Page 73 of Rescuing Ryder

“I saw Kassie made a list this morning. Those women resemble a tornado when they’re together,” he called as Ryder washed his hands in the bathroom. “I’m surprised at how much they accomplished for a day’s work.”

“You didn’t see the half of it. After you left, Catherine’s mom, Carol, and her husband, Jake, stopped in with Kassie’s godparents, Joe and Maddie. They went to Seattle and picked up stuff on the list and some of the security team from the mountain helped load it. They brought back a moving truck stuffed to the brim.”

“Wow. They handled everything,” he murmured. He already viewed her office when he walked by and from the sounds of things, the rest of the house appeared replaced.

She frowned. “Not everything. Did you know Whiskey uses woodworking to calm himself for his PTSD episodes? Of course, Samantha only needs to call one of the men, and they come down to help him, too. He built the coffee table. Whiskey assured me he could sand the top down and fix the pretty design. I didn’t realize his talent.”

“Whiskey still encounters bad days enough to need someone?”

“Everyone heals differently. It’s one of the things I love about working at the hospital. We don’t push people out if their insurance expires or they complete a ninety-day stay. They stay until they’re ready. Some things don’t heal overnight, and it may take years for someone to realize them. We hope we’ve provided them with the skills to face whatever happens when they leave here. If they find themselves overwhelmed, Kassie keeps the door open. She recently purchased additional land and plans to build another cabin community.”

“Whiskey comes to group sessions. He runs them,” he stated.

“Yeah. We still oversee them. He loves to give back,” Claire bragged about her friend.

“How can you trust a man, who hasn’t healed himself, with his fellow brothers?”

Claire glanced up at Ryder. Something about his question seemed more significant than he let on. “Because he has a team of brothers who support him. They never give up.”

“How do they trust him to have their back?” he pressed.

“They trust him.”

“How can they risk their lives with someone who can lose their shit at any moment?” he asked, his voice rising.

The chime sounded on the stove. Claire went into the kitchen. She opened the stove, and Ryder frowned as he moved her out of the way to retrieve it, knowing she still experienced some dizziness.

She pulled two new plates from the cabinet and placed two forks and napkins beside them.

“We can scoop it out and take our plates into the living room.” Claire reached for the big serving spoon.

“Why?”

She moved the plates closer to the stove and wrapped the fork inside the napkin.

“Why what?”

“Why do they trust him? If you can’t predict what will set him off, he’s a danger to the men,” he argued.

Claire turned to Ryder. “Whiskey serves his brothers and helps those who come to us for aid.”

Ryder remained quiet as she dished out the food and followed him into the living room. She watched as he shoveled the food into his mouth, but he chewed on something else entirely.

When she finished, she put her dish in the dishwasher and headed to her office. Pushing the bottom of the false drawer, she pulled the file out of its hiding spot.

She sat at her desk and opened the folder. Searching through her notes, she recalled the expert testimony and the witnesses. The notes in the margin, where Dr. Klein pointed out Kilner’s mental instability and how it went beyond temporary insanity. She read her first impression of David Kilner when she went to interview him personally.

Kilner appeared angry and violent when she tried to question him. The staff kept him handcuffed to the table and Claire sat a good distance apart from him as she asked the questions to prove his mental state. When she questioned him concerning his wife, he asked her if she was married. Refusing to give him any information on her personal life, she still thought the question odd. Now, it bugged her more and more. Regardless, his wife and her mother didn’t deserve such a horrible death.

The day she inquired how he disposed of the rest of their bodies still sent chills down her neck. Kilner laughed and described to her how he sauteed them in butter and ate them. He licked his lips and laughed hysterically as her face must’ve mirrored the horror she felt.

“Hey, Claire Bear,” Ryder’s soft voice interrupted her thoughts.

“You didn’t follow the rules. You’ve sat in here for over two hours. Did you find anything odd or out of place?”

“No. I didn’t read the entire time,” she volunteered. “I remembered the trial and when I went to evaluate him for his temporary insanity plea.”

“Why did you go?” Ryder asked. “Didn’t Dr. Klein already interview him?”

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