Page 185 of Shattered Pieces

“You’re the lying piece of shit here, not her. Rory, let’s go,” Hunter said sharply, not seeming to give a shit about my naked lower half as he tugged me upright and tried to force my feet into my panties.

“I’ve never fucking lied to her,” Skeeter growled, and Hunter abandoned the mission to get me dressed as he stepped towards Skeeter and punched him.

“Goddammit,” I muttered as I fought my clothes to get them back on, needing to break the guys up. Not that I was able to use my legs properly. I was wobbly, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t from the booze or powder.

They threw punch after punch at each other until Hunter spoke, both of them going still.

“Were you just never going to tell her about her mom?”

I finally got my pants on properly, my eyes sliding to Skeeter hopefully. “You found Mom?”

Skeeter’s jaw was clenched, but the fight in him had gone. He couldn’t look at me, only making Hunter snort.

“I found a lead today and it led me to a guy in Lightning Cove. Turns out, he’d also had a visit from Skeet looking for answers, and the guy had already given them to him.” He gave me a sympathetic look, and I was already shaking my head when he continued. “Max hired the guy for a body disposal. Woman in her thirties. I showed him a photo of your mom, and he said it was her.”

“He’s wrong,” I said firmly, not wanting to believe it. “Mom’s not dead.”

“Hot Shot,” he sighed, moving closer to hold my gaze when I tried to look away. “She’s gone. I have more details, but I’d rather⁠—”

“Tell me.”

He was quiet for a moment before nodding, not hiding anything from me.

“The guy’s a professional, so he sees a lot of bodies. He said she’d been beaten and tortured, and there were signs of sexual assault. It was about two months after she went missing from Rosevale.”

My ears were buzzing, and I grabbed the couch to stop myself from falling.

“You knew?” I croaked out, Skeeter finally having the balls to look at me. “How long?”

“I didn’t know how to tell you. Things kept going to shit, and the right time never came up,” he answered, his tone flat. “I was trying to protect you.”

“Protect me?” I choked out with a laugh, the sound a little manic. “I’ve spent my whole life looking for her or wondering where she was. How long have you fucking known that she was dead and I was chasing a ghost?”

Hunter shook his head in disgust, and as much as it hurt, I was glad he was being honest with me.

“The guy spoke to him in October.”

“October?” I snapped, moving towards Skeeter and punching him in the chest. “Fucking October?”

“It was just before midterms. I was going to tell you after, but then Slash died. It never felt like the right time,” he explained, and I punched him again.

“Was this why you didn’t want to look into Axel? You already knew she was gone?”

“That wasn’t why. I didn’t want you near Axel because he’s a monster, just like the rest of his boys.”

Angry tears burned my eyes as I smacked my hands against him, not really knowing what else to do. Years of searching just to find out she’d been dead this whole time.

He let me hit him until Hunter pulled me away, and I didn’t even care that he kissed me on top of the head, just to try and piss off Skeeter.

“You always wondered why she never came to you with her problems, and this is why. You’re not honest with her. You weren’t protecting her, you were saving yourself from having to deal with the aftermath. That makes you a selfish piece of shit, Skeet,” Hunter snapped, keeping me close.

I wanted the floor to swallow me up, my body going numb.

She was gone. Never coming back, just like Max had said. My mom was fucking dead.

“She knew she could come to me about her problems,” Skeeter hissed.

“Really? Then why didn’t she tell you she was raped on her birthday? Why do I know and you don’t?” Hunter threw back, and you could hear a pin drop as the room went silent.