A Masterpiece Unraveled (The Masterpiece Trilogy Book 2) (29 page)

There went Dr Ryan again, writing something down. Hunter wished he could peer over and see what he put down in his folder. He didn't like not knowing.

"Hmm. What were you talking about at the time?"

Did it matter? "Becca asked me what I was going to do while she was at work. I overreacted."

"No flashbacks?"

"Nope, not with that one. It was like a piece of time was erased and even though it was short, it scared me. I could have hurt or killed someone." Hunter wrapped his hand around the side of the chair and squeezed.

"Becca, what did he do during that time?"

"He just stopped talking to me. I didn't really know anything was off, other than a faraway look in his eyes that reminded me of the night he pinned me against the wall. His eyes had this glaze to them. I noticed the red light and Hunter wasn't stopping, so I yelled. That must have snapped him out of it." She shook her head.

"What's wrong with me?" Hunter asked, eager to know.

"It sounds like you disassociated." Dr. Ryan tapped his pen on the desk.

Hunter focused on the movement. "What the hell is that?" Another thing to worry about? He calmed down slightly when Becca put her hand on his back. He slumped in the chair a little.

"It's like a daydream. Sometimes it's one's way of not having to deal with something. It happens often with those who've suffered a trauma."

"Yeah, but I've never been like this!"

"Is it me? Did I do this? He was upset at me," Becca said quietly. "He mentioned triggers last week and that maybe I'm one. I can't stop thinking about it. I don't want to be bad for him."

Hunter stared at her. "Bec, you're not bad for me." No way! She was the best thing to happen to him in a long time! He slid his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.

"Even if you are a trigger, it doesn't mean you're bad for Hunter. You can help him the most. You know what he's feeling, or at least in most cases can relate. Seeing you might trigger something here or there, but it's nothing you're doing on purpose. Sometimes the mind just goes places and something or someone will trigger it without warning," Dr. Ryan informed her. "Hunter might have disassociated because his mind couldn't handle something."

"I've been asking him what he wanted to do since he doesn't want to fly right now," Becca said. "I know he's feeling the pressure, but I don't mean to. All I wanted to do was help." She blew away stray wisps of hair from her face.

"You're not the one pressuring me, Bec. I promise, it's not you." Hunter kissed her cheek. "I hate this. It's bad enough trying to understand PTSD, but disassociation too? Not remembering parts of my day, or spacing out and possibly doing something to myself or someone else not realizing it? I don't like this at all." Defeat sagged in his shoulders and he blew out a breath. Shit. This kept getting worse.

"Is there a way to stop them?" Becca asked.

"Well, there's a few options. Know the triggers and avoid them, but that's not always possible. I can see right now in your case it's not going to be easy, not just because you remind him of the events, but because you're looking into the history. Flashbacks and disassociation seem like they come out of the blue. However, there are warning signs. Sometimes it seems like your surroundings are fuzzy and it's like you're partly there."

Yep. He'd felt that way the day a flashback hit seeing that girl, and many other times. Okay, now he knew what it was when he felt that way, but how did he stop them from happening?

"Just try to bring yourself back. Use all of your senses. Touch. Sound. Grip something, listen to music. Smell something comforting. I can already tell you have a great support system. Becca, you can talk to him calmly to help him come out of it."

Becca nodded. "I always try to."

"I've hurt her more than once in the process." Hunter closed his eyes. He didn't open them until Becca's gentle touch against his cheek brought him back to reality.

"Don't do that. I know I was afraid of you for a while, but we know what's going on now. All we can do is work through it together." There went her thumb, waiting for him to seal a promise. Ever since he'd reminded her of it weeks ago, the childhood promise seal came back into play.

"Thank you for everything," he whispered before facing the doctor again.

Dr. Ryan actually smiled. "You've got this. I have no doubt." His gaze bounced between the two of them. "We'll talk about coping and other things you can do today."

*****

Hunter stopped Becca before she climbed in the car. His expression was grim as he hugged her. "I don't know I managed to be able to keep the most amazing woman ever, but thank you. I know I'm not easy to deal with and I've said the same thing over and over lately. When I think it's going to get better, I learn something new, or I screw something else up. I open my eyes to think you're not going to be here and there you are."

Keeping him close, Becca looked him straight in the eye. "You know how you're always admiring my determination to push through anything thrown at me?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"That should tell you something. I'm not a quitter. I don't give up easily. I'm not going to let life dictate what happens, I'm going to take my own route. I want you in my life, Hunter. Always. Those four years without you made me realize many things. One of them is that I know I can make my own way without you, but the thing is I don't want to. You're my other half. When you're hurt, I am too. When you laugh, it makes me feel good. I'll adapt. I'll learn and help. This isn't going to change how I feel about you." She kissed him, then took a step back. "You call me brave and strong all the time, but you don't realize how much I see of that in you as well. You made something of yourself almost right away, and it took me longer to find myself. You didn't hold back. I did. I sometimes still do."

"Wise, beautiful words from an artist I love," Hunter said quietly.

"I learned from you. When I needed it most, you had the most comforting and encouraging words to say. It's only fair I give a little back to you."

On the way home, Hunter stayed quiet. Becca couldn't help herself. She kept peeking over at him. He sat in a fairly relaxed position, staring straight ahead. A few times he turned her way. But he would just smile halfheartedly and then turn away.

The ringing of a phone cut through the silence. Becca jumped slightly and jerked the wheel right a little. She straightened out and Hunter answered his phone. Every time one of their phones rang lately, she always had a strong suspicion it wasn't good news. That feeling rose again, creeping around in her stomach.

"We're actually heading home now. Want to meet us there?" Hunter sounded alarmed. "Okay. Thanks. See you soon."

"What's up?" Becca tried to be casual, but her heart raced.

"Jed has new information."

Oh boy.

"Maybe it's good news." Hunter tried to be reassuring. He let his phone fall on his lap.

"Then why does he always want to meet up instead of telling us over the phone?" Didn't these PI's prefer to give bad news in person?

"That's just the way he works. If he has news, he wants to talk face to face, good or bad."

"Yeah, but..." He had a copy of her birth certificate. He could have found out anything! That 'anything' terrified her. As much as she wanted to know, part of her didn't want to know either. Her heart and mind were split right down the middle. Too late to back out now. They were going to get everything they could.

Ten minutes after making it home, Jed arrived.

Why did Becca have such a bad feeling about this? They were seated around the table, the very same table bad news had been discussed recently. She gripped the side of her chair and waited. She watched Jed's every move, looking for a clue or a sign as to what he might say. He gave away nothing until he actually spoke.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to throw it out there." Jed cleared his throat. "Becca, your birth certificate was falsified."

Bile rose in her throat. Her stomach did a flip flop dance. Becca tried to breathe normally, but her chest tightened and burned. She choked back a cry. Oh no! No no no!

"Bec?" Hunter's voice sounded far away again, like the night she'd had a panic attack. "Angel, stay with me. Listen to me. I'm right here." Hands were on her shoulders.

The fuzziness faded. Even though beads of sweat formed on her forehead and slid down her face, Becca sprung back to reality. "What does this mean?" It could be plenty of things, right? Not necessarily anything bad. Oh, who was she kidding. It couldn't be good. Why did she try to give herself a false sense of hope?

"It could mean a lot of things. This is where it's really going to get tricky. There's no way to do a DNA test since Anne and Rusty aren't alive. It could mean you're adopted, but I wouldn't even know where to start with that. When I looked into Anne's last pregnancy, she'd chosen home birth. That's what it said on your certificate. I checked with vital statistics in the state it said you were born in, but there's no record there of a Rebecca Lange, not with your age and birth date."

"Oh, if only they all knew the real dirt about Rebecca Lange. She doesn't exist!"
Sylvia's words echoed in her head.

"How did she know?"

"How did who know? What are you talking about?" Hunter's face came into clear view as he held her.

"How did Sylvia know about me?" Becca knew she wasn't making sense, but she just couldn't get the words out. Shock took a hold of her, but she also had a deep surge of panic and outrage. Her whole life was a lie, and who knows if the truth would ever be found?

"Look at me, angel. Focus." He was only inches from her now. "One thing at a time." He moved his hands to touch her face. Hunter was gentle and loving.

I'm in love with the man whose parents had something to do with a secret about me.

Hunter had said before that whatever happened between their families shouldn't affect the two of them. They'd been kids, caught in the crossfire of adult choices. She was heartsick over this. Every part of her body sagged with pain. Who was she? Did she have living parents always wondering where their infant was? Did they have a room of hers all clean and kept as if she'd one day return? Did she have siblings with a hole in their heart because a part of their family was missing? Or did someone make a choice for the better? Maybe a teen mother who wanted to give her baby a better life and went about it a different way? Maybe she'd been found somewhere and the Beckmans wanted to help a grieving family who'd just lost a child. Maybe-

Too many scenarios clouded her already crowed mind.
Stop overthinking! Just stop!
She could try and calm the raging thoughts in her head, but it didn't quite work for her racing heart, the sick to her stomach feeling and the way she shivered.

Becca blinked, trying to keep focus. Then she turned away from Hunter. "What next? What do I do?"

"You could try to convince your grandparents for a DNA test. It is possible. It would at least tell us if you're biologically related to the Langes. I'll have to look around for missing infants around the area at the time. This is where it's getting harder to track."

"If it was a home birth, someone would have had to notarize the birth certificate, right?" Hunter asked. "Maybe tracking that person down might help?"

"Let me check again." Jed shuffled a few papers. "Joe Whitemore."

A strangled sound came from Hunter's throat. "That name ... it sounds really familiar. But I can't place it." He repeated the name softly, as if chanting it would bring something back.

"Hunter?" Becca studied his face. Did he know the person? And if that were the case, how much were Hunter's parents involved with the events surrounding her birth?

*****

Mom and Dad were talking in hushed voices to someone. They must have thought he was still asleep. Instead, Hunter crouched on the steps near the top, trying to hear what they said. Last night they left the game in a rush, something Hunter didn't understand because no one would fill him in. Just because he was only twelve didn't mean he should be kept out of the loop. Was something wrong with one of them? Was Mom sick? Dad?

Only one way to find out. Eavesdrop.

He'd probably get in big trouble if he was caught, but didn't he deserve to know what was going on too?

"I don't want to have to drag you in the middle of this again Joe," Dad said.

Joe was here?

"I know. But we started this. It's only fair we help the Langes again. Who would have thought he would come back years later wanting to see her again? He's guilt stricken for sure, but I don't think this is safe. The best thing to do is make sure the little girl is protected. It's been so long, but you never know."

"They're on vacation right now. Anne is upset, and Rusty's not sure what to do. Rusty's stepdaughter found them and must have overheard me talking to him about the situation. They've got the girls ... they have no idea what's going on, but they're scared. All they know is it was an alarming factor when she told them she overheard the truth. I don't think it's everything, but if she knows enough to blow the whole thing out of the water, we can't take a chance. Rusty says she's hysterical, begging for him to let her go home with him again. She sounds highly unstable. We've got the boy and the stepdaughter now who could potentially mess everything up."

What the hell were they talking about? Hunter tried to be as silent as possible. His leg itched and he moved to scratch it, cringing when the stairs creaked.

"I suppose we could meet up with them and do that. I'm sure Savannah will want to see Anne. No, Hunter doesn't know a thing. I'd sure as hell love to leave it that way. He's just a kid. He doesn't need to know these things. I know what we did was wrong, but it was for good reasons. The girl is safe, or at least was. I hate to think we left something to discover, you know? Rusty swore he cut off all ties with his past after that."

This didn't sound good. Not at all.

Joe wasn't here. Hunter only heard his dad talk, so they must be on the phone. Damn. He could always go in the other room and pick up the phone...