by Angel Lawson
As though she had a choice.
“I’m fine, let’s get this over with.”
A knock on the door interrupted them and Ari was shocked to see Nick poke his head in. He gave her a sympathetic look and said, “I’m here to advise Ms. Grant during her questioning.”
“That really isn’t necessary and Ms. Grant hasn’t requested representation,” Detective Bryson stated.
“No, let him stay. It’s fine,” she said uneasily. How did he know she was there?
Nick touched her shoulder and took the seat next to Ari. If it annoyed Bryson, he didn’t let on. “Let’s start with what happened tonight.”
Where should she start? With Nick coming over for dinner? Rebuking her advances? The ritualistic tattoo habit? Ari guessed it had to be the tattoo parlor.
“I’d just left Marked, the tattoo parlor on Arbor Street. When I got home, they attacked.”
“Who attacked you?”
Ari told her story to Bryson and Nick. Slowly sharing the terrible details. She fought back tears, unwilling to seem weak in front of either of them, because she already felt exposed enough. This was not how she wanted to reveal herself to Nick.
“Tell me about the Vigilante,” Bryson asked.
“He came out of nowhere. I didn’t even realize it was him until I was in the house.”
“This makes the second time he’s been at a crime scene with you and Jace. Any idea why?”
“No,” she shook her head. “None.”
“Maybe he has a fixation with you,” Nick suggested. “It can’t be a coincidence.”
“I don’t think he’s fixated on me. He’s never approached me or anything.” Lie. Maybe he didn’t start a conversation, but he actively saved her life that first time. The box came to mind but she didn’t mention it. She was protecting him, she knew that, but why not? He protected her.
“Maybe he’s been after Jace this whole time?” She thought back to some of the things Jace had said during the fight. “Maybe all this is about something else? He said he knew information but the Vigilante didn’t seem to care.”
Bryson flipped through a report on the desk. “Jace doesn’t have any known gang affiliations, but it’s possible. The robberies do have a crime-ring feel about them.”
The detective asked Ari some other questions about the incident. Had she seen any of the other men? He told her that the one backing up Jace had been taken to the hospital and then into custody. Jace himself had been unconscious when the police arrived, the mystery man having knocked him out.
“Any last thing you can tell us?” Bryson asked as she and Nick stood at the door.
“No, not that I can think of,” she said. But there was one other thing. One thing she kept to herself. The mystery man moved sleek and quiet, like a cat. Ari knew only one other person like that.
FIFTEEN
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ari said. The early morning air cooled her cheeks and she wished for a cup of coffee. What she really wanted was to be back in her bed, but this terrible day of all days had just begun, and looked to only get worse. She took a day off after the attack in her front yard but that was all Ari could afford. Hope had skipped her first counseling appointment and Maria’s funeral was scheduled for later in the day. At 8:00 a.m., the day was already heading downhill.
Hope’s grandmother shook her head. A tight scarf wrapped her curler-covered hair and she wore a pink, flowered robe. “She was in her bed last night. I checked after I watched the Late Show. She must have snuck out after that.”
“I’m going to have to report this,” Ari said with a sigh. So much for second chances. Or third. Or fourth.
“I know, Ms. Grant. That girl just can’t seem to control herself.”
“Any idea where she went?”
“No ma’am, she don’t tell me anything.”
“Let me know if you hear from her,” Ari said fruitlessly. Her grandmother was sweet but no way she’d turn Hope in. She added, “I don’t want her to get hurt or anything.”
“I will. I have your number. She’ll be okay.”
Ari shook her head. “No, I’m not sure she will. I don’t know if you are aware of this but I’m going to a funeral today for a client. She was murdered and dumped by her killer. We have no idea who did it which means a murderer is loose on the street and he could be preying on girls like Hope. If you hear from her, please encourage her to come home.”
Ari left the apartment and returned to her car. During daylight, the housing project felt a little less scary, only kids and mothers were out now, heading to school. Still, Ari looked cautiously around making sure no one was following her.
Jace had been arrested, or would be if he ever woke up. The sound of his head hitting the pavement during the fight echoed in Ari’s memory. And the mystery man. She couldn’t get him out of her head, either. Was he a stalker? Her protector? Both? She knew whom to ask. She knew who taught the boys in this city how to battle like that. She just hadn’t gotten up the nerve to do so yet.
In the car, Ari dialed the number for Apprehension Services and gave them Hope’s description and the details for the arrest warrant. There was little now she could do for her but wait.
* * *
The funeral went on for hours. The room became unbearably warm and everyone in the church was borderline hysterical. This was not Ari’s first funeral for a client but they never got any easier. She sat in the back, fanning herself with a thick paper program, listening as the minister talked about the trials of sin. So far, he’d been speaking for close to thirty minutes and showed little sign of stopping. She’d talked to Maria’s mother and family already but they looked at her with judgment and disdain. She wasn’t welcome there, but it was her responsibility to come. Plus, she’d cared for Maria.
“You want to get out of here?” she heard from the row behind hers. She knew the voice and it set her skin on edge. Davis. The curse of a successful one-night stand was the involuntary reaction the body had to triggers. His voice was a trigger. Conjuring imagines inappropriate for a church, much less a funeral.
During the next hymn, Ari made a break for the side back door. Davis followed and she ducked into a small room in the narthex. She noticed his suit and tie. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I try to attend the services of our fallen youth.”
“Did you know Maria?”
“No, not directly, but several of my boys did. We’ve been discussing her death in our group sessions. It’s hard on them when they lose one of their own.”
“What do you mean?”
Davis tugged at his collar. The entire church was sweltering. They must have had the heat cranked up. “Do you want to get out of here? Go somewhere?”
Ari looked at her watch. Barely noon. “I’m on the clock.”
“Let’s call it a work meeting. I’m happy to fill you in on Curtis’s progress.”
Inside the church, the hymn had finished and a second minister stood at the podium to begin his sermon. This wasn’t ending any time soon. She nodded but added, “I’m going to hell for this.”
Davis opened the door and they stepped into the fresh, cool air. Ari took a deep breath.
They went to a local burger place—Ari’s favorite—and ordered greasy hamburgers and fries. Over lunch, Davis explained that, “The children of Glory are in a battle. Most fighting against one another, but all ultimately from the same beginning. Every time a child dies here it affects the others. Some become harder. Others resolve to fight. And the rest turn toward the darkness.”
“So you help the fighters?”
“I teach them how to fight against an assumed death.”
“What? Like training and preparing an army? That sounds a little out there.”
“Mental, emotional, and physical training is not the worst way to go. We’re trying to create strong minds and bodies.”
Ari wasn’t so sure about his vision but at least he had one. “Do you know how Maria died? The polic
e have no idea other than a possible ex-boyfriend.”
“I have some speculations.”
“Care to share?”
Davis sat his hamburger down. “There are different levels of crime in this city. The obvious ones,” he held his hand up to his eyebrows, “they exist up here. Where people can see them and identify their attackers. The drug dealers, for example. The ones you see on the street,” he lowered his hand, near his neck, “then there is the next phase. The distributor. You don’t see them, but they are the ones funneling the drugs to the dealers and into the community.” He then dropped his hand under the table. “Under that, you have this deep system of organizers. The real criminals. The ones that walk among us but wear a mask of good. They run our companies, the legal system, the churches…”
“So what are you saying?”
He shrugged and took a bite of his burger, wiping his mouth before he spoke again. “I think the base level is using the kids of this city in a war, and Maria may very well be a victim.”
“Why do you think this? Why exactly?”
“Because she’s not the first girl I’ve seen show up dead like this.”
* * *
Nick rubbed tiny circles into the bottom of Ari’s feet that she’d propped his in lap. He was good at this and Ari gave him a thankful smile.
“So, the funeral was that bad, huh?”
Ari didn’t tell him about bailing with Davis. “It’s always hard to lose a client, but this one seemed worse, you know?”
He nodded.
“Normally, it’s a shooting or drugs. Maybe an altercation with the police, but no one knows what happened to Maria,” she explained. But what Davis had told her nagged at the back of her mind. He’d explained that it wasn’t the first time a young girl had been found dead like this.
He’d told her, while she’d tried to hold down her lunch, that there had been a series of crimes like this, that the police didn’t want to alarm anyone so they’d kept it quiet.
“But these are my clients!” she argued. “How can I protect them if I don’t know how to keep them safe?”
“Because even though there is a pattern, it’s unclear what is really going on here. Young girls. All kidnapped or missing for several days at a time, and then they find them like Maria.”
“Maria is the only girl on my caseload or from our office that has been murdered like this. Who are these girls you’re talking about?”
He leaned his elbows on the table. “Runaways. Young girls—younger than what you usually get assigned. Kids slipping through the cracks because no one is reporting them missing or truant. Every troubled kid in the county doesn’t make her way across your desk.”
“It sure feels like it,” she mumbled. “They all go missing from time to time, but in general, they reappear. Either in lockup or in my office begging for a second chance.”
“Keep an eye out for the ones with strange absences or weird stories.”
It had been impossible not to think of Hope.
Nick’s hands inched up her legs, kneading the tired muscles. She sighed at his touch, willing him to go higher. “Do you think this could be part of a bigger thing?” she asked.
He frowned. “What do you mean, thing?”
“Like, what if Maria’s murder isn’t the first one? Maybe there are other girls.”
“Is there any evidence of that?” Ah, the lawyer. Ari should have expected him to appear.
“No, not that I know of.”
“Then why are you coming up with this reasoning?”
Davis had mentioned kids going missing. “Hope’s story. I wonder if it was connected.”
Nick made a face and removed his hands from her leg. “This again? I thought we decided Hope was making this up? Plus she’s run away again, right? I think this is more about her having an addiction to being on the street than anything else.”
“I’m worried about her. This feels wrong to me. I don’t know why. She’s a mess and a delinquent and she makes horrible choices, but something else is going on. I just don’t understand it.”
Nick scooted over and wrapped his arms around Ari’s shoulders. “I know you’re worried. It’s what makes you so good at your job. I have a feeling that Maria was in the wrong place at the wrong time and someone did a really horrible thing to her.”
Ari felt all the emotions of the day building up and she finally cracked, letting out an ugly sob. “It just sucks for them, you know? Half the time I hate them for doing such stupid things and then I realize they can’t help but do stupid things because no one teaches them any better.”
Nick took her face in his hands. He wiped away her tears with his thumbs and gave her a sweet, soft kiss. “Then teach them. Teach them better.”
An idea flared and Ari nodded, letting it take hold. An idea to help these girls and to protect them from the dangers roaming around Glory City. She tilted her head, seeking affection from Nick and he gave it, pushing her back into the couch cushion and kissing her long and deep.
* * *
Nick left once Oliver got home, giving her the impression that Nick might have been babysitting just a bit. She wanted a boyfriend, not a babysitter which increasingly, he seemed to be. Sure, they made out a little bit, but it never went far enough and Ari felt increasingly frustrated. Her mind wandered constantly to her night with Davis and it was a signal she couldn’t ignore. She and Nick would have to talk soon.
“I’m going to bed,” she said, shortly after Oliver got home.
He was on his third bowl of cereal and held the spoon up in a small wave. “Night.”
After washing her face and brushing her teeth, Ari settled under the covers. Reaching for her book, she stopped in surprise. On her dresser, next to the black lacquered box, sat her keys. She’d lost them during the fight the other night with Jace.
“Oliver,” she said, walking back into the living room. “Did you put these in my room?”
“Nope,” he said through a mouthful of cereal.
“Huh.”
“Where were they?”
“On my dresser,” she said. “Nick must have put them there and forgot to tell me.”
“Probably.”
Ari counted her keys on the way back to the room, noting they were all there. There was something different, though. A small silver square ornament hung with the rest of the keys. A sinking feeling hit her stomach and she laid the keys on the dresser, opening the box. Her fingers shook as she pulled out the piece of paper. Looking between the keychain and the paper, she realized the characters were the same.
The mystery guy—her mystery guy—had been there. Again.
SIXTEEN
“Ms. Grant, do we really have to do this?”
Ari arranged the chairs in the room for the first night of her group. All of the females at her office had been informed that attendance was mandatory. That didn’t keep Devon and a couple other girls from trying to get out of it. “Yes, you have to come. It’s a three-week class. Tonight is the intro, where we’ll just talk about it, but next week I have some guests coming in. I think you’ll like it.”
“Do we have to learn self-defense or something?” she whined. “I just got my nails done.”
Ari shook her head. “Boo hoo. Grab that stack of chairs and put them out.”
In the lobby, Rebecca had a sign-in sheet for the girls attending. They straggled in one by one, pushing the start time as close as possible. These girls never made anything easy.
Class started at 4:00 p.m. and at 4:05 Ari decided to begin. A couple of girls didn’t show, which wasn’t a surprise. Devon and Shanna were there as well as several girls who were close to graduating from the program. Ari had promised them if they came, she would dock two weeks from their time and suggest early release to her bosses. Two new girls on her caseload sat near the soda machine. Clarice and Nicole. Both experienced runaways. Hope was still unaccounted for, and Apprehension had no leads.
“Alright, girls, let’s get started,” Ari said
, pulling up her own chair. She’d arranged them in a circle so she could see all their faces and encourage discussion. It was a tough group. One of them could give her the finger and walk out at any moment.
“What’s this all about?” asked Shanna.
“As most of you know, we lost a girl last week. Maria Snow I feel like maybe we could have done more to protect her and I don’t want the same to happen to you girls.”
“Whatever,” Devon muttered. “I can take care of myself.”
“I knew her. We were in school together,” Margaret said. “She died?”
“Yes,” Ari nodded.
Devon perked up. “What happened? Sounds like she was doing stupid stuff.”
“We really don’t know what Maria was doing, but the police think she was murdered. No one deserves that.”
“I heard she was working down on Stewart Street,” Clarice offered.
Devon snorted and looked at Shanna. “Told you. Girl was stupid.”
Ari looked at the Clarice. “Where did you hear that?” The girl ducked her head and mumbled something Ari couldn’t hear. “Clarice, I need you to tell me what you know.”
“I saw her down there when I was with my boyfriend.” Ari wanted to ask what she and her boyfriend were doing down there but kept the judgments for another day.
“Well, it’s possible. No one knows for sure what happened. But Maria wasn’t a bad kid. Nor are any of you. I’m worried, though, that someone out there may be taking advantage.”
“Advantage of what?” Devon asked. She looked ready to bolt.
“You. Your body. Your minds.”
“No one has control over me,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I do what I want.”
Ari sighed. Getting through the tough exterior with these girls felt impossible. She noticed Shanna fidgeting in her seat and glancing around the room at the other girls.
“Shanna,” Ari prompted. “Do you have something you want to say?”
“Sometimes, when we go out, guys are creepy and weird. I don’t like it.”
