eye. Remorse is heavy in his expression and his eyes soften. “Hey, sunshine.”
My dad clears his throat, and Hatch’s lips twitch before turning toward my parents.
“Mr. and Mrs. Langley.” He shifts in his seat as much as he can while being locked to it.
“Feel good?” The question flies from my lips before I think better of it.
Hatch’s eyebrows drop low, questioning.
I shrug one shoulder. “Being handcuffed to a chair. How’s it feel?”
He doesn’t drop his gaze from mine. “Not good.”
Good.
“Mr. Dusinksy, we don’t want to draw this out any longer.” My dad speaks with a firm voice that calls the attention of the room. “We’re here because we’re interested in everything you know about the night our daughter was murdered.”
My mom’s answering whimper causes my chest to seize.
Hatch makes an affirmative grunting noise and, sitting tall, addresses my dad. “Figured as much.” He eyes the guards then starts in. “I was working my first job with Elijah. We’d met before. I saw he was a bad dude, considered his crew partnering with my MC.”
He sits back, his eyes focusing just over our heads. “I was meeting with a new contact. Pulled my bike off the road and stashed it in the bushes at mile marker sixty-nine. It was private, dark, no witnesses, the way Elijah liked shit done.
“Doing a pickup with a dude who didn’t know what the fuck he was doing. Left his bike right there on the side of the road. Tried to make the deal quick, but he put a gun to my head and tried to take the shit he owed me plus the money. I was halfway to killing the asshole when a woman walked up.”
“Svetlana.” I can see it now, bike on the side of the road. She probably heard the man’s cries of pain.
“We were in a gorge. Didn’t even hear her pull up or see headlights. She asked if we needed help. It was dark, but I saw the moment her eyes figured out what she was seein’ wasn’t fucking legit. She started to back away, and the fuckface I was beating begged her to get help. I couldn’t let that happen.”
My dad leans forward, his arms on the table, and Hatch’s eyes dart to my father’s tattoos. “Are you telling us she witnessed you murder a man?” My dad’s voice cracks with the truth.
Hatch sets his cold blue eyes on him, and there’s respect in them. “Yes, sir.”
My head swims with the intensity of the terror she must’ve felt. “Then what?”
He shrugs, the casual body language contradicting the twist of shame I see in his face. “I had to take her. Planned on scaring the shit out of her enough to keep her from talking. Elijah had different plans. Thought he’d use her to seal our partnership.”
I shift in my seat, antsy, angry, and horrified. “How does that work?” Elijah mentioned something similar the night he died.
“Do something horrific; anyone who bears witness is just as responsible. We had each other by the balls.”
Silence sweeps through the room as we all work out the story on our own.
“Did she suffer?” My mom’s timid voice breaks the thick air.
Hatch’s eyes move between my parents and me, a silent question blaring as loud as if he yelled it. Do you want me to lie?
My chin bobs once, the tiny movement so minor it’s only registered by Hatch. He turns to my mom. “No, ma’am. Not at all. She was gone before . . .”
Before the cutting started.
It’s a lie.
But I appreciate it more than I can express.
“You partake in this?” My dad’s voice is steel.
“No. I’m only responsible for getting her there, but after that, I didn’t touch her.”
“You stood by while one of my daughters was murdered, and you kidnapped my other daughter to deliver her to someone you knew was a murderer. Even with police protection, so much could’ve gone wrong. You almost took two daughters from me.”
“No, sir, I never would’ve let them hurt Trix.”
My dad scoffs. “I have a hard time believing that.”
“Understand you would, but”—Hatch’s eyes move to mine—“Trix was my friend.”
“Then why did you turn me over to him? Why not let me in on the plan you had with the cops?”
“Cops gave me one chance, Trix. I couldn’t risk fucking it up. I knew once I found the picture of your sister that you had an end game. Good one, too. Never knew until that day you weren’t into me. No such thing as a coincidence.