Identity Theft by Alana Terry

Author:Alana Terry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Firstfruits Publishing

CHAPTER 13

“About that trial …” Raphael’s fingers tensed on the steering wheel. He scratched the back of his neck. “This isn’t easy to talk about, you know. But I guess you deserve an explanation. So, the short version … wait, is that my phone beeping or yours?”

Lacy opened her purse. She had missed two calls from Kurtis and one from a blocked number. “Hold on,” she said, unsure if she was ready for whatever Raphael was going to say. “Let me see if I can get any coverage here.”

She called Kurtis back, but it went right to his voicemail. Fine with her. She was already experiencing about as much awkwardness as one person could handle. “What were you saying?”

Raphael adjusted his sunglasses. “So anyway, about the trial. I think for everything to make sense, we need to rewind. Go all the way back to the accident.”

Lacy’s whole body tensed. She didn’t realize she was gripping her seatbelt until her fingers started to hurt.

“There’s a lot about that night you don’t know. And it’s been eating me up since it happened. And, well, it’s not gonna be easy for you to hear.”

The car was rushing. Too fast. She checked the speedometer. Only fifty? It felt like twice that.

“So those men on the dock, everything that happened …” He swallowed once and reached for her hand which fell limp in his. “It wasn’t an accident. Not really. And I’ve never forgiven myself for it because it was my fault. In a way.”

She wanted him to turn around. Wanted to go home.

“I’d gotten myself into a mess.” The words tumbled out of his mouth. She couldn’t stop them. Like a deadly avalanche. “You know me. You know how I was back then. I wasn’t the smartest kid, made some dumb choices, but I never got into the really bad stuff.”

Lacy felt just like she did on rollercoasters. Everything whizzed by, gaining momentum. There was no way to get off once you were strapped in. The exit came after the ride was over, after your stomach was lodged up in the top of your chest and your throat was sore from screaming and your fingers were numb from gripping your restraint. The only difference was this particular ride wasn’t fun or exciting or adventurous. And there was no way to gauge how long it would last before it ended.

“I had some guys mad at me. I was out of my league. Way out of my league. You know I wasn’t the type to go digging for trouble. I just wanted to live simply. Me, you, my art. I would have been happy with just that. I should have been happy with that. But, well, things happened. I made some bad choices, got mixed up with the wrong people.”

Lacy didn’t care. She wanted him to stop talking. Erase time. Make it so the past four years never happened. People always talked about how struggles make you wiser. More mature. Not the accident. It had robbed her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.