Alone in the Dark (74 page)

Scarlett hoped she found Demetrius or whatever his real name was because she wanted to kill him with her bare hands. But that wouldn’t help Marcus, so she kept her voice mild. ‘You were lucid the time I came to see you. He may have found a way to increase your drugs if you were that out of it. Some drugs can make you doubt what you’ve seen. Some can make you trapped in your own body.’

‘I hadn’t thought of that.’

She squeezed his hand, relieved to hear his relief. ‘Given what we know this man is capable of, drugging you is definitely within the realm of believability. Don’t go doubting your sanity yet. So what happened with the IV bags?’

‘I don’t know. I didn’t die, so something obviously happened.’

‘Maybe you’ll remember more later. Or maybe you could find the nurse who worked your shift that night and ask what she remembers.’

‘She wouldn’t remember back nine months.’

‘Don’t be so sure. You were quite the celebrity. You lying there in that bed, so handsome and brave and heroic. A man who jumps in front of bullets to save a stranger is quite a turn-on for a lot of women.’ She batted her eyelashes, making him laugh again.

‘As long as it is for you,’ he said, kissing her hand. ‘Where are we going first?’

‘To the
Ledger
to see Stone. I want to know about McCord.’

‘What about the two people who may have seen Drake?’

‘I called the shelter. Tommy and Edna are there, trying to stay out of the heat. Tommy’s got a heart condition,’ she explained. ‘Dani’s there and she’s going to hold them for me. When we get to the
Ledger
, I want you to go straight in. Same with the shelter.’

‘I’m wearing Kevlar.’

‘The sniper yesterday was aiming for your head so keep your head down. Don’t wait for me and don’t be a gentleman. Not when people on roofs might shoot you.’

‘What about you?’

‘They ain’t gunnin’ for me. Besides, I’m suited up, too.’ She tugged at the collar of the thin Kevlar vest she wore under her shirt. ‘Damn thing chafes. Promise me, Marcus. No heroics.’

He made a disgruntled sound. ‘All right, fine. I’ll tuck and roll.’

He kept his promise, hurrying into the
Ledger
’s lobby when she stopped the car. He grabbed her as soon she came through the door, and before she could protest, his mouth was on hers, his hands moving her head this way and that as he tasted her thoroughly.

‘People, people, get a room,’ someone called. Sounded like Diesel.

Scarlett smiled against Marcus’s mouth before pulling away. ‘Very public, Marcus.’ Which had likely been the point. There had been a possessiveness to the kiss, as if he wanted his whole world to know.

‘I know,’ he said, then turned her to face the lobby.

Diesel sat behind the desk, grinning at them. ‘Detective.’

‘Mr Kennedy,’ she said with a nod. She looked around the lobby, noting the presence of the newly hired armed guard in the corner. ‘Where is Gayle?’

‘I told her to take a coffee break, so I could install extra firewalls on her computer. I shored up the network server already, but Gayle’s computer needed extra.’

‘Because of Jill,’ Scarlett murmured, and beside her Marcus sighed.

Diesel just shrugged. ‘So what’s up with you two? Other than the need to get a room.’

‘We came to see Stone,’ Marcus said, serious now. ‘You should come too.’

Diesel came to his feet with a frown. ‘Okay.’

Marcus led them past his own office and through a door to the back where the rest of the staff worked. Offices with doors lined the walls and the middle was divided into cubicles. He stopped at a closed door with Stone’s name on it and knocked.

Stone opened the door right away and gave Scarlett a look that wasn’t quite welcoming but was considerably less hostile than before. ‘I got your text saying you needed to talk, Marcus, but I didn’t expect a party. What’s this about?’ he asked when he’d shut the door.

Marcus showed them a copy of the sketch of Demetrius, told them what the Bautistas had suffered and what he himself remembered from his hospital stay.

Stone was visibly shaken. ‘They tried to kill you in the hospital? Holy shit, Marcus.’

‘You attract trouble even when you’re unconscious,’ Diesel added, stunned and furious on behalf of his friend. ‘What the fuck?’

‘The obvious threat that week was from Leslie McCord,’ Scarlett said, ‘but she was dead by the time Marcus was in the hospital. There’s a puzzle piece missing. What can you remember about that investigation?’

Both Stone and Diesel winced. ‘That was a bad one,’ Diesel said softly. ‘I . . . I still can’t get those pictures out of my head, and I only looked at a few. As soon as I saw what McCord had on his home hard drive, I backed out.’

‘I wrote the story,’ Stone said, ‘then we tipped the Internet Crimes Against Children task force. As soon as they confiscated McCord’s computer, we went live with the story.’

‘Where are the photos now?’ Scarlett asked.

‘With the ICAC task force,’ Stone said. ‘We didn’t keep copies.’

‘I always keep copies of the hard drives that I hack,’ Diesel said, ‘except when it’s kids. I don’t want it and I can’t handle it,’ he added with brutal honesty.

‘Not many can,’ Scarlett said. ‘What can you give me?’

Stone typed a command, and a minute later his printer was spitting out pages. ‘This is the story and all my notes. We got tipped off that McCord was too friendly with some of his students by a few of the boys on the JV football team. Marcus was a volunteer coach.’

‘The
Ledger
sponsors youth sports,’ Marcus said. ‘It’s an environment that can make kids vulnerable to predators, but it also fosters a spirit of communication.’

‘Not the
Ledger
,’ Diesel told Scarlett in a theatric whisper. ‘Sponsoring sports was Marcus’s idea. And mostly his money.’

She smiled up at the giant of a man who was even larger than Stone. She patted Marcus’s thigh as he sat in the chair beside her. ‘I’m not surprised.’

Marcus rolled his eyes, embarrassed. ‘It’s expedient with respect to our team’s goal. Kids will talk to a coach or a team sponsor about things they might not tell a teacher – especially when that teacher is the predator. McCord taught freshman science. Some of the boys were creeped out because of how he would get too cozy when he was checking their lab setup. They said the girls felt the same way – uncomfortable. None of the kids would come forward with anything specific, though, so I had Diesel dig.’

Diesel raked his fingers across his shaved head as if he still had hair. ‘I . . . I was not expecting what I saw. I mean, I’ve seen porn collections and I’ve even seen some kid photos when I poke around people’s computers as part of this job, but McCord’s collection took it to a whole new level. He had photos, video files . . . big files. Long videos, not just clips.’ He swallowed hard. ‘Like I said, I backed out as soon as I figured out what I was looking at. I’m no lover of cops, no offense, Detective, but I pitied the ones who had to analyze that vile shit.’

‘Okay,’ Scarlett said gently, because Diesel was actually trembling. ‘You said you turned the entire hard drive over to ICAC. You didn’t keep copies of the photos or videos, but what about the rest of the hard drive? Was it all pictures, or were there other file types?’

‘Files,’ he said on a rough exhale. ‘Word files, a few spreadsheets. Hell, I didn’t even open them. I ran a check to be sure there were no picture files embedded, then I put them in my safe at home with the drives from all our other investigations.’

Scarlett glanced up at Marcus. ‘We need to have a look. I can do it, if you want.’

He nodded grimly. ‘I’m gonna accept that offer. I just don’t think I can.’

She squeezed his knee, then began skimming the pages Stone had given her. ‘So you anonymously tipped ICAC, they got a warrant, found McCord’s stash. He’s arrested, you publish the story, the community shudders – appropriately – in horror and disgust. McCord loses his job, his pension, goes to jail . . .’ She turned the page and frowned. ‘He hired an attorney who was going to fight the charges.’ She looked up at Stone. ‘Fight with what? What did McCord have to bargain with?’

‘The attorney wouldn’t say,’ Stone said. ‘I badgered him about it, because I wanted to know too. Finally, after McCord hanged himself, the attorney said that he’d planned to expose his suppliers to get his charges knocked down from possession of child porn to pandering.’

Scarlett blinked. ‘Pandering? Really? I mean, it’s a lower minimum sentence than for child porn possession so that’s why he’d want it, but pandering carries with it an economic element. Was he copping to prostitution? Would a judge even allow that?’

Stone shrugged. ‘That’s all the attorney would tell me.’

Scarlett found the attorney’s name in Stone’s story and used her phone to look him up online. ‘Shit,’ she muttered. ‘We won’t be following up with him. He’s dead.’

Marcus leaned over her shoulder to read along with her. ‘Died in an office fire. Arson was suspected.’

‘Tidy,’ Scarlett said grimly. ‘Dammit. McCord said he was going to expose his suppliers, and all of a sudden anyone who can tell us
what
he was going to divulge and against whom is dead.’ She put the papers down, spoke aloud the thought that had been circling in her mind since they’d left the hotel. ‘Demetrius supplied the Bautistas to Chip Anders for labor. Maybe he supplied children to McCord for—’

‘God knows what,’ Marcus said from behind clenched teeth.

Scarlett squeezed his knee again, for support. And comfort. Because now she understood his zeal to punish monsters who hurt children. ‘Let’s take a look at the files you saved, Diesel. You say they’re at your house? We can follow you there.’

‘I’ll go home and get them and bring them to you,’ Diesel said.

Scarlett wanted to argue, but there was a sudden undercurrent in the room, a tension that she could feel but that she didn’t understand. She squeezed Marcus’s knee again, so lightly that no one else would know.

‘We don’t have that much time,’ Marcus said to Diesel, apology in his voice. ‘We’re headed to the Meadow next. It’s a shelter on Race Street.’

‘I know it,’ Diesel said stiffly. ‘I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.’

They dispersed, Scarlett holding her question until she and Marcus were alone in his office with the door closed. ‘I didn’t mean to upset him,’ she said. ‘What did I say?’

He covered her shoulders with his hands and massaged. ‘Nothing wrong. It’s just Diesel being fucked in the head. He doesn’t like letting people in his house. I’ve only been there a few times myself.’ He leaned in until their foreheads touched. ‘I’m afraid to see what he brings us.’

‘I know. I couldn’t push either of them any further to tell us more. They . . .’ She swallowed hard. Thought of what Marcus had told her about Stone, and all the things he hadn’t put into words. She’d seen the pain in Stone’s eyes, the understanding where there should have been none. Diesel had exhibited that same deer-in-the-headlights panic. ‘Diesel too?’

‘I don’t know. He’s never told me. I never asked.’ He straightened, kissed the top of her head. ‘Let’s go, or he’ll get to the shelter before we do. He doesn’t live far.’ He pulled a battered old laptop from a lower desk drawer and slid it into his computer bag.

‘What’s with the old-style laptop?’ she asked.

‘It has no internet card. Has no WiFi or even Ethernet cable capability. I use it when I either don’t want any chance of someone hacking into my system or when I’m unsure of the file source. I don’t want to corrupt the entire
Ledger
server if I open a contaminated file.’

‘Diesel taught you that?’

‘I knew it myself. I’m moderately skilled with systems, but Diesel is an artist.’ He shouldered the bag, then came back to her for a kiss that took her breath away. ‘For courage,’ he murmured.

‘Mine or yours?’

‘Ours.’

Thirty-two

Cincinnati, Ohio
Wednesday 5 August, 4.30
P.M.

‘I haven’t been to the Meadow in years,’ Marcus murmured from the passenger seat of Scarlett’s department car, his gaze fixed on the roofline as they approached the shelter. This time of day, he might catch a glint of sunlight off the barrel of a rifle, giving them a split-second warning. Sometimes a split second was all a person needed.

Scarlett’s gaze was fixed ahead as she drove, searching every shadow and suspicious movement in the ground-floor windows. ‘You’ve been to the shelter?’ she asked, and he knew he’d surprised her.

The Lorelle E. Meadows shelter had been around for as long as Marcus could remember. Located in the part of the neighborhood that had not yet been gentrified, it was sandwiched between two buildings with windows that had been boarded up even when he was a kid.

‘Many times. Jeremy would bring Stone and me down here on Saturdays to help in the soup kitchen while he worked the clinic. I was twelve or so, Stone ten when we started. We were regular volunteers for years. Of course we were the only volunteers with our own bodyguards,’ he added wryly. ‘Mom insisted.’

‘I understand why.’

‘So did Jeremy. He’d bring Sammy with us.’

‘Sammy was Jeremy’s first partner, right? Stone mentioned him to Deacon and me when we were interviewing him last November. He said that Sammy died in the car wreck that burned Jeremy’s hands. And that later Jeremy married Keith, that they’d been friends since high school.’

Marcus nodded, pleased that she’d remembered his family’s history, odd as it was. ‘Yeah. We didn’t know that Sammy and Jeremy were lovers at the time. We just thought they were friends. And that Jeremy trusted him to keep us safe.’ His lips curved sadly. ‘I don’t think Jeremy’s been down here since Sammy died. He was so lost, he kind of drifted for a while.’

‘That’s when Mikhail was conceived?’

‘Yeah. That Jeremy was Mikhail’s biological father was something only Mom knew until last fall, when Mikhail found out the truth. Even Jeremy hadn’t known.’ Even though he’d understood her reasons, her actions had made Marcus want to shake his mother for not allowing Jeremy to know his son. And Mikhail to know his father. It was damn sad. His mother had kept it secret because she was afraid of Keith, afraid he would take it out on Mikhail if he found out that Jeremy had . . . taken comfort from her while grieving Sammy.

Too damn sad
. ‘I often wonder how things would have been different if Jeremy had been allowed to be Mikhail’s father from day one. I mean, he always treated him like he treated us when he came to visit – like his own son. Ironic, because Mick was the only one of us brothers who really
was
his.’

‘What do you mean? How things would have been different?’

‘Jeremy did things with us every day. He was our dad. He made sure we ate our veggies and did our homework and never, ever forgot that having wealth was a privilege. He made sure we knew what it meant to give back to the community. Mikhail didn’t get that. I got out of the army when he was twelve and couldn’t believe what a brat he’d become. A spoiled brat. So I did with him what Jeremy had done with us.’

Her voice softened. ‘You became his father figure. I didn’t realize you were so close.’

Marcus nodded, his throat growing thick. ‘The last five years, yes. I made him deliver papers for the
Ledger
and made sure he had a curfew, even though he had a bodyguard. I played ball with him and checked his homework. And when Diesel was building affordable housing, I put Mickey’s rich ass to work. He whined at first, but he really enjoyed it.’ His lips curved on a good memory. ‘Especially when he started to see muscle tone, because “the chicks” dug it.’ He drew a breath and let it out, the good memory fleeting, a painful one taking its place. ‘Mom was smothering him to death with bodyguards. He never got a second to himself. He was like a pacing cat in the zoo. I was the one who convinced Mom to give him some freedom, to get him a car when he turned sixteen.’ He closed his eyes, made his mouth utter the words. ‘When he ran away, I felt responsible. He picked up his friend and drove to the cabin, then gave his friend the car keys and told him to come back in a week and get him.’

‘You know you weren’t responsible, Marcus. The monster that shot him was.’

‘I knew Mom was scared for him, every day. But I didn’t want Mickey growing up scared of shadows, like me and Stone. Too scared to sleep with the light off.’ He met her eyes, no smile on his face or in his heart. ‘Don’t you tell anyone I said that. We both got over it.’

‘Your secrets are safe with me,’ was all she said, and his heart cracked in two.

‘I know.’ He shrugged, forced lightness into his tone. ‘It’s just . . . not very manly to be afraid of the dark.’

She smiled at him. ‘Your manliness has never been in question. Nor is your love for your brother. You wanted him to have an easier life, a better life. You wanted him to be a good man and you showed him how.’ She swallowed hard, her eyes suddenly bright. ‘You’re gonna make some lucky kid a good dad, Marcus O’Bannion,’ she whispered.

His chest felt like it was going to burst open. ‘Thank you.’

Coming to a stop in front of the shelter, she scrubbed the moisture from her eyes, took a long look around them, then up. ‘Appears clear. Stay low and don’t dawdle.’

‘Yes, ma’am,’ he said obediently.

They made it through the doors with no issue, immediately running into Diesel, who was waiting just inside. ‘I brought the files.’ He held out an external hard drive like it was red hot.

Scarlett slid it into her jacket pocket. ‘Thank you, Diesel. I appreciate it.’

‘
Diesel!
’ The delighted cry came from a small boy of about five who was hobbling across the room using crutches. On his leg was a bright green cast.

Diesel looked down in surprise. ‘Emilio?’ He went down on one knee. ‘What are you doing here? What happened to your leg, kid?’

Scarlett looked at Marcus, brows raised in question. ‘Pee Wee Soccer,’ he murmured. ‘Diesel coaches.’ The stunned look on her face was priceless.

Emilio gazed up with unadulterated hero worship, because even on one knee, Diesel towered over the boy. ‘My brother’s got the croup. That’s what my grandma said. She took him to see Dr Dani.’

‘I don’t know who he is,’ Diesel said, and the boy giggled.

‘
She
,’ Emilio said.

‘Dr Dani is Deacon Novak’s sister,’ Scarlett explained. ‘She’s taking care of Tommy and Edna, the two people Marcus and I came to see.’

Diesel’s mouth bent in mild interest. ‘Deacon’s sister? She got white hair like he does?’

‘Only kind of,’ Scarlett said. ‘Think Rogue from
X-Men
– black hair, white streaks.’

Emilio’s smile turned little-boy sly. ‘She’s real pretty. You should meet her.’

Marcus had first met Dani Novak when she’d visited him in the hospital. She’d accompanied Deacon and Faith to a few of Jeremy’s parties in the months since and had endeared herself to his adopted father forever when she’d been able to quote from his most recent article in the
Journal of Medicine
. Dani was kind and funny and it was easy to see that she and Deacon were related. And Emilio was right – she was very pretty, just not as pretty as Marcus’s detective.

But if cops were Stone’s trigger, doctors in white coats sent Diesel into a PTSD tailspin. Marcus wondered how Diesel was going to get out of meeting Deacon’s pretty sister.

Diesel ruffled the boy’s hair. ‘Not today, kid.’ He leaned forward. ‘I’m scared of needles, so I don’t go around doctors unless I have to,’ he said in a low voice. ‘Even pretty ones. You gonna tell on me?’

‘No,’ Emilio said seriously. ‘I promise. But she’s nice. You’d like her.’

‘I’m sure I would,’ Diesel said, ‘but it still ain’t happening.’

Emilio bent his head. ‘Who are those people?’ he whispered.

‘That’s Mr Marcus – he’s my boss and my friend. And that’s . . .’ He glanced up at Scarlett. ‘Miss Scarlett. She’s not my boss. Just my friend.’

Scarlett’s smile was a little wobbly as she understood she’d just been accepted. ‘It’s nice to meet you, Emilio. Your cast is cool. How’d you get it?’

‘I tried to slide into home plate,’ he said, dejected. ‘It didn’t work.’

Marcus coughed to hide a chuckle. Scarlett swallowed hers, but Diesel didn’t crack a smile.

‘That’s gotta hurt,’ he said. ‘I guess it explains why you missed practice last Thursday. But if you want, you can still come to the games and sit on the bench and keep score. You can count, right? And write your numbers?’

‘Up to twenty.’

‘That should be plenty, since we never score anyway. We can—’

‘Emilio! Where are you?’ Dani Novak came running from a back room, her white coat flying out behind her.

Scarlett waved her over. ‘We’ve got him, Dani.’

Dani rushed over, her mouth bent in a frown. ‘You know you’re not supposed to take off like that. Especially not here. Your grandmother nearly had a heart attack.’

Here
, Marcus thought, where more than three quarters of the clients were either homeless or addicts or both. With a wary look at Diesel, who was still on one knee, Dani Novak also went down on one knee, putting her body close enough that she could protect the child if she had to. Which was as ridiculous as it was unnecessary. At six-six and almost three hundred pounds of solid muscle, Diesel could toss Dani Novak like a ragdoll.

Not that he ever would. Despite his shaved head and interesting tattoos, the man was shockingly gentle with everyone except the abusers he lived to squash like bugs.

Right now, Diesel was no threat to anyone. Frozen in place, he was staring at Dani’s lab coat like it was alive. Marcus considered intervening and finding an excuse to get Dani back behind the clinic door, but he didn’t. It was way past time Diesel dealt with his issues.

‘But if Grandma had a heart attack,’ Emilio said logically, ‘you could fix her, right? She says you’re a miracle worker.’

Dani pursed her lips, then gave up trying to hold back, and a smile lit up her face. ‘You little charmer, you. Maybe I could fix her and maybe I couldn’t. Let’s just not risk it, okay?’ She held out both arms. ‘Time to go back to Grandma.’

‘Wait.’ Emilio tugged her hand. ‘Meet my coach, Diesel.’

Dani’s brows lifted. ‘The coach who encouraged you to slide into home?’

Diesel’s shoulders lifted as he sucked in a breath. ‘No, ma’am,’ he said quietly, making Dani tilt her head the same way Marcus had seen Deacon do.

‘That was baseball. Coach Diesel is soccer,’ Emilio said proudly.

Dani smiled at Diesel. ‘I’m Dr Novak. Everyone calls me Dr Dani.’

Diesel lifted his head and . . . nothing. The silence went on so long that Marcus leaned around to check out Diesel’s face and was stunned to see his friend’s eyes locked on Dani’s, looking dazed. Diesel’s mouth seemed to have forgotten how to speak.

‘Diesel works with Marcus at the
Ledger
,’ Scarlett said, taking pity on him. ‘Come on, Emilio. I got things to do and people to see.’ She swung the kid up on her hip like she’d done it a million times.

Given that she was the babysitter of choice among her nieces and nephews, she probably had. She’d told Marcus he’d make a great dad.
She’ll make a great mom too
. It was a heady thought, having a family of his own. He was so taken by the idea that it took him a moment to realize that Emilio was no longer smiling and had gone completely still. The boy darted an alarmed glance at Dani, then back at the bulge of Scarlett’s gun under her jacket. He’d probably felt it when she’d picked him up.

‘My gun,’ Scarlett murmured to Dani, having gone as still as the boy.

‘It’s okay, Emilio,’ Dani said, rubbing his back. ‘She’s a cop. My brother’s partner.’

Emilio’s eyes grew round. ‘Oh.’

Dani picked up the boy’s crutches. ‘Tommy and Edna are in the clinic waiting room, Scarlett.’ She looked over her shoulder. ‘You coming, Marcus? Coach Diesel?’

‘In a minute,’ Marcus answered. When the women were back behind the clinic door, he grabbed Diesel’s biceps and with a groan yanked him to his feet. ‘Lay off the beer, buddy. You’re putting on weight.’

Diesel didn’t answer, just stood staring at Dani Novak’s retreating back. Marcus waved his hand in front of his friend’s face. ‘Yo. Diesel. You in there?’

A mute nod, then Diesel spun on his heel and walked out of the shelter, not saying a single word. Marcus followed him to the door, watched him take the steps down to the street in one giant stride. ‘Diesel? Kennedy, stop!’

Diesel turned and looked up. Expecting to see the dazed, glassy, shaken gaze that came after one of his friend’s episodes, Marcus was shocked to find himself staring into the saddest, most defeated eyes he’d ever seen.

‘Diesel, wait.’ He started walking down the steps until he realized he’d promised Scarlett he’d stay out of bullet range should any shooters be camped on the roofs. ‘Talk to me.’