Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Chelsea turned her gaze away from her.
“I even let him convince me to meet him after school, thinking it was Robbie. I met him at the library. I told my mom I was trying to bring my test score up. She was so proud of me. When Curt showed instead, I was so scared I thought I would vomit. I told him I was going to tell my parents, and he threatened me that if I did, he would make sure everyone in Treepoint saw that boob picture. I was so scared when he made me leave with him. I didn’t want to go with him, but I didn’t want my parents to know how stupid I was to take that picture after all their warnings. He drove me out to one of the back roads, pulled over, and—”
“I don’t want to hear—” Chelsea interrupted.
“—raped me,” Megan continued as if Chelsea hadn’t interrupted. “I was fourteen years old. How old were you?”
When Chelsea remained silent, Megan reasoned her answer wouldn’t be forthcoming.
“After that time, he made me meet him every Saturday.” Megan picked up another picture from the bed. “Curt did love taking pictures, didn’t he? When he wanted me to marry him, I tried to kill myself. The thought of having sex with him anytime he wanted it was more than I could handle.” Megan gave Chelsea a wry smile. “But not enough to go through with it. Like everything else, I chickened out and married him. I humiliated my parents badly enough they left town when I married Curt. The only thing that made my life bearable was that at least my parents never found out about these pictures.”
“They will if you don’t leave. So will the whole town,” Chelsea threatened.
“I’ll leave.” Megan rose stiffly from the bed and moved to the closet to take out her suitcase. Setting it on the mattress, she opened it, then went to the dresser to remove her clothes.
Satisfied she was leaving, Chelsea went to the door. “I’ll have your checkout papers waiting. Don’t be long.”
“Curt might have been a terrible person, but he was a good coach. He covered his bases, didn’t he, Chelsea?” Megan carried her clothes to the suitcase, staring at Chelsea in the doorway. “I never gossiped about you or made fun of you. He made sure we hated each other enough to stay away from one another. I’d say so we couldn’t compare notes.
“He always used a different phone when he took pictures of me. I would try to find it when he was sleeping so I could destroy it. I take it you had it. I’m also assuming you think I have the cell phone containing your pictures?”
The fear on Chelsea’s face was heart-wrenching. Any hatred she felt toward her died. Chelsea was just another victim, like she had been.
“Sorry, I don’t. If I did, I would have destroyed it.”
“I don’t believe you. Evan is going to ask me to marry him Christmas Eve. If you post any of my pictures, I’ll—”
“Is that why you tried to kill me with his truck?”
“If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead. I should have known you were too stupid to take the warning. Let’s see if you can get this through your brain. Get out of Treepoint!” Chelsea screeched at her. “We’re both better off with you gone.”
There was no reasoning with her. Megan could understand her fear.
“I’m leaving the hotel, but I’m not leaving Treepoint until I bury my daughter tomorrow.”
Chelsea gave her a curt nod. “I’d take those pictures with you,” she said snidely. “The cleaner has a habit of being nosy.”
Megan gave the woman a look of pity. “Curt is dead, and he still has us at each other’s throat. He’s still winning.”
Chelsea sneered at her. “Don’t act all high and mighty. You don’t want that good-looking boyfriend seeing those pictures any more than I want Evan seeing mine.”
“The sad thing is I now know who has my pictures; you don’t know who has yours,” Megan warned her. “Or if they have both of ours.”
“I’ll take my chances, but with you gone, I’ll have one thing less to consider,” she said cryptically.
She slammed the door after her, and Megan sighed. Chelsea made it hard to like her.
After packing the rest of her clothes, she gathered all the pictures and shoved them into the suitcase. She checked to make sure she hadn’t left anything behind, then put the suitcase into her car before driving around to the front.
Strangely, she wasn’t afraid to go inside the office. She was still too numb to feel much of anything.
When she reached the counter, Chelsea pushed the copy of the bill toward her with seventy-eight dollars sitting on top.
“Here you go. This is your refund for the three days you paid in advance.”