Page 90 of Defending Casey

It left a bitter taste in her mouth that that same man was sitting there, laughing with the child he’d denied from the start.

“There are a lot of things we don’t want to do, but we have to, old man.”

They all turned to look at Brian, standing in almost silhouette against the light pouring through the glass panels in the door. From where Casey was sitting, her eyes almost burned from the light surrounding him.

Thomas was the only one to speak. “Don’t just poke around, boy. If you’ve something to say, get it out.”

Brian shot back at him. “You’re not in charge here, old man. You’re not the one in control.”

“Neither are you. You don’t have a gun on you, hmm? You think you can order us around with just your wit? You don’t have any. You planning on boring us into submission?”

Casey almost choked on her shock, but Brian’s answer sent a cold shiver down her spine.

“No, but I’ve got Casey right where I want her. She’d do anything for her girl. And as long as I have control of that, she won’t do anything against me.”

Maybe it was the way that she’d tensed, or maybe her hand going still on Nora’s arm, but Casey felt her daughter draw in closer to her side and tremble just a little. For the first time, Brian had put it into words. He knew how much Casey loved her daughter, to the moon and back again, and he was planning on using her against them.

It was cruel, but it was a sound plan.

And Casey hated him even more for it.

“I don’t like you anymore, Uncle Brian.”

Casey wrapped her arms around Nora when Brian took a step closer.

He stopped short, but never took his eyes off of Nora when he smiled and answered back. “You’ll get used to me, for your mom’s sake.”

Nora stilled against Casey’s side and looked up at her. Casey gave her daughter a reassuring look and then turned her cold eyes on Brian. “Stop this, Brian. It’s not going to work. I don’t love you. I won’t. Trying to scare Nora isn’t going to earn you a place in my heart. I love Hale. I’ve never stopped loving him. You know that.”

It looked like every word had cut Brian deep. For a moment, Casey saw the anger in his eyes fall away.

For that second, she had hope.

“Let us go, Brian. Just walk away. We don’t have to take this any further and-”

“You think I can just walk away, Casey? How could you? I’ve stood beside you for years. Ten years! There’s no way I’m just going to let you go to that piece of shit.”

“Brian! Stop!” Casey felt Nora shake against her side and she drew her daughter closer. “Don’t. Just don’t.”

Some of the tension in Brian’s shoulders fell away, but it kicked up again when Hale’s father broke the silence.

“Hale is ten times the man you are, boy. He’s a damn hero who fought for our country!”

Casey watched something break inside of Brian and cold dread shot down her spine.

“A hero?”

Brian scoffed at Thomas’ words and as she watched, Brian seemed to shed the last bits of his humanity.

He picked up a chair from the dining set and as they watched he smashed it against the wall. The decades old chair shattered into chunks of wood and splinters as Brian roared. “He’s not a fucking hero!”

#

Hale wasout and on the ground before it had come to a stop. The alleyway was a mess. Dumpsters and cardboard boxes, a few discarded tires. No signs of life-

No signs of Casey anywhere. No signs of Nora either.

The others fanned out through the alley, combing over every inch.

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