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Lying to me all those years ago?
I mean, I did believe that he thought that by doing so, he was protecting me.
“I appreciate anything you can figure out,” I told him. “I like my life in Shady Valley. I would really prefer not to have to leave. I have friends here. A job I like. A nephew I want to see grow up.”
“Nephew?” Czar asked, knowing I was an only child.
“Delaney Murphy. She had a son with one of the Henchmen.”
“Oh, yeah, heard about the bikers moving in. I am going to make some calls. See what I can find out. Will you give me your number?” he asked as the guard announced that visiting hours were coming to an end.
I rattled off my number, listened to him repeat it back to me a few times, then we slowly started to stand.
“Bab—Nyx,” Czar said, giving me a bittersweet smile.
“Yeah?”
“You okay?” he asked, his gaze moving over my face.
“Honestly… no,” I admitted. And, God, it felt good to say it. I’d been insisting I was fine for so long when it was so far from the truth.
At that, Czar’s shoulders slumped.
“I’m gonna fucking figure this out,” he vowed. “Someone will pay for this,” he added in a whisper.
“What do I do about the missing…” I started, but the CO was getting impatient, coming up behind Czar and barking at him to get moving.
“I’ll call you,” Czar said, giving me a reassuring nod before he was being pushed away.
Alone, I sank back onto my chair for a moment, taking a deep breath.
“Hey, honey, you okay?” a woman’s voice said, making me look over to find the mom of the kid with the comic book shirt.
She was young and pretty. Maybe only in her early twenties. She was short, with long inky-black hair that she had pulled back into a ponytail, dark eyes, and with that pretty golden skin that suggested she was possibly of Mexican descent.
She wasn’t familiar, so I figured they were from out of town, just coming in to visit her husband or brother or something. I honestly hadn’t even looked at who’d been at her table. I’d been so laser-focused on Czar.
To that, all I managed to do was suck in a greedy breath, then let it all the way out.
“Yeah, I’ve been there,” she said, nodding in a sort of sad, but strong way that made me think that she thought, like Dr. Price had, that I’d been battered. “I know he’s pretty and all, but no man is worth that,” she said. “Trust me. I know.”
“I agree,” I said, nodding. “This is my first time visiting. Can we just leave now?” I asked.
“Pretty much,” she said, grabbing her son’s hand.
“Are you new in town?” I asked since we were walking out together. “Or just visiting?”
“Well, visiting. But I am hoping to move here. Be close to my brother while he’s… here,” she said, looking at the prison with a sad sigh. “But, looking at you, I am getting a little worried,” she admitted.
“Oh, no. Don’t judge Shady Valley on this,” I said, waving at my face. “It’s a good place for kids actually. I grew up here. Rent is really reasonable too since there’s… not much around here,” I said, waving out at the whole of Shady Valley in front of us.
The convenience store, gas station, motel, biker clubhouse, the ‘burbs and the small rich people neighborhood, then the main street in town with a couple of open businesses, but a lot of shuttered ones.
Objectively, I didn’t understand why I was so attached to the place. There wasn’t much entertainment. There were hardly any places to shop. No real opportunities for career growth. At least not until some more businesses opened up.
I couldn’t explain it.
I just felt rooted in Shady Valley.
