Desolate Read Free Page A

thoughts enter my mind was the second I knew the fear would win out. With each second that passed, I worried more and more. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore, and I let the tears fall. Letting the fear win, my body fell to the floor in a crumpled heap, but my eyes moved to the door. Inwardly, I prayed that they would be okay. That God had had enough and would finally let me live in peace. As the minutes passed, I never let my eyes move from the door.
    What could have been seconds or hours later, knocking broke me from the haze that my mind had become. Who in the world could that be? I thought to myself as I reluctantly moved from the floor.
    With the backs of my hands, I wiped away the remnants of my tears and walked to the door, my legs shaking with each step. When I pulled the door open, my heart hit the floor. Two men were standing on the porch, both wearing suits. But their attire wasn’t what bothered me. It was the badges that I noticed after I finished taking in their entire appearance. They were both detectives.
    No. This wasn’t happening. There’s only one reason they’d be here. One I was all too familiar with. I’d experienced this type of visit before when my parents died. Officers at your door only meant one thing. Andrew and Liam weren’t coming home.
    Words failed me as I stared at the sympathetic looking officers, my eyes darting back and forth between the two.
    “Mrs. Deluca?” the officer on my right asked.
    “Yes,” I somehow managed to choke out, the sob inside of me begging to break free.
    “I’m Detective Tisdale and this is Detective Kendrick. Can we come in for a moment?”
    As I motioned them inside, my brain screamed at me that this was it. They were about to reveal the worst news I could possibly receive.
    After they walked through the door, I shut it behind them and guided them to the living room off to the right of the foyer.
    Unable to move any further, I stood in the doorway of the room and waited for them to speak.
    “Is your husband’s name Andrew DeLuca?” Tisdale asked.
    I could only nod my head in response. I knew where this was going, and I wanted him to get to the part that I didn’t know if I could handle hearing.
    “Do you have any children?” he asked.
    Instead of responding, I walked over to the mantle on the fireplace and grabbed the family portrait that we’d had taken for the holidays. I caressed the frame in between my fingers as I walked back towards both of the detectives, glancing down at the photo before I handed it over to him.
    “That’s my husband and my son. What’s this about?” I asked as I bit down on my lip to rein in the tears that I felt brimming at my eyelids.
    I studied their faces as they both looked down at the photograph. When recognition along with sorrow crossed over their features, I just knew the response to my question was what I feared it would be since their arrival. Only a small part of me now held on to the hope that they’d tell me my family was still alive.
    “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but there’s been an accident. We believe your husband and son were killed in the commission of a robbery,” Detective Tisdale revealed.
    And just like that my world as I knew it was over. All that kept replaying over and over inside my head were the words, ‘killed in the commission of a robbery’ killed in the commission of a robbery.’ The words kept repeating themselves, almost driving me to the point of madness. When the reality of the words completely registered, I could no longer stand, and my legs buckled from beneath me. One of the detectives, I wasn’t sure which, caught me before I hit the ground. I could hear him speaking, but I couldn’t register the words. I only heard the same seven words that he repeated moments ago.
    ’Killed in the commission of a robbery.’
    My brain was going into shock. I could feel myself slipping further and further away from the situation. I wanted to deny that they were telling