A Forever Masterpiece (The Masterpiece Trilogy Book 3) (10 page)

Again, a hesitation. Becca refused to look at him. Then she said softly, "Yes."

Hunter's stomach clenched, afraid of the answer. "What?"

"What happened was the reason I declared emancipation." She looked at him with tears in her eyes.

Chapter Seven

Becca didn't want to remember about those days, and to be honest, they'd been so far back in her mind that she never really thought about it. She'd forged on and let it go. Vince coming around today and Hunter's question brought them out in the open once again. She never meant to not tell him, but their reunion was nothing short of crazy. She hadn't told him right after it happened, because she'd been afraid and wanted to forget. Guess she got her wish after all. Until suspicion fell on Vince and his recent revelation, Becca never put anything together. "I had a breakdown when I was sixteen. I don't know how well you remember, but that year was extremely difficult for me."

Hunter furrowed his brows. "I remember a lot of your teen years being difficult."

Becca took a deep breath before continuing. "True, but there was an ... incident when I was sixteen." She shuddered thinking about it.

"An incident?" Hunter's voice was shrill as he watched her, the concern in his eyes evident. "I don't remember anything significant, at least not at sixteen."

"Probably because I didn't tell you." She lowered her voice. Sure, she'd told Hunter a lot, even back then, but this one she'd kept from everyone. "There was a time I had an art teacher mentoring me. Like you, he believed in my paintings. I took an art class as one of my electives, and when my art showed promise, he worked with me after school."

"I'm not sure I like where this is going," Hunter grunted, scooting closer.

"Why do you think I never told you? Outside of all parties involved, I forced my mind to forget. It worked, obviously." Becca swallowed the large lump in her throat.

"Not sure I get how this connects to Vince or his father though, but I'll zip it and wait."

"Then I'll make the story short and to the point. Basically, my mentor wanted much more from me- a relationship outside of student and teacher. When I said no, his attitude changed. He stalked and threatened me, and made me think I was in the wrong. One night, when I was coming home from a friend's house, he-" Vivid memories of his face leering over hers filled her head. Her stomach knotted.
It's just a memory.

Hunter drew her close. His whole face turned a shade of red, but he stayed quiet.

"It never got that far. Vince got to him before anything happened."

"So Vince saved the day?" Hunter asked.

"Not quite. He might have kept that man from doing anything to me, but I think he killed him." It physically hurt for Becca to say the words. She hadn't thought about this in years, not even when her grandparents pushed Vince in her life. Like Hunter, her memories opened up recently, allowing things to come back, some of which she wished she could forget.

"So he's capable of murder." Hunter shook his head in disgust. "I don't doubt it."

"It gets worse." Becca's voice came out in a squeak. "I don't have proof that Vince killed him. I do know that after that night, I went into the state of panic you saw me in recently. Anyway, all of a sudden, Mr. Ellis disappeared and a new teacher took his place. I was still paranoid about what happened, and one night Vince and his father came to talk to us about something. I don't remember a lot of it. The next thing I knew, I woke up in a hospital with a claim that I attacked Vince. They even have video, which I've seen, but it's silent and only 30 seconds or so. I don't think that was the whole story. I definitely went after him for something, but it's not enough to tell what really went on."

"A hospital? You mean like-?"

Becca nodded. "Yes. I think Vince's father, or possibly Vince himself, admitted me to the psych ward. I still didn't know Vince was a psychiatrist at the time. I always knew his father was, but I only saw Vince on occasion."

"If Vince's father lost his license to practice, no way did he have any merit to do anything to you! But he could still get through with his son." Hunter straightened. "You wouldn't have attacked him, at least not without a valid reason."

Becca laughed bitterly. "Right, kind of like the woman in the bathroom or that guy outside of Rissi's apartment?" Sometimes, in her dark moments, she wasn't too sure what she was or wasn't capable of.

"Bec, we went through this already. You had reason to be afraid," Hunter said softly, pulling her in his arms. "If you supposedly attacked Vince that night, something had to have provoked you. Maybe they told you something that made you snap. If you were almost- well, I can't even say it ... then I can imagine how your mind must have been. Why wouldn't you tell me this? Wait, that doesn't matter right now. This is my shock talking. I figured you declared emancipation to get away from their overbearing and controlling ways, not because you couldn't trust them or the people they associated with."

"I remember everyone blaming me, as if I led my teacher on, but I didn't! I thought he really believed in my talent. After I was released and went through the mandatory counseling, I pushed for emancipation. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I think the anxiety medication prescribed to me helped me forget. By the time I was emancipated and I met you on the island, I only had foggy memories of everything. When I moved out, I didn't have to take any more of the medications, but the damage had already been done. Then as years went on, I remembered less and less of it. I think a part of me closed off the idea that I could ever go further with my art because of what happened. I still don't know what happened to Stuart- Mr. Ellis." Becca looked away from Hunter, feeling shamed.

"With how Vince and his family are, they covered something up. Maybe they told you a part of it and you couldn't handle it. Maybe they waited until they thought I was out of the picture to give you an idea of marrying Vince. Damn it! Giving you meds when you didn't actually need them? I could, well, after what you just said I won't finish that sentence." Hunter was livid. "I wish when you claimed emancipation that I'd thought of getting you out of that state then and there. I had no idea!" Hunter let out a string of curses. "Do you want me to ask Jed to look into what happened to Mr. Ellis? Just for peace of mind?"

"Yes and no," Becca admitted. Now that this was in her thoughts again, she did wonder what happened.

"The family gets more twisted as things come up. Why the hell would they do that to you unless they were trying to cover something up?" Hunter shot to his feet.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before," Becca said again in a small voice. His anger, while well warranted, intimidated her a little.

He turned back to her, taking her hands in his as he helped her up. "Don't apologize. I wish you'd told me, because I always wanted to know everything about you, but I understand why you didn't. So, your teacher- he didn't-?" Hunter cleared his throat.

"No. I never wanted anything more. I'd been so excited someone else saw potential in me. He used to leave messages and letters and things in my locker. I'm glad he left me alone after that night, but I thought maybe he'd moved, until Vince said something to me about it later. I still don't know what he said and why I think he killed him. Now as I look back on the last few years and the recent things Vince told us, I wonder. I don't like all these memories resurfacing." Becca exhaled a shaky breath, overwhelmed with all the feelings. She decided to change the subject. Enough about Vince and the past. "So what were you going to say earlier?"
Please let him drop the subject for now.

Hunter sighed. "Dr. Ryan asked if I'm ready to return to flying."

"And are you?" He hadn't brought it up in a while, but then they'd been dealing with a lot.

"I'm not sure. It's been the last thing on my mind lately."

Becca kissed his cheek. "Maybe we both need to find our normal." No doubt there'd been one blow after another. For once, Becca wanted to find the light at the end of the tunnel. Hunter wanted normal months ago when he first found out about the PTSD, and while Becca didn't quite understand his need to not think about it, she got it now.

Hunter missed a few meetings at the PTSD support group, but tonight he decided to attend. Before he left, Hunter also called Jed and gave him the new information from Becca. She still hesitated about it, but anything that would help uncover what the Langes or Vince's family knew, the better. They weren't getting anywhere about Becca's family, but the least he could do was uncover something, or hope to.

He spotted Jesse and waved. The few times Hunter did show, he hadn't seen Jesse, not in a while. He wondered what happened to him. Had he shown in the last month in the meetings he missed?

"You're back!" Jesse grabbed a cookie from the table and ambled up to him.

"Yeah. It's been a rough few weeks. Where have you been?" Hunter asked. "Haven't seen you in a while when I did manage to get here."

"I went back home. My mother had a stroke."

This was the first time Jesse had ever mentioned family. Hunter could barely get a word out of this guy, other than the few bits and pieces Jesse offered up at the meetings. What was his story?

"Sorry to hear," Hunter said sincerely.

"She's recovering well now, but she already has a handful of other health problems. I'm..." he hesitated, "the only one she has left, and I'm out of state. It's hard being away, but I had to get out of there."

"I know what you mean." Hunter liked this small bonding they were doing. Jesse was the one guy he'd actually talked to more than anyone else before and after the meetings. "How long have you been back?"

"Three weeks. I wondered where you were. Figured maybe you didn't feel the need to come back."

"Sometimes I don't," Hunter admitted. "But Becca and I took a trip, and things happened. The last few months haven't been easy."

"I'm sure. It seems that way for all of us. Well, I guess it's showtime." Jesse gestured to the circle of chairs.

Hunter stared at the man's retreating back as he followed, trying to figure him out. Jesse had been gone for a month or so, ever since Hunter returned from Rhode Island. He felt for the guy. Jesse appeared to be a loner, and from the sounds of it, only had his ailing mother. He plunked down on the chair next to Jesse, ready for the meeting. Maybe they'd have some advice on him returning to flying and Becca's avoidance of feelings after killing a man in self-defense.

"Hey, look who's back!" One of the group leaders waved. "Glad to see you, Hunter."

He almost said he was glad to be back, but for some reason, it didn't sound right to him. Hunter just gave a small smile. "Sorry about missing so much in the past two months," he finally said. "It's been crazy."

"How's your beautiful fiancée doing?"

"She's good, for the most part. We had a ... something happened during our trip to Maryland, and I'm not sure how she's honestly handling things."

Jesse coughed, and Hunter looked over at him. "Sorry. Cookie went down the wrong tube." He jumped up and headed for the water fountain.

"And how are you healing physically and emotionally from the events in Rhode Island?"

Hunter crossed his ankles and leaned back in the seat. Before answering, he glanced over at Jesse, finding the man watching him intensely. "Physically, I'm fine. I hardly have pain from any of those injuries. Emotionally, I still have my moments. Nightmares are occasional and there are times I disassociate, but nothing to that extreme. This is why I wish Becca would work through hers. She's strong, I know she is, but I wonder where her breaking point begins, and she's looking for that same sense of normal I've craved for years."

Jesse returned to his seat next to Hunter with a cup. Hunter couldn't help but notice how nervous he looked, and kept sending glances his way. What was up with that? He'd been that way a lot in the past few encounters they had, and when he mentioned Maryland, Jesse all of a sudden acted more odd.

By the end of the meeting, Hunter felt better. He'd reluctantly discussed returning to flying, and gave a few details about what happened in Maryland without putting out too much information. He watched Jesse's reactions, feeling unsure all of a sudden. Hunter thought back to every time he told his story at these meetings. The guy was so secretive and he'd also been away. He wondered about him. Jesse gave no last name, but he wasn't expected to. Jesse's eyes had been on him for the duration of the meeting, especially when Hunter talked about Maryland. The concern forming in his mind made his skin crawl. Most likely, Hunter was being overly cautious, but something about Jesse's reactions today really had him bothered.

As he usually did, Hunter offered Jesse a ride home. No surprise, Jesse declined. This time, Hunter wrote his number on a piece of paper and handed it to Jesse. "Hey, if you ever need to talk, you can reach me here. I hope your mom continues to progress for the better. Seems we both have a lot going on and our meeting attendance is hit and miss. Take it easy, okay?"

Jesse took the paper from Hunter hesitantly, as if he thought something was wrong with it. "Yeah. Cool. Thanks man." He stumbled and darted away.

Hunter hurried to his car and drove off, but not in the direction of home. Instead, he trailed behind Jesse as the man climbed on a bike, unlocked it from the bike rack and headed west. He couldn't believe he was really doing this, but when it came to Jesse's reaction when Hunter mentioned Maryland, he wasn't taking chances. He sure as hell hoped this guy wasn't linked to the incident, but why else did he get so rattled after the conversation?

Jesse could have easily turned around at any point to notice Hunter, but he didn't. About a mile and a half of twists and turns, Jesse finally stopped and climbed off his bike. Normal, right?

What wasn't normal, or at least it struck Hunter as odd, was Jesse putting the bike in the back of an old, beat up truck, then driving off.

Hunter grabbed his phone and aimed it at the truck before Jesse drove further away and snapped a picture, then had to brake hard for a red light. Damn it! He slammed his fist on the steering wheel. Why the hell would Jesse ride his bike for a mile and a half, then drive off in a truck? While he waited for the light to turn green, he checked his picture. Blurry as hell, but he could get a little bit of the license plate. This was going to Jed.