Page 70 of Rear View
He shook his head. “He’s not required to check in.” He scratched the length of his jaw. “The recidivism rate for abusers is high. Chances are, he either finds someone new and repeats what happened, or—”
“Or he finds Ma and repeats what happened.” They’d been in each other’s lives since they were teens. High school goddamn sweethearts. But after she got pregnant with Fallon, even she admitted, she gave up, ’cause the old man had her right where he’d wanted her. Jobless. Reliant. Trapped.
And no one left him.
I gave a stiff nod.
“Is she still in a safe place?” he asked.
Christ, I loved Ma, but sometimes, I just wished she’d pushed back. Told the cops what the old man had done instead of freezing. He’d have been put away longer and we wouldn’t be dealing with this shit. Not yet, anyway.
“Safe as she can be. He won’t find her.” And I’d take care of him if he tried.
Castillo tucked his hands in his jacket pockets. “Good.”
“When’s he out?”
“Release is scheduled for next Friday at nine AM.” He shifted, then eyed his shiny black dress shoes.
There was more. Had to be, seeing he’d driven all that way and this could’ve been a call. “What else?”
He exhaled, his head coming back up. “He’s been asking about you behind the scenes.”
Not a shock, considering Derek’s messages. Still, the muscles of my arms corded, and I pulled in a deep breath. “Askin’ what?”
“Trying to learn your situation through other inmates.”
Of course he was. I cleared my throat and stretched my neck. “How’d you hear that?”
“I’ve got my sources.”
And he’d kept his ear to the ground…for me.
“He told the parole board he hopes to reconcile with you.”
My lone laugh was dark as hell. Didn’t matter how long he’d been behind bars. My old man hadn’t learned shit. Some things—somepeople—never changed. And he wasn’t the reconciling type. He wanted something. My mother and trouble tops on that list. But if the prick came near me again, my fist might reconcile with his face.
Like he’d read my thoughts, Castillo shook his head. “Don’t do it, Xavier.” The snow crunched when he took a step closer. “Don’t feed into him. You’ve worked too hard to lose it all over a waste of skin like Peter Bosch.”
My nod was slow “Appreciate you comin’ out here to let me know.”
His expression creased. “I’m sorry I can’t do more.”
So was I.
“I have to get back.” He edged away, heading for the parking lot. “Take care of yourself, Xavier. If there’s anything you need…” He let the offer hang. Several seconds later, he was gone.
I stared after him, mind spinnin’ like a wheel with no torque. Christ. My old man was getting out. Walkingthe streets and free to do whatever the fuck he wanted, just like before. Only this time, he’d have a clean slate.
The idea of telling Ma. I couldn’t. She wouldn’t sleep. She’d start jumping at every little thing like she used to.
My blood pressure spiked, my teeth grinding hard.“Fuck!”
I needed to give her the heads-up, but not as pissed as I was. I glanced around, I couldn’t stay there. Needed to clear my head. Needed to go. And there was only one place I wanted to be. Only one thing—oneperson—that’d help.
“You good?” Alec asked.
Dragging a hand through my hair, I checked my watch. “I gotta bounce.”
