Finding Forgiveness(25)

A sick feeling twisted inside of Roman.

“Hunter told his father that Finn assaulted him.”

“No,” Roman whispered.

Luke took over the story. “Hunter’s father had Finn arrested for assault. Callan managed to get the charges against Finn dismissed but Hunter’s father made sure the story got out. Nearly the entire town turned against Finn.”

Roman felt like he was going to be sick. He couldn’t reconcile the act with the Hunter he knew.

“It gets worse,” Gray said.

How the hell could it get worse?

“Finn’s father beat him so badly that night when he got home that he ended up in the hospital. Callan kicked his father off the ranch and Finn hasn’t seen or spoken to him since.”

“Did Hunter…did he know what happened to Finn?”

“According to Rhys, Hunter left town the next day,” Luke explained.

“It has to be some kind of mistake,” Roman said.

Gray and Luke remained silent at that.

“Is that it? Or is there more?”

“Roman, Dare isn’t exactly a mecca of gay-friendly people,” Gray said. “I mean, it’s getting better but back then the majority of people just saw Finn as some kind of deviant and with Hunter’s father fanning the flames…well, they didn’t make it easy for Finn, or for Callan for that matter.”

“What happened?”

“It started small…the stores would refuse Finn service, people called him names, that sort of thing. Then they started going after Callan because he refused to fire Finn. He couldn’t get fair prices for his cattle, he and Finn had to go to other towns to buy supplies.” Gray glanced at Luke before continuing. “At one point, a couple of guys poisoned the water supply on Callan’s land. It killed half his stock. They also kept cutting the fences and a few months ago they burned down his barn. Finn got shot in the process.”

Roman pushed back his chair and stood. “Jesus,” he muttered as he began pacing back and forth in the small kitchen. His first instinct was to go into the bedroom and make Hunter explain what he’d been thinking when he’d spouted that terrible lie. And why the hell hadn’t he come forward and told the truth?

And then an image of Hunter bent over that pool table flashed in his mind and his anger gave way to pity. Hunter may have made a foolish, unthinking choice but he hadn’t walked away completely unscathed. Roman returned to the chair and dropped his head into his hands.

“He’s punishing himself for it,” he said quietly.

“His arm?” Luke asked.

Roman nodded. “That and other stuff,” he said, unwilling to share the details of what the bikers had done to Hunter…what he’d allowed them to do in some sick attempt to make sure he’d paid for what he’d done to Finn.

“It’s called self-harming,” Luke said. “They taught us about it in the army so we’d be able to recognize the signs in other soldiers.”

“Is it related to PTSD?” Gray asked.

“It can be. It’s a coping mechanism,” Luke explained. “I met a guy in basic training who used to do it when he was a teenager. His parents thought he just doing it to get attention and his shrink was convinced he was just doing it for the rush.”

“The rush?” Roman asked.

“Yeah, I guess for some people, the act actually causes them to feel pleasure but for most it’s about finding relief or feeling in control.”

“I’m scared to death he’s going to do it again,” Roman whispered. “Or worse…”

Roman’s thoughts were interrupted by Ripley’s excited barking. Gray looked around the kitchen. “She must be by the back door,” he murmured as he stood to check on her.

But Roman was already up and hurrying to the guest bedroom. Panic went through him when he saw the empty bed and he quickly ducked into the bathroom to make sure it was empty. It was so he left the room.

“Mud room’s back there,” Gray said from just behind him.

Roman followed the sound of the barking dog. There was a small room at the end of the hallway with a door leading out the back of the cabin. When he didn’t see Hunter anywhere, fear curdled in his gut.

“Ripley will find him,” Gray said as he pushed the door open. “Go,” he nodded to Roman.

Roman trotted after the dog. Although he quickly lost sight of her, she kept up her excited barking and it took him just minutes to catch up to Hunter who was striding through a heavily wooded area.

“Hunter,” he called as he got closer but Hunter ignored him. It wasn’t until he actually grabbed Hunter’s arm that the young man rounded on him and hit Roman in the chest with his closed fists.