“Noah?” I growl the word. So help me, if he’s sleeping with my sister, I may have to shoot him.
“There’s not, Kol. Leave it alone.” His words deny any wrong-doing, but his eyes follow my sister from the room. I suspect that one or both of them wants there to be.
“Ember was right.” Thea’s voice draws my attention back to her.
“About what?” Gripping her hand in mine, I want to do right by this woman, but I’m obligated to follow the letter of the law.
“It won’t be safe for me.” Her audible swallow echoes around the room. “Colin found me today. He was at the shop. I didn’t think he’d recognize it was me at first, but before he left, I realized he did.”
“Who’s Colin?”
“Colin Dane,” Noah answers, staring at the computer screen. “Brother to Richard Dane. Honorable Richard Dane.” Noah looks up as Thea begins to sway.
“He’s a judge, now?” Her horrified whisper is painful.
“Two years ago, he was sworn in,” Noah explains.
“He’s a monster.”
“That he is.” My partner turns the screen around so I can see what he’s found.
“Son of a bitch.” I pull Thea into my lap as I try to comprehend what I just read. I heard her confessing to Ember. She implied abuse. But she didn’t say it outright, and I suppose some part of me didn’t want that to be what happened to her. “You were ignored?” She nods. “They brushed your accusations off like a mosquito in July.” She stares at me. Lifting her chin with the crook of my finger, I search her gaze before I ask the one question that I know she doesn’t want to answer, let alone think about it. “Thea, did Richard Dane rape you?”
Her entire frame shakes violently as tears roll unheeded down her cheeks like a waterfall. “Yes.” Her hoarse voice is broken up by silent sobbing.
“I’m calling the captain,” Noah remarks as he stands and walks out of the room.
Pulling Thea into my chest, I understand now. I know why she’s been so hesitant to let me into her life. I know why she disappeared. Why she will likely try to escape again. But I won’t let her. Richard may have power in Joplin, but here, he’s nobody. I won’t let him get away with what he’s done to her.
“Please don’t make me go back there, Kol,” Thea begs, and I vow to never let anything else happen to her. Hoping I can keep that promise.
Chapter 9
Kol
“Are you sure about this, Daniels?” Captain Pearson gazes between Noah and me as we sit opposite him in his office.
“Positive,” I respond. Pearson is a hard ass with a soft heart for abused women. He’s never kept it secret that his wife became a victim as a child, and I get the feeling this one, Thea, is going to receive his full support.
“Miss Andrews is credible?”
“She’s his step-daughter. She disappeared one month after a suicide attempt and after her pleas for help were ignored because of his influence,” I explain.
“He raped his daughter?” Pearson’s jaw goes slack.
“Step,” Noah clarifies.
“That shouldn’t even matter. She was supposed to be under his fucking protection!” Pushing to his feet, Pearson walks over to his office door, opens it, and bellows, “Lieutenant Adams, in here, now!”
We wait thirty seconds for Hunter Adams to enter the
room. Noah gets up and shuts the door behind him. “Yes, sir?” Adams is a strictly by the book type of guy. He has no use for anyone who steps outside of the law, especially within the department. He also works with the special prosecutor, and that allows him access to resources outside of our department’s.
“I need you to go down to Joplin, Missouri. I need some inside information on the police departments down there and how they execute investigations,” Pearson instructs.
“An internal investigation?” Hunter asks.
“Hypothetically, yes. I need to know if their force is corrupt. How far up the chain it goes, and how many dirty cops are on the take?”