Chapter 2: What Was Hidden Beneath the Blanket
Chapter 2: What Was Hidden Beneath the Blanket
The blanket slipped to the floor.
Jake couldn't breathe.
Both of Megan's legs were covered in deep purple bruises.
Her ankles were badly swollen.
Across her calves were fading yellow marks, older injuries layered beneath fresh ones.
She hadn't been hiding an affair.
She'd been hiding pain.
His mother gasped dramatically.
"Oh my goodness..."
But Jake wasn't looking at her.
He was staring at the bruises.
They weren't random.
They looked like fingerprints.
As though someone had gripped Megan's legs over and over again.
He dropped to his knees beside the bed.
"Megan..."
His voice broke.
"Who did this?"
Fresh tears rolled down her face.
She didn't answer.
She only looked past him.
Toward the bedroom door.
Toward his mother.
Jake slowly turned around.
His mother's expression changed for only a second.
Long enough.
"What happened?" he asked quietly.
She folded her arms.
"I have no idea."
Megan whispered,
"Please don't make me say it."
Jake reached for her hand.
"You don't have to protect anyone anymore."
She closed her eyes.
"It was your mother."
Silence.
The room seemed to stop moving.
"My... mother?"
Megan nodded weakly.
"Every morning after you left for work..."
"She came here."
Jake stared.
May you like
"No."
"She used her spare key."
