Chapter 50
Friday late morning
Bay was already in the juvenile court interview room when Sabre and Vale entered. Sabre sat in front of the plexiglass, and Vale stood behind Sabre.
Sabre spoke first. “My investigator is close to finding where you lived.”
Bay’s eyes sparked with fear, then discipline shut it down. “You don’t have an investigator.”
“But I do.” She sighed. “This would all be a lot easier if you just told me where and how you live.”
“I can’t do that.”
“We know there’s another girl.”
No reaction.
“We know she is blonde and about your age.”
Bay stared at the tabletop.
“I think her name is Hannah,” Sabre said.
“No names.”
“That isn’t a denial.”
“It’s the rule.”
Sabre pressed harder. “If she’s in danger, rules don’t matter anymore.”
“There is a girl,” she said at last.
Vale made a note. “And she lived with you?” Sabre asked.
Bay gave the smallest nod.
“Still?”
No answer.
“Tell us about Todd Maddox.”
Bay looked toward the blank wall. “He was fixing a window next door. He kept looking over.” Bay’s voice was flat. “He saw us outside once and started talking.”
“What kind of talking?” Vale asked.
“Friendly-man talking.” The girl almost sneered. “Questions dressed up like jokes.”
“What questions?”
“He asked our names, if we were sisters, where we worked or went to school, who was home.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I just gave him vague answers. Then he asked why she never said anything. She answered him and said, ‘I don’t have much to say.’”
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing important, just normal things. But normal is dangerous when you’re not allowed to have it.”
“Did the other girl give any names?”
“Fake, ridiculous names like Feedle Dee and Feedle Dum.” Bay’s fingers curled together. “When she started talking to him, that’s when he got even more interested. I didn’t like it.”
“Then he saw you again,” Sabre prompted.
“At the laundromat.”
“How many times?”
“A few.”
“He already knew where you lived,” Sabre said.
Bay looked at her sharply, surprised she understood.
“Yes, but the questions changed. He asked why we were never with friends. Why we never stayed anywhere long. He tried to get her to speak more, but I had already told her not to, so she didn’t.”
“What happened after that?”
“He started following us.”
Vale stopped taking notes. “How do you know?”
“He would park where he could watch us. And he walked too slow past places we were. Sometimes he waited outside stores.”
“What did he want?”
Bay looked at Sabre directly. “He wanted me first. And when I wouldn’t give him that, he wanted money.”
“From whom?” Vale asked.
“Us or whoever would pay. He threatened to come to our house.”
Sabre changed course. “Tell me about the night Todd died.”
Bay’s shoulders tightened. “I was watching him.”
“Why?”
“Because she’d been restless.”
“Hannah?”
“No names.”
Sabre let it go.
“I knew she was thinking stupid thoughts.”
“What kind of thoughts?”
“Outside thoughts.”
Sabre understood enough. “What happened?”
“I saw her go into his apartment.”
“And you followed her?”
Bay nodded. “But I waited first. I thought she’d come right back out.”
“She didn’t?”
“No.”
“So, you went inside.”
Bay’s breathing slowed, controlled. “He was standing real close to her.”
“Doing what?”
“Talking close. Touching her hand. But I could tell she was scared.”
Rage flashed through Bay so quickly it was gone almost as soon as it appeared. “I told her to leave.”
“Did she?”
“Yes.”
“And Todd?”
“He laughed and said she came to him because she was tired of being owned.”
Sabre felt the line like a bruise. “What happened then?”
“He stood up and tried to touch me too.”
“Did you leave?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because if I left, he’d follow.”
“So, you confronted him?”
Bay nodded. “He kept smiling like he’d won something. Then he said I could make it easy.”
“How?”
“By bringing her back. I told him that would happen over my dead body. Then he grabbed me.”
“Did he hit you?”
“He didn’t get that far.”
“You had a knife?”
“No. I grabbed it off the counter. But I should’ve brought one with me.”
“Why?”
“Because I was watching a man like Todd at night.”
Fair answer. “Did you plan to kill him?”
“No.”
“When did you stab him?”
Bay looked at Sabre. “First, he said people paid to keep stories quiet. And that we had no idea just how much he knew about us.”
“And that’s when you stabbed him?”
“No. I stabbed him when he said next time he’d come get her himself.”
That was the truth line. Sabre knew it instantly. Vale did too.
“How many times did you stab him?” Vale asked quietly.
“I don’t remember.”
“What did you do afterward?” Sabre asked.
“I thought I heard someone coming, so I left and went to the corner and waited.”
“For who?”
Bay’s eyes lifted to hers. “You.”
“Why me?”
Bay blinked. “Because she said you once tried to take her home. That if we were ever in trouble, you were the only one who would help us.”
Then Bay shut down. Face empty. Body still. Interview over.
Sabre sat a moment longer beneath the fluorescent hum. There was another girl, and she knew Sabre’s name. And somewhere outside those walls, she was still with the man Bay refused to name.
Hannah was alive.