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Moriah.
Her parents had hidden her mental problems well. Her psychiatrist, the drugs, the close tabs they had kept on her, kept the truth carefully hidden. Beautiful, fairylike Moriah.
He stepped over to her, sat on his haunches, and stared into her peaceful face. She looked as though she were sleeping, except for the bruised wound in the center of her forehead.
His bullet had struck. Carl’s hadn’t. Her life had been extinguished before her insanity could destroy anyone else; and she had been determined to destroy Cameron, simply because he protected Jaci. And Cam would have let her, because of Chase.
He had felt that. The torn emotions his twin had felt in that moment. They had been on his face, had twisted across their bond. He would have taken a bullet, rather than see Chase lose someone he cared for.
He had cared for her.
He brushed a wisp of hair back from her lips and felt his heart squeeze tight at the memory of his fingers pulling that trigger. Unlike Cam, he hadn’t hesitated.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, gazing into her doll-like features as he tried to push aside the guilt and the anger. “I’m so sorry, Moriah. ”
He pressed his lips together as the leg of Carl’s slacks came into view.
“The investigator is finished with Mrs. Roberts. She wants to talk to you before she leaves for the hospital to be with her husband. She’s in the kitchen waiting for you. ”
Carl stepped back as Chase rose slowly to his feet.
“Did you know about her problems?” he asked the other man as he nodded to Moriah.
Carl sighed heavily. “I’ve had to cover several incidents for her. Her dad’s old college buddies with the chief. You don’t say no when that happens. Besides, she was a good kid when she wasn’t crazy. ”
Yeah, when she wasn’t crazy.
Shaking his head, Chase moved through the apartment and into the sunlit kitchen.
Annalee Roberts sat at the kitchen table. Her face was ravaged by her tears and her pain. He had never liked her, but right now he felt sorry as hell for her.
“Thank you for coming, Chase. ” Her voice was rough, hoarse from her tears. “I gather you and Cam heard the entire event. ”
He nodded sharply. He wasn’t thinking about it right now. He couldn’t. If he was going to hold onto his control and keep from strangling his baby brother, then he had to forget, at least for a little while, the information he had learned.
Annalee nodded slowly. “Moriah’s at peace now. ” She swallowed tightly. “Her parents have feared an episode like this for years. It’s why I’ve been careful to stay away from her as much as possible. She was becoming very possessive of me. ” Her face twisted with grief.
“She knew about that night with Jaci. Did you tell her?” He needed to know where to place the blame. He had to find someplace for it, to be able to deal with it.
But Annalee shook her head slowly. “I would never have told her. She wasn’t strong enough to handle it. Until today, I was unaware that she even knew of the reasons for the animosity between Jaci and me. When she called, she said Jaci had told her, and wanted to meet with us to discuss it. ” She shook her head as she pressed her fingers to her lips. “Once we arrived she was enraged. She said she had known all along. That she had overheard Margie and I discussing it years before. And that we were to take care of it this time or she would. Sweet God, she told Jaci we had molested her. ” Annalee broke down again. She lay her head on the table, sobbing pitifully as Chase moved beside her and sat on his haunches by her chair.
“She wasn’t sane,” he said softly. “You can’t blame yourself. ”
She shook her head in the cradle of her arms. “I blame myself. I always shall. I tried so many times to help her, to love her, because she was like my own. ” She lifted her head and stared back at him desperately. “I can’t have children. So I loved Moriah like my own child. And I tried so hard to do what was best. All I did was destroy her. ”
He shook his head and rose to his feet once more. “Her insanity destroyed her, Annalee, not you. Dry your face and go to your husband. You can help him now. Moriah’s at peace. You don’t have to help her any longer. ”
He walked away from her. He had to. He could feel the rage and pain growing inside him, the pure, fucking fury, a red-hot lance of it driving into his brain, as he thought of the years his brother had lied to him.
Lied to him. To his face, over and over, lied to him.
He left the apartment, feeling something akin to pure, icy, blood fury burning inside him.
Fifteen. That demented bitch of an aunt of theirs had sold his brother to her depraved friends—had somehow forced him to allow her to whore him out for sex. And not once, not one time had he come to Chase. He hadn’t asked for his help. He had never goddamned asked him for help.
He bolted out of the apartment house and stalked to the car Cam had left behind. He tried to tell himself his brother was an adult. He couldn’t just beat the shit out of him for being a fucking bastard, and not asking for help. Could he?
He slammed the car door behind him and stared through the windshield. Fuck that. Hell yes, he could beat the shit out of him, and that was exactly what he would do.
