Lachlan
This entire experience was an exercise in extreme restraint, especially when Agent Hawkins knocked on the door to serve the search warrant, expecting Dax to be in Tampa for the game. Where I should have been.
So to see him answer the door when he’d never missed a playoff game before unsettled me. Made me want to jump out of the back of Agent Hawkins’ SUV and storm up to him as he sat on his front porch, an officer watching over him, while the police searched his house for anything that could connect him to Domenic Jaskulski, all while Dax claimed to know absolutely nothing.
To make matters worse, Detective Walker showed up and, after a brief argument with Agent Hawkins, was allowed to be part of the search.
“I guess no news is good news, right?” Julia remarked nervously as she rubbed her hands down her jeans, unable to mask her apprehension. “Then again, in my case, no news is probably bad news.”
“Hey.” I cupped her cheeks, leaning my forehead against hers, hoping this gesture, this connection, gave her the strength she needed.
Hoping it gave me the strength I needed.
“It’s going to be okay. Curran isn’t going to give up until Imogene is home. You can’t, either.” I narrowed my gaze on her. “You just have to…” I trailed off when I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye, glancing over Julia’s shoulder as a crime scene tech exited the house carrying a large evidence bag.
And in that bag was a familiar backpack.
Imogene’s backpack.
“No…,” I exhaled before realizing it.
“What?” Julia turned in her seat, eyes following my line of sight, releasing a cry.
I wrapped my arms around her, kissing the top of her head, hoping to offer some comfort in a world that was spinning more and more out of control with every passing moment.
I tried to keep my anger in check. Tried to focus on what Julia needed.
But I couldn’t stay silent. Not anymore. I’d kept it to myself ever since Ethan came over and informed us of his theory about Dax.
But it wasn’t just a theory anymore.
I didn’t do enough to stand up for Claire when she was alive.
I’d be damned if I made that same mistake where Julia was concerned.
And Imogene.
Releasing Julia from my hold, I opened the door and jumped from the SUV, ignoring her reminders that Agent Hawkins insisted we stay here. With every step I took, my nostrils flared a little more, fists clenching and unclenching.
“Lachlan?” Dax began as I approached. “What are you—”
Before he could utter another syllable, I reeled back, fist connecting with his face, a crack echoing in the night air.
“Where the fuck is she?” I demanded, my face inches from his, finding a sick sort of satisfaction in the blood spilling from his nose.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Dax insisted, expression contorted in pain as he scrambled to get away from me.
A group of uniformed officers rushed toward me, attempting to restrain me. It took four of them to finally handle my strength.
“Bullshite, Dax,” I seethed as another officer tended to the blood dripping onto his crisp, white shirt. “Bull-fucking-shite. I know everything. Know who you really are. Know your biological father is Domenic Jaskulski. Know you volunteer for the same outreach ministry that visited the prison where that sick fuck’s been an inmate the past several years. Know you dated Autumn Quinn in the months before she allegedly took her own life. Except she didn’t, did she? She was killed!” I shouted as I fought against the officers restraining me, kicking up dirt as my ears pounded, pulse elevated.
“You killed her! Just like you tried to kill Piper. And me. And Claire.” I sucked in a shaky breath, everything coming full circle. “Then you really did kill Claire, didn’t you? She figured it all out. She saw you for who you really were, so you killed her. You killed my sister, you sick son of a bitch!”
My fury seeming to give me even more strength, I managed to break free from the officers and reeled back.
Just as I was about to connect with his face again, he shouted, “I didn’t kill her! I fucking loved her!”
I paused, mid-strike, his words ringing out around me.