Page 2 of Sutton's Shadow

“I know.”

“You okay? They didn’t...”Fuck. He couldn’t even voice his fear. Neither man would see the light of day if they had raped her.

“No.” Her voice broke with that one word, making him wonder how close it had been for her. “I’m sorry, Wyatt. I had to use the taser. He was too strong.”

Fuck.

The fact that his baby sister had to use a weapon to protect herself killed him. Never again. She would never again be in a position like that. “You did what you had to do. I am so proud of you.”

“I didn’t kill him, did I?”

“No, little heart. That taser isn’t strong enough to kill. It was just enough for you to incapacitate him to make your escape. Don’t worry about him.” What did it say about a person who worried about injuring her attacker? Her heart was too good.

Wyatt could hear Jude approaching and wanted to laugh, knowing he was only making noise for Bethany’s benefit. The stealth that Jude could move with was formidable. If he didn’t want it, you’d never hear him advancing.

Even so, Bethany stiffened under his hands until Jude came into sight. “Hey, Little Bee.”

“Hi, Giant J.” Bethany was acquainted with all his teammates, but she’d established a special bond with Jude that was endearing. The nickname she’d used afforded a rare smile from the giant. Wyatt dropped his hands from her face, allowing his teammate to return her hug.

“Ian’s on his way. I’ll wait here with the trash.” Wyatt was thankful Jude was thinking. Focused on Bethany’s wellbeing, calling their sheriff’s deputy friend hadn’t occurred to him. Ian McClintock was solid and would do right by Bethany.

Wyatt led Bethany back to Ronnie’s house to wait for law enforcement. Promising not to go inside until the deputies arrived, he surveyed the small brick ranch. He couldn’t take his eyes off the run-down place Bethany had been forced to live in for years. He had his own nightmares in the same house.

Warped and cracked, the wooden steps to the door were a hazard waiting to happen. In need of a power wash, the garage door hung slightly crooked. The overgrown landscape covered the windows as if attempting to shield the public from misdeeds that took place inside.

Wyatt stood with Bethany tucked into his side, tremors still racking her body. The deputies arrived and went into the house. Sounds of a struggle and Ronnie’s shrieks caused Bethany to whimper. He held her closer.

Never again.

Never again would she have to live with that witch. He vowed to make it happen and would not rest until his sister was safely under his roof.

Ian and Jude came out of the woods, each escorting a bound man by the arm. The larger of the two shot daggers at Bethany. Wyatt moved to shield her from his view. The animosity surging from him was palpable. Wyatt hoped they’d captured enough evidence to send him away for a good long time.

After stuffing the men in the back of a patrol car, Ian motioned for him to follow. He told Bethany to stay with Jude.

Wyatt entered the house, taking in the filth. The ratty couch sat in front of an old brick fireplace. Foam spilled out from the split seams in the arm’s fabric. There were stains of indeterminate substances dotted across the carpet. The coffee table sitting in front of the couch had the remnants of white powder dusting the surface. The peninsula that separated the kitchen from the living room had similar paraphernalia indicative of heavy drug use.

Wyatt stepped onto the cracked linoleum floor in the kitchen, noting where spots of missing flooring left the concrete bare. He opened the refrigerator door, finding it full of beer and not much else. The pantry also appeared sparsely stocked. The knot tightened in his gut, remembering the many nights he’d gone to bed hungry. Ronnie had seldom ever bothered to feed him. It appeared things had not changed for her second child.

Dreading what he’d find, he trudged down the hall to Bethany’s bedroom, the only room in the house that appeared well taken care of. The closet stood like a gaping hole at the foot of the bed, holding very little clothing for a teenage girl. He knelt inside and pulled up the loose floorboard he’d told Bethany about. Inside, he discovered her journals and a stash of food.

The image of the food hidden in the floor sent him back in time. Instead of Bethany’s apples and pretzels, he saw his Tastykakes and Pop Tarts. There might be twenty years between them, but their habits to ease their suffering were so similar.

Standing, he braved a glimpse of the bed where his little sister had fought so hard against a man three times her size. The sheets were lying half on the floor in a twisted disarray. The dots of blood on her pillow had his blood boiling again. A man had dared to lay his hands on his sister. Wyatt would not let that go unpunished.

Returning to the living room, he finally took in his mother. His gaze scanned her from the brittle, bleach-blond strands of hair, past her bloodshot eyes, to her T-shirt that appeared two sizes too small and shorts that were too tiny for a woman her age to be wearing. She was skinny in an emaciated way. He guessed when you spent the day high as a kite, you didn’t need food.

“So, the prodigal son returns,” she sneered.

He ignored her and turned to Ian. “Everything you need is in the floor in the closet. Here’s the phone.” He pulled out the burner phone he’d given Bethany. She’d taken some pictures of what was happening in the house, which were uploaded to the cloud storage he’d set up. He’d been viewing those images for months, his gut twisting in more and more knots knowing what Bethany had to live with.

“What did you do?” Ronnie hissed from the couch. He whipped his gaze to her, seeing nothing but hate.

“I did nothing. You did it to yourself. Carrying out your depravity in front of a minor... not your brightest move. Letting those men into your daughter’s room will be the nail in your coffin.” How he wished that could be true. Bethany had worked too hard for too long to free herself from this hellhole. He would see her safe if it was the last thing he did.

A deputy came out of the bedroom carrying a few evidence bags. The journal was in one. The other held the taser his baby sister had been forced to use to defend herself.

“Found this in the little girl’s room,” the deputy said, holding up the bagged taser.

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