Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 76812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Brielle squeezes my hand, the only answer any of us needs to the question. It quiets that part of me that has been fearful since I scooped her up and put her in the SUV in Ohio. I've done my best to ignore the voice that whispers on occasion that she's going to push me away. History has proven she can do it, but she hasn't faltered since returning to Farmington.
She didn't return to the closet, but as much progress as she has made, she still looked uneasy when we left the clubhouse today for this appointment.
"This is fine," Brielle answers. "I'm fine with being here, mostly."
"Explain mostly," Dr. Alverez urges.
"Without going into too much detail, my life is in danger, and my fear is more about leaving the clubhouse than attending therapy. So in other words it's me, not you," Brielle says, a hint of humor in her voice.
"I'm working to clear my schedule starting next week," Dr. Alverez says. "This will be the only session you'll have to travel to. All others can be at the clubhouse if that's what you prefer. I'll block off two days a week for sessions with Cerberus."
Brielle shifts in her seat before turning her eyes toward me.
"I told you. We all meet with Dr. Alverez."
She argued that it wasn't normal to confess your sins to a stranger when I suggested that we meet with the good doctor. She hasn't curled back into the closet, but her nightmares are showing no sign of fading, and it concerns me.
"It's my understanding that you're having nightmares," Dr. Alverez prods.
I know that Brielle completed the intake forms, and although I urged her to be completely honest, I didn't know how much information she was going to disclose. I give her hand a little squeeze, grateful that she seems willing to see if this actually helps her.
"They're about my stepfather," Brielle explains. "And fear. They're all about fear."
"He traumatized you, so it's expected," Dr. Alverez says in the same compassionate way she does with me when I talk about my childhood and how my mother's neglect still affects certain aspects of my life to this day.
Dr. Alverez talks her through some breathing techniques as I let myself sink right back down into the darkness Nathan created in me by association with Brielle.
He is in the wind. After the team that was following him through Columbus lost him in traffic, he vanished. He hasn't been spotted anywhere. He missed a court date here earlier this week, so that means a warrant has been issued for his arrest, but a piece of paper doesn't build confidence in anyone that he won't eventually pop up again.
Wren has been keeping the facial recognition running nonstop in case he ends up at an airport, bus station, or if he ever catches a cab in any of the major cities in the United States.
There's been nothing.
The two men that he had with him when he left the house that night were found with bullet holes in their heads right outside of Pittsburgh. It has been speculated that he either went north from there and took refuge in Canada, or he headed further east and ended up in New York City. It's all speculation because it's as if the man turned to mist and disappeared, a serious feat in these modern days of technology.
It's also very possible that he's holed up with a new group of goons right in the middle of Farmington. He'll always have an endless list of people willing to help him because money talks as it always has.
If we're lucky, he'll go dark and we'll never have to worry about him again, but there isn't a person at the clubhouse or on Cerberus property that would ever be foolish enough to get lazy with those thoughts.
"Is there anything you'd like to add, Beck?" Dr. Alverez asks, pulling me back into the room.
"Nothing I can think of," I answer.
There's nothing I'd like more than to take her to lunch when we leave the office, but it's not possible.
I fully understand that the luxury of being spontaneous is long past.
"Ready?" Oracle asks as we step outside.
I give him a nod, and the other Cerberus members who came here with us today mobilize.
I know better than to overestimate my ability to keep her safe on my own. When Nathan comes for her, he isn't simply going to step up on the front porch of the clubhouse, knock on the door, and ask nicely. He's going to come with force.
Hell, with the changes being made around the property, the man would either have to shoot a missile at the building or tunnel a hole from a mile back.
I fully expected Kincaid to ask Brielle to stay at a different location, even though I'm sure every person connected to Cerberus has been added to Nathan's shit list.