M.
The words blurredas Micah read them over again.
Dear Micah
I don’t knowhow you found out about what happened. Was it your dad? Did one of his colleagues mention that his son’s girlfriend’s name had popped up in a case? Did you read one of my messages or listen to one of my voicemails and then decide to block me?
I don’t understandwhy you're not here.
I need you.
Don’t you get that?
You’ve always beenthe one who takes care of me. That sees that even though I can handle whatever life throws at me, sometimes it still gets to be too much, and I feel like I'm going to get crushed beneath it all. Whenever that happens, you're always there. You help lift me up so I can keep going, keep doing what my family needs me to do.
But I'mscared I can't handle this. What if this is the thing that breaks me?
Isit my fault you won't come? Am I too broken for you now? Too damaged? Too dirty?
I feel dirty.So filthy. Every time I look at myself, I'm disgusted. I keep taking showers, but it doesn’t make me feel clean. I scrub and I scrub, but I can't get the feeling of those boys touching me off my skin. Do you think it will stay forever?
I'm somad at you for leaving and blocking me, but I still want you so badly it hurts. I hate that. Hate myself for needing you when it’s clear you don’t want to be here. Maybe you never loved me the same way I loved you.
You were supposedto be my forever, now I just have to hope you won't be my destruction.
Love,Teresa
PS– I wrote love accidentally because it’s how I always sign messages to you, but I don’t think I can love you anymore, notafter this. You made a choice for both of us, and now I have to live with the consequences too.
Teresa had writtenthe letter in her favorite purple pen, her handwriting so familiar because she used to love to write him little handwritten notes and hide them in his pockets for him to find later. There were a few spots where the ink had smudged, presumably because she’d been crying when she wrote it.
Now he was the one crying.
Asking one of his friends to go into his house, find the letter, and stick it in the post to get to him had probably been a bad idea.
Especially now when he was sitting in a helo flying out to where Teresa’s tracker had been activated.
But he had to know.
Had to understand her pain on a level that was unsensitized by time, maturity, and a desire, despite everything he’d done to her to spare his feelings.
Reading the letter was the only way, and as much as it gutted him to read Teresa’s words, he was glad he’d done it. He deserved to suffer for what he’d put her through, and there was no better way to do that than to read her heartbreaking questions. Feel her pain as she tried to figure out what her life was going to look like following her ordeal.
The only comfort he could take from it was knowing that his abandonment hadn't destroyed her. It had made her stronger, more determined, braver, and fiercer. But that in and of itself hurt, too, because in the process she’d had to harden her heart a little, learn to be a little tougher, and not love with abandon.
“We’re going to find her,” a voice spoke as a hand landed on his shoulder.
Micah looked over to see that Cole “Rex” Kingston was watching him closely. The man was part of Blake “Rocco” Wise’s SEAL team, and this team had already gone in to rescue Nathaniel and Ava after the two were stuck in Mexico following Ava’s escape from the traffickers. The team had then participated in both rescues of Isabella, although in the first one, they hadn't known she was a victim of the ring and had thought she was there willingly.
Now they were there again, ready to go in and help rescue the woman he loved.
As much as he appreciated the man’s optimism, he couldn’t seem to muster any of his own.
