Page 39 of The Defiant Curse

“I mean, it wasn’t intentional,” she admitted. “Been a little busy, Son. You know how it is.”

That seemed to say it all to Michael, but not his husband. He was in new territory here. So, he took a chance.

After all, Graham was curious.

“I’m going to need some help,” he said.

She chewed and lifted her eyebrow in question.

“Regarding?”

He was honest.

“My parents disowned me when they found out I’m gay. So, I don’t know a lot about being in a family. I’m not sure what questions I can ask, and what I can’t about your life. So can you set some parameters for me?”

Spoken like a soldier.

She put her fork down.

“I’m an open book to my family, Graham. You don’t have to sensor yourself thinking I’ll ‘disown’ you if you ask a question I don’t feel like answering. Once you’re part of this family, you’re stuck. No one gets free.”

Michael snorted.

“Truer words had never been said. Once a Blackhawk, always a Blackhawk. It’s a blessing and a trap all at once. Trust and believe.”

For him, that sounded like a big blessing.

Well, here went everything.

“So, the case was bad?” he asked. “You lost people?”

She nodded.

It didn’t surprise her that he was curious. She knew Michael was too. It was only a matter of time before they started digging.

She’d evaded outside, but...that was clearly over.

Most people were curious when it came to her job. So, she’d get it off her chest so she could put it behind her.

“Yeah, it was bad. Jet died, Vivian my secretary, and Uriel’s girlfriend, plus her father, did too. Add to that a mentally handicapped groundskeeper, a nun, and two hookers. It was a free-for-all.”

He whistled.

Elizabeth wasn’t done.

“He tried to break me by digging up my deceased parents and leaving them for me in a church.”

His eyes were huge.

“That’s horrible.”

Yeah, it was.

“That’s my life. Horrible, and me go way back,” she said. “It’s the same bedfellows as travesty, nightmare, and atrocity. In my world, the worst tends to rear its ugly head with evil riding its back.”

He could see that.

“We don’t know how many people he and his father killed before that. So, it’s anyone’s guess. He was prone to killing off anyone he used to help him commit his sins. The laundry list of victims is VERY long. He and his father were killing for close to thirty years, if not more.”