Searching for Shadows by Tonya Burrows

Author:Tonya Burrows [Burrows, Tonya]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-22T18:30:00+00:00

chapter nineteen

“Read it. And if you still think I betrayed you, I’ll deserve all of your hatred and more.” Connelly went to the front door and whistled to the dogs. They charged in from the back deck, tails wagging. “We’ll be out front. And I’m staying tonight, but I’m not sleeping on the porch again. I’ll take the couch.”

He stepped through the door and disappeared outside. She hated him for that, for the ease with which he could leave if he wanted.

Veronica downed the glass of wine without taking a breath, then stared at the book like it was a vile creature.

The Shadows Within.

She traced the embossed letters on the cover with a trembling hand. She didn’t want to read it. She was afraid it might reveal more about her than she was ready to face.

But she faced a killer today. She went for a walk and sat on her deck. After all that, she wasn’t about to back down from this simple challenge.

She could read a damn book.

The dogs’ playful barks echoed from outside, reminding her that she was not alone.

Drawing a deep breath, she took the book to her bedroom, opened the cover, and began to read. As the world Connelly had written unfolded before her, it was like walking through a mirror image of her own fears, magnified and darkened. It was gruesome, violent. It was terrifying... and intoxicating, like the heady rush of a roller coaster’s first drop. With each page, she was unwillingly pulled deeper into the town of Ravenshade.

Hours passed. Her wine glass stood empty. At some point, Connelly must have let the dogs into the bedroom and they curled up on either side of her, Rebel against her legs and Alfie under the blanket at her hip. At one point, she heard the sheriff in the living room talking to Connelly, but she ignored them. She was too engrossed to break away from the hold the book had on her. The tale was all-consuming, a window into her own struggles wrapped in a veil of fiction.

Connelly’s writing skill pulled every emotion from her with an intensity that left her raw and unsettled. She saw all the obvious pieces of herself in Vanessa Vale: the physical description, the stubbornness, the overwhelming fear that kept her trapped inside her home. But underneath it all ran a current of resilience. Despite the mounting threats, Vanessa never surrendered. She stumbled and fumbled—yes. She was terrified—yes. But she didn’t give up. And she prevailed.

When Veronica finally set the book down, her heart pounded and her eyes stung from staring at the pages for so long, but she couldn’t deny the truth. Connelly hadn’t betrayed her. He had used her painful past to craft a story of fear and triumph, and he’d dedicated it to her.

She flipped to the front of the book and read the dedication again:

For Vee, the strongest person I know.

Her fingers traced the words, and tears welled in her eyes. Connelly had taken something so

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