Owen’s confirmation has me letting out a breath, and that’s when they barge into the kitchen, and I hold my hand over my mouth when a man a little smaller than Asher is in Owen’s arms. His burgundy suit is torn, wet, and he has bruises all over his face, nearly making him unrecognizable. Owen lays him down on the couch, and a painful moan escapes the man’s lips as he starts to come to.
“Zeke? Zeke, can you hear me? If so, open your eyes,” Owen asks the nearly dead man on the couch. “Zeke, come on, buddy. Come on!” Owen gets impatient and starts yelling at him, but that isn’t going to do any good when he can’t hear us.
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“Richard,” Zeke gasps. “Dead. Innocent.” The man wheezes, and there is a crackling rattle in his chest that sounds painful. “Innocent,” he repeats. One eye opens and lands on Asher. “Your father did this,” he struggles to say, coughing.
“He…he…is in deep with…with…” Zeke coughs again and almost falls asleep. “Prostitution ring. He wanted the Thomas girls.”
“How do you know?”
“Richard,” Zeke says to Asher. “Told me everything just in case I lived. Richard wouldn’t sell Grace all those years ago, and your father got mad, killed her.”
“That’s why he has Heather’s father in the government. It would look really bad if the Governor was set up for this. Your dad wouldn’t see the light of day, and then my dad would hold power, getting away with whatever he wanted. You being in the same circle made you an easier target.” Asher clenches his hands when he starts putting the pieces together. Zeke doesn’t speak again, and Owen checks for a pulse, letting out a relieved breath when he feels one.
“This is over,” Asher says. “It started with me, and it’s going to end with me.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask him when I see the determination shining in his pupils.
“Hey, check this out,” Sebastian says, tapping a few more buttons on the screen. “Oh my god, Owen, your brother-in-law was in on it too. Asher, your dad paid him to stay in the woods. They are connected. How much do you want to bet that all those missing girls were sold to your brother-in-law? Your dad knew what your ex’s brother-in-law was interested in and hooked him up. It was how Heather ended up there. It all comes full circle.”
Asher is pale, guilt-stricken, and furious. “Why would he do that?”
“Bad people do bad things, Asher. Especially when money talks.”
“He was broke, according to Heather’s dad.”
“Nah, he wasn’t. Your dad still has millions. He was conning everyone, tucking every dollar away that he could, and if he has sights set on Heather, then no doubt she is a target.”
“Is he the leader?” Asher asks, Sebastian.
“Seems like it. All money goes to him and from him, and all payments are large sums. Seems like he found out how much Grace was getting from Richard, and he wanted in on it. And since he couldn’t get what he wanted…”
“He took it,” Asher collapses on the barstool, hands shaking as he runs them through his hair. “He took her life. How many other women did he do that too? Does my mom know? Is she a part of this? If so, how could another woman do this to another woman?” Asher holds a hand over his mouth, and I can tell he is feeling a massive amount of blame because his eyes are watering. He gags. “I’m going to be sick.” He launches off the seat and sticks his head in the sink but doesn’t throw up. Instead, he turns on the cold water and douses himself in it, trying to relax himself.
“Are you okay?” I rub a hand over his back, trying to make him feel better, but I know nothing can help this situation. He is going to blame himself forever.
“I don’t think she knows,” Sebastian says. “I don’t see her involved in anything financial.”
“You and I know that doesn’t mean shit,” Heaven says, drinking down a few swallows of whatever. “I bet she’s the crazy bitch holding the damn cuffs and slapping them on the wrists of all of them innocent girls. I come from bad blood,” he says. “I’m going to be just like them.”
“You are nothing like them, you hear me? You’d never do that to someone. The fact that you are so upset and trying to find a solution tells me everything I need to know about you.” I grab him by the collar of his shirt and make him look at me. “I couldn’t love a rotten soul like that, and you do not have anything rotten living inside you, Asher Haven. None of this is your fault. You can’t stop the actions of horrible people.”
He lifts his head up as an idea strikes him. “Yes, I can, but I have to cut off the source.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I ask, and I must be the only one who isn’t getting with the program because I do not understand what is happening. “What does that mean?”
“It means I’m going to kill my parents,” Asher says nonchalantly.
“You aren’t a killer, Heaven,” Jaxon reminds him. “One of us can do it. We’ve killed before.”
“No, this is my family, my problem, and I need to solve it. If my dad isn’t alive, then none of this can happen, can it?”
“That’s not true. There is always going to be bad in the world. Someone, somewhere is going to be doing this exact same thing,” I argue.
“But you won’t be threatened by them. We can figure out where those other people live and stop them, but right now, you’re in trouble, and so is your family because of me. I won’t allow you to get hurt again because of my father’s greed.”
“I don’t want you to have to live with the horror of you killing your father.”