“I know you’re looking out for me, but my brother won’t hurt me. And I’m safe here, right?” There was only one door in and out. And while she couldn’t say the same for all of her family, she was pretty sure that her brother would not harm her.
Although pretty sure wasn’t a hundred percent certain.
“Come on,” Ink said to Matthieu. “We need to talk and we can do it in the hallway.”
“I’m going to leave the door open slightly,” Matthieu warned her brother.
“I’m going to get some treats for your pets,” Brody told her. “Any dietary requirements?”
“Um, Gummy can’t eat anything too hard,” she told him. “And none of us eat pork or chicken. That’s really nice. Thank you.”
Finally, they were all gone and it was just her and Marlin.
He tapped his fingers on the table, looking awkward. What was going on? What more did he have to say?
“This isn’t easy. It wasn’t a simple decision for me,” he finally said. “Looking into Dad, that is.”
Ahh. That’s what he wanted to talk to her about.
“I’m not judging you or upset with you,” she told him. “I get that this wouldn’t be easy.”
“I wanted to be a cop to protect people. I never imagined that I’d end up working for IA. They approached me when they received a number of complaints against Dad. They figured I was the best person to take on the job. At first, I agreed to do it because I didn’t believe them. I thought I’d prove them wrong. Then I saw things with my own eyes that I couldn’t ignore. Things are bad in the force and the people of Billings deserve better. You deserve better.”
“And no one else could do this?” she asked.
“No one who Dad wouldn’t have suspected. There are still plenty of good cops on the force. But more and more I’m thinking that the tendrils of evil penetrate deep into the folds of the police force. And I think that some of the good cops are being blackmailed or threatened into doing bad things.”
That didn’t sound good.
“How long has it been going on?”
“I don’t know. A couple of years maybe,” he said. “You know that saying, ‘The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for a few good men to do nothing’?”
“Yeah, Mom liked that saying,” she said.
“She did. She would want me to do this. No matter who I’m going up against. But it still doesn’t make it easy. I wanted you to know that.”
Maya nodded and then made a choice. Standing, she threw her arms around him. “I know it’s not easy. I know it probably more than anyone else does. Thank you for taking this on, though. Because as hard as it is for us, it has to be done. What’s happening isn’t right. And I know that Mom would be proud of you for doing what’s right even when it’s so hard.”
She felt the tension slump out of him.
“You think Maisy will understand?” he asked.
Leaning back, she looked up at him with a small smile. “She will. Maybe not straight away, but we were all raised with a sense of right and wrong and justice. I don’t know what happened to Dad along the way, but the three of us remember that.”
“Sorry I failed you, little sister.”
“I did my best to push everyone away. It seemed easier that way. Now, I realize I was incredibly alone.”
“I don’t want you to feel like that ever again. After this is over, I might have to leave. I don’t know what will happen. But you can come with me, if that’s what you want.”
She didn’t know what she wanted. But she had options. Which is more than she’d ever felt like she had. She hugged him again, then gathered up the leads for Tank and Big Berry who had decided to stay with her.
Maybe she’d lost her father in all of this . . . but it seemed she might have found her brother again. One couldn’t replace the other . . . but it could soften the blow.
And she’d lost her father a long time ago anyway.
38
