Betrayed
Alternate Ending
By
Wodke Hawkinson
© 2012 by Wodke Hawkinson
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4659-6179-2
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations and events in this work are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously.
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Dedication
This novel is dedicated to Randy N., for giving me the idea of writing an alternate ending to an existing novel.
~PJ
Dear Reader,
When we wrote Betrayed, we considered various endings for the book. The characters seemed to have minds of their own, and the story kept veering toward the romantic. However, we could clearly see other directions in which we might take the plot.
In Betrayed—Alternate Ending, we have explored one of those other storylines. Betrayed—Alternate Ending begins at Chapter 49 of the original novel. From this point on, the material is revised, and the ending is new. To understand and enjoy this publication to the fullest, Betrayed, the novel, must be read first. The alternate ending focuses less on the romance between Brook and Lance, and has a bit more tension.
We have to credit a devoted reader for this idea. When he was about ten pages from the end of Betrayed, the novel, he had a certain expectation of the way the book would end. His expectation was wrong. When he told us his surprise at the ending of the novel, the idea was born to write an alternate ending. To that reader, we say thank you. We hope you will like what we’ve done!
Most writers know there is something very comforting about returning to familiar characters and working with them again. It was this way for us as we brought Brook, Lance, and the other characters back to life on our computer screens. In addition, it was intriguing to take our characters and put them through an experience completely different from the one in the original book. Who knows, we might write yet another alternate ending. Never say never!
~Wodke Hawkinson
Chapter 49
Over the next week, Brook watched the snow disappear around the cabin. She almost wished another storm would blow in and cover the mountain in a heavy cocoon of white, wrapping them in its silence, prolonging her departure. But the weather remained clear.
“You look worried,” Lance said one evening.
“Hmmm?” Brook pulled herself from her thoughts. “Oh, yes, I am. I’ve been thinking about going to the police. It’s been months since the attack. I’m going to walk in there and tell them the terrible things that happened to me and I’ll have no proof. All my injuries have healed. What if they don’t believe me?”
Lance remained silent for a minute and then surprised Brook when he stood and left the room. He returned in a moment holding a digital camera. Brook looked from the camera to Lance with a question in her eyes.
“I have to show you something that’s going to be hard for you to see.” He turned on the camera, flipped a switch, and handed it to Brook. “When I first brought you to the cabin I took these pictures. I wasn’t entirely sure why; maybe to protect myself, I don’t know. But, anyway, here’s your evidence.”
For the next few minutes, Brook paged through the pictures, her face turning paler with each one. “Oh lord,” she breathed quietly. “Oh dear God!” She dropped the camera into her lap, covered her eyes with her hands, and cried.
Lance stood by, uncertain what to do. He longed to hold her but felt she needed space.
“Oh, Lance!” Brook looked at him with anguish. “They hurt me so badly. How did I even survive?” She stared at him for a minute. “I know how I survived. You saved me! And now, you have given me the evidence I need to hang those monsters.”