“That seventeen talk?”
She looked at him, and he waited in suspense to see if she’d answer. “My dad was an abusive asshole, and at seventeen, I made the decision to leave home. Some might say my decisions weren’t right, but they were right for me at the time. Some of these poor kids we’ve had to talk to, they had no other options, either, and even though I think Victor Barnes is a real piece of shit, these kids see him as their salvation. I know what it’s like to be them, and I’m a whole lot better off because I took a chance. I had no idea what I was running to, but I got lucky. The man who took me in never took advantage of me.”
Darek understood her a little more. “My old man was abusive, too. I wish I had your courage back then. I would have run away, too.”
She took his hand and squeezed it tight. He’d never felt connected this intensely to anyone in his life.
21
Darek
The day had been productive, and they had a pretty good idea that Victor Barnes was dead. Now, they had to find his body.
His brothers in blue were combing the area for any leads. Darek was done for the night and headed home when his phone pinged. He glanced down and saw an address. His partners had always texted him locations for crime scenes and lunch stops, and then he’d feed them back into his GPS, but this time, the number was from someone unknown.
His heart began to race. Whoever had been fucking with him by dragging his past into this new case was bound to be on the other end of it. He punched the location in and ended up at a penthouse in the city. He took the elevator up and palmed his gun when he got to the top. The doors opened, and he was greeted by Bay Collins.
“Put that shit away. I don’t allow guns in my house.”
“This is your house?” Darek stepped inside and noticed they weren’t alone. Tad and Logan were there. Alan, too, who must have flown all the way in from Vegas. Darek gave them a nod. “Gentleman.”
They stood around the room, sipping their drinks and trying not to make eye contact.
“This is where I usually meet people,” Bay said. “People I do private business with. You, being a cop, have never been invited, until now. So, I guess I don’t have to tell you the amount of trust I’m extending.” Bay was a cocky son of a bitch.
“So, what’s this little meeting all about?” Darek asked. “Do you have information to tell me, or are you going to tell me that this case has nothing to do with the past?” Darek looked at the other men and wondered if any of them were going to speak up. “What about you guys? Are any of you interested to hear what kind of connections have been crossing my desk? I mean, hell, they’re your names popping up. Perhaps I should just suspect all of you. I mean, I know what you’re all capable of.”
Tad downed his drink. “Fuck you, Darek.”
Bay gave a wicked laugh.
Darek shook his head. “Your name came up first, Pretty Boy. Isn’t that what Bay used to call you? Is that why he stuck you down there in his restaurant? Because you’re so pretty for the customers?”
He turned to Alan next. “You’re on my to-do list tomorrow. I’m supposed to call you and find out why the fucking security footage from businesses your company handles is disappearing off the fucking files. Do you want to save me the time and speak up now? Did you get a glitch? Something bigger going on down there in Vegas than your fucking gambling problems?”
Alan shook his head and stepped closer. “There’s no glitch. If that shit’s disappearing, maybe you’ve got a problem with one of your guys. You ever think of that?”
“Nice one, Alan. Always passing the buck.” Darek was ready to take on every one of them. “You have something to add Logan? Your name hasn’t shown up anywhere, but maybe I should think it’s you. We all know how much you like to make brands and daggers. Am I going to find the murder weapon was one of your specialties? I mean, I’m bound to find it sooner or later. Maybe you want it to look like one of the others?”
Bay clapped his hands. “Great display of self-righteousness, Darek. But how do we know you’re not the killer?”
Darek laughed. “You’re fucking crazy.”
“No, really,” Bay said. “We all know how you like to check out, and I paid that shrink of yours plenty to keep your fucking memories repressed. You know why? Because you couldn’t fucking handle it.”
Darek narrowed his eyes. The guy was obviously fucking with him.
“That new medication working for you?” Bay asked.
“Fuck you,” Darek said. “You didn’t do that; you just want me to think you did.”
“Oh, I did it all right. You were the weakest link from the start, and I wish I’d never fucking let you into our group.”
“Don’t act like you did me some colossal favor,” Darek said. “You’re not my savior, Bay. Not the way you think you’re theirs.”
“I saved you from yourself. But not anymore. With all this shit happening, it’s time you know what the fuck happened. It was just as much your fault as the rest of ours. You took that knife. You leaned over that screaming little slut’s bare ass and begged me to shut her up so you could make your fucking mark. You scored her flesh and tasted her blood just like the rest of us, and do you know what you did next, Darek? You passed out on top of her. That’s why you don’t remember anything. As far as you know, you’re the only one who cut that poor girl up.”
“Liar. You all made your fucking marks. I saw the photographs. They were all there. And I sure as hell didn’t beat her.”
“You’re the only one who knows what you did to her after you dumped her behind the fucking diner. If it weren’t for me and Logan and Carter, you’d have still had her blood on you.”
Darek looked up at Logan, who was nodding. “It’s all true,” Logan said. “You were out of it. In some kind of fucking trance.”
“You told us to do it,” Darek said. “It was your plan, Bay. Everyone knows that. And I know you kicked that poor girl. You fucked her, too.”
“Maybe I did, or maybe it’s all in your fucking head. Something you’ve invented to cope because you’re a fucking animal.”
“You’re the devil,” Darek said. “You’re doing this to fuck with me, and it’s not working. If I find out that you’re involved, if your name crosses my desk, I’m coming for you. You better hope it doesn’t. You’re not a god. You might think you control us all, but it’s just bullshit to feed your ego.”
“Try it, Darek. You cross me, and I’m taking every one of you down with me. As for being in control, ask them.” He gestured to the others. “I’ve saved every one of them. I’ve earned their loyalty. You know why I never tried to earn yours?”