Page 135 of Forged in Rain

He’s mostly slept since we found him, and I’m loath to interrupt his peace, so I’ll have to wait to hear his story.

In addition to the severe beating, Mom is also dehydrated, and she was taken into emergency surgery two hours ago. I’m sitting in the small waiting room, dozing while I wait.

Per the doctors, she’s bleeding in her brain. The prognosis isn’t great, but I’m hoping with every fiber of my being that I’m not going to lose her, too.

Every time I close my eyes, I see my dad’s ghostly face and wake with a start, the nightmare starting all over in my head.

Cyn is down the hall making calls. To whom, I don’t know, and right now, I really don’t care. I need this to be over, but with John out there somewhere, alive, I fear it never will be.

And Iris . . . shit. Closing my eyes, I push away the specter because I can’t worry about her either. She made her choice, such as it is.

“Beauty?”

“Hmm,” I mumble, opening my eyes.

Cyn sits beside me, his bright green eyes shadowed with concern, and he looks me over before turning his gaze to Joey, lying beside me with his head in my lap.

“We have to decide what to do.” He turns to me with a gentle smile, but I see the darkness he can’t hide. He’s as disturbed by the events as me.

“About what?” I whisper.

“What we’re going to say to the police.” Searching his gaze, I nod and bow my head. If we tell them, this will only get bigger, but how can I not? That man killed my father.

“Beauty, whatever you decide, it’s the right choice. But if you involve them, McCafferty won’t be happy,” he says, brushing a strand of hair from my face.

“Then what do we do?” I ask, leaning into his hand. I crave his warmth because I feel downright icy.

“We tell him, McCafferty.”

“And what will he do?” I huff, pulling away and glancing at Joey, whose chest rises and falls in a gentle cadence that soothes me.

I’ll do whatever I need to protect him. Anything. Including hunting down the piece of shit who killed my father and ending his existence.

But McCafferty hasn’t exactly inspired me to trust him. This could be another mistake in a long line of them, and we can’t afford the risk.

Cyn sighs, running his hands through his hair, and my heart pulses at his fatigue. I don’t know what I would do without him and I don’t plan on ever finding out.

“John is a liability. If we come clean and ask for help, we’ll owe McCafferty a favor, but we’ll be under his protection.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, my throat dry. I’m so fucking tired.

He pulls me into his arms, stroking my hair, and I breathe him in as he says, “Yes, beauty. It’s the only way. I promise I will never let anyone hurt you.”

“Okay.” I’m not sold on the idea, but I trust Cyn to know about this world better than me.

∞∞∞

Mom made it through surgery, but she’s been put into a medically induced coma. This will allow her time to heal and hopefully for the swelling to go down now that they’ve stopped the bleeding. We don’t know where her journey will lead after this, but I have hope because she’s alive.

No surprise, the police appeared to question everyone. Joey wasn’t able to say much beyond that a bad man took him and our mom. My skin positively itched with the need to make John pay when Joey explained that he was put into a hole and left there.

Beyond hearing the screams of what I presume was my mother’s beating and my father’s death, he couldn’t say much more.

The guys and I agreed to tell the police that I went out to the cabin to meet up with my family, who borrowed the cabin for a mini-vacation.

With my boyfriend and friends along, we unknowingly stepped into a nightmare. It’s a simplistic and utterly ridiculous story, but in the end, all we could come up with was a camping trip gone wrong.

Although understandably suspicious, the cops left with warnings of further questioning before heading out to the cabin.

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