“N-no,” Harmony denied with a shake of her head. “It has to be done. I’ll see you in the den when you’re finished.”
The sisters scattered quickly as she voiced her final decision, and Harmony followed Honor into the kitchen. “You think I’m horrible, don’t you?” she asked her younger sister softly, pausing at the door off the kitchen that led into Jake’s office/den.
Honor turned in the act of opening one of the cabinet doors above the sink, surprise etched on her face. “What?”
“Me. You think this is wrong, Honor. I know you do,” Harmony whispered, struggling with what she’d asked her sisters to do… what she was going to do.
“I could never think you were horrible, Harmony,” Honor denied vehemently, shaking her head as her eyes went soft on her sister’s conflicted face. “You’re doing what you need to do to keep your family safe. I can’t fault you for that and I never would.”
“You’d do things differently. I know you would,” Harmony mumbled, looking into the den and spotting the file exactly where it had been last night.
“Doesn’t mean I’d choose the right way to handle things,” Honor snorted, opening another cabinet and finding nothing but canned goods. “I’m not exactly a risk taker either, Sis. If this little scavenger hunt will give you the peace of mind you need, get in there and make sure that there isn’t anything to worry about. I’m not going to fault you for it. If I thought what you were doing was wrong, I would never have opened the door for you.”
Nodding, Honor’s words comforted her. It wasn’t absolution, but it was understanding. Squaring her shoulders, Harmony forced herself to walk into the den, skirting furniture as she made her way toward the oversized desk. Taking a deep breath as she reached the other side of the room, she snatched the innocent-looking folder into her hand and carried it around to Jake’s leather chair. Plopping down, she closed her eyes, said a quick prayer for forgiveness and opened the file.
Then, as she scanned the first page, she felt the bottom fall out of her stomach.
Flipping through the file, she found pages and pages of information about her – her school history, her work history, and credit reports. There were pages filled with information about her sisters, each containing a neatly stapled snapshot of them. Then, there were the pictures of her – pictures of her and Heaven, some recent and some not-so-recent. Pictures of her laughing. Pictures of her broken body the night Tanner had nearly beat her to death. Dear God, he even had medical reports detailing her injuries the night that Tanner had put her in the hospital and pages upon pages with notations about her pregnancy with Heaven. All of it was information he had no right to have.
But that wasn’t even the worst part.
No, the worst part was the final few pages of the file – all filled with color snapshots of Tanner Suarez. There were a handful that had been taken during their marriage, but more worrisome were pictures that were taken recently. Pictures that showed an older, meaner-looking Tanner, but he was a man she’d never forget and know anywhere at any time.
“Son of a bitch,” she whispered, her fingers tightening on one of the photographs. He’d known everything about her, including where her ex-husband was, and she knew nothing about him. She’d given her mind, body, and soul over to a complete stranger.
“Harmony?” Honor called, standing in the doorway and staring at her with alarm. “What’s the matter, honey? What did you find?” she asked, moving quickly toward where Harmony sat.
Harmony’s eyes swam with tears as her eyes drifted over pages and pages of information that Jake shouldn’t have. “He knew me, Honor. He knew all of us all along, and I have no idea why he’s here.”
“What?” Honor questioned, coming to stand behind Harmony as her eyes narrowed on the file strewn all over Jake’s formerly neat desk. “Oh my God,” she breathed, shaking her head from side to side as she braced herself against the chair Harmony sat on. Touching her sister’s stiff shoulder, Honor squeezed. “Breathe, Harmony. We don’t know….”
“You’re absolutely right! We don’t know!” Harmony shrieked suddenly, her eyes widening in horror. “I slept with him. I shared with him! But, I don’t know him! I don’t know him at all!! God, I’m an idiot! How could I be that fucking stupid? I’m a complete fucking moron! Why would he have these, Honor!?” she screamed, picking up a picture of her lying broken and bleeding in a hospital bed. “Why the fuck is he here in our lives?”