The Naturals, #2
Killer Instinct
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Contents
Chapter 33
Overview
Michael hands Dean the keys, prompting an unplanned detour to Dean’s childhood home. Confronting the site, Dean reveals his mother, Marie, left him, was later found alive, but refused to take him back because he was Daniel Redding’s son. Cassie follows to support him, while Michael forces emotional clarity. The visit deepens Dean’s backstory and strains the trio’s dynamics.
Summary
Leaving Trina Simms’s house, Michael tosses his car keys to Dean, insisting he drive. In the car, they debate Christopher Simms’s aggression toward Cassie. At a stop sign in Dean’s hometown, Michael’s gesture proves deliberate: he has given Dean a chance to confront his past.
Dean turns down a side road and parks near a dirt lane leading into the woods. Cassie realizes this is where Dean grew up. Michael admits he wanted Dean to have a choice and pushes Cassie to decide for herself whether to follow Dean, challenging her to recognize her own motivations.
Cassie catches up to Dean at a weathered house with a child’s tricycle in the yard. Dean notes the old toolshed—where his father once killed—has been torn down. At the fence, they find initials carved into the wood: DR and MR. Dean identifies MR as his mother, Marie, just as the current occupants spot them, prompting a quiet retreat.
On the walk back, Dean shares that he and Marie used to play card games. He recounts how Marie left one day; for years he feared Daniel had killed her. The FBI later found her alive, but when contacted, she refused to take Dean because he was Daniel Redding’s son, leaving him to the system.
Back at the car, with Michael now in the driver’s seat, Dean closes the conversation by saying his mother was nothing like Trina Simms. The detour exposes Dean’s rawest wounds, clarifies Michael’s provocative support, and strengthens Cassie’s resolve to be present for Dean.
Who Appears
- Dean ReddingConfronts his childhood home; reveals his mother Marie left, later refused him because he was Daniel Redding’s son.
- CassieNarrator; follows Dean, processes Michael’s motives, supports Dean while he revisits traumatic memories.
- MichaelGives Dean the keys to provoke a choice; pushes Cassie to own her motivations; later drives.
- Marie ReddingDean’s mother; remembered through carvings and backstory; left and later rejected Dean despite being found alive.