Alerted, I straightened in my seat.
Kara got up from the couch, whispering into the phone. I stayed where I was to give her privacy. She would tell me if she wanted me to know.
A few minutes later, she came back. Her hazel eyes were wide and full of worry.
“Ver,” she said cautiously.
“Kar. You’re scaring me. What is it?”
She took a deep breath. “Caleb’s in jail.”
Chapter Twelve
Veronica
Four hours earlier…
“I’ll be back in two hours,” Caleb said. His gaze was apologetic, as if he didn’t want to leave but had to.
“I told Matthew to text the team and meet at his place. I need to make sure there are no more posters around.”
I tamped down the trepidation I was feeling. I didn’t feel good about this. “It’s over now. Do you have to do this tonight?”
“Yes. He won’t hurt you again. I’ll make sure of it,” Caleb promised, his eyes dark and intense as he held my face in his hands.
I closed my eyes. I was torn between flinching away from his touch and wanting more of it. The memory of Caleb mad with anger, almost blinded with it, wouldn’t leave my mind.
I nodded and slipped out of the car. I paused when I reached the front door of Kara’s apartment, then turned around. Caleb was still parked, waiting for me to get inside before leaving. His car windows were tinted so I couldn’t see inside, but I knew he was watching me.
I waved goodbye and entered the apartment. As soon as I got inside, exhaustion overtook me. I hadn’t slept in more than twenty-four hours. Maybe I’d just take a nap.
The apartment was empty. I glanced at the clock and noted that Kara’s class would be done in an hour and that I needed to make us dinner. I’d just close my eyes for half an hour…
* * *
I always hated the dark.
The dark brought bad things. It carried the promise of pain. Especially if you were a bad, bad girl.
I tried to be good, to follow the rules, because if I didn’t, the monster would come back. The monster who looked so much like my daddy.
But the monster had been gone a long time. That meant that I could play in the forest again. Maybe I could even have friends now. One of Daddy’s rules was never to talk to prying adults or damned social workers or tell any-fucking-body what happens in our house. Be a good girl or else. That was his warning.
But the monster was gone. So today I went to the forest and met a boy with green eyes. He even gave me a peanut butter sandwich. Eating it made me scared and excited at the same time, because I knew the monster hated peanut butter. But the monster was gone, and I could eat whatever I wanted.
We made mud by mixing dirt and water, and we painted our faces with it. I looked like Batgirl and he looked like Batman, and we played all day. When it got dark, I had to say goodbye. He said he would come back tomorrow and we could play again.
I ran home, feeling excited to tell Mommy about my day. Maybe we could pick flowers from the garden again tomorrow. She had such pretty vases we could put them in. I pushed the screen door open, clutching my half-eaten sandwich. I didn’t want to eat it all. I wanted to save it. Because if I ate it all, then how could I be sure the boy with the green eyes was real and wasn’t just a dream? I finally had a friend, and I was happy. Very happy.
“Hello, Veronica.”
My body filled with dread, and the sandwich fell from my hand.
The monster was back. It looked like Daddy, but I knew it wasn’t. Daddy didn’t have those eyes that looked at you like he wanted to hurt you. Daddy was good and never hurt me or Mommy.
“What is this?” The monster picked up the half-eaten sandwich from the floor. He sniffed it, his eyes widening in disbelief. “Where the fuck did you get this?”
The monster grabbed my arm, and I cried out in pain. It hurt so much. Tears pricked my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. The monster hated tears. If I cried, it would only hurt me more.