“Oh, Molly,” Mrs. Hawthorne said sadly when we finally reached her. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Will said quietly.
“I do,” Grease mumbled gruffly. “Hold her tight.”
I turned my head just as he set a familiar weight on the curve of my body.
“Mama,” Rebel said in relief, leaning forward to rest against my chest. “Mama. Reb.”
I shuddered, a sob bursting out of my mouth. I pulled her in tight, ignoring the way her heavy weight put painful pressure on my arm. “Hello, princess,” I blubbered, kissing her head. “I missed you.”
“Take them back to your room,” Mrs. Hawthorne ordered Will. “They need to get some rest.”
“Are you sure?” I asked quietly, meeting Grease’s eyes.
“Yeah,” he said simply, not asking me to clarify. “He fought like hell, though. Took one of the fuckers with him.”
“Which one?” I mumbled through numb lips.
“Tall. Dark hair.”
“Okay.” That was the guy who’d held me. The other big guy had light hair, almost blonde.
Will carried us back through the room while I held Reb snug against my chest. She was smoothing her fingers through my hair repeatedly, humming a song that only she knew. I wondered if the events of the day would mark her somehow, or if for once, her inattention would work in our benefit.
Oh, who was I kidding? Rebel was never truly inattentive. She saw everything. She just didn’t respond the way other kids would. Rebel might not freak out in a way that any other parent would notice, but she’d be fighting her own demons somehow. I pressed my lips against the top of her head as Will carried us through the door to his room, thankful that she was letting me hold her at all.
“Trix bought some Pull-Ups earlier,” Will said as he set us down on the bed. He stood there awkwardly as Rebel climbed off my lap and laid down against his pillow.
“He would’ve died either way,” I said croakily, raising my eyes to meet Will’s. Looking for absolution. “If I hadn’t been there, they still would’ve killed him.”
“Yes,” he replied firmly, crouching down in front of me. His hand lifted up and wrapped around the side of my neck. “They would’ve killed him whether you were there or not. The minute they had him, it was over.”
“But I shouldn’t have been there,” I said softly.
“I wish to God you hadn’t been,” he murmured tenderly. “I’d take it all away if I could, sugar. But you bein’ there didn’t make one damn bit of difference for your dad—except maybe gave him the chance to say goodbye.”#p#分页标题#e#
“He knew before we left. He knew. I could tell.”
Will nodded. “And he still got you outta there. Good man.”
“He let them beat me, Will,” I whispered, my gaze holding his. “Why would he do that?”
“Don’t know, baby. Could be, he thought that nothin’ he’d say would help, which is probably true. They weren’t lettin’ you out of there without scarin’ the fuck outta you first.”
I let that sink in. Maybe Will was right. Maybe my dad had known from the beginning that they were going to beat me, but he hadn’t realized how bad until they’d broken my arm. That’s when he’d agreed to talk. When it had gone beyond a punch, he’d used his trump card.
Would they have let me go if he’d started begging them to when I’d first shown up? No. I knew deep in my gut that if my dad hadn’t held out, Reb and I would be dead. I closed my eyes and let out a shaky breath. If he would’ve started begging when I’d walked through the door, they would have taken the list and never let me and Rebel go. He would have looked weak.
“Do you think he told them? Did they get what they wanted?” I asked, opening my eyes again.
“Not sure, Moll. We’ll know soon, though.”
“Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath. I looked over my shoulder at Reb to find her watching us intently, her hands pulled tight against her chest.
“She won’t sleep without her stuff,” I murmured, looking back at Will. “I’ve tried before and she was still wide-awake at four in the morning.”
Going home didn’t even cross my mind, not when those men were out there somewhere. Surrounded by people in the clubhouse, I felt safe, the exact opposite of what I’d thought I would feel back when Will used to invite me out there.
“Got her blankets,” Will said, his lips tipping up in a smile. “Give me a sec.”