Aidan nodded. “Yeah, Adam, they can; especially with the other pending charges stacked up. Detective Ramirez wanted to make sure they had the right person before they called.”
I frowned, then ran my fingers through my hair. “But my mom. Where is she? Did they find her?”
I looked from Aidan to Jesse, then to Michael. And that’s when I knew. Tears pooled and ran down my face again as the realization of what I’d always feared became my reality.
“Tell me, Michael. Tell me all of it.”
I swiped at my eyes as my nose ran uncontrollably down my face. Someone handed me a paper towel, and I cleaned myself up as best I could under the circumstances. He cradled my face in his big hands and looked me in the eye. “She’s gone, babe.”
I knew what he was going to say, but it still didn’t seem real. This wasn’t making sense. “What do you mean ‘she’s gone’?Gonewhere?”
Michael’s eyes began to pool with unshed tears, and I knew what he meant. More tears flooded my face as I cried. He tried to wipe them away, but more continued to fall.
I cried for the little boy who’d lived through hell.
I cried for the life she could have had if she’d stayed clean.
And I cried for the man who’d lost the only blood relative he had.
I was alone in the world, just like I’d always feared.
But I also cried out of guilt for being relieved that all this shit was finally over.
The room had gone silent when I felt familiar soft hands on me. The same hands that comforted me as a child when I woke up screaming in the middle of the night.
Michael released me into the arms of the onlyrealmother I’d ever known. Claire held on to me as tightly as she could while I cried. William’s familiar scent and arms encircled both of us.
“I’m so sorry, my sweet boy. I’m so sorry,” Claire murmured into my hair as she rubbed her hand over my dark strands.
When I could speak, I told her what I’d known for a long time.
“I knew this was going to happen. That this was just a matter of time. But she wouldn’t listen. Why the fuck didn’t she just listen?”
I’d always known she would end up like this. She wanted the drugs more than she ever wanted me.
Time passed in a blur, and when the tears subsided, I pulled back and looked at Michael. “Do you know how she died?”
He nodded. “It looks like an overdose, but they suspect she may have been severely beaten, too.”
Grief hit me hard at those words. I both loved and hated her at the same time. Deep down, part of me was relieved that it was finally over. She was in so much pain, and now her suffering had stopped. But I was also angry that she’d been so weak and allowed this to happen to her.
I’d give myself tonight to grieve for the woman who had lived her life without regard for her son, but after that, I’d move on.
* * *
Warm water cascadeddown on to my head and over my body. Bracing my hands on the wall, I dropped my head to my chest and moved it from side to side to loosen the sore muscles.
I didn’t know how long I was in there before Michael wrapped his arms around me. I smiled at the comforting touch and leaned back into him. His soft beard rasped against my skin, sending chills down my spine.
“How ya feelin’, babe?”
I shrugged. “I’m awake, and oddly at peace. I think opening the floodgates of my soul last night really helped me to let it all go. Sorry that I cried all over you.”
He kissed my shoulder, then pulled back to turn me to face him. “You never have to apologize for leaning on me.”
I looked up into his hazel-green eyes filled with warmth and compassion, and thanked my lucky stars he was in my life.
“You have to give yourself time to grieve, babe. You can’t press it all down forever. It’ll rise to the surface when you least expect it.”
