Page 19 of Final Reckoning

“In her sophomore year of college, she was assaulted by a group of men. Gang raped.”

“Oh my god, Matteo.”

“The physical trauma was bad enough. But it wasn’t the worst part. Her parents, the whole family, did everything they could. Stood by her, got her counseling. But those men destroyed her sense of being strong, and whole, and safe in the world.

“She dropped out of school. Started drinking. Made the wrong kind of friends. They introduced her to stronger stuff.”

“Heroin?”

“And cocaine. Probably other shit, too. The girl I knew … she had to still be there, somewhere inside. But I couldn’t find her.”

Quinn goes up on her elbow and looks down at me. “Even if you’d been here …”

Trust her to get to the heart of the matter. “I know. Odds are low I would have been with her that night. But maybe, if I’d been there for her afterward, I could have helped her through it.”

She squeezes my hand but doesn’t speak.

“I joined the force, started working vice. But in my spare time, off the books, I worked Gavi’s case. There were suspects, but no proof. I tracked one of them down and got a DNA sample, matched it to the evidence.

“I went back to him and told him he could confess, or he could die.” Quinn sucks in a breath, but doesn’t interrupt. “He gave up the names of all his buddies who were with him that night.”

“Did you kill him?”

I look at her. There’s no condemnation in her clear blue eyes, just understanding. The knot in my chest that I hadn’t realized was there loosens a little.

“No. I wanted to. But I’d taken an oath to uphold the law, and I needed to be a man of my word.

“So I didn’t kill any of them. But sometimes the spirit of the law and the letter of the law part ways. I made their lives a living hell. Gave them a small taste of what they’d done to Gavi.”

“You couldn’t bring charges?”

“Gavi wouldn’t talk to me about it. Didn’t even want to see me. I think she was ashamed. I tried to tell her that nothing would ever change how I felt about her, but she wouldn’t listen.

“Her parents begged me not to charge those assholes. They said it would only dredge it all up again, and traumatize her further. I didn’t agree, but it wasn’t my call.”

“How terrible for all of you. Especially her, but everyone who loved her, too.” She drops another kiss on my chest. “And Santiago?”

“He was the one ultimately responsible for the drugs in her system. So when we had a chance to get a guy undercover with him, yeah, I volunteered. Better me than any of the married guys. And I wanted a shot at bringing him down.”

“But now he knows? Who you really are?”

“He knows I made off with one of the Callahan girls. Whether he knows more than that, I’m not sure yet. But it’s enough. He’ll consider it an unforgivable betrayal.”

“So what happens now?”

“I find out where he is and what he’s doing. If I’m lucky, he’s already been arrested. If not … I’ll figure out my next steps.”

What I don’t tell her is that I’ll break every oath I’ve ever sworn to keep her safe. If Santiago escapes the justice system, he’ll answer to me.

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