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“Evie, I need you to try and breathe for me, darlin’. You’re not breathing,” Kailan told me. He was the only thing keeping me upright. I was shaking so hard and barely breathing, the whole time unable to take my eyes from the damned image.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Aleks demanded as he looked around then focused on me. “Evie?”
“That’s him, in the picture. Do you have his surname?” Harris asked as he looked to Keira.
“King, I think. I’ll have a file in the office. We kept the files of all of our kids,” she added.
“King,” I whispered. “King Soloman.”
“I’ll start a search right away. I’d appreciate any information you have on him too, please Keira,” Aleks said as he hurried towards the kitchen.
“I’ll get it,” dad said as he handed Zack to mom and hurried off.
“Are you sure, Evie? It can’t be Jason. He was a good kid,” Xander asked.
“I’m sure. I w-will never forget those eyes as l-long as I live,” I panted breathlessly.
“That’s why he let her go,” Kyle spoke up. “He fucking realized who she was and he let her go. That’s why he tried to keep her away from us all. He was worried we’d put two and two together.”
“Baby, look at me now,” Nick ordered. I felt him move in front of me, then his eyes were on mine, his body blocking the photo from my gaze. “You have to take deeper breaths now, okay? You hear me? You’re starting to hyperventilate.”
“I…it’s h-him,” I squeaked.
“I know, baby, but that doesn’t change anything right now. We’re all here and you’re still safe. We won’t let him get near you again. You’re safe,” he promised.
“I should call the FBI. This is the lead they needed,” Kade spoke up. “You got her?”
“We’ve got her,” Kailan answered with no shadow of a doubt.
“Let’s find you a seat and some water, okay?” Kailan said as he gathered me up into his arms and headed for the kitchen. “Deep breaths, remember?” he prompted when I didn’t respond. I reached up to put my hand over his heart, hoping the steady rhythm would calm some of the terror racing through me.
I tried to calm myself down, but I couldn’t get the image of him from my head. I couldn’t stop thinking about the monster who had tortured me and almost had me begging for my death. I couldn’t take in the fact that he had once been an innocent foster kid I probably played with. He lived with us for six months! I probably started to love him back then. How could he have transformed into the killer who haunted my every thought?
“Here’s everything we have, Aleks. Jason was a quiet kid. He had some mental health issues, but he was stable on meds when he came to us,” dad explained as he hurried in with a small cardboard file.
“I’d say he’s off those meds right now,” Nick uttered.
“He was a good kid. He was removed from his father’s care when he was twelve, after the dad overdosed. His mom killed herself when he was six, I think. He was bounced around quite a bit before he came to us. We were happy to keep him until he aged out, but an uncle came forward from nowhere and was granted custody. We never heard from him again, even though we tried to stay in contact,” dad went on.
“I have an address for him in the city. He was in the military, but discharged when they discovered his mental health issues. He must have lied about them to enlist,” Aleks explained.
“I’ll get a team together. We can hit the address,” Kyle said as he looked to Kade.
“Let me coordinate with the FBI. We can’t just go in there with no warrant,” Kade suggested.
“Fine. Call them, but I’m still getting the team ready. He started out of the kitchen and I panicked.
“Kyle!” I cried breathlessly. He stopped immediately and came to me, crouching at my side.
“Stop talking right now, half pint. You need to slow down and take some deep breaths,” he told me as he ran a hand over the top of my head.
“Don’t g-go!” I pleaded. “Please, let th-the cops handle it. Please. I d-don’t want you to get h-hurt.”
“She’s right Kyle. You don’t need to get involved. This guy is wanted by the FBI. Now they have his name and address they’re gonna get him,” Livy agreed.
“I have to be there. I have to know for sure he’s off of the streets. I won’t get hurt, but I have to see him cuffed and taken in to custody so I know for sure this whole damned thing is over,” he explained as he looked between me and Livy.
“He’s right. We all need to know for sure this is done, once and for all,” Kade agreed. “I’ll keep him out of trouble. Promise,” Kade added as he walked up behind Livy and placed a kiss behind her ear. “We’ll be fine, love.”
