Chapter Thirty-Four

Jackson

“You said *he* took her,” Linc says, finally breaking the silence filling the cab of the SUV that they had picked me up in. “Who is he?”
Heaving a sigh, I pinch my eyes closed, the images of who I am sure is Brooklyn, forever ingrained in my mind.
“So for the last two months, we’ve been after this perp that we’ve been referring to as the beautician. We didn’t know who this person was, man or woman, just that they beat and then kill their victims before bathing them, doing their hair, makeup, nails, the whole bit. There’s never been any evidence left behind, no sperm or anything.”
“But this person cleans them, likely cleaning off any evidence,” Bos adds in understanding.
“Exactly,” I nod, regret filling me once more as I say this next part. “I hadn’t said anything to Brooklyn about it. It’s an open investigation, and we were told not to alert the public, other than when I called you, Linc, after being given the okay from my boss, since we had suspicions that it could have been Brady.”
“But now you think otherwise?” He interrupts. “Or do you—what do you know now?”
“I finally got a good look at his face yesterday when I was reviewing cameras.”
“His, you said *his*. So is it Brady or not? Stop dragging out the suspense,” Linc growls, frustration lacing his tone.
And I can’t blame him, not after what he and Raleigh, hell, what we all went through at the end of high school because of that bastard.
“It wasn’t Brady,”  I finally say, still in disbelief myself that it’s not him. “Or if it is, he’s gone through a major change with how he looks.”
It would be much easier if it were.
We could put a stop to these murders by getting him off the street, and Linc and Raleigh could finally live without fear that he’s going to show back up someday.
“It is possible, you know?” Dal says, speaking up for the first time since I got in with the three of them. “His family has money, connections. He could have had some work done to not be recognized.”
“No, this wasn’t work that had been done. This guy was burned, scarred. He reminded me of Two-Face from the Batman movies.”
From the driver’s seat, Bos visibly shudders, likely remembering what the villain in the movies had looked like.
“Batman Forever or Dark Knight?” Linc asks, sounding genuinely curious.
“What? Why?” I look at him with a look that says, *Why the hell does it matter?*
He just shrugs, saying, “I’m trying to picture it. And I don’t know whether to imagine this guy with half his skin sloughed off, leaving only muscle, bone, and tendons, or smooth, red scars.”
With a huff, I roll my eyes, having missed my brothers even more than I realized.
“Dark night.”
“Sick,” Linc says with a grin.
“God, I missed you guys,” I confess, grinning as I take all three of them in.
Bos and Dal, I’ve seen most recently.
But between the three, there’s a stark difference between Bos and Linc, and Dal.
Bos and Linc are both still fit and muscular, married life not having made either of them put on weight as of yet. They’re both pretty comparable to me, physically, and it makes me think that had Dal not gone through what he did, he’d likely be the same.
Genetics playing a part in our build more than anything.
With Dal, I can tell that he’s putting on weight, but he’s still too thin. He does look happier, though, which is so damn good to see. There’s a light in his eyes that wasn’t there when I saw him at Dad's the last time I was there.
His hair has grown out some, now falling into his eyes; he reminds me of some kind of punk rocker, especially with the new tattoos and piercings that he’s sporting.
But if that’s what it takes for him to find himself again, then more power to him.
“Back to the subject at hand, I have another question”, Bos says, glancing from the road over to me. I nod at him to ask whatever it is that he wants to ask, as the other two listen in. “You said, ‘*I need them to both be okay.*’ Who’s *them*?”
“Yeah, I was wondering about that, too,” Linc says. “I just didn’t want to be the only one asking all the questions. I had hoped that one of you two had caught that also.”
“Who is your girl anyway?” Bos says before I get the chance to say anything.
I can feel the smile spreading across my face as I think about her.
They must see it too because Linc pipes up, saying, “I know that look all too well. He’s in love you guys.”
With a nod, I admit, “Yeah, I am.” Then ask, “Do you guys remember Brooklyn Reed?”
“No shit?” Bos asks, a smirk playing at his mouth. “You had the biggest crush on her back in school before…before everything.”
Everyone goes quiet then, likely remembering all of the shit that followed.
“Anyway, yeah. We,” I can’t help but smile as I think about the last couple of months. “We reconnected not long ago, and she’s fucking amazing. She’s working through some tough shit, but I know that she can do it. She’s strong. She’d have to be to survive the things she’s gone through,” I murmur that last part more to myself than to the guys, though.
Apparently, I didn’t say it quietly enough, though, as Bos asks, “What do you mean? What kind of shit has she been through?”
I sigh, shaking my head as I run a hand through my hair, “It’s not really my story to tell. But she didn’t have the kind of life that the rest of us did. We had fucked up times due to mom, sure, but compared to her, our life has been a walk in the park.”
“Damn,” Linc breathes. “You would have never known that she was ever facing anything. Do her parents know what she went through?”
I bite my bottom lip, trying to keep her trust by not saying too much, while also wanting to be able to talk about this shit with them.
Even though we’ve been on the outs, being back with them again, it feels as though no time has passed, and we’ve picked right back up where we left off.
“Her mom passed when she was a kid. Her dad, well, he was part of the problem.”
“Part of the problem, how?” Dal asks, and of all of us, he would probably be able to sympathize with her the most, after all that he’s gone through, second to me, that is, my job having given me an insight that I’d not had before.
*Fuck it,* I think, deciding to divulge secrets that aren’t my own to speak of, needing to talk everything through.
“She was emotionally abused by her stepfather after her mom passed,” I begin, still trying to decide how in-depth to go with my explanation. “When she was eleven, she was made to do things that no child should have to do. He basically pimped her out to his friends.”
A chorus of “What the fuck?”, “Are you shitting me?”  and “Holy shit,” left each of the guys.
“He wouldn’t put her on birth control, and apparently the sick fucks he put on her wouldn’t use protection, so when she would get pregnant, which apparently happened quite a bit, they’d make sure that she’d lose the baby.”
“What do you mean, 'they’d make sure that she’d lose the baby’?” Linc asks, unease evident in his tone of voice.
“They’d beat her until she miscarried,” I growl, getting pissed off just thinking about that shit happening to my girl.
“And this happened a lot?” Bos asks this time.
“Apparently.”
“I don’t remember—”
“I don’t either,” I say, not wanting to draw out this particular topic. “That’s how I ran into her,” I say, the image of her answering Teddy’s door in nothing more than a crop top and a g-string flooding my mind. “She was with someone that I was assigned to get close to, part of an op that we’ve been working on for a while. It’s why I’m enrolled in school.”
“And you what? Just took her from his place?” Linc asks, confused.
“I offered to buy her for the night. Once I had her away from him, I offered to help her get out of that life, even though she was resistant at first.”
“So how did you end up together?” Dal asks, his voice quiet but no less able to be heard.
“I hadn’t been with anyone since leaving high school,” I say, casting a glance at Linc through the turned-down passenger mirror, knowing he’d understand what I wasn’t saying out loud. “I swore that I wasn’t like the rest of the guys she was used to, but that night I was weak. I caught her masturbating in my spare room, and between those old feelings that were quickly resurfacing, and hearing her moan my name, one thing led to another. But she didn’t stay with me that night. I pushed her too far by asking questions she wasn’t ready to talk about, and she ran.
“The next day, the day that I came to visit you and Dad,” I say with a nod at Dal. “I ran into her at the clinic, and she went off on me right there. Accusing me of being no better than all the others, along with several colorful phrases that I dare not repeat. About a month later, I came home after a long ass day of work, having just found another body that the guy who took her had left for us, and found some paperwork sitting on my kitchen island. They were test results…from a pregnancy test that the doctor had run.”
“Shit,” all three swear in unison, but ignoring their cursing, I keep going. “She visited me that night, broke into my damn apartment, but I told her that I wanted to give us a try, to take care of her and the baby. 
“She was resistant to this, too, afraid that the only reason I wanted to be with her was for the baby. But that wasn’t it at all. I was fucking drawn to her. I didn’t want to give her the chance to run, but it had to be her decision. I eventually wore her down, but I fucked up last night by telling her that I loved her. She’d told me she wasn’t ready to hear me say those words, that she didn’t take them lightly, and selfishly, I still said them to her, not wanting to hold my feelings in any longer. “And now he has her, and I’m terrified that I’m going to lose them both.”
“I’m sorry, man,” Linc says, placing his hand on my shoulder, squeezing the muscle there. “I know how hard this is. But we’re here for you, and we’re not going to leave your side until she’s found.”
“Yeah, you’re not alone in this,” Bos adds.
Dal nods, then promises, “Whatever you need.”
It’s only when my door and both back passenger doors are pulled open that I realize that we’ve stopped in front of an unfamiliar house.
“We waited as long as we could,” Aspen says, leaning in to wrap her arms around me in a hug. “Have you heard anything?”
“No,” my throat clogging again at the emotion I see staring back at me through her eyes. “And I don’t know whether that’s better or worse.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmurs, stepping back, giving me room to uncurl my body from the front seat as I nearly fall out of the open door, causing a laugh to escape her. “Sorry,” she says, clearly not sorry at all as she fights to show the grin that’s threatening to take over her face. “Damn, I missed you. I’m so glad that you’re here. I just wish it were under better circumstances.”
“Yeah, me too,” I agree, shutting the door behind me, then begin following her towards the house.
“I hope you’re okay being around kids, because it’s a little rowdy inside right now,” she warns, stopping just outside the door. It’s then that the sounds of screaming, squealing, and giggling reach my ears.
“Bring it on,” I tell her, nodding towards the chaos inside. “I could use the distraction.”