I walked into the small private room, and there he was prostrate in bed. He was sweating. He didn’t look diminished. That thought flittered in and then away like a hummingbird. It’s the spirit that my husband had crushed just like his bullet had splintered the poor officer’s spine.
“My name is Paige Pelecanos.”
He struggled to move his upper body forward, placing his elbows beneath him and pushing. Anger filled his features. What was I thinking?
“I came to tell you how sorry I am for what my husband did. I wanted you to know that. Not a day goes by—”
The man screamed at me, all the vitriol of the world unloaded, and I took it. He shook his fist at me and became unbalanced on the hospital bed. I fled the room.
“You’re a good person, a good woman,” Ethan says, even now grasping, meaning well, but not fully understanding how I loathe compliments directed at me. He thinks he’ll get through this barrier. Jeremy, behind his prison bars, probably wishes he’d never complimented me, never loved me as much as he did, never loved me at all.
“I didn’t used to be.” I had to say something. Sins can’t be washed away, forgiven by anyone, not even a priest, not in my world. My own’ve left stains I’ve strived to bury.
“You’re good now.”
The glow of the twinkling holiday lights outside on the balcony brings little comfort.
“Our neighbors do think we’re crazy,” I say, and then, “Did you turn the Christmas tree lights off?”
Books by Justin
Novels & Novellas
Wake Me Up
The Conversationalist: Horrorstruck Novella One
The Threads: Horrorstruck Novella Two (coming soon)
Collections
Sandcastle and Other Stories
Hark: A Christmas Collection
Speak the Word: Two More Sandcastle Tales
About Justin
Justin Bog is a member of ITW: International Thriller Writers
Justin lives in the Pacific Northwest on Fidalgo Island, and is the author of psychological horror, mystery, and suspense tales.
His first crime novel,Wake Me Up, won a Foreword Silver INDIES Book Award and came in First Place for the Somerset Book Award!
Sandcastle and Other Stories, his first collection of dark fiction, was a Finalist for the Ohioana Book Awards 2014 and also named Best Suspense Anthology of 2013 by Suspense Magazine.
Get in Touch
Twitter: @JustinBog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JustinBogAuthor/
Website: http://justinbog.com
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