Page 55 of All In Good Time

She wanted to keep ringing until he was annoyed enough to answer the door and face her, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not when she remembered what his face had looked like the last time he looked at her. The hatred she saw—she wasn’t quite sure why she so badly wanted to see it again.

If she had to guess, she just wanted to seehimagain, even if it meant being hated.

Even the great moments with her mother couldn’t prevent the late-night tossing and turning in an effort to get Derek’s face out of her mind. His smile, his frown, in the dark, in the sun. Every moment they’d ever spent together skipped like a record in her head.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to grasp onto it or throw it away.

Her mom was a wonderful distraction over the weekend, and now she was gone again—even if it was for only one month.

One month was too long to worry about what was going to happen next.

She didn’t have to wait long though.

The knock on the door pulled her away from the TV. It was hard, and heavy-fisted. Who knew a couple draws on a door could hold such a serious tone and spark such nervous energy in her.

She swallowed and rose from her seat to cross the living room to the window. Hooking her finger against the curtain, she pulled it slowly just enough so one eye could peek out the front window to see who was waiting for her. The familiar worn truck answered her question, and she dropped the curtain to rush to the front door.

Winston stood on the steps, fully decked out in his police uniform. He was probably stopping by to make sure she was doing okay for the week.

Becca opened her mouth, but her smile and greeting faltered at his expression. His lips were downturned, his eyes serious. Her heart dropped to the level of her feet. Heavier than a stone and racing away from her at the same time.

“What happened?”

Winston took a deep inhale and gestured into the house, silently asking for permission to enter. Becca stepped aside and shut the door as he passed over the threshold.

He sighed again and turned to look at her. “Derek Stokes’s parents reported him missing.”

Missing. Derek had been missing for a week now. Mark was looking for him, which she was well aware of, but she didn’t expect him to go to the authorities about it. Especially considering the allegations and eyes that were on him.

“You knew he was gone, I told you that. He’s fine now.”

Winston pulled his hat off his head and ran a hand over his thinning hair. “I didn’t have to do anything, because there was no official report made. People weren’t paying attention, so we could ignore it for you and him. Until a family makes a report, nothing needs to be shared with the public.”

“So, what now? People are going to be looking for him?” Becca could feel a slow panic rising in her chest. If Derek were to be found and sent back home, things could get worse for him. A sickness boiled in her—Mark wasn’t looking for Derek to make sure he was safe—he was looking for Derek to keep him under his guard.

Winston shook his head. “The Parrs arrived home from a trip this afternoon and found Derek staying in their guest room.”

Becca stopped breathing, and the slow panic erupted at full force.

The lines between Winston’s eyes deepened. “Sorry, kid. There’s little I could do. They took him home before I had a solid case against Mark Stokes.”

20

February 1985 | Before

Excitement rushed through the hallway, and more people gathered to get an eye-full of Derek Stokes beating down Brent Duggan. It wasn’t anything new—Derek picking a fight—but never like this.

It lasted until a teacher came running into the area.

The crowd broke apart and left before any of them were singled out by the other teachers coming into the commotion to deal with the situation.

Unlike the rest of them, Derek didn’t stop until he was physically ripped away from Brent by the arms—putting up enough struggle that another teacher had to assist in keeping him away.

Becca didn’t move from the same spot she was in when it started. Not even when they pulled him away from Brent, who was grasping his bleeding nose and howling in pain.

Derek said nothing and let them pull him away quietly, but Brent made a show of proclaiming his innocence.

“I didn’t do anything! He just attacked me for no reason.”

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