LUCY: The Complete Lucy Kendall Series with Bonus Content (The Lucy Kendall Series Book 5)

by Stacy Green

  I decided to call him on it. “I don’t think so.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “You’re not a garbage man. I’m not sure you’ve ever taken out the garbage.” I watched for a tell in his expression, but he remained stoic. “You want to–or at least you think you want to–but you haven’t. Maybe you’ve got a lot of pent-up rage and think that’s the best way to release it.” I tilted my head, narrowing my eyes. “But you’re also materialistic. You like dressing nice, you like being the center of attention. You won’t like the garbage man’s punishment if you get caught. So that’s why you don’t act, not yet. You probably followed Mark Smith around, thinking he’d be the perfect first-time dump. You stumble on me and think you’ve found some sort of mentor. Am I right?”

  Chris licked his smirking lips again. “You can go with that if you want. Point is, I know what you are, and I like that you believe you’re in the right. Takes balls, if you’ll excuse the language.”

  I matched his challenging tone. “Excused. As for who’s in the right, that’s funny since you claim you’re just like me.”

  “Told you, I’m a sociopath.” He spread his hands as if to say, ‘What can I do?’ still smiling. He seemed very proud of the idea of being a sociopath. I wondered if he realized that was his biggest tell. “A highly functioning one, thank you very much. I don’t need a moral compass.”

  “But you have one, according to what you said the other night,” I said. Not to mention his compassion for the war he believed was going on in my head. “You choose the bad guys too.”

  “I figure that’ll give me a little leniency if the book gets thrown at me.”

  “So I’m just for your entertainment, since you’re a sociopath and all.” I resisted the urge to make air quotes. Sociopathy cast a pretty wide net, but Chris didn’t strike me as the sort of person who didn’t give a damn about anyone else, or chose to do things only for his own benefit. I saw the disgust on his face when I told him about Justin’s relationship with Kailey.

  “Something like that.” His eyes wrinkled when he smiled. Let him cling to sociopathy. But I still don’t think he is any sort of killer. “Maybe I just want to get to know you.”

  I snorted. “Sociopaths don’t care about getting to know someone. They only care about what’s in it for them.”

  “Right. And what’s in it for me is talking to someone who truly fascinates me. I can’t say that about anyone else I’ve met. Most people bore the shit out of me. And I’m a pretty affable guy.” He leaned back in his chair and smiled.

  I couldn’t resist the dig. “Or maybe you’re not a sociopath and just a really lonely, needy man.”

  “Do I look like the kind of guy who’d be lonely?”

  He spoke with the feigned confidence of the insecure. “There’s a huge difference between emotionally lonely and physically lonely. Emotional loneliness makes people do crazy things.”

  For the first time, I saw a fleeting glimpse of defeat on his face. “Agreed. But I’m not lonely. Or maybe I am. Either way, you hang out with me long enough and you’ll find out.”

  I drained the last of my water. “Time to go.”

  He insisted on walking me to my car. I would have called it gentlemanly except he’d parked behind it. While we walked, I left a message for Kenny, who I hoped would be able to use his street connections to dig up some information on the Harrison brothers.

  “So thanks.” I stopped at my driver’s door.

  “For what?”

  “For stepping between the janitor and me and handling things when I froze.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  I felt like I should say more, but what else was there to talk about? Chris now knew more of me than any man who’d ever seen me naked.

  “So what are you going to do now?” Chris broke the silence.

  “Go home. Make some calls and try to find out what I can about the Harrison brother. Hope Todd calls me back. If he doesn’t, I’ve got other ways of getting inside the investigation.”

  Chris leaned against my car. “And then what?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What are you going to do after Detective Beckett chews you a new ass and tells you to back off?”

  “Keep looking.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “For Kailey, or for Justin, or for this janitor?”

  “All three.” I didn’t like the way his accusatory tone made me feel coated in guilt.

  “You’ve got someone with serious computer skills,” Chris said. “You have them looking beyond Justin? Checking out other creeps in the neighborhood? What about the kid’s social networking stuff? They’re all online nowadays.”

  “Yes, and so do the police. At this point, my time is better spent on the streets.”

  A cold wind gusted between us. Chris zipped up his jacket. “If I were you, I’d be worried about janitor dude first. Justin second. No matter what you tell yourself, the police are more equipped to find the kid than you.”

  “You’re right. But I have to try.” I unlocked my door and quickly slipped into the car.

  Chris leaned over the open door. “I want to help you.”

  “Why? You’re a sociopath, remember?”

  “Maybe this is my chance to avenge my own wrongs. And I think you’re in over your head.” He looked pointedly away and then glanced down at his shifting feet. For the first time, I realized he wasn’t telling me the whole story.

  Part of me wanted to call Chris on his evasiveness, but I didn’t have the time. And I figured I owed him the decency of butting out since he’d stepped up for me. Instinct told me getting any more involved with him would be a mistake. I should drive away and forget his phone number. But right now, his expression made him look so vulnerable, I had a hard time considering him as anything but a lonely soul. But people wore many masks, and sociopaths were adept at disguising their true colors. Chris might be nothing more than a very skilled chameleon.

  “Tomorrow?” He asked.

  “We’ll see.”

  He stood up. “Listen, Luce. Don’t let guilt blind you on this.” He headed for his car and drove away.

  The nickname needed to go. He didn’t know me well enough for that.

  10

  I’d just about fallen asleep on the couch with Mousecop in my lap when my buzzer sounded. I jumped, and the cat rolled off onto the cushion, staring lazily up at me.

  “Who the hell?” I crossed my small living area and punched the intercom. “Yes?”

  “It’s Todd Beckett.” The detective’s sharp voice told me I was in for it. “We need to talk.”

  I hit the buzzer to allow Todd into the building and did my best to prepare myself. I’d done nothing wrong. Jenna, while she hadn’t signed a contract, had given me verbal permission to investigate. And I’d turned all my information over to the police immediately instead of confronting Justin myself.

  He banged on the door, and I quickly pulled it open gesturing for him to come inside. Dark, slightly tattered trench coat trailing behind him, he marched inside. Mousecop bolted into the bedroom.

  “I got your voicemail from this afternoon. You’ve heard about Justin’s contact with Kailey. By snooping around at the school.”

  “You knew I would.” I folded my arms across my chest, planting my feet shoulder width apart. Hell if I’d be submissive. “I assumed you already knew, but I thought I should call you anyway.”

  “You knew we already had the information. You just can’t stay out of the case.”

  “A child’s life is at stake,” I said. “I wasn’t going to take the risk. But I guess you’ve got your number one suspect, don’t you?”

  His curled lips sent his moustache into his nostrils. “You’d love that, wouldn’t you?”

  “I don’t love any of this, Todd.”

  “Yeah, right.” He snorted. “But just to make sure you’re in the loop and not gloating on the sidelines, we executed a search warrant for Justin’s an hour ago. No sign of Kailey.
That includes his vehicle.”

  “What about his job?” I didn’t miss a beat.

  “Ongoing search, but I don’t think we’ll find her.”

  I failed at keeping my expression neutral. “So what’s his story?”

  “Some brat named Isaac was beating up on Kailey. Justin stepped in, she latched on to him.” Todd gave a sharp jerk of his head. “Dumbass. He felt sorry for her. She doesn’t have a dad, needed a father figure. She wanted to come over and hang out, he said no. But he agreed to email.”

  “And you believe that?”

  “It checks out,” Todd said. “Her mother confirmed the issue with the kid, and so did Josie. As you know. And there’s nothing in her email or on her computer to indicate any wrongdoing on Justin’s part.”

  “Because he didn’t have to register and his sentence is considered complete.” I dropped the words like a bomb. “I suppose his contact with a minor won’t be further investigated?”

  Todd sucked in his cheeks. “He served his time and is free like anyone else. Unless he’s done something wrong, his contact with a minor isn’t an issue.”

  I threw my hands up. “You’re telling me he’s going to be able to walk away again? No responsibility for his contact with Kailey?”

  “Not unless we get any real evidence that says he took her. Right now, every correspondence between them is benign.”

  Unbelievable. Tension rippled through my shoulders. I rolled my neck and forced myself to take deep breaths. “So what now?”

  “I keep looking. You do whatever it is you do. I just wanted to make sure you understood Justin’s situation is being handled.”

  “And you came here to personally tell me?”

  Todd glanced around my little home, and I suddenly became aware of the two bottles of cyanide hidden deep in the walk-in closet.

  “I don’t know why I came here,” he said. “Maybe I thought talking to you in person would help me get through to you.”

  The day’s events weighed me down with the force of a pile driver, and I dropped onto the arm of my couch. “You’re not going to convince me there’s no chance Justin hasn’t done this. And I’m not going to convince you he’s still a threat to society. And neither one of us has the energy to argue.”

  The corner of his thin mouth lifted into a weary, half-smile. “That’s the truth. I’m exhausted.”

  “How’s Jenna holding up?”

  “Better than most people,” he said. “She’s by herself, though. No family’s come to be with her. A couple of friends from work have been in and out, but as far as I know, no one else.”

  “I’m sorry she’s alone.” Jenna was lucky, in my opinion. Most friends and family who come to help in times of crisis never know what to say, and the person suffering ends up trying to make everyone else feel like they matter. Unless you’ve got a mother who demands the attention be solely on her. Never mind the girl who’s just found her sister dead in the bathroom.

  “Do you have any leads?” I asked, deciding to omit the obvious one.

  “A couple of creeps in the neighborhood we’re following up, but so far, there’s nothing. No one saw her get into a vehicle with anyone. She just disappeared.”

  My throat tightened, and I asked the question I’d been thinking since I heard Kailey was missing. “Do you think she’s still alive?”

  Shadows passed through Todd’s eyes, his tall frame seeming to wilt in front of me. “We have no reason to believe otherwise.”

  His tone said differently. I knew the statistics and so did Todd. After the first twenty-four hours, chances of finding a missing child plummet. I thought of Kailey’s smiling face in her school picture, of the innocence shining in her eyes. I hadn’t prayed in years, but I would pray for Kailey tonight.

  Todd’s stomach growled. “I need to get going. Get something to eat and sleep a few hours.”

  “I’d offer you something,” I said as I got to my tired feet, “but there isn’t much here. I forgot to go to the grocery store.”

  “I’m a bachelor. I’m used to fending for myself.”

  An awkward silence simmered. I noticed Todd’s coat was buttoned up wrong, leaving a goofy looking gap. “Let me just fix that for you.”

  He stiffened as I reached for his coat and fumbled with the button. “There,” I patted his coat. “Now you look slightly less harried.”

  “Thanks.” The planes of his face relaxed. His eyes misted over. “You did that once for me before, remember?”

  I shook my head. “No, I don’t.”

  “When Justin was arrested, you showed up at the house. You looked pale as a ghost. I remember your hair looking extra red against your skin, almost like you’d colored it. Your eyes looked like they were stuck wide open.”

  “I couldn’t believe it.” The words made my throat raw. “I never thought something like that would happen.”

  “I was sitting at the kitchen table. My dad and stepmom were with the police. You tried to talk to me.”

  The spark of memory flickered to life. I remembered Todd, slouched and glaring at me, acne spattered across his chin. He was too thin as a teenager, his metabolism barely able to keep up with his height. “You told me to go to hell, that this was all my fault. I should have saved Justin before he did something like this.” I felt the tears welling in my eyes and quickly rubbed them before they fell.

  “I’m sorry for that,” Todd said. “I was an angry kid and looking for someone to blame.”

  “Do you know who hurt him?”

  He looked at the floor, the lines in his forehead deepening. “Both of them did–my dad and stepmother. Verbally and physically. But I never saw them do anything sexual. I never thought…” his voice caught.

  “You couldn’t have,” I said. “It’s nature and nurture, and it’s a shitty mess.”

  He grunted and then cleared his throat. “I told you to get lost that day, and you didn’t push me. But you did fix my coat.”

  Laughter bubbled in my throat and escaped before I could stop it. “That’s right. It was one of those fake leather things that buttoned up. You were so skinny you were swimming in it.”

  “Yeah, I was pretty nerdy.” He raised his shoulders and then let them fall with a deep sigh. “So I’m sorry.”

  “Me too. I’m sorry I didn’t see it.”

  “Like you said, no one could have.” He turned for the door, clearing his throat. “You did do the right thing by reporting your information. Thanks for that. If you find out anything else–no matter what it is–call me right away. Kailey’s got to be our priority.”

  “I will, and for what it’s worth, I hope you’re right about Justin.”

  He smiled. “Goodnight, Lucy.”

  Some time after midnight, the shrill ring of my phone dragged me out of a troubled sleep. Sharp fear pierced my pounding heart; middle of the night calls only brought bad news. I didn’t recognize the number.

  “Hello?”

  A moment of quiet, accompanied by quick, hushed breathing. “Um. Hi.” The whisper belonged to a child. “Is this Lucy?”

  I sat up. “Yes. Who is this?”

  “It’s Josie. Do you remember me? You gave me your card at my school.”

  Scrubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I stifled a yawn. “Yes, of course. Are you okay?”

  “I’m not supposed to be on the phone.”

  “It’s awfully late,” I said. “You should be sleeping.”

  Josie sniffed. “Do you think they’ll find Kailey?”

  This poor child. She’d carry the guilt of Kailey’s disappearance her entire life. “I hope so.” I paused, wondering if I should push her. “Did you have any more information? Something you just thought of?”

  “I never should’ve let Bridget talk me into going to the lot. That place is horrible. And full of nasty men and dark places.” Josie sucked in a shaky breath. “I hate it.”

  “We all make bad decisions,” I said. “What happened to Kailey isn’t your fault.”

>   “I didn’t want to go.” Josie’s whisper splintered into a hushed sob. “I never want to go back there.”

  “You don’t have to,” I said.

  “I don’t want to go to school, either. But my mom is making me.”

  This is the part of CPS I missed: comforting the kids, letting them know that no matter what terrible things are in their lives, I’ll be there for them. “Why don’t you want to go to school? Are the other kids mad at you? If anyone’s giving you a hard time about Kailey, go to the principal. That’s not okay.”

  “They’re not. It’s just…I can’t get away from it.”

  “You can’t, but you can’t run away,” I said. “The best thing you can do is think positive thoughts for Kailey.”

  Josie hiccupped. “You know what he’s doing to her. If she’s still alive, I bet she wishes she was dead.”

  The sudden flatness in her voice sent an icy dagger of fear down my spine. “Josie, you can’t think like that. We can’t give up.”

  “It’s how I would feel.”

  “Josie, have you talked to your parents about this? I bet they could find someone for you to help sort out your feelings–”

  “I have to go.”

  The beep of my phone told me she’d ended the call. I sat it on the nightstand and lay back down, the hopelessness in Josie’s voice embedding into my spirit. I knew it would accompany my dreams, providing the soundtrack for the fear that chased me at night.

  I rolled over and grabbed my e-reader. Sleep isn’t for the wicked.

  Kenny called me at the crack of dawn. I managed to peel myself out of bed and meet him in Chestnut Hill, on the northwest side of the city. I grumbled at the drive, but Kenny was protective of his lucrative clientele and had no interest in being seen with a private investigator.

  Although he’s a small-time drug dealer specializing in marijuana and wary of anything resembling authority, Kenny’s one of the best people I’ve ever known. He’s the one link from my past I cherish.

  By the time I arrived at Pastorious Dog Park, the sun was truly breaking over the eastern sky, making the fall colors of the trees shimmer in reds and golds like some beautifully mixed up rainbow. A few early risers had already brought their canine buddies out to play, and I watched a fat beagle chase a poodle in circles until Kenny knocked on my window.