Page 51 of Twice in a Lifetime

She shook her head. “None of us ever got close enough to find out. At first we thought she was shy, but now we’re not so sure.”

I didn’t feel I had either, but I’d been paying closer attention than most might have. “I think it’s him,” I said quietly.

Gretchen’s eyes widened and she lowered her voice, glancing around to make sure no one could overhear. “Him, as in her husband?” I nodded.

“What do you think is going on?”

It wasn’t so much me thinking any longer; I’d seen enough signs to be confident now. “He’s beating her. I’d bet my life on it.” As I said those words, the anger in my belly built to a boil, and I wanted nothing more than to track him down and give him the same treatment he’d given to his wife who was so much smaller than he was.

“Damn it,” Gretchen hissed, slapping her hand against her thigh. “I should have known. That son of a bitch was too damn charming, should have seen that as a sign.”

“They’re master manipulators for a reason, Gretch. Don’t beat yourself up. Most people wouldn’t have put it together. That’s how they’re able to get away with it for so long.”

“Yeah, but you did.”

I pushed to my feet. “Unfortunately, I learned from the manipulator I was married to. I just didn’t realize the truth until he was gone.”

With that, I moved out of the office area in search of Merritt. She wasn’t in the break room, so I continued down the hall to the ladies room at the very end. I heard it as soon as I pushed the door open. The quiet sniffle and the muted sob she was struggling to hold in. The sound of her crying killed me, and I decided then and there I was done waiting for her to reach out on her own.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said, mindful to keep my voice gentle. “So there’s no use trying to hide from me in there.”

I waited patiently as silence filled the bathroom; finally, a full minute later, the lock on the stall door clicked and it swung open. Merritt stepped out, her eyes red and puffy from crying.

“Oh, honey,” I breathed, my eyes beginning to burn as I stepped closer. “How can I help?”

She pulled in a broken breath. “I—I need help wrapping my ribs. I can’t get the bandage myself, and it’s getting harder to breathe.”

I nodded, unable to speak past the lump in my throat. I blinked rapidly and had to bite the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood to fight back the tears as she lifted the top of her scrubs, revealing the ugly, mottled blue and purple bruises that covered her entire left side. If she was asking for help with something like this, I couldn’t imagine the kind of pain she’d been suffering all morning.

I held out my hand, taking the wrap from her, unable to stop the one tear that broke free and slipped down my cheek.

“It’s not as bad as it looks, honestly,” she attempted to assure me. “Sometimes I’m too clumsy for my own good.” She attempted to laugh but cut it off with a wince when the movement jostled her battered ribs. I knew this wasn’t something she’d done to herself. As I wrapped the bandage around her, there was no mistaking the bruise was shaped like the sole of a shoe down near her hip.

“You shouldn’t have come in today, honey. You need to be in bed resting.”

“Best way to deal with pain is to work through it.” Her eyes were hollow as she stared straight ahead, and I knew those words weren’t her own. That piece of shit had beaten her to the point she struggled to breathe, then he’d forced her to come to work while she still wore the proof of his temper all over her body.

“Merritt.” My voice came out in a croak as I moved to stand in front of her and placed my hands on her shoulders. “Please, let me help you.Please.”

“There’s nothing to help with. I told you, I was clumsy, and I slipped at the top of the stairs.”

I shook my head, silently communicating that I wasn’t going to accept her lie as truth. “You don’t deserve this.”

Her chin began to tremble as she bit down on her bottom lip. “Maybe I do,” she whispered.

“No,” I argued vehemently. “No, you don’t. That’s him making you think that. He’s trying to convince you that everything he’s done is a lesson you need to learn, that you’re defective and don’t deserve better.He’sthe defective one, and he knows it. That’s why he’s doing this. He’s trying to beat you down and make you believe you’re lucky to have him because he knows you could do so much better. But more, he knows that he can’t. You’re the prize, Merritt.You.”

“You—you don’t understand.”

“Then help me to,” I pleaded, hopelessness making my chest heavy.

“He won’t let me go,” she confessed, her voice breaking. “I’ve tried to leave, but he won’t let me go.”

I was going to kill this asshole if I ever got my hands on him. But first, I was going to help Merritt get out from under his thumb.

“I know people who can help,” I insisted. “My brother, he’s a detective with the Hope Valley PD.”

Her eyes went wide, filling with panic as she shook her head frantically. “No, you can’t do that. You don’t understand. He’s powerful. He has connections. The police can’t do anything.”

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