Chapter 51 chapter 51
Chapter 51 chapter 51
Misty
The truth sucked, but Beck was right and I wasn’t going to be a prideful bitch, in fact it was about time I started listening to someone that made sense. Beck wasn’t my parents trying to squash my dreams. He knew better than anyone else the fate that awaited us if we were caught up in Tanner’s clutches. For weeks I had been watching for signs that Beck couldn’t be trusted and came up empty. He proved his loyalty to us when Cricket went missing. Without him, had she not gotten away, I’d have no chance at finding her besides turning myself over to them.
His honest words tonight had hit me hard, and I found that with the truth he had voiced, as tough as it was to hear, he had our best interests in heart by suggesting it in the first place. It was something I had come to terms with subconsciously over the last few weeks. It was no longer safe here.
I also realized I had grown up. I didn’t take it as a jab at my ability to keep Cricket safe or against my character as her mother. I had no snide remarks or snarky comments to deflect my insecurities. Only acceptance of something that was absolutely inevitable. Whether she accepted Carter or not, Adelaide wasn’t coming back to this place and I couldn’t expect Beck to protect us forever. The strangest thing about it was that deep down I felt an immense sense of relief at the prospect of a fresh start, a new beginning, away from all this psychotic breeder bear bullshit that was looming over my head. I had to protect my daughter, go somewhere safe. Hopefully somewhere closer to my friend. I fucking missed Adelaide like hell. We needed a place safe for Cricket to thrive, she needed her Auntie too; just like I did. I missed the woman like hell, she was closer to me than even my sisters had ever been. I pulled a lighter out of my bedside table and lit the candle for Santa Muerte, before I popped the cap on the bottle with the lighter.
Grabbing my laptop I settled on the bed and checked my finances before I clicked over to the secure folder, the one with the video I should have deleted the day I found it. I took a long sip and pressed play.
The camera was in the far corner of the living space of the apartment I shared with Cricket’s father. It pointed into the kitchen. Adelaide entered with my key. She moved through the apartment collecting some of the things I had left behind and took them out, most likely to her car. She then pulled the rug out from under the coffee table and moved it against the kitchen island. She paced checking her watch before she startled. Looking up as if hearing a noise. Edwin came in hot, ready to pitch a fight with the woman he claimed I didn’t need in my life. The one he despised every time she tagged along. The one who came between us. Words I couldn’t hear were thrown back and forth as Edwin invaded Adelaide's space. He grabbed her with both hands by the throat, she struggled as he slammed her into the counter. He towered over her, choking her. The broad width of his back blocked her from the camera’s view. I swallowed, no matter how many times I watched it, the panic always surged. Her legs kicked out as she struggled but the next thing that came to pass was Edwin toppling backwards, revealing a gasping Adelaide holding a knife.
I watched my friend breathe through the shock for just a moment before she walked up to him and stabbed him in the heart for good measure and she was suddenly in motion rolling his body up, before dragging the carpet out to the garage, giving herself no time to process. Several minutes passed before she walked up to the camera yanking it out of the wall as everything else went black.
She committed murder because he almost killed me when I was pregnant with Cricket. She knew what I couldn’t mentally put together after being brainwashed by him. That our fate would be stolen by him and our lives ruined, or he would kill me. When she finally got the truth out of me, she didn’t rage, she got quiet. She packed me up in my car and sent me to her mom’s. Where I met Jake and Alice.
Alice was on her deathbed but that woman was an ornery cuss, Jake would smile whenever she went on a tangent and I spent a lot of time staring at the Appalachian woods and contemplating the last year of my life. I had been so stupid. Thankfully though, the thing about Adelaide was that she was a secret badass and not many people got to see that side of her. Me, I was just the resourceful sidekick. Even the bears shied away from her. Tanner had no problem talking shit but all it took was Ads stepping between us and crossing her arms, staring him down, even though she had to look up, and Tanner would back off.
This Creedon motherfucker had another thing coming to him for not just laying hands on my friend but also sticking his dick where it didn’t belong. How had my friend who was so unfailable in her judgment of people fallen into the clutches of a man like that? That's right, grief is a bitch. She had lost her mother and a few weeks later her uncle. In between that shit storm, she got her internship. Jake’s memorial was already over before she even knew he was dead. That's when my friend's easy smiles turned to tight ones, when I’d catch her staring off, as if replaying memories. The light in her eyes had dimmed at this point and I never questioned her. I didn’t know what to do or what to say. I thought I was letting her process, but in doing so, I was blinded to everything else she was dealing with. From what Adeliade had said we needed to hit him where it hurt the most, his business. It would take next to nothing to defame someone of his status across social media. Adelaide would deal with his business contacts and I would manage the shit storm.