Chapter 51
Chapter Fifty-One
ISAIAH
“I’m not condoning what you did. I would never do that. But I did come back for you. I came to the house, and they told me you’d been fostered.”
I wasn’t here to soothe Dan Walters’ shattered pride.
“I saw you,” I replied. “But that’s all pointless now. What happened, happened. The only way I could move forward was to build a life for myself, and then obliterate theirs.”
Walters was watching me intently now, a deep crease between his eyes as he tried to make sense of my reality.
“So how does Charles Quinn factor in all this? He didn’t work at Clivesdon House.”
“Charles Quinn told me exactly how he fitted in before you found us. He used his position at the hospital to target vulnerable people, especially children, that he channelled into the homes where he could. Others weren’t quite so lucky.”
“How do you mean?”
“He trafficked them. Sold them like they were nothing but a cash revenue for him. He sat at the top of the chain, feeding off the ones below. People like me. Children, babies.”
Walters swallowed in disgust.
“Can you corroborate that? Do you have evidence.”
“I have his word. Trust me, that’s enough. I’m guessing his men at the warehouse, where you found me, won’t speak up.”
“They’re dead,” Walters stated.
“And dead men don’t tell lies. If you want to find out the truth, you’ll have to do more digging. He’ll have associates at the hospital. Other men on his payroll. I’d do the digging myself, but I’m guessing I won’t be roaming free, allowed to do my work for quite a while.”
“No, you won’t,” Walters said, and I just shrugged.
“He mentioned a nurse called Fiona Tapp. Said she was in on it too. Maybe start there.”
“I will,” Walters nodded absentmindedly. He had something else on his mind.
I looked at the bones laid out in front of me.
“When you charge me, make sure you add Angela Maynard to my rap sheet too.”
He frowned. “The woman who went missing after her house burned down?”
“That’s the one. I didn’t keep a souvenir that time, but she’s one of mine.”
He frowned harder.
“Can you tell me where her body is?”
“Nope.” I shook my head. That one was going with me to the grave.
He rubbed his jaw, irritation playing across his face.
“What’s the problem?” I asked.
“She doesn’t fit your M.O. and she never worked at Clivesdon House.” He sighed heavily, then in a low voice said, “She worked at Halliwell House. And I’ve been monitoring the ladies that worked there for some time now.”
I raised my brow, waiting for him to elaborate.
“I know what was going on there,” he went on. “I also know a lot of the women who worked there years ago have... died.” He didn’t say were murdered, but he did whisper with regret, “I saw the toxicology reports.”
“And yet there’s no police reports, no case, no appeal or media circus.”
He lifted his head, staring me straight in the eyes as he said, “It’s surprising, the lengths you’ll go to, to protect the ones you love.”
He knew.
“And it’s surprising the lengths you’ll go to, to protect children who might be hurt by the same monsters who came for you, night after night.”
“Touche, Mr Dalton.”
“My name isn’t Dalton,” I stated, tired of hearing the name that wasn’t mine. The name that belonged to a man who bought me for pennies, and then killed everything that was good in my life. “My name is Isaiah James.”
“Is that why I can’t find you on our system?”
“You won’t find me on any system. I don’t exist. The boy you found in the cupboard at a murder scene was a baby sold into a trafficking ring.”
Walters let out a huge breath, placed his hands on the table and said, “It’s time for justice to be served.”
“Justice was already served,” I replied plainly. “I did your job way better than you ever could.”
“You murdered multiple people. Not to mention the man who’s heart you ripped out in front of my daughter.”
“They killed me first.”
“What sort of a man are you?” His anger was palpable as his restraint was working overtime, keeping him on that side of the room, when I knew all he wanted to do was fly at me.
At least, that’s how I’d have felt if I was in his shoes.
“You massacred another man in front of my little girl. You’re a monster. ”
“I am what they made me. I make no apologies for that.”
He sighed heavily, rubbing his palms over his face in exasperation.
“We’re getting nowhere here,” he said.
“You’re very good at stating the obvious.”
“Was it worth it?” he asked, and I smiled.
“Every single one was worth it.”
“And will you kill again?”
“If I had to.”
“And my daughter?” I felt a pang in my heart as I pictured her face.
“What about your daughter?”
He took a moment before he spoke, and what he said stung my heart.
“Does she have the closure she needs?”
“I dropped his black heart at her feet. What do you think?”
He stood up, walked to the corner of the room, and turned his back on me. “Did she tell you what happened to her?”
I swallowed. “Yes.”
Slowly he turned to face me. “What happened?”
“I can’t tell you that. It isn’t my story to tell. And her secrets will die with me. I’d never tell another living soul.” I lifted my chin defiantly. “She trusts me, and I would never break her trust.”
He nodded, a grave sadness haunting him as his head fell forward.
“At least she’s been able to tell someone. That’s something, I suppose.”
There was a strange connection between us in that moment, an unspoken agreement that the things we’d discussed would stay in this room. The words and memories shared would be ours, and ours alone.
“I know you’re not like the rest of them,” I told him.
“You do things by the book. So, whatever you have to do, do it. Charge me, lock me up, leave me to rot in a jail cell for what I’ve done, I really don’t care.
But I care about her. All I ask is that you look after her.
You explain everything, and make sure she knows that none of this is her fault.
She deserves to be loved. To live her life, and find joy and happiness.
I want that for her. I want her to meet someone, get married, have children and live like none of this ever happened. ”
“I know how to look after my own daughter,” he snapped, then gritted his teeth before his steely composure returned. “She’ll be fine. She has her family around her. I won’t let this affect her.”
“Good.” I stood up and moved to the side of the table, holding my arms out ready for him to cuff me. “Let’s get this over with then, shall we?”