Page 70 of Raise 'Em Up

His mom takes a deep breath, and her eyes are full of tears and pain. Shit, this isn’t going to be good.

“She was murdered. Wrong place, wrong time,” Colt mumbles.

“The first part is true. That bastard killed my baby girl.” She lets out a sob. “You were led to believe we don’t know who did it. But we do.” She continues to cry, getting louder with every word. “We know everything.”

Colton’s nostrils start flaring and my heart sinks. Fuck. My heart starts to race and a nervous sweat breaks out.

“You see, your sister, she was talking to a guy online for a while. We didn’t know about him. She did a very good job at keeping him a secret. Well, this guy, he became obsessed with her. Sent her gifts, and started blowing up her phone. That was how we found out. She wasn’t able to hide it because this guy wanted to be known.”

She swallows hard. “It got to the point where he started stalking her. And then he showed up at the house.”

“What the fuck, Mom?!” Colton raises his voice. “How the hell didn’t I know any of this?”

“This man was dangerous. We wanted to keep you safe. The less you knew, the more we could protect you.”

“She was my sister.” Colton’s voice breaks. “My best friend.”

“I know, baby. She didn’t want you to know. She loved you so much. She wanted you safe.”

“What else?” Colton says through gritted teeth, just barely holding it together.

“When he showed up looking for her, the guy your sister thought she was talking to wasn’t at the door. Instead of the nineteen-year-old boy she was expecting, it was a man in his late thirties. We didn’t know exactly who he was, so when he asked to speak to her outside, we told him to leave or we would call the cops. He didn’t like that.”

She sucks in a shuddering breath and looks away.

“What did he do?”

“You know what he did, Colton. You know what happened to her.”

“Clearly, I don’t!” he seethes. “I want all of the details. Now.”

“No, baby, you don’t, please. Please, don’t make me.”

“Now!” He bangs his fist onto the table, making me startle.

“Colton.” I try to calm him down, but right now, he doesn't see me. All he wants is answers.

“He took her. He came into our house and took her from her bed. He knew how to shut off the alarms and everything. He dragged her out into the middle of nowhere, raped her, and then slit her throat.”

She’s crying in deep, heavy sobs now. “He came back and showed us photos. Told us where we could find her.”

“Why didn’t you tell the cops?!” Colton is on his feet now, tears streaming down his face, and I’m utterly shattered.

God, no. Fuck. I feel like I’m going to be sick.

“Because!” she says, getting to her feet and stepping closer. “He told us who he was.”

“Who?” Colton whispers.

“Alvero Russo.” As she says the name, I gasp, my eyes widening in pure shock and terror. No. Fucking hell no. This isn’t good. This isn’t good at fucking all.

Colton’s eyes widen as he stares at his mom. He blinks and blinks. Seconds go by and I start to get worried.

“Colton, baby, please talk to me.” She reaches out for him but he stumbles back.

“I can’t do this,” he says in a hollow voice. Then he turns around and takes off running out of the room.

“Colton!” I shout as I jump to my feet. I look down at his mom, who is a wreck. “I have him. I’ll make sure he’s safe.”

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