“I can’t imagine anyone would give you any trouble. Not now that Tom’s admitted the truth. What happens to him and the others is out of your hands. Chief Stacy will investigate, put together a case and the D.A. will try them. At that point, their fate will be in the hands of a jury.”
“I’d be fine with an apology and probation.”
“Seriously? You’re too forgiving.”
“I’m not out for vengeance,” she said. “As long as I have you, that’s all I care about.”
She could hear the tenderness in his voice when he answered. “You definitely have me.”
She remembered thinking that love made one weak. Somehow she didn’t feel that way anymore.
Epilogue
Stephen’s case was the last to come to trial. By the time that occurred, it was nearly September and Addy was married to Noah and pregnant with her first child. She didn’t want to relive what she’d gone through at sixteen for a fourth time. Giving testimony about that night was never easy. But she’d been so happy the past eleven months that she’d put some emotional distance between the woman she was now and the girl she’d been then. So she made herself testify but afterward told the judge what she’d said at the other trials: somehow she’d managed to forgive her attackers and wasn’t holding out hope for a stiff penalty. She felt they’d be judged by a higher power some day and was content to let God take care of it, since only God knew whether they were truly as penitent as they professed to be when they apologized to her in court.
But her forgiveness didn’t make as much difference in Stephen’s case as it had the others. If he hadn’t kidnapped and dragged her to the mine when she’d returned to Whiskey Creek, he, too, might’ve gotten off with four hundred hours of community service. Instead, he was sentenced to two years in prison.
When it was all said and done, Kevin Colbert lost his job and Audrey left him. He was trying to sell his house so he could move out of town and start over somewhere else. Tom lost his job, too. But he took Stephen’s job at Kyle’s solar plant and his wife stood by him—maybe because he was the only one who’d had a conscience. Derek continued to make do as he’d been making do, but his life had never been all that great. Addy figured he now had his chance to improve it, but doubted he would. During the investigation it came out that www.SkintightEntertainment.com, which was on the sweatshirt Stephen had worn when he abducted her, didn’t have any connection to Derek. It was just something Stephen had picked up somewhere, knowing that if she looked up the website, it would frighten her, considering the ordeal she’d suffered fifteen years ago. But probably the best part of going through the whole process was seeing how much those trials affected Noah’s parents, how much more understanding they’d become. Sometimes Addy wondered if they’d finally embraced her because of the baby. But then she’d catch his mother smiling at the way Noah protected her from anything that might upset her, or kissed her, or simply watched her cross the room.
“He really loves you,” she said to Addy the day they sentenced Stephen.
“I really love him,” Addy responded.
“I can tell. I’m sorry, you know. I was wrong to react the way I did last year.”
Addy squeezed her hand. “It’s okay.”
“I’m glad I’ve been around to see how kind you were to Kevin, Tom and the others.”
“Kind?” Addy wasn’t sure she’d go quite that far.
“Because you were capable of forgiving them, I can believe that you really have forgiven me.”
She had tears in her eyes when she said that, which convinced Addy she was sincere. “We’re going to be able to put the past behind us.”
“You’re sure?”
She touched her belly, which was just beginning to swell. “Why hang on to hard feelings when we have so much to look forward to?”