Teddy’s face pales.
“What?”
Selena tells him everything she told me, my gut twisting in anguish at every spoken word. Pop is not fairing any better. He’s just as pissed as I am and judging by the flex of his jaw, he’s about ready to hunt down Carlito himself.
Not before I get my hands on him though.
“It ate at her for a long time. I wanted her to see someone. To get help. She wouldn’t talk to me about it. And that killed me because she talked to me about everything. There wasn’t anything I didn’t know about your mother. Her hopes, her dreams, her fears, she gave all of it to me. But not that. No matter how many times I begged, she wouldn’t tell me what happened to her and how she escaped. And later, after you and her were gone and I was alone, I realized why.”
“Why?”
“Because she was protecting me. She knew what knowing would do to me. She knew it would send me over the edge. Someone hurting her that way”—he shakes his head, voice growing thick and shaky—“it would have killed me.”
Selena leans in, wrapping her arms around his neck, embracing him. Pop and I step out into the mudroom, giving them some privacy.
Rain pours harder on the roof.
“I want to kill that motherfucker with my bare hands. To think that piece of shit was in my home,” Pop grits.
“I know. I need to call Morales and fill him in, see if they have anything new, and if not they better start digging fucking deeper because I’m not sitting on this shit.”
“What’s the plan?”
“Hunt the bastard down and deal with him myself.”
“That’s my boy,” Pop praises, slapping a hand to my shoulder. “I got your back if you need it.”
Another loud boom crashes and the lights flicker twice before going out.
“Shit,” Pop curses, moving back into the kitchen and I follow, pulling out my phone to use as a flashlight.
I shine it toward Selena and Teddy. “You two all right?”
“We’re fine,” she replies, squinting at the bright light.
Pop turns on the LED lantern he keeps handy for power outages, setting it down on the center island. Asher walks into the kitchen, wiping the sleep from his eyes. “Sounded like a goddamn bomb went off.”
“Power’s out.”
“I can see that, Pop,” Asher fires back, rubbing a hand down his face. “Can’t sleep without a damn fan.”
My phone rings from the pocket of my jeans. Pulling it out, I find Dino’s name lighting up the screen.
“Hey, Dino, what’s up?”
He pants heavily on the other end of the line. “Need help down at the stable. Lightning hit the barn and the horses are going nuts. Jack Daniels tried to jump out of his stall. His leg is hurt something bad.”
“We’re on our way.”
Pop is in motion before I even have a chance to tell him what’s going on, grabbing his keys and rounding us up each a flashlight. He hands one to Asher. “All hands on deck,” Pop says.
“I need to go change clothes first.”
“Nonsense. Slip on Justin’s huntin’ boots and grab a coat. I need you to bring the generator back up here while we help Dino with the horses.”
Asher scoffs but complies with Pop’s demands.
I turn my attention back to Selena. “Will you be okay while I’m gone?”
