Reese

ChapterTwenty

The lightness of the mood dissipates as we get closer to home until we are all shrouded in darkness as we make our way up the steps of Graves’s colossal house.

We find him in the living room with Blink watching him warily from the sofa. Graves looks up as we enter and takes a sip of his drink. He grips the glass so tightly that I worry it will shatter.

“Graves, it’s okay,” I reassure him, but he shakes his head.

“It’s not. I should have told you sooner. I tried, but I could have tried harder.” He takes a swig of his drink, looking wistfully at his glass as if he wishes it were vodka instead of water, even though I know he doesn’t drink.

“Do you want us to leave so that you can talk to Mal alone?” Law asks him gently in a voice I can imagine him using as a cop to reassure victims.

“No. You might as well stay, then I only have to say it once. Besides, this way, you’ll know she’s safe, right? Wouldn’t want to leave your girl with a psycho.” He smiles sadly, thumping the glass on the table with so much force that the water sloshes over the rim..

“She’s our girl, Graves. All of ours. And I never thought for one second you’d hurt her,” Vega bites out.

“Never crossed my mind either,” Blink agrees.

The anger drains out of Graves as he looks over at us. “What do you guys know about DID?”

“Dissociative Identity Disorder, right?” Law asks.

Graves nods.

“Honestly? Not much,” Vega admits.

“Me either.” Blink winces, but Graves snorts.

“I’d rather you know nothing than have your brain filled with the Hollywood-perceived version. If movies were to be believed, I’d have an evil alter that went around slaughtering people anytime we switched.”

“Alter?” Vega asks.

“You met Glitch, right? He’s the one who fucked our girl.” He adds the “our” part sarcastically.

The room is blanketed in silence, nobody knowing quite what to say until I snort. “Guess I’m Glitch’s girl too, then.” I shrug.

Graves stares at me for a beat before he stands up and starts pacing, his hands running through his hair, making it look as wild as his eyes.

“You say that now, Mal, but you don’t really know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“So tell me. I should be the one who gets to decide, after all. Tell me everything I need to know, and we’ll go from there.”

The others sit quietly while Graves wrestles with himself. Just as suddenly, his jerky, erratic movements completely stop, and he turns slowly to look at me. “You won’t hurt him?” It’s a statement, a warning, a question. I feel Law tense beside me, but he stays quiet.

“No. I won’t hurt him. Glitch, right?” The change was so subtle that I’m not sure I would have noticed it if I hadn’t been paying such close attention to him.

“His sperm donor was a bad man, and I don’t mean he was a dick. He was evil. The kind of evil they make movies about. But because he was a man of God and rich to boot, a lot got buried and kept out of the mainstream media. Even when his crimes came to light, the small town he lived in refused to vilify him. To them, he was a bona fide hero, and nothing would change that.”

“It kills me to say this, but I’ve seen that happen more times than I care to admit during my time on the force,” Law admits.

Glitch looks at Law and assesses him with curiosity. “Were there cases where children were involved?”

Law’s jaw tightens, his hands fisting at his sides. He doesn’t say anything, just nods. I know a reel of ugly memories is playing a montage in his brain, so I reach over and link my fingers through his.

“Graves was trapped by the very ‘good folks’ who refused to see the monster living beside them. Because of that, they missed the signs of abuse, looked over the scars and bruises, and punished him for acting out instead of asking why he did the things he did.”

“The cigarette burns?” I ask softly.

“What the fuck?” Vega curses, but Glitch nods.