At the age of 16, Thea Woods and her family were victims of a home invasion gone wrong. Her parents and sister were murdered and Thea was left for dead. By some miracle she survived with the haunting memory of what happened that night.
Thea worked h...
Four days have gone by and I was still not any closer.
Aaron would randomly send me messages throughout the day, seeing how the case was going. I would respond back with short, quick texts and then at 10pm on the dot I would get one last message that read, 'Goodnight, Beautiful' that I never responded to.
The day after I left the Powerplant, after talking with Aaron, Gray had told me an anonymous tip had come through about the location of those girls. Some of Gray's detectives went and brought all four women in safely.
How Aaron was able to find them was beyond me but I was just grateful they were okay.
I wiped the tears away as the Pastor said a few words about Dale at the cemetery.
I held Isabella's hand tight as she cried like she once did for me when my parents and sister were buried, letting her know I was here for her.
After he was lowered into the ground, Isabella and I continued to sit there as she stared down at his casket.
"I miss him so much." She whispered.
I squeezed her hand tightly, not knowing what exactly to say. I knew from experience that 'it would get easier' after my parents and sister died didn't help me. Yes, it did get easier to live without them but that pain would always be there.
"I still talk to them you know?"
She looked over at me, "I remember a year after their death, I was missing them and the city had a blackout one night... I've never seen the sky in New York City so bright and beautiful. So, I sat out on my balcony at my foster parents apartment all alone, looking up at the sky and I just started talking to my parents and McKenzie. I cried so hard... praying they would answer me back. Of course they never did but I knew they were listening to me."
I looked down and rubbed the tattoo I got on my wrist for my eighteenth birthday.
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It reminded me of that night. The moon and stars and the flowers represented my parents and sister.
"I remember our endless chats with you and Dale. You were there for me at all hours of the night... I'm here for you too, Isabella. Any time."
"I know you are sweetie."
She still looked so sad.
"I promise you, I'm going to find out who did this to him."
She smiled, "Isn't that the number one rule, don't make promises you're not sure you can keep."
"Yes, but I think you know me well enough to know I'm going to do everything I can to keep my promise to you."
She smiled again, "I know you will."
She kissed my cheek before we turned and headed back into the church for the private reception.
