Chapter 9 - DEREK'S FIRST FAMILY
Detective Mara Ruiz called Savannah two days later.
“We found something you should know.”
Derek Holloway had been married before.
Savannah knew that.
She hadn't known he'd had another child.
A son.
Tyler Holloway.
Now twenty-one.
Derek had no relationship with him.
The reason appeared in an old family court file.
Physical discipline.
Threatening behavior.
An incident involving a belt.
Savannah stared at the report.
“Exactly like Milo.”
Ruiz nodded.
“Tyler was twelve when his mother obtained full custody.”
“Did my mom know?”
“We don't know.”
Savannah found Tyler through social media.
She expected him to refuse contact.
Instead he called within an hour.
“Is this about Derek?”
“Yes.”
“Is he hurting another kid?”
Savannah couldn't speak for a moment.
Tyler understood the silence.
“Damn it.”
They met the following afternoon.
Tyler was tall, nervous and nothing like Derek.
He kept rubbing his thumb across an old scar near his wrist.
“My dad always needed someone smaller than him to be afraid.”
Savannah listened.
“He'd break something, then say I did it. If I denied it, he'd call me a liar.”
Savannah thought of Milo's broken glass.
“He used a belt?”
Tyler looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Did he ever say why?”
“He called it correction.”
Savannah felt sick.
Tyler continued.
“My mom left after he hit me hard enough that a teacher noticed.”
“Did Derek blame her?”
“He blamed everybody.”
Tyler looked toward the window.
“Especially my grandfather.”
“Why?”
“My grandfather helped my mom get out.”
Savannah's phone buzzed.
A message from Caleb.
I FOUND OUT WHO MADE THE CHILD-WELFARE REPORT.
Savannah typed:
Who?
The answer arrived.
TYLER HOLLOWAY.
Savannah slowly looked up at the young man sitting across from her.
Tyler gave a sad smile.
“Milo isn't the first kid Derek did this to.”
May you like
His eyes hardened.
“But I wanted to make sure he was the last.”
