Page 53 of Baby Me

“When we catch June, if this fucker isn’t with her, we need to interrogate until we find him.”

I turned to my brother-in-law. “What aren’t you saying, Mack?”

He released a deep breath before moving closer and taking the seat directly to my left. “My sister only died in that fire because she was incapacitated first.”

“What the fuck?” I yelled. “Where did you get that information and fucking when?”

“My sister would have had to be knocked the fuck out before she allowed herself to burn up in a fire, especially when she was expecting the kids home soon.” Mack stated. “I had the medical examiner do an autopsy. While everyone else believed her cause of death was fire related, I had my own suspicions.”

“Why the fuck did you never share them with me?”

“You didn’t need the distraction. You just lost your wife; the kids lost their mom. Your job was to be there for them and to not drown in the pain. It was my job to make sure we had all the facts in hand when the time was right.”

“You always suspected June, didn’t you? You mentioned that before.”

“Fucking right I did, and it turns out I was correct.” Mack wasn’t being a smug ass about it. He was simply stating facts. “Couldn’t prove that shit, but this makes sense. No way June did it on her own and got away with that shit. She’s too fucking messy, as she proved with the Barry debacle.”

“You think this same fucker helped June kill Kim?”

“She suffered blunt force trauma to the side of her head before she was burned in that fired. The blow killed her, the fire only covered up the evidence, brother.”

“Part of me thinks that was better. I always thought she suffered, trapped in that house without a way to get out.”

Mack nodded. “Thought the same until the autopsy came back. She wasn’t trapped when that fire was set, she was killed just before.” He jabbed a finger toward the man on the screen with June. “That fucker was a part of it. I’d bet money on it.”

“Son of a bitch.”

“I can verify that claim,” Keys stated.

“How the fuck can you verify shit that happened all those years ago?”

Keys leaned over Scout and hit a couple keys. The image on the screen changed and a picture of my daughter and her then best friend, Ash came onto the screen.

“What the fuck?” I asked.

“Anton Oslav – aka: Kenneth Winslow – was meant to take these two girls as payment for something. The dates on the picture coincide with the time he would have been hired to kill your wife.”

“Motherfucker!” I yelled as I stood and paced the room. “You’re telling me that my baby girl was in the sights of these fucking traffickers way back then? She was a fucking child.”

Key’s voice lowered and I could feel the empathy in it. “That’s when they like to take them. It’s easier to break children and bend them to your will than adults. There are also those who prefer to purchase younger slaves.”

“Arrrrgggg!” I growled as I slammed chairs into the wall. “That fucking cunt sicked kid peddlers on my child? Killed my wife. I want her death to be slow, painful, and I want her to have to see pictures of all the beautiful fucking moments I shared with Kim. She needs to suffer in every way possible. Don’t care what it takes, but she needs to be found yesterday.”

Chapter 24

Davina

“Age is just a number at a certain point. You’re both adults, and one thing I learned I my travels is that you can’t help who you fall for, especially when your heart aches for that person. I would never deny either you or my father your chance at happiness. I certainly wouldn’t take away the chance of my sister having a happy, intact family simply because I’m too selfish to get over something as trivial as an age difference.”

I listened as Star gave me her opinion on my relationship with her father. It was comforting to know that she felt the way she did. I’d been surprised to find her in the hospital room when I woke up instead of Tripp, but she had quickly assured me that she and Bagger were there to look out for us while he was handling business.

“I grew up with two loving parents and was lucky for it. Coral deserves to grow up the same way. She’ll be a little luckier though because she has me, Kip, and Knox in the mix, too. Maybe Scout, if my brother ever pulls his head out of his ass where she’s concerned.”

“I appreciate you being so nice to me about this, but if it is a problem, I’d rather know the truth.”

Star shook her head. “I meant every word I said. Besides, I already saw how you react to cheaters when you thought I was the other woman at Bagger’s house.” We both laughed about that. “It feels like a good plan to have another woman around who won’t tolerate that bullshit. These guys have their loyalty to one another, but we need our own crew that has one another’s back. Not that I think my dad would ever step out on you. He’s far too enamored to even think of anyone else, truth be told.”

“It seems like Bagger feels the same about you,” I reminded her.

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