Page 108 of Preying Heart
“Aw…,” Lucy says. “It’s only been three days. See? He can’t stay away from you for long.”
The doorbell rings again, and this time, Glock is at alert. His ears are upright as he stalks to the door, ready to attack.
I look through the peephole. “It’s Slade and my mom, Kathleen. Looks like they brought their lawyers.”
“Probably smart of them to do that,” Lucy says. “I’m dying to find out how your mother called in that favor that brought Heath into this.”
“I’m just glad she did, because Heath, you are the best thing that happened to me.” I lean over to kiss him before opening the door.
“Remi.” Slade lifts me from my feet and hugs me. “Mom wants to explain everything, but we had to clear it with our lawyers.”
I hug him back and turn to my mother. She feels like a stranger to me, because I was too young to have a conscious memory of her. I only have emotions—of being locked up, of fear, of shame. And yet, I also have the recent memories at the Farm.
“Mom?” I try the word on for sizing. “Welcome to my home. Come in.”
I introduce her to everyone and we all sit around the table. For the first fifteen minutes, the lawyers and Lucy make small talk while I stare at my mom, and Slade talks about Gavin keeping him in the garden shed and how he was almost crushed by the truck. Heath seems content to hold my hand and stare at me, as if he’s afraid to close his eyes and blink me out of existence. It feels good to be so adored.
“Man, this dog is awesome,” Slade says, feeding Glock a strip of meat. “I thought he was a goner. Thrown from the back of the truck. You know he leaped onto the truck when it charged us? Then Heath grabbed the door handle and I fell out. I was still handcuffed so all I could do was roll around. Heath was helping me up. Then Gavin came back, trying to run us over. Man, you should have seen Heath. He had his gun out.”
“I heard all this already.” I pat my excitable brother. I don’t want him to go into why Heath should have shot Gavin instead of a tire. “All of you are heroes.”
“I wasn’t going to run over Claudia anyway,” Slade says. “I was going to pretend to agree and disappear.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.” I turn to my mother. “And I’m glad we met at the Farm. It was my lowest point. I was so far down, it felt like I’d fallen into a black hole.”
“Oh, honey, I’ve always loved you, even though I couldn’t take care of you.” She smooths her gentle hand through my hair. “You were so special to me. I kept track of your accomplishments. Kept looking for you on social media. You were so beautiful in the Operation Persephone ads, and I wished you would visit the Farm.”
“I’m curious about the favor you called in.” I wipe my lips with a napkin and take a sip of iced tea. “Are you cleared to talk about it?”
She glances at the lawyers and they nod. Taking my hand, she presses it. “I used to work for a man high up in Operation Persephone. I knew I was only one of many massage therapists who gave him happy endings, but I was the only one who refused to get an abortion.”
Her words are a slap across my face. Heath moves closer and puts his good arm around my shoulders. I lean toward him and let go of my mother’s hand.
“Was he one of the traffickers? The main trafficker?”
“I don’t know. I ran away and raised you myself until you were five. But he tracked me down and said he wanted to adopt you. I was against it, knowing he already has a wife and family. What kind of life would you have? I took a chance by putting you and Slade in the system. Maybe I did the wrong thing, but I made a deal with him.”
The gnawing in my heart grinds harder, and my stomach drops into a knot. “A deal? You traded me for a deal?”
“I traded your safety, yes. When he got in a bit of trouble with the law, I gave him an alibi.”
“You lied for him?” I glance at the lawyers.
“She has complete immunity. They’re interested in the big guys,” the female lawyer says.
“I did, and I’m ashamed of protecting a predator, but he is your father.”
“I don’t know if I want to know.” I hold my hands to my head. “He’s not Slade’s father?”
“No. Only yours. He promised to clean up his act, and he donated his money to rescue people from human trafficking. He never trafficked—you have to understand that—he was a client, but he knew about the Greasleys. He cut a deal with the Feds and turned over his data to the police and law enforcement.” Her voice quavers as she stares at me with pleading eyes. “Please forgive me, but with you in the system, I was afraid you’d be trafficked. He placed a ban on trafficking you, so that while you were at the Greasleys, it guaranteed your safety.”
Little does she know that they allowed Gavin to abuse me for himself.
“Who is this man?” Heath asks. His body is stiff, and I can feel his pulse pounding.
“He’s one of the good guys,” Mom says. “When Slade told me you were pregnant and how Gavin wanted you to abort the baby, I called in my one favor. He told me he would take care of it. Hire a protector. He wouldn’t tell Slade who, only to get you away from Seattle. I assume it was you, Heath.”
“Yes,” Heath replies. “Why don’t you tell Remi what this guy did to me? Why I’m not on the police force. All because you gave him an alibi. My career was ruined.”
