by Jana DeLeon
And so sad.
“I’m still working on processing it myself,” Shaye said. “It’s a lot to absorb.”
Emma nodded. “I’ve already made up my mind. I’m allowed to dwell on it until I leave the hospital and not any longer than that. We know the big factors, but all the small things…all the things that went into turning those kids into monsters…I don’t think I want to know.”
“I think that’s smart. So what are your plans after you ditch this rolling bed?”
“I’m still leaving New Orleans. I probably won’t drive as quickly on my way out of town, but I need to go somewhere else. Start over where there aren’t any reminders.”
“No one giving you sympathetic looks. No one whispering and thinking you don’t know it’s about you.”
Emma’s heart tugged and she reached for Shaye’s hand and squeezed. With what little she knew, Emma was certain she hadn’t been through a quarter of what Shaye had. More importantly, Emma had answers and the security of knowing that the people who’d hurt her could never do so again. Shaye didn’t have any of that.
Emma locked her gaze on Shaye’s. “I have never been as impressed with someone as I am with you. You are an incredible person, Shaye. I owe you my life, and I’m going to remember that every single day I have left on this earth.”
A flush ran up Shaye’s neck and she looked down at the blanket. “Thank you,” she said softly.
“You’re going to do amazing things.”
Shaye looked back up at her and smiled. “I hope so.”
Emma sniffed and decided a change of topic was in order. “So, all of this means I’m going to need a new real estate agent.”
Shaye’s eyes widened and she laughed. “I can probably help you with that. Corrine has a friend—she’ll pester you about fresh flowers and room deodorizers, but she’ll get you top dollar. The best part is Corrine’s known her and her family since preschool. They probably had gym together, so there’s a good chance she’s even seen her naked.”
“Sold!”
###
Shaye beat Jackson to the café. Black coffee and one sweetener were already in place in front of his chair before he arrived. He looked at the cup and smiled as he sat down. “We’re going to have to stop meeting like this.”
She laughed and then marveled at how much she loved the sound. It had been a long time since she’d felt the way she did right now. She had no idea how long these moments of pure unadulterated glee would last, but she was going to enjoy the hell out of it as long as she could. Stark reality would creep back in soon enough.
“Have you seen Emma?” Jackson asked.
“I came here from the hospital. She’s good. Great, actually, especially considering everything she’s been through. The doctor removed the bullet in her shoulder. It had lodged in a muscle. It’s going to hurt like hell for a good long time, and she’ll have to be careful about infection, but if anyone’s qualified to take care of it, Emma is.”
“I guess she doesn’t have to leave town now.”
“She doesn’t have to but she’s going to anyway. Fresh start.”
“Can’t say that I blame her.”
“Me either.”
“How is your mother taking the news that her attack was related to your case?” he asked.
Shaye sighed, not even wanting to get into a discussion about the fallout she’d had with Corrine over the case. Her mother was convinced that if Shaye continued as a private investigator, she would be killed, or the world would spin off its axis, or the network would cancel HGTV. Something awful.
“Let’s just say it’s given her a whole new round of energy to try and convince me to change professions,” Shaye said.
“Is it working?”
“I told her I’d quit my dangerous job when she did.”
“Ha! Bet that one went over well.”
“Yeah. Did you hear anything on Helen Bourg?” Shaye asked, changing the subject.
Jackson nodded. “I talked with the sheriff’s department this morning. Your phone call yesterday set them all on their heels. They’d never seen anything like it and damned sure don’t want to again. He said even in the shape she was in, they had to sedate her to get her out of the house. She screamed at the cops and tried to scratch and bite them.”
“She’s definitely disturbed, but even in her ranting, I think she told the truth.”
“A team took all the paperwork they could find out of the place thinking they might be able to piece together how long Patty had kept her there that way.”
Shaye shook her head. “You know, I’ve been thinking about what Patty told Emma, about Nathan being the favorite. Do you think she killed him? To punish her mother, or maybe because he wasn’t abused the way she and Jonathon were?”
“It’s definitely possible. Detective Reynolds has been trying to trace her movements since she left Port Sulphur, working backward using employment records and the name she gave Emma. So far, he’s found three cities that she lived in. All three have unsolved murders where the victim had their eyes removed.”
Shaye shook her head. “Is it wrong that I’m glad you killed her?”
“Hell no! There’s no way she would have stopped with Emma. No telling how many bodies she could have racked up if she’d gotten away with it.”
Shaye stared down at her latte for a bit, stirring the froth around. “On some level I get it…what makes a person turn. I think the absence of hope removes all empathy. Then all you want is for the rest of the world to suffer like you do.”
She looked back up at Jackson, expecting to see judgment, even frustration, but instead, he was frowning and appeared deep in thought. For a minute, she thought he wasn’t going to comment, but finally he cleared his throat.
“I can’t begin to imagine the kind of life Helen and Patty had, or Jonathon for that matter,” he said. “Even knowing what I do, even with the medical facts that speak for them, I can’t force my mind to make a leap that far into darkness. I can process it on a surface level—I wouldn’t make a very good cop if I couldn’t—but as far as deep understanding goes, I may as well be looking at a van Gogh.”
“Sometimes beautiful. Sometimes horrifying.”
He nodded. “Sometimes the picture is clear and makes sense. Other times, it’s confusing and makes my brain hurt to even attempt to contemplate it.” He locked his gaze on hers. “There’s no one answer for people like Helen, Patty, and Jonathon. Every person has a different breaking point. Every person experiences a different set of inputs. Every person has a different support system.”
“Or no support system,” Shaye said quietly. She couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened to her if Corrine hadn’t taken her in. Jackson seemed to think she was tough and would have managed, but he didn’t really know her. After nine years in Eleonore’s office, Shaye still wasn’t sure she knew herself. Not completely. And she knew why.
Because the pieces of her past were missing.
She couldn’t address the unknown, but it was always there. Lurking beneath the surface, compelling her to act and think in ways that she had no logical reason to support. Forcing her to attempt to deal with the symptoms rather than addressing the problem.
“You said you would help me,” she said. “If I ever wanted to know…”
“And I will. Every step of the way.”
Learn more about Shaye’s past in SINISTER, coming Fall 2015.
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The Author:
Jana DeLeon grew up among the bayous and ‘gators of southwest Louisiana. She’s never stumbled across a myst
ery like one of her heroines but is still hopeful. She lives in Dallas, Texas with a menagerie of animals and not a single ghost.
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