Finally Found (Doms of Destiny, Colorado 10)

She turned to him and Josh. “Do you really believe he can help me?”

Josh kissed her on the cheek. “Yes, sweetheart. I know he can.”

“Sam helped me out of my darkness, Carrie,” he said, taking her hand. She’d survived so much. She would survive this, too. “He will help you.”

Carrie took a deep breath and looked right into Sam’s eyes. “Okay. When?”

“Doc, when are you releasing her?” Sam asked.

“Right now. She’s free to go home, but I do want her taking it easy for a few days.”

“Good,” Sam said. “Carrie, I will see you in my office first thing tomorrow morning at nine.”

“I’ll be there.”

Doc and Sam left.

“I’m proud of you, angel,” Jacob said. She was strong, much stronger than she realized.

“I’m proud of you, too,” Josh added. “Very proud. I can’t even imagine how difficult this is for you.”

“I’m a little scared to go see Sam,” she admitted. “I’m not sure what he might uncover, but I want to stop running away from my demons. I want the three of us to have a chance for a future.”

“It’s more than a chance, sweetheart,” Josh said. “It’s a fact.”

Jacob nodded, completely of the same mind. “No more talk about you leaving, understand?”

“Yes, Masters. I love you and I do understand.”

* * * *

Carrie leaned back on Sam’s sofa. “What am I supposed to do exactly? How does therapy work?”

Sam sat in the chair next to the sofa. “Carrie, you don’t have to be nervous. Just consider me an old grandpa listening to his granddaughter.”

She grinned. “Is that ethical in your profession?”

He laughed. “I’m semi-retired. I do things my own way. Or should I say, ‘the Destiny way.’ One thing I can tell you for certain is if you trust me and are honest with me, together we will find your path. Tell me about your past.”

She took a deep breath and began recounting every detail she could recall to Sam. It didn’t take long, since she had

so many gaps. She told him about Willie beating her, about the nightmares of smoke. She confessed being unable to recall what her parents looked like, and so many other things she’d lost. Mrs. Kearns was the only person from all the churches Willie had conned that she could remember.

“So you had no memory loss from the time you escaped Willie until yesterday?”

“That’s true.”

“Carrie, I believe that your predator is the one who triggered all your memory loss,” Sam said. “That night he beat you after you told him about your nightmare was the first incident of memory loss. It was nearly a week later before your memory returned. The next time he whipped your back with his belt because you cried in front of him. That’s the thread in your past that sticks out to me. But I believe your mind began blocking out the worst of his cruelty toward you. I’m sure he beat you many more times than you can remember. Have you ever heard of post-traumatic stress disorder?”

“PTSD? Yes. I thought that had to do with how some soldiers dealt with the horrors of the battlefield.”

“That’s true, but you faced your own horrors, your own battlefield. And you were just a child when your war began.” Sam brought out a pocket watch, which hung from a chain.

“Don’t tell me you plan on hypnotizing me?”

“I’d like to try if you are willing, but I’m not going to use my watch, Carrie.” Sam smiled. “That’s mainly done in the movies. I just wanted to check the time.”

She laughed, feeling a little nervous. “I’ve never been hypnotized before.”