Anger. Rage. Peace.
Contradicting.
XAZIX
I waited patiently while the young woman recounted her story. At first, she spoke with such conviction that if she was an actress, she'd be awarded an Oscar. If she was a storyteller, she would be a bestseller. But as she went deeper into the story, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was telling the truth. Her story was too detailed and intricate to be a fabricated lie.
As I listened, anger boiled inside me. I was fuming with rage at the despicable actions of the man who had inflicted such heinous abuse upon an innocent girl.
As a bounty hunter, I'm usually indifferent to the justification behind my targets. Once I'm paid for a job, I execute it with precision, regardless of who is right or wrong. But somehow, this job had become personal. Even before I had found the girl. Even before I had seen my older brother with her.
Mr. McCully had lied to the entire world, including me. I knew beyond a doubt that the man was mentally unstable and should be first in line in the book of psychopaths.
I heard the girl's soft weeping, even behind the closed doors. She was doing her best not to wake her baby, and my heart ached at the thought of the pain and suffering she had endured.
What if Tan hadn't seen her on the side of the road and helped her? What if he hadn't convinced me to hear her story? I would have dragged an innocent girl back to hell.
"That man is a bastard! How could he have done such horrible things to an innocent girl? Even the most terrible of girls shouldn't be saddled with a bastard like him," Tanner exclaimed, his voice full of anger.
"Did you really meet her in a bad state?" I asked Tan, trying to detach my emotions from the situation.
Tan stared away, his large beard dominating his face. I remembered Jasamina McCully's comment about him being an alcoholic, and I wondered if he had turned to alcohol after disappearing two years ago.
"She was in the worst possible shape you could ever imagine," Tan groaned. "I was going to walk past her, but when she fainted with the bundle she carried protectively close to her chest, I knew I had to help her."
"Shit," I muttered under my breath.
"She was sick, bruised all over her body, and even her breasts had bruises. The man had battered her so badly that the milk wouldn't come out when she tried to breastfeed her baby. There were ring marks on some of the bruises, which made me think that the bastard must have worn a huge ring on one finger."
I remembered seeing Billionaire Baron's large gold ring on his middle finger and gritted my teeth in anger.
"That man lied to me," I said through gritted teeth. "He told me an entirely different story. I took the case personally because of the innocent child involved. You know I'm partial to children, Tan. You know why."
Tan's eyes closed briefly, and I saw the pain flash across his face.
"Does she know about your past?" I asked him, but he shook his head twice. Tan could be very secretive if he wanted to.
"You've been with the girl for a while, and now I see why. Not just because of the girl but the child as well."
Tan nodded once. "It's as if I keep running from the girl, but she's always there. No matter how much I want to ignore her and move out of her way, I just can't. And that baby...God, that baby!"
I watched as emotions crossed Tan's face, and it dawned on me that two years hadn't dulled his pain at all.
Tanner had experienced a heart-wrenching tragedy two years ago when he lost his wife Suzy, whom he loved more than anything, and their three-year-old son Dannie in a car accident. Despite the passing of time, his agony had not lessened in any way. It was evident that the pain he felt was still as raw as it was on the day of the accident. It was understandable that he had turned to drinking to cope with his unbearable loss. Some pains are so overwhelming that they can drive a person to the brink of madness.
Although I knew there was more to the story than what Tanner had revealed, he had vanished before he could share any further details of that fateful day. Tan and Suzy had been so in love that I had never witnessed a couple that was more devoted to each other. While he was also in the car during the accident, he was the only one who had survived. I suspected that he blamed himself for the tragedy, which only added to his misery.
"Will you ever tell her?" I inquired, referring to Jasamina McCully, although I knew that he understood precisely what I meant about his past.
For a moment, Tanner remained silent before he replied, "Maybe."
I glanced back at the closed door, where the sound of weeping had ceased. All that remained was an eerie silence. "No wonder Jasamina McCully never wants to return. I'm at a loss as to what to do next."