Atonement (The Protectors 6)

A good two minutes passed before Magnus said, “Her name was Jenna. She was seventeen when she and Matty disappeared two years ago.”

Fuck.

I managed to curb the curse word, but did the math in my head. The girl would have only been around fourteen or fifteen when she had Matty.

“I thought she’d just taken off with him for a few days to cool down, but when she didn’t call me asking for money…” Magnus’s voice dropped off momentarily. “I kept holding out hope, even though the cop in me knew what the odds were. Then Hawke showed up on my door last summer telling me he had proof she was gone.”

“But Matty was alive,” I said softly. “Did…did your daughter drop him off with Tate or something?”

Magnus shot me an odd look before turning his attention back to the road. I realized at some point we’d left the city limits, but I didn’t ask where we were going because I didn’t want him to stop telling me his story.

“Tate’s not actually Matty’s father,” Magnus finally admitted.

That was the last thing I expected him to say. “But he calls him Daddy,” I said stupidly. Of course, that wasn’t a precursor to a biological arrangement, but I was just completely floored. The connection between Tate and Matty was just so natural…hell, Matty even looked like Tate in some ways.

“Tate is Matty’s half-brother. Tate’s father was also Matty’s father.”

Now I had nothing to say. I shook my head because I didn’t know what else to do.

“Tate, his father and older brother lived in a little town about an hour from here called Lulling,” Magnus continued. “My daughter, Jenna, became involved with Tate’s older brother, Denny.”

“But you said Tate’s father was the one who-”

“The fucker raped Jenna,” Magnus bit out. “She was fourteen fucking years old.”

The venom in Magnus’s voice had me actually leaning back in my seat a bit. He’d always been calm and cool in my presence. Even during the encounter in the bathroom after he’d walked in on me and the catering guy, he’d been in control of his anger. But this…this was different. His rage was palpable and crackled around us until he finally managed to tamp it down.

Magnus scrubbed at his face with his hand before continuing. “The day she disappeared, she took Matty to Lulling looking for money and…and drugs.” Magnus shot me a glance as if waiting for my reaction, but I remained silent. I was in no position to judge, and no matter what kind of problems the girl had had, nothing merited the fate she’d ultimately met. “Denny and his father were dealing meth. I guess Jenna told them she’d come to me if they didn’t give her cash and drugs. Denny told Tate that their father…that he hit Jenna, knocking her out. He put her in his truck and then told Denny to get rid of Matty. They were both witnesses.”

I felt bile rise in my throat at that. “Fuck,” I whispered.

“Denny thought Matty was his kid so he didn’t do it. Tate came home that night and found Matty in their trailer along with Denny. He asked who Matty was, but Denny wouldn’t tell him. I guess…I guess Matty didn’t say much.”

Yeah, because the kid had been in fucking shock.

“Tate was planning to leave that night…he’d been trying to get away from his father and brother for years, but hadn’t had the money to do it until then. He took Matty with him when Denny was asleep. He saved my grandson’s life.”

“And Jenna?” I asked, though a part of me didn’t really want to know.

“Her body’s never been found,” Magnus said quietly and I swallowed the lump that got stuck in my throat when he wiped his hand across his eyes.

“Maybe she’s still-”

“No,” Magnus interrupted. “Denny and Tate’s father had a history of hurting women. Hawke’s wife was among the victims.”

Fuck, I felt like I was going to be sick.

“All that and then Matty gets fucking cancer?” I whispered without thinking. As soon as I realized how thoughtless my words must have sounded, I said, “Magnus,” and tried to form an apology, but the foreign words got stuck in my throat.

“I like that better,” Magnus said as he shot me a quick glance.

Confused, I asked, “What?”

“When you call me Magnus instead of Pop-pop.” He looked at me again, but this time his gaze lingered just a little bit longer. “You’ve done it twice now.”

His eyes returned to the road and I once again found myself speechless. Holy shit, he was keeping track of when I used his given name? What the hell did that even mean?

I stared out the window for a few minutes in the hopes I could get my bearings. A thought crossed my mind and I turned back to him. “If Tate isn’t Matty’s father, why is he…”