“Yeah,” he muttered, sounding disgruntled. “What I do know, though, is that the house was the boys’ mother’s. It had belonged to her first husband, their father. He died before Joshua was born. He was army. Died in Iraq. She transferred the title to Brewer only two weeks ago.”

“Not at the time that they got married?”

“Nope.”

“What did Brewer do for a living?” she asked.

“He was an attorney, but it doesn’t appear that he’d practiced for quite some time—a few years at least. There may be another explanation for what happened to the money he got for the house, other than gambling or drugs.” Hesitating, Diesel glanced over his shoulder at the closed basement door. “Blackmail.”

A shiver ran down Dani’s spine. Mindful that Joshua was upstairs, could come down at any moment and hear them, she leaned toward Diesel and whispered, “Someone knew about Brewer molesting Michael?”

Diesel’s jaw clenched and her feeling of trepidation grew.

“What?” she demanded in a harsh whisper. “Tell me.”

He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Brewer had photos on his hard drive.”

“Oh my God.” Dani mouthed the words, her voice having fled from her throat. “Of the boys?”

Diesel nodded grimly.

She covered her mouth, tears stinging her eyes. “No.”

“I’m not telling the cops unless I have to. If they find them, then they find them, but I don’t want anyone to have any more reasons to suspect Michael.”

Dani nodded, swiping her eyes with the heels of her hands. “Dammit. I hate this. I hate to know this. I hate that it’s true.”

Diesel looked away. “I thought you should know. But maybe I shouldn’t have told you.”

Instinctively she reached for his face, cupping his cheeks and pulling him so that he looked at her again. “Yes, you should have. You did the right thing. Doesn’t mean it’s not hard to know.” Think of it as a mugging. If she’d been unsure that Diesel had been speaking from experience, the shame in his eyes drove all uncertainty away. “The boys did nothing wrong. I hate that they were hurt, but they did nothing wrong.” And neither did you, she wanted to add, but of course she did not. “I needed to know so that we can get them the right help, but this changes nothing. I will care for them—and about them—regardless.”

Gratitude flickered in Diesel’s dark eyes and Dani wanted to cry again.

“I don’t think Michael knows about the photos,” he murmured, gesturing to the basement door. “In them, he appears to be either asleep or in the shower.”

Bile clawed at her throat at the thought of Michael being photographed when he thought he was alone and safe. “Let’s not tell him unless we have to.”