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“We’ll see about that.” He left the chair and helped himself to my kitchen, pouring himself a glass of wine before he took a seat. “I told you I have one friend. Benton.”
“Yes, I remember.”
“And I told you that I helped him get his daughter back from the acid-dealing freaks at the camp.”
“Yes.”
“Well, I left out one small detail…” He took a drink before he set down the glass. “I was the one who put her there in the first place.” His fingers rested on the stem of his glass as he looked at me, waiting for my reaction.
It took a few seconds for me to understand the implication of his words. “Why-why would you do that?”
“It was the only way I could get Benton back. The original plan was for his ex to be taken, the mother of his daughter. He had no affection for her, but I knew he would do anything to get her back for his daughter. I knew he would ask me to help him get Beatrice back—and in return—I would demand his servitude. But unfortunately, those assholes deviated from the plan and decided to take his daughter too. When Benton found out the truth, he was angry at me, angry enough to shoot me. Every time I think the betrayal is behind us, it’s resurrected. He hates me all over again—and there’s nothing I can do to fix it.” He took another drink, his shoulders heavy, his handsome face tight with unease.
“You gave a little girl to drug dealers…?” It really was horrible.
He gave a nod. “The deal was just to keep the mother until Benton and I showed up. Then we would make the trade and both have what we really wanted. But…it didn’t go according to plan. It’s a long story, but there was another woman there, and she messed everything up. The freaks chose to fake the little girl’s death so they could keep both of them—and then everything went to shit.”
My heart broke for Benton. I imagined his reaction when he was told that his little girl had been killed.
“In the end, we got Claire and Beatrice back unharmed, and the woman we saved is now his wife. There are times when everything seems fine with Benton, but then the dust gets kicked up and he hates me again.” His eyes shifted away, thinking of something else. “He hasn’t forgiven me. Never will. Can’t say I blame him…but it’s shitty.”
I processed all that information in silence. It was the first time I realized Bartholomew wasn’t that different from my father. He was capable of anything to get what he wanted. “Why would you do that to your friend?”
“Because I felt betrayed. He was my second in an organization that only takes life sentences. He broke his vow and turned his back on me—after everything I did for him.” Now his anger showed, burning underneath the surface. “After everything we’d been through, he left me hanging. I never got over it. He left me to be a father to a child he didn’t even want. He said I was his brother, but clearly, blood is stronger than whatever the fuck we had…”
If I didn’t know so much about him already, his actions would have been ludicrous. But I understood them perfectly. “You’re jealous of his daughter.”
His eyes narrowed.
“He’s the only family you’ve ever had, but he picked her over you.”
He set the empty glass on the table and looked away again.
“It was the only way to get what you wanted. To have Benton back in your life while he remained a father to his daughter. It was the only way for the two of you to share him.”
He still wouldn’t look at me. “I was promised nothing would happen to Beatrice. And I was also promised it would only be Beatrice, not the little girl. But it’s my fault for trusting the word of a psychopath. Doesn’t justify the horrible things that little girl saw.”
“Why do you keep calling them that? Freaks. Psychopaths.”
He considered his answer for a long time. “Because it’s a cult. The leaders consider themselves demons, and they capture beautiful women they believe to be angels, the only ones who have the power to restore their redemption with God.”
My face must have looked horrified.
“They force the girls to do acid with them. That’s how theyascend.”
Jesus.
“Freaks…that’s exactly what they are.”
And that little girl had been trapped with them. Horrible. “The fact that you two still talk suggests you’re still important to him.”
He didn’t say anything.
“It makes him angry every time he thinks about it, but after he cools off, he’ll come back around.”
“He won’t accept my apology.”
“Maybe he needs more time.”
