“Something you want to tell me, Lo?”
“Lots, come in.”
I stepped inside and froze. A teenage boy held a baby while the little boy in Logan’s arms could not be more than three years old. “Bex, this is Dominic Bayers. He is holding his sister, and I’m holding his brother.”
“Dominic? Thank God, you’re safe.” My brain stalled at the overload of information. Nothing about this situation was right. “Tex just called to let me know you ran away from a safehouse?”
I stared at Logan as he placed the little boy on the black faux marble kitchen counter and picked up his medical bag. “Who’s Tex?”
“Not important, right now.” Something was wrong. My baby boy had gone to a childless couple. As far as I knew, the couple couldn’t have children of their own. “Okay, someone needs to make all the dots connect, explain to me what is going on. Slowly, like I’m stupid.”
The kid hitched the baby in his arms. His cheeks were hollow, but it was the emptiness in his eyes that worried me. “Two weeks ago, my mother and stepfather were murdered in front of me. Well, not actually in front of me since I didn’t see who did it. I was hiding upstairs.”
Oh my God. That was worse than anything I could imagine. I glanced over at Logan and swallowed hard. There was a big chunk of the story I missed since I knew nothing about a stepfather and siblings but my heart ached for the boy in front ofme. “I am so sorry you lost her and that you had to see that.” I squared my shoulders and motioned for him to sit next to me on the dark gray sectional couch, while Logan checked the little boy. I loved watching him do the doctor thing, but I had bigger things to deal with.
Dominic came to Logan, so he had obviously accessed the adoption records somehow. I didn’t think he was looking for replacement parents but he’d come to the right place. I could be exactly what he needed under the circumstances. “You want to tell me what happened?”
Dominic sat next to me, moving the baby to lie on his chest with her head on his shoulder, in much the same way I’d seen my brothers hold their kids. “It happened two weeks ago.”
“Okay.” I nodded. He seemed to be struggling with what to say so I prompted him. “Start at the beginning. Even if it seems insignificant.”
“My stepdad had scolded me and rushed me to do my homework. He’d been moody all afternoon. Then when Landon and Victoria had gone to bed, he urged me to do the same.”
The kid swallowed and Logan brought the toddler back with a lollipop in his fist. He placed the little boy between Dominic and me. Logan held his arms out for the little girl, but Dominic tightened his arms on her.
“Just let me check her over, and make sure her cries are just hunger or missing your mother. Was your mom still breastfeeding?”
Dominic shook his head. “She struggled and the doctors said it might have something to do with her having a kid so late. She had no trouble with Landy.”
He handed the baby over to Logan but his gaze remained on little Victoria.
I needed to get all the information while everyone in the room still had their emotions under control. “You were tellingme your stepfather was agitated when he chased you to bed. Then what happened?”
Dominic frowned and, in that moment, he looked so much like Logan, I stifled a smile. “I didn’t go to sleep. Ever since my stepdad moved in, he thought he could boss me around like he was my father, but I’m not a kid. I know how to manage my time. Instead, I stayed up and read.”
And there was the Salinger stubbornness. I didn’t think he would like to know that, so I motioned for him to continue. “You didn’t stay in bed, did you?”
He nodded. “I heard a car outside, and looked out the window. My Dad had taught me to look out from the side of the window so I wasn’t easily spotted. My room was dark so they couldn’t see in as clearly as I could see out.”
Smart kid. It was something I learned from Logan long before the military had taught me the same thing. “Only one car?”
“Yes.” He pulled his brother onto his lap. The little boy stuck a thumb in his mouth and burrowed into Dominic. “Three men got out of the car. Two out of the backseat and one out of the front passenger seat.”
I nodded. So, there were four in total counting the driver. “Did they knock, ring the bell?”
“I don’t remember hearing it. There was a noise, a bang like something fell, my mom screamed. I remember hoping Landy and Vic stayed asleep and I crept along the hallway.”
“Dominic,” I scolded and the little boy startled in his brother’s arms. I dropped my voice to a harsh whisper. “Sorry, but that was really dangerous.”
He nodded and looked away. “I heard a gunshot and did what we were taught to do at school, I dropped to the ground. But I needed to get to them.” He dipped his chin to his brother. “So, I crawled along the hallway, and as I passed the staircase,my mom lying at the bottom. My stepdad was still arguing but I couldn’t see the men. I heard another two gunshots, but I was already outside the nursery. One of the men said he was going to check upstairs.”
For the first time that stoic facade cracked. Tears welled in his eyes. “I was so scared. Then I heard sirens, and I thought at least Landon and Victoria would be safe even if they found me. But they heard them too and ran out before they had a chance to look upstairs.
I stood and shook out my limbs as the full weight of what the kid was carrying suddenly overwhelmed me. “What you’re saying is that you’re the sole witness to a double homicide?”
“But I didn’t see it. My mom was on the ground and I heard the shots, but I don’t know anything.”
“Dominic, sweetie.” The kid stiffened for some reason. I looked over at Logan knowing he was in just as much turmoil as me. “You saw the men getting out of the car. It doesn't matter who pulled the trigger. You know more than you think.” Another thought struck me and fear ricocheted through me. “Did you escape protective custody?”
