“No, baby, that is not what that means at all. Your mommy loves you so much,” I assured her.
“I heard my mommy crying.”
No. No, please God. I wasn’t sure what I needed to do. She had to tell us what happened, and I didn’t want to stop that, but I didn’t want JJ to hear this. It wasn’t so long ago he heard me crying too when I was taken. He got me back, I feared that the call out Mac was on, was indeed Valerie.
“She was crying. She was yelling at someone to leave me alone. She was hugging me so tight it hurt my back. She told me she loved me forever and always. And she was crying some more.”
I heard the door to the garage open and didn’t think it was such a good idea for Reid to come back in and hear this. But there was no stopping him before Melody continued.
“I didn’t want her to go. I couldn’t see anything because my eyes were covered. I tried to hold on to her, but she let me go and cried some more. I was so scared I didn’t go after her.”
“Where were you, sweetie?” I asked.
“In a car. We were driving for a long time. Mommy kept crying and hugging me. Telling me she loved me. I couldn’t see anything. We stopped and mommy got out. I couldn’t hear mommy after that.”
I looked up, and Reid was in the doorway leaning against the frame, his arms crossed in front of him, looking like he was plotting murder. And I had no doubt, the plan would be carried out, when he found out who had taken his daughter.
“Were you alone with your mommy?”
“No, someone was with us. He didn’t talk, he just kept whistling, Ring around the Rosy. When mommy got out of the car the whistling stopped for a few minutes, and he started to talk.”
“What did he say to you?”
“He held my hand real tight, but it didn’t hurt like when mommy was doing it. He told me his name was Jacob, and I didn’t need to be scared anymore because my daddy would find me. But I was still scared so he sang to me, until the whistling started again.”
“What did he sing to you,” JJ asked.
“I don’t know the name. I think it was about a girl named Grace. It started out saying she was amazing.”
Three loud intakes of air was all you could hear. It was quite possible Reid, JJ, and I had sucked all the oxygen out of the room, because I thought I was going to pass out.
Amazing Grace.
Jacob’s favorite song, the only song he ever sang to JJ, the song that played at his funeral.
Jacob.
35
Logan Smith
Reid.
Someone was going to bleed for this. Just thinking about my daughter in the car with a killer made me crazy. The only small sliver of relief I felt was knowing that Jacob was in the car with her. I didn’t know what to make of that. Honestly, I had never believed in that kinda stuff. As a matter of fact, I would’ve laughed my ass off if someone had told me that their woman’s dead husband kept talking to them. It was absolutely outrageous, yet it was happening. Around every turn, Jacob was there. And I was pleased as hell my daughter had felt a moment of safety and peace while she was with that bastard.
As soon as I started looking for my keys so I could go out and start hunting, there was a knock at the door.
Melody jumped into Ava’s lap and buried her face in her neck.
Yeah, someone was fucking dead. My family had been through too much over the last few weeks. Now, I find out I have a daughter and she is traumatized.
I knew, I fucking knew, that Valerie was dead. There was not a chance in hell she would leave Melody here and run. There were too many coincidences here, and I had been in the business of investigating crimes for too long to believe in coincidences anyway.
That fucking smug news reporter thought he was being cute by making a snide reference to Simple Simon meeting a pie man. Yeah, I knew the nursery rhyme. Bastard thought he was being clever. He seems to have forgotten that the victims of these murders were human beings. I’d love to find Paul Wesley and smack the shit out of him too. Why did the news media insist on giving details to the public that should never be released? Some sick fuck out there might try and copy these murders for some sort of notoriety. Idiots.
I opened the door to find Mac, Dustin, and Austin all standing on my porch. Oh good, Mac brought reinforcements. He’d need them if he thought for a second that he was going to lock me down.
“Mac,” I greeted and stepped out of the way for them to enter. “Austin. Dustin.”
Mac and Dustin came in, Austin remained on the porch. “April’s in the car. No way in hell I was leaving her alone at the house.”
“Bring her in,” Ava said from across the room.
Without a word, Austin strolled down the walk to the driveway. He looked like hell. I wondered if he had gotten any sleep lately. Jesus Christ, the shit just kept on coming.
Austin returned with April in tow. “Morning, Reid. Sorry to intrude. I’m still scared to be by myself. I can wait in the car though if you want.”
“Sweetheart, you could never intrude. Come in, please.” It took every bit of my energy to summon up what I hoped to be a reassuring smile.
“Thanks,” she murmured and walked in.
I watched as my three closest friends took in the scene playing out in my living room.
One brave but scared little boy, one extremely frightened little girl, who clung to my equally if not braver woman, were all curled up on the couch together. Melody looked as if she was trying to crawl inside of Ava to hide. JJ had a look on his face that could only be described as a badass in training. He looked mad as hell, that his mom and new sister were upset.
I then watched as my three friends’ expressions changed from watchful to murderous.
April bee lined it for the couch and took a seat next to JJ.
“Garage,” Mac grunted.
I glanced at Ava and she nodded her head. She was already rocking and talking softly to Melody.
“I see you’ve been in here already,” Austin observed as I walked into the garage behind them.
I might’ve gone a little crazy on the bag. I was honestly surprised my knuckles weren’t broken. The bag that was once hanging from the rafters was now on its side on the cement floor.
“I’m only gonna ask you this once.” Mac started. “You sure she’s yours?”
“Positive,” I answered.
I noticed Dustin and Austin moving into position each one covering an exit. Stupid idiots, if I wanted out of this garage, not a man in this room could stop me. Austin would give me a run for my money. But, how I was feeling, he wouldn’t be able to take me. Mac, always so dramatic.
“She’s dead.” Mac always straight to the point.
“I know,” I admitted.
“You know?” Mac questioned.
“Man, I am not dumb, nor am I wet behind the fucking ears. I think I’ve been around the block more than enough to know how this played out.”
“How do you think this played out?” Mac asked.
“Mac, my patience is as thin as it’s ever been. I need my friend right now. Not Detective Mackenzie.” I stopped to gather my thoughts. “Where were you when Ava called?”
“A call out,” he answered.
“Right. What’d he leave behind this time?” I questioned.
Both Austin and Dustin remained quiet, both still guarding the doors.
“Man, this is not…”
“Answer me,” I demanded.
“Not sure. The M.E. that came out had suggested eggs, but you know we won’t know until Sally takes a look.”
“Come on man, I know you’ve put it all together. You don’t need me spelling this shit out for you. Cloves, milk, eggs… I know you have at least one more body you haven’t released yet. Word is he left behind cinnamon sticks there. I saw that jacked news report. Simple Simon. Whistling. Ring around the mother fucking Rosy.”
“Listen, Reid, there are things that even you don’t know,” Mac argued.
“The fucking whistling.
Melody heard it too. The person who brought her here was whistling. The sick bastard had my daughter.”
“I get that, but man, you do not know all the details,” he tried again.
“Details? What more do I need? There is one fucking person that I know who whistles that fucking song over and over again. That’s all I need, Mac. And mark this friend. I am going to kill him.”
“Cool your jets, Reid. I’m telling you, let me handle this. Your family needs you here with them right now, not off searching the city. You go off halfcocked, not only will you fuck my investigation, you could make a mistake and wind up in more trouble than I can get you out of.”
“You’re really telling me to cool my jets? My kid’s mother was murdered this morning, and he had… my… daughter. You get that? Think on that a minute. If a killer had his hands on your kid even for one second, would you be able to, cool your jets?” I spit out.
“Reid. I need you to dig really fucking deep here, and trust me. Have I ever asked you to stand down? Ever? But I am telling you, you need to stand down, and trust me. I swear to Christ that if your suspicions are right, I will turn my back and let you and your crew do your thing.” He held up his hand to stop me from speaking. “Trust me to handle this. Let’s just be one hundred percent.”
Fuck. Mac was right. He had never asked me to stand down. He was also right, that while I had been dealing with all things Ava, I hadn’t been following the case as closely as I had been before. Shit, I hadn’t even touched base with Sally. Did I trust Mac? With my life.
“I’ll give you a week, Mac. That’s all I can promise. If you don’t have answers in a week, I’m hunting.”
“That’s all I need. In the meantime, it looks like you have your hands full. Congrats by the way. Looks like I have a new niece to meet.” Mac smiled.
Jesus, niece, I hadn’t even called Damion yet to tell him the news.
“Yeah, we’re gonna hold off on that. She is scared shitless at the moment. Apparently, Valerie did talk to her about me before she died. Told her I was her dad, but I don’t know exactly what was said.”
“Goddamn. The whole situation is whacked. Happy that she is safe and sound. There is no doubt you and Ava will make this right for her.”
“Not sure how you make something like this right. The kid just lost her mom,” I replied.
This was so screwed up, there was so much that was fucked, it was hard to decide where to start.
“Really? You of all people should know how to make this better for that little girl. I have watched you over the years do just that with both JJ and Ava.”
“No, Ava did that for JJ,” I argued.
“Bullshit. You think for one second that it was all Ava, you are fucking blind. I’ll agree that she started the healing process for JJ. Lucky for you she is one hell of a mom, and I guarantee that bleeds over to Melody. But, Reid, the rest was you. You gave JJ the strength and confidence to heal. Showed him the love of a father. You know those two are in there right now wrapping your daughter in their love. Melody will get through this. You all will.”
I thought about what Mac said. He was right, Ava was one hell of a mother. JJ was the best kid I knew. Between the two of them, they would help Melody get through this. What I didn’t agree with was what he said about me. JJ getting through the loss of Jacob was all Ava. I was the wildcard in this scenario.
“Before I head out I wanted you to know I have two units assigned to you. One is on the house, the other is personal protection,” Mac went on to explain.
“Christ. How bad was it?” Mac didn’t need any further words; he knew what I was asking.
“The same as the others. He is escalating. Gaining confidence. There were no hesitation marks. It was clean and precise. What are we doing with her body when Sally is done? Does she have any family?”
“Man, I’m ashamed to say, I have no idea. Can’t tell you anything about her. I met Valerie on her twenty-first birthday. We had one night together and I never saw her again.”
“And you’re sure she’s yours? No disrespect, but damn man, one night…” Mac let his words hang.
“I know she had her face buried in Ava when you came in, but you take one look at that little girl, look at her eyes, there is no doubt she is mine. Man, she looks just like me. And I’ll be honest, at this point with Valerie gone, even if that little girl wasn’t mine, she’d be staying.”
“Alright. I have to get back to the station. Austin, Dustin, thanks.”
Mac gave a chin lift and made his exit through the side door.
Austin and Dustin both stood staring at me like they both expected me to freak out.
“I’m cool,” I said.
“No, you’re not, but that was a nice try,” Austin said.
“That obvious?” I asked.
“Not only do I know you, but even if I didn’t, the vein in the side of your neck looks like it is ready to explode. What’s the plan?”
There is was, Austin had my back no matter what. “For now? Keep my daughter, JJ, and Ava safe. Figure out how to fix a broken five-year-old girl. And learn how to be a dad to a kid I’ve never met.”
“Easy, just be you.” Dustin spoke for the first time. “I’ll run Valerie when we get back in the house and let you know about next of kin. Also, Royston looked into your Lake Street house security system hack. He emailed you a report. I didn’t want to say anything in front of Mac, but Carl didn’t hack into your system. He had the codes. I know for a fact the only person outside of the three of us who had those codes was Mac.”
“You’re not suggesting Mac had something to do with Carl, are you?”
Dustin was good at his job, and had great instincts, but he was way off base if he thought for one second Mac would betray me, or Ava.
“Hell no. He also had a spare key to Ava’s house and her security code. I think that Carl broke into wherever Mac kept those and took them from him.”
Shit.
“No one mentions this to Mac. If Carl did steal the codes and Ava’s keys from him, he will go ballistic.”
“What are you doing about Simple Simon?” Austin asked.
“Not a damn thing for the moment. I’m gonna give Mac his time. I’ll put a call in to Damion and brief him on the situation. Other than that, I’ll stand down and give Mac the space he asked for. But if that mother fucker shows up at Ava’s café, I’ll save the taxpayers of San Fran the cost of a trial, we’ll move straight to the sixty-cent execution, and the whistling freak will get one to the forehead. Which will throw a monkey wrench in my friendship with his brother, Ivory. Which is gonna totally suck, because Ivory is the best artist in the Bay area.”
“Goddamn mess. Did you see that shit on the news the last two days? Fucking vultures circling for the story,” Austin spit out.
“Sure did. Hey, how’s April feeling?” I asked Austin.
“Good. No more morning sickness. She is sleeping a little more.”
“That’s good. She needs her sleep. Speaking of… let’s get inside; I want to see if maybe Ava can get Melody and JJ to lie down for a while.”
“One more thing before we go in. I called and changed Rick’s headstone to include, father. It will now say: Friend, Brother, and Father.”
“Yeah, that was a good idea. April will appreciate that.”
As soon as we opened the door to the house, the smell of bacon filled the air. My stomach grumbled in response, reminding me it was now breakfast time. I hoped that Ava wasn’t planning on sending JJ to school today. There was no way he was going to be out of my sight. Hell, at this point I needed to talk to Ava about just homeschooling the kids so neither of them ever had to leave the house. I didn’t want her leaving either. I could lock all three away and keep the crazies of the world away from my family.
The guys followed me into the kitchen. The sight in front of us had all of us stopping short. Ava, April, and Melody were all giggling. JJ looked like he didn’t know if he was going to laugh or if he was mad. Melod
y was stirring something white in a bowl, and whatever it was had splattered all over JJ’s face.
“I’m sooooo sorry, Jake. I didn’t mean to fling it on you. April said to stir it fast. I was stirring as fast as I could,” Melody laughed. She didn’t look like she was sorry. She looked like she wanted to do it again.
Ava glanced over at us and smiled so bright, it took my breath away. There she was, already working her magic.
“Jake,” I mouthed to Ava. She just smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
JJ grabbed the towel that April was handing him, and he wiped his face.
“That’s okay,” JJ replied.
Poor Melody didn’t see it coming. JJ dipped his finger in the bowl scooping a nice big dollop of batter. Before anyone of us could warn Melody, he smeared it across her face.
Ava’s eyes widened in shock, and April laughed. I held my breath waiting for Melody’s response.
“I’m gonna get you back for that. That was a purpose, not an accident,” Melody pouted.
“I’m sorry Mel, I was only kidding around with you,” JJ quickly explained as his smile faded, remorse clearly written on his face.
“Burn. Gotch you so bad, Jakey,” Melody laughed.
I heard the deep rumble of laughter coming from behind me, and the high-pitched giggles of the women. JJ’s wide eyes met mine, and his lips twitched with a smile.
“Come here, son.” I called out.
JJ walked to me, I tagged him around the back of his neck and pulled him in close.
“Proud of you, boy. So damn proud. Thank you,” I whispered in his ear.
“She’s my sister.”
He had no idea what that meant to me. JJ being the kind of boy he was had opened his family and his heart to a broken little girl that he’d only just met. Hell, he’d done it before he ever met her.
I released JJ and he walked back to the gaggle of giggling women. Ava went back to cooking, and April was cleaning the mess off the floor. Melody sat perched on the counter looking very pleased with herself, until she noticed Dustin and Austin. Slowly her expression changed, and she looked a little unsure.
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