Page 21 of Fought and Freed

Their mom had sold Ryder to pay for all those pageant bills, but he thought Honey was oblivious.

His eyes narrowed at his sister. “You knew what she was doing to me?”

Honey’s head snapped up. “No, of course not! I found out a few years ago, though. One of her friends asked about you and if you were still…you know. I couldn’t believe Mom would do something like that to her own kid.”

“Ha! Family.” He paced back and forth in front of the door. “I was a mistake to her. Just something for her to use.”

“I didn’t even want to do those pageants, but Mom made me. All she cared about was her place in society.” Tears welled up in Honey’s eyes. “I’m sorry for what she did to you and for not seeing it.”

She covered her face with her hands and cried. “I was so involved in my own problems that I didn’t see what was happening. If I had anyone else, I wouldn’t have asked you to, but I’m scared. What do I do?”

He sat beside her on the bed. “Tell me what happened.”

Through her sobs, Honey told him how things had devolved in their marriage from being picture-perfect to her becoming Richard’s punching bag. It had gotten to where he’d hit her whenever she didn’t act as he thought she should.

Ryder pulled Honey against his side. “We have room. You can move in with us.”

“No, I can’t do that!” She bolted to her feet and returned to the window, peering through the curtain. “He has eyes everywhere. If he finds me, he’ll lock me up. He’s done it before. No one can know where I am. You can tell no one.”

“Honey, my family won’t tell anyone.” He stood from the bed. “They can help us.”

She paced the small room. “Your house is the first place they’ll look. No, I can’t go back. I can’t… Promise me you won’t tell anyone.”

Ryder ran a hand through his hair. Was it possible to do this on his own? He’d promised no more secrets, but how could he ignore his sister’s feelings?

For now, he would keep his mouth shut. “Okay, Honey, I won’t tell them. Let’s make some plans.”

They had spent the night talking.

The money Ryder had in savings got Honey out of that run-down hotel and into a studio apartment, but he had to get a job to help pay for future expenses.

He took on a job as a bartender that would cover Honey’s bills and listed some of his paintings for sale that he had in storage.

But if Ryder hoped that would be the end, he was wrong.

Honey had never lived by herself. She didn’t know how to do anything on her own. She called Ryder several times a day, confused about how to do even the basics.

Then, there were the calls in the middle of the night when she’d hear a noise outside and freak out, and he’d have to drive over there to check on her.

Two days after he moved Honey to her new place, Jared Anderson had been shot. Then, everything happened with Maddy.

Ryder hadn’t had a minute to breathe.

He’d been working as much as possible, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep going like this.

He’d tried to talk to his sister again about talking to his friends and getting some help, but she freaked out that Richard would find her if Ryder told anyone.

Ryder saw his family looking at him, wondering what he was up to, and it was putting a strain on their relationship.

And now, he’d missed Maddy’s coming home.

Heeding Cody’s advice, Ryder took the fastest shower in his life before pulling on fresh clothes and heading to Maddy’s room.

When he didn’t see her in bed, he figured she was still taking and bath and pushed open the door to her bathroom.

At first, he thought she wasn’t there, but when he walked toward the tub, he spotted her submerged underwater, eyes open and staring at the ceiling.

Shock and fear shot through him, and he charged toward the tub. “Maddy!”

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