Page 66 of You are the Reason

“Let’s check your room.” Tanner tips his chin in the direction of stairs.

“Lou-loo!” I sing louder this time. Her whimpers grow louder as my bed comes into view; she’s laying in the middle of my pillows with her head between her paws. “What’s wrong girl?”

“She’s been like this all day,” a gravelly voice responds over to my right.

I spin around towards the balcony. There, in the light of the setting sun, stands my dad. The golden light beams around him, as if he’s walked down the staircase from heaven; yet I know he’s been living in hell. He’s thinner, a little gaunt in the face and his hair is now grey, but it’s him. He’s wearing jeans and a flannelette shirt and has rough stubble on his chin.

“D-Dad?”

“It’s me, Meadow.”

My feet move me forward without thought, closing the distance between us. He cups my face in his large hand, stroking my cheek with his thumb. I close my eyes, memories appearing like a kaleidoscope of colours. He pulls me in close and wraps his arms around my shoulders as I bury my head into his chest.

“I am so sorry, Kinsley. I tried — I promise I never stopped trying to get back to you.”

“They’re gone, Daddy,” I sob. “Kyle, Mum and now Jesse.”

He holds me; like he did when I was a little girl, when my emotions were too big for me to work through on my own. He was always so good at justbeingthere; knowing when I needed him to fix something, compared to moments like these, when all I need ishim.

“We will get through this together.”

Dad fluffs the pillows, propping me up and Lou snuggles closer with a huff. She lays her head in my lap, big puppy dog eyes pleading with me.

“I know, girl, but we will be okay.”

Dad moves to my reading chair in the corner. He leans forward, resting his forearms on his knees. I understand that this would be hard for him, but he’s had years to prepare for this moment. Me? I have so many questions floating around in my mind. Where do I even begin?

Where has he been all this time? Why has he been there? Does he know what happened to Kyle?

Tanner enters the room, snapping me out of my thoughts, two steaming cups of tea in hand. He passes one to Dad before placing the other down on my bedside table.

“I’ve got a few things to take care of — a couple of phone calls to make. Come and get me if you need anything, okay?” Briefly he kisses the top of my head and turns, leaving the room.

The tea is hot, sending a comforting sting down my throat. I let my shoulders drop and relax my head back against the headboard. Moments pass before either of us speak.

Dad is the one who finally breaks the silence. “I know you will have a lot of questions, Kinsley. But —” he sighs. “I don’t know if tonight is the right time to start digging up the past.”

Chapter Forty-Six

Tanner

Warren’s footsteps pad down the stairs. My fingers fly across the keyboard, sending off my final email. Closing my laptop, I slide it across the kitchen bench and turn to face him.

“Kinsley?” I question with a raised brow. I shouldn’t be so abrupt, but fuck — I’ve only just met this guy and he has been with the enemy for the past fourteen years. Of course I am going to be hesitant to trust him. Jesse should be here dealing with this, and I should be up there with my girl.

“She’s asleep.” He pauses, looking over his shoulders and up the stairs. “I could sit there all night and watch her but she’s been through so much. I don’t want her to wake up and get a shock if I’m the first person she sees.”

I grunt, tilting my head in the direction of the spare room. “I’ll make sure the spare room is made up for you.” Leading the way, Warren follows in step behind me. Jesse had already cleared out most of Kinsley’s paperwork that she had collected over the years, but there are still a few old news articles lying around. I gather them up, stacking them neatly. Without turning around to face him, I place my palms flat on the dresser, leaning forward and dropping my chin to my chest. “Lance … Did they get him?”

“The police said they have him in custody, as well as the man who was driving for him. They had loaded four girls into the back of the van when Jesse and I took off, we spoke with them — tried to calm them down, then hid the four of them in a set of abandoned shearing quarters not too far down the road. Once you and Kinsley left to take Jesse to the hospital, I went back to check on the girls and used the driver’s phone to contact the police.”

Four fucking girls. How many more are there that we are no closer to finding? What was it, fifty-one or something on the file I received the other day? If Lance is locked up, someone else is going to step intoKing Dickposition and will continue running the show. The police might believe having Lance behind bars will halt his operations, but he already has the pawns in his game doing the dirty work for him. This will continue, whether he is around or not. I need to know the ins and outs of this operation, so lucky for me I have someone standing behind me who has had their hands in it for over a decade.

“Tanner?” a sweet voice floats down the stairs interrupting my thoughts.

Warren gestures towards the door. “I’m okay here, this room has more than I have had over the years. We can finish this conversation tomorrow.”

I’ll have to make some calls, get the others to dig a little deeper. Hopefully, between my contacts and Warren’s intel, we can find the slimy bastards that will inevitably fall through the law enforcement cracks.

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