I didn’t answer, so Colter went on.
“He came to my house once. He said he knew I liked little girls, and his niece was missing. He’d heard rumors, talk from the lowlifes I associated with. So he showed up on his white horse, Sir Galahad style. He was going to get the girl back, be a hero and save the day.”
“What happened?”
“I told him if he hassled me again, I’d call the police, tell them what I knew about him. Hell, I’d make stuff up if I had to. Or maybe I’d just tell Brooks to call in the debt.” He shrugged, casual as the falling rain. “Now why did he show up at my door and you didn’t? Why the special interest from the uncle and not from the father?”
“We looked. We looked and looked. We never gave up.”
He raised the finger again. “I’m sure you did. But I made sure Caitlin heard my chat with William. I made sure she knew only her uncle came to the house to find her. As far as she was concerned, her parents had given her up for dead. She felt rejected by you. When I told her you weren’t looking for her anymore, she felt like she didn’t have a family. I became her family. Hell, I became her everything. Rejection is a powerful motivator, as I’m sure you know.”
My hands were still in fists and my anger swelled. But I didn’t know where to direct it. This man before me? Brooks? Buster?
For his part, Colter didn’t seem to care. He craned his neck, looking behind me.
“Where’s the girl? Did you bring her? We had a deal.”
“She’s in the car.”
“And she didn’t run out here?” Colter lowered his eyes to mine. “Did you lock her in there? You see, that’s the problem. You’re holding her back from what she wants.”
“Where would you go with her?” I asked. “What do you think is going to happen here?”
But Colter didn’t answer. Once again, his eyes looked behind me, back toward the road and the car where Caitlin was waiting.
I turned, expecting to see Caitlin coming, but then I saw what Colter saw.
Headlights, coming down the road. Another car approaching mine.
“What did you do?” he asked.
“They’re probably just turning around,” I said. But the car stopped right behind mine.
“Is that a cop? Did you screw me?” He started moving back into the dark.
Someone climbed out of the car and looked toward us. I recognized the figure before he said anything. I had run into him out in the cemetery before.
“It’s my brother,” I said. “It’s Buster.”
Chapter Fifty-five
I walked over to the cars and approached Buster, leaving Colter behind in the dark. “What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Looking for you. I drove all over town looking. I figured you might end up here eventually.”
“You’re not needed—or wanted. Leave me alone.”
“Where is she? Where’s Caitlin?” He looked into the car, squinting in the dark. “Tom? What did you do? Did you hand her off to him already?”
“She’s in there, okay?”
Caitlin must have heard our voices. She leaned closer to the glass, allowing us to see her. But she didn’t make a move to come out.
Buster looked horrified. “Tom, just get in the car and take her home.”
“She’s my leverage. She’s safe in the car because I can’t have her running off before I get what I need.”
“That’s cold, Tom. Cold. Jesus—referring to your daughter as leverage.”
“Did you call the police like you called Abby?”
“We’re family, Tom. All of us. We protect each other. I did what I thought was right.”
“Family. Why did you do it, Buster? Why? You gave her away, like a piece of meat. Why? You went to that house. She was there. She heard your voice.”
He made a hurried shushing gesture by bringing his finger to his lips. He pointed at the car.
“I don’t care,” I said.
“Come on,” he said. “Over here.”
“No.”
“I want to explain.”
We stepped away from the cars, far enough so Caitlin couldn’t hear us.
“What did the police tell you?” Buster asked.
“Enough. That you owed a guy money for drugs. And he knew Colter. So—”
“I didn’t give Caitlin to anyone. I couldn’t. But I did . . . I was messed up. You remember. I owed him money.”
“Colter?”
“Brooks. He was all over me. I was scared. I thought I might just leave town, never come back.”
“You should have.”
He looked hurt, but he went on. “I talked about Caitlin. I talked about her all the time. She’s my niece. You have to understand—I felt like she was more than that. Like she was mine. My kid.” He threw his hands up a little. A hopeless shrug. “I’m never going to have any of my own. You can feel that way about a niece or nephew. Even if they’re not your own, you can feel like they belong to you in some way. There’s a bond there that goes beyond blood or family or who gave birth to who. Right?”