Page 81 of Hell of a Mess
“I said, I know,” I repeated through clenched teeth.
“Does where she slept matter in the grand scheme of things?” Bane asked.
“Yes,” Gathe, Locke, Mal, and I all said in unison.
Bane nodded. “Okay. Then, Luther, how do you know it was her bed?”
I swung my glare to Bane.
They were pushing me, and I didn’t fucking like it. Why couldn’t they take my word for it?
“Look, when we invade the bastard’s house, we need our facts straight,” Linc said. “We need to know exactly what went on in that house and the right things to say to get him to admit what he did.”
The plan had been set into place for us. While Thaddeus and some of his men surrounded the Halsten property, a few of us would go inside and get the fucker to confess his sins. It would be recorded and handed over to authorities. He’d lied about a daughter’s death. Hidden another away who was comatose. His threats to take “Dalia’s abduction,” as he’d referred to it, public if we didn’t hand her over had to be shut down. This was the cleanest way to handle it. With our video proof, he would be silenced, and he would have to promise to leave Lace alone andnever contact her again.
I didn’t think it was enough. I wanted him dead.
“I have all the proof I need,” I told him.
“How?” he demanded.
Dammit. I wasn’t giving them her private letters. She’d never meant for anyone to see them.
“I found something else in the basement. Lace’s journals. And she had written in them all her life.”
Linc’s gaze narrowed. “And you’re just now telling me you have her handwritten story of what happened?!”
“The notebook you had that night,” Locke said from across the room.
“You have it?” Mal asked, his voice pained, as if he was afraid to read it.
He wasn’t going to get to, so he could relax.
“It’s her private thoughts,” I said. “It’s not something to be handed around and shared.”
“It will tell us what all that bastard did! We need to shut down his threats! End this and let Lace have a normal life,” Locke shouted.
My eyebrows shot up as I turned my head to meet his heated gaze. Had the fucker just yelled at me?
“I know what he did. The daughter that was his has a mental illness, and he took the one he had kept hidden and treated her like a damn servant to take her place. The why I don’t know. But I doubt she does either. All I know is, he’s a sick motherfucker.”
“I want to know what happened to my daughter, Luther,” Mal said.
“Do you, Mal? You think it’ll help you sleep at night? Because it won’t. Those nightmares she has will become yours.”
He paled. If the threat of it made him ill, then the actual words she’d written as a little girl would shatter him.
The room was silent for the first time since we’d all gathered.
All the Carvers were here, but they’d not said much. I knew Than wasn’t liking the idea of working alongside the Davidsons. Particularly Wayon. Bane’s father, Fender, was here, along with all three of the Savelles. The only one from the Mississippi branch who wasn’t here was Gannon Rice. His Parkinson’s had progressed to the point that he rarely left his property. In his place, however, was the priest. Well, he wasn’t a priest anymore. Not since he’d fucked Gannon’s daughter and lost his religion. He was currently engaged to Saylor Rice and stepping into family business more and more. I was still gonna call him Father though because that shit made me laugh.
“She doesn’t know I have it or that I’ve read it. If she knew anyone had read it, I’m not sure she could handle it. And I don’t want her hurt anymore. She’s had enough fucking pain and betrayal for three lifetimes.” I looked from Locke to Mal as I said it, then took another drink of my whiskey.
“Where’s the notebook?” Linc asked.
I sighed. The man was a fucking dog with a bone. “Somewhere you’ll never see it. Now, can we move on with this meeting?”
My phone vibrated in my hand, and I looked down to see Lace had sent me my video. Good girl. I didn’t dare play it in here with the nosy-ass bitches all watching me. This was mine.
