Chapter 16

Jason was glad that Devyn hid in his room all day Saturday. He couldn't stomach looking at the kid and thinking about what the kid had possibly been through for at least three or four years, if what Jason was beginning to suspect was true. Jason now felt sure that Chris and Trent knew more than they were willing to admit to.

Jason was having a hard time figuring out how he was going to handle this whole situation. He wasn't even sure what exactly the situation was. He had no proof that Brad had actually done anything, just speculation. He hadn't seen Brad ever hit Devyn, but he knew Devyn was afraid of the man. He had seen Sam hit him, but then Devyn had taken the first swing. So while he could probably get Sam in trouble for hitting Devyn, it wouldn't do any good since Devyn would still be in Brad's custody.

The more he thought about everything, the more his gut told him that Devyn had been telling the truth when he'd accused Brad and whomever else of hurting him. Of course, that had been over three years ago. Maybe Brad hadn't done it anymore. Even if that were true, and Brad wasn't actually hitting Devyn himself, he obviously was letting others hurt Devyn. God, if only he had some proof.

Jason spent hours on the leather couch trying to reconcile what he knew about his friend, what he suspected his friend was guilty of. He was a drug dealer--of that he was pretty certain. He suspected now that maybe he was using Devyn to transport the drugs to his dealers that he'd set up as Devyn's 'tutors', and Brad made Devyn stay the hour with the assholes to put up a show in case anyone ever watched him; leaving his 'tutors' too quickly might be suspicious. He wondered briefly what they did. Devyn probably had to watch the man test his drugs, count money maybe.

He strongly suspected that the Haskins guy had been the one to hurt Devyn so badly, since he hadn't been out of Jason's sight except for when he was in his room. And he hadn't heard anyone open the door to go into Devyn's room since he'd taken to sleeping with his door open, so Haskins had to be responsible--but of course, he couldn't prove that either. And from the way Brad reacted, it looked like he knew it. And obviously condoned it, probably because he was guilty of hurting himself. He was pretty sure that Brad physically abused Devyn to feel in control, powerful, to keep Devyn in fear and compliant. Maybe not in the week or so Jason had been here, but definitely in the past.

And Devyn had been suffering through it for years--God, since he was thirteen at least.

In his room, Devyn was at least safe, Jason reasoned--until I can figure out what to do. Guessing that this had been going on for years, he figured a few more days wouldn't hurt until he could find a way to get some real evidence, not just his word. Because obviously Brad had a way of burying reports to the police--especially without hard evidence. All he had to do was keep Devyn away from Brad and Sam, and of course that Haskins guy.

Jason could keep him safe until he figured out what to do if he just kept the kid close, out of Brad's scope for a bit.

Devyn had asked once about going outside, but Jason had looked uneasily over the railing towards Brad's study and the kid had just retreated back into his room. Jason knew that Devyn must be missing Michael, and maybe even his horse, but Jason didn't want to risk putting Devyn the path of an irate Brad Milburn by breaking his word to keep Devyn inside.

Jason sighed as he looked out into the blackness that had descended over the mountains. He wandered downstairs, noting that both Chris and Trent were noticeably absent again. The men seemed to be avoiding him now. They probably knew that he'd drill them more about what they knew.

Cowards, he thought, as he poured himself a glass of tea. At the patio doors, he keyed in the code to de-arm the alarm and opened the door to step out onto the dark patio. He didn't bother to turn on the lights outside, instead letting the dark engulf him.

He stood staring down towards the barn, a light twinkling in the office told him that Lyle was still down there. He suspected that Chris and Trent were hiding out down there as well.

"... not sure... good..." he vaguely heard voices nearby.

He glanced around and realized the window to Brad's study was cracked open down at the end of the patio.

Jason quietly stepped closer, noting that the voice belonged to Nelson.

"Brad, I think it was a rash decision," Nelson said calmly, apparently trying to reason with Brad.

Jason took his phone out and pressed the camera button, changing it quickly to video. He stood near the window, holding his phone just close enough for it to pick up the voices.

"I didn't want that fucking kid hanging around, making more accusations," Brad snapped.

"But firing him just fueled the fire," Nelson reasoned.

Firing him? Jason frowned, wondering who they were talking about.

"I don't care," Brad snapped. "It was more dangerous to let him be around Devyn."

Oh, crap, Jason thought. Michael. They were talking about Michael. Shit, Devyn was going to be devastated.

"Yeah, I agree," Sam's deep voice added. "Devyn could have told him something."

"What the hell is Devyn going to say that he hasn't already tried to say?" Nelson argued. "No one believes him anymore, remember?"

"Yeah, well..."

"Yeah, well you should have left the kid alone," Nelson snapped. "At least for a while 'til this whole 'fall' thing blows over."

"Damn Haskins," Brad grumbled, "Why can't the man listen to instructions?"

"Because he knows you need him," Sam grunted. "He's your main supplier right now. Devyn probably just pissed him off and he lost it."

Jason sucked in his breath. Brad knew. Brad knew the asshole had hit Devyn and had made excuses for it. Fuck. He felt like he'd been kicked in the gut as his friend practically admitted to allowing a sixteen year old kid to be physically abused by the Haskins guy. Even though he'd had his suspicions, it was gut-wrenching to hear it confirmed like that.

Brad growled, "Yeah, the damn brat cost me money."

Jason frowned from his shadowed spot on the wall. How had Devyn cost Brad money? Had he tried to keep the man from the money or the drugs? Something didn't make sense.

"You'd think Devyn would know better after three years," Nelson said, apparently calmer now. "I'm going to head home. I'll be back tomorrow evening. I'm heading over to the Grady construction site for the day. And you need to slow down with the drinking or you're going to have a horrible headache tomorrow."

Brad just grunted an ascent. "I think after the last couple days I've had with Haskins beating on Devyn and the fucking sheriff coming by, I deserve to chill out."

"Just take it easy," Nelson stated as he obviously started shuffling things into his leather case.

"Hey, Sam," Brad called, "hand me the backpack. I'll go ahead and put the stuff in it for Marty, just in case I'm too hung over tomorrow morning. How much was he getting again?"

"He says he has $2000 this time," Nelson said.

"Good," Brad said. "I was beginning to think I'd have to drop him, if he didn't pick up business."

Jason could hear a zipper rustle and the snap of Brad's wall safe. A few minutes later, he heard the men exit the room. He stopped his phone's video recording, wondering just how incriminating the audio would be. Not very, he thought, at least not against Brad--except that he had actually known that Haskins had assaulted Devyn. But Jason knew that wouldn't mean much. It wouldn't get Devyn away from Brad in the long run. Even as Jason suspected they were talking about selling drugs to some Marty guy, Jason knew there wasn't enough said to incriminate Brad-- he could have been talking about anything....

Jason silently made his way back through the patio door as the men entered the foyer. He quickly locked the door and reset the alarm before dropping in the leather sofa, playing with his phone as Sam and a slightly staggering Brad came into the kitchen.

"Hey, Jase," Brad greeted easily. "Devyn in his room already?"

Jason smiled back, forcing his expression to remain neutral. "Yeah, he's stayed there pretty much the whole weekend. Resting like you told him to. I've already locked the door." Because I know he's safe behind the locked door, Jason thought. He'd hear if someone else unlocked it.

"Good," Brad said. "Don't forget he has his physics tutor tomorrow morning."

"Yep, got the schedule right here. Mr. Pollinger," Jason stated. He paused, staring pointedly at his phone. "You know, I see here that he has a Spanish tutor on Tuesday."

Brad grabbed a beer from the fridge. "Yeah, so?"

"So what's the point in paying for Devyn to take Spanish lessons? It's not like he's going to speak it," Jason asked casually. "Seems like a waste of money."

Jason noticed the slight hesitation as Brad took a sip of his beer. The man slowly put his bottle down. "Well, to graduate he has to take a language," Brad stated.

"Ahh, I guess that makes sense."

They all looked back toward the garage as the door opened and three men wandered in, laughing together. Chris, Trent, and Lyle hesitated as they came into the kitchen, each of them assessing the mood of their boss. Jason locked eyes briefly with Lyle's smoky grey ones.

"Hey, Brad, what's up?" Lyle said, waving at the man.

Brad raised his beer in greeting. "How's Maverick, Lyle?"

"He's good," the crew cut blonde grinned, apparently sensing that his boss was in a good mood. "Threw a shoe last night, but he's all good."

Brad came around the kitchen bar. "So, it's early, you guys want to play some poker or something?"

There was a slight pause before they nodded.

"Sure," Chris said, grabbing his own beer.

Jason scoffed. "Not sure I can handle you wiping me out again, like you used to."

"Oh, come on, Jase," Brad cajoled, "I wasn't that bad."

"You told me you stacked the deck to win!" Jason accused.

Brad grinned devilishly. "Gotta win somehow."

And Jason wondered just what lengths the man would go to do that.