Dark Truth by Mariah Stewart Read Free Book Online Page B

shoes he was wearing when he was arrested, she thought as she returned the box to the shelf.
    She sat back on the sofa, pretending not to see the letter on the table that was formally addressed to MRS. STEPHEN J. MADDEN, 117 OAK DRIVE, STONE RIVER, MARYLAND.
    Nina picked up the manuscript and went back to work. Forty minutes later, she finally admitted she’d been staring at Olivia’s letter for at least the past ten minutes.
    What if he’d said something terrible to her in that letter?
Nina found herself thinking. Something unforgivably painful, like, I never loved you, I never cared about Kyle.
    What if he confessed to having murdered those girls?
    What if he told her things that would hurt Kyle to hear?
    She was still staring at the letter. Maybe she should take a look . . .
    She slit open the envelope with the paring knife and began to read. Before long, her bottom jaw had dropped and her heart had all but stopped beating.
    She read all three pages again, certain she had misunderstood. But the words were the same, and the meaning was perfectly clear.
    My dear Olivia,
    I know I’ve been a failure to you in so many ways and have caused you nothing but grief and heartache, and I’m more sorry than I can say for what I’ve put you through. I know an apology alone is unacceptable—there’s no atoning for what I’ve done to you—but I’ve come to the realization that there is one way I can give you peace of mind.
    I know your secret, Olivia, and I will keep it. I will go to my grave professing my innocence, but I will never tell anyone what I know about what you did.
    I found what you’d hidden, and I immediately knew exactly what the brown stains on the handle represented. I’d meant to talk to you about it the following day, when I returned from my last afternoon class. Unfortunately, that was the day of my arrest.
    It never occurred to me that you’d be following me when I left campus at night, that you’d know where I went, and who I met. Was I so caught up in my own fantasies that I never knew you were watching? I cannot begin to imagine how it must have hurt you. For that, I am more sorry than I can say. I never meant to hurt you, Olivia. And if you believe nothing else, believe that I loved you then, and that I love you now.
    My addiction was something apart from what I felt for you. For me, sex was nicotine, it was alcohol, it was cocaine, it was heroin. It was all those things and more. I’ve long acknowledged, if only to myself, that this is something I can’t control. Frankly, I never wanted to control it. I was happy enough to allow my addiction to control me. As long as there were willing partners—and there was never a shortage of girls eager to have me—I was very happy. As happy as a gambler who never lost a hand.
    I suppose it was inevitable that you would find out, and would want to exact your price. But I never—
never
—thought you capable of such things. When I found the evidence of what you’d done, I admit it made me physically ill.
    But all that being said, I know that my actions drove you to do what you did. If I’d been the husband I’d promised to be, none of this would have happened. I know that my sins led to yours, and I am willing to take the punishment for both of us. The fault is all mine.
    I can’t even begin to ask your forgiveness for all I’ve put you through. I know I will burn in hell, and that no amount of repentance could be enough to wash this sin from my soul. You, however, can be forgiven.
    Talk to Father Tim. It’s no secret he’s loved you for years, that he’d do anything for you. If you haven’t already done so, ask him for absolution, and set your soul at peace.
    Your loving Stephen
    “Holy shit.”
    Nina read the letter through a third time, but the words remained the same.
    How could her father have thought Olivia guilty when the girls had been raped?
    They had been raped, hadn’t they? The papers all said that they had.
    The Stone River Rapist.