Alone in the Dark

‘Trick them into confessing.’

God, she’s young. ‘If they’re dumb enough to be tricked, they’re probably so dumb that I don’t need a confession. They leave evidence all over the place. Unfortunately the people who took your aunt aren’t dumb.’

Jill wasn’t convinced. ‘Then make a deal, dammit.’

‘That’s not going to happen. These people have killed too many people, have bought and sold families and made them slaves. They’ve trafficked children, Jill. I

Jill’s face crumpled, her shoulders sagging as she hugged herself, her sobs starting anew. ‘They have my aunt. They’ve killed all those people and they have my aunt.’

Sighing wearily, Scarlett gathered the girl in her arms. For a moment they just stood there, then Jill balled her hands into fists and pounded them into Scarlett’s collarbones, so hard that Scarlett found herself knocked back a step and sucking in a lungful of air.

Fury in her eyes, the girls fists came up like she was considering throwing a real punch. ‘No,’ Jill fumed. ‘You don’t get to act like you care. Not until you bring her home.’

Scarlett heard both her father and Marcus come to their feet behind her. She lifted her hand, staying them, and took Jill’s arm in a firm grip. ‘Come on. Let’s take a walk.’

‘Scarlett?’ Faith murmured, looking concerned. ‘Remember, she’s just a kid.’

Scarlett rolled her eyes. ‘Finally somebody sees my mean streak. I thought I’d gone soft.’ She heard a few chuckles as the tension in the room went down a notch. Even Jill smiled, and that pissed Scarlett off all over again. ‘But you know what? She isn’t just a kid. She’s nineteen and old enough to take a swing at a cop. So she can damn well listen to what I have to say. Don’t worry, Faith. We’re just going to take a walk.’ She tightened her grip a little when Jill tried to pull free. ‘Don’t make me worry Faith any more than I already have, kid.’

Jill stopped fighting and allowed herself to be led to another, smaller waiting room which was unoccupied. She yanked her arm free, rubbing her wrist. ‘You hurt me.’

‘That hurt you? Fuck that. You’re lucky I didn’t break both of your arms.’

The curse got Jill’s attention, and the threat made her seethe. ‘You wouldn’t.’

‘You’re right. I wouldn’t, because I can control myself. If I’d let my reflexes rule me, you would have carpet burns on your face right now. I’m going to say this only once. Grow the hell up. You’re scared and pissed off. I get that. But you’re not the only one who loves Gayle or who’s worried about her. You’re just the only one throwing a temper tantrum over it. That one hit was your freebie, kid. You touch me again and I will not control myself. Understood?’

‘Yes,’ Jill said sullenly.

‘All right. If you want to be a temperamental brat, stay here alone. If you want to help your aunt, then settle down.’

Jill sat down. ‘I’ll stay here.’

‘Fine.’ Scarlett started to leave, but her adrenaline abruptly crashed, along with her blood sugar. Exhaustion hit her almost as hard as Jill had, and the chair next to the kid suddenly looked damn inviting. She dropped into it and let her head fall back.

Jill gave her a snotty look. ‘It’s only staying here alone if I am alone.’

Scarlett threw the look right back. ‘Don’t you ever shut up, kid?’

‘You sound like Stone,’ Jill grumbled.

Scarlett snorted. ‘Now you’re just being mean.’

Jill chuckled, then sighed. ‘I’m sorry I hit you. I’m not sure why I did that.’

‘I imagine it was because you’re scared and upset and I was handy. Don’t do it again.’

‘Got it. Are you okay?’ Jill asked. ‘You look a little pale.’

‘Long day. I probably should eat. But I don’t have the energy to get up and get something. I think I used up the last of my reserves dragging you down here.’

‘I have a Snickers bar. I’ll split it with you.’

Scarlett wolfed her half down. ‘Now I’m only half a monster.’

‘You’re not so bad.’

‘High praise.’

Jill sat silent for a whole minute and a half. ‘I know what they’re doing.’

‘Who?’

‘Marcus, Gayle, Lisette and the others. They’re using the Ledger to expose abusers or turning their investigations over to the cops so that the abusers can be arrested.’

‘And you know this how?’

‘Because a lot of the threats on that list didn’t make sense because the stories were never printed in the paper. So why would someone threaten Marcus? But then I cross-checked those threats against arrest records. Almost all of the people making threats had an arrest record for some kind of abuse in the past. I’m not as stupid as Marcus seems to think.’

‘He doesn’t think you’re stupid at all, Jill. That’s why you make him nervous. You’re smart, but he doesn’t know where your loyalties lie.’

‘They lie with Gayle. She took me in.’

‘And she’s all you have left. Don’t you think he knows that?’

‘I guess.’ She mimicked Scarlett’s pose, leaning her head back and staring at the ceiling. ‘It wasn’t really his fault,’ she said softly. ‘Gayle’s heart attack, I mean. She’d been having issues for a while but she wouldn’t let me tell anyone.’

‘That was stupid of her.’

‘She’s proud. And she doesn’t like to worry Stone and Marcus. She walks on eggshells around them. It’s like she’s afraid they’ll break.’

‘Maybe they will.’

It was Jill’s turn to snort. ‘Those guys are tanks. Nobody bothers them.’

‘Not now. Doesn’t mean it’s always been that way. You got your phone?’

‘Duh.’ Jill fished it out of her pocket. ‘Why?’

‘Do me a favor. Google “Matthias Gargano”, “Lexington” and “1989”.’ Scarlett closed her eyes while Jill did so. The girl’s gasp told her that she’d found the articles.

‘Oh my God. I didn’t know. Stone and Marcus . . . they had another brother?’

‘Yeah. Matty was killed by the kidnappers and Gayle was the one who kept that family together afterward. She’s seen those big tanks as small, scared little boys and that’s a hard image to erase. Maybe you understand their relationship a little better now.’

‘Yes, I do. And then Mikhail dying too? No wonder Della takes all those sleeping pills. I wouldn’t want to be awake either. Poor Aunt Gayle. She grieved Mikhail so much. I kept thinking, Hello! What about me? Am I chopped liver or something? I didn’t understand.’

‘Now you do. Ball’s in your court as to what you do with it.’

She blew out a breath. ‘I have been a brat, haven’t I?’

‘Yep.’

Jill huffed a laugh. ‘I’ll do better.’

‘Good.’ Eyes still closed, Scarlett kept talking, partly to keep herself awake and partly to keep Jill distracted from the terror that would return once she started thinking about Gayle’s current situation. ‘I will throw you a bone, though. Gayle’s heart attack was indirectly triggered by the team’s efforts, so you were right about that. Your concern was well placed. Just not well acted upon.’

‘How do you know that, about her heart attack?’

‘I was listening at the door yesterday when Gayle told Marcus about the letter she was reading that day. The letter writer threatened to “take away” somebody that Marcus loved just like he’d taken away somebody she loved. Her husband had reportedly committed suicide in prison. Gayle read the letter when Mikhail was missing. Given their past experience with kidnapping . . .’

‘Holy shit.’ Jill sighed, frustrated. ‘That was the worst timing ever. I wish I’d given her the letter when I got it. At least she wouldn’t have had to worry about Mikhail.’

Scarlett rolled her head, opening her eyes so that she could see Jill’s profile. ‘What do you mean? When did you get the letter?’

‘The week before. Gayle had missed a few days at work because she was so tired – I guess that was a warning sign for the heart attack. I’d locked the mail up in my desk because she wasn’t there. The Ledger has a clean desk policy, you know. But I had a big project due for school, so I took a few days off in between. I didn’t give her the letters until the day I came back. That was the day she had her heart attack and then later we found out about Mikhail being dead. I know that Mickey was alive when the letter arrived in the mail. If I’d given it to her then, she wouldn’t have been so shocked.’