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Her voice cracked with eer and helpless rage

"He was so gentle and understanding with me I wanted to ht up in the ro, that it would be wrong for him to make love to me until I was older He told me we had all the time in the world and that he would wait forever What I didn’t realize at the time was that because of his love--obsession--withhimself to act out his sick perversions on me So instead he chose other women Me, he held sacred His precious love Too precious to be touched by his evil So other women died horrible, painful deaths inwith sorrow and regret at the horrible guilt she’d carried for far too long Guilt that was not hers to bear

"I didn’t know," she said painfully "When the news broke after the first horrific murder, the community was shocked Thomas was horrified and insisted I never walk to or froht When he wasn’t withthose poor wo other than gentleness and tenderness With love"

She choked on the last word, shuddering violently as though it made her physically ill

Wade pressed his lips to her temple and left them there as she trembled in his aran to suspect Even then I couldn’t bring myself to entertain that Tho such reprehensible atrocities on another huentleman He was liked and well respected in the town He was a philanthropist Alilling to lend a hand to soulping sob overtook her She buried her face in Wade’s chest and wrapped her ar on to hi on to

He waited patiently, not pushing her forher until finally she quieted and resumed her story

"And then one day, I asked off fro unwell and he acted so concerned He brought house, fussed over me and told me to stay in bed and rest I waited until he left and then I followed him"

Wade closed his eyes Even at sixteen Eliza had possessed a strong sense of justice She could say what she wanted about being blinded by love and that she had been firmly rooted in denial, but if she hadn’t wanted to know the truth, she would have never sought out proof of her suspicions

"He owned several properties As I said, he was a wealthy man A real estate developer and he ell liked by the locals He’d donated a shelter to the town and quite a bit of money for its operation and upkeep He told me he’d done so because of me Because he never wanted a child to know the kind of upbringing I’d been forced to endure He went to such lengths to perpetuate an elaborate hoax that it’s truly

"I followed hi renovated There was a fully intact concrete reinforced base in midsentence to bury her face in his chest oncekisses to the crown of her head as he e on the rest of the house, he held wo in the fact that help was only a short distance away and yet no one could hear them screaently

"Hell," she said bleakly "I saw hell"

"What happened?"

"I snuck down the stairs leading into the base I reme hu and I couldn’t give away my presence"