by Karen Rose
‘I’m not guilty, but I am careful. I hiked through the back of the property and they didn’t see me. Will you help me or not?’
More lip licking. ‘What do you want me to do? They’re not allowing me any visitation or communication. I can’t make Michael tell the truth. Not that he ever listened to me anyway. He’s a bad kid.’
‘I want to talk to him, but I can’t get close either. Does he have any friends at school? Anyone he’s mentioned? Somebody who could tell me where he’s being kept?’
‘We don’t really talk. Can I have that?’ She pointed to the bag in his hand.
‘When we’re finished,’ he said, annoyed with her already. ‘Do you know where he’s staying right now?’
‘He’s in foster care.’ Her eyes went sly. ‘Give me a little and I’ll tell you where.’
He wondered if she knew. ‘Tell me where and I’ll give you the whole bag.’
‘How do I know you’re not lying?’
‘How do I know you’re not lying?’ he countered.
She blew out an angry breath. ‘CPS told my lawyer that his foster home is run by a woman who signs. You know, in ASL, because he’s deaf.’
That made sense. ‘And the woman’s name?’
She took a step forward, then stopped when he gestured with his gun. ‘My lawyer says the only emergency foster care with someone who signs is with a woman named Novak. Dani Novak. Her brother is some kind of hotshot cop.’
Well, shit. If the woman was Deacon Novak’s sister, the most recent news reports he’d seen online also made sense. Reporters were speculating that the kids were in a safe house. Special Agent Novak would never allow his sister to be an accessible target.
He held the bag of heroin behind him when she took another step forward. ‘I think you’re lying. Your son is in a safe house.’
‘I know that,’ she said, licking her lips desperately. ‘I told you that I don’t know where. But the Novak woman is with him, wherever he is.’
‘Okay.’ Cade could work with that. ‘Does your son have a girlfriend?’ Because a teenage boy might tell his girlfriend where he was, just so she wouldn’t worry.
Stella barked out a nasty laugh. ‘You’re kidding, right? What girl wants to take on a boy who can’t even talk? I kept trying to get him to talk, but he never would. Wouldn’t even try. His teachers keep saying I should learn sign language or whatever.’ She waved with the hand holding the wine glass, which was now almost empty. ‘I don’t have time for that shit. Someone else can take him. I’ll take Joshua back, but not Michael. He’s too much trouble.’
‘Joshua is your five-year-old.’ He was unimpressed with Stella Rowland Brewer. She was not nurturing.
‘Yeah, he’s cute. People like him. He gets them to give me things. I’ll keep him.’
She talked about her son like he was a dog or an inanimate object. Cade had a feeling he wasn’t getting any additional information from this paragon of maternal virtue. Time for the true test.
‘I actually knew your husband. Were you aware that John was gambling?’
She inched forward, her eyes on the prize he held. ‘Sure, but not a lot.’
‘He gambled away your house.’
Her face paled. ‘What? That’s impossible.’
‘I was there. I heard him. And when he ran out of money, he tried to win it back by offering up a five-year-old boy.’
Her eyes flickered, then hardened. ‘Because of Michael,’ she said, her voice a vicious hiss. ‘He turned John bad.’
Cade didn’t think he’d like what came next. ‘Exactly how did Michael do that?’
‘Seduced him,’ she spat. She took a few more steps, her shaking hand outstretched. ‘I told you what you wanted to know. Now give me the stuff.’
Cade dropped the bag into her hand, knowing she wouldn’t call for the cops. She was too afraid they’d take her ‘stuff’.
She took a taste, her eyes sliding closed. ‘Oh God. I need this.’
‘So you knew that your husband was molesting your son?’ he asked smoothly as she dropped to her knees by the kitchen sink.
Grabbing bottles of various cleaners and tossing them aside, she crowed when she pulled out a laundry soap bottle with a wide cap. She dumped the contents on the floor – her drug paraphernalia. Rubber tubing for the tourniquet, a syringe and a number of used needles.
Cade grimaced, deciding he’d shoot her from a few feet away so he wouldn’t get splashed with her blood. Who knew who else had been using those needles?
She didn’t look up at his question. ‘I knew John and Michael were doing it, yeah. But Michael asked for it. Michael wasn’t John’s type. My husband liked women.’
In that moment, Cade wished like hell that Michael hadn’t been the one to give the cops that sketch. The interpreter had been right. Michael had been through enough. He hated having to kill him. I’ll make it painless, he decided.
‘You can bring me more tomorrow,’ Stella declared, mixing the heroin with water.
He laughed softly. This woman was truly insane. ‘Or?’
‘Or I’ll tell everyone that you did it, even if it was Michael who really did.’
She didn’t see the bullet coming. She was too busy drawing the concoction she’d mixed into a syringe. The silencer emitted a small pop and Stella’s prepared syringe fell to the floor. The woman’s body followed.
Crouching down to stay out of sight of the window, Cade shot her in the head again, just to be sure. Then he put a final shot in her chest. Where her heart should have been if she’d had one. At least she wouldn’t be able to get her hands on the five-year-old ever again.
He checked his watch. He’d been here less than ten minutes. Still another twenty before the cop outside came round again. He’d be able to exit the house and hike back to his car with no trouble at all.
Next stop, Dani Novak’s house.
Fourteen
Cincinnati, Ohio
Sunday, 17 March, 8.25 P.M.
A cacophony of barking, the sound of Joshua’s happy laughter – and the need to escape Faith’s knowing gaze – had Dani drying her hands and joining the others in her living room. Marcus’s younger brother Stone had arrived with his girlfriend Delores and the Russian wolfhound mix that Delores never went anywhere without.
The front door was open, and through the storm door glass Dani could see Marcus and Stone engaged in an intense conversation, but it was Joshua who grabbed her attention. He stood face to face with the enormous dog, completely fearless as Angel sniffed at his neck and licked his face.
Joshua loved dogs. He’d been wholly unafraid of Hawkeye as well, but it was clear that Dani’s dog had attached himself to Michael.
Delores had her hand on Angel’s collar, wordlessly restraining the well-trained animal, whose tail wagged. She was telling Joshua that Angel helped her take care of all the dogs at her shelter until they found their forever homes.
Joshua turned to smile at Dani. ‘She has dogs and they need forever homes. Can we get another dog for me?’
Dani opened her mouth, unsure of how to respond, but Michael answered for her, signing brusquely to his brother.
‘No, Joshua. This place is only temporary. We don’t live here. We’ll have to leave soon.’
Temporary. Oh, God. Dani reeled for a moment, feeling like all the breath had been knocked out of her as Joshua’s little face crumpled.
‘Oh,’ he whispered, his hands pulled tight to his body as he signed back to Michael. ‘I forgot.’
The room went silent as everyone turned to look at Dani, waiting for her to say something. To do something.
This had happened before, she told herself, even as a sense of panic swamped her. Previous foster children had fallen in love with Hawkeye. Had wanted to stay. Dani had always been gentle as she’d told them that she was only a . . .
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A temporary stop. God. I hate that word.
This felt different, this situation with Joshua and Michael. And she realized that she wanted it to be different. She wanted it to be . . . un-temporary.
But life rarely worked the way she wanted.
Joshua stepped back from Angel the wolfhound, his eyes downcast. ‘Sorry,’ he said to Delores. ‘I can’t have a dog. Maybe when I grow up I’ll be able to help one.’
Dani sank to her knees in front of Joshua, pulling him in for a hug, patting his thin little back as he sagged against her, sad when he’d been so happy only moments before. She glanced at Michael, whose eyes were flinty, full of warning. But there was also entreaty there, a sad awareness that he was too young to know.
‘Don’t get his hopes up,’ Michael signed. ‘Please.’
Dani gave him a nod, then pulled away from Joshua to use her hands so that Michael could understand her, too. ‘I am usually an emergency foster provider,’ she said. ‘That means I’m a quick stop when kids are in danger at home.’
‘Like Michael,’ Joshua said. ‘Because Mom threw a bowl at his head.’
‘Yes,’ Dani said, grateful that Joshua didn’t know about the abuse John Brewer had inflicted on Michael. ‘Usually kids stay with me for just a few days.’
Joshua’s mouth pinched, but he nodded stoically. ‘So we have to go.’
‘I don’t know,’ Dani said honestly. She felt like she was saying that a lot today. ‘I have had a few kids stay longer, so I don’t know. What I can promise is that I won’t let you go anywhere that’s not safe.’
‘But we’re still temporary,’ Joshua said in a small voice.
Dani wanted to promise him the world. But she didn’t want to hurt him any more than he’d already been hurt, so she just gathered him close and held him again, whispering in his ear while signing behind his back so that Michael could see. ‘I know it’s hard right now. I want to promise you that it’ll get better, that you can stay here, but the truth is, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I can promise that I won’t lie to you. Ever.’
‘Okay,’ Joshua whispered into her neck, then pulled back enough to sign. ‘Can I still have the Spider-Man PJs?’
Dani’s heart hurt. He’d gone from asking for a dog to asking to keep a pair of pajamas. ‘Yes, sweetheart.’
‘Can . . . can I go to my room?’
She let him go. ‘Sure,’ she said unsteadily. ‘I’ll be up in a little while to give you a bath.’
He turned away, the picture of dejection walking up the stairs. Still on her knees, her eyes burning, she watched Michael follow him.
The silence in the room was oppressive. Then Kate sighed. ‘You can’t save everyone, Dani. Sometimes shit happens. You can only do what you can humanly do. And like it or not, you’re human, not Wonder Woman. I see this every day on the job. I want to help all of the people I meet, especially the kids. But I can only do my job and do it well.’
Murmurs of agreement rippled from the others.
‘I see it, too,’ Scarlett said. ‘And the small things are important. You and I helped Tommy and Edna yesterday, and they’re safe and warm tonight. Tomorrow they’ll go back to the street. We can’t stop that. But we can be there the next time they need help.’
But Michael and Joshua weren’t two elderly homeless people who’d been living on the street for years and knew how to keep themselves safe. Michael and Joshua were children. I need to do more.
A hand on her elbow had her looking into her brother Greg’s concerned eyes, mismatched like her own. ‘Not your fault,’ he signed, and tugged her to her feet. ‘You’re keeping them safe. That’s a lot. Michael knows that. He told me so. He’s grateful for all you’ve done – this house, the lawyer, all of it. He just can’t let himself get used to it.’
Because it’s temporary. Just like Diesel, she realized with a start. He’d said that she thought him temporary. And she did, but not like he thought.
She knew he’d leave, because she couldn’t let him stay. She couldn’t let him stay, because he’d leave. It was a vicious cycle.
One that needed to stop. She just wished she knew how.
‘I want to do more,’ she told Greg, not voicing her words because she was afraid she’d cry if she tried. Do more for the boys, more for Diesel. More for me.
Greg tucked her hair behind her ear, the gesture so grown-up that she blinked. ‘I know,’ he signed. ‘But while they’re here, they’ll be happy. And when they leave, they’ll remember you as the lady who kept them safe.’
‘You grew up when I wasn’t looking.’ She forced a smile. ‘Deacon’s done a good job raising you.’
Greg frowned, then a sad understanding crept into his expression. ‘Dani, you raised me. Not Deacon. He was off having a career. You kept me safe all those years with Jim and Tammy. You’re the one who missed your senior prom because I had an ear infection. You’re the one who came home every night you were in college instead of partying like the other kids. You read me stories and made sure I learned to read, too. You’re the one who checked my homework and made sure my hearing aids worked. You’re the one who went to bat for me every time I messed up. That was you.’ He swallowed hard. ‘If I turn out good, it’s because of you.’
The sob rose in Dani’s throat and she couldn’t fight it back. There, in front of everyone, she broke down, leaning into Greg’s shoulder and crying like a child. Slowly, his arms rose to close around her and awkwardly he patted her back.
Another loud sob broke behind her. ‘What did he say?’ Scarlett demanded tearfully from the sofa. ‘What did he say to make her cry like that?’
‘I don’t know,’ Faith said, sounding bewildered. ‘They were going too fast for me to follow.’
‘Uh, Scar?’ Kate asked carefully. ‘Why are you crying if you don’t know what they said?’
‘I don’t know!’ Scarlett wailed, sniffling loudly. ‘Damn pregnancy hormones.’
‘Pregnancy hormones?’ Faith echoed. ‘Oh my God. Scarlett!’
Pregnancy hormones? Grateful for the distraction, Dani pulled from Greg’s arms and patted his cheek. ‘Sorry,’ she signed, then pointed over her shoulder where Scarlett was getting hugs, which started all the dogs barking again. ‘Seems like Scarlett just told everyone she’s pregnant.’
A slow grin spread over Greg’s face. ‘Cool.’ Then he sobered. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yeah. I think I am.’ I hope I am.
And she hoped she could make Diesel understand why she kept him at arm’s length. Her fear of being left alone being only one reason. Because there were a lot of other issues. Her status being the most obvious.
Adrian being the other. Adrian and her status were wound together like a hopelessly snarled ball of Kate’s yarn. She’d need to figure out how to tell Diesel the truth so that he’d know . . . what? That it’s not him, it’s me? That sounded lame, even to her own mind.
As to the issue of the boys . . . She didn’t want to stop being an emergency provider, because there were deaf and hard-of-hearing kids who needed her, but for Michael and Joshua? Maybe I can make it permanent for them.
The storm door opened abruptly and Marcus strode in, his expression forbidding. ‘Why are you crying?’ he asked his wife. Then he realized what she’d shared and he shook his head, his mouth tipped up in an indulgent smile. ‘You spilled the beans? You’re the one who’s been insisting that we keep it a secret, and you told everyone?’
Scarlett sniffled. ‘I couldn’t help it. Dani made me cry.’
Marcus raised a questioning brow as he closed and locked the front door.
Dani just shook her head. She didn’t have the energy to go through that again. ‘Where is Stone? Isn’t he coming in?’
‘No. He’s gone to the casino to back Diesel up.’
The casino where Brewer had gambled away first his house,
then his stepson. Where he might have crossed paths with his killer. A sense of relief rolled through Dani, because Stone would keep Diesel safe. ‘Good.’ She didn’t want Diesel to be alone.
Even though I will be.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Sunday, 17 March, 8.35 P.M.
Cade checked that the ski mask was properly positioned before driving past Dani Novak’s house. For now it covered only the top of his head, but he could yank it down in half a second to cover his face if he needed to. Only when he needed to, though. It wasn’t cold enough to warrant the mask and its presence might make an overly observant homeowner suspicious enough to call the cops. Novak’s quiet little neighborhood seemed the type to have a host of overly observant homeowners, with its tree-lined streets and minivans in every driveway.
Except for Dani Novak’s driveway. Hers looked like an SUV dealership. He counted four in total: a Subaru, an Escalade, and two Jeeps.
Two men stood on the front porch, deep in conversation. Both were tall. One of them was at least Cade’s size. Good to know what he’d be up against.
He wished he’d thought to put his headphones on, because his long-range mike would have picked up their conversation. But it also picked up his engine’s noise, so he’d wait until he’d found a place to park before using the listening device.
The front door was open and he could see a small slice of a living room through the storm door glass. Even with his windows up, he could hear barking.
There were dogs in the house. Dammit. Lots of big dogs from the sound of them. He hated it when people he needed to kill owned dogs. Invariably the animals tried to protect their owners. Sometimes the worst monsters had really nice dogs.
He’d have to get a sedative to knock them out. He never killed the dogs, just helped them take super-long naps. I’m not a monster, for God’s sake.
There were enough people in that house that someone would know where the safe house was. He needed to wait until that someone came out. Then he’d follow.
And how will you know who the right someone is?
That was when he saw her.