Deputy Clark casts a glance over his shoulder. “I wanted to speak to you before you go in,” he says to me. “We were called a little over an hour ago with reports of a possible overdose. When we arrived, we found Jaxon performing CPR on his mother in the living room under the instruction of a 911 operator. Unfortunately, hisattempts were unsuccessful, as were the attempts of paramedics. Mr…”
“Ashby,” I answer.
He smiles warmly. “Mr Ashby, are you aware that Jaxon is only sixteen?”
My head rears back, my heart sinking into my stomach.
He’ssixteen?
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
How did I not know that he was fucking sixteen?
“I’m going to go by the look on your face that you didn’t.”
“No, sir.” I clear my throat. “I had no idea he was that young.”
“It’s important that you check on these things before hiring someone, Mr Ashby. But that’s not what I’m here to discuss. Obviously, it is our duty to contact child services in cases like this, and honestly, I’m not sure how they haven’t been contacted sooner.”
“They have,” Daisy says, speaking up for the first time and surprising the shit out of me. She looks at me apologetically as she steps forward.
“I called them a little over a week ago.”
What. The. Fuck.
“You did?” I ask, completely fucking blindsided by this information.
Daisy nods. “The day you dropped Juliet off at Savannah’s. I’m sorry, Killian. I couldn’t live with myself if I let those kids come back here and didn’t at least try to help.”
I wrap an arm around her and pull her into me, placing a kiss on her forehead. “You don’t need to be sorry, angel. You did the right thing.”
“I agree. You did the right thing, Mrs Ashby.”
“Do you think social services will let us take them to our place for the night?” I ask the deputy.
His lips thin. “I can’t answer that, but I will speak to them once they arrive. I’ll take you through to the children.” He pauses. “I have to warn you guys. It’s not pretty in there. We have already covered the body, so you won’t see anything but just… prepare yourselves.”
I flick a worried glance at Daisy as she takes a few deep breaths, composing herself. Taking her hand in mine, I follow Deputy Clark into the house.
Any preconceived expectations I had before walking in here fly straight out the window the second we step over the threshold.
The stench of liquor is overpowering yet familiar. It almost feels like stepping into the home of my childhood. But that’s about as far as the familiarity goes. Because the deeper we walk into the house, the worse it gets, and the worse it gets, the more the environment that Jaxon and Juliet have been raised makes my own childhood look like child’s play.
I thought I had it bad. I didn’t think it could get much worse than I experienced.
I was so fucking wrong.
My eyes begin to sting as I take stock of my surroundings.
The splintered, wooden floor that is in no way safe for anyone, let alone a child, to walk on bare foot. The holes littering the walls from the force of someone’s fist. The cigarette burns in the furniture. The feel of our shoes sticking to the ground with every step. The buzz of flies asthey swarm the rotten trash bags. The fucking bottles. They’re everywhere.
My God, it’s so much worse than I ever imagined.
Daisy squeezes my hand, pulling my attention away from our surroundings and back to her. Her face is stoic, emotionless but her eyes tell me she’s anything but okay right now.
“Be strong,” she mouths.
“I’m trying,” I mouth back as we continue to follow the deputy through the maze of shit.
