Derek pushed back the urge to vomit from the thought of her sharing a bed with someone like Caleb. Of course, he didn’t want to think of her sleeping withanyother man but him, and all they’d done so far is kiss.
Hopefully, that will change, soon.
For now, Derek had to push those desires aside and do what he could to help Charlie get out of this nightmare of a fucking marriage.
“Want me to do the honors?” Grant asked as they reached the doors.
“Yeah.” Derek lifted his chin toward the knob. “Let’s find the book and get the fuck out of this place. Just being here gives me the creeps.” He looked behind him at the open, sterile living space. “I don’t know how the hell Charlie could stand living here all these years.”
“Sounds to me like she didn’t have much of a choice.”
Grant sounded almost as pissed about that fact as Derek felt. Not that he was surprised.
Grant may come off as a big, tough, alpha male...which he was. But he also had a heart of gold.
He may hide it well, but Derek knew the other man would fight to the death to protect any woman put in harm’s way. Charlie included.
The two men quickly made their way over to the bed. Carefully, they lifted the frame, moving it just enough to be able to reach the floor beneath.
There, right where Charlie had said it would be, was a slightly crooked wooden plank.
Derek’s heart rate spiked. Using the key she’d given him to gain access to the apartment, he quickly pried the board up and set it to the side. Immediately, he caught sight of what appeared to be a large, black notebook.
Damn, his heart hurt. She never should have felt the need to keep records of her own beatings and then hide them from the fucker in case he ever killed her.
He couldn’t even think of that happening to her.
Nausea turned Derek’s gut as he opened the book and began reading some of what Charlie had written.
“I’m gonna go check out his office,” Grant told him. “See if there’s anything else we can find to hang the bastard.”
Derek nodded absentmindedly as he flipped through the pages. A rush of burning bile hit the base of his throat, but he swallowed it down as he saw a few of the pictures she’d told him about.
It was all there. Page after page of the terror she’d been forced to endure. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes and one escaped as he read the awful things that had been done to her.
The verbal and physical blows. Injuries that had been treated by a private doctor that wouldn’t dare report Porter to the authorities.
Derek had only made it through the first few pages and his entire body was already shaking.
“Ah, fuck.”
Grant’s deep voice startled him from behind. Derek had been so consumed by what he was seeing, he hadn’t even noticed his teammate walking back into the room.
Wiping his eyes, he slammed the book shut and repositioned the board. It was bad enough Charlie had to experience the things in that book. She didn’t need the details of her abuse shared with the rest of the world.
Standing, Derek looked at his teammate. “Help me move the bed back.”
“Sure. Then, there’s something else you’re gonna want to see.”
He couldn’t imagine what else Grant had found on the bastard. What he was holding in his hand was bad enough.
After making sure the bed was put back the way it was, Derek followed Grant into Porter’s office.
“Take a look at this shit.” Grant pointed to an open folder in the center of Caleb’s expensive desk. “Found it in a locked drawer.”
Derek gave his friend a look of approval. The guy could break into anything. Didn’t matter if it was with a lock pick kit, a bobby pin, or a brick of C4.
Glancing down at the folder’s contents, Derek tried to make sense of what he was seeing. There were several pictures, all grainy eight by tens that appeared to have been taken with a small camera and then enlarged.Probably a cell phone.
