When she’d named them one by one, including my father, my heart dropped. These men needed to be taken down, every single one of them, including my corrupt father. He’d tried to control me for years and once he figured out I was done with living my life to his standards, he had no problem letting me walk away. I had no idea he’d descended to this kind of darkness, preying on my daughter for his sick game.
I closed my eyes, caressing her hair and I looked over at Grace. She smiled, her green eyes full of kindness and compassion. Blade was right when he said I was going to love them. I hadn’t really gotten to know them yet, but what I’d seen so far was impressive.
A knock at the door surprised all three of us.
Grace walked over to the door and looked through the peephole.
She looked back at us with alarm.
“Who is it?”
“Derek,” she replied. She walked over to her purse and pulled out a gun, putting it in the back of her waistband.
“Just in case,” she whispered. “Do you want me to let him in?”
I nodded, adrenaline pumping through my veins. She grabbed her phone and sent a quick text to Ryder, then we walked over to the door, flinging it open as I came face-to-face with Derek.
“Rose!” he cried in surprise.
“Hello, asshole.”
“What are you doing here?” he asked, confusion storming in his eyes.
“I could ask you the same thing,” I said.
He looked up and down the hallway suspiciously, then turned back to me, his eyes searching mine.
“Can I come in? Please?”
“Fine,” I said, moving out of the way. I felt more comfortable than I might have had Grace not had that gun. I wasn’t sure what the hell Derek was up to but I knew I didn’t trust him anymore, if I ever had.
“Maggie!” he cried, as he walked in and saw her sitting there. “You’re here too? What the hell? Where’s Clem?”
“I dropped her off at her friend’s house for a few hours on the way over,” I replied.
“How do you know these people?” he asked, looking at Grace.
“It’s a small town, right, Dad?” Maggie said, her voice laced with sarcasm. “What are you doing here?”
“I was looking for Hannah,” he said. “I um, I wanted to talk to her about her sister.”
“You always make consultation house calls to hotel rooms?” I asked. “That’s a new one.”
He looked nervous and shaky. I almost felt sorry for him, but then I remembered that he very well could be trying to kill our daughter, and any sympathy I had for him died away.
The mama lioness in me roared to life and I couldn’t take it anymore. I closed the distance between us, getting in his face.
“Derek, what the fuck is going on? What are you up to?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Cut the shit,” I said.
Anger flashed in his eyes, but he still resisted.
“I told you. I came to talk to my patient’s family member. I was under the impression you and Hannah were in the same room, Grace.”
“Is Cherry okay?” Grace asked.
“Yes,” he said, nodding.
“Dad,” Maggie called out, her voice shaking. “Why did you tell Beddingham you were going to take care of me?”
The blood drained from his face and he froze.
“Um, I just, um, I meant —.”
“—Were you going to kill me? Let them kill me?”
“Magnolia!” he cried, admonishing her. “How dare you say such a thing!”
“How dare I?” she shouted. “I saw them! Did you know that? I saw the murders, I saw those men in the cemetery and I saw what they did! And all this time, you’ve been hanging around with them. Are you involved now? Are you one of them?”
He looked like he’d been slapped. I felt like I’d been slapped myself. This was all too much. I knew Derek was a terrible person, but murder?
He was frozen in place by being confronted by his daughter, and time seemed to stand still until a loud sob escaped from him. He fell to the floor and I watched in amazement as he started crying — deep, pitiful, wracking sobs.
“Dad?” Maggie called out. Grace and I exchanged looks and she gratefully took over.
“Derek, what’s going on? We’re here to help. You’re not alone. If you’ve gotten yourself in over your head, let us help you.”
I was amazed at her calm words and even more so when he looked up at her, nodding gratefully with tears falling down his face.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, his words ripping from his throat painfully. “I’m so, so sorry, I fucked up so badly…”
“Derek?” I whispered, disbelief washing over me.
“I didn’t know how to fix it, Rose, I’m so sorry,” he cried. “Maggie, I’m so sorry baby, I love you so much!”
Maggie ran to him, throwing her arms around him and crying with him.
Chapter 53
BLADE
We were on our way back to the hotel with a couple of pizzas when Ryder got a text.
“Fuck!” He growled. “Derek’s at the hotel room. Step on it, Riot.”
Riot sped up and my heart pounded in my chest, the last few blocks seeming to take a lifetime to maneuver. As soon as he pulled up, I took off running.
If that motherfucker hurt Maggie or Rose, I was going to kill him.
As we got closer to the room, I could hear Rose’s voice through the door.
“You were going to kill our daughter?” she shouted. I busted through the door and froze at the sight of Derek on the floor crying and Rose standing over him, shouting at him.
“They blackmailed me!” Derek insisted, his voice cracking with fear. “They were going to choose for me if I didn’t choose one! Anton’s evil, Rose! He was making me choose between Clem and Maggie and I didn’t know what to do. Cherry figured it all out. She followed us for weeks, and then listened in on our meeting. I panicked and ran her off the road. When I saw she was
