“Of course, it’s not,” Ember mumbles.
“What does that mean?” If she knew…
“It’s Andrews. I saw her I.D. once by accident. I’d hoped she’d want to tell me some day.”
“Are you fucking kidding me, Em? You couldn’t have informed me of this when you told me she left?” I could have fucking found her!
“I didn’t want her to leave for good. I was hoping she would come back.” Sadness rings in her tone, and I can’t even be mad. “Will you go run a cool shower. Maybe it’ll shock her into coming back to life.”
“Sure.” Leaving the room, I head to my master bathroom instead of the guest one. I want her to have her own space and still be surrounded by all my things. I want Thea to stay and feel welcome.
“Kol, you’re gonna have to pick her up,” Ember calls from the spare room. After running the water at room temperature, I go back and pick her up. Cradling Thea to my chest feels right. If only it weren’t for all the wrong reasons.
“Get her stuff to my room, Em. I’ll take care of her.” I’m not sure I could hand over the reins of her care to my sister even if I wanted to. I need to be the one to do this. I have a driving desire to make sure Thea knows she can count on me.
“Sure, Kol.” Em’s voice sounds unsure, but I carry on to the bathroom. After kicking off my shoes, I step into the water with Thea’s head going under the cool spray first.
“Come back to me, baby,” I plead with her quietly, not wanting to startle her. When she gasps, I step back out of the water and allow her a moment to breathe as I wait for her eyes to clear.
“Kol?” Her voice is half whine, half cry.
“I’ve got you, Thea. I’ll always have you.” I whisper the words to her, watching her face for distress.
“It’s cold,” she grumbles, cuddling into my chest.
Leaning forward, I turn the heat up on the tap and then slide down the wall with Thea sitting in my lap so that my legs and her back take the brunt of the spray.
Her fists grip my shirt as she hides her face, but I know I can’t let her check out again. Not anymore. “Where did you go?”
“A nightmare.” She hiccups into my chest. “He always hurts me.”
Swallowing my emotions down, I struggle to remain still. “Who, Thea? Who hurts you?”
“My step-father.” The words are so silent I almost miss them.
Step-father.
I’ll kill him.
I hold Thea until she falls asleep in my arms. She isn’t restless; she isn’t shivering. I hope she’s found a small amount of peace from me. But I’m a raging mess inside. I want nothing more than to hunt this man down and beat him until he confesses.
After drying Thea off and changing her into one of my shirts, I leave her in the care of Ember as I make a call to Noah.
“Did you get any useable prints?” I ask before he’s said hello.
“Hey, man, I was just about to call you. The only prints are yours and hers. And I was right, Matthews isn’t her last name. It’s–”
“Andrews, I know.” I interrupt before he can have his ah-ha moment.
“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” he gripes.
“Because Ember only told me a little bit ago. No other prints?”
“None that I could find. But man, Thea’s in trouble.”
“How?” I don’t see it.
“She went missing four years ago at sixteen. Parents thought she jumped off a bridge after her bag and coat were found in the river. She had two suicide attempts after accusing her step-dad, Richard Dane, of multiple counts of rape.” My blood runs cold. Suspecting it and hearing it said aloud are two very different things.