Page 82 of Finding Noah

“She was terrified,” I interrupted harshly, looking up and into his eyes with a burst of seething rage. “She thought he'd kill us if she said anything, and if he didn’t, she thought you would.”

He stared into my eyes for a solid beat of my heart before nodding. “I understand, Noah,” he said, and the compassion in his tone surprised me. “I do. But it wasn't me she should've been afraid of. I would've never laid a finger on either of you. For whatever it's worth now, I swear, I never wanted you or your mom to get hurt.”

“But you never stopped him,” I muttered, looking away.

“Kid, most of the time, I didn't even know when he was seeing her, and then you guys moved, and I thought … well, I thought it was over.”

I sighed, releasing a breath of old, pent-up hurt and resentment. Levi hadn't been responsible for Seth's actions. As bad as he had been in his own right, he'd never aided Seth in what he did to Mom or me, and I had no choice but to believe what he'd said.

He hadn’t known it'd continued for all those years.

There were other arguments to be made, of course. Levi could've called the cops on Seth. Could've turned him in. But I also understood his own need for self-preservation. If he'd turned Seth in, Levi would've also tipped the cops off to the illegal activities he was involved in, the ones he relied on to keep himself afloat.

Was it worth it? I wanted to ask, but didn't.

None of it mattered now. None of it but the pieces of the puzzle that kept me up at night.

“You said it wasn't you she should've been afraid of,” I said, grasping on to something I thought might be a clue. “Were you talking about someone Seth had worked with? Someone he had … worked for maybe?”

Levi studied me, and I held my breath. He tipped his head, narrowed his eyes, and asked, “What are you really asking me?”

“Seth brought me on a job,” I told him, making Levi Stratton the second person to ever hear the confession I'd sworn to never tell. “Someone was … hurt.”

His brows rose to his receding hairline. “He brought you?” He wiped a hand over his lips and shook his head, looking away to stare at the wall. “What the fuck were you thinking, Seth?”

“Did he ever talk about someone named Tommy?”

Levi pressed his lips together as he grabbed the candy bar, tearing it open and taking a bite. “You're gonna have to be more specific than that,” he said, mouth full.

“Uh …” I sighed heavily, scratching a spot at the back of my neck. “I dunno, uh … he was short-ish, I guess. Shorter than Seth. Lived in a gross little shack somewhere. I don't know where. It was far away though. I remember driving for a long, long time to get there.”

Levi chewed through caramel and chocolate as he nodded. “We did some business up north. Massachusetts.”

My eyes widened as I nodded, taking out a pen and paper from my jacket pocket to quickly jot it down. Levi rumbled with a low chuckle.

“Soldier said you wanna be a detective,” he commented, surprising me with an air of pride. “Good for you, kiddo. Staying on the straight and narrow. It's that woman, huh?”

“What?” I asked, looking up from my scribbling.

“What's her name again? Meg?”

Defensively, I asked, “What about her?”

“Nothin'. I'm just sayin', that'll do it, right? Finding a nice girl you wanna build your world around? That's what worked for Soldier anyway. He was all turned upside down before his little ray of sunshine pulled him right side up.” He nudged his chin toward me. “You were an added bonus.”

“Yeah,” I said, my voice hoarse. “I guess you're right.”

“When's the wedding?”

I cleared my throat, tapping the tip of my pen against the paper. “A few months. October.”

“Nice,” he said, his thin, dry lips smiling. “Good for you.”

“Thanks,” I replied, accepting the compliment.

He exhaled, leaning back and taking another bite. “Anyway, my guess is, you're talking about Tommy Nolan. He had a kid, I think.”

“Tommy Nolan,” I repeated, scribbling the name down.