In the middle of it all.

CHAPTER 30

"Anyway, as you can imagine, their marriage wasn't a good one. They resented each other, and they resented us. Couple years after Daxton, I came along. I was the result of a drunken night. They hadn't wanted me, or Daxton. As we got older, we started realizing how different our lives were to other children. We didn't get goodnight hugs and kisses. Stories weren't read to us before we fell asleep. We weren't packed lunches for school or dropped off for school. Our parents didn't check that we did our work, and they didn't praise any good work we brought home. We were abandoned, left alone to fend for ourselves most times."

Mikayla shivered. Something in Cameron's tone had her muscles clenching. She wasn't sure she wanted to hear what he was to say next.

"Daxton learned quickly how to cook to make sure I had something to eat. He always looked after me. He was more of a dad to me than our father. Daxton made sure I had breakfast and something to snack on at school. There was hardly food in the house so Daxton would do chores for our neighbors so he could afford food for us. Mrs. Pickle from across the street always needed help with her garden or groceries. She'd always share some food with Dax or sneak him a dollar or two. Daxton would wake us up early to eat while our parents couldn't see. He'd then make sure we both got to school on time. He always checked I did my homework and studied for tests. He wanted good things for us both, better things."

Mikayla smiled fondly. "Daxton is an amazing brother."

Cameron hummed in agreement. "I hadn't realized just how great until I got older and I realized just how much he sheltered away from me. For years, I was a happy kid. I had my superhero big brother. We hardly saw our parents. If they were home, Daxton would play hide and seek with me. I'd hide for hours before he found me." Mikayla's breath hitched. Her eyes shut at the implication. "I didn't realize what Daxton was really doing was hiding me so I wouldn't get beat."

Her throat felt too stiff. She couldn't seem to swallow. "Our parents started noticing that he was getting money. They'd steal from him and if her refused, they'd beat him. It took me a while to understand why, late at night he'd come find me and hide with me under the blankets and cry. I used to think he was just sad about losing. It wasn't until I started noticing his limps, his black and blue bruises all along his body. When I was about eight, I started trying to take his place. Our parents would come home drunk or high and they'd be reminded that they had two kids. They used to get so mad. Daxton would try to hide me but, I'm stubborn."

Cameron chuckled dryly. Mikayla moved until she was near him and placed a hand on his arm. Cameron reached for it quickly and gripped her hand tight. "They started using me to get to Dax. They'd make him watch as they kicked me and punched him."

"Why would they do that?" she asked. Her voice was croaky. She hoped Cameron didn't hear the tears lodged in her throat.

"They wanted him to work for them. Daxton has always had the boy-next-door look about him. He looks like a sweet, innocent kid who'd do no wrong. Because he wanted money for food for us, he'd got his own reputation as a respectful young man who worked hard but had terrible parents. Our neighborhood loved him but feared our parents. They wanted him to do drop offs for him."

"You mean, drugs?" asked Mikayla.

"Yes. They wanted him to deal at school too. Daxton didn't want me to get hurt. One night, it got so bad." Mikayla could feel him shake. "I was thirteen, Daxton was almost sixteen. He'd managed to avoid selling at school by this point. He'd only done two other drop offs for them. But, they wanted more. They wanted to expand their dealing into our school, and they wanted Daxton to help. He refused. He wanted to be better than them but, he would never let me be collateral damage. They beat me in front of him. They punched me, kicked me and still, I made sure Daxton didn't agree. I begged him. He wanted to. He was crying as my skin changed color and blood covered the floor. When my father took one kick too far and knocked me out cold, Daxton flipped."

Mikayla gasped. Her skin prickled and she wondered if an open window was the cause for her sudden chilly skin. "What happened?" Part of Mikayla wanted to know just for curiosity sake. The other part of her – the part that was falling for Daxton – was afraid.

"I don't know. It's been Daxton's story to tell and he's never told me. All I know was two weeks later I woke up in hospital. They'd put me in a medically induced coma to help the swelling on my brain to go down. Dax said the doctors weren't hopeful I'd live. Another week passed while I was in hospital and finally, they said I could leave. Dax took us straight to Mrs. Pickle and we stayed there until Daxton finished high school. He got a job, got us a place and it's been us ever since."

"What happened to your parents?" asked Mikayla.

"I don't know. I never saw them again. They never touched us again."

Mikayla's hand shot to her mouth. "You don't think-"

Cameron's answer was quick. "I have. I wish I didn't." She heard his gulp loudly in the stiffness. "I'll never know until he tells me."

Mikayla fell back against her seat and laid her head down. Her mind swirled with the information and she wasn't sure which part to focus on first. Mikayla knew there was more to tell. She could hear it in the careful way Cameron spoke and the way he seemed to speed past some events. Mikayla was glad he hadn't told her everything. She already felt sick just from the little she'd heard. She wasn't sure she'd be able to stomach more.

"Do you want to leave us now?" Mikayla's body shot towards Cameron. She gripped his arms and shook her head. He sounded like a wounded animal and she hated the sound. It wasn't the Cameron she knew.

"No, never. I couldn't possibly leave you for having to live through trauma like that. It's not your fault you had horrible parents."

"Daxton did something though."

She nodded. It was a fact she was trying to shove far in her mind. She wasn't ready to have her idea of Daxton tainted just yet. "He did," she answered carefully. "But, until I know what, I can't assume the worst. Daxton is a man of integrity and we have to assume he was even back then."

"So, you believe his disappearance now has to do with the disappearance of our parents years ago?"

Mikayla nodded. "I think that, whatever he did, it's come back to haunt him. It's got something to do with money otherwise he wouldn't worry as much about you getting your acting jobs back."

"Maybe he's paying someone for their silence."

Mikayla hummed. "Maybe. We'll need to wait and see what the Private Investigator tells us. In the meantime, I think you should look at your brothers' finances. Maybe we can find out if he's been paying anyone large amounts of money."

"You really think he's into something shady?" Mikayla heard the childish worry in his voice and suddenly, she could imagine Cameron curled up in his youth, hiding from the monsters he called parents. Mikayla hadn't ever known her birth parents and others had always shown sympathy to her for that. After hearing Cameron's story, she knew the real victims of stolen childhood and missed opportunities were the Reynolds brothers.

"It may not be anything illegal but, it's definitely shady." She answered.