by Stacy Green
Mac grimaced. “You still need to go to the hospital. You’ll need an antibiotic.”
“I can get one.”
He stared at me, the suspicion deep in his eyes. “Are you going to tell me what the hell’s going on?”
Drawing Mac into my mess wasn’t fair, but I needed to talk to someone. My overwhelmed brain could no longer make sense of everything that had happened in the last few days. A new point of view might help me spot something I’d missed. And Kelly’s abductor never said anything about help, just the police.
Mac wouldn’t make me go to the police. He’d understand.
I nodded, trying to think of where to start and what I’d have to omit.
“I’m going to clean the wound first.” He took peroxide out of the bag, along with a pack of cotton balls. “You can start with why you’re back from D.C. and running around getting shot.”
The peroxide didn’t sting, but his touch, no matter how gentle, hurt. I spoke through clenched teeth. “Yesterday morning, one of my former CPS kids was found murdered in Maryland. The scene was a message to me.” I told Mac the theory that I’d made enemies when I’d discovered Jake Riley’s sex trafficking ring. Mac and my mother had come over the day after I’d escaped from the garage. The police had accepted the story I’d killed Jake in self-defense. Instead of being distraught that she’d nearly lost her remaining daughter, my mother had been humiliated and furious at the terrible thing I’d done. I’d brought her name down. How could I have done that?
Mac took me to lunch and listened to as much of the story as I could tell him. When I’d finished, he’d said he was proud of me.
“So after Shannon’s murder, I knew I had to come back and check on my friend Kelly. Do you remember her?”
Mac had never met Kelly, but I’d talked about her frequently over the years–to him, not to my mother. After I’d removed her from her stepfather’s basement, Mac became my outlet. Kelly’s situation was–and remained–the most horrific case of abuse I’d personally witnessed. Images of her emaciated body, along with the tomblike feeling of the basement, had haunted me for weeks. Mac was the only person I could talk to about the experience, and I’d kept him updated on her healing progress.
“Of course.”
“Someone took her.” No more easing into things. The words poured out of me, half babble mixed with anxious sobs. “I thought it was a man named Robert Tesla. He’s a person of interest in Shannon’s murder. Kelly had a file on him. But then I found out she’d discovered Tesla’s father was one of the men who raped her. I think she went looking for the rest of them, and they’ve taken her. I’ve been given 48 hours to find her, and that’s nearly half gone.”
“Jesus. Why haven’t you called the police? This is beyond your skillset!”
“Whoever took her knows things about me,” I said. “He staged Shannon’s body to look like Lily’s.” I nearly stepped off course and started ranting about my mother’s betrayal of putting Lily’s photos online but caught myself. That didn’t matter right now. “He warned me he’d know if I called the police, and I believe him.”
Mac held a small knife, the blade wet with peroxide. “I’ve got to cut in order to get to the bullet. It won’t be very deep, but it’ll hurt. How’d you end up getting shot?”
I tried to slow my breathing even as my heart raced, my gaze on the shining blade. “Kelly put a tracking program on her phone. I was searching for her at one of the properties Tesla Sr. owns when her phone came back on. The app said she was within twenty-five feet of the son’s guesthouse. Oh shit!” The knife pierced the already swollen skin on my arm. I dug my fingers into the worn chair.
“Deep breaths,” Mac said.
I did as he said, trying to think about Kelly and the pain she must be enduring. “I planned to confront him, but I screwed up. He got the gun, and I ran. Thankfully he’s a bad shot.” Another stab of pain, and I bit my lip, tearing the flesh.
“There it is.” Mac put the knife down and started with the tweezers.
The digging was much worse. Almost like a bug that had rooted itself inside my flesh and was making its home. I refused to cry.
“Got it.” Mac held the bloody bullet fragment under the light.
The searing pressure subsided, and then I felt slightly faint. “Thank you.”
He cleaned the wound again and then applied butterfly stitches to both the entry and to the incision, followed by a dressing that would need changing in a few hours. “This is going to scar, and you have to get it checked out soon.”
“I have to find Kelly first.”
Mac reached into the plastic sack and pulled out a dark blue T-shirt. “This is a size medium. It’s all they had. I hope it fits. And I got you a sandwich and some water.”
Now my eyes flooded. “Thank you.”
Woozy, I went into the bathroom and cleaned up, washing the mud off my shorts as best as possible. I didn’t look at my reflection. When I returned, Mac sat in a folding chair. His skin looked gray, and his fingers shook.
“Are you all right?”
“I’ll be fine.” He popped a pill into his mouth and dry swallowed. “Sit down and eat.”
The vending machine turkey and cheese sandwich tasted like heaven.
Mac watched me eat. I could see the wheels turning. I didn’t want to further upset him, but I couldn’t go to the police. He had to understand that.
“You know I think you should tell the police,” he finally said. “Explain the situation and ask for their cooperation. But I also know you’re not going to do that. This is your penance. Always has been.”
I wasn’t sure I’d heard him correctly. I finished the sandwich and then the water. “I don’t understand. What penance? I’m trying to find my friend.”
Mac’s indulging smile reminded me of the way he dealt with my mother. “Did you ever wonder why you got so attached to Kelly?”
“Have you forgotten how I found her in that basement?”
“Of course not,” he said. “I still can’t imagine how awful it must have been. But do all social workers form these kinds of bonds with kids they’ve helped?”
My jaw tightened. “This is different. Most social workers don’t encounter a case like that. Thank God.”
“It is different, but you’ve never been able to accept the real reason why,” he said. “Even now, you’ve taken the weight of saving her life onto your shoulders, and you’re letting that cancel out your better judgment. Common sense, even.”
I didn’t have time to decipher whatever message he wanted to impart. “Can you please just lay it out in black and white?”
Mac leaned forward, resting his calloused fingers on my knee. “Honey, this all goes back to your sister. You couldn’t save her, but you saved Kelly. Now she’s in danger, and you’re going to get yourself killed trying to fix what you see as some kind of personal error. Your penance is that you’ve convinced yourself your own life isn’t worth much because you didn’t save Lily.”
My spinning head had little to do with blood loss. I didn’t want to hear any of that, regardless of how right he might be. I didn’t have time or strength for introspection. If I allowed myself to stop and think about everything Mac had said–and all the things he hadn’t–I’d never get out of the chair.
His single nod told me he understood all the turmoil inside me better than I did. “So you’re going to do what you believe is right, and I can’t stop you. But is there anyone who could help you? Someone you can trust to watch your back? I’d do it if I could, but I’m not as tough as I used to be. I’d only slow you down.”
I tried to ignore the mounting pressure in my skull. If those emotions unleashed, I’d never rein them in. This man had been the parent I’d needed, and he’d do anything for me. I’d never fully appreciated that until tonight.
“Because that’s the condition,” he finally said. “It goes against everything I know, but I have faith in you. The things you’ve done–taking down this ring of filthy child
molesters–that means something. It matters to a hell of a lot of people, good and bad. I also know you’ve got a life no one knows about it. There’s darkness in you, Lucy. I saw it as soon as we met. I used to worry it would get you into big trouble. And I still do. I’ve just accepted there’s nothing I can do to change things.” He smiled wryly. “So I know you can take care of yourself, but I can’t let you walk out that door alone. As a father, I need to know you’ve got help.”
I couldn’t speak. The emotion closed up my throat and made me feel as if I’d been sucked dry. Mac waited, his patience and understanding nearly overwhelming. Finally, I nodded. Because I loved my stepfather, I agreed to speak to the one person I’d vowed I wouldn’t involve.
“There is someone. I’ll call him.”
18
Chris’s sharp voice went right to the anxiety rumbling in my gut. “Lucy, I’m just getting off shift. Why are you calling at one in the morning?”
Is that what time it was? That meant Kelly had less than 24 hours.
I looked at Mac sitting next to me, his hands in his lap and looking frailer than he deserved. How much stress had I brought to him tonight?
“I need your help. Can you meet me in southwest Philadelphia?”
After I took some ibuprofen for the pain, Mac and I drank instant coffee he’d found in the cabinets while we waited for Chris. I’d blurted everything out about Kelly over the phone, and he was in his car before I could finish the story. I couldn’t count the number of hours since I’d slept.
We sat out on the front step, listening to the night sounds. A city like Philadelphia was never truly quiet. Stray cats fighting over the trash in the dumpster down the street, a party going on a few blocks down. Mac watched a cab drive by before turning to me. “How’d you find out about this place?”
“I was on a case,” I said. “Tracking down an adulterer so his wife could cash in on her prenup. I saw you come here in the middle of the day. At first I thought you might be having an affair, but I figured out pretty quickly that you just needed an escape from Joan.” I couldn’t help the bitter smile. I’d decided to spare Mac from knowing what Joan had done with the crime scene photos, but I’d be damned if I forgave her.
“I love her, Lucy,” Mac said. “But loving her takes a lot out of me. I just need my own space every now and then.”
“I’m glad you have this place.” Any compassion I had for my mother had evaporated my last day in Alexandria. “I wish you’d just leave her. Then I wouldn’t have to see her again.”
“You don’t mean that.” His sad tone made it clear he knew that I meant every word.
“Of course I do. And it would give her yet another sad story to use, so she’d benefit too.”
“I know your mother’s–”
I drew the line at listening to him defend her. “She’s a cold, manipulative woman who has always put herself first. She doesn’t deserve you, Mac.”
He sighed, setting his cup down on the step. “She’s made mistakes. With you and your sister. She knows that.”
“Really? Because that’s news to me.”
“I think telling you would really force her to face it–to relive everything again. She can’t handle it.” He actually believed what he was saying. I had an entire lifetime that proved otherwise.
I made a sound of disgust. “God forbid Joan feel uncomfortable in any way.”
“All this anger and resentment, it’s poison.” Mac’s tired voice made me feel even more hopeless. What had I done, bringing him into this? How could I be so selfish? “If you can’t find a way to get rid of it, you’ll never be happy.”
I accepted that happiness wasn’t in my destiny a long time ago, but Mac didn’t need to hear that. I’d caused him enough stress. I squeezed his hand. “I’ll try. Promise.”
A sleek, black car came around the corner, driving slowly. My lungs suddenly forgot how to work. Why had I made that promise to Mac?
He pointed to the car. “Is that your friend?”
All I could do was nod. My insides churned, my skin hot and cold at the same time. My skull felt heavy, as if it were squishing my brain. I tried to breathe slowly, but my lungs continued to revolt against me, sucking in air as if I’d been underwater for too long.
The Audi parked behind my rental, its gleaming black exterior illuminated by the streetlight. The car looked utterly out of place here, which could have been the perfect metaphor for Chris.
I thought about running into the house.
Chris’s shoes appeared first, new red running shoes with a black swoosh symbol. And then he stepped out of the car and looked directly at me. My heart lurched into my throat.
Nothing much had changed. He was still tall, still broad shouldered. His beard had a day’s worth of scruff. Despite the distance between us, I felt the piercing warmth of his striking eyes.
Mac stood up first and then helped me to my feet. “Please be careful.”
I wrapped my arms around him, thinking once again he was too damned thin. “I promise I will. Thank you for helping me. For everything.”
“You know I love you just like you were my own, right?” I’d never seen my stepfather cry or get very worked up about anything. He was always even keeled and rational–a calming influence on freight train Joan.
“I know,” I said. “I love you too.”
Mac turned to Chris, who’d been watching nervously. “Take care of her.”
Chris smiled now, that grin that always made me feel off kilter. “I swear to it.”
I looked away, focusing on his shiny shoes. “You’ve got a red spot on your shoelace.”
Chris glanced down and scowled. “I knew I shouldn’t have worn these to work. Gunshot wound tonight.” He shook his head. “But that’s not important. Luce, let’s go find Kelly.”
Old habits are easy to fall back into–especially if someone’s life is at stake. I settled into the familiar passenger seat, feeling the leather wrapping around me with the warmth of an old friend’s hug.
“I made some calls,” Chris said. “To a friend in 14th District – that’s Chestnut Hill area. There’s been no reports from the Tesla residence. Apparently he didn’t feel like calling the authorities. Guess he figured he’s on their radar for enough. But does he still have your gun?”
I hadn’t even considered the full ramifications of Tesla having my gun. Even though I still believed Tesla’s involvement in Kelly’s abduction would keep him from talking to the police, the gun could have ruined everything. I needed to get my head in the game before I started missing more important things. “It’s still unregistered.” I’d felt like a hypocrite buying the gun last year on the black market. But I knew anonymity would come in handy one day. “It can’t be traced to me.”
“But did he know who you were? He can say you were on his property.” As usual, Chris was the stalwart voice of worry.
“And I can also say he shot at me.” I couldn’t change any of that now. “And that he threatened to rape me. Considering he’s already a suspect in the sex trafficking case, I’m taking the chance he won’t bring up my name. And no one knows I’m back in town except you and Justin. And Mac. He won’t say anything.”
“Justin?” Chris glanced at me, the familiar edge in his voice. I had no interest in dealing with his resentment toward his younger half-brother.
“He and Kelly have been seeing each other. He stopped by yesterday as I was leaving. He thinks Kelly had a relapse and checked into a facility.”
“He’ll tell his brother he saw you,” Chris said. “If Todd hears Tesla’s accusations–”
“I can’t worry about that right now.” I double-checked the cellphone application. “Kelly’s phone is still pinging at Tesla’s place.”
“She’s not there,” Chris said. “He wouldn’t have her there.”
I agreed. But I also thought Tesla enjoyed the power of tormenting me. I hoped Kelly’s phone would have some kind of clue as to where he’d stashed her.
�
��So tell me exactly what you think is going on,” he said. “Because I’m not exactly sure how the murder of your former CPS kid correlates to Kelly being taken. Or how they’re both tied to you.”
I hadn’t told Chris about the message on the mirror at Shannon’s crime scene or how her body had been staged. I needed to keep something back, for reasons I couldn’t explain. “The man in the video made it sound like both Shannon’s murder and Kelly’s abduction were the result of something I’d done. The National Park Police and the Philadelphia P.D. are investigating that angle in Shannon’s murder. The assumption had been that someone screwed over by the sex trafficking ring investigation blamed me. Tesla was one of those people, and Kelly had a file on him.”
Chris exited onto the freeway. “All right, but you said something about being all wrong.”
I yawned widely enough to break my jaw. “Justin told me Kelly had been investigating Tesla because she found out his father was one of the men who raped her. I found out she put a Trojan on my computer and got my login information for NCMEC. She used their system to find the names of all three of the men who regularly assaulted her, along with her stepfather.”
“Did any of them know she was investigating them?”
“She was pretending to date Tesla’s son for information. She’s been on the property, so there’s a good chance the father saw her and put it all together.”
“And she never told you any of this?”
I closed my eyes. “She was protecting me. She wanted me to have my new start in Alexandria.”
“Damn.” Chris’s hands looked tight around the wheel. “Well, she’s obviously learned a lot from you. And she’s tough. She’ll make it through this.”
I said nothing, fighting to keep the panic from taking over. Time moved too quickly.
Chris headed northwest, toward Chestnut Hill. My eyelids drooped, heavy, refusing to stay open. I turned the air conditioning on high.
“When was the last time you slept?”
