“No,” I say in my sternest Mummy voice. “Bradley did something wrong, but it’s nothing to do with Steven.”
She nods, but her face is disbelieving.
“There were things on his computer he shouldn’t have been looking at,” I say, wondering what the current euphemism is for rampant paedophile, even though I know the images were planted. “He’s sick, honey. None of this is your fault.”
I crouch in front of her, waiting for her shaking shoulders to calm. “What do you think happened to Steven?”
She rubs her nose on her sleeve, turning the cuff after to hide the slimy trail. I pat my pocket for tissues but come up empty. Yet another tick in the useless-parent column.
“I hired someone.”
The words make my neck hairs stand on end. What did she just say? “What did you hire them to do?”
“Beat him up. I found them on the dark web and used a cash advance from Bradley’s spare credit card to buy the crypto to pay them.”
Fucking hell.
My mouth drops open in rampant admiration. Then I close it again. This is a pivotal moment. A bonding opportunity.
What would a good parent say? What would a good parent do?
“I’m so proud of you,” I tell her in a voice choking with such fierce love that I can barely sound out the words. Then I pull her into a bear hug as my mind spins.
No wonder her case workers were so bent out of shape. When Zach mentioned the threats, I thought they got their knickers in a twist because of the knife but him being beaten black and blue makes a lot more sense.
“I promise you’ll never have to do anything like that by yourself again.” I pull away so I can look into her face. “We’re a family now and if you need help, then Zach and I are here to support you. And if you want to go to another school, then we’ll arrange that. If someone’s hassling you, then we can sort them out with no one getting in trouble or caught. All right?”
She nods, the strain disappearing from around her eyes. “I thought you’d be mad.”
“Why would I be mad that you stood up for yourself?”
“They stopped our visitation.”
“And see how that turned out.” I stroke her hair back so I can press a kiss to her forehead. “Didn’t we both promise to make them regret it if they tried to keep us apart?”
She nods, wrinkling her nose.
“I didn’t forget, and I know you didn’t either.”
The warning bell for the start of school rings out and Sierra’s eyes jerk towards the building then back to me. She gives me a quick hug, then runs to join the rest of her class.
As I straighten up again, I smile. This parenting lark mightn’t be as hard as I thought.
I hurry back to where Zach waits in the car, my spirits feeling a hundred pounds lighter.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR
LILAC
Stefan nodsas I walk past his office and wave goodbye. The evening passed quickly. A man with a broad Texan accent had kept my entire table entertained with tall tales of drilling for oil. When nobody believed they were true, he followed with a helping of smaller adventures involving many wild animals that almost assuredly were.
He’d been so caught up in his role of storyteller, only half his mind had been on his betting. The house had cleared an easy million or more from his inattention alone. A feat that had the other punters feeling like they escaped winners, even if they were also down on their luck.
“Ms Tanner?” a voice says as I walk outside and a guard swings around to follow as I stiffen.
“Yes,” I say with a squeak, trying to peer into the dark. “Who’s there?”
“It’s Jimmy Riley.”
