“It matters. Dirk was my friend from the time we were children. I cared for him. I would rather his son didn’t hate me, though I would understand if you did. Especially after your mother …” Trailing off, Judith swallowed. “You look so much like Dirk.”
The male hand on her shoulder flexed, and Camden saw that her mate didn’t much like how her claim seemed to affect her.
Absolutely uninterested in continuing this conversation, Camden slid his gaze to his uncle. “You still haven’t told me why you’re here.”
Sheridan cleared his throat. “First, let me introduce you to the others. This is Judith’s mate, Gustavo. The twins are Abdul and Akio—both are enforcers. You may remember them.”
Camden exchanged nods with the three males before refocusing on his uncle.
“You already know someone desecrated Dirk’s grave,” Sheridan continued. “Most thought it had been a random—albeit cruel—act of graffiti. The juveniles were all questioned. They claimed they were innocent, but we weren’t so sure.” He paused. “A few nights ago, someone destroyed the wooden bench in Judith’s yard.”
“Dirk bought it for me,” said Judith. “It was a birthday present.”
Well then, she’d received far more extravagant gifts from him than Esme had.
Sheridan hesitated to continue. “Last night, your old home was set alight. No one was inside, thankfully. It’s been vacant ever since you left.”
“If you’re thinking I’m the culprit, you’re mistaken,” said Camden.
“Some suspect you. You have every reason to hate Dirk and that cabin, considering what went on there.”
On the contrary, Camden felt nothing when he thought of his past. But if he had felt such emotions, they would have been directed at the woman who first tried killing him when he was only a few months old. She’d allegedly pled depression and seemed the picture of remorse, but her contact with him had been supervised for a long while. If said supervision hadn’t stopped, maybe he never would have suffered the hits, slaps, kicks and broken bones she’d inflicted whenever his father was off on pride business with Judith.
Being a healer, she’d been able to cover up the abuse. Her threats to slit his throat if he blabbed about it had kept him quiet. Up until he was five and she tried choking him to death. His tiger had risen just enough for him to partially shift and claw at her, shocking her into releasing him.
She’d told everyone that he’d accidentally hurt her in a panic when he partially shifted. No one believed her. Not even Dirk, and so they’d gotten into a huge argument during which she’d slipped up and said enough to incriminate herself.
To execute her would have been to risk also killing Dirk, since not all people survived the breaking of true-mate bonds, so she’d been confined in a vacant cabin. Each time Dirk returned home from visiting her, he’d looked utterly broken. And soon he’d began to drink. A lot. Until Camden would find him lying in pools of his own vomit on the bathroom floor.
“Personally, I don’t believe you’re responsible,” said Sheridan, pulling Camden out of his memories. “I’m leaning toward your maternal relatives. They blame Dirk for Esme’s … downfall, refusing to acknowledge that she was mentally unstable—Julius in particular, who isn’t quite stable either. I heard that they were close as children, although she was a little afraid of him. Allegedly, back then, he did some … strange things.”
“Like skin a dog alive and then wear its skin like a cloak when he walked home,” said Camden.
Surprise flashed in Sheridan’s eyes. “I didn’t realize you knew.”
“Esme told me plenty of stories about him.” Julius himself had told Camden others.
“Then you may also know he was very angry when she switched to this pride. He viewed it as her abandoning him. It only made things worse that she was unhappy with Dirk. You might recall that Julius blamed both you and Dirk for her death.”
Camden did recall it. Julius had lunged at him in a rage, but others had stepped in. In Julius’ mind, she’d have left the Crescent Pride if only she hadn’t felt the need to stay for Camden’s sake. Really, Julius had just wanted someone to blame. “I saw him today. Julius.”
The tigers all tensed.
“Saw him?” echoed Sheridan. “Where?”
“Near my apartment building.”
“Did he approach you? Try to talk to you?”
“No. He simply smirked and then walked away.”
Sheridan cursed. “I’m inclined, then, to think he is the culprit we’re seeking. I don’t see why he’d oh so suddenly begin acting on whatever anger he carries over what happened all those years ago. But then, I don’t see why he would have done many of the things he’s guilty of. I’d advise you to watch your back. If Julius is feeling a strange need to erase traces of Dirk, he may decide to hurt his only child.”