Episode 105

Episode 105

Man to Man

RHODES

"You sure you're okay, Em?" Maia spoke into her cell phone as I led us out of the hotel room in Colorado. We'd touched down late Friday night, and were now headed to breakfast. I needed to give her the rundown of what Bruno's team had provided about her family. And it wasn't pretty.

"I know you're thirteen and very capable. Still, your uh, Dad and I wanted to check in." Her gaze flicked to me, and I smiled and shook my head at her tactic of adding my concern into the mix when in reality, Maia was devastated to leave Emily in California.

Of course, I, too, was concerned about Emily being with Portia for the weekend while we were in Colorado. However, I had a long talk with Marisol, the woman I technically left in charge. And Marisol was a Mexican American grandma who would take absolutely none of Portia's bullshit. She'd make sure Emily was safe physically and emotionally. Besides, she'd call at the slightest provocation. The woman hated my ex and would find every reason to rat on her in the hopes I'd kick Portia out of all of our lives forever.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop worrying. Keep your phone and Apple watch on you at all times. Text me, I mean us when you get back from the spa." Maia closed her eyes and sighed. "I love you, too, Emily. We'll be home soon." She frowned and then hung up.

"You realize that was the third time you've checked on her since we left yesterday?" I grinned and looped my arm around her shoulders, keeping her close as we took the elevator down to the lobby. Colorado was beautiful. I could absolutely see why so many people made the state their home.

Maia pressed her lips together and shrugged.

"Hey, I'm not going to be mad about your concern over Em. She loves it and you as much as I do," I rubbed her arm.

"I don't trust Portia, and after everything Emily endured…"

I nuzzled her temple and placed a light kiss there. "I know. I agree. Under different circumstances, we'd have stayed home, but I made you a promise. And after reading the file Bruno's team gave me on your family, I knew we had to make our move now."

Her shoulders slumped as she leaned closer to me. "That bad, huh?"

I inhaled through my nose and let it out. "Baby, it's the worst."

"Fuck," she breathed and closed her eyes briefly, giving herself a moment. Then, as I was used to seeing from my little sprite of a fiancée, she steeled her spine and stood up straighter.

We walked to the restaurant and followed the host to the private balcony I'd reserved for a few hours. Once we'd finished eating, I asked the staff not to bother us further.

"Okay, Rhodes, lay it on me," Maia said as she sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest protectively.

I flipped open the file.

"Let's start with your stepfather, Damon." I glanced up to see Maia nod, her eyes going glassy as she looked out at the landscape. "He's been the Chief Marshal of this county for over a decade. A decorated officer for fifteen years prior to that. There are reports of complaints from a variety of citizens over the years. Unnecessary roughness, assault and battery, things like that. Each charge never making it to court. However, there were a couple women who came forward and stated they'd had a one-night stand that ended in sex and them getting beaten. Again, those charges were dropped. Jonah, the tech guy on Bruno's team, pulled those women's bank records and found a couple hefty deposits right around the time the charges were dropped."

"Not surprised. He'd make sure to cover his criminal activity. My mother called the authorities for help a couple different times when I was younger and got zero assistance seeing as his father was the Chief back then."

I gritted my teeth.

"What about my mom? Do you have anything about her?"

"Yeah," I reached across the table for her hand. She put it in mine, and I held on. "Don't let go, okay?"

Her face paled, but she dipped her head curtly.

"Lena Burke has been admitted to the local hospital over a dozen times for a variety of medical concerns including but not limited to a shattered cheek bone, broken nose, ribs, arms, wrist, and more. The last emergency was supposedly for falling down a flight of stairs. She was in a neck brace and had to have surgery for that one."

"The house doesn't have a second story unless they moved." Maia's nostrils flared as her eyes filled with unshed tears.

"They've been in the same house for over fifteen years," I whispered.

"And my sister Maisie and brother Zach?"

"Zach has been hospitalized a few times. Mostly broken bones. Once for internal bleeding and a head wound from a car accident. All four of them were seen for various injuries after that accident. Says here your mother was driving and didn't realize how sharp the turn was."

"That's impossible. Damon would never have let her drive. She didn't even have a license or a car, otherwise she'd be able to leave him. Mom was forced to ride the bus or wait for Damon to come home to even do the grocery shopping. She wasn't allowed to have a bank account or her own phone. That's why we used the convalescent hospital to check in with each other."

Anger coiled in my stomach like a venomous snake ready to strike. I couldn't wait to take down this motherfucker.

I flipped through her records, noting Lena's name wasn't listed on the single SUV that was registered to Damon Burke. No insurance account for Lena either, only Damon.

"Mom has nothing in her own name. That's why I had to enter the auction. Secure enough money to ensure I could restart all of our lives." Her bottom lip trembled.

I squeezed her hand. "I understand completely, and you no longer have to worry about money or finding a proper residence. We'll have your mom and siblings move to California with us. They can live in the guesthouse for as long as they like. It's three bedrooms and two bathrooms, with a small kitchen, living room, laundry room, and its own entrance. They can stay forever if they want. Whatever your family needs, we're going to provide for them."

Maia gave me a small smile, and it settled the snake hissing within my gut. Nevertheless, I hadn't shared the worst of it. The next part was going to destroy my beautiful fiancée, and I despised being the one to have to share this news with her.

"What about my sister Maisie?" she asked.

"Maybe you've had enough for one day…" I tried to spare her the ugliness, protect her from the pain I knew was coming.

Maia stood up and cocked her head. "What aren't you telling me, Rhodes? I know that look. You're more than upset, which mean it's bad." Her voice shook as she hugged herself.

I swallowed down the sour taste threatening to make me vomit all the food I'd just eaten.

"What happened to my sister, Rhodes? Did he beat her too? Was she hospitalized for more than broken bones?"

"No broken bones." I cleared my throat. "Uh, last year, Maisie was admitted into the hospital for an elective surgery."

"Elective?" She rubbed her arms as though she were cold. "What type of surgery?"

"She received an outpatient procedure, a D&C."

Maia's arms dropped, and she bent forward, bracing them on the back of her chair. "A D&C on a twelve-year-old girl… No…she, she couldn't have…"

"She had an abortion, Maia. File says she was eight weeks along."

"What!" she screeched.

I held out my arm. "Come here, baby."

"My baby sister had an abortion at twelve years old," she croaked, tears falling down her cheeks so fast I wouldn't have been surprised to see a puddle of water at her feet. "My stepbrother Derrick did this," she hissed through her teeth, her eyes wild. "He hurt her. I fucking know it was him!" she sobbed. "I hoped since they were blood-related, he wouldn't touch her in that way, but that sick and twisted motherfucker did it anyway! Oh my god, Maisie!"

"Maia." My own voice was hoarse as I put the file down, got up, and pulled her into my arms. Her face went straight to my chest as her body convulsed, the pain flooding through her body like lava. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," I chanted over and over as she broke within the safety of my arms.

"I'm going to kill him. I don't know how, I don't know when, but I'm going to kill him," she swore against my chest.

For the rest of the afternoon, Maia stayed huddled up in the hotel bed, alternating between crying and asking more questions about her family's history.

Eventually, she asked about the disgusting piece of shit also known as her stepbrother.

"Where is Derrick now?"

I scanned the information we were given on Derrick Burke, and my stomach dropped to the floor. Sweat beaded on my forehead, and my hands became clammy.

"Rhodes?"

"Uh, it says here he graduated from Colorado State with honors in Physical Education. Fucking hell…" I cursed and then breathed through my need to be sick or punch this man in the face until there was nothing left but an unrecognizable mess of gore and bloody pulp.

Maia pushed up into a seated position, her back against the headboard. "Just tell me."

"He's teaching PE at the high school and coaches the girls volleyball team. He bought a house across the street from your mom and stepfather."

"Oh, sweet Jesus," Maia said, covering her face with both of her hands. "I should have gone to the police in another state and filed charges, but I was too scared. I didn't have a family or a home. I lived on the streets. I was filthy and half-starved most of the time. Who would believe some ‘runaway' over a decorated member of law enforcement or his son for that matter? That's what I was classified as—a runaway. Even though he kicked me out and threatened to kill me if I ever came back. I…I should have done more. Then maybe Maisie…"

I tossed the file on the nightstand, then turned to Maia and pulled her into my arms. She came willingly.

"You were a child. A teenager yourself. Scared and alone. The fact that you aren't dead, a prostitute, or some junkie in the streets is a testament to your strength and will to survive. Since the moment I met you, your entire focus has been on finding a way back here. To help your mom and siblings. There's nothing more you could have done. Get that outta your head right now. I'll not have you, an innocent victim of multiple years of abuse, taking on the burden of their crimes. No way. All of this is on them, and they will be punished."

"You promise?" she whispered.

"I promise to do absolutely everything I can to get your family away from those men and to have justice served. They cannot use the law to protect themselves from the filthy crimes being committed behind the scenes any longer."

Maia clung to me as she buried her head between where my neck and shoulder met. The warmth of her breath was a comforting sensation battling against the fury boiling within my soul.

We stayed that way for a long time, neither of us talking, both simply breathing the other in and holding on tight.

* * * *

The funeral hall was mostly quiet as we entered. Only a dozen or so people, either sitting down in one of the pews or standing and chatting with one another, were in attendance. The door behind us slammed closed, causing most of the people in the funeral home to turn around at the noise.

A woman with the same face and beauty as Maia was the first to make eye contact. She was sitting in the first pew, with a few people beside her. When her teary gaze transformed into a look of sheer terror at the sight of Maia, my stomach lurched with concern. Sitting next to who I believed was Lena, Maia's mother, was a teenaged girl, hair down around her face. She glanced up long enough that I could see her face more clearly, eyes the color of warm caramel. But those eyes were vacant, devoid of any light or emotion. I assumed the girl was Maisie. To the young girls right was a young man, maybe in his mid to late twenties. His arm was locked around the girl. His lips curled in disgust when his dark gaze landed on Maia, putting me on instant alert.

Evil oozed from that young man's gaze as he glared in our direction. Maia held my hand so tight I was no longer getting any blood to my fingers, but I wouldn't dare let go.

"That's Derrick," she half-whimpered.

Lena, stood up and swayed, her hand over her heart, focus completely on Maia. That was when the man sitting next to her stood, a snarl on his thin lips. He had a too-long mustache, beady little eyes, and bushy blond eyebrows. When he stood, his rounded gut hung over his belt, the buttons of his dress shirt straining against the bulk. His stance and bravado screamed "I'm the man in charge," which pegged him as Damon, Maia's stepfather.

Next to Damon sat a young male teenager with light hair. He watched us approach with a curious expression plastered across his pale face. His eyes were the same color as his younger sister's but held an edge of despair. His bottom lip was scabbed over from what could only be a recent injury. When he lifted his arm to the back of the pew, I noticed his wrist was also in a cast.

Motherfucker.

I had to hold my breath in order to bank the anger that wanted to come out like a category five hurricane, obliterating everything in its wake.

"Maia!" The woman finally gasped and dashed toward us, her hands up in the air, her eyes wild with concern. "Honey, no, you shouldn't be here!" she cried on a sob, embracing her daughter. "I left a note," she whispered into Maia's ear, but I was close enough to hear every word.

"I know, Mama, but we need to talk."

"Well, well, well," came a sneering tone from behind the women. "Look what the cat dragged in from the garbage."

Lena dropped her arms from Maia and went straight to her husband's side on autopilot. "I had no idea she was coming. I'm sorry, Damon. They'll just be on their way…" she pleaded almost hysterically. In this light, I could now see the ring of bruises around her neck—as though someone had been strangling her. Not to mention the poor job she'd done covering up the black eye and swollen cheekbone she sported with makeup.

"Excuse me?" I interrupted. "This is the funeral for Evelyn Fields, Maia's grandmother, is it not?"

"It is." Damon practically spat, his eyes flicking from me to Maia.

"Then we're in the right place." I held out my hand, pretending to be civil. "I'm Rhodes Davenport, Maia's fiancé. When we heard about Evelyn's passing, we hopped on a plane to be with her family and mourn together. It's good to meet you."

Lena didn't say a word, nor take my hand. Damon reached out, a scowl marring his ugly mug, and took my hand, gripping it unnecessarily hard, not that I'd give him the benefit of showing it affected me at all. Instead, I tightened my own hold until he ripped his hand away, shaking it as though it were burned.

"Fiancé huh? You must not know her history…the filthy, little, lying slut," he sneered at Maia.

I took Maia's elbow and pushed her behind my considerable bulk. Her stepfather might be law enforcement, but I was taller, in shape, and knew without a shadow of doubt I could bring him to his knees with one punch if I were so inclined.

"What did you say?" I got up close and personal with Damon, my face only inches from his.

"You heard me," he sneered, but stepped back, then shifted his blazer to show his shiny badge. "You might want to settle down, Mr. Davenport. You wouldn't want to go to jail for threatening an officer of the law, now would you?"

"I asked you what you said, and I didn't so much as touch you. How in the world could that be threatening?"

As I'd hoped, the four bodyguards I'd paid to travel with us appeared out of nowhere. Damn ninjas, though this time I was grateful for their agility and stealth.

"There a problem, Mr. Davenport?" the lead guard asked.

Damon clocked the guards one by one. "Is this an ambush?" he growled.

"Does it need to be? My understanding is we're here to lay Maia's grandmother to rest and have a few words with her mother before we head back to California."

"Lena talks to no one without my say so, and I'm going to have to not-so-politely decline your invitation for a chat. Anyone associated with her"—he hissed as he gestured to Maia—"is nothing but trouble."

"Okay, but that means I'll be forced to speak with Kate Bennings and Cheryl Kent, along with the dozens of lawyers I have on retainer, about a certain experience they had with an officer of the law. Hmmm…" I rubbed at my bottom lip. "Apparently, someone hurt those two young women, threatened their lives, and demanded they sign settlement agreements for a sum of ten thousand dollars to keep their assault quiet. That's blackmail, but as an officer yourself, I'm sure you already know about that."

Damon stepped forward, coming toe to toe with me. "You want play with the big boys, bucko, I'm game. Name the place and time, we can meet alone. Man to man."

I huffed a dry laugh. "Man to man? Is that what you think you are? Listen—" I dipped my head forward conspiratorially. "If a man needs to beat his wife and kids to feel like the king of his castle, he's no man at all. And if that said man allows another to repeatedly abuse his stepdaughter, well, I believe that is called an accessory to a crime. And I also believe that when a parent kicks their teenager out of the house at gunpoint after beating them up, it's another form of child abuse. What do you think?"

"I think there is a statute of limitations that we're well past. Besides, I am the law. What I say goes. And I want you and your two-bit whore to get the fuck outta my town before I put a bullet between both of your eyes and drop you over the side of a cliff where no one will ever find you."

That was when I pulled my phone out of my pocket and showed the front of the screen. "I recorded all of that. I'm sure a jury of your peers will be okay with you blindly using your badge as your personal golden ticket to commit whatever crimes you want and not suffer any consequences. Unless, of course, you want to shut the fuck up, sit down, let this family put their matriarch to rest and have a quiet little chat without you or your goons present."

"You're going to regret ever setting foot in my town," Damon sneered.

"Got that on record too. You're just digging the hole deeper and deeper. Now, Mrs. Burke, it's good to finally meet you. Please, if you will"—I gestured to a pew about twenty back from the front—"I'm sure your daughter would like to sit with her mother and siblings as they say goodbye to their grandmother. Your presence is not needed," I snapped.

"Yeah, well, I'll be back—with a warrant for your arrest. Derrick, you're with me!" He hollered over his shoulder. Derrick moved like a snake, not saying a single word as he followed his father.

I lifted my hand and waggled my fingers. "My lawyer is already waiting at the hotel. Do your worst."

Damon pointed at Lena. "You have no idea the hellfire coming your way."

I smiled as I watched him and his eldest son follow him out of the building.

"Mom, we have to talk. We don't have much time…" Maia started her spiel, delving straight into our plan to get them out of Colorado and away from the devil and his spawn.