Page 54 of Silent Betrayal

“He has the same hair and eye color as me. He’s about five foot ten. He’s ten years older than me. I think his birthday is September 22, 1994. As far as I know, he hasn’t lived with us full time since we left Waco. He’d sort of come and go, showing up randomly. But I was kept in the basement, so maybe he did, I’m not sure.

“He’d come down tovisitme. He—he would touch me, and force me to touch him. He always came to me in the basement. But the day you guys showed up, he had dragged me upstairs. He was finally going to do…it. He said he was going to spend the whole night with me. I’m not sure what else to tell you,” she says with a sniffle.

“You did great, Angel,” Jasper tells her, crouching in front of her and kissing her nose. I hold her tightly as anger courses through me at the thought of her brother torturing her like that. If I ever get my hands on him, I’ll rip him to shreds.

“Nothing!” Ben yells, making me glance up at him. “There is no other child listed under Mina’s mother or father.”

“Well, he looks like me, so I’m pretty sure we are actually related,” Mina says, confused.

“Are there any uncles or cousins on record?” Gideon asks.

Ben turns back to his computer, typing away, before he speaks. “Helen is an only child, as were both her parents. Paul has an older brother who has two daughters. They all live in California.”

“I don’t understand any of this,” Mina whispers.

“I know, Kitten. It’ll be okay. We’ll figure it out,” I say, holding her with one arm and stroking her head with the other.

“How are you going to find him?” she asks. Nobody answers. We might know who he is, but we still don’t know where he is. “I bet he’s with my mom, wherever that is.”

“Why do you think that?” Tucker asks, sitting on the floor in front of us so his face is closer to hers. She reaches her hand out, and he takes it.

“Because she loves him. She always made it clear that he was her favorite, and could do nothing wrong. They’re both crazy. Two peas in a pod,” she says before she lets out a loud laugh. I share a glance with Tucker, wondering if this is when she finally breaks down. First she’s almost raped by her brother, then she’s attacked at school and almost raped again, then her mother almost kills her, then she finds out her father has been searching for her for years and now she finds out her brother is a serial killer. She keeps laughing and I wrap my arms around her tightly and rock her back and forth, my head resting against hers.

“Oh, baby, it’s okay. Let it all out.”

After a few more chuckles, she calms enough to speak. “I… I’ve never said anything like that aloud before. I just can’t believe all of this is happening. I can finally speak, and I have people I can tell the truth to. It’s so crazy, I never dreamed anything like this would happen. The most I ever dared hope for was to get away from her and live somewhere on my own, always watching my back and scared they’d find me.” Her laughs have turned to tears now as she sniffles.

Tucker takes her hand between his as he speaks gently to her. “It’s all going to be okay. You’re here with us now. We’re going to keep you safe. I know you’re still upset with us, and you have every right to be. But we’re not going anywhere, and no matter what you decide, we’ll alwayskeep you safe.” She gives him a light-lipped smile as we all sit there. Ben’s fingers tap away on his laptop while the rest of us sit in silence, all the information we’ve just learned playing through our heads.

“Mina, can I ask you something uncomfortable? You don’t have to answer though.”

She nods her head in my lap so I ask the question that’s been bugging for the past few minutes.

“You saidhe’s the worst one. What did you mean by that? Between him and Jeff? Or—” I cut myself off, not wanting to ask. But I need to know. I need to know who I was going to kill.

“Helen had other boyfriends, before Jeff, in other cities. Almost all of them were… handsy.”

“I need air,” Max says, jumping up and running from the room.

“I’ll make sure he’s okay,” Jasper says, running after him.

“Sugar, he’s upset that happened to you. We all are. He doesn’t want you to see him lose his temper,” Tucker explains, still holding her hand.

“Okay,” she whispers, her eyes welling with tears again.

“Kitten, I’m so sorry that happened to you. We will do everything we can to not let anything like that happen to you again. Even if you don’t fully trust us, trust that we will protect you. Even if you don’t want to pursue something with any of us. Even if you hate us. We will always take care of you.”

Chapter twenty-three

“What time is it?” Mina asks as she comes down the stairs to join us in the living room.

She’s wearing a cute little flowy dress that comes down to her knees. It’s light pink with white flowers and short sleeves and suits her sweet nature perfectly.

“Three,” I tell her before taking a sip of my earl gray tea.

After she told us all about her brother two days ago, she asked for some time alone. She’s come out for meals, but I noticed she started locking her door at night so nobody could sneak in with her. If Dom and Atlas thought we didn’t know that they took turns going to spend the night with her before that, they were wrong. But it hadn’t bothered me. I was glad she had them there to help her sleep. I wish she wasn’t shutting them out now.

At leasttheycould keep her safe.

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