Page 42 of For the Love of a Boy

“Jesus.” Malcolm rubbed his forehead. “Which ones?”

Malcolm gave Seth a sideways glance as he moved out of the kitchen. But his boy wasn’t stupid. He’d already set everything down and was following Malcolm into the living room.

“The top five who Seth identified as being the worst. Which of course, includes his father.”

Malcolm’s stomach clenched as he dropped on the couch. He wasn’t sure why, but everything seemed more real now. Malcolm realized there was a good possibility that someday he’d be in the same room as Seth’s father, a man he’d only ever imagined in his head as a distant villain, a monster who was miles and miles away, unable to ever get to his boy again.

Seth will be in the same room with him too.

That had always been his greatest fear in regards to Seth getting involved.

“What happens now?” Malcolm swiped at beads of sweat on his upper lip.

Seth hovered over him, his growing agitation clear in how his leg jiggled, how he twisted his hands.

“Daddy?”

Malcolm patted the cushion next to him then wrapped an arm around his waist as he waited for the detective to respond.

“Sorry. Detective Lopez just got back from booking and would like to speak with you.”

“Sure.” Malcolm laced Seth’s fingers with his own.

“Hi Mr. Nash, it’s Detective Lopez.”

“Hi. And please, call me Malcolm.”

“All right, Malcolm. First off, has Detective Smith filled you in on everything yet?”

“I’m not sure. He said there’d been some arrests, that’s it.

Seth gasped, his grip tightening in Malcolm’s.

“Well,” Detective Lopez continued. “I just finished speaking with the preacher, a deacon, two camp counselors and Seth’s father. They all have the same story.”

Malcolm sucked in a deep breath. “Which is?”

“That Seth stole over five thousand dollars from the church. They claim he’s trying to cover his tracks by accusing them of a crime.”

The urge to start yelling was huge, but he tempered his emotions for his boy’s sake. “But isn’t that exactly what they’re doing? It’s not as if they ever filed a report, right? Never mentioned anything until now?”

“That’s correct. The reasoning was that he’s one of their fold and they’d wanted to handle it within the congregation.”

“That’s utter bullshit,” Malcolm snarled.

“I understand your frustration, Malcolm. I’m not inclined to believe them either. However, since five people have the same story, and one of them is a relative, we have no choice but to investigate their claims. That amount of money in Idaho is considered Grand Theft and is a crime the courts view with severity.”

Malcolm huffed. “Oh really? More severe than false imprisonment and assault?”

Detective Lopez sighed. “Regardless, we do have to speak with Seth. We won’t insist he come to Idaho at this time, not unless we can uncover solid evidence against him.”

“Which you won’t.”

“Daddy?” Seth’s voice shook. “What’s happening?”

Malcolm sighed, a steady pounding taking up a steady rhythm in his head. “Okay, look. I need to have a conversation with Seth in on everything. What else can you tell me?”

Detective Lopez shared with Malcolm that the videos of the church’s so-called therapy methods had been confiscated. They’d been located in the room where Seth had told them he’d been held. That one discovery alone helped lend credence to the rest of Seth’s claims, ad along with other evidence he couldn’t divulge, would likely secure indictments. Then, they would proceed from there with the investigation.

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