SCARRED - Part 4 (The SCARRED Series - Book 4) by Kylie Walker

overwhelmed and feeling like she could hardly breathe. She looked at her parents, delighting in the fact that she could call them that, and she said, “I’m so glad that Derek brought me to you,” she squeezed his hand and said, “I will be grateful to him for that forever. I want you both to know that I’m so happy it turned out this way, but I just need a minute...to wrap my head around all of this and catch my breath.”
    Samantha was nodding. “Of course you do,” she said. “Whatever you need Chloe.”
    “Maybe a walk,” she said. “Would that be alright if I just took a walk around the grounds?”
    Samantha smiled and wiped her face with the back of her hand. “You can walk wherever you want,” she said.
    Trevor laughed and said, “There she goes, spoiling her already.”
    Chloe smiled and looked at Derek. “Do you mind?”
    He reached up and put his hand on her face and said, “Like your mother said, whatever you need.” He pulled her face down and put his lips to hers softly and then he let her go.
    “Thank you,” she whispered to him. Then she looked at her parents who were holding onto each other now and said, “Thank you all. I’ll be back soon.”
    They nodded and as she walked away, she saw them clutch onto each other tightly and she heard Samantha begin crying again. From here on out, everyone’s lives were going to be different...in a good way for a change.
    ******
    J esse sat in his spot on the little grassy hill with his binoculars and watched the house. Who were these people to her? They’re Stark’s in-laws, so his attachment made sense, but Kelly’s confused him.  He watched them sitting at the table while Kelly held an envelope in her hand. She eventually opened it and then suddenly everyone was wracked with emotion. After they’d all finished hugging and kissing and crying, Kelly had left alone, walking out through the pasture behind the property.
    Once again, he was tempted to take her right there. He let the binoculars focus on her for a few seconds. She was crying still, he could see the tears slide down her face as she walked. “Good,” he said out loud to the hillside he sat on. “I hope the bitch is miserable.” 
    He moved his attention back to the people on the patio. Derek Stark was sitting there watching after Kelly as she walked away and the two older people sat holding each other and the woman was still crying. There was something familiar about her. Jesse felt like he’d seen her before...or he knew her from somewhere. He couldn’t put his finger on it. Maybe it was just from what he’d seen online when he had researched who they were. He switched his focus back to Kelly and watched her walk further away from the house. He wanted to grab her so badly that it was almost a physical ache in his chest.
    He had to take some long, deep breaths and remind himself that being patient was going to make it so much better in the long run. He had to be patient. When the time came the reunion would be that much sweeter, and he’d have everything set up so that there would be no way they could blame her disappearance on him. He would leave no trace and all that would be left of her would be the sweet memory of the realization in her eyes that she was going to die, right before he killed her.
    He looked back at the patio again. Stark still hadn’t taken his eyes off of her. He was going to be a problem...unless Jesse did something about him first. A plan was beginning to formulate in his head. Part of his plan to not get caught was to eliminate the obstacles that stood between him and what he wanted.
    Derek Stark had to go.

Chapter 8
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    C hloe walked along the cobbled stone path in the back yard, past the peaceful little pond filled with colorful koi and the flowers lay out around it like a vivid, multi-colored carpet. She let herself out the wrought iron gate and followed along the dirt trail that led towards the meadows and the green hills. It