Breaking Shadows (Darkness Falls Book 2)

by Melissa Sinclair

  “I did. She has a new friend who she walks home with every day.”

  Ethan’s instincts kicked in, and a warning bell sounded at that revelation. What are the chances that Kimora would have a new friend right before she went missing? It was entirely possible, but also coincidental, which he didn’t like.

  “How long have they been friends?”

  “Just a few weeks. I haven’t met her, but Kimora says she’s a really sweet girl. She has a rough home life, so she always walks home with Kimora to delay going home herself.”

  A similar story to the one Becky had been told. Ethan didn’t like the coincidence. Keisha’s eyes had dried, and she now looked wary. Ethan knew that she had picked up on the reason for his question.

  “Did you call this friend?”

  “I did.”

  “Were you able to get ahold of her?”

  “Yes. She said she walked with her to our house and then went home.”

  Ethan jotted down notes as Keisha spoke. The scenario was reminiscent of Becky’s disappearance, and he didn’t like that thought at all. Human trafficking was becoming an alarmingly large problem across the US and Wisconsin was no different. Milwaukee was fast becoming a hub. Recently, Darkness Falls had seen an alarming increase in the grooming of minors. Hence, why they’d put someone undercover.

  “What did you do after you spoke to her?”

  “I called all of her other friends. But…” she trailed off abruptly.

  “But what?” he prodded, that warning bell ringing again.

  “All of the girls she’s friends with said that recently she was different. She had turned away from them and was only hanging out with the one girl.”

  “What was this friend’s name?”

  “Bridget. I don’t know her last name. Kimora didn’t share much about her, other than that her home life wasn’t the best. I know she’s white.”

  “Is she the same age?”

  “She’s a year older; she was held back a year.”

  “I have a few tough questions to ask, and it’s just routine. So please don’t think I’m judging you.” He paused while she nodded, her chin tipped up slightly as if prepared for a fight. “Why did you wait until this morning to come in?”

  “I called the police as soon as I tracked down all of her friends and she still wasn’t home.” Her tone was still quiet, but a bit accusatory. Ethan’s stomach felt like a rock was in it. “They told me that if she didn’t return home by the morning to file a report, and then that young officer was implying she was just out having a good time or that she had run away.”

  “I do apologize if you were made to feel that way. I assure you, I’m taking your daughter’s disappearance very seriously.”

  “You had another question?”

  “I have to ask, and I once again apologize, but has she ever stayed out like this before?”

  “No,” Keisha said emphatically.

  “I knew that would be your answer, but I still had to ask. Is there any reason she would stay away?”

  “No, not anything I can think of. I mean, I’m strict with both of my kids. I want better for them than I had growing up. Kimora and Davon both do good in school, but I know I’m not home enough. They both know that’s so I can better myself and hopefully make our lives easier, and so I can spend more time with my children before they become adults and leave for their own lives.” Her voice broke at the end, and tears filled her eyes once again.

  “If you have a picture of Kimora, I’ll start getting it circulated immediately.”

  “You believe me, then? That she didn’t just run away?”

  “Yes, I do believe you, and unfortunately, I also think time is of the essence.”

  Quinn woke slowly and blinked her eyes several times. She struggled to sit up. Remarkably, her body hurt worse now than it had when she left the hospital. The nurse had mentioned that she might be sorer as the day went on. That was an understatement—Quinn felt bruised on every square inch of her body.

  “How are you feeling?” The lovely voice of Evie Montgomery floated into the room from the entrance to her living room—she’d almost forgotten the woman was there.

  “I have definitely felt better.”

  “I imagine. I’m making you some lunch. You slept through breakfast, so I put that in the fridge for tomorrow.”

  “Evie, I appreciate it, but I told you not to bother.”

  “Don’t be silly. My son called and asks for a favor that isn’t really a favor. It isn’t every day one of my kids asks me for help.”

  Quinn felt such warmth in Evie’s words. What would it be like to have the love of a woman like Evie Montgomery? She imagined it was pretty magical—the woman was such a beacon of light and love.

  “I love that you think of Ethan as your son.”

  “I don’t think of him as my son, Kara and Ethan are as much my children as Grayson, Caleb, and Taylor. They deserve parents that care for and love them.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” Evie looked at her with an all-knowing look, the look of a woman who had seen it all, her lips curved into a sad smile.

  “Why don’t I help you up to the bathroom? I’m sure you need to go, and then you can eat the tomato soup and my famous grilled cheese. It has a secret ingredient. A simple lunch, so you can’t yell at me,” she said with her palms up in a placating gesture. “I could have made you my world-famous chicken dumpling soup and homemade bread, but I figured that would be a bit too much.”

  That got a chuckle out of Quinn, and she felt more at ease than she had all day. As nice as Evie was, it was still unnerving having someone that she barely knew taking care of her, no matter how honest and pure their intentions were. Ethan had been extremely thoughtful to think about having someone come sit with her, even if it was annoying. Deep down, she appreciated the gesture. Since she didn’t have any family around and didn’t want to burden any of her friends—they all had lives of their own—she really didn’t have anyone to call.

  Her earlier attempt to sit up had been an epic fail, so she decided to tackle it a different way this time and swung her legs off the couch with the hopes that would make it easier. It didn’t. She was winded from the effort and felt foolish. For the love of all things holy, she had fallen down. It shouldn’t be this painful, should it? Evie was at her side in a flash, her eyes worried.

  “Did you crack or bruise a rib?” she asked sympathetically.

  “I’m sore everywhere, but the only broken bone is on my wrist. I know that it’s awful when I try to get up. It sucks the breath right out of me.”

  “It sounds like a bruised rib, but it could just be that you’re bruised in general. Ethan didn’t mention what injuries you have.”

  “I broke my arm, obviously, had to have my knee cleaned up, and my shoulder was dislocated. Nothing major, but you’re probably right, I’m just one big bruise. We were lucky. I keep hoping maybe they were only trying to scare us. It was pretty awful. Apparently, a huge garbage can hit me, and I didn’t even know it.”

  “Ethan and Caleb didn’t mention that, but they did mention you pushed Kara out of the way.”

  Quinn tried to shrug her shoulders, but she was still lying awkwardly on her right side with her legs off the couch. She didn’t have the right leverage to get herself up, and Evie was hesitating, clearly wanting a cue from Quinn that she indeed wanted help. Sucking it up wasn’t something Quinn was used to doing, and her pride didn’t want to let her ask. The tug of war was real, but in the end, she knew when it was best to let your cards lie where they were and ask for help.

  “As much as I dislike asking…”

  Before she could finish the sentence, Evie had her arm under her right shoulder and was gently lifting her, so gently that it hardly hurt at all. Quinn allowed herself to lean into her until she was sitting completely upright. Dizziness took control for a moment, and the room spun. A combination of lying down and pain medicine contributed to making her feel off. After a moment, the dizziness
went away, and she was ready to stand up.

  “You know, I can’t imagine how I would feel if that car had actually connected.”

  “Dead,” Evie quipped.

  Quinn snorted out a laugh, completely taken by surprise by the comment that had come from the sweet woman still holding onto her shoulder as she stood up.

  “You’re funny,” Quinn wheezed as she held onto her ribs. Even laughing hurt.

  Now that she was vertical and on her feet, she took a deep breath, in through her nose and out through her mouth. If she got up and moved around, maybe her tight muscles would relax a bit. When she shuffled to the foot of her stairs and looked up, she lost any determination she had just mustered to keep moving. She never thought twice about her stairs, but right then and there, they seemed like the most difficult task of the day, and she knew, she just knew that the only bathroom upstairs was going to defeat her. Sure, she could make it up those steps once, but twice, three times? Not a chance.

  One excruciating step at a time, she climbed to the top, and by the time she was on the landing, she was exhausted. Evie was quiet the whole time as she walked up those stairs with her, and once she had been safely left in the bathroom, she sat gingerly down to relieve herself. Of all the injuries Quinn had gone through in her life, this was by far the most painful to date. After she was done, she slowly made her way back to the stairs and sighed heavily.

  “There is no way I can do this again today,” she grudgingly admitted to Evie.

  “Oh, thank God, I was hoping you would say that!” The response startled Quinn.

  “But it isn’t like I have much of a choice; it’s the only bathroom in my house.”

  “I hope you aren’t mad, but I texted Ethan while you were in the bathroom. I told him that I didn’t want you trying the stairs again today. His apartment is on the first floor of a house. I suggested that he bring you there after he’s done for the day. I would bring you home with me, but I’m leaving for a few days with James. Taylor is gone, too, but you knew that.” Evie was speaking so quickly that in Quinn’s drug-induced state she could hardly keep up.

  “I can’t ask that of Ethan.”

  “You don’t have to. I did, and he agreed that it was a good idea. I’m going to get you down those stairs and seated in the most comfortable seating option you have, which, at this point, I think, would be your recliner. Once you’re situated, I’m going to go pack you a small overnight bag, if you just let me know what you want and where to find it.”

  Quinn was sunk. She knew this was the smarter option at least for one night, but she didn’t want to leave her home. It wasn’t much, and it was in a bad part of town, but she paid the rent on her own. However, those stairs were not going to happen again today, and Lord knew her bladder would need the bathroom again at some point. Without any other option, she acquiesced, and once they were down the stairs, she let Evie help her into the recliner and bring her a tray of food which smelled amazing. Even if she wasn’t a big fan of tomato soup, today it smelled amazing.

  “Just sit there and eat. Do you need anything? Something to drink other than water?”

  “I suppose wine is out of the question?” she said sarcastically, and Evie smiled at her bad joke.

  “Let me go pack that bag. It sounded like Ethan was wrapping something up, and then he was going to come get you.”

  “He doesn’t need to come right now; I can wait.”

  “His text was brief, but it sounded like he has time now, and then would have to go back to work after he gets you comfortable.”

  “Well, if there’s anything I know about Ethan, it’s that once he makes his mind up, he doesn’t change it.”

  “I wonder who that sounds like?”

  13

  Ethan wrapped up his conversation with Keisha Washington and was in the process of sending over the missing person report to the local news stations when his phone buzzed. He glanced down and saw it was a text from Evie.

  Quinn is not going to be able to do these stairs again today. Body is very sore. Better option? Perhaps your house?

  Ethan didn’t like the sound of that. He really wanted to run to her house and make sure she was okay, but he knew that she was in good hands with Evie, and he couldn’t get away right now if he tried. . Not until he got Kimora’s picture uploaded and shared to as many places as possible. They couldn’t issue an Amber Alert, which he thought was wrong, there should be some kind of alert available for something like this, but his hands were tied. Without proof that she had been taken against her will, he had to follow the proper channels. He could ask the news to air her disappearance and hope they would. Thankfully, Ethan had a good relationship with the press and was confident he could get some air time.

  Agreed. Wrapping something up. After that, I have some time to pick her up.

  It would have to be good enough because he knew that Kimora’s disappearance was linked to the same group that had taken Becky. He didn’t know why or by whom, but there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that it was connected. The mere idea that there was some syndicate taking root in his town made his blood boil. And the realization that this wasn’t an easy fix made it run ice cold. There had to be a faster way to get to the heart of this sex ring before another person was sucked into the ugliness of it all. He knew Black, and he respected him. Even if Caleb still had a hang-up with him, Ethan didn’t. Ethan was able to look at the situation and realize it was a colossal mistake, but it was only a mistake. Even though Black was a damn good cop, it was a tall order they were asking of him.

  Black had infiltrated the network quickly, but he still wasn’t the inside man they needed. It took time to become trusted by the inner circle, which meant that he had to be extremely careful if he wanted to get out alive. Going that deep undercover could change a person. Black was immersed in a very dark world right now. Ethan wouldn’t trade places with him for anything in the world.

  “Vanderbilt! I need a word with you,” Captain Bob Wickman shouted from his office.

  Ethan wondered why he sounded so agitated. Bob was one of the calmest people he knew, but something had him fired up. He looked around the squad room for Caleb and didn’t see him anywhere. As a matter of fact, he hadn’t seen him all day. Which really wasn’t odd; it was their day off. Ethan had only come in to do some leg work on Becky’s case and had inadvertently ended up helping Keisha Washington, or at least, he hoped he’d helped her out. The only way he could really help her is by finding her missing daughter.

  “Hey, Cap, what’s going on? You sound upset about something.”

  “What? Oh, sorry about that. I just got off the phone with the mayor.” Uh-oh.

  “And?”

  “He was mad that he didn’t get a heads-up that Becky Plummer was found. SOB wants to turn it into a political game to get him votes. Between you and me, I hope his opponent beats the crap out of him at the polls.”

  “You and me both,” Ethan said. “She genuinely seems to care about this community, not votes. Maybe with her, we can get some money back in the budget.” Bob grunted.

  “Wouldn’t that be nice? Anyway, I didn’t call you in here to complain about the current mayor.”

  “Yes, you did,” Ethan said wisely. Another grunt escaped Bob. “What did he want? Other than to yell at you because we didn’t tell him about Becky?”

  “That was about it. He didn’t seem to care that we didn’t know about her until she was at the hospital or that she is a minor and we can’t just run to the media. Granted, I’m pretty surprised her family hasn’t announced her return.”

  “They just got her back, and they don’t want her in the limelight. I can understand that. She’s been through a lot, and to be honest, they weren’t sure she would make it through the night.”

  “He didn’t seem to care about any of that.”

  “I forgot what an asshat he is.”

  “Yeah, that’s an understatement. Anyway, I was peeved because he was being such a jerk about it, and I didn’t m
ean to take it out on you. I also wanted to know how Kara and Quinn are.”

  “Kara is good as far as I know. I haven’t seen her today. Caleb managed to keep her from work yesterday.”

  “Today, too, from what I hear.”

  “Really?” Ethan’s eyebrows raised at the revelation. “I guess that’s why he didn’t show up here today—if they’re both off of work and all.”

  “Probably. What about Quinn? I know she took the brunt of it all and that Kara was basically unscratched because of Quinn’s quick moves.”

  “Her arm is broken. They ended up doing surgery to repair it. She also has a dislocated shoulder and a nasty abrasion on her knee. Other than that, she’s banged up and bruised pretty much everywhere. In fact, if you don’t mind, I was going to run to her house and pick her up and bring her to my place.”

  It was Bob’s turn to lift his eyebrows.

  “It isn’t what it sounds like. Right now, Evie, Caleb’s mom, is watching her and just sent me a text message. Quinn’s home only has one bathroom, and it’s on the second floor. Evie said that she’s struggling with the stairs. My place is on the first floor.”

  “She doesn’t have any family?”

  “None that I know of, and I think Evie and James are going out of town. Taylor is out of town, Caleb and Kara have other stuff going on.”

  “His being over protective and watching over her being the main stuff?”

  “Yep. Anyway, I’m the logical choice. I don’t want her trying to go up those stairs by herself and getting hurt worse than she already is. I can bring her to my place and come back; she can rest pretty comfortably there.”

  “You know, you are off today, you don’t have to come back. You could just hang out with her and help her out if she needs any help.”

  “I caught a case this morning when I got here. It seems connected to the human trafficking ring. I’m not sure I should take the afternoon off after all.”

  “What case is that?”

  “Missing thirteen-year-old girl. Name’s Kimora Washington. Her mother was just here, distraught over Kimora not coming home last night. Keisha, the mother, said that her daughter has never done this before, and when she called around to talk to her friends, she found that her daughter hadn’t been hanging with them that much recently. She has a new friend she hangs out with. I was going to try to track down the new friend this afternoon.”