“He did deployments for this agency?”
“Yes. He would be gone three to four months at a time. They sent him to places like Afghanistan. At least that’s where he told me he went.” I gripped the cup hard. “All I know is that each time he came back, he became more violent, more. . .dark. It wasn’t like the times when he was in the Army.”
“That’s when the abuse started?”
“Yes. One of the times when he returned, I told him that a new semester was starting at the local community college and that I had enrolled in a class. He slapped me right in front of the kids.” My bottom lip quivered. “I was holding Poppy, when he did. She fell.”
Silence filled the space.
Fury blazed in Yoshiro’s eyes.
I lowered my gaze. “Either way. . .when he left for the next deployment, I packed everything and went to my mom’s house. He returned, showed up there, and promised to never hurt me. After we met with my mother’s pastor, I went back to Wyatt. And there was peace for a while. . .and then there wasn’t.”
“So three years ago, you ran away.”
“And no matter what, he keeps on finding me. I thought that the agency might be helping. But now I’m sure it’s someone else.”
Yoshiro nodded. “The agency could have had some contacts with authorities. If he spent them a story, something could be helping him. Anything is possible with agencies like that.”
“Yes, but I know for sure that my mother has been giving him my address too. She won’t get this one.”
“Maybe, she should.”
I raised my eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“I would love to meet him?”
“He’s dangerous.”
“Perhaps, I am too.”
“I don’t want any fighting or anything like that. I just want peace.” Fear gripped me. I rose from the table, walked off to the window, and looked out with dread. Scared. Terrified. As if Wyatt could hear me talking about him and had raced our way. “You shouldn’t get involved.”
Yoshiro’s deep voice sounded behind me. “Just like the fact that I won’t let the kids and you drive off in a wrecked vehicle within in a snowstorm. I also won’t let you continue to run from a deranged, violent man. Not when I can help.”
I kept my back to him, unable to look his way. “We don’t need that much help. It’s too much. Wyatt is. . .vicious. . .nasty. . .homicidal. This isn’t like taking strangers into your home for a few days. . .this is going up against a monster.”
Yoshiro got to my side.
I winced at his speed and the fact that he’d come over so silently.
I gazed at him. “Thank you for trying to help, but this is my problem. I’ll deal with it.”
He hit me with an intense stare. “What if, I like fighting monsters?”
“This isn’t a monster you want to battle.”
“Don’t I get to make that decision for myself?”
“Not when I would feel guilty, if you got hurt.”
He smiled. “Put on your jacket and boots. I want to show you something.”
“What?”
“Now, it’s my turn for confessions.” He checked the stairs. “If we hurry, I can show you everything before the kids wake up.”
“O-kay.”
He raised a finger. “You just have to promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“You won’t judge or get scared.”
“You didn’t judge me. I won’t judge you.”
“Then, it’s a deal.”
“Okay. I’ll change into some clothes and be right back.” I headed off to take off my pajamas and put on clothes, unsure of what Yoshiro had planned.
He was a stranger, although I felt more familiar with him now. Possibly, it was because he’d seen the kids and me in a horrible situation and offered a helping hand—shelter away from the snowstorm—a safe haven away from the monster. Perhaps, because I’d exposed my wounds and he didn’t scrunch his face in disgust. Instead, he attempted to be my hero, wanting to join the fight between Wyatt and me—yearning to take down the monster.
I won’t let him do it. Although. . .I need some help. . .but what if Wyatt kills him.
That thought corroded the little hope that had come this morning. Wyatt had definitely come close to killing me. I liked to think that the only reason he hadn’t so far was because of his sick idea of love for me. But would he kill Yoshiro? It was a strong possibility. I had no doubt that what he did for the military and later the civilian defense agency, involved some form of killing.
It would be stupid to think Wyatt had never taken a life.
No. I can’t let Yoshiro help us. I have to think of another way.
Quietly, I headed back to see what Yoshiro had to show me.
Chapter 7
Guns and Memories
Yoshiro
I waited for Ebony to return from upstairs. I believed I was a good judge of character. Ebony had to be a good woman and an excellent mother. But life had given her unimaginable horror and somehow she did her best to prevail.