Chapter 5
Callie
Istepped backinto the sidelines, watching the scene unfold. My entire detective squad had come—they all left the party and raced over to help me. Detectives Ryan Cage, Dean Fury, Jack Creed, and officer Brooke Fury—even our Sergeant, Max Kannon—they all showed up, dressed for a party—armed and ready to save a pair of abandonedchildren.
I felt sorry for the father, though; it was quite obvious he had no idea what had happened that day. He didn't seem to understand what was going on right in front of him atall.
Sergeant Kannon took absolute control of the room immediately. He gave the father—his identification said he was one Dylan Sanborn—a businesslike handshake. Two firm pumps and a squeeze to the arm. Kannon was also a father. He had two young daughters and was one of the most empathetic and compassionate men Iknew.
I watched them, quietly. The shock of finding a stranger in his house had worn off, and instead of the anger and confusion he showed me, he now looked thoroughly defeated andsolemn.
"My wife…she had a drug problem. Right after Addison was born." He slid himself over a kitchen chair and hung his face in his hands. "I put her in rehab. Twice. And she was all right. For awhile."
Sergeant Kannon shifted over and sat down across the table from him, listening. Next to me, Ryan reached out and squeezed my shoulder. "You okay?" hewhispered.
I shushed him. I wanted to hear Dylan’s story. I wanted to know what would happen to his children. What kind of a person he was married to—what sort of a woman could just leave two young innocent kidsalone.
“She’s been clean for two years. But lately…” He leaned back on the chair and squeezed his eyes shut. “The last few days…no more than a week…I've seen the signsagain."
“What signs were those?” Sergeant Kannon asked, clasping his fingers togetherpatiently.
"When she's home, she's a zombie. It's like she's my other child. When she's here, I have to make sure she eats, gets enough water." He shook his head, bitterness thick on his tongue. "The jewelry I gave her for Christmas is gone. I bet she fucking pawned it.” His words quivered withemotion.
"What did she use? When she was using two years ago?" Ryan asked, stepping forward, as always inserting himself into everyconversation.
Dylan looked up, startled, as if he just realized we were all still in the room. His eyes darted to mine, and his skin tone whitenednoticeably.
“Uh...she was taking Oxycontin when it was prescribed to her, and then when it wasn’t, she went straight toheroin.”
Damn. Those kids never had a chance to be loved—not when Mommy’s havingthatsort of anaffair.
Dylan’s eyes stayed on mine for a few moments, then shot back to Kannon’s. “Some nights, I used to find her passed out, and I would stay up to watch her—she's had seizures, or her breathing gets too slow. I was always constantly checking on her. First time I walked in on her in the bathroom shooting up—" He choked back a gasp and cleared his throat. "Addison was a baby, and she was crying in her swing. The front door was unlocked, and she was nodding out on the side of the toilet with a needle still in herarm."
“I used to be a goddamn architectural engineer, and I had to leave my job because of her. Now I’m busting my fucking ass, making minimum wage just to pay for all the shit she’s done.” He rubbed his hand along his chest and the back of his neck, grimacing like he was inpain.
I continued my silence, uncertain as to what to say. Emotionally, I felt drained. A heavy weight pushed down on my shoulders and chest, and all I kept thinking was how unfair life was. That bitch didn't deserve to be a parent, and she was one,twice over. Two beautiful, perfect children, and there will be some women who will never—never know what it’s like to hold their very own living, breathing child—I felt instantlysick.
Heat spread over my body, my fingers and toes tingled with numbness.I had to stop this shit. My lungs squeezed tight, and whatever expression on my face made Ryan leap away from the table and stand directly in front ofme.
“Pop-Tart.” He clamped his hands around my upper arms and gave me a little shake. I stiffened but focused my eyes on his. “You’re not the victim here,” he whispered in myear.
I blinked back the fury. My stomach rolled with heat, and my fingers clenched into fists. God, I could just punch Ryan Cage in his stupid, stupidface.
“Now you’re just having an internal boxing match with me in your head.” He ran his stupid hands up my arms and palmed my cheeks in his fingers. "You were thinking life was unfair. She can have kids and throw them away, and you can't. I can see it on your face,Callie."
He leaned in closer. Behind us, Max and Dylan were still talking. Max was telling him his wife—the bitch—wasn’t an actual missing person yet, but the problem was child endangerment and negligence, that’s what she could be spending time in jail for. A judge would have to decide herfate.
Ryan tightened his grip on my cheeks. "Pop-Tart, you still see red. Stop. Those kids and that man are the victims, notyou."
I could have ripped him a brand new asshole right then, but I took a deep breath and held it in. Iknewhe was right. But screw him for telling me. Screw him for not understanding with his perfectlife.
I tapped his hands off me. "I am perfectly fine, but if you keep touching me,youwon't be." My eye sockets throbbed. Shifting my body away, I cleared my throat and continued to listen to Max and Dylan’sconversation.
Dylan was standing next to Max then. His phone was in his hand, a perplexed look on his face. "But it looks like her phone is somewhere in the house. Look, this is our block, and the signal is beeping rightthere."
"You're tracking her on your phone?" My voice sounded alien. It was high-pitched and squawky, and I really needed to learn to shut the hellup.
Dylan’s eyes met mine again. They were stunningly red and horrified. “I used to need to, yeah.” The skin around his eyes tightened and crinkled. “I guess I have to now,too.”
