Breaking Steele (Sarah Steele Legal Thriller)

Chapter 28

“GLEN IS THE ONE who kidnapped me.” I glanced over at Joshua, who drove with one hand on the wheel.

“I thought you didn’t recognize any of the men,” he said with a frown.

“I never said that—you just assumed. I saw Hank Williams there and didn’t tell anyone because it was too crazy.”

Silence rested between us.

“Nothing’s too crazy,” I said.

He nodded. “So I'm learning. You know you can’t stay at your apartment,” he said.

“I know. Drop me off so I can pack a bag and then we’ll head to the office to process everything.”

The first thing I did when I got inside was to go over to the drawer in my bedroom and take out my gun. I didn’t load it, but I put a bullet in my pocket.  

In the quiet of my home, I took a moment. Joshua could wait a little longer. I kicked off my shoes, flopped onto the couch, and covered my eyes with my arm. The cool room felt good. I could hear the clock on the wall ticking. In the kitchen, the fridge hummed and the dishwasher beeped, letting me know it was done. I was home.

One more thing Hank Williams was taking from me.

This case was getting deeper than I ever thought. And I was afraid I would drown in it.

Heather’s face flashed in my mind. That’s what he did to people—destroyed them from the outside in so they’d hate themselves. Was that who Tracy Mulligan would’ve become if she’d survived?

My phone vibrated. I grabbed my purse, fumbling through it with my eyes still closed. I pushed the talk button.

“Hello.”

I waited. The other end was just static and some faint background noise.

“Hello?” I could hear the other person breathing slow and steady and I thought maybe they pocket dialed me.

I opened my eyes and looked at the caller ID.

UNKNOWN.

I said nothing for a full thirty seconds and hung up.

Five seconds later, the phone rang again.

UNKNOWN.

I answered, but this time I didn’t say hello. I waited and listened to the breathing. My heart beat faster and I sat up. I could hear the person on the other end whispering something, but I couldn’t make out what it was. I turned up the volume to the maximum setting, pressed the phone tight to my ear, and plugged my other ear with my finger.

“Sarah.”

It was so soft that I almost missed it, but when someone says your name, something inside rings like a bell, some sort of signal to our brains that tells us we were called. I listened to the voice whisper my name over and over.

I hung up and put the phone down. It vibrated again in my hand. I looked at the screen.

UNKNOWN.

I shut off the phone and put my head in my hands. My legs were shaking and my gut felt like it was going to ball up and twist into my lungs and suffocate me.

Standing, I paced the room, looking at the phone on the couch. It was off, but somehow I imagined it ringing, like in some horror movie. This was crazy. Who was calling me? I felt like I knew the answer, but couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud.

I strode to my bedroom and hurriedly packed my things into a garment bag. This case was more personal than I’d ever thought, than I’d ever wanted. What I really wanted was for Hank Williams to walk through that door and meet the barrel of my gun. The justice system wasn’t giving him what he deserved, and I wanted to. So badly. The force of the feelings disturbed me to the core.

I didn’t want him to turn me into a monster.

It was time to get out.