Page 39 of When We Were Eighteen

“I’m not worried. Brian knows where we are.”

“Great. Someone to look for the bodies if we piss them off,” he said sarcastically. “Now you know that the Hendersons are not guilty. You can cross them off the list.”

“Never said they weren’t guilty. Just not MaKayla’s father.”

“You implied it. That’s close enough. We’re supposed to be on the same team, and I’m feeling as though you’re hiding things from me. What I don’t know is why?” Draven asked.

“I only received that confirmation from Brian a couple of hours ago.” That and something I wasn’t sure I should share with anyone.

“What else aren’t you telling me, Damien? I can see it on your face that there’s more,” he stated.

“You cannot share this with anyone, understood?” I warned.

“I would like to think you know you can trust me,” he said.

I nodded and he came back to sit at the table. “I still don’t know all the details, but Brian was able to confirm one Henderson is a distant relative to Venus. They are thinking maybe a second or third cousin.”

He had the same puzzled look that I did when Brian said it to me. “How is that possible? Just one of them and not the others?”

“That is the part that is mind blowing. Each of the Hendersons are half Tabiqian like MaKayla.”

“Their mother was from here?” he asked.

“Mothers.” I paused for a second to let that word soak in before continuing. “Apparently, none of them share the same mother.”

“I’m going to need something a lot fucking stronger than this coffee,” Draven stated. “I'm not even sure how this is possible. I’ve never heard of any woman with James, never mind six different ones.”

“Wait, it gets even more confusing. Seems there are more than just six siblings too. Brian learned of at least one more brother and sister that weren’t raised in the Henderson household with the others,” I stated.

“Okay. So, there are eight children and all eight have different mothers?” he asked.

“Fucked up, isn’t it?” I nodded and added, “James is the father, and all the children are half Tabiqian. Now do you understand why I don’t want to talk to Dean about anything regarding MaKayla?”

“Yeah. Dean has never mentioned his mother. Not once. And when Dean spoke of his father, let’s just say, James Henderson was a cruel bastard. I believe Dean once told me that his greatest fear in the world was to be anything like that man. How does someone that cruel get all those women to sleep with him?”

There was a twisting, gnawing feeling in my gut. “Draven, I’ve crossed a lot of sick things in this world. I’m hoping that James wasn’t involved in any.”

“What exactly do you suspect?” he asked.

“I worked on a case where a young girl, fifteen years old, had been taken to be sold as a bride. Thankfully I got her back before that happened. But the reality is, she wasn’t the only one. Every day, there are others that we don’t know about. I don’t know if their mothers were with James...willingly.” That thought sickened me. I could see Draven felt the same. “Draven, I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I’m afraid that I’m going to learn that is why Venus went into hiding.”

It’s not what I had originally thought, but after learning what I did about the Hendersons, my gut was telling me I was right. And if that was true, I couldn’t ever let MaKayla know. I’d end up lying to her, just like Venus had for years.

“How the fuck are you going to find out?” he asked.

“We’re heading home. Well, I’m heading to Halifax. It’s time I have a long discussion with Venus.”

“And if she won’t talk to you?” he said.

“Then hopefully she’ll listen to what I have to say, and then talk to MaKayla.”Hopefully she’ll tell MaKayla the truth, even if she doesn’t tell me.

“I guess it’s time to pack and go home.”

I was anxious to go to Canada again, but seeing Venus was only a part of it. I’d promised MaKayla I’d see her again. I wasn’t one to break my word but seeing her wasn’t going to be easy. She was one person I didn’t want to ever lie to. Not someone I wanted to hurt. And I had a bad feeling that I was about to do both.

This is why I never mix business with pleasure.

CHAPTER17

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