Page 21 of Torrent’s Treasure

Torrent forced himself to stay and watch when seeing the devastation roll across Calliope’s face had him wanting to run down the hallway and hold her. She was too young to have to deal with something that hurt her so much.

“I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault. I should have done what he wanted,” Calliope wailed, throwing herself into Cecilia’s arms.

Cecilia held Calliope as she sobbed against her.

“What’s going on?” Cauldron asked, walking into the room to stare at the monitor.

“When Ashe got Calliope’s backpack from the vehicle, he found a huge amount of weapons—some from the garage and some from the kitchen. The only thing is that Officer Horse’s Ass didn’t let Calliope go in there. They had to be in her room for some reason,” Dragon explained.

“Fuck,” Cauldron mumbled, dropping heavily into the seat beside Gunner.

Cecilia was holding Calliope and patting her back.

“Sweetie,” Sally said, running her hand down Calliope’s back as she cried into Cecilia’s chest. “You sound so upset. The best way to make you feel better is to tell us how we can help you. What’s all your fault?”

“Turn it louder,” Dragon directed. Gunner turned up the volume.

“Everything,” Calliope whispered between sniffles.

“Well, I doubt that, sweetie. Sometimes we think it’s all our fault but it’s not. Tell me one thing you think is your fault. Just blurt it out,” Sally cajoled.

The sound was amplified enough that Torrent could hear each breath Calliope took. Cecilia sat there, patting Calliope’s back and letting Sally lead.

“Mom and Dad dying,” Calliope choked out. If Gunner hadn’t raised the audio, Torrent didn’t think they would have heard. Why did Calliope think she was the reason her parents had died? It had been a fire, and after everything that had happened, Torrent had zero doubts that it was arson.

“Oh, Calliope, it wasn’t your fault,” Cecilia soothed.

“Yes, it was,” Calliope insisted, louder. She leaned back and stared at Cecilia.

“He said if I wasn’t nice, Mom and Dad would die. I tried. I really tried, but he made my skin crawl,” Calliope sobbed.

Cauldron slammed his fist on the desk, “Motherfucker.”

Torrent agreed. If only he were still alive in the Boneyard, Torrent could extract some vengeance.

Cecilia leaned her forehead against Calliope’s. “There is nothing you did wrong. Mom and Dad dying is not your fault. It’s the fault of two brothers who believe they should do whatever they want. You are not at fault,” Cecilia vowed, staring into Calliope’s eyes.

“Are you sure?” Calliope asked.

“I’m positive,” Cecilia assured her.

“I am too, sweetie. All this emotional stuff is making me need a sweet. How about we go to Dragon and my room, and we can have some of the brownies I baked?” Sally said.

Sally, Cecilia, and Calliope left the room.

“Why did Sally take them to your room?” Cauldron questioned.

“Sally knew we were watching. I’m sure my Ol’ Lady decided she’d get the rest of the information and then give it to us later. Is it only me who wishes I could resurrect that sucker and spend the day killing him and bringing him back, because no one deserves whatever he did to that little girl,” Dragon growled.

Torrent agreed but didn’t say anything. This was one of those times he wanted to scream at the injustice, and his girls hearing him scream wouldn’t help them. They both needed him to be calm and caring—a safe spot during the storm. He’d bottle this up inside, and when he was finally able to let it out—well, let’s just say that he really fucking hoped he could unleash it on Horse’s Ass’s brother.

Chapter Ten

Dragon had called Church after Sally had taken the girls to their suite. They were waiting on Ashe and Mammoth, their Treasurer, to arrive.

Maverick never liked silence, so of course he was filling the time talking about anything he could think of.

“I know we have runs coming up with deliveries like normal, but I had an idea,” Maverick pitched.