Page 117 of Tristano

“We moved your friend to the safe house. We didn’t want her to be out in the open with the information she might have. She could be under surveillance by these criminals.”

His words make sense, but they don’t sit right with me. We only use the safe house for stings. Why wouldn’t he bring her back to the station?

I think back to the last time I saw Meredith. It’s likely that she would have refused to go to the station, so maybe this is his way of making her comfortable?

Once we get to the house, I get out, following Uncle Ben up the stairs. He unlocks the door, shutting off the alarm.

Noise from the living room draws me that way, leaving Uncle Ben to trail behind me.

What I find shocks me.

Meredith is here alright, but she’s not here willingly. She’s hogtied on the couch, mascara running down her face.

“What is going on in here?” I spin to my uncle.

Only Uncle Ben isn’t alone. Nigel is with him.

“I told you to mind your own fucking business, but you had to go and start shit, didn’t you?” Uncle Ben hisses.

A knot forms in my stomach.

No. Not Uncle Ben.

He was my father’s best friend. My grandfather’s favorite officer. He took me in after I was left with no one. He wasn’t the most loving father figure, but he still gave me a roof over my head and food in my belly.

How could he do this?

“What did I start?” I ask, edging toward the couch.

He waves his hand. “No need to be sneaky. Go sit next to your whore of a friend. Of course you would befriend such a slut. You were always a bit of a slut yourself.”

Having his permission, I rush over to her.

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

I frown when I see her underwear torn off under her skirt, sticky fluid dripping from her. Looking over my shoulder, I glare at the two men.

“Who raped her? Can’t get women on your own, so you have to resort to tying them down and taking it without permission? How manly.”

Uncle Ben frowns over at Nigel.

“Did you stick your dick in that cesspool?” He smacks him across the back of the head. “You idiot. Now we have to bleach her before we dump her. I should have never knocked up your mother. She didn’t have any brain cells.”

Turning back to me, he gives me a wicked smile. “Boys will be boys, right?”

“You are disgusting. You knew all along? That’s why you wouldn’t investigate.”

“Knew? Hell, I organized it. Back in my beat days, I got real close with some of the local criminals. After a while, I realized that instead of putting them away, I could use them, so I made them my friends and quickly got them doing my bidding. I would keep the heat off them while they committed the crimes. Then I was approached by this European man. He said if I helped assist him with his trade, he would keep my pockets lined. So my men became his. We’ve been doing it for years. Since way before I took you in.”

My stomach rolls at his admission. The sheer number of girls he’s probably helped abduct is disgusting.

“Why let me become a cop?”

He shakes his head. “You’re my greatest failure. After your father passed away, your grandfather decided he wanted me to be his right-hand man. It was all fine and well until he caught me giving coordinates to one of my guys one day. He followed them there and found out about my side hustle. My men saw him though and alerted me. He confronted me right there in the office I now hold. I couldn’t let him out me, so before he could, I forced him to eat some strychnine. Then I left him for the morning crew to find.”

“Serena, darling, your grandfather suffered a heart attack.” Uncle Ben kneels before me.

“He’s okay though, right?” my little voice asks.

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