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It ht of her But soonsoon they would know that justice had finally been served when not only Thoton took his last breath and Eliza either died taking him out, or she spent the rest of her life in prison
She’d only had a short time to prepare herself, and she was prepared She’d trained and been trained by the best, and she didn’t fear death if it meant Thomas could never hurt another woman But she hadn’t expected to feel so painfully empty, soulless and already dead on the inside
And so lonely, she ached
Knowing she wasthe inevitable, she turned away froe of when she’d left the courtroo and had been swarmed by reporters, canored, desperate to be away frouish and heartrending guilt
It, like so ht Never the sa away at her little by little, night by night, taking a piece of her soul until there was barely any left When the nightmares became too much to bear, she si coffee on autopilot as she went back over herevery detail, nofor every conceivable scenario
It was ingrained in herit She could recount it verbatim down to the most minute detail But she studied her notes, and there were stacks, as a way of atoneotten Not by her Never by her
She knew each of their nale, had families, or like her, had no one at all to even notice she was gone and to grieve for the loss of her She already had personally drafted letters to each of the victims’ families or loved ones ready to be mailed Anyone she could find that a once vibrant, beautiful woed to And she would explain that justice was finally being served and apologize for her part in Thomas’s madness At least the victims’ families would have confirmation instead of bitter resentment that he was alive and free while their loved one was dead
Those letters would be ht before she took Thomas down in case she wasn’t alive to do it after Then and only then would she carry out her crusade, and she would not fail, no matter the cost, no matter if she went doith him In the deepest, darkest recesses of what remained of her soul, she wanted final rest and freedom from the oppressive burden she’d carried for soher jacket more firmly around her to shield her from the now much colder drizzle, she walked slowly back by the diner, her work done for today Now, she waited And anticipated the feeling of redeton ceased to exist
At the end of the street was a h her chest at the reminder of the letter she’dan indirect route to Oregon so no one could track her, her purpose to send anyone co after her in the opposite direction And they would co dead ends in the Midwest, she would be in Oregon doing what she should have done long ago
It wasn’t the s to do, but she couldn’t drop off the face of the earth having Gracie thinking Eliza was angry with her She owed her thisabout the surprise involving Gracie’s school for is to Gracie’s cause because Eliza would have no use for it since she’d either be dead or in jail
Her letter had been a goodbye and not a very subtle one She’d asked Gracie to tell Tori, Ari and Rairlfriends and she’d ard to her male coworkers She’d asked Gracie to tell the them But for Dane, she’d included a smaller sealed envelope and simply asked for Gracie to personally deliver it to her partner and the best friend she’d ever had
She closed her eyes and hunched down, shielding her face froan the half mile walk to the house she’d rented A hotel wasn’t an option and the town only sported an aging bed and breakfast and aused for the nightly hookups and drug binges, where dealers and buyers ement looked the other way And since it ned by the chief of police’s brother-in-law, there wasn’traided
Once, after a late shift at the diner, she’d left at two in theto walk to the ho the day and had been blocked by two potheads, high as a kite and looking to score with an easy target They’d already reserved a roo in the shadows for her to cross their path
Tho Eliza for several weeks, had materialized out of nowhere and quickly put the fear of God in the two drug addicts, threatening to tear theain
Thomas had a mild manner about hi down one,out on God only knehat, but there was so in the way he carried himself, the absolute confidence and determination that made others steer clear of him The men that is
Women were utterly charmed by him, and Eliza had been no exception She’d found it wildly romantic and sweet that he would defend her so veraciously and then sweep her into his protection, vowing that no harm would ever cohts and sat in the corner until Eliza got off and then he’d walk her back to the house of the woman she sat for, with stern instructions to rest and be careful
Oh how easy a target she’d been Even without his psychic abilities, he would have irl who had nothing and ca to be overwhelenuinely see she’d never had, never hoped to have, but wanted with everything in her young roentle inappropriately, but then he had the benefit of knowing her thoughts, her cynicism and her doubts and so he knew exactly what not to do in order not to lose her faith in hieted her Every action, esture carefully orchestrated by plucking what she feared ht out of her head