The Damaged (The Insiders Trilogy #2) - Tijan by Tijan

“Ser, honey. Honey. Sweetheart.”

“My dad went over to Seraphina, and he was trying to calm her down.”

Bang! Bang! Boom!

“The gunfire suddenly stopped, and then there was another explosion. It felt like the ground was breaking apart underneath us.”

Detective 1 said quietly, “One of your father’s guards blew up the propane tank on the property. He killed four of their men in that explosion.”

I hadn’t known. I knew now. And good.

I let that process, then I was back in that room.

Footsteps were stampeding. Yelling. Shouting. “No, no—” Bang!

“They got inside and they killed the guard that was in the hallway.”

It happened so fast after that. It’d been a blur.

The door was kicked open.

“My dad must’ve shut the door. I don’t remember when he did that, but they rushed inside.”

I had to stop.

The room was swirling around.

My chair felt like it was tipping over.

I grasped the table to keep my balance, and I kept talking, but I sounded drunk, even to myself.

“They were wearing black masks.”

Like when I’d been kidnapped. Like Arcane.

I had razor blades in my throat. I swallowed, talking, my tongue scraping over them.

“My dad didn’t have a gun. None of us did.”

They rushed inside.

“Hey!” Peter stood up. His hand shooting out. “You can’t—” Smack!

“They knocked him out.”

“Aaah!” Bloodcurdling screams punctured my eardrums.

“Seraphina was screaming.” My voice was so low, so quiet. I could barely hear myself. “She was so scared.”

I was being shaken, but it wasn’t me.

“My mom was still holding me.”

My voice gave out.

I couldn’t keep going.

A hand touched mine. One of the detectives said to me, “Take your time.”

Now they were being kind. Now, when they knew what I had to say.

“They—” I swallowed my blood, and I pushed forward, because I was a fucking Hayes and that’s what we did. “They pointed the gun at me.”

“No! NO!”

“My mom shoved me behind her, and she stood up.”

I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.

“Seraphina was so scared by now, but she was whimpering.” I could taste my tears. The salt slipped into my mouth, mingling with my own blood. “She peed herself, she was that scared.”

“Miss Francis—”

“I’m a fucking Hayes!” I pounded on the table, not knowing there was a snap, not knowing that both detectives stilled, both had heard it, and both looked at my hands. Neither said a word. “Call me by my name!”

“Miss Hayes—”

I rushed out, because I wanted this to be done, “They ignored Seraphina.” I was grinding my teeth so hard. My fists were grinding into the table at the same time. I never felt that pain, not at all. “They shoved my mother aside, pointed their guns at me. Three of them were in the room by now, and then they pulled the trigger.”

Click. Click. Click.

I flinched now, remembering. “They purposely emptied their barrels, and when no bullets came out, one of them laughed. He said, ‘Remember that sound, ’cause it won’t happen the next time. That’s your gift from him.’

“Then one used his gun to hit my mother across the face. They grabbed her, dragged her behind them.”

“No, no, no! Mom!”

“They kicked me aside, barred the door, and we could hear my mom screaming the entire time. They had dragged a security guard’s body in front of the door.”

I didn’t tell them how heavy the guard’s body had been, or how my hands had been shaking because I was suddenly too weak to push his body and that door open.

I didn’t tell them any of that.

“When I got into the hallway, they were dragging her to their vehicles outside. All of them were loading back up.”

No.

I locked down.

I stopped feeling.

I was no longer in my body, and I watched myself from the corner of the room as I sat there.

“They took my mother to their vehicle, then turned to the house. They made sure I could see. I will never forget him. I will never forget his eyes. He shoved her to the ground, to her knees, put the gun to her head, and he pulled the trigger.” I saw myself flinch before finishing. “They killed my mother.”

The detective sitting closest to the recorder reached over and hit Stop.

There was a commotion outside my interrogation room.

Shouts.

The door burst open and Kash was there.

He took in the room, then snarled. “This is over.” One step, a hand to my arm, but I was already pushing back from the table. He took me out of there.

I still watched all of this from the corner of the room, detached from my body.

I didn’t come back to myself until we were in the back of an SUV. Kash’s arms were around me, and he was saying into my neck, “I’m so sorry, Bailey. I am so sorry.”

I returned to his comfort, and to the next impending wave of doom, except that this wave was mixed with grief like I’d never experienced before.

And I didn’t want to experience it, so I left my body once again.