Free The Lion's Den (Faraway Book 2) by Eliza Freed

about the details of Meredith’s injury. One of the nurses, the neurologist, maybe even Meredith herself had said something to raise a red flag, and now I needed to lower it.
    The kids were at the shore house, too. Meredith’s brother had returned them just in time for me to bring them all home. School was starting soon. Dharma would be gone, and Meredith and I were going to start fresh without any distrust or dishonesty. I just had to figure out how to get rid of Dharma.
    I parked in the driveway and heard Liv and James playing on the other side of the house. I walked toward the ocean and saw them kicking the soccer ball back and forth on the sand. Meredith was sitting on the deck, watching them.
    “Daddy,” the kids both yelled and ran over to me. Meredith smiled, appearing genuinely glad I was there. We were a family.
    “Hey! How was Uncle Jeff’s?” I asked.
    They both spoke at the same time. I couldn’t understand a word they were saying, and I really didn’t care. I just nodded as if they made sense. James finally muzzled Liv with his hand and said, “We’re going to the boardwalk tonight.”
    I turned to Meredith, praying James had it wrong. The boardwalk was a mix of noise, crowds, French fries, and ice cream. And it was a dry town, so there was no alcohol. It was hell. “Really?” I asked her.
    “Yes. They haven’t been all summer, and school starts next week.” She looked good. The bruises on her face were healing, and she had her hair styled in a way so I couldn’t see the shaved patch. Her skin had bronzed from her weeks in the sun, and her eyes blazed with the colors of the ocean. I walked to the railing and leaned over to her. She kissed me on the lips and leaned back as she exhaled. I let the feel of her lips linger before opening my eyes. With Meredith, I would conquer the world. She was my wife, and she always would be.
    “The boardwalk?” I asked, only half joking.
    “Yes,” she said and then told the kids to go inside and grab their sweatshirts.
    I went in and changed my clothes. When I lowered my pants, I saw lipstick on my underwear. At first, I thought it was a red stain, but then the image of Carrie’s lips pulling them off my hips while she’d been bound and on her knees in front of me ran through my head like a train before it derailed. I ripped off the underwear and folded them tightly before hiding them in a sheet of paper from my briefcase I crumbled up. I threw the paper in the trash and covered it with the remaining items in the basket. They were strips of toilet paper bundled tightly together. Meredith was on her period. Great.
    “Daddy, let’s go,” Liv yelled as I opened the bedroom door, leaving Dharma behind and joining my family.
    I drove them to the boardwalk, bought the tickets, and waited while the kids rode the rides. Liv and Meredith went in a boutique and bought Liv new earrings. James and I sat on a bench and watched the people go by. We were exactly how a family should be.
    While the four of us ate ice cream, James and Liv chatted about nothing of use. Which super power would you rather have? If you fell out of a plane when it was taking off, would you survive? Would you rather lose a leg or your hearing? Can a bomb blow up a diamond? I let the sight of Meredith drown them out. She had so much patience with them. She wore a new bracelet. A braided white nautical one every store on the boardwalk sold for a dollar.
    “Nice bracelet,” I said and turned it on her wrist. She held it up so I could see it better.
    “We used to call them shark bracelets when I was little. We swore they kept the sharks away.”
    “It’s nice,” I said, and then with her wrist still in my hand, I added, “I think you should quit your job.” I didn’t want her anywhere near the police station or Vincent Pratt. He’d crossed a line at our house the other night.
    “What?” Meredith smiled as if the suggestion was almost funny. She scrunched her brow, trying to figure out