“Knows what?” Simon asked.
“That you are a victim yourself,” he said. “He might even detail how he abused you and all the others. The world will look at you differently. Our father marked you. Some kids go through several rings and every new one gets a new line. But it always made me smile to know that my brother insisted you get the same mark. The one that says who owns you.”
“I’m not an unprotected vulnerable six-year-old anymore,” Simon said. “So fuck off, asshole.” And, with that, he hit him hard in the head, knocking him out cold.
Looking around, he saw her standing there, leaning against the doorjamb, placing pressure on her wound. He checked her out and said, “It’s not too bad. I’ve got one to match.”
“I said it was okay,” she snapped. “So they were involved in your victimization?”
“Apparently my foster father was their biological father,” he said, with a hard sigh. “According to Yale,mybiological father was a no good drunk while his was a prominent local businessman. My birth mother was some bar-hopping floozy he got pregnant, and Yale didn’t give me her name. When my father refused to acknowledge me, she ended up selling me to Yale’s father for a pittance. I wouldn’t doubt that that they deep-sixed her somewhere. I don’t know that for sure however. Yale did say they killed Josh, his own father, so that’s another cold case file covered in dust somewhere that needs to be closed.”
“Sounds like she didn’t know what to do as a single mother with her lifestyle,” she said. “Maybe she deluded herself into thinking a better life was there for her baby.”
“I’m not sure what kind of rosy scenario you’re dreaming up in that head of yours, Detective,” he said calmly, “but that’s not reality.” He tossed the ball up in the air, as he waited for her to answer. Her gaze locked on the ball. Had she not seen him in the park that day tossing that same ball?
“Maybe not,” she said, “but it makes it easier to sleep at night. And, when you do this shit all day long, you realize a hell of a lot of monsters are in the world who are worse than you ever thought.”
“But this time,” he said, “you won the day, and now you get to go on and fight some more.” And that’s why he was keeping the ball. He’d beaten that memory, that nightmare. He figured touching the ball had triggered his slide into the darkness, but now he was back in the light. And that’s where he would stay.
“Maybe,” she said, straightening up and groaning. “But not today. No way in hell today. The focus is finding Leonard, the little boy.”
“Look for packing boxes,” he said, suddenly staring around at the mess. “He’s hiding here somewhere.” And he called out, “Leonard, it’s Simon. Let me know where you are.”
“What the hell?” she snapped, staring at him.
“Don’t ask,” he said, with a head shake. “But we need to find him. His voice sounded funny. And he said York gave him medicine, a different one this time.”
*
“Jesus.” She assessedtheir space. “Let’s split up and look for him. We’ve got cops coming. We’ll tear this place apart to find him.” She bolted out of the room and, ignoring her shoulder, moved as fast as she could through the basement area filled with boxes. When she came to a roomful of boxes, she groaned. “Leonard, are you in here?”
No answer.
She walked through the stacks, looking for the little boy. Nothing. Not behind the boxes or anywhere close. She found a bathroom and a small bedroom, but no sign of the boy. She turned to study the boxes. A packing slip crossed her gaze. She walked closer. The box was large, slumped to one side. The numbers running along the sticker were 4441 4441 4441.
She jumped into action, shuffling boxes, until she could get to the one she wanted. As she reached for the side and tried to shift it, Simon suddenly appeared beside her. He ripped open the top of the carton.
Out tumbled a little boy to lie at their feet. Simon dropped down beside him.
“Is he alive?” she asked, struggling against the dizziness attacking her. Using his back for support she crumpled to the floor beside them.
Simon put his finger on the boy’s neck, then looked at her. A huge grin broke across his face.
“Yes, he’s alive.”
Chapter 28
Friday
“You will standand will accept the commendations,” Colby said in exasperation, “with a smile on your face.”
Kate glared at him. “I don’t want to go.”
“Doesn’t matter if you want to go or not,” he said. “You helped crack a very major child abuse ring,” he said, shaking his head. “I still can’t believe this has been going on so long right under our noses.”
“I think it’s more about them keeping track of each other, sliding victims back and forth, depending on who was in jail and who wasn’t. They covered each other’s asses and stayed in their own dark little shadows, only coming out enough to touch base with each other, only as much as they needed to.”
“And Simon?”