He hesitates for a second, but I know he knows he’s not walking out of here.
“Norman. I, ah, couldn’t leave you around; that’s not how this works.”
“How many lives have you taken?”
“I stopped keeping track, but the first one was when I was fourteen.”
“Norman, you fucked up when you came for my life. Truthfully if you had only messed with me, I might have been persuaded to let you live and get you the help you obviously need. However, it sounds like you have taken quite a few lives and identities so for that I am going to be the judge, jury and executioner. But before you take your last breath, you are going to write down the names of all the people you killed and the location of their remains as best as you can remember. Their families deserve closure.”
An hour later and I stare at the thirty plus names on the paper and shake my head. So much death at the hands of a man who is mentally unstable and only wanted a family. There are no excuses for him, however. He understands what he did and has no remorse what-so-ever. It took a while to finally finish this, and I am ready to close the chapter on this and move on with my life.
“Before I send you to your maker, I want to thank you for reminding me of how fragile life can be and to cherish it, and for bringing me my wife. I hope you find the family you've been looking for in hell.”
I pull out a syringe with the same serum I used on Ellis and inject Norman with it. Once it takes effect and the screaming starts, we place his body on the furnace table, turn it on and I push him in the fire. I make sure I am the last face he sees. We walk out of the garage to the sounds of Norman’s dying screams.
6 weeks later
Joyce
We are getting ready for a family dinner tonight and everyone will be there except Savvy’s kids. I am not sure what Jaasiel is cooking but I know it smells amazing and I am dying to get down there to sample whatever he has created. Joseph walks out of his walk-in closet wearing navy blue and looking delicious. He holds his hand out to me; I take it and we head downstairs.
When we get downstairs, everyone is already there, and Jaasiel is setting up dinner. I am a little surprised to see we are eating at the dining room table and not at our usual booth at the kitchen island. I take a seat at the table, and I notice two more place settings and I assume some of Savvy’s kids are coming after all. Savvy sits down on one side of me and True sits on the other side and before I can ask what is going on, the doorbell rings. I swivel around in the seat when I hear a voice after the door opens. It’s a voice I haven’t heard since I was a little girl. I look towards the door and freeze, and then I was in his arms. I held onto him like he was a mirage in a desert and would disappear before my eyes.
“Hairkoa, I had Jabarri begin to look for the man you asked your mother about. Fortunately for us he has a huge digital footprint and was relatively easy to find. And I need you to forgive me, Joy.”
“For what?”
“I took your toothbrush and had it tested to make sure Mr. Oliver is your biological father.”
I suck in a breath, tears streaming down my face, and my whole body is shaking but I refuse to let his hands go. He is crying and holding onto me just as tight.
“And?” I choke out.
“He is, baby, he’s your father.”
I collapse in his arms again and literally sobs, and he is in no better shape. We hold each other and cry and they give us that time together.
“I looked for you. I came to the house and rode through that neighborhood in the hopes of seeing you. I had gotten so desperate, I had decided to kidnap you, anything to take you away from your mother. But she left and no one would give me any information, I came back for years but eventually stopped looking. I am so sorry, Joy Bells; I should have tried harder. I should have never stopped looking for you,” James Allen Oliver says.
“She would have never let you find me, do not beat yourself up. Everything I endured in my life has combined to create the woman I am today. I will forever be grateful to Solo and Jabarri for bringing you to me. Can we have a relationship now? Do you have room in my life for me?”
“Joyce, I would not be here if I didn’t want to be a part of your life.”
A movement catches my attention and I notice a beautiful dark-skinned woman standing there crying along with us. Zoe is Mr. Oliver’s wife; she hugged me tightly and let me know she was so happy that James finally found me. We eventually get to dinner with Mr. Oliver on one side, Zoe on the other and Solo across from me.