I nodded. The prosecutor was known for his too-perfect smile, and his son—who was supposed to be running for something in the near future—had it, too. They were always all over the news together. “Yeah, him. His son’s name is Collin.”
“Cool?” Deacon offered when I didn’t continue, but Graham’s eyes had zeroed in on my hands fisting over and over again.
“Do you remember when I went to Walla Walla for Harlow’s eighteenth birthday?”
Surprise covered both of their faces; they hadn’t expected her name to ever be mentioned again.
“When I was there, this guy talked to me for a second, but I didn’t really pay attention to him because I’d just gotten off the phone with Harlow. I didn’t think much about him then, but I recognized him when he started showing up on TV with his dad.” When I didn’t get a response, I continued, but didn’t look at the guys. “That was Collin Doherty. He lives in Richland.”
“Again . . . cool?” Deacon said slowly, drawing the words.
After a few rough breaths, I sneered, “He lives there with Harlow . . . they’re married. He is the reason I didn’t end up with Harlow.”
“How long have you known this?” Deacon asked.
“How do you know?” Graham interjected.
“Yeah, that’s what I meant. How do you know?”
I finally stopped pacing and looked at them, and Graham’s face morphed back into confusion when he saw the agony and rage I’d been trying to conceal the last couple of weeks. “I ran into her when I was on my way home two weeks ago.”
“Shit,” Deacon breathed.
“Then they were at the fund-raiser for the firehouse that weekend, and he—” I cut off and ground my teeth. After a few seconds I gritted out: “In front of everyone, he was using pressure points on her. He’s threatened to kill her family, he abuses Harlow, and she’s fucking terrified of him! This is the guy she left me for, and I can’t help her!” I raked my hands over my face and groaned. “She looks sick. She’s so thin; I thought she was dying. She’s not who she was, and it’s because of him.”
“Knox, you can’t go through this again with her,” Deacon said.
I glared at him. “Go through what again? Her husband is beating her!”
“So she says,” Graham said.
“No—what? Why do you guys do this every time Harlow is involved? It’s like you have to make her seem as bad as you can!”
“Knox, she played you for over two years. Now it’s been, what, shit, almost five? And all of a sudden, you run into her and she just happens to tell you that her husband—whose dad is the prosecuting attorney, as we already talked about—is beating her and threatening her family? Who just comes out and says that?”
“She didn’t! And I told you, I saw him doing it in front of everyone. I saw the fucking bruises!”
Both stayed quiet for a moment, then Graham sighed. “If what you’re saying is true . . . if she is in an abusive relationship, what exactly is it you think you can do? You’ve known for two weeks, and since you’re just telling us, then I’m guessing you haven’t gone to the police yet. Do you plan to?”
My mouth formed a tight line, and I shook my head. “She said I couldn’t.”
Graham nodded. “And you can’t just go in there and rip her away from her marriage, no matter how much you want to.”
“You say that like I don’t already know that,” I sneered.
“I’m just saying, Knox, you’re already driving yourself crazy over something you can’t change, no matter how much it may seem like it sucks.”
My eyes narrowed. He still didn’t believe me.
I looked at Deacon to find him shaking his head like he was annoyed. Finally, he said, “We already know she likes playing games, man. You never know, she’s probably beating herself. She could be one of those women who are psychotic and fake the whole thing so they can ruin their husband’s life, too.”
I huffed, and Graham whispered, “That was too much.”
I took a step back and sighed heavily as I said, “And this is another reason why I didn’t know how to tell you. Fuck you both.”
“You know just as well as we do that if you actually believed her, you would’ve gone to the cops as soon as you found out. Don’t act like we’re the bad guys in this.”
I stopped on my way out of the room and stared ahead for a second, then looked over my shoulder. “I’ve thought about it at least a hundred times. Every time I did, I also thought about someone in her family being killed because of me, and how her father-in-law would get her husband cleared of any charges. How her husband would come after her again, and how this time, she might not be alive when he was done with her. I have been in physical pain thinking about what’s been happening to her. But it doesn’t compare to the thought of losing her, and for now, at least, I know exactly where she is. I will get her away from her husband, but it’s not going to be as simple as showing up like some white fucking knight. You two made it hell for Harlow and me before, I’m letting you know now, that if you do it again, or if you keep pulling the shit you just did, I will walk away from thirteen years of friendship with both of you, and I won’t look back.”
Chapter 12
Harlow