Page 7 of Centering Kaos

Clearly people didn’t go out of their way to help this woman. I realized how I must have sounded—a grown ass man offering to coach her son for free—and shook my head. “Wait. I’m screwin’ this all up.”

Her eyebrows arched in question.

“Look, I’m not a creep or anything. I was a lot like Dylan, so I understand what he’s going through. Went through a rough patch myself around his age. Got in so many fights my parents were one suspension away from sending me to military school. Thankfully, a teacher stepped in and sparked my interest in the game. Gave me something else to hit.” Mr. Dens had handed me a hockey stick and dropped a puck on the ice, instructing me to swing as hard as I could. Yeah, he’d given me something else to hit, but not before I landed on my ass enough times to take the steam out of my sails.

Tina watched me intently. She wasn’t checking me out, more like interrogating me with her eyes. Her attention was uncomfortable, like when a cop follows you and you know you’re not doing anything wrong, but you still feel nervous as hell. I was telling the truth and trying to help her kid out, but her scrutiny made me feel like I was about to get a ticket for some traffic rule I didn’t even know about.

“Changed the whole course of my life,” I said. It did, too. I owed Mr. Dens more than I could ever repay. If he hadn’t put me on the ice, I had no idea where I’d be today. Nowhere good, for sure. “Team sports are… imperative for children. Can’t say enough about the benefits, but you should do your own research on the topic. It’s crazy all the ways bein’ part of a team can help a kid.” And I really wished I could remember some of those ways, but Tina’s intense, hazel eyes were locked on me, making it difficult to think. I needed to wrap this up and get out of her headlights before I started sweating and stammering. “Anyway, I wasn’t a bad kid. I just needed a little direction. Kinda like Dylan here.”

“Yeah, I just need some direction,” Dylan parroted, still watching his mom hopefully.

Tina gave her son a small smile. She still didn’t look sold, but I was done with my spiel. If she didn’t want my help, I wouldn’t push.

“No need to answer today.” I walked over to the front desk and scribbled my name and number down on a Post-It. “Just think about it and let me know. No pressure. The veteran group I’m a part of… we like to help people out. Even if you and Dylan don’t decide to pursue hockey lessons, you should keep this number. If you ever get into trouble or need help, just call and we’ll be there.”

I handed her my info. She gave me one more intense stare down before pocketing the Post-It with a nod. “Thank you.” Her eyes were glassy when she turned to face the ladies. “Thank you all.”

“Of course,” Naomi said. She and Emily had watched our exchange quietly.

“We’re happy to help,” Emily added.

Tina gave me one last lingering glance before shooing her son out the door. The second they were gone, Emily and Naomi spun around to face me. Their smiles had vanished. Emily’s face was pale, and she rested a hand on her stomach like she was about to puke.

Gritting out a curse, Naomi slapped the empty wooden coat rack, sending it crashing to the floor.

Feeling completely out of the loop, I asked, “So… what’d I miss?”

3

Kaos

“WHAT THE FUCK is that?” I asked, studying the photograph Emily slapped down on the table. We were in the conference room she and Naomi used for meetings. She had a file open in front of her, and her face was an unreadable mask as she followed my gaze. That had to be her lawyer face.

“That is the kind of thing I’d hoped to avoid by switching my focus from criminal to family law,” Emily replied.

We both stared at an image of a naked woman tied up with rope, gagged, and covered in black, blue, and purple bruises. The exposure was a little dark, but what I could see of her face, hair color, and body shape, the woman looked mighty fucking familiar. My blood pressure spiked as bile rose up in the back of my throat. “Tell me that’s not Tina.”

Emily eyed me curiously, seemingly surprised by what she’d heard in my voice. That made two of us. “It’s not her. It’s the reason she left her husband. Well, there were many reasons, but this was the catalyst.”

She wasn’t making any sense.

Frustrated, I looked to Naomi. “If that’s not Tina, who is it?”

Naomi’s mouth was set in a hard line, and there was murder in her eyes. “A hooker. Tina’s bastard of an ex apparently pays this woman so he can smack her around whenever his anger gets the best of him. Keeps him from beating the shit out of his wife.” Sarcasm and venom dripped from her words. “He’s so considerate. A real fuckin’ giver.”

“I don’t understand.” I struggled to make sense of the bits and pieces they were giving me. “Hedoesbeat on Tina. Or someone does, at least. I saw the bruises on her neck.”

“Now he does,” Emily replied. “About seven months ago, she was cleaning out the garage and found a box of these pictures stashed away. She said there had to be at least a couple dozen of them. Apparently, Matt likes to keep trophies of his abuse.”

“The bastard caught Tina looking through the box and came clean,” Naomi spat. “The fucker called it a kink. Made Tina feel like she was shaming him for getting upset about it. He even tried to lay the blame on her, saying she should be taking care of his twisted-ass needs. Like being an abusive sadist is some physical requirement and he’s a saint for paying a hooker so he could spare his wife. Give me five minutes with that cocksucker and I’d take care of his fucking needs, all right. I’d even pay his ass for the experience.”

Emily raised her eyebrows at Naomi.

Naomi shrugged. “Well, I’d slip a hundred-dollar bill into his coffin.”

I liked Naomi. She made sense to me. “I want in on that action,” I muttered. Now, I studied the photo with renewed purpose, mapping out every bruise on that woman. I fully intended to repay each one to her abuser.

An inferno blazed inside me.

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