CHAPTER 97

CHRISTIAN

She had gotten thin… way too thin. Even with a jacket on, it was evident. Her appetite had been non-existent after Sandra passed, and in the few days we’d been apart, I knew she wasn’t eating. She was suffering as much as me. When I arrived at the small cluster of cottages, I parked far enough away I wouldn’t alert her to my presence if she was, indeed, there. But what I saw made me wish I had come earlier. She was on the floor, and Mark… fucking Mark Thompson was landing kicks on her. I didn’t know how long she had been in that position for, but when I showed up, she wasn’t even screaming or anything. It looked like she had just accepted her fate and was just letting him do what he wanted.

I saw red. I know it sounds cliche, but that was all I could see. I had tunnel vision and all I could think about was cracking Mark’s skull. I didn’t do that, of course. But I did give him a broken nose, and I wondered how far I would have gone if I didn’t hear Hazel start whimpering aga