Page 121 of Broken Daddy
She guessed.
“They were with the Satan’s Sons. That’s who Derick owed money to. The dumb asshole.” A sob worked its way up her throat.
Devi pushed it back down. She had to be numb. There was no other way to survive this with her mind and sanity intact.
“When he couldn’t give them the money, they stabbed his leg. One leg. Then the other. They stuffed a bandana in his mouth, but he still screamed.”
“No one heard?” he asked. “No one called the cops or came to see what the screaming was about?”
“Ahh, see, you must live somewhere where people care about one another. Nobody in that trailer park wants to put their neck out for someone else. Especially not for Derick. The amount of late night parties and noise he makes, I don’t really blame them. And most people don’t trust the cops. Old Mr. Richards might have called the police, if he could hear anything. He’s extremely deaf and never wears his hearing aids. Anyway, no one came. And they dragged Derick out of there. I didn’t know what to do, I just thought that I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do something. So I gave Fury, who seemed to be in charge, my cash. The stuff I had saved for the exhibition. He took it, but said it wasn’t enough. As he was leaving, I grabbed his arm. I don’t know why. So stupid. So dumb.”
She’d relive that nightmare over and over again.
“You are not dumb or stupid and this is in no way your fault. Understand?” He gripped her chin gently. “Do not blame yourself for this. You are not responsible for what other people do.”
“But if I hadn’t grabbed him, if I’d just let him go, he’d have left without hurting me.”
“You don’t know that, baby. Sounds like he was looking for an excuse. Someone doesn’t get that violent just because their arm is grabbed. Not unless they’re on something.”
“That could be a possibility,” she said.
“He likely planned to do it anyway. This wasn’t your fault.”
Maybe. She wasn’t sure that would help with the nightmares. She also felt bad about not telling him about Vega. But she didn’t want Hayes to go after him. It would be best to just pretend he didn’t exist.
“I don’t know why I’m worried about Derick. He was such a fucking dick. He doesn’t deserve anything from me. I should be . . . I should be glad that he’s likely dead. That he’s hurting, right? Glad . . . I should be glad . . .”
“It’s okay to feel mixed emotions,” he told her. “He hurt you. He was abusive. I don’t just mean how he hit you, but he was neglectful, emotionally abusive. But I understand it’s hard. He’s someone you should love. He’s your blood. And before your mom died, he might have even been a decent dad.”
“Yeah, that’s just it. He was.”
“But at some stage you have to realize that there is no salvaging that relationship.”
“I think I realized that a long time ago. I haven’t loved him in forever. I was going to use the money I earned from the exhibition to leave. I wouldn’t go away completely, I still need to visit Rohan and my friends. However, I wasn’t going near Derick again. I think the reason I feel so bad is because I saw him being dragged off, bleeding and in pain. I don’t think I could watch anyone being treated like that and not feel something.”
“Of course not. So these Satan’s Sons members have him?”
“Yes. What do I tell the police? If I tell them about Fury he’ll come after me. Next time he’ll do something worse. The cops probably won’t even believe me. The police hate our family. Can’t really blame them, I guess.”
“I will blame them if they treat you with anything but the utmost respect,” he growled. “And I will be making sure that they do just that.”
“Th-thanks,” she whispered, feeling tearful.
Shove those emotions down.
She could deal with them all later, when she was alone.
“All right. Are you ready to talk to them?”
“You won’t leave me?”
“Never.”
“All right. Let them in.”
25
“So this guy . . . Fury, he stabbed you just for grabbing his arm?” the older detective asked skeptically.
