Chapter Nine
“You’re sure about this?”
I nod to Riggs. “It’s time.”
“Shepard ordered me to put you on FaceTime when you start. Not sure when I became his damn secretary.”
“He’s just frustrated he can’t be here.”
“I know. And I want him to catch Porter more than anyone, trust me. I just like fucking with him.”
“You’re all worse than a bunch of kids.”
He grins, not giving a fuck. “Talking of immature assholes—”
“That’s not what I said.”
He ignores me, of course, and carries on. “Where’s Austin? I thought he’d have been here in case you go nuclear.”
“I’m not going to go nuclear, and Austin isn’t some damn kryptonite you guys can just whip out when I become unstable.”
“Of course he is. What else is he good for otherwise?”
I rub my eyes and sigh, done with this conversation.
There is a hard tone in Riggs’s voice whenever Austin’s name comes up.
He understands on a logical level, like I do, that Austin isn’t the bad guy in this.
He didn’t set out to defile me. Everything just spiraled out of control.
He’s a victim too, in his own way. But knowing things and feeling things aren’t the same.
To Riggs, Austin is still the guy who hurt me in the worst possible way, then retraumatized me—not once, but twice—since I returned.
It would be so much easier for both Riggs and Shepard if I could hate the guy.
Maybe part of me does, that dark and broken part that can never be fixed, but loves him too.
I don’t know if that’s natural or because of the bond, which I still don’t understand.
Perhaps it’s a mix of both. In the end, I don’t know if it matters when it can’t be changed.
Things were always going to be complicated when it came to us.
We’re all too similar. We’re all too different. Life’s funny like that.
I don’t doubt that Austin will put in the work. If the bond really does work both ways, then cutting me out and walking away isn’t an option for him either. I just don’t know where we go from here.
“Does that mean you don’t know where he is?”
I snap out of my thoughts, confused for a moment before I remember his question.
“I’m just saying, after everything, I thought he’d try and glue himself to your side.”
“Says the man who tied me to him last night while we slept.” I shake my head. I look into his eyes, my hand lifting to his face, thumb gliding over the edge of his eyepatch. “Where do you think Austin is, Riggs?”
I might have asked him to find Porter, but I’m not dumb.
He’d have done that anyway because he views Porter as a threat to me.
For him, it has little to do with finding Dawn’s killer and everything to do with keeping me safe.
On some level, I know that’s the real reason Andy is dead.
Not because of what he did to us all those years ago, but because he was a threat to our relationship now.
“He’s hunting down Porter, too?”
I nod.
“Good. I don’t care who catches him as long as he’s caught. Though if I’m honest, I think I’d prefer it to be Austin. At least that way I know Porter will finally get the punishment he deserves.”
Oh, he will. I’ll make sure of that.
“Hey, Calliope? They’re ready for you,” Sarah steps into the hallway to tell me.
I blow out a shaky breath. “I’m ready.” She offers me a reassuring smile before heading back in. I look at Riggs and nod. “Let’s do this.”
He bends down and presses a soft kiss to my lips. “Proud of you, Opie.”
“Let’s hope I don’t throw up.”
“Meh, wouldn’t be the first time you puked on me,” he teases, making me snort. He wraps his hand around mine and leads me inside.
We walk down the aisle, somber stares boring into us as we pass.
I have to fight the urge to run, but Riggs’s thumb draws circles on the back of my hand, keeping me in the here and now.
He walks me all the way up to the front and then stands beside me.
People’s eyes move to him with interest, which helps deflect their attention from me.
I can’t blame them for ogling him. Riggs looks like he’s stepped right off a movie set, only he gives off more of a villain vibe than a hero one.
Judging from the women fanning themselves, most of us here have a thing for bad boys.
He kisses my temple just as the doors crack open and Shepard slips in.
Riggs chuckles. “I fucking knew he wouldn’t be able to stay away.
” Before he can say anything else, the door opens again, and Austin slips in.
He stands beside Shepard with his arms crossed, making Riggs snort before he takes a step back.
I blow out another breath and let my eyes move around the room, finding it a far less hostile environment than the other day. “Thank you all for coming to another meeting on such short notice.”
I chew my lip, trying to get my words in order. I spot Jen, Jackie, Sarah, and Henry together in the front row, smiling in support, while Mary and Doyle sit behind them.
“As I’m sure most of you are aware by now, the sheriff and his team are investigating the tragic death of my friend Dawn. I’m also sure that most of you have figured out that the prime suspect is her ex-husband, Mark Porter.
“Now, Shepard has told me to point out that he is innocent until proven guilty. But before any of you consider harboring this man out of some misguided loyalty, you should know the facts about him. Mark Porter is not a good man. He drugged an eighteen-year-old girl, and while she was incapacitated, he raped her and impregnated her, then coerced her into marrying him. He then beat that same woman the entirety of their marriage. The day she came to me for help was the first day he hit Hannah. That was Dawn’s breaking point.
Not the fact that she was covered in bruises from where he’d beaten and raped her again. But because he hurt her baby.”
I swallow and let them take that in before I continue.
“She was free,” I whisper. “And he couldn’t stand it. She knew he’d come for her. She told me, and I so badly wanted her to be wrong just this once, but I forgot the extremes this man was willing to go to. Mark Porter was a bad man. He’s also a liar because Mark Porter doesn’t exist.”
Shepard takes a step forward, his eyes moving over me in question. I give him a nod, permission if you will, which he accepts and nods back.
“What are you talking about?” someone asks. But there is no hostility in their tone, only confusion.
“Fifteen years ago, I went to prison for shooting and killing my father, Martin Hart. All of you know this. Some of you were even in the courtroom the day I was sentenced. I’m curious. Did any of you go to his funeral?”
When nobody replies, I feel my lips twitch. “I’ve never fired a gun in my life.” I let that drop and hear the whispers circulate the room. “And I never shot my father. Dale did. Only it was all part of some elaborate plan to take the ranch from me.”
I look around and see some people still aren’t getting it.
“Martin Hart faked his own death, spent an ungodly amount of money covering it up and getting surgery. He became Mark Porter.”
Now the room explodes into a fuck-ton of noise and chaos. I look at my friends' shell-shocked faces and wonder if I should have taken them aside and explained it first. Jen’s expression is blank, making it impossible for me to read her.
Shepard walks down the aisle to me and whistles loudly to get everyone’s attention.
“We will be exhuming Martin Porter’s grave and conducting a full investigation.
A lot of the original players are dead, including the coroner who signed off on his death as homicide and the judge who presided over the flimsy case.
As you can see, it is imperative that we find him.
If anyone has any information about his whereabouts, please get in touch with me or one of my deputies.
He has a lot of questions to answer to.”
Judy stands up from the back of the crowd, making my lips curl into a snarl. “They said your daddy raped you,” she states, making people gasp at this woman’s audacity.
“Sit the hell down,” Sarah snaps, getting to her feet.
“You don’t understand. This woman is lying.”
“That’s fucking rich coming from you,” Henry yells, making Judy blush furiously.
My eyes move to Austin, who swallows in preparation for me to spill the truth, but he doesn’t run. He stands there ready to face whatever comes his way.
I let my eyes drift closed for a moment before I open my mouth and lie my ass off.
“Not that it’s any of your business, Judy, but no, my father didn’t rape me, though clearly he was capable of it.
” My eyes lock on Austin. “Andy Dyer raped me.” In a way, he did.
He raped both of us, so it doesn’t feel like a complete lie.
People turn to look at Austin, who walks slowly toward me.
“I never told anybody. What was the point? People would have decided it was my fault one way or another, so I let sleeping dogs lie.”
Austin steps up beside me as Riggs moves close, so I’m flanked on all sides by my guys.
It’s Austin who speaks next, casting his gaze around the room, daring anyone to say something.
“Andy is dead. And I won’t mourn him for a second.
I’m angry. So fucking angry, and you should be too.
What if Calliope had been your daughter, your sister, or friend?
This whole town failed her. Each and every one of us who stood by and did nothing, who said nothing—should be ashamed of ourselves.
I know I am. That she stands here now, shoulders back, head held high after what we did? ” He shakes his head.
“She lost her friend and, instead of burning this fucking place to the ground as I would have, she gave it beauty. She gave it peace. We don’t deserve her.
We never did. But the fact that she’s here now, willing not just to stay and deal with all our bullshit but to try to make things better?
It’s time to show up, to step up, and show her it’s worth it.
That she’s worth it because I swear, when she cares about you, your world becomes infinitely brighter. ”
I look at Austin in surprise before he takes a step back. “Anyone who was here when Dawn was killed would have seen what happened. What I’m capable of.”
“You’re a witch,” Judy snarls.
I look at her, owning it. “Yes.”
“Better than being a bitch. Sit the hell down, Judy,” someone else says. A whole lot of people seem to agree. Judy goes bright red and sits down.
“I am a witch. I can’t stop being one just because it might freak some of you out.
Though it’s worth pointing out, I came into my powers when I was sixteen.
Most of you have been assholes to me, and yet I haven’t hurt a single one of you.
Being a witch doesn’t make me evil. It just means I’m always armed.
But this is cowboy country, so aren’t we all armed? ”
Laughter fills the room, and the tightness in my chest eases some.
I pause as someone stands up. He’s vaguely familiar, like I’ve seen him around, perhaps, but I’ve never spoken to him.
“My daughter has migraines. They’re debilitating.
She misses days and weeks of work. Doctors haven’t been able to do anything for her.
She ordered something from you, and she hasn’t had a migraine in a month.
I don’t care if you’re a witch or a magician.
I can’t remember the last time I saw my daughter’s smile, at least one that wasn’t full of pain. ”
“You’re Amber’s dad?” I say softly.
He nods and smiles at me proudly.
“You helped my Agnus too,” someone says, as a bunch of people stand up and shout out how I helped them all. I feel myself getting teary-eyed again, but I manage to fight them back.
“I guess what we’re trying to say,” Doyle starts, surprising me because he usually lets his wife do the talking.
“Is that you’re ours. And we learn from our mistakes.
You’ve seen us at our worst. But if you give us a chance, we can show you there’s good here too and that you were right to come home.
We need you. That much is obvious, but I think, maybe just a little bit of you needs us too. ”
I smile and nod. “What can I say? You’ve grown on me.”
“Like a fungus?” he asks, making me laugh, and his wife groan.
I feel it then as I look out at everyone. I feel like I’m home. “Let’s take tonight to grieve. But tomorrow, we’ll work with Sarah to finish getting the festival ready. Dawn was so excited to be a part of it. She’d be pissed if we canceled, even though it seems like the right thing to do.”
“How about we hold it in her honor? A new dawn festival where the town all comes together? I think she’d have loved that,” Riggs says to the room and gets an excited number of yeses.
I look at Sarah, who nods.
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”