He’s coming, Leonard said into Simon’s head. And he went quiet.
Chapter 27
Kate and Rodneymoved from room to room. Most were empty; several contained boxes, as if packing were underway.
Suddenly a voice from the doorway said, “Hold it right there.”
She also heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being readied to fire. She turned slowly, her hands in the air, to face the other brother, standing in front of the doorway to the poor drugged little boy. “So, you’re York, the pedophile who likes to hurt the children. The cops are looking for you,” she said. “And your brother Yale is the one who just likes to cuddle them.”
“He likes to do it all too, no matter what he says.” he said, slowly leaning against the doorway. “And our sister just likes to hear all about it.”
“We’ve been to your place,” she said. “It’s quite a mess.”
“What do you expect? It’s not like I get the money they get.”
“No,” she said, “but you had it once. Just that yours had to go toward your defense.”
“Well, Yale could lose his too,” he said. “I’m not going down alone this time. He was supposed to look after me when I came out, and he didn’t.”
“He’s paying your rent, isn’t he? And your sister? Or is she covering everything else?”
“They both pay a couple thousand a month, just barely enough to keep me in what I need. My sister should be paying more, but she figures she’s paid enough. I’ll see about that.”
“I’m hearing a little anger there,” she said.
“More than a little,” he snapped. “But mostly because you could take me away from this again.”
“Don’t you think you should give up?”
“I don’t give a fuck,” he said. “I want to live the life that I want. I don’t want all these rules and restrictions.”
“I don’t think that’s an option anymore,” she said quietly.
“Well, it should be,” he said, with a sneer. “And who’s to stop me? You? Either of you? I don’t think so.” As he spoke he waved the gun at their faces.
“Have you killed anybody here?” Rodney asked. “In this house?”
“A couple,” he said. “I mean, they’re just children—and very fragile. It’s just like a chicken. You snap their necks, and they die within seconds.”
Her stomach hit the bottom of her toes and bounced back up to the top of her head before exploding outward. “Chicken? Goddammit,” she said. “These are children you killed. They had lives ahead of them.”
“What kind of life?” he said, with another sneer. “They are all just so fucked up.”
“Because of you,” she said.
“Doesn’t matter if it’s because of me or somebody else. They are all useless. I did miss a couple of them though afterward. My brother let me take one, I called her my China Doll, back to my place for a few days. I was supposed to get rid of her, so he didn’t technically know what I did, but I took her to my little place and kept her for a couple days, just so I could enjoy her company, but it wasn’t the same.”
“Dear God,” she said. “That was her pink ribbon I found in your couch.”
“Really?” he said, looking at her in surprise. “I was pretty damn sure I cleaned all that up.”
“I don’t think so,” she said. “I also found your notebook.”
“Yeah, well, that notebook—I’d only gotten a little way into my lists,” he said, “when I decided I needed to get out and elevate my tactics a little more.”
“Why did you kill the other pedophiles?” she asked, curious.
He just gave her a blank look. “Why not? They were losers.”